Coconut and Vanilla Biscuits were inspired by a liquid hand-wash that I use. No, don’t worry, I didn’t taste the hand-wash! But the lovely combined fragrance of the coconut and vanilla made me think that their flavours together in a biscuit could be quite delicious.
The result is these crisp and light Coconut and Vanilla Biscuits. I use a vanilla pod and add the seeds to the mixture but if you don’t have any vanilla pods, then 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence is just as good.
To scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod, use a paring knife to first cut the pod in half length-wise. Then use the blunt edge of the paring knife (not the sharp edge) to scrape along each half of the pod and collect the seeds.
In fact, the seeds are so tiny that the product of the scraping is more like a gel than individual seeds.
However, once mixed in, the seeds can be seen speckled through the biscuits.
Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ¾ cup white rice flour
- ¾ cup desiccated coconut
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 190° C.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod (if using) as outlined above.
Beat together the egg, sugar, salt and vanilla seeds (or vanilla essence).
Add the oil.
Mix in the rice flour, coconut and baking powder.
Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on the baking tray. I find sometimes the mixture will separate when I’m trying to roll it. If this happens, using my fingers, I massage the mixture together and it then holds the round shape when I roll it again.
Flatten the biscuits to about 2-3mm.
Cook in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
