Biscuit (or rusk, biscottis) with no dairy product, nor fat. And gluten free. Biscuit means baked twice to be stored longer. Here nicely flavoured with orange and nutmeg or cinnamon. Ideal for afternoon tea or breakfast. Quick and easy.
The French word biscuit is widely used for any bise size cake of any kind, thus is often incorrectly as literally, a biscuit is a preparation that has been baked twice (bis = twice and cuit = cooked).
Actually, the origin of biscuits is very old. It comes from the Middle Ages where it was necessary to find solutions for long preservation of food in order to feed seamen during long boat trips. Many boats went from France to Newfoundlands on the East Canadian coast from 16th to 20th century to fish cod. Fish was salted. And the boat crew needed to be feed and here came the technique of baking twice sweet preparations made of egg and flour so that they could be kept for long weeks without deteriorating.
This recipe is typically a biscuit because it is cooked a first time and, cut and baked again for it to dry and bake evenly. They get a great crunchy texture, a bit like a cracker. Homemade rusks, very tasty with orange zest and nutmeg. You can choose to change nutmeg for cinnamon. And so quick and easy to make.
Oatmeal and Orange Biscuits
Equipment
- Mixer
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 125 gr oatmeal + 2 tablespoons
- 125 gr sugar
- 125 gr flour
- 2 eggs medium size
- 11 gr baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 orange for its zest
- 2 pinches nutmeg or cinnamon according to your taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 185 °C.
- Using a blender, reduce the 125gr of oatmeal into powder.
- Then using a zester or grater (like the microplane grater), finely zest the orange zest.
- Combine dry powders: flour, sugar, oatmeal powder, nutmeg or cinnamon, pinch of salt and baking powder. Add orange zests. Beat and add eggs. Mix well to get an homogeneous batter.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on your oven tray. Put the dough in the shape of your choice, with a layer not too thick (about 1 to 1.5 cm thick). Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oatmeal and press a little so that oatmeal stick to the dough. Bake for 15 minutes at 185°C until you get a light golden brown color.
- Take out of the oven and let it rest and cool down for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Then cut strips 1 cm wide (or the shape of your choice) and bake again for 5 minutes. You can put them on the side and turn them over so they cook evenly on each sides.
- After baking, wait until biscottis are cold before putting them in a closed container, this way biscottis can be stored for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
Bon appétit !
A recipe inspired by the English cuisine of the National Trust.
