Vegan raw spicy biscuits

This is a fun and easy recipe that even toddlers can help their mothers make!  The ingredients are flexible and are basically muesli ingredients that most of us have in the cupboard anyway. Different nuts and dried fruit can be used in the recipe to create different flavours, textures etc.

Ingredients

½ cup (130 g) chopped dates

½ cup water

1 Tbsp walnut / hazelnut / rice bran oil

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 cup (100 g) finely chopped dried (moist) apricots

½ cup (100 g) almonds, chopped

½ cup (100 g) brazil nuts, chopped

½ cup (90 g) pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped

4 Tbsp (45 g) sunflower seeds

4 Tbsp buckwheat seeds, crushed

2 Tbsp goji berries

1 Tbsp finely ground flax seeds

1 Tbsp finely grated zest of mandarin / orange

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

Method

1. Place the dates, water, oil and lemon juice in a mixer and blend until smooth.  This mixture will hold the ingredients together to make a batter.
2. Place the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to mix well.
3. Pour the date mixture over and stir until mixed.
4. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up a little and to give the flax seeds and buckwheat seeds the chance to form a sticky substance with the moisture in the batter.
5. Tip the batter onto a sheet of unbleached wax baking paper.  With the back of a large spoon, press the mixture firmly onto the paper, about three-quaters of an inch (2 cm) thick.
6. Take a cookie (biscuit) cutter and press shapes from the batter.  Press the mixture firmly into the biscuit cutter before transferring to another sheet of baking paper (or Paraflexx sheet for the dehydrator).  Carefully push the shaped biscuit free from the cutter.  Continue making shapes until all the batter is used up – simply spoon the last bit of batter into the cutter, press into shape and transfer to the sheet with the other biscuits.
7. Dry the biscuits out.  If you use a dehydrator, dry out for about 4 hours set at 110º F (45º C) until the biscuits are firm but still retain the moisture from the dried fruit.  If you use an oven, set the baking temperature to 105º F (40º C), and dry out for about 2 hours until firm.

Makes about 23 biscuits.

Recipe from: BENESSERE well-being: vegan & sugar-free eating for a healthy life-style, by Laurinda Erasmus. Physical book from Quinoa Publishing and e-book from Apple iBookstore for the iPad.

www.veganwellbeing.net