CINNAMON AND CLOVE SHORTBREAD
I’ve had such a hankering for shortbread lately - it must be the time of year! Many delicious iterations of this have been created in my kitchen, and I’ve landed on this final recipe to give me a crumbly biscuit texture without even turning on an oven. Instead it all happens in a pan because this is chickpea barfi shortbread biscuit: a toasted, spiced dough that sets in a tray and slices beautifully into fingers, squares or whatever shape you fancy.
It’s far less mess (and far less faff) than rolling or stamping out biscuits, and always becomes a talking point - it’s naturally gluten-free, made with chickpea flour and rice flour, and even has turmeric and black pepper in there as well as the Christmas hero flavours; cinnamon and clove!
I used cane sugar - a Fairtrade bag from Oxfam to keep the colour golden, but do go for coconut sugar if you don’t mind it a couple of shades darker. I’ve made the recipe with ghee, you can probably do it with coconut oil too, and I’m guessing you can do it with butter - I’ll update if I get a chance to test it.
I’ve been cautious on the cinnamon and close quantities because freshly ground spices can be so much more potent than shop-bought versions, so be sure to taste the final mixture and adjust before setting. You can also adlib with other spices such as allspice and ginger and add a couple of drops of orange extract too to make it as festive or fragrant as you like!
METHOD
Heat a wide bottomed pan on medium high heat. Sift in your chickpea flour and pour in your rice flour (no need to sift). Start to gently toast until fragrant, keeping the flour moving so that it doesn’t burn.
After 8-10mins when everything smells nutty and fragrant, add the sugar, spices and ghee and keep stirring everything together and breaking up lumps so the ingredients are fully incorporated. It will seem very dry at first but eventually even out to a lovely sandy texture.
Taste some of the mixture to check the spice flavours are right and adjust the sweetness if necessary. If you can still taste a bitter/grassy taste it means the flour is still not cooked through so cook it longer until it's gone. Keep cooking on a medium heat until the dry texture suddenly comes together and becomes a glossy and smooth dough. If you’re struggling with this bit see tips below.
Spoon the mixture into a parchment lined dish approximately 20 x16 cm or 8inches by 6 inches. Press down evenly with the back of a spoon, concentrating on the sides where it’s often higher, you can then gently rock and tap the mixture and it should settle.
If using goji berries, lightly tossed with a drop or two of olive oil to make them shiny. Then carefully stud the surface of the shortbread.
Leave to set in the fridge or on the side until firm. If you haven’t used goji berries, you can use a fork to genrtly decorate if you like before cutting into your desired shape.
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for a couple of days.
INGREDIENTS
150g chickpea flour
150g rice flour
150g cane sugar (or coconut sugar)
125g ghee
1.5 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp clove powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
Grind black pepper
Optional: handful of goji berries lightly tossed with a little olive oil to make them shiny
East by West tips: If you are struggling to get the sandy mixture to release the oils then you can try a trick I discovered to bring the dough together - once the flavour tastes good to you, add a ⅓ cup of freshly boiled water and mix it in. This will bring the mixture together and you can proceed to set your shortbread!
