These biscuits showcase a couple of things I really love at the moment - almond butter and dried quince. I am actually having a thing will all nut butters at the moment, especially pistachio, but finding a recipe that used it in a biscuit was super exciting. My moment with dried quince has been quite long standing, after meeting Sue of Singing Magpie Produce last year. When I saw this particular recipe I knew I needed to try it with Singing Magpie Produce’s Dried Quince.
The recipe originally comes from Georgina Hayden’s first book ‘Stirring Slowly.’ I have followed Georgina on Instagram for a while, but up until recently didn’t have any of her books. To be honest I haven’t really come across them in bookshops here in Sydney. But after seeing a bit of the behind the scenes of Georgina making her second book ‘Taverna’ on Instagram, I knew I needed to get her books, ASAP. I pre-ordered ‘Taverna’ online, and in the meantime bought ‘Stirring Slowly’ online too.
Both books are utterly delightful and jam packed filled with recipes I want to make. The recipe for Almond, Oat and Raisin Cookies jumped out at me instantly when I first looked at ‘Stirring Slowly’, which is the recipe these biscuits are based on. The recipe reminded me of the Oatmeal Biscuits my Grandma used to make, but with the addition on almond butter and raisins.
Always being on the lookout for a new way to use dried quince, I decided to make these with my dried quince from Singing Magpie Produce, rather than raisins. I really like the addition of the dried quince, you could even add more if it to the biscuits when baking for a bigger quince hit. Many other dried fruits would work if you don’t have any dried quince, and other nut butters would work well too. Though if you can get some dried quince, I highly recommend it. It’s so good I often find myself eating it straight from the packet before I have a chance to make anything with it, it’s that good.
Dried Quince & Almond Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
175g rolled oats (not instant)
150g plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
125g softened unsalted butter or margarine
75g almond butter
1tsp vanilla bean paste
125g Panela sugar
200g brown sugar
2 eggs (large)
100g roughly chopped dried quince (I buy mine from Singing Magpie Produce)
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line two large baking trays with baking paper.
In a medium bowl mix the oats, flour, cinnamon and baking powder together and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, almond butter and vanilla bean paste together until smooth. Add the sugars and mix until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and mix until combined.
Fold in the flour, either with a wooden spoon or mix briefly on the lowest speed of your stand mixer. Add the chopped dried quince and gently mix to evenly distribute.
Spoon heaped teasponfuls of the mixture on to the prepared trays, leaving gaps between each as they will spread a fair bit during baking.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the biscuits are turning golden but are still soft in the middle. Biscuits can be left on the baking trays to cool.
Reference: ‘Stirring Slowly’ by Georgina Hayden (Square Peg, 2016) p.196.
