- Ali
I was off to a business network yesterday and wanted to take a sweet treat which was almost sugar free to show just how delicious eating sugar free can be. I’ve been eating what I call ‘clean’ – mostly plant based and wholefoods - for almost 4 years and it has quite literally changed my life. I no longer have the debilitating headaches I used to suffer with, my brain fog and lethargy have lifted, I’m energised throughout the day and I sleep really well. My skin glows and my hair grows so fast my hairdresser can hardly keep up!
These little zesty Lemon and Poppy Seed Protein Biscuits were what I created. They are super delicious but there was nearly a mutiny in the Hutchinson household when I said that they were all going with me rather than staying at home. “Don’t worry I’ll bring what doesn’t get eaten back with me,” I promised.
Needless to say nothing came home with me so I need to get busy and bake another batch right away. Happy baking lovely people.
Ingredients
3 Tablespoons olive oil
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tea spoon vanilla essence
20g coconut sugar
2 scoops Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder (provides 20g protein)
120g ground almonds
Pinch sea salt
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Juice of half a lemon (optional)
1 Egg white lightly beaten.
Directions
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C gas mark 4.
In a large bowl combine the oil, coconut sugar, vanilla essence and lemon zest.
Add the ground almonds and protein powder plus the salt and poppy seeds. Work with your fingers to combine all the ingredients and ensure the ground almonds absorb the oil. I love the Arbonne plant based protein as it's soy and dairy free and is packed with vitamins and minerals too. It's my go too breakfast (check out my smoothie recipes) but adding it into things like these biscuits gives me an added protein boost in the day too.
I find that kneading for a good 5 minutes is what’s required. It’s great for toning up those arm muscles too! You’re better to keep kneading than add more liquid at this point. If it really won’t come together add a little lemon juice and keep kneading.
Once it has formed into a rough dough roll it out to approx. 1cm thick and cut it into biscuit shapes. I used a beautiful heart cutter for mine. I have a collection of cookie cutters and this dough doesn’t spread on the tray when it bakes so I can feel a real experiment coming on with lots of different shaped biscuits coming up.
Once you’ve cut them into shapes spread them onto a baking tray and brush with beaten egg white to give them a glossy finish. Bake for 6 – 8 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Don’t over bake them or they’ll burn.
These would make beautiful Easter cookies for hanging on an Easer tree. Or use an alphabet cutter to spell out words of love.
