Does anyone else find food allergies at Easter time a challenge?  All that chocolate everywhere you go, let’s face it all those lovely egg hunts laid on by Cadbury aren’t geared up for allergy parents!  One Easter tradition I have to keep up is baking Easter biscuits free from allergens.  Lightly spiced with a hint of lemon they taste like spring to me.  This year I’ve tweaked my recipe to include icing.  Not just any icing, this is royal icing that pipes beautifully but is EGG FREE!  It is so easy to make.  This recipe is free from all top 18 allergens, oh and it tastes good……

The biscuits are quite robust, but this makes them an ideal biscuit for decorating with children.  No small children will end up in tears when their masterpiece decorated biscuit gets broken.

I’ve added caraway seeds which have an unusual flavour but are perfect with the lemon and spice.  You can easily leave these out or replace with poppy seeds.

Recipe

175g Gluten Free Plain Flour (I use the doves farm blend)

1/2 tsp Baking Powder – check it is gluten free as some brands do contain wheat

1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1 dsp Mixed Spice

1 dsp Caraway Seeds

Finely grated zest of a Lemon

50g Dairy Free Spread – we use Vitalite

75g Caster Sugar

2 tbsp Golden Syrup

Preheat the oven to 180c

Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarb, spice, seeds and lemon zest together in a large bowl.

Add the margarine and rub in the flour using the tips of your fingers.  The children will love getting messy at this stage so be prepared with a chair at the sink ready to wash hands.

Once the mixture has the rough texture of breadcrumbs add the sugar syrup and mix together with your hands to make a dough.  Turn it out onto a board covered in gluten free flour and knead for a minute.

Add more flour to your board and roll out the biscuits, not too thin or they will be tricky to handle.

Transfer the biscuits to a greased baking sheet with at least an inch between each biscuit.  Bake for 9 minutes.

Once cooked leave to cool totally on the baking sheet.  If you move them before the have hardened they will break!

Once cooled they are ready to decorate, just take a deep breath, ignore the mess and take a load of photos to prove you are a fun parent!

Take a look at my allergen free royal icing recipe.