Now that Halloween is done and dusted and we are hurtling headlong into Christmas I’m starting to fret, just a bit, about presents. The consensus here in the Honeybuns office is that we are all on the hunt for inexpensive yet charming gift ideas this year.

Photo by Cristian Barnett

Rather than schlepping around the shops, either High Street or online, for presents, we could have a go at making our very own foodie offerings couldn’t we? I mean – it’s not that we don’t know a thing or two about gluten free baking…

“But I’m hopeless at cooking or baking,” I hear you cry.

Our step by step cookie guide, together with some handy hints and tips make this DIY Christmas project a breeze. Promise.

Setting aside a festive baking weekend in your diary will help keep those feelings of panic at bay and get you ahead of the game. Delicious treats such as biscuits and flapjack traybakes benefit from naturally long shelf lives and will last easily from November all the through to the end of the Christmas holidays. If in any doubt you can always freeze your baked goodies until you are ready to bag them up and label them. Budgeting for the rest of Christmas becomes easier too, once you’ve got the lion’s share of pressies ticked off the to do list.

How lovely to spend precious, cosy time at home creating personalised, one of a kind presents which will show you’ve actually put some real effort and thought in this year? Are we not all a little bit bored of those generic Amazon parcels anyway?

Finally, if you need any more encouragement to dig out the mixing bowl – batch baking means you get the most efficient use out of your oven too.

The following almond cookie recipe is easy enough to get the kids roped in to help. They will love squidging the dough and writing out pretty nametags for friends and family. After the constant dirge of rubbish news this year why not embrace all the good stuff of the season? So what if it is still only November! Pop your Christmas jumpers on, dress the dog up, play some festive tunes and set the scene for your very own kitchen Bake Off. Prizes for the most imaginatively decorated biscuits or messiest baker perhaps?

This gluten free and dairy free recipe is our adapted version of Italian amaretti taken from our first book, Honeybuns Gluten Free Baking. We call them ‘Amondi Cookies’ in the book. Both of our Honeybuns cook books are packed to the rafters with gluten free recipes and make lovely presents either individually, as a bundle, or with a selection of our tray bakes or cake slices.

Flax seeds (linseed) and sorghum flour are two of our favourite “go to” gluten free ingredients. Both work really well with ground almonds – they add lightness and help to balance the oiliness of the nuts.

We’ve made a little video to show you just how easy these delightful cookies are to make – make sure you take a look at the video here on facebook and Instagram.

Useful recipe information before you start baking

MAKES : 14 cookies

COOK: 15-18 minutes

HEALTH: Gluten free, dairy free, lactose free

STORE: 28 days in an airtight container. Freeze well.

COMPOST: Eggshell

Gluten free Cookie Ingredients

4 egg whites
400g ground almonds
280g granulated sugar
50g ground flax seeds (linseed)
1 tsp orange oil
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
4 tbsp icing (confectioners’) sugar
14 whole almonds, skin on

Step by step guide to cooking your cookies

Preheat the oven to 180°C / Gas 4. Cut a piece of baking parchment to line the bottom of a large baking sheet.
Put the egg whites into a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until they form stiff peaks.
Add the ground almonds, sugar, flax seeds, orange oil and orange zest and beat using an electric mixer at low speed until you have a sticky dough.
Dust your hands with icing sugar and divide the dough into 14 equal portions.
Roll into balls and roll these in the icing sugar, then place on the baking sheet. The cookies will spread as they bake, so make sure you leave plenty of space between them.
Using the palms of your hands, squash each cookie to a disc about 1 cm/½” thick. Place a whole almond in the centre of each cookie and push it in gently.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until light golden on top and mid-golden underneath: use a fish slice to check the bottom of a cookie after 15 minutes. Leave on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. When cold, the almond cookies should be firm and chewy, but not hard.

How do I then turn these cookies into gifts?

With just some see through cellophane bags (you can now buy bags made from recycled materials), recycled pretty ribbon and good old paper luggage tags you can turn these biscuits into really pretty packages. Find someone with good handwriting to write the labels or alternatively use a lovely, old fashioned stamp.

TOP TIPS

To avoid any food waste you can now buy pasteurised liquid egg whites from all main supermarkets. Or use shell eggs and then beat the left over yolks and freeze in ice cube trays. You can then use defrosted cubes as glazes for pastry, mince pies and other festive bakes.
Mini cookies will look super cute and make your mixture go further. Simply divide your cookie dough into 28 or 42s.
Orange oil. Make sure you get hold of the proper stuff. It is expensive but is soooo worth it. We love Boyajian which you can buy online.
For extra Oooh la la you can go a bit crazy with decorating your home baked beauties. Try dipping half your cookies in glossy dark chocolate and then sprinkling with edible glitter.
Bake your cookie dough as a traybake instead. Simply squidge the mixture into an oiled tray bake tin and bake for 20-25 minutes. Once cooled, break the baked dough up and set in chocolate or stir into ice cream.
To go super eco, reuse last years pretty Christmas cards as tags instead of buying luggage labels.

Finally don’t forget to support small business by checking out our gorgeous range of ethically made, gluten free cakes here. Our cook books make great gifts for beginner to advanced bakers. A variation of this recipe, flavoured with lemon and ginger is featured in our first book.

Other recommended blogs for Christmas gift ideas:

We’d love to hear how you get on. If you have any questions- do get in touch via this blog in the comments section or facebook, email or telephone. We’d love to see you pics.

Emx

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You might also be interested in reading how to make your own gluten free Christmas cake decorations.