The best gluten free Christmas almond biscuits (cookies) recipe

These biscuits (or ‘cookies’, if you’re in North America) came about from when my boyfriend bought me the most delicious almond biscuits from a very expensive cake shop in London one Christmas. These biscuits were £7 for a small bag, so of course I decided I wanted to try to recreate my own. If you can bring yourself to share them, they can also make wonderful last minute gifts too.

Each Christmas I find myself with some leftover egg whites, because I use the yolks in the mince pie pastry. I also make my own candied peel (using this recipe, but stopping after the dehydrating stage), and always try to make sure I make too much rather than too little. This recipe is great for using up those leftover egg whites and candied peel.

These biscuits are so simple to make. They are also naturally gluten free and dairy free, so cater for many allergies and dietary preferences. These biscuits are crisp on the outside and nice and chewy in the middle. I hope you love them as much as we do in our household (I’m sure you will!).

Ingredients:

300g ground almonds (eggs vary in size so it’s worth having a little spare just in case your mixture is too sticky to work)

200g icing sugar, plus extra for rolling

3 medium egg whites

50g candied peel (this is what I used, if you don’t have this much then just use what you have)

Method:

1. Put the ground almonds into a large bowl and sift the icing sugar into it and mix well.
2. Add the egg whites and stir to combine. I find I need to knead the mixture a bit with my hands to properly combine the egg whites. If the mixture is too sticky to work with, you may need to add some extra ground almonds, it just depends on the size of your egg whites!
3. Finely chop your candied peel and knead it into the almond mixture until it is evenly distributed.
4. Generously dust a work surface with icing sugar, and roll the mixture until it is ¾ – 1cm thick. Cut using your favourite festive biscuit cutter. Alternatively you can divide the mixture into walnut sized balls and press them down so the same thickness to create simple round cookies.
5. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes in a fan oven at 160C, or until they start to brown slightly on top.
6. Allow to cool and enjoy! I love these biscuits still slightly warm. They also improve after a couple of days because this gives time for the almonds to release oil, therefore enhancing the flavour.