Fennel biscuits

• makes

  24

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 100 g ghee (clarified butter), or unsalted butter, softened
• 40 g (¼ cup) pure icing sugar, plus extra, to dust
• 60 g plain flour
• 50 g chickpea (besan) flour
• 2 tbsp fine semolina
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp cardamom seeds, finely ground

Instructions

Preheat oven to 150°C. Using a mortar and pestle, grind 1 tsp fennel seeds and sugar until coarsely ground. Set aside.

Place ghee in a large bowl with icing sugar and beat for 2 minutes or until combined. Add flours, semolina, baking powder, ground cardamom and ¼ tsp salt, and stir until mixture forms a ball.

Place extra icing sugar in your palms and roll teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls; the icing sugar will prevent them from sticking.

Place balls 2 cm apart on a lined oven tray. Press to flatten slightly and sprinkle with generous amounts of fennel sugar. Scatter with remaining 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly pressing into top of each biscuit. Bake for 15 minutes or until just starting to colour. Cool on a wire rack before serving. Keep any leftover biscuits in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

As seen in Feast Magazine, Issue 13, pg102.

Photography by Armelle Habib

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.