Marmalade and nut biscuits

(This recipe is adapted from a Maggie Beer recipe)

Ingredients

50g butter

100g butter at room temperature

1/3 cup caster sugar

175g plain flour

30g rice flour

70g blanched almonds, chopped

3 Tbsp Seville Marmalade

1 Tbsp mixed peel (optional)

Method

Preheat oven 190C; line a couple of baking trays with baking paper.

*Melt 50g butter in a small saucepan and continue to cook until nut brown, set aside to cool slightly.

Beat the remaining 100g butter and caster sugar together until creamy. Sieve the flour and rice flour together and add to the butter mixture, mixing well by hand.

Stir in the almonds and Seville Marmalade, adding the cooled nut brown butter and stir to combine.

**Then divide the mixture in two and roll each half into a cylindrical shape on a lightly floured surface. Make sure that there are no cracks then roll up tightly in cling-wrap or baking paper and refrigerate for a couple of hours or overnight until ready to use.

Slice the biscuit dough into even rounds about 1-1.5cm thick and bake for 10-12 minutes - cooking time will depend on your oven of course - mine takes longer. Allow to cool before serving. 

Chook's note: Maggie's original recipe used macadamia nuts.  I’ve tried it with both macadamias and almonds and prefer almonds.

The original recipe called for unsalted butter but I use salted butter. I think it definitely needs the salt.

*It is essential that you brown the butter well as this gives the biscuits a rich caramelly flavour.

** What i've done with the last few batches is cool the dough then roll it out on a board (in two batches, keep one cool) and simply use a cooky cutter.  It is a lot easier than the other method but if you do use Maggie's method and are in a hurry, pop the dough in the freezer for a little while until its set and cold - 1/2 to 3/4 hour.  All depends how much time you have or how patient you are!

The marmalade needs to be a rich tangy one. I have made them with Seville as well as blood orange marmalade and both batches were delicious. A little added candied citrus peel would give it an extra zing. Try it!