Pecorino biscuits

Hi, prepare for a few bake off posts in a row, I had planned to bake along with the bake off and of course as soon as it came on TV I went off to do volunteer work. I am catching up over the weekend and should be back on track by the episode on Wednesday.

I decided to make savoury biscuits for biscuit week, I have already made Florentines and to be honest did not have time to make a 3D creation, why you ask? because I HANDED MY THESIS IN!!! Anyway I genuinely liked the sound of a savoury nibble.

As an added bonus I used pecorino and pumpkin seeds and so I will enter these into this months alpha bakes.

These are gluten free and lactose free, I used lactose free pecorino, if lactose is your issue these are fab but not suitable for other dairy allergy sufferers. If you do not have an issue with gluten feel free to use plain flour and they will work perfectly too.

Pecorino rounds

50g GF plain flour
pinch of cayenne pepper
15g semolina
50g DF spread (I use pure)
50g pecorino cheese, grated
1 medium egg yolk
1 tsp olive oil

1 egg yolk
15g pecorino cheese grated
pumpkin seeds
pinch of cayenne

Put the flour, cayenne pepper and semolina into a bowl and mix. Rub the spread with your finger tips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Dairy free spread is softer than butter so work quickly and don't worry that your 'breadcrumbs' are large. Stir in the 50g of cheese using a metal spoon. Briefly beat the egg and then add the egg and olive oil to the dry ingredients and bring together into a dough using a metal knife and cutting motion. Form the dough into a fat disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN/GAS MARK 4 and line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the chilled dough to a thickness of 3mm. Cut out small rounds and place them on the prepared sheet. Push remaining dough together, re roll and cut more biscuits.

Brush the biscuits with a little beaten egg, sprinkle over the 15g of cheese, place a couple of pumpkin seeds on top and add a small dusting of cayenne pepper. Bake for 8-12 minutes until golden, transfer to a wire rack to cool a little before consuming.

We had these warm with a glass of prosecco before a light evening meal and they were delicious, we also had the leftovers later that evening, cold but still delicious... I therefore have no idea how well they keep!