With The Great British Bake Off now well underway for another year, and who can help but feel just that little bit inspired to jump on the baking bandwagon? This week’s challenge is Biscuit Week, and if nothing else, it’s set to make for some fairly droolworthy viewing. At the very best, watching the contestants sift their way through the how-to of a fig-roll creation will have us dusting off our pinny in no time! Every year, the GBBO feel-good factor permeates our TV screens as a delicious reminder of how we can all potentially better our wellbeing with a bit of ‘flour power’. Given that today is World Coconut Day, our biscuit week inspiration has amounted to these delicious (and relatively simple) coconut coffee shortbread creams. Made using Coco Road coconut oil and wholemeal flour, they are the perfect treat for anyone wanting to serve up some biscuit day goodies without going too far down the refined route. Coco Road Organic Virgin coconut oil is cold pressed and packed at source in the Philippines in its natural liquid state, to help preserve its freshness and flavour. The process avoids heating and reheating, and the coconuts are processed within 3 days of harvest, and 2 hours from being opened. The finished product is free from GM ingredients, organic, Fair Trade, Vegan, Gluten free and packed in BPA-free containers. The coconut oil itself if rich in Lauric Acid which has potent antibacterial properties, and makes a brilliant alternative to butter in baking, Coco Road coconut oil also makes a fantastic cooking oil replacement, not to mention its role as a multipurpose beauty product, effective as a moisturiser, hair treatment oil, make up remover and lip balm. RECIPE: ‘Coconoffee’ shortbread creams You'll need 100ml Coco Road coconut oil, melted 80g caster sugar
3 tsp instant coffee 150g wholemeal bread flour For the filling: 150g icing sugar
3 tsp instant coffee 80g Coco Road coconut oil Method Heat the oven to 180c/160 fan/gas mark 4.
Add the flour, coffee and sugar to a large bowl, then slowly add in the coconut oil until the ingredients come together to form a dough. Bring the dough together and kneed briefly before transferring to a lightly floured surface. Roll out to approx 5mm thickness, then use a biscuit cutter to make approx 20 rounds. Bake in the over for approx 15 minutes. Allow to cool, and in the meantime you can make the icing filling. Mix together the icing sugar, coffee and coconut oil to form a thick paste. Once cooled, add one tea spoon of the icing to ten of the biscuit rounds, then use the remaining biscuits to make lids, pressing gently to secure in place.
