My dear friend Anna recently turned 50, and I was asked to do two things for her celebration: organize all the flowers for her party and make these delicious biscuits. So, I spent the morning picking rosemary and lavender to fill many vases. My hands were left scented with lavender and rosemary’s beautiful, intoxicating scent. Lavender would have to be my favourite flower.

This reminds me I need to plant more of it in the garden.

DATE BISCUIT SLICE

These biscuits are delicate. The recipe was passed down from my mother and was one of my favourite treats as a child. I made some modifications to the original recipe, reducing the sugar and using whole spelt flour instead of white flour. I found that the dates provide enough sweetness, and the icing sugar on top adds just the right amount of sweetness. It’s almost too sweet, but perfect for satisfying a sweet craving. I also added walnuts for a nutty flavour. The biscuits tend to crumble and break easily when cutting, so I recommend using a very sharp, hot knife after the icing has solidified. You can also dip the knife in boiling water occasionally during the cutting process.

ingredients

100g unsalted butter

¼ cup/90g light molasses or maple syrup

1 cup/120g whole spelt flour

1 cup/80g dried shredded coconut

1 cup/170g pitted dates, chopped into small pieces

¼ cup/25g finely chopped walnuts

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

for the icing

1 cup/140g sugar powder (icing sugar)

2 Tbsp cocoa powder

desiccated coconut for sprinkling on top

preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.  Grease a rectangular 21cm x 29cm tray.
  2. Melt the butter and molasses over medium heat – set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, coconut, dates, walnuts, baking soda, and cocoa powder. Mix well, then pour in the butter mixture, combining well.
  4. Spread evenly with the back of a spoon into the tray and bake for 20 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

prepare the icing

  1. Mix the icing sugar and cocoa powder with just a few teaspoons of water until you get a spreadable consistency. Spread the icing over the biscuit base, sprinkle with coconut, allow the icing to set, then cut into squares.

Goodness shared from Stacey