catkin crumb drop biscuits with chocolate chips arranged on a plate
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Catkin Crumb Biscuits

Catkin Crumb Biscuits is a traditional British recipe for a classic biscuit made from a blend of catkin crumbs (sugared, dried and extracted catkin pollen pods) with plain flour, butter and sugar. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Catkin Crumb Biscuits.

prep time

15 minutes

cook time

15 minutes

Total Time:

30 minutes

Makes:

12

Rating: 4.5 star rating

Tags : Wild FoodSpice RecipesBaking RecipesBritish Recipes

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This was originally a recipe for preparing biscuits from breadcrumbs, but having made catkin crumbs recently and with a big pile of them to use up, I wanted to see if this recipe could be modified to make use of them. If you don't have, or don't want to prepare catkin crumbs this recipe works just as well with stale bread or bread crusts rendered into crumbs. You could also use cake crumbs in this recipe.

Ingredients:

100g catkin crumbs or catkin flour
150g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
100g butter, diced (or 100ml oil blended with 2 tbsp peanut butter)
2 tbsp muscovado sugar (or grated jaggery)
100g sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
3/4 cup (about 110g) chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans or raisins

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 170°C.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the catkin crumbs. whisking to combine.

add the diced butter and rub into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Now add the sugar, vanilla extract (if using) the egg and the yoghurt, stirring to combine. Now stir through your choice of chocolate chips, nuts or dried fruit. If the mixture is a little dry you can add just a little milk.

Drop the batter by the heaped tablespoon onto a lined baking tray, making sure you allow room for them to spread during baking. Flatten slightly with the back of a spoon.

Transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake for 10–12 minutes, or until golden.

Allow to cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before storing or serving.