Pecan Cinnamon Twists

We were looking for a maple and pecan recipe (to try to 'do' a Danish like the ones J sees in the Waitrose cafe) but then realised we didn't have any maple syrup.  With this in mind, we decided to make up a 'post-Christmas' ingredients recipe to use up some of the things we had in the cupboards.  This is how we hit upon a recipe to use ground cinnamon and pecan nuts.

Having finally found some Silly Yak gluten free pastry (in the normal chiller with other pastries at Tesco) we thought we'd use this too.

We gathered the following ingredients -

35g dark brown sugar
25g pecans, shelled
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
200g puff pastry (rolled out to 20 x 25 cm sheet)  (we used Silly Yak gluten free which we'd finally tracked down in the chiller cabinet at Tesco)








To start, we combined first three ingredients in a the small hand blender bowl and blitzed till finely and combined.

Next the puff pastry was rolled out.  We used silicone sheets and lots of flour to make sure the pastry was thin and didn't stick (too much).

Once rolled out, the pastry sheet was brushed with the beated egg and then the sugar/nut mix was spread over it.

Using a pizza cutter, we cut the sheet into strips which were then twisted and placed on a chilled, non-stick, baking sheet.  We made sure to push the ends down in the hope this would stop the twists from straightening during baking.

We placed each finished sheet in the fridge to keep the twists chilled.

The twists were then baked in a hot (180ºC fan) oven for 12-15 minutes until golden (this time will vary depending on how thick you made your twists)

Cooling the twists for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, they were then transferred to a rack to fully cool.

YUM!

Pinwheels, Twists and Marbled Biscuits

Having seen Mary Berry make some simple two tone biscuits on the TV, we decided to give it a go with some gluten free biscuit dough.

Making up a batch of standard biscuit dough, (200g caster sugar, 200g unsalted butter, creamed, then one egg added and mixed through).  We split it in two after the egg was incorporated.  To one half we added 200g plain flour (we used Dove's Farm gluten free) and to the other we added 150g plain flour and 50g cocoa powder.

The doughs were then brought together using the electric mixer before being pulled into a ball by hand.

The two doughs were rolled out carefully (we used a silicone sheet to stop sticking but clingfilm could also be used if that is what you have to hand.) 

Once rolled, we laid two small sheets of dough one on top of the other and rolled it, carefully, into a long tube - this would be used to form the pinwheel biscuits

After chilling the dough 'roll' for about 15 minutes (whilst we got on with making biscuit twists) we sliced the dough roll into discs.

Each disc was just less than 1cm in thickness and was carefully placed on the non-stick baking sheet.

The twists were made by cutting thin lengths of the bi-coloured dough (we used a rule and pizza wheel), twisting slightly and placing directly onto a non-stick baking sheet ... making sure to push the ends down to stop them unravelling during cooking.








Mary Berry suggested making marbled biscuits with the left overs... and this is what we did too!  They're really simple.  By combining the leftovers of the doughs, we rolled out, used a cutter and put the biscuits on a baking sheet.


The biscuits were chilled until ready to be baked in a moderate oven (170ºC) for 8-12 minutes (you need to keep an eye on them because varying sizes mean they cook at differing rates)

Once cooked, we allowed thebiscuits to cool for a short while on the baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  Then they were ready to be stored in an airtight container for eating later... next time we'll make the twists a little shorter so they fit in our pots.