Cocoa Oat Biscuits with Rosemary & Flaky Sea Salt

It has been gloriously cloudy, rainy, and much cooler the past few days in my neck of the woods. It’s almost as if we hit September and Mother Nature decided to give us a gift after enduring another hellish summer. As far as I’m concerned, fall starts with the month of September so I’ve been using the first few days of the month to bring back all the cozy rituals I like to do this time of year. And, I’ve been racking up a lengthy list of baked goods to play around with in the kitchen now that I’m more inspired to turn the oven on. It’s entirely possible watching the latest season of Great British Baking Show miiiiight have had something to do with it 😉

I was craving a somewhat simple cookie, or biscuit as the Brits would say, to go with my tea. Since I finally replenished my cacao powder I knew it would probably go in the mix along with some flaky salt (obvs) and something herbal since I have a plethora of things from the garden drying in my studio at the moment. Thus, these vegan and gluten free biscuits were born.

Ultimately I decided to pair up rosemary and cocoa in these because it’s one of my favorite flavor combinations in baked goods. They contrast each other quite well as the resinous and piney flavors of the rosemary cut through the bitterness of the cocoa. Even though these are gluten free, I made it easy on myself (and you) by using only oat flour. Not only does oat flour perform well for binding, but it lends that signature sweetness of the oats themselves. These are finished off with a sprinkling of flaky sea salt to balance out the flavors and break up the mundane brown of the exterior.

Cocoa Oat Biscuits with Rosemary & Flaky Sea Salt

150g oat flour, plus a bit more for rolling out the dough
30g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp psyllium powder (or xanthan gum)
pinch of salt

60g coconut sugar
1 tsp dried rosemary leaves

75g unsweetened applesauce
30g melted coconut oil or vegan butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

flaky sea salt for sprinkling on top

Mix together the oat flour, cocoa, psyllium, and salt. Using either a mortar and pestle or a blender, grind the coconut sugar and rosemary together until the sugar has a finer texture, then mix it into the other dry ingredients.

Add the applesauce, oil, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix until the dough begins to form a soft and slightly sticky ball. If it seems too sticky sprinkle in a touch more oat flour. Dump the dough out onto a piece or plastic wrap or parchment, bring it together into a ball with your hands, then flatten it down into a disc. Wrap the dough then allow it to rest on the counter at room temperature for 1-2 hours.

When ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Dust a silpat (or a piece of parchment cut to the size of your baking sheet) lightly with oat flour but don’t put it on your baking sheet just yet. Add the dough to the middle of the sheet, dust it lightly with oat flour, then roll it out to a large round or rectangular shape that is approximately 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch in thickness. It doesn’t really matter what shape the dough is but rather how thin it is. Once you have it rolled out, use either a knife or a pizza cutter to cut a grid into the dough to make your biscuits. You can make these as big or as small as you want. You can choose to do squares, rectangles, or more of a diamond shape, it’s up to you! Once you have your grid cut, sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flaky sea salt. Carefully transfer the whole sheet to your baking sheet. Bake the biscuits for 13 to 15 minutes or until the tops are firm. After you remove the biscuits from the oven, re-cut the grid lines if needed. Cool the biscuits on the sheet before eating or storing in an airtight container.

These are best enjoyed within 1-2 days. The amount this recipe makes is variable depending on the size you cut them but I was able to get roughly 15-18 large diamond shapes (with several irregular pieces from around the border).