Strawberry and Black Pepper Biscuits

Ingredients

For the biscuits

• 100g vegan hard margarine or butter
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 lemon zest and half the juice
• 100g plain flour
• 1 tsp cracked black pepper
• 2 tsp freeze dried strawberry powder
• 50g ground almonds
• Pinch of salt

For the jam

• 4 tbsp icing sugar plus extra for dusting
• 3 tbsp freeze dried strawberry powder
• 3 tbsp water

Method

1. To make the biscuits: Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas mark 4.
2. Cream together the margarine or butter with the sugar.
3. Add all the remaining biscuit ingredients and mix till thoroughly combined.
4. Allow the mixture to chill for 20 minutes.
5. Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with a little icing sugar.
6. With the rolling pin carefully roll out half of the dough to approximately 3mm.
7. Cut out the dough with a circular cutter then place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
8. Roll out the remaining dough and cut out circles as before. This time take a small cutter and carefully cut out the centre leaving a ring. Place the rings on to the baking sheet.
9. With any remaining dough, simply cut into biscuit shapes and place onto a baking sheet.
10. Bake for 13-15 minutes. When cooked, allow to cool before transferring to a cooling rack.
11. To make the jam: simple mix all of the ingredients together. (no need to heat).
12. Finally fill your biscuits by placing a little jam in the centre of the base biscuit and carefully sit the ring on the top. With a few biscuits simply place a blob of jam in the centre with no ring and leave the remaining biscuits plain.
13. Place your biscuits into an air tight container. The jam will harden overnight enabling easier transportation.