Biscuits

Brigita’s Sweet Pumpernikel

For me, there is one thing about Christmas that is reallyspecial, and it is the memories of family and friends, those who are with us, and those no longer here…

As I was deciding on the recipes for the biscuits (cookies) to be baked for this year’s Christmas gifts, I recalled a beautiful, kind lady whom I felt privileged to call a friend, Brigita, a lecturer and colleague whom I worked with at Deakin University almost 30 years ago! (She was an academic, I was in admin). The department we worked for was a very social group, and we celebrated Christmas twice a year! Brigita, originally from Latvia, always prepared the mulled wine, but what I remember more is her very special sweet treat, a biscuit that she called pumpernikel. It was not the dark, dense, savoury pumpernikel that I was familiar with, but rather a crisp, light, sweet, fruity biscuit that she had baked and given to me as a gift for Christmas. I was so privileged to have received this recipe from her, and it is through this recipe that Brigita will be forever remembered by our family.

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Brigita's Sweet Pumpernikel

The fruit and peel make this little treat delicious!

Category: Baking, Biscuits, Cookies
Style: Latvian
Keyword: Biscuits, Christmas Biscuits, Christmas Cookies, Cookies, Fruit Biscuit, Fruit Cookies, Gluten Free Option, Pumpernikel, Sweet Pumpernikel
Quantity: 120 biscuits
Author: sbaskitchen
Ingredients
  • 200 g butter
  • 400 g sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 3 drops of almond extract
  • 500 g plain flour
  • 300 g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 125 g candied citrus peel
  • 100 g glace fruit diced
  • 75 g currants
  • 60 g glace ginger diced
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 175˚C (fan).
  2. Line 3 baking trays with baking paper.
  3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  5. Add fruit and dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
  6. Roll into 2 cm thick sticks and lay across the lined baking tray, leaving space for spreading.
  7. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden.
  8. Cut on the diagonal while still warm.

  9. Lay out on baking trays and dry in a tepid oven. (See notes.)

Notes

To dry out the sweet pumpernikel, I heat the oven to 150˚C (fan), return the biscuits to the oven, turn the oven off and then leave them in the residual heat overnight .

 

For gluten free sweet pumpernikel replace flour with Gluten Free Flour Blend, add an additional tsp of GF baking powder and 1 tsp xanthan gum.

 

First published:  24 December 2019
Last updated:  10 July 2026

 

If you have a moment, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you see on
this page – just pop a note in the comments box below.
With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.

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Crisp Coconut Biscuits – Gluten Free

This is such a versatile gluten free biscuit/cookie recipe, delicious as is, perfect for those melt and mix recipes, you know, for slices, cheesecakes, etc.  You can also make it your own by adding other ingredients to the mix – I love to add sultanas and cornflakes, you can’t stop at one!  They are not huge biscuits/cookies, but rather the size we have always made – about 4cm/1.5 inches in diameter when baked.  The perfect snack food or lunch box treat.

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Crisp Coconut Biscuits - Gluten Free
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
20 mins
Total Time
30 mins
 
This is my adaptation of a recipe from the AWW "The Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits. I have changed the recipe to make the biscuits gluten free and retain the crunchiness of the original recipe.
Category: Afternoon Tea, Biscuits, Lunch Box, Snacks
Style: Australian, Vegetarian
Keyword: Biscuits for Slices, Coconut Biscuits, Coconut Cookies, Cookies for Slices, Gluten Free, Gluten Free Biscuits for Slices, Gluten Free Cookies for Slices
Quantity: 40 biscuits
Author: Julie Malyon @ SBA's Kitchen
Ingredients
  • 100 g butter
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg white
  • 400 g gluten free flour blend
  • 2 tsp gluten free baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 1 cup coconut
  • extra sugar for dipping
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180˚C (fan).

  2. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

  3. Cream butter and sugar, beat in egg and then the white, add gluten free flour blend, baking powder, and salt, and coconut, and mix to combine.

  4. Roll into balls and gently press to flatten a little between the hands.

  5. Dip top side in extra sugar.

  6. Place on greased oven trays, sugar side up, allow for spreading.

  7. Bake in moderately hot oven 18 to 25 minutes, until golden.

Notes
  • Baking time depends on your oven (all ovens are not the same!).
  • I have become a little lazy, and when I have to bake tripple batches, I roll the dough into logs in baking paper and then just slice it into biscuit size portions, approximately 1cm thick - my sister thought I had become lazy and started purchasing store-bought biscuits, until I told her how I had done it - so easy,.
  • I use these biscuits whenever I am making a slice, cheesecake etc, that needs a melt and mix biscuit base.
  • When baking the biscuits for slices I do not sugar coat.
  • Links: Gluten Free Flour Blend

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Biscuits (Cookies)

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If you have a moment, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you see on
this page – just pop a note in the comments box below.
With many thanks and kindness,
Julie.

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