Garibaldi biscuits are a British staple, you’ll find them in biscuit tins up and down the country. Get my recipe for Vegan Garibaldi Biscuits below.
British biscuits
When you open up a biscuit tin in the UK you will find a selection of biscuits. Bourbons, custard creams, shortbread, ginger biscuits, malted milks and of course Garibaldi biscuits.
Some of these biscuits may be more familiar to you than others but all have stood the test of time and still deserve a place alongside a hot cup of tea.
What is a Garibaldi biscuit?
The Garibaldi biscuit is quite an old fashioned biscuit. It is a very thin biscuit made up of currants squashed and baked between two layers of biscuit dough.
Currants may not be the most popular filling choice for a sandwich biscuit but the biscuit is as popular as ever.
Where does the Garibaldi biscuit get its name
Garibaldi biscuits were invented by an employee at the biscuit company Peek Freans in 1861. Rumour has it that they were named after Italian revolutionary called Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian General, who fought for Italian unification. Why they were named after him remains a mystery. But these British biscuits also go by another unusual name – the squashed fly biscuit.
Why is it sometimes called a squashed fly biscuit
It gets it’s unofficial title as a squashed fly biscuit thanks to the appearance of the currants poking through and around the top layer of the biscuit dough.
Although it might not be the most appetising of thoughts it is a pretty accurate way of describing them!
What does a Garibaldi biscuit taste like?
Garibaldi biscuits have a snap to them, they are not too soft. The currant centre is slightly chewy and adds some sweetness. They are quite understated.
How to make a vegan Garibaldi biscuit
The first step in making a vegan Garibaldi biscuit is to run together the fat and the flour (along with a pinch of salt for flavour).
Garibaldis are not ordinarily vegan. They are made with butter, milk and egg which makes them unsuitable for a plant based diet. Despite not using butter, milk or eggs, the method for making the biscuits is almost the same.
The first substitution in the recipe is butter. To make the biscuit dough, you rub together fat and flour. Instead of regular butter use a plant based block butter like Flora or Naturli. Alternatively you could use a vegan margarine.
Once you've rubbed the fat and flour into fine breadcrumbs, you need to bring the dough together into a ball. Traditional recipes would do this with milk and sometimes an egg for richness. Here we just use a plant based milk. Soy milk is always my milk of choice when baking. This is because it is the plant milk that has the most similarities with cows milk.
When the dough has come together into a ball, wrap it in cling film and rest it in the fridge. Once the resting time is up, roll out the dough, cover half with currants, fold the dough back on itself, cut out the biscuits, brush with milk and sugar then bake. Simple.
The recipe
These vegan Garibaldi biscuits are about to become your new favourite biscuit. Get ready to dunk.
Vegan Garibaldi Biscuits
Ingredients
- 100 g self-raising flour
- pinch salt
- 25 g vegan butter chilled
- 25 g caster sugar
- 2 - 3 tablespoons soy milk
- 75 g currants roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 C / 356 F / gas 4.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper and place to one side.
- Put the flour, salt and butter into a large bowl and, using your finger-tips, rub the flour and butter together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the sugar followed by just enough milk to mix to a firm dough – it should not be sticky.
- Wrap the dough in clingfilm and rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Tip the dough ball out on to a lightly floured surface and roll it out to a rectangle 5mm thick.
- Sprinkle the chopped currants over half the surface and then fold the other half on top roll everything again so you end up with a rectangle roughly 18 by 28 cm trimming off any excess or uneven edges.
- Cut this into fingers roughly 3cm by 7cm.
- Place the biscuits on the baking sheet, prick with a fork in two rows, then brush with a little milk and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
- Bake near the centre of the oven for 12–15 minutes, then place on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
The Great British Bake-along
I made these biscuits having been inspired by the technical challenge on the Great British Bake Off. To see more recipes inspired by the show check out my Great British Bake-along recipe collection.
More biscuit recipes
More British recipes
For more classic British recipes check out the British recipe collection.
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