Chickpea and Coconut Rusks

I designed this recipe since a friend of mine brought great tasting Chickpea rusks with on our Knysna Marathon holiday recently but they were so hard they had to soak in our coffee before we could eat them. Having a bit of chickpea flour at home I decided to test out a recipe of my own and they came out great!

I added a spoon of raw honey but I am sure they would work just as well without it if you want a sugar free version. The bought version had ginger in it which was a tasty addition but I did not have any at home but feel free to add any flavouring you prefer, lemon zest, chocolate chips, nuts, seeds, spices...

Chickpea and Coconut Rusks

Makes 8

1 cup chickpea flour

1 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

10 pipped dates

1 ml salt

2ml bicarb

1 tbsp raw honey

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1tbsp sunflower seeds

1 ml caraway seeds

2ml cinnamon ground

2tbsp water

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend for a few minutes until the dates are roughly chopped up.

Spray and cook an oven proof dish. Place the rusk mixture in the dish and pat it out until 2cm thick (it does not need to fill the base of the dish) Bake on 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, tip onto a board and gently break into chunks. Place back in the oven on 100 degrees Celsius for 1,5 hours then leave in the oven until cool. Keep in an airtight container.

Enjoy with coffee or tea.

Recipe and pictures copyright by Tamsyn Wells