Christmas Spiced Friands

My Christmas boxes are typically full of glutinous goodies, so for a gluten-free friend, I made these Christmas spiced friands from BBC Good Food.

Yes, the recipe does refer to the inclusion of a small amount of wheat flour.  Friands don't normally contain flour at all, so I substituted the wheat flour with coconut flour to keep them gluten-free.  They stayed together quite well, despite the lack of gluten.

I have to say that these friands are not the most attractive looking specimens.  However, they taste good, especially with the addition of the coconut flour, which gives them an extra flavour dimension. 

Make sure you shape your friands the way you want them before baking, because they pretty much maintain their shape during baking - mine are round because I used an icecream scoop and thought they'd spread and flatten during baking, but they didn't.

Accordingly, if you are looking for an alternative Christmas baked treat for your gluten free friends and family, these Christmas spiced friands are a good option.  You can also easily make them dairy-free by substituting the butter for non-dairy spread.