Cran Banana Biscuits

By Pam Hadder

I have had this tea and biscuits theme running through my brain - must be the winter doldrums!  So this morning I decided to make some tea biscuits. I found a very simple recipe with flour, oil, bananas and soy milk - it seemed interesting, but with 4-1/2 cups of flour and no salt, no fruit etc, these seemed pretty heavy and Spartan - survival food! So my
Cran Banana Biscuits were born - I rev'd up the flavour, increased the fat and reduced the flour to a modest three cups et voilà... the BEST part, these don't have to be kneaded or rolled out/cut; just drop from a spoon and bake.  Hope you will try and enjoy with your favourite hot cuppa xox

Pam's Cran Banana Biscuits

Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas, mashed well
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup soy milk
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil
zest of one orange (or lemon)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder

Method:
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or lightly oil with vegetable shortening). Place the soy milk in a small bowl and stir in the apple cider vinegar - set aside; this will curdle and thicken slightly.  Place the mashed bananas in a large bowl and stir in the cranberries, oil and zest.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add the milk mixture to the bananas and beat well until creamy.  Dump all of the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir just enough to combine - don't want to beat it, but you don't want floury bits either ;)  Using two tablespoons, scoop about 1/3 cup of the batter at a time onto the prepared baking sheets, allowing about 2" between each biscuit.  The batter will be moist, but it holds its shape in soft mounds.  Bake for 20 minutes - biscuits will be golden brown on top and moist/flaky inside.  Enjoy with vegan butter and fruit, or your favourite fruit preserves - I love my homemade, vegan strawberry freezer jam (sugar free and yummy!). xox