Make this Ghanaian gari biscuit made with fermented cassava. It is light, crispy, and the coarse texture of gari flour is simply addicting. A simple biscuit that everyone enjoys.
WHAT IS GARI?
Another new ingredient I’ve learned lately is the gari (pronounced gah-ree). This coarse flour is made of ground cassava that is fermented and roasted. It is very popular in West African cooking. All that is left in gari is pretty much the fiber of cassava, hence it is a healthy ingredient to use. The gari flour has a slightly sour taste to it.
The African lady I bought this gari flour from the first time, told me that she ate gari flour regularly like how she would eat oatmeal. I can now easily find this gari flour in Asian store that carries African ingredients too.
Close-up of how gari flour looks like
What I want to make with this gari flour today is these gari biscuits. I saw this recipe on The Ghana Cookbook Fran Osseo-Asare and Barbara Baeta, Hippocrene Press, 2015. I totally got hooked to this biscuits though. The coarse gari flour gives that texture that I like. It doesn’t make the biscuits sour or anything. The biscuits are more cookies instead of like American biscuits.
HOW TO MAKE REALLY GOOD GARI BISCUITS
1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
2. Add butter pieces into the flour mixture and use a pastry knife or food processor to process into the texture of coarse crumbs.
3. Add the beaten egg and mix into the flour mixture. If it’s too dry, you can add 1 teaspoon of water or milk (if you prefer) to start with.
4. Divide the dough into 20 equal pieces. Roll into balls and then place on a baking sheet. Slightly pat the dough down into patties. Use a fork to create some pattern on top if you like.
5. Bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. The longer you bake the crispier it will get.
It’s very simple to make, isn’t it? 🙂
HOW TO STORE GARI BISCUITS
1. Let the cookies cool down completely
2. Transfer to an air-tight container or bag and they can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Anything longer, they may start getting soggy
Have I said that I absolutely love the texture? Maybe it’s just my weirdo side!
DID YOU MAKE THIS GARI BISCUITS RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
How To Make Gari Biscuits (African Cassava Biscuits)
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup gari flour 160 gr
- 1 cup all-purpose four 150 gr
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup sugar 100 gr
- ¼ tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 4 Tbsp cold butter 65 gr, dice into small pieces
- 1 tsp water or milk as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine
- Add butter pieces into the flour mixture and use a pastry knife or food processor to process into the texture of coarse crumbs
- Add the beaten egg and mix into the flour mixture. If it's too dry, you can add 1 teaspoon of water or milk (if you prefer) to start with
- Divide the dough into 20 equal pieces. Roll into balls and then place on a baking sheet. Slightly pat the dough down into patties. Use a fork to create some pattern on top if you like
- Bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. The longer you bake the crispier it will get
- Remove from the oven and let them sit for one minute and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool down completely. Store in an air-tight container once they have cooled down completely and they can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 weeks
9 comments
I was pretty surprised to find a recipe using gari! I bought some a while back because I’ve been interested in West African cooking, but it was a pretty big package and I’m not always in the mood for gari fotor! I’d heard about it for the first time when I watched a Ghanian cooking show on Youtube and I was sooooo curious what it was! Of course I had to read up about it and try it for myself. Something I’ve always been really curious about is how it would compare to Indonesian ‘tape’ or if there’s something similar to gari in cassava-eating parts of Asia.
Anyway, the recipe was easy and I was surprised that it only had a whisper of that gari sourness. The texture is pretty rough- like oatmeal cookies on steroids hahaha It’s good that it keeps me from inhaling them too quickly! Mainly, I just feel so fascinated trying such a familiar-yet-different treat from a part of the world I don’t know that much about.
I haven’t tried gari fortor myself. I still have some gari left. I’m a huge fan of tape. Tape is fermented too with a special yeast but the end result is moist and sweet. I like to eat them on their own or most Indonesians like to use them in making cakes and desserts too.
The texture is rough and fibrous and it’s more on a sour note too. Oatmeal cookies on steroids LOL!!! It is fascinating to learn about so many different foods around the world!!
To refresh your memory, ithe gari biscuit recipe is from The Ghana Cookbook by myself (Fran Osseo-Asare) and Barbara Baeta, Hippocrene Press, 2015.
Hello Fran, Thank you so much for the “refresher” 🙂 I absolutely love this gari biscuit. I hope you don’t mind that I posted the recipe here. I have referenced it back to the cookbook. If you do, let me know and I can take this down.
Hello, I tried this recipie using arrowroot and mashed banana instead of egg. I also used white spelt four mixed with gari flour and one teaspoon of almond milk. Really it does not need more milk! My cookies look like exactly as the photo above! The texture is soft. I mixed the cold butter and the flour with my hands. They look lovely! I am sure they taste great as well! Thank you for the recipie!
Hi Aimilia, that’s great to know that it works with arrowroot flour and mashed banana to replace the eggs. What a great substitution! Thank you for sharing 🙂
You are so wonderful permit me to say
I wondering if another flour could be used? Cassava or some other to avoid wheat.
Hi Rob,
I personally haven’t tried to replace the flour with gluten-free flour, but there’s gluten-free all-purpose flour that supposed to be able to replace all-purpose flour (for example from Bob’s Red Mill) and just need to add xanthan gum or guar gum. I haven’t tried it myself though.