Savoury Snack Solutions: How to Resist the Biscuit Tin with Homemade Treats
When the lure of the biscuit tin becomes overwhelming, turning to homemade savoury snacks can provide a delicious and satisfying alternative. Our panel of food experts shares their favourite creations, from crispy tortilla chips to flavourful cheese biscuits, offering untold possibilities to stave off sweet cravings.
The Crispy Alternative: Homemade Tortilla Chips
Guardian baker Benjamina Ebuehi, who admits to often being in "sweet mode", counters cake intake with something salty, spiced, and crisp. When time permits, she makes homemade tortilla chips by chopping corn tortillas into triangles, brushing them with olive oil, and seasoning with flaky salt, za'atar, dukkah, garlic granules, or everything bagel seasoning. After baking until crisp, these chips are perfect for dunking into hummus.
Creamy Dips and Crunchy Crudites
Fellow Guardian regular Georgina Hayden is rarely without a tub of creamy chickpea dip, whether homemade or shop-bought. She enhances her hummus by drizzling chilli crisp oil over the top and scooping it up with crudites such as celery, carrot, or cucumber. "That's so good – and so easy," she notes, making this a quick and satisfying snack option.
Fancy Finger Foods: Gildas and Antipasti Skewers
When Hayden wants to "be fancy", she turns to gildas – an olive, a little anchovy, and a pickled green chilli on a cocktail stick – or simply a salty, anchovy-stuffed olive. She suggests threading any antipasti, like sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, or marinated onions, onto sticks for a treat that feels indulgent yet less so than biscuits. Having a batch in the fridge adds a touch of luxury to snack time.
Cheesy Delights: From Simple Cubes to Baked Treats
Cheese is a popular choice among our columnists. Ebuehi enjoys it simply as a cube, while Rukmini Iyer incorporates it into homemade dough. Iyer explains, "It's still a biscuit, but you can flavour it with whatever you want," such as rosemary, sage, nigella, fennel, caraway, or cumin seeds. Her method involves blitzing cheese in a food processor, adding spelt flour and butter, and forming a dough. After chilling, she slices and bakes the cheesy log into golden discs, creating fresh snacks for both adults and children.
Hayden also recommends cheese pinwheels and straws made with puff pastry spread with Marmite and butter, then grated hard cheese. Twisted into spirals and baked, these snacks last well and offer a savoury crunch.
Nutty and Seedy Options: Savoury Granola and Roasted Mixes
Thomasina Miers opts for a nutty approach by toasting fennel seeds with chilli flakes, sea salt, and chopped rosemary, then coating a mix of nuts and seeds with olive oil and honey. Roasted until golden, this makes a flavourful snack. Alternatively, Ebuehi creates a savoury granola by mixing nuts, oats, honey, sesame seeds, and seasonings like za'atar, garlic powder, or chilli, then baking until crisp. This can be eaten by the handful or sprinkled over yoghurt for a wholesome alternative to biscuits.
With these creative ideas, resisting the biscuit tin becomes a tasty adventure. For more culinary inspiration, consider exploring homemade snacks that cater to your savoury cravings.
