Grab a couple of these VEGAN Teff Digestive Pistachio Biscuits when hunger strikes outside meal times for a healthy, filling, delicious snack!
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by The Teff Company. All opinions, as always, are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support Love is in my tummy.
When my dad got diagnosed with diabetes in his late 40s, he began routinely snacking on digestive biscuits, the very sight of which I detested. Biscuits were supposed to be delicious, a snack you look forward to, but thanks to the high fiber, low fat, low sugar nature of these digestives, they mostly tasted like dry sand in your mouth.
Of course, this is an entirely biased opinion of 13 year old me, whose favorite biscuit was chocolate bourbon. Still is, actually, except they don’t make vegan ones, so I just sigh a lot when I spot them on the store shelves.
So when I say that these Teff Digestive Pistachio digestive biscuits are my new favorite, it either signifies my altered palette (entering 30s did a number on me), or just maybe, these are actually delicious, and good for you.
It’s vegan and gluten-free, made with Maskal Teff® Ivory flour (learn how nutritious Teff® is) and Oat flour (hello fiber!), and partly sweetened with mashed bananas for energy and natural sugar. The pistachios are an indulgence, but you hardly get two per biscuit, so it’s an indulgence I welcome. The salt and sugar topping, however is something you definitely can omit if you’re really into this for health.
Box them up in an air-tight container on your desk or wherever you usually are when hunger strikes, and if you can manage a cup of chai or coffee to dunk into, it’ll just be a stellar experience. The cookies themselves aren’t as dry, thanks to the bananas. and the natural nuttiness of the Teff imparts a very rich, decadent flavor to the biscuits.
I also love taking them on hikes with me for some instant energy. It really helps!
And you can also bake a batch of these to another health-conscious pal who could use a little pick me up in the afternoon.
When you make these Teff Digestive Pistachio Biscuits (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I’d love to see what you cook from here!

Teff Digestive Pistachio Biscuits
Grab a couple of these VEGAN Teff Digestive Pistachio Biscuits when hunger strikes outside meal times for a healthy, filling, delicious snack!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Maskal Teff® Ivory flour
- 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoon oat flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 4 green cardamom pods (optional)
- 1/4 cup mashed overripe banana
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk
Topping
- 1/4 cup raw pistachios, chopped
- 1 teaspoon cane sugar (optional)
- 2 pinches of salt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- In a bowl, combine the flours, baking powder and salt. Stir well and set aside.
- In a mortar and pestle, pound the green cardamom until the skin separates from the seeds. Discard skin and continue pounding on the seeds until it is a coarse powder. Set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the mashed banana, olive oil, brown sugar. Whisk until the sugar dissolves.
- Stir in the vanilla, ground cardamom and milk. Fold in the flours until you get a soft dough.
- Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out the dough and roll into a ball. Place on a medium baking tray and press down into a circle about 1/8” thick. Repeat until you run out of room on the baking tray. I needed to bake them in two batches.
- In a bowl, combine the cane sugar and salt. Sprinkle the tops of the cookie with chopped pistachios, and a scant pinch of the sugar-salt topping.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 350°F/180°C for 20 minutes, until the bottom is crisp and golden brown. Cool on a baking rack and store in an airtight container for upto 2 weeks.
Notes
- I make my own oat flour by grinding quick cooking rolled oats in the blender until smooth.
- Skip the sugar and salt topping, to make this less indulgent and more healthy.
- The cardamom is optional, but something about cardamom and pistachios just work. So unless you have a cardamom aversion, I highly recommend you try.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 133Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 77mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 1gSugar: 7gProtein: 2g
Disclaimer: This nutritional data is calculated using third party tools and is only intended as a reference.
Roger Williams says
Is it possible you could use metric measurements. ie grams and ml. I have no idea what weight 1 cup of teff is or a quarter cup of oat flour.
thanks very much. Recipe looks good and want to make it. Roger
Tina Dawson says
Thank you for your input, I will make extra efforts to include metric weights in future recipes.
Giselle Runza says
Hello,
Your recipes look delicious, can’t wait to try one out. I would like to try the digestive pistachio biscuits first but I’ve never seen Teff where I come from ( which is a tiny island in the Mediterranean called Malta) and ordering online from abroad is very difficult right now. Is there anything else, which is healthy, that I can substitute it with? I’ve looked up millet and bulgur but can I use either one for the cookies?
Thanks in advance
Giselle
Tina Dawson says
Teff is a glutenfree nutrient-rich grain/flour and I completely understand your difficulty in sourcing it (especially under the quarantine conditions our world is in right now!). While I’ve never tried this recipe with other gluten-free flours, I don’t see why you cannot give it a try with whatever you have at hand. The recipe is quite forgiving, and as long as you are able to get a soft dough that you can shape into a smooth ball and press down to cookie shape, you should be fine. Let me know if that helps and works, I’m curious to know! Thanks!
Alisha Sethi says
Nice share!