There is nothing I love more than revisiting those old classic Australian desserts and sweets I used to enjoy as a child. Whether you consider it lucky (or rather, unlucky) I wasn’t diagnosed as gluten intolerant until well into my 20’s. This means I have many strong memories of my favourite foods before I went GF. Some might consider it a curse, a constant reminder of what “good food” used to taste like. Me though? I consider it a challenge! Those memories now inspire me on a daily basis. So that I might try and recreate those delicious morsels with an epic gluten free twist. A twist so good, most can’t even tell they’re GF. Don’t believe me? Well, you best be giving my Gluten Free Monte Carlo biscuits a try then!!

Ahhh the good ole Arnott’s bikkie selection. Whether you’re a short and sweet shortbread lover, or a solo kingston devout, all Aussies are well versed in their delicious array of biscuits. So it’s a sad day when you can’t even walk down the biscuit aisle for fear of bursting into random sobbing tears, whilst clutching a sleeve of Iced Vovo’s. Not that I ever did that of course. But they are very much ingrained in who we are are as a Nation. No meeting is the same without them, nor no afternoon tea break! That’s why we glutards can feel rather un-Australian at times! Not being able to partake in this most iconic tradition is rather sad!

Admittedly I made this batch a little large! But hey, it adds to the ‘realness’ right?!

Enough Is Enough!

But why should we have to miss out all the time? Especially in something so iconic. Well, that was what my thinking was when I decided to start on one epic Gluten Free Challenge. It all started when I thought about just how simple it would be to make monte carlos gluten free. Once I did that, I decided I couldn’t just leave it there. How can I master one of Arnott’s classic cream bikkies without tackling the others. In fact, why not go the whole hog and challenge myself to recreate the entire Arnott’s Assorted Creams Family Pack! My goodness! I know! I can hear your collective gasp from here!

The road to get here was definitely interesting though, searching for a base recipe for the classic monte carlo. Almost all the recipes I found did NOT contain honey or golden syrup! Now, how could that be? Isn’t that exactly what a monte carlo is? A subtly flavoured biscuit of honey, golden syrup and coconut? Sandwiched with raspberry and cream? Well yeah it is. So in my time of need I turned to Arnott’s themselves and delved into their ingredients list (hehe). This is how I came about my perfect gluten free monte carlo recipe.

The Monte Carlo Twist

Now we couldn’t talk all things monte carlo without getting into the hottest of all debates, could we? In fact you can’t sit around eating these fabled classics without getting onto the subject. So how DO you eat a Monte Carlo? Are you a dunker? A twist and licker? Or a all-in-one kinda folk. One cannot simply eat a monte carlo biscuit!! I’d love to hear how you eat your monte carlos in the comments below… I’m definitely a dunker!

But enough debating. Let’s get into it and take a little stroll down memory lane with my gluten free monte carlo biscuits!

Gently run the tines of a fork over the biscuits, before patting them down. This helps give the biscuits a truly monte carlo look! 

[[ recipeID=recipe-9l44z1f27, title=Classic Gluten Free Monte Carlo Biscuits ]]

Now onto my epic Gluten Free Challenge, which of the classic Arnott’s biscuits would you like to see created gluten free next? Let me know in the comments below!