So, I am getting married in December (TOO much excitement!) and with that comes the usual bride-to-be stress of fitting into a wedding dress. That’s all good and well for some one happy to eat steamed greens for the next 3 months, but if you know me (and my all consuming passion for EVERYTHING food) then you know that I am not (and will never be, thank goodness!) that person! So what appeals to me about these cookies, considering my current challenges, is that they are completely delicious and on the healthier side of the cookie scale (well, in moderation, which is always challenging!). In a few words these cookies are quick, sweet, crunchy, chewy and just completely addictive!
Yield: 25-30 cookies
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 12-15 minutes
Ingredients:
30ml butter
1 cup treacle sugar
*You can also use brown or white sugar or a combination, but treacle gives such a lovely caramel flavour
1 XL egg, beaten
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
*The riper (bordering on rotten) the better
5ml vanilla essence
1 cup cake flour
5ml baking powder
2.5ml bicarbonate of soda
2.5ml salt
2.5ml ground cinnamon
500ml oats, quick cooking
*Not instant oats
100g slivered almonds – roasted
*You can use any nuts you like – I love the flavor of toasted almonds, but pecans, walnuts and hazelnuts would also work really well. You can also leave the nuts out entirely if you prefer or if you have an allergy.
Method
- Preheat oven to 180’C.
- Line two baking trays with baking paper or use a silpat (greatest invention ever!).
- In the bowl of your mixer cream the butter and sugar on a medium speed. This can also be done by hand as it is such a small amount of butter
- Add the egg, banana and vanilla essence.
- In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon.
- Add the oats and roasted nuts and stir to combine thoroughly.
- Add the flour mixture into the creamed butter mixture and stir until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.
- Form cookies with heaped tablespoons of the mixture pressed lightly onto the baking sheet leaving a few centimetres of space around each cookie.
- Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden all over.
- Be careful not to over-bake the cookies or you will lose the chewy centre.
- Allow to cool on a baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container (if there are any left to store!).
Food Love,
Tanya