Coconut, Oats & Dry Fruit Cookies

We are almost in the middle of May and I must admit that talking about Christmas now does feel a bit odd. But talk I must especially because it has a lot to do with my baking obsession without proper planning. As always the Christmas of 2013 rolled by without completing half the baking tasks that I had jotted down on my to-do list. The ingredients were purchased before the Christmas season had actually begun – in anticipation of the virtual ‘orders’ I would get from my family who in reality run away from all calorie laden things. But since old habits die hard I went ahead and bookmarked a thousand recipes that led to marathon shopping sessions resulting in a million ingredients waiting patiently to be used. Well, to be fair to myself, I did get around to using most of that stuff but the little that was unused had to be put to good use right? I couldn’t let good money go down the drain so once the Christmas frenzy got over and the New Year was welcomed and the post party hangover died I took out my recipe books and decided to try out some recipes that would call for ingredients that I was looking to use up.

I had some desiccated coconut lying around since Diwali when I had tried the Choco Coconut Laddoos – the good thing is that it has a long shelf life. I also had some oats which no one wanted to eat – again, purchased on a whim, with an aim to eat better but such enthusiastic plans always die an early death in my house (however, that has changed for the good – more stories in my upcoming posts!). So off I set to making these cookies. My ‘favouritest’ part of baking is making cakes and nothing else. Or so I thought, until I tried these cookies. I realised how very easy it was to make cookies. They usually take lesser time to put together and most recipes have fewer ingredients than cakes and the best part is that home made cookies (or biscuits if you please) taste so much better than store bought ones especially because they are made fresh and eaten warm. It may be a norm around the world but in India cookies/biscuits at bakeries round the corner don’t cost an arm and a leg. However I have noticed that many places here in Dubai sell cookies at a sky rocketing price (I mean why pay so much for a single cookie when you can bake half a dozen for the same cost?). Plus you get your house filled with that amazing aroma of freshly baked cookies for free!! Yippee! Go make some now!

 

Coconut, Oats & Dry Fruit Cookies
Recipe Adapted from: Love Food, The Perfect Christmas
Prep time: 20 mins | Bake time: 15mins | Makes 24-28

Ingredients:

• 200 grams plain flour
• 80 grams oats
• 40 grams desiccated coconut
• 60 grams dry fruits (like raisins or cranberries -I used dried cherries)
• 225 grams butter at room temperature
• 140 grams caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C/375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.
2. In a large bowl add the butter and sugar and mix well using a wooden spoon or spatula. Beat in the yolk and toss in the vanilla extract.
3. Sift the flour and salt into this mixture, add the oats, dry fruits and stir until thoroughly combined.
4. Scoop up a tablespoons of the dough and place them spaced well apart on the prepared baking sheet. If the dough is very stiff you can gently press the mound of dough but otherwise they will spread on their own during the baking stage.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Remove and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then carefully lift them using a palette knife (a flat knife) and transfer them onto wire racks to cool completely.
6. The cooling process hardens the cookies. Once completely cooled store them in an airtight container