make | when you want a treat: oaty raisin cookies

We love a good cookie.  Crisp and crumbly, a little bit soft in the centre.  Yum.  Cake just doesn't have anything on a good cookie!

These cookies are really really good.  Often, baking efforts in our house go for days with no one really touching them.  But when we make these, they go.  Quickly too! The best thing about them is that though they taste like a treat, you don't have to skimp on eating them -  there's not a bad ingredient in the bunch.

Our basic recipe is really cheap, but you can add whatever you fancy to it.  Maybe a dessert spoon of ground flaxseed (great for vegetarians, or people who don't like oily fish - it's really high in Omega 3 fatty acids which play a key role against inflammation, leading to things like heart disease and arthritis), or perhaps add 50g of whatever your favourite nuts are.  You could even change up what dried fruit you use - if you like cranberries, why not have a go with those?

We like these before we go to bed, with a glass of milk.  How do you like yours?

Enjoy today!!
- rosinaviolets    x

Oaty Raisin Cookies 

Makes 18 cookies 

75g raisins 

100g oats (get the jumbo ones, not the instant porridge kind)

50g spelt flour (it's easier to digest than normal wheat flour, and adds a nice nutty taste)

90g wholewheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda 

1/2 teaspoon fine salt or a tiny pinch of Maldon salt 

5 tablespoons olive oil or other vegetable oil

5 tablespoons maple syrup (this is great - it's really low on the glycaemic index (see below), and is a good source of manganese and zinc.  We always have it in our kitchen.)  

5 tablespoons agave nectar (or 4 tablespoons honey + 1 tablespoon water)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

Tip: Agave nectar comes from the agave plant, which looks a bit like a cactus or an aloe vera.  The syrup is really yummy, and works as a great alternative to sugar because it is low on the glycaemic index (low GI) which means it doesn't impact your blood sugar the way that normal sugar does.  You know the feeling you get when you eat a packet of Skittles?  Boundless energy, bouncing off the walls etc.  And then the slump you get about half an hour later?  That's because normal sugar gives you a lot of energy in one go.  Agave nectar gives you longer lasting energy.  It also contains special compounds which are anti-inflammatory, and boost the immune system.  And that's not all! It has lots of good minerals, including potassium, magnesium, iron and calcium.  

• Line some baking sheets with baking paper.  Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.  

• Put your raisins in a cereal bowl and cover them with boiling water.  This will make them really nice and plump! 

• In the meantime, finely grind half the oats in a food processor.  Add these to the other dry ingredients.

• Add in the wet ingredients and stir to combine.  If it's looking a bit dry, and some of the water from the raisins, and if needed, a couple of tablespoons of milk. 

• Fold the raisins into the mixture.  

• Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking sheets, and flatten them out a little bit with the back of your spoon.  Bake in the oven for between 12 - 15 minutes, until they're looking a nicely browned.  

• Cool on a wire rack before digging in (with a glass of milk, of course!)