I was feeling like a needed a biscuit or cookie to snack on. I had lots of oats on hand, since I have porridge for breakfast on most days, so I decided to use some for cookies.
To add into the cookies, providing extra texture in the bite and flavour too, I decided to use some mixed dried fruit. That is a combination of raisins, sultanas, currents and chopped citrus peel. It the fruit mixture used so much in making Christmas cakes or mincemeat and suchlike.
In the UK mixed dried fruit is available all year round. But in some countries it may only be available in the lead up to Christmas. So now it a good time to present this recipe.
It is a very simple recipe too and can be made within an hour. Simply cream butter and sugar, add eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt, oats and mixed dried fruit. When mixed divide into 24 portions and shape into balls to bake, in batches. to create a very tasty treat.
My Bake
I baked my cookies for 18 minutes. They spread nicely and firmed up around the perimeter whilst staying softer in the centre.
After cooling on the baking trays for a few minutes they were transferred to a wire rack. Once completely cool the cookies were ready to taste. What a great taste too, the fruit in various guises gave an extra texture and flavour to those wonderful oats.
These are great cookies to have on hand.
I only baked 12 on the day and refrigerated the remaining cookie dough to bake a couple of days later.
Another great recipe is Orange & Lemon Oat Biscuits.
Fruity Oat Cookies – Quick & Easy
Course: Biscuits, CookiesDifficulty: Easy24
servings15
minutes18
minutesIngredients
260g(3 cups) rolled oats, or oats of choice
200g(1 1/4 cup, based on scooping packed flour into a 250ml cup) plain flour
200g(1 cup) light brown sugar
62g(5 tbsp) caster sugar
227g(1 cup) softened unsalted butter
4g(scant tsp) baking soda
2g(scant 1/2 tsp) salt
2 medium eggs(large in USA)
120g(1 cup) mixed dried fruit
5ml(1 tsp) vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer(you can do it by hand too) cream the butter and sugars together.
- Add the eggs one at a time, together with the vanilla extract and mix until fully combined.
- Stir the baking soda and salt into the flour.
- Tip the flour mix into the batter and mix until just combined.
- Add the fruit and oats and mix again until fully combined.
- Scoop about 48g of cookie dough into your hand and form into a ball then place and a parchment lined baking tray.
- Repeat with the remaining dough to make 24 balls of dough. Leave a large space between each ball as the dough will spread during baking.
- Press down on the balls to flatten the dough somewhat.
- Bake in the oven for about 18 minutes, slightly less time for a more chewy cookie and slightly more time for a more crunchy cookie. The edge of the cookies should be slightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.