Hi guys! I greet you behind piles of cardboard. We are almost full and we move later in the day - we hand over the keys on Monday! We are eager to finish with all this, to put everything under one roof and finally to have a home that we can call ours. It's so exciting that even the sheer amount of redecoration we need does not scare us. We will take our time and do it slowly, piece by piece, so that we have the opportunity to think about what we want to do, how we do it, the budget, etc., and also to get to know the home before making radical changes.


We both dream of expanding the kitchen at some point, so we end up with a huge open-plan kitchen diner with huge French doors at the end and a skylight over the dining table, but we will not rush into this precipitation. . We are going to leave the kitchen as it is for the moment, even if it is more or less the opposite of our tastes, and we plan to extend it with the changes we want during the year. The prospect of having a kitchen that is fun to be is so exciting, especially since the rented kitchens I have been using since the beginning are quite below average.

Speaking of that, since I have almost no kitchen equipment left in this house, I decided to make you a biscuit tray today. They are compact (I used a fork to "cream" the sugar), quick and easy to make and still very popular with crowds. These are oatmeal cookies with a subtle flavor of peanut butter and large puddles of dark chocolate. They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and, depending on your health, I invite you to modify the recipe as you please.

For the nicest biscuits, use ½ cup of coconut oil (without walnut butter) and powdered sugar. For a little less greedy, replace ¼ cup of coconut oil with nut butter (I tried peanut butter and almond butter and I love them both) and finally for the best for you (even if, come on, it's STILL A COOKIE !! for not being in good health), use ½ cup of nut butter (without coconut oil) and coconut sugar.

Although I liked the most indulgent version, I actually prefer the middle ground myself, because I appreciate the extra flavor that peanut butter brings to the table. Whichever version you choose, I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed. Well, I hope you will prepare them and enjoy them as I go through my moving checklist ... With a cup of coffee and a biscuit in hand, of course!


makes: 14 prep: 15 min cooking: 20 min

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tbsp ground up flax (or chia) seeds
  • 120 ml / ½ cup thin plant milk (I used almond) or water
  • 50 g / ¼ cup fragrance-free coconut oil, solid*
  • 100-120 g / ½ cup-½ cup   2 tbsp caster (super fine) sugar**
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 63 g / ¼ cup peanut butter (or any other nut butter or tahini) (optional, see NOTES)
  • 120 g / ½ cup all purpose white wheat flour or all purpose GF flour mix
  • 2 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 150 g / scant 1¾ cup jumbo rolled oats
  • 100 g / 3.5 oz vegan chocolate, diced small or dried fruit (for refined sugar-free version)



METHOD

  1. In a small bowl, mix ground up flax and almond milk or water. Set aside to thicken.
  2. Chop up coconut oil small and place it in a mixing bowl with sugar. Using a fork, rub sugar into the coconut oil until you get a smooth paste with no chunks of oil left.
  3. Next add in vanilla essence, nut butter (if using) and thickened flax and incorporate them both well.
  4. Next fold in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
  5. Finally, mix in oats – you may need to use your hands towards the end – and chocolate, saving a few chunks for decoration.
  6. Refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes.
  7. Preheat the oven to 190° C / 375° F (or 170° C fan / 340° F fan) and line a baking tray with a piece of baking paper.
  8. Divide the dough into 14 balls (45 g each) and place them on the baking sheet. If using all coconut oil, leave a lot of space around each cookie as they will spread a lot. Flatten the balls with the palm of your hand – that’s especially important for the all nut butter version as it does not spread. Decorate the tops with saved chocolate chunks.
  9. Bake for about 17-20 minutes. Once the cookies cool off, keep them in a padlocked 😛 container.


NOTES
  1. For oil-free version, use more nut butter instead of coconut oil, but please note that this will affect the texture a little and the cookies won’t spread at all. This version is still nice, just not as indulgent. For an even more indulgent cookie or if you have a nut allergy, replace nut butter with more coconut oil – the cookies will spread out more so be sure to leave plenty of space round them.
  2. I find 100 g / ½ cup of sugar just enough but if you prefer sweeter cookies add an extra 2 tbsp (20 g). For refined sugar free version, use coconut sugar, but be aware that white caster sugar renders the exterior crispier.

Vegan oat cookies with chocolate: