Vegan Coconutty Oaty Cookies

I am always up for a baking challenge, and I fancied taking on the challenge of feeding my vegan colleagues at work! I feel bad leaving them out when I bring in my baked goods, so I put my mind to finding some easy vegan recipes. There are a ton of dairy free spreads out there, so that isn’t hard, but eggs are somewhat ubiquitious in baking, and therein lay the difficulty.

Countless google searches and I found an interesting recipe to build on. But I admit, I was sceptical. I didn’t think it was possible to get such chewy and amazingly light cookies without eggs being involved somehow. But these are a damn revelation. Perfect chewiness, easy to make, taste amazing. Win win win.

You know how Phoebe brags that she makes the best oatmeal raisin cookies in the world (but she doesn't make them very often because she doesn't think it's fair to the other cookies!) - well these are those cookies. They look unassuming but they pack a punch!

Makes just over a dozen chunky cookies

Parkin

Just in time for Bonfire Night..

And this time I’m going local! Parkin is a traditional North-East of England cake, made with oats and treacle. Thus, it is a sweet, moist and sticky cake. And the sweet, spiced flavours are just perfect for autumn.

I didn’t know about this cake until I took a chance on it as dessert in one of my favourite restaurants. 

My mum and I were really impressed by the syrup-y sweet, dense oaty cake, which was served with banana icecream (a revelation – a complete perfect partnership!). I knew as the cold weather rolled around once again, I wanted to try my own version.

And it went down a treat! Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any treacle, but if you can, substitute 100g of the golden syrup for 100g of treacle.

Coconut Breakfast Porridge

YUM. Accidentally made a two person amount for just me, hence the massive portion pictured!

So, I am trying to be a bit more interesting and varied in my breakfast/lunches- on the weekend, during the week I get out of the house in 10 minutes and inhale a yogurt on the train on my way to work. As much as I love food, I confess that my love of sleep is greater.

Porridge, to me, had always been a bit of punishment food. Despite being warming and filling and good for you. I've always felt it is a food best eaten if you’re dieting, or if there’s nothing else in the house and it’s a blizzard outside, or you lost your sense of smell and taste.

However, I have found a way to make it not only palatable, but even a bit yummy! I have possibly engineered this miracle by shamelessly increasing the calorie content (I don’t understand how you could eat porridge without a bit of sugar sprinkled in), but still. It’s better than eating a donut for breakfast.

And you can take that to the bank!

Oat and Chocolate Biscuits

Mary Berry strikes again! This time, I’m adapting her recipe for some short oat biscuits. They are crunchy, and rolling the biscuits in the oats give a great texture to the outside.

The recipe makes A LOT of medium-sized cookies, I got about 36 in total. Great for whipping up for a party or picnic.

I added the chocolate (about a quarter of a square) and ginger, instead of the suggested glace cherry (that was just a bit too vintage, sorry Mary). And I think that worked out well, these biccies are ever so slightly dry, and the chocolate nub just improves the whole thing.

I also decided to do a white chocolate and coconut version, by adding coconut to the oat layer, and using amazing white chocolate with coconut that I picked up on my holidays in France.

Heavenly!

I should have known that the white chocolate would melt utterly into the cookie, instead of keeping its shape like the milk and dark chunks. 

Pretty!
 

A bit splotchy...

Yes, they're kind of ugly, but still taste goooood!

Ginger and Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

I have been on a bit of an oaty cookie kick at the minute, and these are unusual in texture and flavour, but I really like them. The honey makes them a little bit floppy, but I really like the texture that it gives. The oats and coconut also give a nice firming quality.

You could add some orange or lemon to this, but I didn’t want to go overboard with flavours on the first attempt. As they are, they are delicately spiced, sweet and delicious.

Makes about 18 cookies, but next time I think I would make them a little smaller.