Makes 25 (5cm) cookies | 30 mins wo-to-go (Prep 10 mins. Baking 20mins)
Quick easy healthier recipe for kids lunch boxes & healthy snacks on-the-go. This is a variation of the Chewy Oat , Banana and Cranberry Cookie. By omitting the mashed banana and adding water you turn it in to a more traditional style cookie.
YOU'LL LOVE IT BECAUSE....
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Nutrient dense - wholemeal flours, oats, un-refined sugar, cranberries
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Flours - A mix of organic spelt & gluten free wholemeal buckwheat - gives it shortness (a delicate bite) & nutty flavour and tho spelt contains gluten it is eaten by many on wheat free diets.
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Oats: regulate your appetite so you feel fuller for long and as well as help lower cholesterol.
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Fruit - cranberries rich in the anthocyanin antioxidants to help increase blood sugar metabolism.
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Panela Sugar - un-refined whole can sugar
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Melted butter - for taste & it makes it easy to use but you can use coconut oil or if nuts are permitted an almond or macadamia nut oil.
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NO nuts - so it works at school in lunch boxes
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One bowl wonder to save on washup.
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Energy content: Because there are no nuts (which have nearly dble the energy per gram of protein & carbs) & the serve size is small the KJ / Calorie content is fine for active kids.
YOU’LL NEED…..
1 Cup Wholemeal Spelt flour (organic)
3/4 cup Wholemeal Buckwheat Flour (organic)
1/2 cup organic Panela sugar (or brown)
1/3 cup oats ('quick' thin style or an oatmeal)
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries or organic sultanas (gives 2-3 per cookie)
100g butter - melted or a healthy oil
1/4 cup water
Extra oats for topping or dark, dark chocolate
TO MAKE….
Turn oven onto 180C. Line tray with baking paper.
Into a large bowl add the first 5 ingredients. Mix together well - I use a whisk to evenly distribute them.
Stir thru cranberries until well coated with flour mix and evenly distributed.
Add melted butter and water, gently mix in until dry mix comes together in a mound. It will be quite firm.
Use a spoon to make mounds of mix, roll in your hands to form a ball.
Depending if you are
topping with
oats or a
drizzle of chocolate....
a) Oat topping: push formed ball in to a small bowl of oats.
b) Chocolate: leave plain
Place on tray. Press the cookies flatter on the tray as they won't spread on baking. By making them flatter you increase the surface area to allow them to dry out and become crispier too.
Bake 20(ish) mins top half of oven til golden brown.
Cool on tray.
Once cool, you can melt chocolate,
make a paper (disposable) piping cone and drizzle over cookies. Leave to set.
TIPS & TRICKS
It's really good to start experimenting with your base and getting a feel for what they do.
- If you don't like the firmer style of this cookie you can increase the butter and sugar instead of using water but I like to keep the % of these a bit lower for kids snacks.
- increasing the fats / oils make it 'shorter'
- increasing the sugar make it crispier, browns quicker and makes the bikkie 'flow' on baking. eg sugar snap
- You can substitute (eg 1/4 to 1/2 cup) some of the flour with ground seeds (sunflower & or linseed), coconut flour or nuts (eg ground almonds). This gives the cookie more 'bite' or shortness too.
- If you don't like the slightly bitter flavour and aroma of buckwheat, you could use oatmeal.
- both the organic wholemeal spelt & buckwheat are now readily available in Coles & Woolworths stores.
- If you like very golden, crispy biscuits - once they have baked, turn the oven off, keep the door ajar and leave the tray in the oven til it has cooled. They colour up beautifully - but keep an eye on them.
- keep in an air tight jar or they will go soft.
KIDS
- ideal for school lunch boxes because it's a NUT free recipe
- kids feel spoilt if you give them the choc drizzle version and you can feel good knowing that you are not adding too much sweetness & they are getting wholesome grains &/or seeds.
