Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I made these last week for my lovely friend Emma who is currently trying to keep to a dairy free diet. I had spotted this recipe in the April edition of Good Food and you can find the recipe online here. They use vegetable oil instead of butter so are perfect if you’re trying to cut dairy out. They are soft and chewy but sadly mine ended up looking a bit more like rock cakes compared to cookies. You pour water over the raisins first to help them plump up and stop burning in the oven which was a technique I hadn’t used before.

This recipe will make approximately 25 cookies. They will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days – if they last that long!

Ingredients:
100g raisins
150ml vegetable oil
200g golden caster sugar
1 large egg (beaten)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
140g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
300g oats

Method:
1) Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.
2) Pour 50ml of boiling water over the raisins and leave them to soak for 20 minutes until plump. Drain, and reserve the liquid.

3) Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the oil and sugar. Gradually beat in the egg, along with the reserved water from the raisins, the cinnamon and vanilla extract.

4) Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt into the bowl, then add the oats. Finally, mix in the raisins.

5) Drop heaped tablespoons of the cookie dough onto the baking trays, well spaced apart (they will spread when cooking). Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.

6) Once baked, leave to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack (or tucking in if you want!)
7) Enjoy!