At some mysterious moment in time I have become a cookie lover. Maybe to compensate for the new healthy me; no caffeine, juice crazy, pilates loving, food crazy mummy, cookies have crept into the kitchen and I seem to be the head consumer. Now I’m not talking shop bought cardboard numbers, I am talking homemade, energy boosting handfuls of goodness. Stuffed full of the new migrants in my larder, which frankly I had barely heard of a year ago but seem to be all the rage now. I kind of feel I’m right on trend, which is rare I may add. Once you get over the butter content the rest of the ingredients are healthy, nutritious and allegedly ‘good’ for you.

We have been through all the motions, test driven all sorts of recipes. The pink one likes them hard and biscuit like, the blue one is unfussed and Mr.P likes them soft and almost chewy. There’s always been one or two ingredients in common and that’s oats and butter but beyond that we have tried every combination imaginable, raisins, rice flour, pine nuts, maple syrup, oatmeal and the list goes on. I was keen to keep oats in the mix as it was reminiscent of my own childhood snack famously known as a ‘Nig Nog’. ‘Nig-Nogs’ were a wonderful oaty, syrupy, buttery creation mummy had dreamt up, I think they came out slightly different every time, it simply didn’t matter as to me and my siblings they were the business. I can’t say these are an exact replica as sadly it’s a long time since I ate a nig-nog but they are pretty close and with the new added ‘super’ addition of hemp seeds and ground flax seed it is a  cookie that seriously reflects the foodie fads of today, and particularly my larder. Another ingredient in their favour is the small amount of sugar, due to the dates and their rich, indulgent taste I have lowered the sugar content significantly and used coconut palm sugar, which is a natural sweetener and a more nutritious alternative to the standard white stuff. All in all they are almost – and I say almost, ‘guilt-free’.

Oat, Hemp and Pumpkin Seeds Cookies

Makes between 16-20 cookies

85g soft organic butter

40g coconut palm sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

40g pumpkin seeds

2 tablespoons of hemp seeds

2 tablespoons of milled organic flax seed (I buy Linwoods)

3 tablespoons of malted grain flour

75g organic jumbp porridge oats

1\4  tsp bicarbonate soda

pinch of salt

4 medjool dates chopped up

Pre-heat oven to 180.

Cream together the butter, sugar and dates with an electric mixer with the balloon whisk beating hard. Slow the speed down and add in the rest of the ingredients till the mixture comes together.

Line a baking sheet with baking paper and place large walnut size balls of cookie dough on the sheet spaced evenly apart. Bake in a pre-heated oven for between 10 – 15 minutes. 15 if you want harder crunchy cookies and 10 if you want a softer, chewier number! Remember they always harden when they cool. Keep in an airtight container.