Nutty Chocolate Oat Cookies

 Filled with nuts and chocolate, this oat cookie is a healthier snack to satisfy your cravings. Keep a jar of these for those times when only a cookie will do.

Tomorrow I'm going to see my grandparents. I'm excited because I haven't seen them for quite a while. The only bad part about visiting my grandparents is the travelling. It is made worse by the occassional  frequent pangs of hunger my sisters and I have.

Stuffing your face with snacks, although delightful, is not exactly the best thing for your health. But having something to eat with you when travelling is absolutely essential.
While I was pondering over this, I wondered into the kitchen and my eyes fell on a huge box of porridge oats. So I thought "Why not make some oat cookies? They should be healthier than any other cookie"
And that's exactly what I did.

Nutty Chocolate Oat Cookies (Makes 18)

4 oz/110g butter or margarine

2 oz/55g light brown sugar and extra for sprinkling

2 tablespoons golden syrup

4 oz/110g plain flour

4 oz/110g porridge oats

1 1/2 oz / 40g almonds, chopped

3 oz/75g dark chocolate, chopped

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

A pinch of salt

Into a large bowl, sift in the flour, salt and raising agents. Add the chopped nuts and chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon to combine.

In a saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter or margarine, brown sugar and golden syrup until the sugar has sort of dissolved into the butter.While the butter is still hot, pour it into the dry ingredients and mix together.When you do this the chocolate will start to melt.You may have to use your hands to bring everything together.

Divide the mixture into 18 balls.On a wooden board or a clean work surface, flatten each ball of dough with your fingers and using, a palette knife, transfer them to a baking sheet.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the cookies are firm and just starting to brown. Transfer them to wire rack to cool. While they cool, the cookies will continue to cook further and harden a little more.

Notes on the recipe

1. I didn't use blanched almonds in this recipe. This is because leaving the skins on gives the cookie a much better flavour. You could use pretty much any kind of nuts you wanted or even a mixture of them. (I'm going to try them with peanuts next time)
2. Butter or Margarine would both work fine here. I used margarine because it's the "healthier" choice.
3. You can use chocolate chips instead of chopping up dark chocolate (to make life easier)

Once all the ingredients are mixed, the mixture should look something like this.

Divide the mixture into 18 balls flatten them out and bake!