These delicious cookies are based on the old-fashioned cookies that grandma would have baked. With sweet crispy edges and chewy oaty insides these cookies are perfect for morning or afternoon break, or just whenever you fancy a tasty heart-warming treat.
Baking trays lined with parchment paper if necessary
Mixing bowl
Small saucepan for melting syrup, margarine and sugar
teaspoon for scooping cookie dough
Ingredients
140gramsoatsrolled oats [same type used to prepare porridge oats]
115gramsplain flour[all-purpose flour] plus extra for dusting hands
2tablespoongolden syrup[about 40 grams syrup]
115gramsvegan margarine
115gramssoft brown sugar[light brown sugar/brown sugar]
1teaspoonvanilla extract
¾teaspoonbicarbonate of soda[baking soda]
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 160 Fan/ 180C/ 356 Fahrenheit/ Gas 4.
Line the baking trays with parchment paper if necessary.
Place the flour and oats into a mixing bowl.
140 grams oats, 115 grams plain flour
Add the margarine, golden syrup, and brown sugar to a saucepan. Over a low heat, melt everything and stir together until smooth. [don't allow to boil]Remove from the heat.
115 grams vegan margarine, 115 grams soft brown sugar, 2 tablespoon golden syrup
Stir through the vanilla. Add the bicarbonate of soda and whisk well with a fork to combine.Pour into the mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Scoop up heaped teaspoons of mixture and with the palms of your hands dusted well with flour, form the dough into a ball shape. [Alternatively if thicker cookies are preferred an extra 40 grams/1 ½ oz of flour can be stirred through the cookie dough before forming into balls]
Place the cookie balls onto the baking trays. Leave a space for each cookie to spread. Although it is fine if some of the cookies spread out and touch each other a little.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.Less baking time will result in a crispy edge cookie with a chewy soft inside, while longer baking time will result in a crispy crunchier cookie.
[If your cookies are on several trays and you can't bake them all at once, the cookies will be fine waiting on the countertop until ready to be baked.]
Cookies are ready when they are mostly uniformly golden [if there is a paler patch in the middle, bake for a few seconds longer but not too long as the cookies are quick to bake]. Cookies will still feel soft to the touch when removed from the oven but will firm up during cooling.
If baking with a Fan oven which tends to bake quicker, check your cookies after 8-9 minutes and see how they are going.
I use an electric oven and cookies are ready after 10-11 minutes. Any longer and the cookies become more crunchy but still tasty, perfect for dunking!
Allow the cookies to sit on the baking trays for at least 10-15 minutes, until they are firm enough to be removed with a spatula to a wire rack or similar to cool completely.
Notes
Nutritional data is for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
Store cookies in a cool, dry area within a cookie/biscuit jar or tin, cake tin or food container, etc.
Wrapping the cookies with kitchen foil can help preserve their freshness for longer especially if storing within a plastic tub.
Oatmeal cookies will be fine for at least 5 days, possibly a few days longer if stored properly.
Oatmeal cookies can be frozen, well wrapped, and placed into a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. Place a small piece of parchment paper between each cookie so that one or two cookies can be easily removed from freezer at a time.
Troubleshooting:
***If your cookie dough is too sticky then simply dust your hands with flour before rolling each cookie into a ball. The cookie dough will be loose but will still mostly hold its shape when placed onto the baking tray.
If thicker cookies are preferred then add an extra 40grams/1 ½ oz of flour to the mix.
While measuring the golden syrup, dip the tablespoon measurer into boiling water between each scoop as this allows the syrup to drip easily off the spoon.