Buying the occasional packet of yours or your child’s favourite biscuits or cookies is not a crime. It’s a treat, an indulgence that has its place. The problem begins when it becomes an everyday food.
Unfortunately, most baked goodies that we purchase from a supermarket are not made from pure butter but from margarine, palm oil etc that are not just bad for our health, but also not sustainably sourced. Instead, why not make your own cookies at home?
This one’s definitely a keeper, a recipe you will be happy to re-visit many times.
Date and Cashew nut Cookies (Makes about 16-18 cookies)
- ½ cup dates (roughly 8-10 depending on size); de-seeded and coarsely chopped
- 3 tbsp cashew nuts; crushed/chopped and lightly toasted
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup almond meal
- 100 gms butter (room temperature)
- 4 tbsp raw sugar
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
In a pan, add the chopped dates and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes or till the dates are completely softened and mashed to a puree consistency. Keep aside to cool. Lightly toast the cashew nuts and keep aside.
In a bowl, add the flour, almond meal and butter. Mix with your fingertips till it resembles bread crumbs. Add the cashew nuts, date puree, cocoa powder and sugar; knead
into a semi soft dough.
Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan-forced; 180°C if conventional).
Form small balls from the dough and lightly flatten on top to resemble circular discs. Place in a tray lined with baking paper and bake till the cookies are crisp (takes about 20-25 minutes).
Cool completely and store in an airtight container.
READ ALSO: Melt-in-your-mouth Butter Cookies
Tips
These cookies are made using a mixture of whole wheat flour and almond meal, sweetened with date puree and embedded with crushed cashew nuts. Avoid the nuts if your child’s school does not permit nuts in the lunchbox. Also feel free to replace cashew nuts with any other kind of nuts that you like; there’s no hard and fast rule.
Don’t be discouraged if you have never baked cookies before. I am sure you can pull this one off. But one of the common mistakes most beginners make is with the oven temperature. I find that a lot of recipes only mention the temperature and not the setting like conventional, fan-forced etc, which makes a difference.
If you have a fan-forced oven, then the temperature required is often less than that in a conventional oven. The temperature mentioned in this recipe is for a fan-forced oven so adjust as mentioned in the method if you are using a conventional oven.
