Oat Cookies with Mini Smarties

By Catherine Noonan on October 9, 2018 in Food

When it comes to sweets, Smarties are one of the few lollies I’ll let my children eat. This is because they’re fairly harmless in the additive department. Made using natural colours, as far as lollies go Smarties are a wiser choice than their rival M&Ms. By contrast, M&Ms are made using artificial colours that are known to cause aggressive behaviour, headaches, gut aches and/or skin rashes that can last for days. It really is a good point to remember when children are in mind.

So when I saw Mini-Smarties in the cooking aisle I got a little bit excited, bought a packet and made this very batch of oat cookies, pimped with Mini-Smarties. For a special treat, they were a hit!
If you prefer a healthier version, substitute the Smarties for plain dark choc-chips, carob chips or chopped dried dates.

TOOLS
Small sized saucepan
Wooden spoon
Measuring cup
Mixing bowl
Baking tray and baking paper

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
100g coconut oil
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, dissolved in 3 tablespoons of boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1⁄2 cup buckwheat flour
1⁄2 cup brown rice flour
3⁄4 cup coconut sugar
1⁄2 cup desiccated coconut
2⁄3 cup Mini-Smarties

METHOD
1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 160 ̊C;

2. Line the baking tray with baking paper and set aside;

3. Place the coconut oil and rice syrup in the saucepan over low heat and stir with the wooden spoon until melted and well combined;

4. Add the bicarbonate of soda and boiling water mixture and stir until combined, then remove from the heat;

5. To the mixing bowl add and combine the oats, buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, coconut sugar and desiccated coconut, then add the liquid mixture and continue to mix;

6. When almost combined, add the Mini-Smarties and continue to mix until a soft and even dough is formed;

7. Using your hands, roll the mixture into 16 small balls, placing them onto the baking tray;

8. Press each biscuit flat, ensuring there are big enough gaps between them all to allow for expansion during baking;

9. Place the tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. If your oven is fast, check the oat cookies at 15 minutes;

10. Your oat cookies will be cooked when golden but may still feel soft. Once cooled they should be crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Cath Noonan is a self-confessed health-foodie, recipe creator, and nutrition student, as well as the founder of healthy food blog, I Heart Scratch. Check out the delicious food pics on her Insta- gram account, @i_heart_scratch, and find more recipes by visiting www.iheartscratch.com.au.