Spiced Oatmeal Cookies with a Chocolate Thumbprint

I really like spiced oatmeal and raisin cookies, but my children have an aversion to raisins. As I’ve mentioned before, they were one of the very few easy, safe and reliable snacks when they were toddlers and so I think they just had them too often at a young age. A raisin overload. They do, on the other hand, love chocolate so in this version I left out the squishy raisins and added a chocolate thumbprint instead. Genius! They now love oatmeal cookies too.

Spiced Oatmeal Cookies with a Chocolate Thumbprint (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes about 20

• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 cups oats
• 1/2 cup dairy-free spread
• 1/2 cup muscovado sugar
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• Pinch mixed spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup apple purée mixed with 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsps oat milk (such as Oatly)
• 1 large bar of dairy-free chocolate, chopped into even sized chunks

– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 4

– Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment

– Cream together the spread and sugars. Add the apple puree, oat milk and spices and combine well.

– Sift in the flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt. Mix.

– Stir in the oats. The dough will be fairly sticky.

– Roll into even sized balls and place well apart on the cookie sheets. Press a small cube of chocolate onto the top of each.

– Bake for, until golden.

– Cool briefly on the cookie sheets before moving to a wire rack.