One of my favourite things to do while I’m baking is listen to podcasts. As the hosts chatter away among themselves, and educate me about various topics I feel like I am back in the kitchen with my family listening to them chatter away while I cook. I love that kind of company when I am cooking sometimes. The kind of friends who pull up a seat at the breakfast bar and talk to you while you have your hands in the dough and keep you entertained with their stories. I remember sitting at the kitchen table in the afternoons after school and spilling all the secrets, trials and triumphs of my day to Mum while she made dinner. It was the gathering place, the hub of our house, and it still is. When I visit Jess and she is creating something amazing in her kitchen, I pull up a bar stool, make myself a cup of tea and keep her company. My people, my friends and family, are mostly those who center themselves and their lives in the kitchen and this is where the big and small conversations and decisions in life happen. And when you are in the kitchen, keeping the cook company, you usually have the benefit of taste testing their creations first.
If you had been keeping me company last weekend, you would have been the first to try one of these chewy cookies straight from the baking tin. I would have made us both a cup of tea while they were baking and when they made their appearance all golden and puffed up you would have had first choice of the two dozen cookies. But since I was alone, with my podcast friends, I had first choice. The honey is what hits you first here. You can actually taste it, and most of the sweetness comes from quarter cup of honey in the dough. I also suggest using a strongly flavoured honey. I used a local Manuka honey, dark, thick and slow to pour. A lighter honey will still sweeten the dough, but you won’t get the real hit of honey when you bite into the cookie. The dried apricots, oats, and coconut give the cookie a high chew factor. This is not a snappable ginger biscuit or a delicate melt-in-your-mouth shortbread, this cookie demands that you chew it and savour each bite. These are school bag biscuits, afternoon tea saviours, and the ones you want to keep in your handbag for emergency cookie situations. They are also good for keeping in a biscuit tin to entertain your kitchen table company.
Honey, Apricot, and Coconut Cookies
Gluten Free | Makes 24 biscuits | Note: if you do not require these to be gluten free you can substitute 180 grams plain flour for the flours listed below |
Ingredients
- 100 grams butter, softened
- 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey (strongly flavoured is best)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 60 grams brown rice flour
- 60 grams white rice flour
- 60 grams sorghum flour
- 1 cup gluten free quick oats (I used Freedom Foods)
- 100 grams dried apricots, diced
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and line two large cookie sheets with baking paper.
- In a large bowl beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add honey, vanilla extract and egg and beat until well incorporated.
- In a separate medium size bowl whisk together baking powder, baking soda, salt, brown rice flour, white rice flour, and sorghum flour.
- Add whisked flours to butter mixture and beat until combined.
- Add oats, apricots and coconut and stir until all incorporated.
- Place dough in refrigerator and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Once dough has chilled remove from fridge. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on prepared baking sheets. Allow room for spreading.
- Place in preheated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. Cookies are done when the edges are lightly golden.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container for up to a week.
