Sam's Kitchen

Ok, I think I’ve had a cookie overdose after a full week of cookie manducation!
I baked and baked and baked and ate and ate…until I was content with flavours, textures, and the appearance.
There was a lot of experimenting going on with these cookies. They were made with more butter, less butter, less sugar and more sugar, with peanuts,  with almond meal and in the end with pecans to which I settled and am very happy with the final result, at long last! Phew!

While carrying out all the cookie baking experiments I somehow went back to drinking coffee aah! I wasn’t even fully certain why I was not supposed to drink it in the first place? Although it does make me buzz around ( not literally of course ) like a little bee for a while after drinking it, and I can never settle on one cup either and can drink up to 4 giant cups in one day. So, I decided to take on a little research and, well, there is so much conflicting information out there that it would cause a complete confusion to any expert! Still, I thought to share a few of the good “side effects” of this addictive drink:

1. Coffee Makes You Smarter! – I like that
2. Coffee Can Help You Burn Fat and Improves Physical Performance! – That’s good
3. Coffee May Drastically Lower Your Risk of Type II Diabetes! – Great news since I have a predisposition ( Yes, I know totally crazy considering I only weigh 47 kg, but apparently weight doesn’t play a role)
4. Coffee May Lower Your Risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s! – Good news
5. Coffee May be Extremely Good For Your Liver! – I always thought caffeine was bad for liver
6. Coffee May Decrease Your Risk of Premature Death! – That’s of comfort
7. Coffee is Loaded With Nutrients and Antioxidants! – Great

Since all of these “side effects” of coffee sound so promising I may as well continue the consumption of it, of course, partnered with my cookies.

Yield – 40 cookies

Preparation time 15 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups traditional oats
1 1/4 cup plain flour sieved
1 cup self-rising flour sieved
1 1/3 cup raw sugar
1 cup pecans finely chopped
150g grated carrot ( 1 large carrot )
150g butter cubed and softened
1 large egg, room temperature
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

Preheat oven to 175C
Prepare and line 2 cookie trays.
Place all ingredients in a bowl of a mixer or any large bowl and mix well making sure there are no lumps of butter left.
Roll about a tablespoon of cookie dough at a time into balls.
Place each cookie ball on a prepared tray leaving about 2cm distance between each ball.
Lightly pat the balls with the back of the spoon or simply use your hand to very slightly flatten them.
Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden.
Cool on a cooling rack before moving into a cookie jar or any other airtight container.
I usually line my cookie jar with a layer of paper towel for these cookies, to absorb any leftover moisture.