Honey Date and Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Not my first choice for a cookie I admit, the ingredients look more like that of a muesli bar than a cookie. And admittedly the only reason these cookies were ever made was because my dad had been bugging me to make them for weeks. Past experience cautioned me that it was easier to yield than to endure weeks of incessant asking.

To think that I only brought this upon myself; after all it was I that bought the Whisk and Pin Muesli Cookies from the Pyrmont Growers' Market a few months ago. And it was I that had the brilliant idea of taking them back to my dad as a present. This is what you call self-inflicted baking.

I had finally given in to his requests. After all when he turned up at the door with ingredients in tow there was no escape. I adapted a Maple Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie recipe from Elinor Klivans' book Big Fat Cookies. All my dad knew was that he wanted dates, cranberries, and walnuts in it. So off I went baking.

Gladly the recipe turned out less like a muesli bar and more like a cookie. They actually tasted quite awesome with the sweetness of the dates and the tartness of the cranberries all vying for attention from your taste buds. One thing I would probably add are more nuts or perhaps not chop them as finely as I did because they kind of got lost with all that oatmeal. Nonetheless this was a great rendition of a classic muesli cookie. This is for you dad.

Honey Date and Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
(adapted from Big Fat Cookies)

1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup golden caster sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup honey
1 tsp almond extract
1¾ cups rolled oats
1½ cups dates whole (chopped if preferred)
¾ cups dried cranberries
½ cup roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 180˚C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon in a medium bowl and set aside.
In another bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar and golden caster sugar until smoothly blended. Then add the eggs, honey and almond extract and mix until blended.
Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it.
Then mix in the rolled oats, dates, cranberries and walnuts.
Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out mounds of dough onto the baking sheets, spacing cookies at least 8cm apart. Bake the cookies until the tops feel firm and they are browned all over, about 18 minutes.
Transfer on wire rack and cool for about 5 minutes.

Makes 10 giant sized cookies, 20 regular. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to four days.