I-Don't-Know-What-to-Call-Them Cookies

I don't know what to call these cookies. The recipe is derived from Heidi of 101 Cookbook's ANZAC cookies, but my variation has gone so far from its theme that another name is surely justified. But what? I wanted to call them "Garbage Cookies" or "Anything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies" to reflect all the different ingredients I threw into them. In my Flickr photostream they're known as "The Cookies That Almost Killed John" because I inadvertently offered them to a friend who has a sensitivity to coconut. I could've called them "Granola Cookies" because of how tempted I was to press them into a pan and cut them into bars while I was making them. Or I could've just called them "Identity Crisis Cookies" just because I don't know what to call them.

But none of those names reflect just how simply good the cookies are, yet calling them "Simply Good Cookies" alone would not reflect all those other things about the cookie I just told you.

It was the Tribune end-of-year party and I wanted to make something with coconut in them because I had a bit too much of it in my pantry. After scouring through a few of my favourite blogs (with the help of my trusty Google Reader), I finally settled on the ANZAC cookies. As I went into the kitchen to gather my ingredients, I noticed a container that had been sitting on the shelf for almost a year.

I had "accidentally" ground these walnuts when my impatient self thought it would be a good idea to put walnut halves into a food processor to cut them into smaller pieces for another baked item (most likely a banana bread). Since then, I have never found a use for them, but my interest was piqued when Deb from Smitten Kitchen said I could swap out flour for ground nuts in a cookie. Feeling adventurous, I decided this was the time to do it.

I also added raisins to the dry ingredients...



...but made sure the cookie still stuck to its ANZAC roots.





The cookies had very questionable structural integrity when I was trying to form them AND when they came out of the oven, leading me to wonder if I'd made a mistake swapping out some much-needed gluten for protein, fat and flavour. Fortunately, the cookies held up once they cooled and you don't understand just how good they are—chewy and just the right sweetness, with a homeliness you can only get when you combine stuff like oats and raisins and coconuts.



Yum.

Its Namelessness-Doesn't-Reflect-its-Deliciousness Cookies
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Makes about 2 dozen

• 125 mL (½ cup) whole-wheat flour
• 125 mL (½ cup) ground walnuts*
• 250 mL (1 cup) rolled oats
• 125 mL (½ cup) brown sugar
• 250 mL (1 cup) finely shredded non-sweetened coconut
• 125 mL (½ cup) raisins
  
• scant 2 mL (½ tsp) fine sea salt


• 125 mL (½ cup) butter, cut into little cubes


• 10 mL (2 tbsp) golden syrup or honey


• 15 mL (1 tbsp) boiling water


• 2 mL (½ tsp) baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 165°C (325°F). Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well.
2. In a small saucepan over low heat combine the butter syrup (or honey). Stir until melted and remove from heat. In a small bowl whisk together the boiling water and baking soda. Stir it into the butter.
3. Pour the butter mixture over the big bowl of oats and stir. Hand-mix dough to make sure the butter is evenly distributed and the dough is moist throughout. Drop them by the tablespoonful (you will need to use your hands for this step too) onto parchment lined baking sheets. Make sure they aren't too flat or they will get crispy. Bake for about 12 minutes or until deeply golden.

Nutrition Info (per cookie): 129 calories, 6 g fat (4 g saturated), 10 mg cholesterol, 17 g carbohydrate (1 g fibre, 8 g sugar), 2 g protein, 114 mg sodium. An excellent source of manganese.

*Can be replaced with another nut or more flour.