The weather has turned so cold and wintery now, there is nothing to do but stay warm inside and bake! As much as I like trying new things, sometimes when it comes to baking, I really love old school. These cookies are a mixture of the old and the new, where in they look like they belong in the pages of 1986’s Women’s Weekly, but they are made with modern ingredients allowing them to be gluten, dairy and refined sugar free, and also vegan. Despite all of this they still taste like real, naughty cookies that you just want to dunk into your cuppa.

Ingredients

120g coconut oil
225g coconut sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons corn flour, mixed with 4 tablespoons of water (this is the egg replacement, if you don’t mind eating eggs then just use 2 eggs)
140g desiccated coconut, plus extra for rolling
300g gluten free plain flour
Dried fruit for decoration, I used dried strawberries, figs and glace ginger

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

In a medium bowl beat the coconut oil, coconut sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, with electric beaters, until lighter in colour and creamy looking, about 5 mins. Add the egg replacement mixture (or the eggs), and beat for another few minutes until light and creamy.

Add the coconut and the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.

Roll tablespoon size balls of the mixture in the extra coconut, then press into biscuit shape. Press a piece of dried fruit into the centre and press the dough around it to ensure it doesn’t fall out once it is baked.

Bake for 15-20mins or until just starting to turn golden. They will be soft when you pull them out but will harden when cool. This will ensure a good chewy texture rather than a hard crunchy one.

Enjoy!