Madhouse recipe : Apricot & cashew coconut sugar cookies

After spending far too much of my weekend marking, I decided to unwind and enjoy what was left of my Sunday afternoon by having a good baking session. It was already getting towards the end of the afternoon though so I needed something quick - a cookie recipe was definitely the way to go.

Rummaging through the cupboard, I came across a bag of coconut sugar, along with some ends of bags of dried apricots and cashews. Time to experiment. Coconut sugar is very similar to brown sugar in taste and colour - it doesn't taste of coconut at all, it tastes more of burnt sugar (in a pleasant way). The cookies had a lovely flavour from the sugar, but it did overpower the apricots and cashews, although they did add some nice crunch and chewiness.

Apricot & cashew coconut sugar cookies

ingredients :

95g softened salted butter

90g coconut sugar (or brown sugar)

1 egg

150g flour

1tsp baking powder

handful of dried apricots

handful of cashews

Cream together the sugar and butter.

Add the egg.

Then the flour and baking powder.

Roughly chop the apricots and cashews. Stir through the cookie dough.

Place dollops of the mixture on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

Bake at 180° for 10 minutes. They will still be soft when they come out of the oven. Leave to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I haven't cooked with coconut sugar much but these came out really nice, in terms of flavour and texture. It gives a lovely colour too and is low GI so it's supposed to be a healthier swap for regular sugars.

Adding to this month's #KitchenClearout linky as it used up some coconut sugar, as well as ends of bags of dried apricots and cashews.