A cookie? For breakfast? Yes, you read that right. These cookies are everything I want in a quick and tasty breakfast. If I am honest, I would happily eat these cookies at any time of day. They are particularly delicious with a strong cup of tea in the afternoon.
When I was younger, porridge was always drilled into us as being a sustaining and healthy breakfast, but the only way I could stomach it was if it were laden with syrups and sweet toppings. Oh, how my palate has changed. While I love porridge now, I much prefer the soft and soothing milkiness of it, without all the sugary additions. The same goes for tea and coffee, I used to have teaspoon upon teaspoon of sugar in my hot beverages, until one day, I went cold turkey, and never looked back.
Layers of flavour
This affinity with sweet things is long-standing, but as a pastry chef, I was taught to appreciate flavour rather than sweetness. With desserts and bakes, I really try to emphasise the flavour of the ingredient rather than overloading it with sugar just because it is a dessert.
In my time working in professional kitchens, I was shown how to taste and add layers of flavour to desserts, and in doing so, my palate gradually changed. We went so far as to add savoury notes to our desserts, in the form of vegetables. A particular favourite was roast pineapple with fennel ice-cream, which when done right and added subtly, really emphasised the sweetness of certain notes in the dish and provided a perfect balance of flavour. Don’t worry though, there is nothing cruciferous in these cookies.
Most of the time, I prefer a savoury breakfast, but these cookies are an exception. They are loaded with tasty and, dare I say it, wholesome ingredients. They are everything you want in a breakfast or mid-morning snack. I love the idea of oatmeal and raisin cookies, soft and oaty with pops of sweetness from the dried fruit. The zest of an orange really adds a hit of sunshine, and the cinnamon gives a warming balance.
I like to soak the raisins in a little orange juice to really soften them and plump them up. Doing this also allows the flavour of the orange to permeate into the dried fruit. The mild sweetness of the cookie comes from a mix of soft brown sugar and honey, which both add their own flavour characteristics to the cookie. The honey also gives them a slight softness, so they won’t be as crunchy as you might assume. Once they come out of the oven, they will be very soft, but don’t be tempted to overbake them as they will firm up a little once cool.
Recipe: Breakfast cookies
