Oat and Raisin Cookies

If you, like me, are trying to watch what you eat, whether it's slimming down for summer, for health reasons or wanting to feel a bit better in yourself, then I have a great recipe for you. I've been using this recipe for a while now, and thought that I'd make a batch of these oaty cookies as part of my healthier diet. Although these are not completely fat free, they are certainly a much healthier option than reaching for the shop-bought chocolate chip cookies. And the best thing? They taste just as good. This recipe makes between 10-14 of these oaty delights, depending on how big you want the cookies to be.

Ingredients

• 50g (low-fat) margarine
• 50g caster sugar
• 50g plain flour (or use wholemeal flour as an even healthier alternative)
• 1 tablespoon of clear honey
• 1 teaspoon of ground mixed spice
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 50g raisins
• 150g porridge oats
• 1 egg

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade and line a baking tray with some baking parchment.

2. In one bowl, soften the margarine a bit before adding the sugar and creaming until combined and smooth. Add the egg, honey and the mixed spice, and mix again.

3. In a seperate bowl, combine the rest of the dry ingredients. Add bit by bit to the other mixture, stirring it in well.

4. When both mixtures are combined well, use a spoon to transfer the dough onto the baking tray in blobs the size you roughly want your cookies to be. Press the back of the spoon on the dough to flatten it down and make a more circular shape. Repeat this for however many cookies you can fit on the baking tray.

5. Put in the oven and bake for between 10-15 minutes, or until the cookies are nicely golden-brown. Transfer the cookies onto a wire cooling rack, and once they are cooled, serve, put in a tub for storage, or in my case, eat.

These are simple, yummy treats which aren't too bad on your waistline. They are 139 calories each, have 1g of saturated fat and can be made easily within half an hour!

Have you tried this recipe or have any other healthier baking options?