If we’re going to be cooped up at home for who knows how long then we might as well have decent snacks, right? In particular I’ve been craving freshly baked goodies, especially ones that are easy to make, for those afternoon tea breaks and I’ve been throwing those together after lunch on a Monday.

For now, I’m going to be doing a new recipe each week for Traybake Mondays, so feel free to join in if you like the sound of that. They won’t need too much equipment and I’ll try to include substitutions in case you can’t find certain ingredients in the shops where you are.

The first recipe is an easy recipe for cookies, so all the equipment you need this time is a couple of standard baking trays.

Oat and raisin cookies recipe

(Makes 16 cookies)

Ingredients

• 125g raisins (+ 2 tablespoons water)
• 50g margarine or softened butter
• 120g soft light brown sugar
• 30g golden syrup
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 50g self raising flour
• 1tsp ground cinnamon
• 180g porridge oats

If you don’t have an egg, you can use a medium sized banana, mashed. You can also make a ‘chia egg’ by mixing one tablespoon of chia seeds with three tablespoons of water and setting to one side for 20 minutes for the mixture to thicken. A ‘linseed egg’ is made in the same way as a chia egg, with one tablespoon of ground flax seeds to three tablespoons of water.

No golden syrup? Use honey, maple syrup or agave nectar instead. Or just add another tablespoon of sugar.

If you don’t have self raising flour, add half a teaspoon of baking powder to 50g plain flour instead.

No raisins? This also works with sultanas, dried apricots or chopped dates.

Method

1. Pour 2 tablespoons of boiling water over the raisins, cover and set aside for 20 minutes. Drain well.
2. Turn the oven on and set to 170°C fan oven, 190°C non-fan oven, or Gas 5.
3. Lightly grease the baking trays or line with baking parchment.
4. Cream the butter or margarine with the sugar and golden syrup until pale and fluffy.
5. Add in the beaten egg and vanilla essence and mix well.
6. Mix in the flour, cinnamon and oats, then stir in the plumped up raisins.
7. Add 8 dollops of mixture to each baking tray, a rounded tablespoon each is about right.
8. Shape roughly into thick round cookie shapes, leaving enough room between each one for it to spread out during baking.
9. Put into the hot oven and bake for 16 to 17 minutes until golden brown.
10. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto a wire rack.

If you’re in a hurry, don’t soak the raisins.

These cookies keep well for up to four days in an airtight box. I like to keep some on the kitchen counter by the kettle, and freeze the rest to keep them fresh.

Have you been baking more recently? Let me know if you cook up a batch of these oat and raisin cookies.