Chocolate Oat Cookies

Dark chocolate ganache sandwiched cookies ladened with oats and coconut. Did I mention one-bowl and super easy?

I like making these with extra-virgin olive oil but melted unsalted butter works well too. If you don’t like coconut, feel free to leave it out or use another cup of oats instead.

Makes about 20 cookies (10 large sandwiched cookies)

CHOCOLATE OAT COOKIE DOUGH

extra-virgin olive oil, 125ml (1/2 cup) - or 100g unsalted butter (melted)

brown sugar, 75g (80ml or 1/3 cup)

golden syrup, 60g (45ml or 3 tablespoons)

egg, 1

oats (rolled or wholegrain), 115g (250ml or 1 cup)

desiccated coconut, 100g (250ml or 1 cup)

plain/cake/all-purpose flour, 100g (2/3 cup)

cocoa powder, 35g (80ml or 1/3 cup)

baking powder, 5ml (1 teaspoon)

DARK CHOCOLATE GANACHE

dark chocolate (50% - 70%), 125g

cream, 125g (125ml or 1/2 cup)

To start, preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Place the oil (or melted butter), sugar, syrup, egg, oats and coconut in a large bowl and mix to combine.

Add the remaining dry ingredients (sieved) and mix to combine.

Divide into balls (about 30g each - I use a small cookie scoop to make it easier) and place them about 2cm spaced apart on the baking tray and flatten the dough balls with your hand or a fork dipped in water.

Bake for approximately 10 - 15 minutes until slightly matt in appearance (they will be soft when they come out of the oven).

Remove the tray from the oven and leave the cookies on the tray to cool completely.

To make the dark chocolate ganache, start by breaking the chocolate into blocks and placing it in a large heatproof bowl.

Heat the cream in a small saucepan on the stove until boiling hot.

Pour half of the hot cream onto the chocolate and whisk until incorporated (not all the chocolate might be melted at this stage).

Re-heat the remaining cream until boiling hot again and pour into the ganache bowl once again.

Whisk until smooth.

Allow the ganache to cool to a spreading consistency before sandwiching the cooled cookies (using a piping bag or by simply dolloping a tablespoon amount of ganache onto each half).

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for several weeks.