One of my favourite things to do is to bake for other people. It’s hard to put it into words but that process of weighing out ingredients, the mixing, stirring, baking and even decorating; it’s all that bit more special when I know it’s a gift for someone else.

Over recent years I’ve cut back on the gifts I buy and bake a gift instead. It’s hard to know what to buy people and I hate taking the easy way out with buying wine or chocolate.

It was my (soon to be) brother-in-law’s birthday last week and I wanted to bake it something different. I’m always making cakes but it’s good to explore other aspects of the baking world too. I got thinking about biscuits and cookies as they are something I rarely make so Jason’s birthday was a perfect excuse to try something new. I also wanted something that wasn’t chocolatey and experiment with some new flavours. I’m a creature of habit so it’s always a push to step out of my comfort zone.

After a quick nosey on the BBC Good Food website I spotted this recipe for Oatmeal and Raisin cookies and knew it would make a perfect gift for Jason. I didn’t have any raisins in the cupboard but I did have a bag of mixed fruit so I used those instead. I also halved the amount of oats to make the cookie a bit chewier.

Mr T and I shared one (purely for testing purposes hehe) and I’m wishing I had made more for us. These are seriously yummy and surely all the oats and fruits makes them a little healthier – right??

Fruity Oaty Cookies

100g dried mixed fruit

150ml vegetable oil

200g light brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp vanilla paste

140g plain flour

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g porridge oats

• Preheat the oven to 160C (fan) and line 2 baking trays with baking parchment. 

• Soak the fruit in 50ml of boiling water for 20mins until plump. Drain and set aside the remaining liquid.

• Whisk the oil and sugar together, slowly beat in the egg and reserved water from the fruit.

• Fold in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and vanilla.

• Fold in the oats and dried fruit. The mixture will be quite stiff at this point but mix with a wooden spoon until well combined.

• Using an ice-cream scoop, place a scoop of cookie dough onto the trays well spaced apart as the cookies will spread in the oven.

• Bake for 12-15 mins until golden. Leave on the baking tray for 5 mins to firm up before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!