Coconut and Garam Masala Oatmeal Cookies

Although we were not as lucky with the weather as last year, we had a wonderful time on the slopes week before last. There was a lot more snow this year. In fact so much fresh snow started coming down towards the end of the week that we lost out on our final day on the slopes as the ski lifts were shut. Yet as much as I tried to be annoyed about this day we spent doing not very much at all besides going for a walk in the fresh snow and picking up a few souvenirs, I could not help but smile every time I stopped to take it all in. The snow flakes coming down in a thick carpet from the cloudy sky, some smaller, some larger. The half metre of fresh snow almost, just almost, sliding off the rooftop of the village church, the dad starting a snowball fight with his two kids. I have always loved snow. The way it drowns out all sound. The way it seems to stop everything and everyone in their tracks. Adults becoming children again. Grey asphalt covered, at least temporarily, in a pristine white blanket.

Back in Rome we were greeted with a natural phenomenon much less to my liking – litre upon litre of rain. We probably missed the worst of it while being away skiing but that was of little solace when the weather forecast promised another week of heavy rain. Weather that leaves one housebound (I am exaggerating but many Romans do in fact try to avoid leaving their flats when it rains) always has me craving simple comforts – I made a pig pot of pumpkin soup, drank mug after mug of steaming hot tea and baked a couple of trays of oatmeal cookies. After my garam masala couronne and garam masala granola I thought I might leave garam masala alone for a while, or at least limit myself to using it in savoury dishes. But then somebody on twitter mentioned garam masala ice cream and that got me craving garam masala again. While it was far too cold for ice cream it is never really too cold for cookies and oatmeal cookies are the ultimate comfort food for me, sweet yet wholesome. Swapping some of the oats for coconut and adding a large pinch of warming garam masala brings out the sweetness of the coconut without moving these cookies too far away from the oatmeal cookies the lucky of us grew up with. Garam Masala and Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Makes ca. 15 large cookies

Ingredients
120g butter, at room temperature
100g brown sugar
50g muscovado sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
115g kamut flour
60g desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
60g jumbo oats
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garam masala

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line two sheet pans with parchment paper.

2. Cream the butter together with the brown sugar and muscovado sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy, ca. 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and milk until incorporated.

2. In a separate bowl whisk together the kamut flour, coconut, oats, baking powder, salt and garam masala. Dump onto the wet ingredients and stir to combine.

3. Using an ice cream scoop or a tablespoon drop 1.5-2 tablespoon sized lumps of dough onto the sheet pans, leaving 5cm space between them as the cookies will spread in the oven. Bake the cookies for ca. 15 minutes until light golden in colour but still soft in the centre. Leave to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the sheet pans.