Although disguised as a treat, these little cookies are packed with goodness, from the iron in the blackstrap molasses, vitamin C in the orange juice, good fats in the walnuts and fibre in the oats and buckwheat flour. They are also gluten free and vegan so everyone can indulge in them!
Zest the orange, then juice half of the orange (about 40ml) and mix the juice with the flax seeds. Leave the flax seed and orange juice mixture to sit for 5 minutes while you set up.
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds, 1 orange
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
Chop the walnuts and set aside in a bowl.Thermomix: Place the walnuts in the TM jug and set to 3 seconds / speed 4. Remove and set aside.
40 g walnuts
Weigh out the coconut oil, sugar, blackstrap molasses, orange zest and marmalade into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the flax seed orange juice mixture and beat on high speed (start slowly then move up to high) for 2 minutes until the mixture is dark and thick. Thermomix: Place these ingredients in the TM jug with the flax seed orange juice mixture and set to 30 seconds / speed 4.
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds, 1 orange, 70 g coconut oil, 70 g caster sugar, 30 g blackstrap molasses, 2 tablespoon orange marmalade
Then add the dry ingredients and beat on a medium speed for 30 seconds or so, just until everything is mixed in well. Thermomix: Add the rest of the ingredients and set to 20 seconds / REVERSE speed 2 (stirring with the TM spatula through the hole in the lid whilst mixing).
100 g buckwheat flour, 75 g oats, 40 g walnuts, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, small grating of nutmeg, ½ teaspoon baking powder
Dollop tablespoonfuls of mixture on the lined baking tray about 3 cm apart. Don’t worry too much about shaping them as they will melt and flatten a bit in the oven.
Bake the cookies in the oven for 20 minutes at 180°C/350°F.
Once ready, remove from the oven and leave on the tray for a couple of minutes then carefully move them onto a wire rack to cool completely. (Don’t be tempted to eat them until fully cooled as they crisp up when cool).
Notes
For school lunchboxes or nut allergy sufferers, just leave out the nuts. You could add dried cranberries instead or, for a child crowd pleaser, add chocolate chips for a chocolate orange flavour!