Coconut, turmeric and ginger cookies

This week, amid the doing and the coming and the going alongside an ongoing learning of the art of Simply Being in the countryside, I managed to bake a batch of cookies. This may not sound like a huge accomplishment to some, but anyone with a curious crawling babe and a house to unpack will know that in fact bringing any project, no matter how small, to fruition completion can feel like nothing short of a miracle. It might be a year long artistic manifestation, or it might just be lunch or tea. Sometimes it’s all one and the same.

I’ve been taking a long step back from social media and life online since we moved to our new woodland home in Somerset. The transition has begun a re-sorting of a kind… I feel a huge internal shift taking root as we walk each day in the trees and our systems and minds adjust to a pace of life which is slower, softer, more spacious and more true to our souls’ calling. The choice to take space from the digital world was not even conscious; it happened organically in the way that these vital refinements do, and I feel busy learning ever more presence as a mother and un-learning everything that city life taught us so efficiently and so well. It’s a slow and seasonal unfolding that I feel is allowing whatever is coming next to do so in the best way possible. Tuning more finely into nature is at the heart of the process. I will share more when it’s ready…

And so, back to this recipe. More miraculous still is that since nibbling a piece of one in his exploratory little hand, Sasha has decried most food offered to him and simply points towards the cookie jar. Did I really birth a baby who loves turmeric? Time will tell. For now, they’re good for adults and small humans alike and feel like they arrived in our home just as the seasons truly begin to turn. Ochre golden like the falling leaves, spicy and warm to beat away the slowly-creeping chill, and full of antioxidants, immune-boosting support and plenty of protein, they are a substantial snack that contains all the goodness of spicy chai tea but in a solid and longer-lasting form. In fact, it was only after I made them that I realised how much they have in common with my much-loved turmeric nog recipe (which was handed down to me by my yoga teacher Margherita), a year-round staple thats even more vital as winter gathers us in its clutches. There’s a wonderful balance of nutrients and the key here is the garam masala, which contains delicious flavours but most importantly black pepper: this makes the anti-inflammatory action of turmeric increase by up to 200 times. So if you don’t have any garam, add some pepper anyway as it’s a highly effective synergist here.

They’re not super crunchy, nor are they chewy and gooey like some of their more typical cookie relations; they’re somewhere in between and feel wonderfully healthy to bite into. They are also quick and easy.

If you want them a little more moist, you can add one more tbsp of coconut oil, but it does make them harder to form in your hands.

Autumn blessings, and I hope they serve you well.

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Makes about 10 cookies

Ingredients:

1 medium egg

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup ground almonds

1 cup ground oats / oatmeal

1/2 cup sunflower / flax / sesame / pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

a pinch of pink or sea salt

1 -2 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1/2 tsp vanilla paste (or 1 drop essence)

1 1/2 tsp garam masala (or more to taste)

1 tsp turmeric (fresh and grated, or powdered)

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

3 tbsp coconut palm sugar or rapadura (or more or less to taste)

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg with the mashed banana. Then add the almond, oatmeal, seeds and dessicated coconut and mix well. Next add the salt, spices, baking powder and vanilla and mix again. Finally add the coconut oil and coconut palm sugar and combine it all. If you don’t mind eating raw egg you might want to taste a little and see if you would like to add more spice, sweetness or saltiness.

Using your hands, shape the mixture into balls and flatten them into a cookie shape, placing them on a non stick baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden on top and soft in the middle. (They will firm and dry up a little as they cool so less is better than more in terms of cooking). Store in an airtight container for up to five days.