I was first introduced to these cookies by Mommy dearest – my beloved sister’s mother-in-law, who always had some type of cake, cookie or baked treat in her home whenever I visited on the weekends. I have modified the recipe and replaced shortening with butter; the result is a crispier and more moreish cookie, but a good compromise is half shortening and butter if you would like to have the soft cake-like quality as well. We have incorporated brown sugar into the recipe to keep the cookies almost as soft as shortening would.
250 g/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
250 g/1¼ cups dark brown soft sugar
100 g/½ cup caster/superfine sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
250 g/1¾ cups plain/all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of/baking soda
2 tablespoons milk
250 g/2 cups jumbo oats (don’t use quick-cook oats, as they will get mushy!)
150 g/¾ cup sultanas or raisins
125 g/1 cup soft shredded coconut e.g. Baker’s Angel Flake (do not replace with desiccated coconut)
baking sheets, lined with parchment paper
makes about 40
Preheat the oven to 170˚C (340˚F) Gas 5.
Using an electric mixer with paddle or beater attachment (or an electric whisk), beat the butter, salt and both sugars until the mixture is lightened in colour, fluffy in texture and increases in volume.
Slowly mix the eggs into the butter mixture and beat until thoroughly combined. Add the vanilla extract and mix.
Sift together the flour and bicarbonate of/baking soda. Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Add the milk and beat until just combined. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just combined.
Add the oats, sultanas and flaked coconut and mix until just combined.
Using 2 spoons or an easy-remove ice cream scoop, place large dollops of dough (about 40 g/1½ oz.) onto the prepared baking sheets. Slightly flatten each ball into a disc with the palm of your hand. Refrigerate for 5 minutes until thoroughly chilled. (At this point, you can also pop them in the freezer, freeze them for 2 hours, then place the dough balls in an airtight freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 weeks, for baking at a later date. Defrost for 15 minutes before baking.)
When the dough is slightly chilled, put the baking sheets in the preheated oven and bake for 9–13 minutes. The cookies are done when the tops don’t look shiny or wet any more.
Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. Please note: cookies keep baking on the sheets for about a minute after they’re taken out of the oven and will be quite soft when hot but will harden when cool, so touching them to test their softness is not an accurate indication of doneness.
Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let rest until ready to eat or eat them hot, straight out of the oven.