The trick is to combine the wholemeal flour with almond extract, brown sugar and oats.
Wholemeal flour can sometimes give a slight bitter aftertaste, but combining it with almond extract, brown sugar and oats masks this and creates a rich background flavour to stud with chocolate and dried fruit. The oil reduces the need for too much butter, while making the cookies a little more chewy. The recipe was adapted from Daniel Leppard.
3½ oz / 100g unsalted butter, softened
25ml sunflower oil
6oz / 175g brown (Demerara) sugar
1 medium egg
1 teaspoon authentic almond extract
7oz / 200g wholemeal flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon salt
5oz / 150g dried blueberries or sour cherries
3½ to 5 oz / 100g-150g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
about 2½ oz / 75g rolled oats
Beat the butter, oil and sugar until smooth, then mix in the egg and almond extract. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt, beat in well, then stir in the dried fruit, chocolate chips and oats.
Pinch off pieces of the dough, squeeze these into balls 2-3cm in diameter and flatten them slightly as you place them on a tray lined with non-stick baking paper. They don't spread too much, so just leave about 3cm between each cookie.
Heat the oven to 170C (150C fan-assisted) / 335F / gas mark 3 and bake for about 15 minutes, until just beginning to brown at the edges.
