Spiced orange & cranberry cookies

Spiced orange & cranberry cookies

Serves 16

You can make these half the size and make 32 cookies, these will be 3 SmartPoints per cookie. They are ideal as a homemade Christmas gift.

·        Low Fat Spread 100 g

·        Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar 125 g

·        Light Brown Sugar 75 g, soft

·        Egg, whole, raw 1 medium, raw

·        Vanilla Extract ½ teaspoons, level

·        White Self Raising Flour 200 g

·        Salt 1 pinch

·        Dried cranberries 75 g

·        Ground Ginger ½ teaspoons, level

·        Orange(s) 1 zest(s) of 1, finely grated

1.   Using a stand mixer, cream the spread, caster sugar and light brown soft sugar in a large mixing bowl until smooth and thick. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract, then sift in the self-raising flour and a large pinch of salt and mix until just combined. Add the dried cranberries, ground ginger and the grated orange zest to the mixture and mix until combined. Cover and chill for 3 hours.

2.   Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas mark 6. Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Form the mixture into 16 walnut-sized balls and put them on the sheets, leaving plenty of room for the cookies to spread. Use the back of a wet spoon to flatten the tops of the cookies slightly, then bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden at the edges.

3.   Leave the cookies on the baking tray for 5 minutes to firm up, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.