A bunch of beautiful blooms is always appreciated on Valentine’s Day. But so too is a bit of home made baking bliss, like these crunchy Chocolate-Chip, Coconut and Oat Cookies. 

This recipe only takes 10 minutes to whip up, leaving you plenty of time to write a heartfelt card for the one (or ones) you love. Even the most novice home cook could impress a sweetheart with these. Give them a go tomorrow and lap up the adoring applause.  

Chocolate-Chip, Coconut and Oat Cookies makes about 30

Ingredients
125 g unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 large egg
1 cup raw caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I love the flavour combination of chocolate and cinnamon!)
3/4 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup rolled oats (porridge oats)
200 g good quality dark chocolate chips
2 cups self raising flour

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade on a conventional setting (or 180 degrees fan forced). 

Place the butter in a deep mixing bowl and melt in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water on the stove. 

Once melted, add the vanilla and egg and stir vigorously with a fork until combined and smooth. 

Add all of the other ingredients and mix thoroughly until you have a dense, mass of cookie dough. There should not be a speck of flour visible, all the ingredients must be combined. 

Take small amounts of dough in your hand and quickly roll into a ball about the size of a whole walnut shell or a small apricot. Don’t over-handle the dough or it will become too sticky. Place these balls onto a baking tray lined with baking paper. I used two trays and had three rows of five balls. Allow about two finger widths of space in between for the dough to spread and rise slightly during baking. 

Bake for 12 – 15 minutes until just golden. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. The cookies will harden as they cool, creating that satisfying “crunch” with every bite. Yum…I’m off to have another one right now!