Submitted by Elan.

When we have a party in my class at school I like it when Mummy bakes these cookies. At home we call these Chocolate Jammies because they are made with jam and chocolate. I have a tree nut allergy. Usually I can’t eat the baked goods that other parents bring in. This year we have a classmate who is allergic to milk and gluten. Everyone loves cookies, and no one wants to go to a party without having a treat. Mummy makes sure that the kids like me can enjoy something out of the ordinary that is not out of a box. The first time I brought in these cookies, some kids asked for seconds. I knew why. They are chewy, sweet and chocolaty. We never have to leave leftovers in the teachers’ lounge. The other best part is that when my mom makes these, she usually doubles the recipe so we get to eat them at home, too. Once we used these for mini ice-cream sandwiches. Yummy.

Ingredients

• ½ cup smooth fruit preserves (sometimes we use home-made apricot jam from our backyard tree, other times we use Trader Joe’s reduced sugar jam in raspberry or strawberry)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup all purpose flour*
• ½ cup whole wheat flour*
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• Optional: ¼ tsp cinnamon

*if you are making this gluten-free, use gluten-free all purpose flour instead

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay baking parchment onto a cookie sheet. Place wet ingredients into one mixing bowl and combine until uniform in color (jam, sugar, oil, and vanilla). Place dry ingredients in a separate bowl and sift together, or pulse together in a food processor until all clumps are gone. Then, a little at a time, add the dry ingredients to the wet bowl using a strong spoon or fork until a soft batter is formed. Use a teaspoon to measure each cookie. Wet hands with cold water to prevent sticking, and roll each into a ball that you place on the parchment and flatten gently with your hand. Make sure they are uniformly sized if you are taking these into a school event. Separate them by 1/ 2” inch. At sea level, bake for a minimum of 10 minutes. At high altitude you will add approximately 5 more minutes; test for doneness. Remove the sheet from oven, cool for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Cool entirely before packing into a cookie tin, plastic box or ziplock bag. You could use these for mini ice-cream sandwiches, too.

A belated happy birthday to Bob Marley, who would be happy to see jah children uniting and asking for seconds.

Region: Americas