As a kid, I wasn’t much of a chocolate lover. I had a soft spot for mint choc and that was as far as i would request for chocolate. Until one day my mum bought for us Old Jamaica chocolate bars. It was the beginning of a wonderful journey. I remember biting into the chocolate and it was filled with overly succulent raisins and the smell it had was just wonderful. I was a naive girl to know it was rum until my friend pointed it out.
For over a week I have just been considering having the chocolate bar but I don’t even check the candy section to know if the chocolate still exists (it been over 8 years since I last had it), and I wasn’t about to go round Nairobi in search of chocolate.
So I had a crazy idea to make rum and raisin cookies and that was the beginning of the most wonderful idea. When I posted the idea on my instagram, I had a few requests for the recipe and it took an extra three days to will myself to make them.
First things first, soak your raisins, sultanas, mixed peel etc, in rum for at least three hours. This allows the raisins to sort of bloom and absorb the rum making them moist. I always have presoaked fruits in my cabinet for rainy day (like this one). From there the cookie making is simple, the cookies are moist and deliciously chewy you could hide them so as to avoid sharing (I almost did).
Ingredients
- 250 grams margarine
- 75 grams granulated sugar
- 25o grams all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon dark rum
- 250g presoaked raisins, sultanas and mixed peel.
Method
Pre-heat your oven at 180 degrees Celsius
Grease a baking sheet and place grease proof/parchment paper on it.
In a bowl, soften the margarine and add the sugar to it, until pale and fluffy.
When the margarine and sugar are well mixed, add the flour, baking powder, rum and the soaked raisins and mix until everything is well combined.
Scoop a tablespoon or less or more and roll it into a ball using the palms of your hand, place on the baking sheet. Do this with all the cookie dough. Should give 12-30 cookies depending on the preferred size.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. The edges of the cookies should be firm and the center soft to touch, while removing.
Set aside to cool as they firm up.
You can dip some in melted chocolate for an even better rum and raisin experience.
Enjoy!
