How to make Olive oil, raisin and lemon cookies

Tapas Revolution chef shares foolproof recipe baked within minutes

Inspired by his Spanish roots, celebrity chef Omar Allibhoy creates a fool-proof cookie recipe bursting with flavour.

He said: “I created this recipe one day when I was searching for a good cookie that differed from traditional American flavours. It had to be healthier and encapsulate the taste of Spain.

“If you travel around Spain, pretty much wherever you are, on either side of the road you will see vineyards, olive groves and citrus trees.”

“It didn’t take me long to work out what my cookie had to taste like,” he added.

In this video, Omar shows how to make a great batch of his Galletas de aceite (Olive oil, raisin and lemon cookies).

Omar shows how to make Galletas de aceite

How to make Galletas de aceite (Olive oil, raisin and lemon cookies)

Serves 4

Ingredients

125g (2/3 cup) caster (superfine) sugar

100g (1/2 cup) brown sugar

150ml (2/3 cup) Extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

100g (3/4 cup) raisins

½ tsp salt

Grated zest of 1 lemon

250g (1-3/4 cups + 2 tbsp) self-raising flour

Method

In a big bowl, vigorously whisk both the sugars with the olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and the egg and whisk for another 2 minutes. Add the raisins, salt and lemon zest. Sift over the flour and fold with a spatula for no longer than 2 minutes. The mixture will lose its fluffiness and get firmer the longer you fold it, so don’t overdo it. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll the chilled dough into balls the size of ping pong and place on the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 10 cm (4 in) between each one to allow for spreading. Bake for about 7 minutes if you like them soft and doughy, or 9 minutes if you prefer them crispier.

Omar has two cookbooks. Spanish Made Simple: Foolproof Spanish Recipes For Every Day (Quadrille) and Tapas Revolution: 120 Simple Classic Spanish Recipes (Ebury Press).