Hot Cross Cookies

Everyone thinks of hot cross buns at Easter but I thought I would try and make something a little different this time. It's not easy to replicate the taste of hot cross buns but these turned out to be really yummy!

Ingredients
1 banana
1 egg
100g light muscovado sugar
4 tbsp coconut oil
100g sultanas
100g mixed peel
1 tbsp ground cinammon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tbsp baking powder
250g plain flour
100g icing sugar

Method

Peel and mash the banana until completely smooth.
Mix in the egg and the coconut oil. Use a hand blender for this if the coconut oil is solid and you find it easier.
Mix in the sugar, cinammon and mixed spice.
Add the baking powder and flour and mix together until a sticky dough is forming.
Fold the sultanas and mixed peel into the mixture. Stir enough so they are fully distributed.
Take a large heaped tablespoon of the mixture, use your hands to roll it into a ball.
Then flatten it so it looks like this.
Repeat the process until you have used all the dough and your greased baking sheet is full. I ended up using 2 baking sheets as the cookies are quite large.
Cook in a preheated oven at 175 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown on top.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely
Make about 100g of icing according to the packet instructions. I made mine quite stiff as it was easier to decorate the cookies.
You can use a piping bag to make the crosses or I just drizzled the icing across the top of the cookie using a large flat knife.

The recipe makes 10 cookies which are 260 calories each. This is a little higher than. Last of my other recipes but I figured that everyone deserves a little treat at Easter and they are better than eating an Easter egg. If you want to reduce the calories then you could leave off the icing and have them plain.