These wholesome cookies are very popular at our house!
They come together quickly in the food processor, and the chocolate finish is optional, but delicious. The recipe comes from Jacques Pépin Celebrates and was also featured in one of his television programs.
- 125g (½ cup) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 55g (¼ cup) white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 100g (2/3 cup) plain (AP) flour
- 85g (1 cup) rolled oats
- 60g (1/3 cup) dried currants
- tempered or melted dark chocolate
1. Preheat the oven to 180C (360F) with fan. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In the large bowl of the food processor, blitz together the flour, baking powder, sugar and butter until it just starts to form a ball. Tip into a large mixing bowl, and squish in the oats and currants until well combined.
3. Roll small pieces of dough into 7.5cm (3″) logs and place them on the lined tray. Flatten each log slightly to create oval shaped cookies, then bake for 18 – 20 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
4. Temper a small bowl of dark chocolate (or simply melt it very gently), and spread the flat side of each cookie with a small quantity. Place the cookies, wet chocolate side down, onto a flat tray lined with parchment paper, pushing down firmly to flatten out the chocolate coating.
5. Allow the cookies to set (Pépin suggests putting them into the fridge or freezer for a few minutes), then store in an airtight container.
I always end up with more tempered chocolate than planned, so I used the excess to dip my rum soaked Persian figs. They’re the perfect nightcap!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
The cookies look lovely but those figs are pure heaven!
:-) Mandy
Mandy, the figs are very yummy! I can’t stop eating them! :)
Those figs are really tempting.
I like the cookies, too- I dip the backs of my oatmeal cookies in white chocolate!
Oooh Heidi, white chocolate is a nice idea! :)
Those figs caught my eyes. Went to look for your recipe but could not locate it. Did you use fresh or dried figs? Soaked for how long before good to enjoy?
Hi Norma, I don’t really have a recipe! I use small Persian/Iranian figs – the little dried wild ones – and pile them into a jar, which I then top up with whatever liquor I have at hand – this batch were rum infused, but the batch after was made with Drambuie. The little dry figs rehydrate within a couple of days and are absolutely delicious on their own. I keep them in the jar for ages, and then whenever I’m tempering, I dip a few in the leftover chocolate. :)
Thanks Celia.
Thanks for giving us the US measurements; I was always looking up conversion tables when I could be baking and EATING all the goodies!!!
Caryn, this is actually a US recipe, so I’m actually providing the metric conversions! The original was written in cups and ounces! :)
Hi Celia
Those biscuits look very good. I might try them … without the tempering. I haven’t conquered it yet.
Glenda, Jacques Pepin doesn’t temper the chocolate when he makes these, he just melts it over a double boiler, dips the cookies in, then presses them down on a sheet of foil or bake. I don’t know if they stay shiny that way, so I’ve always tempered mine.
Love how you dip the bottoms of the cookies in chocolate – great idea – thanks for sharing:) Have a Great One!
Thanks Renee! Hope you have a great day too! :)
May I come tonight to you, these are so beautiful and seem so delicious too. :) Thanks and Love, nia
Anytime Nia! It would be lovely to have cookies and tea with you! :)
These are going to go down so well in our house….minus the currants!
Sally, the currants are really nice in there, but I know not everyone likes dried fruit as much as I do! :)
Hi Celia, are they baby figs? I’ve been looking for them in stores here. Can you recommend a point of online purchase please?
Lizzy, they’re little wild figs, they’re quite widely available here. You can usually buy them from Santos Trading, but they’re out of stock at the moment:
http://santostrading.com.au/bulkfood/dried_fruit/item-DRI915.html#subhd
Rum-soaked Persian figs! Now they do look good. And so perfect for the Christmas party season. Love your biscuits too. Love how they have currants in them – I thought they were chocolate chips until I read the recipe. I can imagine your boys would eat these in a flash xx
Charlie, thank you – Big Boy loved the cookies, but Small Man baulked at the dried fruit! The figs are really nice – I can’t stop eating them!!
Now where is my coffee to dunk these little beauties into?
(I do like to dunk :-))
They’re a nice dunker too, B, the choc melts just that little bit.. ;-)
Ooo, I love the chocolate on the bottom. What a nice touch. Dried fruit and chocolate is such a yummy combination. Beautiful figs too!
Thanks Emilie! I find Pepin’s recipes are always incredibly reliable!
Oh those cookies look divine – but we are facing a 40C day today, so the oven will NOT be going on!
Oooh, we have that predicted for the weekend! Hope you get to stay cool, Amanda!
I don’t think the chocolate could be optional for me it seems like a must. They remind me a little of chocolate weatens (spelling?) from when I was little although I bet yours taste even better.
Claire, the chocolate is optional because sometimes I get lazy.. :) I know exactly the cookies you’re talking about too! :)
One can never be left with toooooo much melted chocolate ;) haha these look great Celia!
Nic, I try never to pour the stuff down my throat, although I have been known to lick out the bowl.. ;-)
Oatmeal cookies undipped in chocolate but dunked in tea take me back to my childhood, they were so everyday but still delicious, and I have a weakness for figs just plain though or accompanied by some sort of cheese. Your affinity and ability with chocolate is amazing though :)
ED, you are very kind, thank you. I wish my affinity and ability with chocolate would stop going straight to my arse though – it’s about ready to apply for its own postcode. ;-)
Hi Celia, those cookies look great!
Thanks Liz! :)
I just want to eat those figs – YUM!
Linda, they’re very yummy indeed! :)
i simply cannot understand how those biscuits would be so lovely … chocolate did you say, rolled oats and currants??a triple whammy of homemade yumminess!!!
Thanks E! They’re a bit Christmassy too, I think! :)
Chocolate is never optional – it is positively a health food especially teamed with oats and the figs would surely ensure a blissful night’s sleep. Oats, fruit and antioxidants, how good is that!
Jan darling, I wish you lived in Sydney. Then every time I felt guilty for eating something, I could ring you, and you could tell me how it was actually really good for me! :)
“… the chocolate finish is optional …” Surely you jest, Celia! Chocolate is a staple and never optional. I do enjoy chocolate and oatmeal cookies are a favorite. Your cookies here are the best of both worlds. Coming from Jacques Pépin, they just have to be good. :)
Thanks John! I adore Jacques Pepin – I’ve never had a single one of his recipes fail!
These look great Celia. Not only from the chocolate but the appearance of the cookie itself looked immediately yummy. I think maybe it is a perfect balance between a more typical cookie dough and the delicious butter oatcakes I used to enjoy in Nova Scotia.. Cheers
Craig, we’ve talked about the oatcakes before, haven’t we? Hope we get to see you soon, love! xx
Hello Celia !!!!. I love those cookies and their bonus food processor production. Hope I get to try some…
Darling, they’re all gone! I’ll have to make some more! :)
I love cookies with oatmeal in them. We have been making loads lately peanut ones and ginger ones and ones with speculoos paste mixed in as well. It seems to give a lightness to the cookie that we really like and now here is another one to try – dashes down to fridge and readies the mixing bowls !
Oooh speculoos paste – I love the sound of that!!
Cookies are nice…. But I want those figs! After reading all the comments I think we need a dedicated post on those, and you might have to make a few varieties as ‘research’! I’d love too help you trial them :) Yummo sweetie!
Becca, thank you! I’ll try to get some more figs to see if I can write up a post. :)
I can eat oats in this form with a smile on my face Celia :)
Tandy, you’re too funny! They ARE supposed to be good for us, aren’t they? :)
Those figs dipped in tempered chocolate look so appetizing & so do your tasty looking cookies: they are really a real delight: D-E-L-E-C-T-A-B-L-E!!!! xxx
Thanks Sophie! I find the alcoholic figs irresistible! :)
Hehe you say the chocolate dipping is optional but I might disagree! ;)
I know, I know, we both think the same on that.. ;-)
These cookies look very good Celia! So do the figs! Rolled oats, dried currants and figs…this would all have to be a little bit healthy wouldn’t it?! Have a lovely weekend my friend.
Thanks Jane! Yes, surely that’s all healthy, right? :) Hope you had a great weekend too! xx
hello – I made these as a treat but had an absolute disaster. they were very crumbly, any idea as to what I have done wrong!!! seemed to be missing something :(.. Jan
Oh, I’m sorry to hear they didn’t work! They are a crumbly biscuit, but they should stay together long enough to bake. I have double-checked the recipe with the original, and it is correct. Here’s a photo of the page from the book in case you want to use slightly different imperial to metric conversions:
Looks like a delicious cookie! I would love to try some.
Thanks! :)
thanks Celia.. not sure what I have done wrong… even though they fell to pieces when picked up they are still delicious
I just looooooove those figs!!
Yes indeed, those cookies look excellent!
[…] is a tweaked recipe from Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. I’ve attempted to make these oatmeal cookies very low-GI with reduced sugar and fat so […]