A small celebration - Oat Chocolate Cookies With Cognac and Candied Orange Peel

Things are getting busier and busier here, not only will I go on shooting for the food chain I started working with last year, I am now going to be a monthly collaborator of two Italian food magazines so all my good intentions about blogging more often will not be easy to fulfil so I will go on like I do now, at least try to post once or twice a week. Not that I'm complaining, I feel incredibly lucky and also happy that my work is getting such incredible results, of course there are lots of more successful photographers out there but I never aimed at that, I'm just amazed that starting a food blog can lead to this, a new and actually successful (at least for the moment) career! Without all the encouragement I have gotten from readers and friends, I don't think I would be here now so Thank You all. And I also think it is a matter of getting older and therefore becoming more daredevil, well at least that is how I feel about it. When I was young, I did a lot of dangerous things because I didn't think but didn't really dare to show my value, now I know what I do and approximately what I am worth. And now I don't think rejections are the same as personal disasters, sometimes you are at the right place at the right time with the right 'product' and sometimes you aren't but one thing is sure-if you don't show that you exist and what you are capable of, you will not get anywhere you want. And accept a challenge as often as possible.

Enough of that and let's bring on these cookies instead. They are truly a sign of how you can change your taste because I used to dislike candied fruit intensely and here I am, happily baking along with candied orange peel as an ingredient. I do think that the superior quality of candied fruit that you find here in Italy is one of the reasons but it is also a sign of change and I like change, the thought of remaining the same all my life scares me. Well I like positive change obviously, I don't think I would like it if I turned into an evil person but then I probably wouldn't think the way I do any longer, would I, nor realize that I was evil so it wouldn't be a problem. These cookies are not evil but quite good. In case you wonder.

OAT  CHOCOLATE COOKIES WITH COGNAC AND CANDIED ORANGE PEEL
many

125 g/   unsalted butter
150 g/ 5,3 oz brown Dulcita sugar if possible, otherwise some other type of brown sugar
50 g/  candied orange peel
75 g/  dark chocolate, chopped
2 tblsp cognac or brandy
100 g/ 3,5 oz rolled oats
150 g/ 5,3 oz flour
1 pinch salt

 Stir butter and sugar smooth in a bowl and then add orange peel, chocolate and cognac. Stir well.

Sift flour and salt into the bowl, add the oats and then mix until you have a firm dough.

Roll balls about the size of a big walnut of the dough and put them on a parchemnt clad baking sheet. Press down each of them with a fork.

 Bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/350°F) for 10-15 minutes or until they are ready. Leave to cool before moving them.