Fig and Walnut Cookies

I haven't baked anything in more than three weeks. What with my trip to Berlin (which was fantastic, by the way!) and then I caught an ugly cold and had to rest for about a week. But I have another recipe for you which I didn't get around to posting before my holidays. It's an adaption of an old favorite of mine. It's really a no-fuss recipe and you get quite a lot of cookies from it. Feel free to vary this recipe just they way you want... other dried fruit, other nuts or seeds, some spices...

Recipe
(from Nicky Stich's wonderful Sweets)

100g dried figs, coarsly chopped
50g walnuts
100g butter, at room temperature
100g brown sugar
75g caster sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
175g flour
75g coarse rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
fleur de sel (I left that out since I don't have any at home)

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Line two baking trays with parchment paper.

In a bowl, mix sugar and butter with an electric hand mixer for about 3 minutes until smooth and pale. Add the egg and the sea salt and mix well. Add flour, rolled oats and baking soda and mix. In the end, add figs and nuts and mix until just combined.

With a tablespoon, form balls the size of a walnut and place on your baking tray. Flatten a little. Leave enough space between the cookies. Sprinkle with a little fleur de sel. Bake each batch for about 15 minutes until the cookies begin to get brown around the edge. I say this each time, and I say it now: Don't overbake. They are still slightly soft when you take them out of the oven. If you take them out too late, they will be too hard after they have cooled. Let them cool on the tray for a few minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack. Store in an airtight box.