I’ll be the first to admit it; basil and Smarties… it’s a peculiar pair.
I didn’t start out wanting to make basil and smarties cookies, I had leftover basil, not enough to make pesto and I didn’t want it to go to waste.
Lemon-lime basil cookies, that’s what I wanted – every refreshing lemony bite tastes like summer, and yet I was out of lemons and limes.
For some reason, maybe because it was the only candy I had lying around, I wondered what I’d get by infusing basil’s sweet subtle minty flavour into a Smarties cookie.

What I got were these Smarties & Basil cookies; rustic, crispy and slightly spicy from the basil and molasses

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Smarties & Basil Cookies
INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup turbinado sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup smarties
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon dark molasses
• 2 tablespoons basil, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and Smarties.
3. In another bowl, combine the vegetable oil, milk, vanilla, molasses and basil.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix well with a wooden spoon or your hands to get the mixture well incorporated.
5. Roll dough into compact balls, place on a parchment paper-lined pan, and squish them down to form saucers.
6. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Enjoy!

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