Spiced Pear Cookies

I tend to pick up new and interesting food items when I'm on my travels.  I store them away in the SuperShed and after a while, they pop back into my mind and I am consumed with the need to use them in a recipe.  And so this cookie idea was born...  The dried pears came from a trip to Sainsburys where I also bought dried apples (but that's another recipe) and I was very lucky to find rock sugar when we were on holidays in France.  The poor Hubs thought I had hurt myself pushing the trolley, such was the squeal I made when I spied it in the baking aisle.  Yes, you are right, I am easily pleased!

However, if I wasn't so enthusiastic about the little things, this recipe for chewy spicy crunchy cookies would have never developed.  They're so easy to make and have a lovely warming spice which balances really well with the fruity pear.  You will get about 20-22 cookies out of this batch so if you run out of space on the baking sheets, just wait till the first batch is made and you can reuse the baking paper on the tray...

Spiced Pear Cookies

110g Butter, very soft
250g Soft Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
180g Plain Flour
1.5 tsp Baking Powder
1.5 tsp Mixed Spice
50g Dried Pear
25g Rock Sugar (for sprinkling)

Preheat your oven to 180c/Gas Mark 4 and line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.

Sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into the wet batter, add the dried pears and mix gently until well combined.

Using a tablespoon, make small golf ball sized balls of the cookie mixture and press onto the lined baking sheet, leaving at least an inch between each cookie, as they spread while baking.

Sprinkle with the rock sugar and bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are golden and the centre springs back when you touch it.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack.