Healthy Toblerone Cookies

 Let me get right to the crux of the matter: There are several ways you can add chocolate to a dish to make it healthier. Impossible, you say? I'll show you how.

• Chocolate is a valuable source of dairy, magnesium, iron and anti-oxidants
• If you choose the fruit and nut - variety, it's one of your five serves for the day, plus some healthy fats from the nuts
• Choose a bar with orange for some vitamin C.
• It's a known fact that white chocolate and dark chocolate cancel each other out, so if you want to add zero calories to your recipe, add equal amounts of both.

There you go. You're welcome.

I made this cookies because I have LOTS of Toblerone in my pantry to work through, as well as some muesli that didn't reach the required breakfast standards of our family. Our favourite muesli hails from sunny South Africa, and is called Nature's Source Luxury Strawberry & Yoghurt Cereal. It is delicious with little bits of sweet yoghurt and dried strawberry, together with the necessary healthy bits like oats. We love it, and I buy several boxes from our local supermarket when it's in stock. Unfortunately they don't always have it, having to import it from another continent, I suspect. So, occasionally we run out. And it was during one of these dry times that we were forced to look for a standby muesli. The first one we tested were inedible. I tried a bit, chucking it in the bin after a couple of mouthfuls. The Fabulous Man tried some, and threw it away too. Out went the whole packet. The second one we tried were better, but not what I would call muesli nirvana. I was reluctant to throw away another almost full box of muesli, so I decided to look for other ways to use it.

I tried making a muesli cookie with Toblerone bits a few days ago, but , surpise surprise, it turned out a disaster. Cooking mojo gone and all that. When I took it out of the oven it tasted all spongy. And that's the best way I can describe it. Like little cakes, only quite tough, and really just quite awful. I tried cooking it for longer, then for shorter, fiddled with my oven's fictional thermostat knob for a bit, tried another batch, but in the end I threw the cookies together with the rest of the cookie dough in the bin. A few days later I tried a Martha Stewart recipe for banana chocolate chip cookies, and again, spongy. I gave one to the Fabulous Man to get his opinion, and he used the exact word: spongy. What on earth am I doing wrong?

Said Fabulous Man went on a business trip this morning, so us girls are on our own. And in my books, girls alone means cookies. With chocolate, of course. Not wanting to tempt fate I went with my own tried and tested chocolate chip cookie recipe, the one I used for my Christmas cookies. I left out the cranberries and pistachios, swapped Toblerone for the white chocolate, and added a cup of muesli. And it worked! I can't tell you how pleased I am. Not only do we have some delicious cookies in the house again, but to make something that doesn't turn out badly is such a relief.

The cookies really are good. Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, with flecks of nutty muesli and melted Toblerone on the inside (if you have them straight from the oven, like we do in our house). If you show a bit more restraint, the Toblerone does firm up, but never really goes back to its hard chocolate consistency. It's great. So, if you need a healthy shot of oats, nuts and anti-oxidants, try these. You never have to think again that eating healthily is boring.

Muesli and Toblerone Cookies
Makes about 36 cookies

1 cup (220g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar
1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
1/2 cup (75g) plain flour
1 cup (140g) muesli
185g butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
200g Toblerone, or other chocolate of your choice, broken into pieces

Preheat your oven to 180ºC.

Combine sugars, flours and muesli in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk butter, egg and egg yolk until combined. Stir into sugar mixture until it forms a soft dough. Stir in chocolate.

Place tablespoons full onto prepared trys, allowing for room to spread. Bake for 12 minutes, until lightly brown. Cool on trays.