Oat & Honey Cardamom Cookies
It’s Sunday evening (February 21st) and I can officially say that Tumbleweed Farm has begun it’s 2016 season. The greenhouses are full of seedlings, the construction on the deer fence is in full swing, baby chicks arrive in two weeks, and we have quickly found ourselves back in the thick of farm mode. Vacation was short lived but we have hungry CSA members ready for an awesome year of local food! Honestly, we are stoked for what we hope is the best year of food production on Tumbleweed Farm. The irrigation should be great (thanks to a very snowy year at the mountain) the deer fence should protect our greens from hungry predators, and the diversity of crops we’re growing this year is really exciting. I cannot wait for all of our customers to enjoy Tumbleweed produce once again. This year is bound to be a tasty one!
These oat and honey cardamom cookies have been our farmers fuel for the past few mornings. I actually made 3 batches this weekend because my sister and brother-in-law + their kiddos, all arrived at the farm to help us get things going and I wanted a tasty snack to have on hand while we all worked. These cookies were a huge hit even though everyone called them “hippie snacks.” They’re not traditional cookies but trust me, they’re damn good. Great served in the morning with a cup of coffee, perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up, or delicious as an after dinner treat. The honey cashew frosting is spoon worthy and leftovers tastes great smeared on toast. I hope you all enjoy these cookies as much as we do.
Cheers from Tumbleweed Farm.
Oat and Honey Cardamom Cookies
Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Serves: 12 cookies
Cookies- 3/4 cup oat flour (you can prepare this by grinding old-fashioned rolled oats in a food processor until finely ground or you can purchase oat flour at the grocery store)
- 3/4 cup old fashioned oats (GF if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 cup Medjool dates, pitted- about 10 dates
- 1/4 cup walnut oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup cashews, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes and drained
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- pinch of fine sea salt
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl combine the oat flour, rolled oats, cardamom and salt.
- In a food processor grind the pecans, dates, walnut oil, honey and vanilla until a smooth ball of dough is formed, this will take about 2-3 minutes of processing.
- Combine the date mixture with the oat mixture and use your hands to mix everything together until well combined. Cover the bowl with a towel and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling prepare the frosting. Rinse out your food processor and then add the drained cashews, honey, almond milk, vanilla, cardamom and salt. Blend until a completely smooth, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. Add a touch more almond milk if the mixture is too thick. Taste test and adjust seasonings as needed.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and using a 1/4 measuring scoop, form dough balls and then lightly flatten the tops with the back of a spoon. The cookies wont spread while baking so you can keep them fairly close to each other on the baking sheet. Bake until the bottoms are lightly brown but the cookies are still soft in the middle, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before frosting them.
Notes
*Store extra frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days *Cooking times will vary so keep a close eye on the cookies while they bake
Any suggestions for replacing the cashews since we a cashew allergy?
Yes–macadamia nuts would be an amazing replacement. They’re a little on the spendy side but would be totally worth it here. They’ll blend up nice and creamy (maybe even more so than the cashews!) Enjoy!
I’ve got to try these! I have been following your progress for awhile and I just want to say that I admire you and your husband for what you are undertaking. This the way a CSA should be run. Good luck with this new season. It sounds like you are off to a good start. I wish we had a CSA like yours here in Middle Tennessee. We are gradually clearing a spot for our growing beds, a shed and a small greenhouse so we can begin growing some of our own organic food. Most of our 9 acres is woods, so it’s a bit of a challenge to make room for the sun to shine on our garden spot. Anyway, have a great season this year! Later, Bob Ogden
Honey and cardamom are one of my favorite flavor combinations 🙂 And good luck on your upcoming year at Tumbleweed… I’m sure it’ll be your best yet!! 😀
quick question…I made these cookies and they are amazing, but I am not sure I followed the recipe as intended. For the 1 cup of dates, is that a packed cup or just the number that fits without squishing them all in? Thank you and Happy Tuesday! A
Good question! Loosely packed dates, roughly 10 dates. I’ll update that. Thanks for the catch and I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies too!
I think I measured the dates wrong and the cookies came out far too sweet. I pitted the dates before measuring out 1 cup. Was I supposed to pit them after measuring? I think I will do that next time. And maybe reduce the honey too. The frosting is fantastic. I will try it on other things I make too. Thank you!
These were delicious! Thanks for another great recipe. Will definitely be making these often!
I made these yesterday with what I had on hand so a few modifications were in order, but they are amaaazing!
I used fresh cardamom (3 pods), walnuts instead of pecans, olive oil instead of walnut oil, 3/4 cup date paste (as it happens I had no idea what to do with it so thanks!) and omitted the frosting (not a big fan…)
Even my if-there’s-no-chocolate-it-ain’t-no-good husband loves them! And they’re also toddler and baby approved 😉
I’ve read this recipe through several times and don’t see where the 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract is added in. Am I missing something?
Hi Amanda, good catch! I just updated the recipe but it gets added with the yet ingredients. I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!
We loved this – super tasty! Thanks for sharing ANOTHER great recipe!!