These cookies are delicious and pretty! They highlight fresh apricots, cardamom, dates, tahini (ground sesame paste), and white sesame seeds. I took these to a recent potluck and they got rave reviews from everyone who tried them!

Print Apricot-cardamom Oatmeal Cookies Prep time: 25 mins Cook time: 17 mins Total time: 42 mins Serves: 24 (1 cookie per serving) Ingredients 8 ounces pitted dates (10 to 12 Medjool or 20 to 24 Deglet Noor), chopped

¾ cup water

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (will be ground into flour)

1 teaspoon ground cardamom (see Notes)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup tahini

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract (or seeds from 1 to 2 vanilla beans)

1½ cups old-fashioned oats

½ cup chopped apricots (about 2 medium; see photo below)

¼ cup white sesame seeds (without their light brown hulls) Instructions Place the pitted and chopped dates into a small bowl with the ¾ cup water and set aside for at least 15 minutes so the dates can soften. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Grind 1 cup of rolled oats into flour with a blender. Transfer to a medium bowl, and whisk in the cardamom, cinnamon, and baking soda. Transfer the dates and water to a blender, and add the tahini and vanilla, and blend until smooth (using a tamper if necessary, as this will be a little thick). Add the date mixture to the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until all of the dry ingredients disappear. Stir in the oats, apricots, and sesame seeds. To get the most uniformly sized cookies, use a 2-tablespoon cookie scooper (see photo below; or use a soup spoon). Place 12 scoops of dough onto each baking sheet. These cookies will not spread out during baking, so press each scoop with your fingers or a small piece of parchment, until it is the size and shape of an already-baked cookie (about 2½ inches wide; see photos below). Bake for 16 to 17 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Notes Cardamom: Cardamom is a sweet, peppery spice used in savory and sweet cooking. You can buy cardamom pre-ground or you can get the light green pods that have the black seeds inside of them, and then crack open the pods and grind the seeds yourself in a small blender or coffee grinder. I find pre-ground, store-bought cardamom milder than any you can grind yourself. Anytime you grind your own spices, they are going to be more aromatic and more flavorful with a slightly sharper bite to them. So...if you buy it pre-ground, I recommend 1 teaspoon, but if you grind your own seeds, I suggest using ½ to ¾ teaspoon. When I used 1 teaspoon that I ground myself, it was a bit much (even though I love cardamom).



Dried apricots: I did test these once with dried apricots, and that worked very well too. But since fresh apricots are now in season (June), I wanted to use them instead.



Sesame seed substitution: I also love apricots with nuts, so feel free to use a ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans instead of the sesame seeds if you like. And if you do not have sesame seeds or nuts, the cookies would still be great without either (and would decrease the calories a bit). Nutrition Information Serving size: 1 cookie (recipes makes 24 cookies) Calories: 98 Fat: 2.9g Saturated fat: 0.4g Carbohydrates: 17.3g Sugar: 9.6g Sodium: 30.8mg Fiber: 2.3g Protein: 2.2g Cholesterol: 0 3.5.3226

Above: Here you can see the size of the chopped apricots we’re aiming for (in a half-cup measuring cup).

Above: Scooping out cookie dough with a two-tablespoon scooper.

Above: The baked cookies just out of the oven (which I flatted before baking since there is no oil or butter to help spread them).

Above: Apricot-cardamom Oatmeal Cookies

If you make this recipe and enjoy it, please share a comment below or on my Facebook page. If you’d like to print this recipe, use the green “Print” button near the top-right of the recipe. Learn more about the Straight Up Food Cookbook here. Thank you!