Cardamom Oat Cookies
You know it’s been a satisfying summer at the beach when you grab your backpack a week later to head into the coffee shop and arrive with lingering sand coating your shoulders. You haven’t been to the beach in days when sand somehow finds its way between your toes and all sorts of scoopable places! Day in, day out, the ocean is there to challenge the surfers and invite in some peace of mind as you walk Her shore.
Yet, with all these so-called great white shark sitings (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/02/earlyshow/main20100957.shtml) this past week, you decide to break in your new hiking boots, take the pup and head to the Big Laguna Trail, (http://www.trek4fun.com/trails/luguna_mountain_trail.htm) right outside of San Diego in the Laguna Mountains. Along with your electrolyte lemonade and water, your palette may desire a sumptuous affair with a sweetly spiced cookie. A perfect addition are some delectable, digest friendly, Cardamom Oat cookies for those fantastic vistas in the middle of those marvelous meadows. To boot, these cookies are sure to fill your home with those sought after bakery smells that satisfy much more than your belly!
Cardamom is known as the ‘Queen of Spices’, a valued spice with a slightly pungent taste, leaving a warm feeling in the mouth. The oil within the cardamom seeds provide its medicinal benefits, proving to improve digestion, halitosis, soar throats, and nausea, to mention a few benefits. Cardamom is a good source of minerals like potassium, calcium, and magnesium, as well as manganese and iron.
This recipe is adapted from the Sivananda Oatmeal Cookies (http://www.sivananda.org/teachings/vegetarian-recipes.html).
Recipe:
Culinary creative process:
3 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 1/2 cups buckwheat flour, may substitute rice flour, whole wheat flour, or other gluten-free flour
1/2 cup organic, sulfur-free golden raisins
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup ground almonds or hazelnuts
3/4 cup safflower oil (olive oil loses its nutritional properties under high heat)
1 1/2 cups maple syrup, grade B (Ayurveda advises that heated honey becomes toxic)
3/4 cup raw milk (use apple sauce for vegan version)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
3/4 tsp. Cardamom
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup tahini
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
procedure:
Mix wet ingredients. Mix and sift all dry ingredients (except nuts) into the wet ones. Now add the ground nuts. Shape cookies 2 to 3 inches onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes.
I adapt this recipe every time. Sometimes, I add ghee; last time I added chia seeds. So please explore, enjoy, and let me know what you think!
To the finest,
Whitney
