Cranberry, Pistachio and Cardamom Oatmeal Cookies

Red and green spotted cookies. I was thinking Christmas, festive, attractive, soft, delish. I came up with this mix for oatmeal cookies, and guess what? You guessed. I snuck in the cardamom again. Oh, they ARE really good.  Unfortunately I have posted this after the fact, that being in time to put these colorful cookies on a platter for the guests. But I recommend you try these anytime, right now, tomorrow maybe, and feel good knowing the oats are in there to help lower your cholesterol, and the pistachios are one of the fewest calorie nuts you can eat! 


3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light  or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the flour, cardamom, baking soda and salt and set aside. In another bowl, beat the butter and the sugars together. Stir in the vanilla and egg and mix well. Add the flour mixture all at once and stir to combine. Add the oats and mix again. Lastly, add the cranberries and pistachios which have been chopped, either by hand or in your food processor, leaving nice sized pieces of fruit and nut.


You can chill this mixture now until later, or start baking now.  


Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Drop cookie dough by the tablespoon, 12 on a sheet, and bake for ten minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Makes about 3 dozen. 

Apple Cranberry Streusel Pie

I am never going to become famous posting to this blog once a month. Of course, I wasn't thinking about becoming famous at blogging at all. There are hundreds, no thousands, of really good food and recipe blogs out there. Nonetheless, here is another entry being humbly offered for your reading and eating enjoyment. It's a delicious twist on the great old standby - apple pie. I think I mentioned once or twice how I am trying to use that expensive jar of cardamom that I bought.  Okay, I threw some in this recipe for good measure, plus a few other ingredients to make this pie one that tastes as awesome as it looks. Try it, and please leave a comment for me to let me know you stopped by.

STREUSEL TOPPING

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

4 Tbs. cold butter

PIE FILLING

1/3 cup white sugar

2 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cardamom

2 tsp. lemon juice

1/3 cup dried cranberries

8 or 9 apples (2 1/2" small size)

1 frozen deep dish pie crust shell

1 Tbs. butter

Prepare the streusel topping by combining the brown sugar, flour, walnuts and butter. Use a pastry cutter or your hands to mix the streusel into a crumbly mixture. Set aside.

Peel and thinly slice the apples. Place in a large bowl and add the white sugar, flour, cinnamon, cardamom, lemon juice and cranberries. Stir to coat evenly. Pour this mixture into the deep dish pie crust, packing it down a bit as you go.  Listen, if you want to make your own crust, knock your socks off. I just love those frozen crusts! Mound the mixture higher in the middle. Top evenly with the streusel, packing it down well. Dot with the Tbs. of butter. Place on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 50 to 55 minutes. Remove to a rack and let it cool before slicing.

This recipe is not part of the not so famous "Singingirl Cooks!" cookbook.  If you are interested in knowing more about owning the book, please let me know and I'll tell you how easy it is to make that happen!