Salted cardamom oatmeal cookies

Salted cardamom oatmeal cookies: the taste is sweet, savory and salty while the texture is crispy-crunchy on the edges and soft in the middle.

So, I promise that we're going to talk about salted cardamom oatmeal cookies in this post and there will be a recipe, but I wanted to give you a little moving update first. 

Things are finally settling down a bit in our new home here in Kentucky. I have gotten a new driver's license (this is my ninth license and ninth good DMV photo!), paid multiple visits to a twice-a-week farmer's market in my 'hood and located a nearby organic market that sells sustainably produced meat, honey and dairy products directly from local farmers.

Booyah. I'm all set. Thank goodness it appears that the Louisville area is embracing the local food movement.

I sometimes forget that it has only been two and a half weeks since we moved. But I'm pretty Type A, in case you haven't noticed (insert sarcasm flag here). I cannot stand not having my house all set up exactly the way I want it. And it makes me positively cray cray to hunt through boxes for my belongings. When I move, I just want to get on with the moving on, full steam ahead.

One thing about moving is that it is very, very hard work. Undoubtedly, it's hard work for the movers but, once the burly movers are gone, someone has to unpack each and every one of those boxes that they hauled into the house.

Who wants to take a wild-ass guess as to who the someone is who does all the unpacking?

Anyone? Bueller?

Yep, The Ninj.

And there are hundreds of boxes. HUN-dreds, people. I didn't count -- frankly, I was scared to -- but, let's just say that there is now a whole room in our basement full of stacks and stacks of broken-down cardboard boxes and garbage bags stuffed with clean packing paper.

(Best part? I lost five pounds as a reward for all my physical labor. But I still don't recommend moving as a diet plan.)

Now, I'm not complaining (well, not too much) about being Head Unpacker Girl because, as I mentioned above, I'm pretty Type A (okay, okay, I'm wicked Type A); I wouldn't really want anyone but me touching all my stuff and putting it into its new proper place. And, in the spirit of getting on with the moving on, I unpack like a whirling dervish, to get the boxes and paper gone as soon as possible and allow me to survey the inventory to put everything in its place.

Therefore, you won't be a bit surprised to hear that I had my kitchen completely unpacked and fully functional by Day 4, so we could stop eating nasty-ass takeout, which makes me feel gross and pathetic. The first dinner I cooked in this new kitchen wasn't anything fancy, but it made me feel like the house was now truly our home.

Of course, it's a fast and slippery slope for The Ninj from a simple dinner to superfluous baked goods, which happened on Day 6.

(See? I told you we'd get to the salted cardamom oatmeal cookies!)

Regular readers will probably gasp in horror, thinking that I messed with the pert-near perfect salty oatmeal cookie recipe. I didn't, I swear! Instead, I came up with a close second-cousin, scented with exotic, spicily-herbal cardamom.

(How the hell else do you describe cardamom? It's a hard spice to pin down in words.)

Mr. Ninj likes crisp and crunchy cookies and I like soft ones. So it's a rare cookie recipe that gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from both of us at the same time. This, then, is a rare cookie recipe, as the cookies, once cooled, are crispy and browned on the edges yet still a bit soft in the middle.

Plus they're salted. Salted. Which ensures that oh-so-awesome combination of sweet and salty in each bite.

So this oatmeal cookie is crispy, chewy, salty, sweet and savory, with the addition of exotically spicy cardamom.

ERMERGAHD: Is this possibly the perfect cookie?

No, really, I'm asking. I want to know what you think. So please make a test batch -- go ahead, I'll wait; I can organize the linen closet and hang some shelves while you bake.

Is this salted cardamom oatmeal cookie nearly the perfect cookie? The Ninj wants to know.

Salted Cardamom Oatmeal Cookies

(adapted from Food and Wine)
Makes about 2.5 dozen cookies


Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
coarse salt for topping (I used Maldon sea salt flakes)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cardamom, salt and baking soda and set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, followed by the yogurt (or buttermilk) and vanilla until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined, then fold in the oats.

Drop the batter by spoonfuls (I use an ordinary spoon) onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Be sure to give them ample room because these cookies spread quite a bit. Lightly salt the tops of the cookie mounds with coarse salt and bake for 11-12 minutes or until the edges are browned (the edges will be crispy and the middles soft). Cool completely on a wire rack.

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