Somehow in this mess of a week, I never did get around to making anything that I wanted to show you. That is not to say that I didn’t make anything, but they are all in-progress recipe experiments, that still need some work. But thees cookies, these are the bomb. As you all know, I have a thing for cardamom, so I thought that I would try a new twist on the traditional chocolate chip cookie and ended up with these, with a slight Middle Eastern turn of all things: Cardamom Cherry White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toasted Pine Nuts and Sea Salt. Turned out heavenly. Pillowy and sweet, with just the right ratio of sweet and savory.
Ingredients
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
3/4 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 1/4 cup white chocolate chips (I used mini-chips)
sea salt, for sprinkling
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with silpat or parchment paper.
In the work bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and both the white and brown sugars, about three minutes. The mix should be light and fluffy. Next add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cardamom and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Toss in the cherries, toasted pine nuts and white chocolate chips and combine again. Scoop out tablespoon sized scoops and roll in a ball lightly with your hands and place them on the cookie sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie. Sprinkle with a few flakes of sea salt on each cookie.
Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes; check around 8 minutes, cookies should just start to show a bit of golden color. Remove from the oven. Immediately sprinkle with a few more flakes of sea salt again. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving to cooling racks.
