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!
Apricot-cardamom Oatmeal Cookies
- Total Time: 42 mins
- Yield: 24 (1 cookie per serving) 1x
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).
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 17 mins
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie (recipes makes 24 cookies)
- Calories: 98
- Sugar: 9.6g
- Sodium: 30.8mg
- Fat: 2.9g
- Saturated Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 17.3g
- Fiber: 2.3g
- Protein: 2.2g
- Cholesterol: 0
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
Yumyuyummmmm! I'll take apricots over chocolate any day of the week!! (What's the difference between "old-fashioned rolled oats" and "old-fashioned rolled oats"??)
Thanks Laurie! The first mention is ground into flour and the second is left intact. 🙂
What can substitute tahini as my son is allergic to nuts and sesame
Hmm, maybe another type of seed (like sunflower) or if no nuts/seeds, peanut butter (peanuts are legumes); or half cup applesauce maybe, which won't be as rich, but still will add moistness. 🙂
Try banana or avacado.
What could I use in place of tahini?
Any other nut/seed butter would be fine. 🙂
These look delicious.
Do you think they would work as a dehydrated treat instead of a baked treat? (I'm looking for ideas to take backpacking with me and I'm worried the baked treats might have too much moisture in them to last more than a few days without spoiling.)
I think they'd work great dehydrated! 🙂
Is there a sub for the oats? I don’t eat them. Thanks. Can’t wait to try these, they sound wonderful.
Maybe quinoa flakes, or any kind of flour you usually sub for oats.
Hi Cathy, can I use dried apricots instead of fresh? If so, how much? Thanks
Sure, I'd use about 1/2 cup or so. 🙂
Cathy, I finally made these and they are sensational. I didn’t have cardamom, so I used Penzey’s Pie Spice which worked great. I used pecans instead of sesame seeds. Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
Great! 🙂 Thanks Sandi!
Just finished these to bring to a vegan potluck tonight in Sedona. They're delicious! Thanks Cathy.
I hope they were well received! 🙂
I made them with dried apricots that were soaked and chopped and walnuts. Very good recipe, and will be made again.
Just made these. So unique and delicious! Thank you for another fabulous recipe.
Yum yum yum. What can I say another great recipe. Love love love your book too.
Thanks Lori! 😉
Would it be possible to use Raisins instead of dates in all your baking recipes? Dates are just so expensive..
I'm not sure, I haven't tried this. But if you do, let me know how it goes. Raisins aren't as sweet as dates, so things may come out less sweet. 🙂
Thanks Cathy -- made these recently and they didn't really brown up on top, just the bottom, so i took them out when the bottom browned. They were wonderful and I am looking forward to making them again -- memories of the flavor are haunting me! They got even better the next day, I thought. I assume they are supposed to be a softer cookie? If not, maybe I took them out too soon.
Hi Chris, yes, a bit softer cookie. If you wanted them firmer, you could leave them in a minute or two longer. Cookies w/o oil or butter don't brown up the same way, but it's fine. Thanks! 🙂
Hi there, can we use something other than tahini as a lower fat sub?
You can try applesauce instead for a cakier, low-fat version. 🙂
Wow, so I have been using this site as my go to for vegan, sos-free recipes since converting about 8 months ago. My wife is the real cook, but I like to impress her by making a meal once in a while, and when I do, I use this site for at least inspiration. I followed this recipe and even she was impressed. Later, we made a bunch of cookies for a co-worker who is curious about sos-free eating. I included these cookies as well as some others that my wife and I made. She would not stop raving about these cookies.
Thanks for your tireless efforts to make cooking healthy foods easier!
Aw, thank you! So glad to hear that. 😉
I am wondering about the correlation of the amount of individual dates to their weight measurements in your recipes. For two other recipes, when weighing the pitted dates found I would have needed nearly twice the number of dates to reach the specified weight. For example, 12 Medjool dates, pitted, weighed only around 4 oz. (I even selected the largest dates.). In each case I decided not to go by weight, which is supposed to be a more accurate measurement. Even if the dates had been weighed before being pitted, it would not have made up the difference.
Hi Sue, I just checked this at home with some Medjool dates I have (Delreal brand that I bought in the clamshell packaging at Whole Foods; dates are on the large side). Without pits, it took 11.25 dates to reach 8 ounces (with pits, it took 10.25 dates to reach 8 ounces). So I'm not sure what's happening on your end. Your scale may not be accurate for some reason, or you are using deglet noor dates (which are half the size of Medjool's; however, you say you are using Medjool). Maybe you just have giant Medjools that are not the usual type found in grocery stores?? In any case, yes, always go by the ounces measurement for dates (and nuts) since they often come in varying sizes.
They delicious and a little crispy when they are fresh out of the oven. By morning they lose their crisp and are moist. Any suggestions as to how to keep its crisp?
Since they don't have oil or butter like traditional cookies, getting a cookie that stays crisp is tricky. You can reheat them in the oven to recrisp I suppose. 🙂
Really good!! Love the spice and apricot combination.
I really liked these! I actually didn't have dates (which is crazy) but had dried figs and used those in the same weight (8 oz) and it was perfect. I have also made them subbing chia seeds in for the 1/4 cup of sesame and it was good that way, too. I love cardamom and I love apricots so these are an ideal breakfast cookie for me - so perfect with coffee, energizing and delicious and I feel great after I eat them not weighed down like with so many baked goods!
Thanks! 😉
Hi! I am going to try this recipe since I don't eat white flour or sugar. What does s-o-s mean?
Thanks Robin! 🙂 "SOS-free" means without added salt, oil and sugar. You can read more about this here.
These will be our new favorite go-to cookie recipe. What an intoxicating blend of flavors! I just made a double batch and they bake up beautifully and fill the house with that enchanting cardamom scent. Thank you for this recipe!
What a great recipe. I just made these, using dried (but relatively juicy) apricots in place of fresh apricots and the walnut variation in place of the sesame seeds.
I also needed a recipe I could cook in the microwave since I'm doing a cooking class and my oven and pressure cooker will be used for other recipes. So, I put the batter in a large (5x9) silicone loaf pan and microwaved for 3 minutes. I let cool, inverted and cut into bars. Came out great!
Since the cookies don't retain their crispness (as reported by other commenters), I figure I lose nothing by making soft bars in the microwave and setting expectations for softness. It's also faster than spooning out cookies.
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You totally nailed the flavors, with the cardamon, cinnamon, apricots and nuts in perfect proportions. Thanks!
Thanks for the comment! 🙂 Yes, crispness usually only comes as a result of using oil or butter, which I avoid. I think some people use "crisp" to mean firm, as opposed to soft cookies.
Part 2 since your website limits size of posts:
Areas To Improve: I had worried that my baking soda was a little old, and so I added a little more than your recipe called for (I did about 3/4 tsp). The mixture did puff up in the microwave so that the texture on the ends was closer to muffins. I think when I do this for my cooking class, I'll stick to your 1/2 tsp baking soda. Also, I may try cooking for just 2 1/2 minutes in the microwave. Another option that may work better is to use a bigger pan, maybe an 8x8 pan, so the mixture doesn't go as high and it bakes more evenly. Or, I have a nice silicone bundt pan. That would be cool! Finally, even though the apricots were relatively juicy, they came out a little tough in the bars. I hate to lose any flavor, but maybe I'll soak them first. Or use fresh pears since it's winter??? I could use banana, but that wouldn't be as special in my opinion.
Sounds good, Sandra! I don't use a microwave, so am not sure about that. I think pears would be tasty! 🙂
Had these on my list of foods to try, so I made these today. I like them. Love dried apricots and dates! I am wondering what would be a “serving” of these. I realize since they are so healthy that it probably doesn’t really matter too much, but I just kinda like to know.
A serving is 1 cookie (see at the bottom of the post, under "Nutrition Information." Thanks! 😉
YUMMY!! Nearly didn't get them in the oven, the dough was so good! Used 1/2 dried apricots and 1/2 dried golden raisins when I ran out of the apricots. I think I'll try going half sesame seeds and half flax golden seeds next time for a bit more"crispy" texture. Thanks for a great SOS-free recipe!
Thanks Danielle! 😉
Cathy, these cookies are delicious! Thank you, Millie from Maryland
Thanks Millie! It's apricot season, right! Perfect time for these. 😉
Dear Cathy! Since I live in Lebanon 🇱🇧, yes the country, I’m used to working with Tahini, my humble suggestion is to blend WITHOUT the Tahini, it will work more easily, and since the Tahini doesn’t need to be blended, simply add it afterwards, stirring the mixture.
Thank you for your fabulous recipes and your generosity in sharing. I also have your cookbook, as well as “Bravo”.
I'll try that! Thanks Linda! 🙂
Absolutely LOVE these cookies! First time I made them hubby ate 5. Second time, I made a double batch. Most time-consuming task is flattening the cookies, as they’re so sticky. I used dried apricots with great success and have used both sesame seeds and chopped walnuts. Best WFPB cookie recipe I’ve tried. 5 STARS! Will be making these often and they freeze well. Good right out of the freezer, as they stay soft.
Thanks for your comment! 🙂 I'm so glad you enjoyed these! You can use a small piece of parchment paper between your hand and the cookie to help with sticking. 😉