Spiced Apple Cookies

with oats, toasted walnuts, and hawaij

Being a creative is a little bit weird. At any given time, I have at least 10 new project ideas swirling around in my head, and approximately zero of them resemble any sort of paying job. Do I focus on self-publishing a cookbook, writing and designing quarterly food magazines for you, host big extravagant dinner parties in my backyard, turn my little kitchen into a cottage bakery with monthly bake sales, or launch a private chef/catering business that doubles as a cooking class? I also want to open a book store-bakery combo shop that maybe also dabbles in natural wine. I want to host a cook a book club where we read fiction novels and I develop a recipe from a food mentioned in the book. (This could actually be really fun to do as a series on this newsletter—are we interested in something like this??) Honestly, I want to do all of it.

If I could live out my dream life, I would own a bed-and-breakfast type of place somewhere in France, where I bake small-batch goodies in the mornings and host seasonally-inspired dinner parties on long tables in the middle of meadows. I’d dabble in wine-making and tend a lush garden and there would be woods where Marco and Tahini could freely explore, a giant library where I could share all of my favorite books and maybe I’d take up painting.

Until then, I’ll make cookies. I’m so grateful that I can spend my time developing recipes and sharing them with you—my little community. I love that I get to create cookies that bring smiles to the faces of the people I share them with and I’m endlessly grateful that in this season, I’m able to spend my days with a little toddler who is happy to help me mix and pour and stir all day long.

some recipe notes…

Hawaij is my very favorite fall spice blend. It’s warm and cozy without being overwhelmingly cinnamon-forward and from September 1st through the end of the year, you can find me working it into almost everything I bake. (No joke, I currently have notes for 4 recipe ideas with hawaij, I’m working on toning it down). I’ve included notes in the recipe for making your own hawaij spice blend to last you through the season. Add it to your coffee, mix it into pancake batter, bake it in muffins—its the perfect fall spice. Plus, here’s a really good recipe for Hawaij Snickerdoodles from my blog a few years back.

There’s a lot of warmth in this recipe that balances the fresh apples well. We’re incorporating browned butter, lots of oats, the aforementioned hawaij, and toasted walnuts. Don’t skip the toasting, it adds lots of depth. I tested this recipe both with and without walnuts and I really, really don’t recommend leaving them out. In addition to flavor and crunch, they provide some structure to the cookie. If for some reason you just can’t do walnuts, I’d recommend replacing them pecans or hazelnuts. And if you can’t do nuts at all, I’d add about 1/4 cup more oats to help with that structure element.

This dough is a little wet, so make sure to pop the whole bowl into the fridge to chill for about 15-20 minutes before scooping so that the cookie dough holds shape once scooped and then let them chill again once scooped for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight. It’s worth it, I promise!