Spiced Olive Oil and Pistachio Cookies

Spiced Olive Oil and Pistachio Cookies

The Olive Oil Granola recipe made me a convert – I’m now mildly obsessed with adding olive oil to all things sweet. I must admit that this obsession started way before Olive Oil Granola took the food blogosphere by storm. As with many delicious indulgences, cough it all started with Mario Batali. Years ago, I went to Otto with my then-co-workers for some celebration now long forgotten. Because I have an undying need to order the most odd-sounding thing on the menu, my dessert that day was Olive Oil Gelato with Passion Fruit Granita. It was the creamiest, most luscious gelato. Smooth, sweet with just a hint of olive oil. It was fantastic.

Spiced Olive Oil and Pistachio Cookies

And so was the olive oil granola, and so too is olive oil cake. So, I ask you – what’s stopping me from making olive oil cookies? As of this morning, nothing! Using the same flavors and spices from the granola, I made these Spiced Olive Oil and Pistacho cookies. Just like the gelato, the olive oil flavor comes through, but instead of overpowering the cookies, it adds a lovely richness. The cardamom, cinnamon and ginger add enough of a bite and the pistachios give these cookies some texture.

Overall, I’m happy with the way these turned out. Though next time, I might add some unsweetened coconut or dried cherries, or both. Tonight, these cookies will become ice cream sandwiches with the pint of dule de leche sitting in the freezer. Tomorrow, they may become Passion Fruit Ice Cream sandwiches…

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