Do you ever crave a cookie that’s just a little out of the ordinary? Me too. A trip to the pantry and a little lucky imagination yielded these guys. Big cookies that are chewy and moist on the inside, brimming with oatmeal goodness and just a touch of coconut. The winning difference here, though, is the cashews. Cashew butter is in the dough to provide a subtle, nutty background flavor. But then – we pile in two cups of double roasted and salted cashews, cut into good sized chunks to ensure you get a big burst of cashew flavor every time you take a bite. The result is a little new, a little familiar, and a whole lot addictive.
Cashews are delicious of course, but a little mild in flavor and much softer in texture than most other nuts. To make sure we get the maximum bang for our buck of the salted & roasted cashews in the recipe, I popped them into the oven for about 10 minutes and re-roasted them until I could smell that cashew goodness. Then, as an added safeguard, once the nuts are cooled, I cut them into big chunks before adding to the batter – that way the pieces stay as large as possible. Since cashews are soft by nature, they will have a tendency to bust up when they hit the mixer blades – so be gentle. You’ll know they’re ready to come out of the oven when they are a little brown around the edges and the center looks set and not sort of raw. Kind of like these guys below:
And those are all the secrets about these little gems. I agree – cashew butter and roasted & salted cashews are a little expensive, but they make for a nice change of pace and are well worth a little trip to the wild side of the nut world. I hope you agree! Set them out on a nice platter with some more cashews, or just stuff them into your mouth by the handful like yours truly.
Thanks so much for spending some time with me today – I appreciate it very much!! xoxoxo
Cashew Butter Cookies with Oatmeal, Coconut, Roasted & Salted Cashews
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter at room temperature
- ¾ cup cashew butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup sweetened grated coconut
- 2 cups roasted & salted cashews
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Place the cashews in a pie dish or small baking dish and roast in the oven for 10 minutes, or until you can start to smell them getting all roasty and fragrant. Yes – I know they have already been roasted, but what you are going for here is maximum cashew flavor and by re-roasting for just a few minutes, you’ll get an added flavor boost. This is helpful because cashews by their nature are mild tasting. When they are finished re-roasting, remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- When the cashews have cooled, pour them onto a cutting board and roughly chop them. You are going for fairly big chunks because you want that big cashew bite. Plus, the nuts are very soft and will break up in the mixing process a little bit.
- In a mixer (or by hand if you don’t happen to have a mixer), cream the butter until smooth and fluffy.
- Add the cashew butter and continue beating until well mixed in.
- Add in the brown sugar and granulated sugar, and beat well until sugars are fully incorporated and everything is all nice and fluffed up.
- With your mixture on medium, add the eggs, one at a time, allowing one minute between adding each egg.
- When the eggs are all mixed in, add the vanilla and mix just until incorporated.
- Turn your mixer down to low, and add in the baking soda and salt, then the flour.
- Next, add the oatmeal, one cup at a time, until everything is fully mixed.
- Add the coconut.
- Add the cashews, and mix only until well blended in with everything else. Over-mixing will break up the nuts, so less is more in this endeavor.
- Using a small ice cream scoop if you have one (mine holds about 2 tablespoons of dough), drop your cookie dough on a cookie sheet that has been well greased or lined with parchment.
- At this point, I like to keep a cup of cold water with a fork in it nearby, and lightly squish down each cookie. This helps them spread and bake evenly.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes for the 2 tablespoon sized cookie, or until the edges begin to brown and the centers look set and not doughy.
- Remove from oven and cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.
- The rest is up to you, but I’d eat a couple really fast before anybody else knows what you’ve got going on there. ☺