Chocolate Oregano Cookies

I'm all about using what you have. Living cheaply is fairly easy once you have a decent amount of things stocked up, or a decent amount of things that are always growing. I have a slight gardening addiction, and I make that rather clear by the collection of houseplants that I hoard in my living room. I suppose that I somehow believe that house plants will make me healthier because it's recycling all of the CO2 that my household produces, as well as all of the methane, hydrogen sulfide, and amonia that we produce by our farts, and turning it into oxygen. Whether the plants do that to an amount that is truly beneficial I shall never know. It's still very relaxing, however, to have control over another living thing.

The oregano plants have just started coming back. It's winter here in the northern hemisphere, and that means that it's too cold for anything to be growing outdoors. That being said, we've had a string or two of unseasonably warm days in which I have tilled the ground and planted my winter crops, such as carrots, spinach, peas, kale, etc., and been able to spread mulch where there needs it. I'm glad that I was able to do this, of course, because right after planting we came down with a fair amount of snow, which is the poor man's fertilizer.

Inside, I have all of my starters going in planter trays, all sitting happily in front of my windows. I've got my houseplants, too, of course, but I'm very excited to see the plants that I've had in my planters outdoors (which I've brought indoors) happily bloom and grow again. The first to come back to life has been my oregano.

I love oregano. I think it is a wildly underutilized herb in the culinary world, especially when it comes to sweets. Oregano is an herb of luck and happiness, perfectly suitable as the first herb to sprout its pretty head for the new year. I love putting fruit and herbs together in pies and cakes, but what about cookies? The ultimate versatile cookie has to be chocolate chip. Here's how to make some chocolate chip cookies utilizing oregano!

Chocolate Oregano Cookies
yields 2.5 dozen

• 2 sprigs oregano, about 10 fresh leaves
• 6 oz vegan butter substitute (Earth Balance is my favorite)
• 6 oz granulated sugar
• 1 oz (by weight, if you please) good quality molasses
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp fine coffee grounds or 1 tsp freeze-dried instant coffee
• 7.5 oz all-purpose flour
• 4 oz 100% Cacao chocolate, chopped fine

Layer all of the leaves of oregano atop one another and roll into a cigar. Slice quite finely, and then add to the butter. You can melt it together and let it sit, of course, to steep, but if you're in a rush and you just need cookies right now, go ahead and cream it in until it's light and lemon-colored. Add in the sugar and molasses, and cream until quite fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in the egg until absolutely emulsified in, about 1 minute, and then scrape down. Remove the bowl from the standing mixer and scrape any butter mixture off the beater with the spatula. 

Dump all of the ingredients in, all at once, and stir with a spatula until well-enough combined. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. The cookie does improve when left to rest overnight, but if you can't wait to eat these delicious cookies, just chill the dough in the fridge while the oven heats to 325 degrees F, which should take about 30 minutes. If you can find room in the freezer, even better.

You can also dollop these on to sheet trays and freeze them a few batches at a time. 

Drop dollops of the cookie dough on to a prepared baking sheet lined with either parchment paper or a silpat mat and bake for 10-12 minutes. If you have a small 1 oz disher, that's ideal. Let the cookies hang out on the sheets for at least 15 minutes before picking them up so they can set. Molasses is an invert sugar, so it's what makes cookies very chewy. In fact, if you're a big fan of chewy cookies, all you have to do to make it super chewy is substitute liquid sugars for granulated/solid ones in some part. I encourage experimentation in all fronts!

If you'd like to make this to be an extra sexy treat, melt some good quality chocolate gently over a double boiler to about body temperature and dip the bottoms of the cookies in, just to coat. Let them harden on parchment paper. You can do that with just about any cookie that you'd like to dress up. You can even straight-up dip half of the cookie and cover it with sprinkles if you're feeling extra festive. The sky is the limit!

I love this recipe because it's a simple and classic cookie with an extra special thing that is both readily available and incredibly tasty. The oregano works because the licorice-like qualities add to the chocolate, and lend a new and fragrant kind of depth to something that looks simple. This is a recipe that you can easily tuck away in your cupboard but still help you clean up at the latest fundraiser because it's just that delicious.

Happy cooking and happy eating!