Honey-Nut Oatmeal Cookies

This was my first attempt at creating an original cookie. I drew inspiration from one of my favorite cereals, Honey-Nut Cheerios, and designed the recipe around its flavors. Although implied by the name, Honey-Nut Cheerios don't actually contain nuts anymore, although they used to have almonds. Since it's an oat cereal, these cookies are a riff on oatmeal cookies.

Designing your own cookie isn't that hard, but there are a few things to know. All cookies have six basic components:

1. Fat (usually butter),
2. Sugar (may be white, brown or both), 
3. Flour (generally all-purpose, but some cookies have whole wheat, nut flours and a few, like monster cookies, omit it),
4. Leavening (some combination of baking soda, baking powder or both),
5. Flavors (here's where you get to be creative; some typical ones include chocolate chips, peanut butter, oats, ginger, cinnamon, etc.), and 
6. Salt, which helps bring out the other flavors.

The proportions of those ingredients dictate what kind of cookie you'll end up with, whether its crunchy or soft, chewy or cakey, mounded or spread, for example. These cookies were mostly chewy with a bit of crunch and they spread nicely.

Honey-Nut Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup ground almonds
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks (16 tbsp.) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2/3 cup sliced almonds, pan toasted

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ground almonds, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy. Add sugar and brown sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the honey, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the oats and sliced almonds and stir into the dough with a wooden spoon.

4. Scoop 2-tablespoon rounds of dough onto a baking sheet lined with silpat or parchment, spread about 2 inches apart. Bake 22-25 minutes, rotating baking sheets from top-to-bottom and front-to-bank about halfway through. Cool on baking sheet and then transfer to a plate or container. Store in the refrigerator.