In a coffee grinder, add the cardamom seeds and saffron strands.
Add ½ cup of sugar and blend them into a smooth powder.
Add powdered sugar with cardamom, saffron, and tahini in a mixing bowl.
Mix the tahini and sugar well using a spatula or a hand whisk.
Now gently mix the other dry ingredients - all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder.
Add 3 to 4 tbsp of oat milk and form the cookie dough. If required, add one more tbsp of milk. Do not add all the milk at once. Make sure there aren't any lumps of dry flour. You can use your hand to mix and bring the cookie dough together.
Cover the cookie with a cling film and refrigerate for 30 to 40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. When the oven temperature reaches 300 deg, I scoop out the cookies.
In a cookie pan, either line an aluminium foil or parchment paper. Scoop 1 to 1.5 tbsp of the cookie dough, gently roll it with your palms, and flatten them. Place these flattened cookies on the baking tray.
Now place a few chopped pistachios in the center, as shown in the picture.
Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes. Make sure you are baking the cookies on the middle rack.
After baking, take the cookies out and wait for two minutes. Then transfer it to the cooling rack and let it cool for atleast 5 to 7 minutes. I know it's hard, but please let the cookies cool before relishing them.
Notes
Blending the sugar, cardamom, and saffron helps the flavor to infuse very well. So do not skip that step.
Chilling the cookie dough for half an hour is sufficient, but there is no harm in chilling for a long time.
Pistachios are optional. Instead of pistachios, you can use chopped cashews, almonds, walnuts, or a mix of these nuts.
Instead of topping the cookie with nuts, you can gently fold the nuts into the cookie dough.
Baking Time
When you remove the cookies from the oven, they will be soft, and that's perfectly fine. When they cool, they become the perfect cookies. If you like soft, moist, and chewy cookies, bake only for 12 minutes. But if you like soft but not-so-chewy cookies, bake for 15 minutes. I won't recommend baking beyond that.
Milk
Do not add all the milk in a single go. Add 1 tbsp of milk at a time. Every time I use unbleached APF, I use 5 tbsps of milk. You need 3 to 4 tbsps of milk for this recipe. But depending on the flour, use the remaining milk.
Instead of oats milk, you can use any plant-based milk of your choice, or if you are not particular about the vegan diet, you can use dairy-based milk too.
Make sure to use good-quality baking powder.
I used cardamom and saffron to flavor the cookies. With tahini, they pair well. You can also add other flavors like rose essence or vanilla essence.