One night as I was making a few Lebanese-inspired dishes for dinner (these meat pies included), I decided to surprise everyone with a matching dessert. The flavor combination in these cookies seemed like absolute perfection–and I was right. The pistachios, lime, and cardamom come together in a bright, unique (and not to mention colorful) way. The crisp finished cookie is both sugary and savory and probably unlike any you've tasted before. In a word: yum.

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3/4 cups sugar
½ cup canola oil
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. rosewater (optional)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. finely grated lime zest
¼ cup cornstarch
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground cardamom
½ cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line trays with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, milk, rosewater (if using), vanilla, lime juice, and zest. Add the cornstarch and whisk until dissolved. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. Mix well.

3. Roll dough into balls about 2 teaspoons in size and drop into chopped pistachios. Press down until the dough flattens and the nuts collect on the bottom.

4. Place the cookies, nut side up, about 2 inches apart on the lined trays. Bake for 13 minutes (cookies will be soft but will firm up as they cool). Remove from the oven and let cool on the trays for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before serving.