There's no reason why delicious treats like cookies can't help you rack up your plant count with some healthy seeds and lovely spices - and chocolate! I love the specific combination of ginger and cardamom with chocolate, but you can use a teaspoonful of mixed spice if that's more convenient.
Method
Based on 12 servings, adjust as needed.
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Step 2
Melt the butter and sugar together in a small saucepan over a low heat, stiring often until well blended. Take off the heat and leave to cool a little.
Step 3
In the meantime, if using cardamom pods, bash the pods with a rolling pin to release the seeds then use a pestle and mortar to crush these. Discard the broken pods and use the crushed seeds.
Step 4
Mix the flour, oats, seeds, ground ginger and cardamom together and stir into the melted mixture until evenly blended. If the mixture is still warm, leave it to cool for a few more minutes before adding the chocolate (so the pieces don't melt). Stir to distribute the chocolate through the cookie batter.
Step 5
Take dessertspoonfuls of the mixture and place on the lined baking sheet, leaving a 3-4cm space in between as they will spread a little on baking. Use the back of the spoon to flatten each cookie into a rough circle, no more than 1cm deep. (I aim for 12 fairly small cookies.)
Step 6
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, depending on size, until the cookies are turning golden, and are more deeply coloured at the edges. They'll still be a bit soft at this point: leave to cool completely and crisp up before removing from the tray.
Step 7
You can store the cookies in an airtight container for up to a week - good luck with keeping them that long!