UPDATED RECIPE- Cardamom Cookies are buttery, crisp and mildly sweet and so soft that they truly melt in your mouth!! These cardamom shortbread cookies pairs perfectly with your cup of coffee of tea or makes a great Christmas cookie.
Meet my new favorite shortbread cookie recipe!!!
These cardamom shortbread cookies have just the right amount of sweetness and they are CRISP yet melts into your mouth!! SO GOOD!
What makes these cardamom cookies really, really good?
- Crisp yet light
- Floral, exotic cardamom flavored
- Mildly sweet
- Pairs well with coffee / tea / Indian chai
- Perfectly sized
- Easy to make
- Slice and bake, no fancy equipment needed
- No eggs in the recipe <— great for vegetarians.
More cookies –
Ingredients:
Just 4 ingredients-
Butter – Unsalted butter at room temperature. If using salted butter, then skip salt.
Confectioners Sugar – Confectioners sugar has cornstarch which gives these cookies so soft and tender.
Flour – All purpose flour
Cardamom powder – Freshly ground cardamom makes a huge difference in the Indian cardamom cookies. Refer notes on making fresh cardamom powder.
Method:
Step-1: Grind green cardamoms to a fine powder in a dry grinder and measure 1 tablespoon.
Step-2: Whisk together all purpose flour, cardamom powder and salt together.
Step-3 : In a seperate bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth and creamy, just for 30 seconds on high (picture below, left)
Step-4: Add the dry ingredients and mix well (picture above, middle and right), shape into a 7 to 8 inch log (picture below, left), wrap and chill until very firm (The dough can be made up to two days ) (picture below, right).
Step-5: Preheat oven to 340°F.
Step-6 : Slice cookie dough and place on a baking sheet and bake until deep golden (refer pictures below)
Cool and enjoy!
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Notes on making perfect cardamom cookies:
- Confectioners sugar – The secret is in the confectioners sugar. Confectioners or powdered sugar contain a small portion of cornstarch in them, which contributes to that melt in your mouth feel.
- Room temperature butter – If you live in a hot climate or it is in the middle of summer then the butter might be too soft for the cookie dough. In that case, make the cookie dough as instructed and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 20-40 minutes to firm up slightly before shaping into the log.
- Cardamom powder – Freshly ground green cardamoms make the best favored cookie. Try to use fresh, if possible.
These cardamom biscuits are the easiest to make and is a great starter cookie if you are new to baking.
Can you make cardamom shortbread cookies without an electric mixer?
ABSOLUTELY!
Step-1: Whisk dry in a medium bowl and set aside.
Step-2: Add room temperature butter and confectioners into a larger bowl and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon, until creamy. This is a very forgiving cookie, so a good 3 minutes should be good!
Step-3: Add dry ingredients and continue to mix with the wooden spoon, until it looks like the picture.
Step-4: Proceed as instructed in the remaining part of the recipe – shape, chill, slice and bake.
Cardamom has a mildly sweet flavor with citrus, floral and herbal notes. Due to its intense fragrance, they are an exotic replacement for vanilla in baked goods.
Cardamom is fabulous in both sweet, savory dishes and beverages. Cardamom tea (Chai) is one of the most popular everyday beverage in most of south east Asia. Cardamom sweets and baked treats are hugely popular all over India, Sweden and Finland. It is used in making cardamom breads, rolls, cakes and buns which are out of the world delicious.
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Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cardamom powder or less (refer notes)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature (1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
Instructions
- Whisk together all purpose flour, cardamom powder and salt in a small bowl
- Place butter and confectioners sugar in a medium bowl, beat with a hand held electric beater on high speed, until smooth (about 30 seconds). Refer notes on how to make cookies without an electric beater.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed, until well combined.
- Shape dough into a 7-inch log and wrap with a piece of parchment paper and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours (up to 2 days) to firm. (Please note that if you are working in Summer or if you live in a warm/hot place, the dough might be sticky due to the high fat content. So, place the bowl in the refrigerator for 20-40 minutes, to firm up the dough before rolling into log)
- Preheat oven to 340 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove dough from refrigerator, slice into 1/4-inch slices and place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing evenly.
- Bake cookies in the middle rack of the oven for 18-24 minutes, until deep golden around the edges (turn pan once halfway through baking) You want a deep golden brown around the edges for a crisp cookie. If you remove the cookies before that stage, then it will have slight crisp and softer texture.
- Place pan on a wire rack to cool completelyStore cookies in an air tight container for several days.
Notes
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33 Comments
These look tasty and easy to make! I’m more in awe with your photos though! How did you make those somewhat simple, one color cookie pop in the photo!!! Awesome!
Thanks for the kind words Carolyn:)
These look so tasty! I wouldn’t have thought to put Cardamom in cookies. Can’t wait to try these cookies.
Thank You Elaine! Cardamom adds a floral note and aroma while baking is intoxicating:)
Do you grind the entire cardamom pod?! We Finns grind the seeds. I’m going to make these for sure!
Thank you for sharing.
Maija
Hi Maija, I grind the whole cardamom pods, hope it helps:)
These look amazing Maria! 🙂
Thank you Kim:)
Do you use the whole cardamom or do you grindr only its seeds? thx!
The whole cardamom. Let me how it goes, thanks.
What if while cardimom is not available, only cardomom powder? Would you use the same amount? We live in a fairly rural area.
Grinding fresh cardamoms contributes the best aroma and flavor, but store-bought cardamom powder can sure be substituted if not available. On a side note, whole cardamoms can also be found at Asian grocery stores (usually for much lesser price). Hope it helps Nicole:) Happy baking!
Is there an egg in the recipe? This seems like it will fall apart? I’ve got a batch in process and just realized!!
No egg. Form into a tight log, chill until firm and proceed. Do let me know how it goes, thanks.
Hi Rachel, since the softness of room temperature butter varies between cold and hot months, the dough might be sticky during summer and difficult to roll into a log. In that case, I suggest to place the combined dough(along with the bowl) in the refrigerator for few minutes (to firm up) and then roll into a log with a parchment paper or plastic wrap. Thanks
I made these cookies last night. Left them overnight in the refrigerator I’m not sure what I did but to cut them was not easy they crumbled.,when I put them in the oven after 15 minutes in the oven, they burnt. I saved some of them they tasted OK… but overall I don’t think it wasn’t successful. They did not look as beautiful as the pictures… I followed the recipe exactly as indicated.
I’m so sorry that it didn’t quite work out for you. My guess would be that the flour was a touch more for the butter to bind. So, sorry again:)
You said 1 stick of butter but then 1 cup, which is 2 sticks of butter. Could you clarify?
Hi Kathy, as per the recipe it goes –
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), room temperature
– hope it helps:)
great texture, not to sweet, but the flavor was too strong for our taste. next time ill add 2 teaspoons instead of 1 tablespoon or cardamon powder
Hi Sharon, I’m so glad that you liked it. 2 teaspoons cardamom powder sounds like a perfect start:)
I loved the idea of these cookies, and live in a place settled by Finns, who adore cardamom, but wanted a look a little more special for Christmas. I just rolled the dough out on a tray, topped by a sheet of plastic wrap and chilled them off. They cut so clean and beautifully with pretty cookie cutters and kept their shape so well when baked. Thanks for the new addition to my annual list of best cookies to bake for neighbors and clients!
So glad that you liked them. Happy holidays Dianne:)
I LOVE these cookies! I’m making them again.
So glad you love them, happy new year Lisa:)
These are so good. I made them for my friend and he loved them so much he asked for the recipe. He then made them for someone else who loved them so much, she asked for the recipe 🙂
Super easy, but the butter really cannot get too soft. If it does, you’ll need to put the dough in the fridge as suggested.
Can I give the recipe 10 stars? The cookies were amazing – melt in the mouth and crisp with a bright cardamom flavor. They reminded me of atta laddoos but they are so much better because of the texture. A real keeper which will become a family favorite for sure!
Thank you for the recipe with detailed instructions. I would not have thought to add a whole tbsp of cardamom but it worked very well. I did a little more flour (about 2 tbsps) since my dough was too soft – could be because we made it on a wet day.
Hi Priyanka, So glad that you loved these cookies.
These cookies remind me of “Butter Biscuits” that we get in tea stalls in Chennai, so it is one of my all time favorites. I’m happy to hear that you liked them as well:)
Is it possible to reduce the amount of sugar in this without messing up the texture?
Hi Ash, These cookies are MILDLY SWEET to begin with, so I will highly encourage not reducing the sugar:)
These are just awesome; perfect sweet and butter mix. First time baking cookies and im so glad this was my first recipe. I’m a new covid baker 🙂 cakes, scones and bread ive tried so this was definitely next. I want to bake these for my friends next
Glad you loved these cookies:)
I made these cookies today so that I could introduce my sister to cardamom. They are fantastic. I love the sweetness level. It was recommended that I could dust the with confectioner’s sugar or add sanding sugar before baking The butter in them tastes as if it was browned. YUM! Thank you for this recipe. Very easy!