Buttery Cardamom Spice Shortbread Cookies

These cardamom shortbread cookies have a wonderful crisp texture and buttery flavor. The bonus is this recipe is simple and quick to make — you’ll have freshly baked cookies ready in less than 30 minutes! Cardamom is typical in many authentic Middle-eastern desserts, and this recipe is specific to the region I was born in: Mosul, Iraq. And I’m super excited to share it with you!

One day I was on a call with my dad and my relatives back home in Iraq. Luckily, my aunt who is famous for making this rich and buttery shortbread Iraqi cookie was on the phone. We ended up getting the exact recipe from her. I’m so glad I did because I discovered how easy it is. We don’t have many traditional cookies in the middle east, but this one and my barazek cookies are firm favourites.

This cardamom shortbread is unique in that it’s not the bright white color that most shortbread cookies are. It’s a slightly “tan” color due to the specks of ground cardamom in the cookie dough and also due to baking it to a light golden color. You can buy ready ground cardamom but if you grind your own it’ll definitely be even better. I grind the whole pod (no need to take out the seeds only) using a spice grinder.

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make this Recipe

Like most shortbread cookies, the ingredients are fairly simple. This recipe, however, has a few new additions to classic shortbread.

Aside from flour, confectioner’s sugar (or powdered sugar), and butter, my recipe also uses a little bit of baking powder and the star ingredient: cardamom. The cookies are also finished with a whole almond. A few notes on the ingredients:

Cardamom: There is a good amount of cardamom in this recipe but the flavour is not overwhelming once combined with everything else. I highly recommend grinding your own rather than using pre-ground cardamom. The flavour will be much better. Don’t worry if you see tiny flecks of the cardamom if you grind it yourself. If you enjoy the flavour of cardamom in desserts, try my Cardamom and Tahini Energy Date Balls or Cardamom Granola recipes.

Butter: unsalted butter, always! The butter also needs to be at room temperature in order for it to combine well with the other ingredients. If it’s too soft however, it may cause the cookies to spread too much.

How to make Cardamom Shortbread

I find shortbread extremely easy to make, once you get used to how the texture of the dough should feel. It can be a little tricky to get it right, because a really soft dough may melt into a puddle in the oven, and a dry dough won’t melt in your mouth and give you that dreamy shortbread texture.

My first attempt turned into a puddle because I had too much butter to the flour ratio. Here are the steps you need to follow for this cardamom shortbread to turn out just perfect.

Start with room temperature butter cut into cubes. It’s important that the butter is not too soft! Otherwise it will melt a lot quicker in the oven and yield a cookie that spreads out too much.

To the butter, add the confectioner’s sugar and mix with an electric mixture with a whisk attachment or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment until they’re well combined and a pale yellow. You can’t really use granulated sugar here because it won’t blend into the butter as well.

Then add the baking powder and ground cardamom and give it another little whizz using the mixer until combined.

Now is the part where you gradually add your flour, half a cup at a time, and mix it well using your hands. Keep adding the flour until the dough starts to take shape and is no longer sticky on your hands. It needs to come away from your hands when you mix it and form a smooth dough.

Now you can shape it into medium sized balls (about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons) and place them on a lined baking sheet.

Flatten them slightly into small discs and press the almond in the middle of each cookie.

Bake them at 350F (a high oven temperature will cook the outside faster than the inside) and watch the bottoms. They are ready once the bottom of the cookies are a light golden color, which should take roughly 25 minutes.

Storage Instructions

Store in an air-tight container on the counter. They will keep well at room temperature for 3 to 4 weeks. You can also place some of them in an air-tight container or a freezer bag and freeze them for up to 6 months. Thaw at room temperature and enjoy.

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If you tried these recipes, please consider leaving a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page – I’d love to hear from you! You can also hop on over to Instagram and say hello!

4.63 from 8 ratings

Buttery Cardamom Spice Shortbread Cookies

Yield: 24 Cookies

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Total: 30 minutes mins

Author: Amina Al-Saigh

These cardamom shortbread cookies have a wonderful crisp texture and buttery flavor. The bonus is this recipe is simple and quick to make — you’ll have freshly baked cookies ready in less than 30 minutes! Cardamom is typical in many authentic Middle-eastern desserts, and this recipe is specific to the region I was born in: Mosul, Iraq. And I’m super excited to share it with you!

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Ingredients

 

½x1x2x

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ 2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar, (powdered sugar)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 2 tablespoon ground cardamom
• ▢ 2 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ▢ 24 whole almonds, peeled or unpeeled

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Instructions

 

• Start by preheating the oven to 350F.
• 
  Cut up room temperature butter into cubes and add to a medium sized bowl.
• 
  Add the powdered sugar to the butter and beat using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for 1 minute until well combined and the mixture is pale yellow.
• 
  Add the baking powder and ground cardamom and mix well using the electric mixer for 20 more seconds until well combined.
• 
  Gradually add the flour 1/2 cup at a time and mix with your hands. Incorporate all of the flour well before adding the next 1/2 cup.
• 
  Keep mixing with your hands until all the flour is added and you reach a firm but soft dough.
• The dough should not be sticking to your hands and should come together and be easy to shape into balls. However don't add too much flour as that will make the shortbread tougher.
• 
  Form into medium sized balls (about 1 1/2 tbsp) and place on a lined baking sheet.
• 
  Press the balls down slightly to form a disc shape and press an almond in the middle.
• 
  Bake for about 20-25 on the middle rack until the bottom is lightly golden.
• Allow to cool and enjoy! Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• You may need to add slightly less or more flour, depending on the type you have. It’s important to not add too much in order to achieve a “melt in your mouth” texture. Add enough until the dough no longer sticks but is still soft.
• It’s also important to use room temperature unsalted butter. If the butter is too soft, it will affect the texture of the dough.

Serving: 1g, Calories: 109kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 0.4g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 19mg, Potassium: 16mg, Fiber: 0.3g, Sugar: 0.1g, Vitamin A: 355IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 18mg, Iron: 0.1mg

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