With every bite of these easy Cardamom Shortbread Cookies, you’ll taste classic richness and butteriness uplifted by bright, warming cardamom spice. Cardamom is one of my all-time favorite spices, especially in sweets and baked goods, because it adds richness to anything with a heavy fat content like butter, which shortbread certainly does. Although cardamom is on the more expensive side of spices, the layered flavor and one-of-a-kind floral aroma it brings make it so worth it.
Although this recipe is similar to my Noon Berenji (Persian rice flour cookies) and both share a crumbly quality, their textures are quite different. Noon Berenji has a distinct lightness and will melt in your mouth, thanks to the super fine rice flour that gives it a delicate, dissolving texture.
This shortbread recipe, while still tender, is richer and denser. Instead of dissolving, it has a crunch and you have to chew it a bit more, getting that velvety buttery richness as it crumbles with each bite. So, if Noon Berenji is the light and delicate one, think of this cardamom shortbread as its richer, denser sister.
🌟 Why This Recipe Is Worth Making
🧾 Key Ingredients in This Recipe
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
👩🍳How to Make This Recipe
Why the Creaming Step?
Creaming butter and sugar in a shortbread recipe aerates the mixture, helping to create a light texture and a more tender, crumbly cookie.
🍫 Optional Chocolate & Pistachio Dip
Melt 1 cup of white or dark chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil for regular chocolate and up to 1 tablespoon for white chocolate. You can either dip your cookies in the mixture or drizzle the chocolate mix over them in any pattern you like. Then sprinkle them with the chopped pistachios.
📦 How to Store These Cookies
You can store the shortbread in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, in the refrigerator for 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can also freeze the dough in its log shape prior to baking and defrost it in the refrigerator overnight.
☕️ A Pairing for Your Shortbread
These shortbread cookies are magic with a strong cup of hot black tea, like Persian tea. And I wouldn’t just enjoy these with tea, I’d go as far as to dip my shortbread straight in my tea to give them an extra melt-in-the-mouth, warm tang. It’s making me hungry just thinking about it.
Cardamom Shortbread Cookies
Print Recipe SaveIngredients
Cardamom Shortbread Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature, 226 grams
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar 25 grams
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar 28 grams
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240 grams
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1.5 tsp ground cardamom
Instructions
Cardamom Shortbread Cookies
- Cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
- Gradually add in the dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons dried lavender, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix well.
- Divide the dough in half. Form each half into an 8-inch log. Wrap in parchment paper, wax paper, or plastic. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Slice each lot into 1/4-inch discs (can go up to about a third of an inch if you aren't measuring). Place 1-inch apart on ungreased baking sheets or silicone baking mats.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes, until the edges begin to lightly brown.
- Cool for 1 minute on the baking sheet. Then transfer to a wire rack.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days, in the refrigerator for 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Matcha or Dark Chocolate Dip
- Melt the chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of coconut oil over a bain-marie*.
- Optional: Once melted, add the matcha powder to the melted white (or dark) chocolate and mix well to incorporate. Use white chocolate if you would like them to be green.
- Prepare a sheet pan with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper, or use a wire rack. Dip the cookies up to half-way in the melted chocolate and place them on the sheet pan. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Enjoy!