Cardamom Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies
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Cardamom chocolate chunk shortbread cookies are crisp, flaky, buttery, and chocolatey! And, they have a lovely floral note thanks to a dose of freshly-ground cardamom. Ahhh, they’re the best! These are one of my favorites to make for the holidays, cookie boxes, or just casual snacking.
We got home from our honeymoon in Curaçao last week and I was the most sad until I remembered that I had Bertie the greyhound, a decorated tree, and frozen shortbread cookies just waiting for me in the freezer.
If you get bad post-vacation blues like I do, might I recommend that you schedule any and all vacations right after Thanksgiving so you can come home to some holiday cheer?
Anywho. I sure do hope you have some softened butter and a bar of chocolate sitting around, because you must make these cookies immediately! Along with chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies and my viral stamped cardamom gingerbread cookies, they are honestly one of my all-time favorite Christmas desserts I’ve ever made.
As a pastry chef, I’ve made many, many desserts. But cross my heart, these might just be my perfect cookie. They’re flaky, dense, uber buttery, and have a nice salty touch. Borderline more like pie dough than cookies, and I mean that in the best way possible. Truly, I thought about them during my entire honeymoon and desperately wished I had packed a batch for a little plane snack.
Just a head’s up, if you’re looking for a traditional chocolate chip cookie, this recipe is not it. This version, popularized by Alison Roman a few years ago, is crunchy like a traditional shortbread.
High-quality ingredients matter
While the grocery list is pretty simple, I recommend going with high-quality ingredients for this recipe. Since the cookies only have a handful of ingredients, the flavors really shine through and good stuff makes a difference. You’ll need unsalted butter, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, vanilla bean paste or extract, all purpose flour, cardamom pods, Morton’s Kosher salt, semisweet chocolate, eggs, and raw sugar.
Make this easy holiday cookie
Fresh cardamom
I tried this recipe with both pre-ground and freshly-ground cardamom and I would not recommend using pre-ground cardamom. With pre-ground, the flavor was too subtle and most of my taste-testers didn’t even know it was there. With freshly-ground cardamom, there’s a balanced, floral spice in these cookies.
Store & freeze the cookies
- Store the cookies – place the cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
- Freeze the cookies – you’ll first want to freeze them for 1-2 hours on a tray to keep them from crumbling. Then, just pop the frozen cookies into a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Freeze the dough – tightly wrap the logs of dough with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Place them in an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the dough in the fridge for 1-2 hours before rolling in sugar, slicing, and baking.
Make-ahead instructions
If you, too, are making a million cookies this holiday season, it’s pretty nice to have a make-ahead option! Luckily, the dough can be made up to 3 days in advance. Just wrap the dough in plastic wrap or parchment paper and store in the fridge until you’re ready to roll the cookies in sugar and bake!
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Cardamom Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons freshly-ground cardamom, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup raw sugar, for rolling
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter, sugar, and dark brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Add the vanilla bean paste or extract.
- Next, mix in the flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the freshly-ground cardamom, and Kosher salt until you have a thick dough. The dough should not be crumbly or too sticky. It will resemble Play Dough.
- Fold the semisweet chocolate chunks into the dough until it's evenly incorporated. Divide the dough into 2 loose discs.
- Lay 2 long pieces of parchment paper or plastic wrap on the counter. Place 1 disc of dough onto each sheet of parchment or plastic wrap. Using your hands, roughly pat each disc of dough into a 12-inch log (they will be about 1-1 1/2 inches in diameter). Wrap the logs tightly in the parchment paper or plastic wrap, and roll until you have smooth, round logs (it doesn't have to be perfect). Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or up to 4 days.
- Once the dough is chilled and you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat the egg with 1 Tablespoon of water until it's smooth. Toss the remaining cardamom and raw sugar together on a plate. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and unwrap. Brush both logs with the egg wash and roll in the raw sugar to evenly coat the outside of the dough. (Don't pack too much on or the sugar will bake into the pan instead of the cookies.) Cut the logs in half, if necessary.
- Using a serrated knife, cut the logs into 1/2-inch cookies (you should get about 48 cookies). If you hit a chocolate chunk, gently saw the knife back and forth to cut through it. If it still crumbles apart, just push the cookie back together, the dough is very unfussy!
- Line the sliced cookies 1-inch apart on the prepared sheet pans. Refrigerate the cookies for 10 minutes to prevent them from puffing up as much. (Totally optional – just if you want prettier cookies.) Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies are set and golden-brown on the edges.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the sheet pans and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
