The Best Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cardamom Cookies
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These homemade cardamom chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy with big chunks of dark chocolate. This no-chill cookie dough doesn't require a mixer and is made with nutty browned butter for extra flavor.
You'll also love my other chocolate recipes; no-bake chocolate tart, chocolate and salted caramel pavlova and these white chocolate cheesecake bars.
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⭐️ Why this recipe works
- Brown Butter: Adds a rich, nutty flavor that enhances the overall taste of the cookies.
- Cardamom Spice: Provides a unique, aromatic twist to traditional chocolate chip cookies, making them stand out.
- Texture: Combines the perfect balance of crispy edges and a soft, chewy center.
- Chocolate Chunks: Ensures pockets of melted chocolate in every bite, rather than uniform chips.
- Sea Salt Garnish (Optional): Enhances the sweetness and brings out the flavor of the chocolate.
🧾 Ingredient notes
- Butter: Divided and browned to add a nutty, rich flavor.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Adds moisture and a deeper caramel flavor.
- White Sugar: Balances the sweetness and helps achieve a crispy texture.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients together and add richness.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances all the other flavors.
- All-Purpose Flour: Provides the structure for the cookies.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise and become light and fluffy.
- Chocolate Chunks: Offer a more decadent chocolate experience than chips.
- Ground Cardamom: Adds a warm, spicy, and aromatic flavor.
For precise measurements and additional ingredients, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
👩🏻🍳 Here's how to make it
Cardamom chocolate chip cookies recipe step-by-step
- Start by browning half the butter and creaming the other half with the sugar.
- Add in the eggs one at a time and mix in until they have each been absorbed.
- Fold in the flour, cardamom and baking soda until you have a thick cookie dough. Then gently fold in the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
- Preheat the oven and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. *Most cookies have enough butter that the paper isn't necessary, but if you feel more comfortable, you can use it.
- Use a large cookie scoop to drop the dough onto the sheet in large mounds. *Leave enough room between each cookie so that they have room to spread a little while baking.
- Let the baked cookies cool on the baking tray for a couple of minutes, then use a spatula to move the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Store any unbaked dough in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Store baked cookies in an airtight tin for up to 3-4 days.
📖 Substitutions and variations
- Butter: Use margarine or plant-based butter for a dairy-free version.
- Light brown Sugar: Light brown sugar works well in this recipe, but the cookies won't be as rich.
- Flour: Use a gluten-free flour blend.
- Chocolate Chunks: Replace with white chocolate, milk chocolate, or butterscotch chips.
- Cardamom: Try cinnamon, nutmeg, or a mix of your favorite spices.
💭 How to tell when cookies are done
- Color Check:
- Edges: The edges should be golden brown and slightly crispy.
- Center: The center should look slightly underbaked but set. It will continue to cook and firm up as it cools on the baking sheet.
- Touch Test:
- Gently press the center of a cookie with your finger. It should be soft and yield slightly but not sink or feel doughy.
- Baking Time:
- Follow the recipe's suggested baking time as a guideline, but check your cookies a few minutes before the minimum time. For this recipe, begin checking around the 6-minute mark.
💡 Chef's Guide: Expert Tips
Drawing from a decade in Michelin-starred kitchens and Cordon Bleu training, here are my top tips for recipe success.
- Brown Butter: Be attentive to avoid burning; it should be golden and aromatic.
- Dough Chilling: Chill dough for 30 minutes to prevent spreading and enhance flavor.
- Sea Salt: A light sprinkle before baking elevates the flavor profile.
- Uniform Cookies: Use a cookie scoop for evenly sized cookies that bake consistently.
❓Recipe FAQ's
Add more dry ingredients: If you have additional dry ingredients (such as flour or oats) on hand, you can try mixing in a little bit at a time until the dough becomes less greasy. This may help to absorb some of the excess fat.
Bake for a little longer: If the cookies are still too greasy, you can try baking them for a few extra minutes to help the excess fat cook-off. Just be careful not to over-bake them, as this can cause them to become dry and crumbly.
Absolutely! The best way to freeze most cookie dough is to portion it into balls and freeze those. That way you can defrost 1-2 cookies at a time while keeping the rest frozen. To freeze baked cookies, just place them in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
In a clean airtight container at room temperature is the best way to store most cookies. It helps them stay fresh and keep from drying out. They'll stay fresh for 3-4 days.
More chocolate recipes
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CARDAMOM CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, room temperature divided in two
- ¾ cup (165 g) dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (66.67 g) white sugar
- 2 (2) eggs
- 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) vanilla
- 2 ¼ cup (281.25 g) all purpose, plain flour
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) baking soda
- 2 cups (340 g) chocolate chunks, chopped
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) ground cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF/ 160ºC
- Place ½ the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the white and brown sugar. Or use a regular mixing bowl and an electric hand whisk. Place the other half of the butter in a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until golden and nutty. About 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
- Beat the sugars with the softened butter until, light and fluffy. Slowly pour the browned butter into the sugars and continue to mix well. When properly mixed the butter and sugar will be light and fluffy and pale in color.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until the eggs are incorporated. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and cardamom. Mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and mix gently. Using a scoop, roll the cookies into balls and place them on a baking tray 3 inches apart. Gently flatten the cookies and sprinkle them with some sea salt if you like. The sea salt is completely optional but is a lovely addition.
- Bake for 6-10 minutes. Leave to cool on the tray for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
How do you complete this step without a mixer?
“Place ½ the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the white and brown sugar. Or use a regular mixing bowl and an electric hand whisk.”
The biscuits in the photo look as though they’ve been made with melted butter only.
This recipe uses a mix of melted and softened butter—half and half. If you don’t have an electric mixer, no worries! A wooden spoon will do the job just fine. Just make sure the melted butter has cooled a bit and the softened butter is truly soft (think: easily spreadable). You’ll just need to mix a little longer than the recipe states to make sure you’ve properly creamed everything and incorporated enough air into the mixture.
Can you freeze these?
Absolutely. You can freeze them after baking, or you can roll them into dough balls and freeze them in a single layer before baking and only defrost what you need/ want.
can I cut the recipe in half?
Hi Nevaeh. Yes, you can cut the recipe in half, no problem. 🙂
Delicious! The browned butter was such a perfect addition to the cardamom and sea salt. Well done!
Thanks so much Savannah!So glad that you loved these!
Looks good, I'll be making these this week. Thanks for using weights as measurements, it makes it much easier to make each batch the same by removing some of the variables.
Wowww!! What an amazing recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us...
Thanks so much Saesha! So glad you love these cookies!
What measurement is 180G butter? What measurement is 150G chocolate chips? 300G flour? 135G brown sugar?
May I have standard measurements, such as tsp, tbs, cups, etc. Thanks