A few months back, a friend introduced me to a sage corn cookie she had made. I was impressed by the possibilities of a savory cookie made with herbs and spices that could be an accompaniment to a Thanksgiving meal or other menus that already use sweet components in them. We brainstormed possible variations on this theme, using different spice combinations in a cookie, and soon arrived at two ideas—cardamom, orange, and pistachio, which is featured here, and another combo that will be revealed closer to Valentine’s Day.
Our cookie baking session was wonderfully aromatic and fortunately both ideas yielded fantastic results.
Olive grudgingly let me give them away and has asked repeatedly for me to bake these again, “soon, as in now.”
cardamom pistachio nib cookies
makes 7 dozen 2″ cookies
8 oz. of 72% dark chocolate
9 oz. unsalted butter (2 sticks + 1 tbsp)
7 oz. white sugar (10 tbsp)
11 oz of dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 tbsp orange extract
18 oz. flour, sifted and measured
1 1/2 tsp baking soda, sifted
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp ground cardamom, freshly ground from the pod*
3 tbsp cocoa nibs
1/4 cup coarsley ground pistachios
Melt the 72% chocolate in a double boiler and let cool slightly while you prepare the other ingredients.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until the mixture is light in texture and color. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the orange extract. Add the chocolate in thirds and fold in.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, folding in until no white flour is visible (do not overmix). Add in the cocoa nibs and refrigerate the mixture for 10-30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375º and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 1/2 tbsp of cookie dough onto the pan, keeping them 1″ apart from one another. Sprinkle a few pistachios on top of each cookie, pressing them in slightly. Bake for 9–11 minutes (on the long side if you want them crispy and shorter if more chewy).
notes
*Removing the seeds from the cardamom pods is time consuming, but once you taste this cookie, I think you’ll think it’s worth it. If you can’t be bothered to scoop out the seeds (don’t be afraid of them, they look like something you don’t want in your kitchen) and grind them, preferably in a coffee grinder (not a mortar and pestle, I’m not a masochist), then just make sure that the ground cardamom you get is fresh. Once ground, the quality starts deteriorating quickly, more so than with other spices. And if you do use the ground spice, measure another 1 or 2 teaspoons beyond the 1 tbsp called for.
After our brainstorming session, I found this recipe from Eggbeater which was helpful in giving me basic proportions and the idea to add cocoa nibs, which I was dying to use after recently purchasing some.
Related posts:
- chocolate pistachio salami
- chocolate chili cherry cookies
- lemon coconut white chocolate chip cookies
- grandma’s oatmeal raisin cookies
- “grey cookies… earl grey cookies.”
- chocolate orange pots de creme
- florentines
- Blackberry Chocolate Rugelach
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i absolutely, truly adore cardamom (as you can also see my from blog header!) i love your recipe and the photo is beautifully taken. xo shayma
Thank you for the photo compliment! The photography is all done by my husband who will soon be posting a biography of himself.
Have to agree, this is a particularly stunning photo for a recipe that has given me an instant craving. You’ve hit so many of the ingredients I love: cardamom, pistachio, and cocoa nibs! Mmm . . . Can’t wait to see what’s coming next, the surprise for “closer to Valentine’s Day”: you’re such a tease!
Gorgeous bright green pistachio pieces. YUM.
These look fantastic – I can’t wait to try them! And so true about cardamom losing flavor faster than other spices. It is possible to get the whole seeds (already shelled), which saves a little effort – they’re usually called decorticated cardamom.
I made your cookies. Great stuff! I substituted one of the teaspoons of orange for vanilla. So delicious! Thanks for your recipe!
Donny, so glad you enjoyed them.
I was trying to find cocoa nibs but the shop near my house only have chocolate covered cocoa nibs. Should I get RAW cocoa nibs or any kinds of cocoa nibs will do? Thank u so much!
Doan, the cookie is pretty chocolatey already, but if that’s all that you can find, I say go for it! It might be really interesting. And let me know how it tastes!