Pistachio Cardamom Cookies
Lately, I've been obsessed with cardamom, my new favorite "warm" spice (as in "warm in the body," like cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace--not hot, and not herbaceous).
I've been putting it in chocolate cake, in ice cream, in chicken sautés, in just about everything. I was reading some cookbooks this morning and found a recipe for sour cherry cardamom clafouti. I almost passed out.
Last week, probably to stifle my cardamom whining, Bruce morphed the Indian sweet, kaju makrum (cashew macaroons) into ridiculously crisp wafer cookies with pistachios and, yes, cardamom. I swear, all week I didn't eat any sweets during the day so I could have a small stack of these with a glass of milk after dinner, my little-kid dessert while the Olympics were on. I was undone. They're that good. Try them. Promise.
First, position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Next, take the seeds out of a couple dried, green cardamom pods. Crack them open and the black seeds will fall out. Discard the pods, then bruise--indeed, almost crush--about 1/2 teaspoon of those seeds with the side of a big knife, a rolling pin, or the bottom of a small saucepan (although you'll also have to scrape them off the bottom of the saucepan).
Scrape these little seeds into a food processor. Add 1 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 large egg, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Pulse a few times, then process just until the nuts are coarsely ground and the mixture holds together like a wet paste.
Drop the dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets. Make sure you give them at least 2 inches space in-between each because they'll spread. If you find the dough too sticky, wet the little teaspoon so that the dough comes out more easily.
Bake until the cookies are flattened and pale brown, between 12 and 15 minutes. They will be quite soft. Cool on the baking sheet a good 5 minutes before you try to lift them off. Then transfer them to a wire rack. They'll get really crisp as they cool. And by this point, the baking mat and baking sheet will be cool enough to make a second batch.
cardamom, cookies, dessert, obsession, pistachios, real food, warm spice 
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Reader Comments (4)
must be something in the air.... I just made pistacho and almond shorbread biscuits and had a lttle stack with my evening cuppa! I like the idea of adding cardamon to them, very Swedish/Asian fusion! Have you ever tried making rolled up sweet yeasted buns with cardamon in the dough and then spread with cinammon and sugar butter before being rolled up? Also very delicious. Neither of them are my own recipes, the shrotbreads are Nigel Slater in The Guardian and the buns are from Falling Cloudberries...
I will try your cookies next they look divine and no added fat, unlke shortbread which is buttery to the extreme!
Yes! I'm a big fan of all those warm spices, and cardamom is great because it's not as known, so it's a nice surprise for people, whether you sneak it in a sauce or baked good, or highlight it something like this...or sour cherry cardamom clafouti, which you should definitely make and share.
Sour cherries with cardamom sounds wonderful. Maybe dried sour cherries and cardamom in biscotti.
Zeb: I love the notion of the sweet buns. I think we're going to do sweet rolls/danishes next week--or the one after--on the blog. The whole yeast/puff pastry extravaganza. So many we'll have to make a cheese/cardamom filling for them.
Brittany: I'm thinking that, too.
And Bruce, you KNOW I'll eat whatever you make. Always have, always will. Partly because it's so good, mostly because I love you.