Cardamom Pistachio Cookies

These cardamom pistachio cookies are full of warm, slightly spicy flavor.

Cardamom  pistachio cookies stacked on a red plate.

Cardamom was a new spice to my family and me.  I have read a ton of recipes using this spice and decided to try it myself.

This stuff was pretty pricey at our local grocery stores.  I happen to find ground cardamom at a local Indian grocery store. Their prices were way more reasonable.

Cardamom Pistachio Cookies on a wire rack.

Why You Will Love this Recipe

  • This recipe is fast and easy to prepare. With the bonus of being really quick cleaning up. I’m all in!
  • No stand mixer is required! We use a food processor.
  • They make a great gift!
  • They are crispy shortbread cookies infused with cardamom spice and pistachios!

Ingredients

  • All-purpose flour, unsalted butter, and powdered sugar– This recipe uses the basic shortbread cookie ingredients.
  • Cardamom, lemon, vanilla extract, and pistachios – All combined for the perfect flavor.
Butter and flour in the bowl of a food processor.

How to Make Cardamom Shortbread Cookies

Add the flour, salt, confectioners sugar, lemon zest, vanilla extract, cardamom, and butter to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a dough forms.

Cardamom Pistachio Cookie dough in the bowl of a food processor.

Dump out the dough. Roll the dough into a log.

Cookie dough rolled into a log covered in pistachio.

Place the chopped pistachios on a piece of plastic wrap.

Roll the cookie dough log in the pistachios to evenly coat the entire surface.

Cookie dough log sliced.

Wrap the dough up tightly and refrigerate overnight for the best flavor.

You could bake it after refrigerating for an hour but the cardamom flavor will not be as strong. (I allowed the dough to refrigerate overnight. But I also noticed the cookies were even better the day after baking.)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice the dough into about 24 cookies. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet.

Cardamom Pistachio Cookies on a wire rack.

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until the edges begin to golden. Place the cookies on wire racks to cool completely.

Cardamom pistachio cookies stacked on a red plate.

Cardamom Pistachio Cookies

Rich, buttery cardamom shortbread, crusted with pistachios!
4.67 from 9 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, Middle Eastern
Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Cook Time: 14 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 29 minutes
Servings: 24
Calories: 136kcal
Author: Leigh Harris

Ingredients
 

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 sticks butter 1 cup, room temperature
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1 Tbs vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp heaping ground cardamom
  • zest of half a lemon
  • 1/2 cup pistachios roughly chopped

Instructions

  • Add the flour, salt, confectioners sugar, lemon zest, vanilla extract, cardamom, and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a dough forms.
  • Remove from the food processor and roll into a log of roughly 2 1/2″ in diameter.
  • Roll the dough log in the chopped pistachios.
  • Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight to allow the cardamon and lemon zest to fully infuse the dough.
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Slice the dough into 24 cookies and bake for 10 to 14 minutes or until the edges begin to golden. (mine baked 14 minutes)
  • Cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition

Calories: 136kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 116mg | Potassium: 40mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 246IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg

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56 Comments

  1. Amazing cookie. So easy to make using my food processor (chop the pistachios first, then move them to a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and its done!). Making my fourth batch; the first three went to a Christmas cookie exchange and filled holiday gift bags to friends– they were a hit! Light but rich, buttery, and with the cardamom flavor that is unusual but delicious. A great and easy, but classy and delicious, no muss cookie.5 stars

  2. Congratulations! This post is featured over at Diana Rambles this week and has been pinned in the Featured at Diana Rambles board at Pinterest, Yummed, and shared on Twitter. Please grab a featured button via the post guidelines graphic. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!

  3. These are perfect ! And who can resist pistachios and cardamoms… Beautiful!
    Thanks for joining us at #SaucySaturdays

    PS: you have been featured in last week’s party! Go on, check it out and feel free to brag to your friends 🙂

  4. What a great recipe and thanks so much for sharing it with us at Full Plate Thursday! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and come back to see us real soon.
    Miz Helen5 stars

  5. Loving these cookies and def want to give them a try! Cardamom’s one of a favorite spices, and one I make sure to get at an Indian grocery. 🙂

  6. Incredible! I bet these are one of those simple seeming but absolutely delicious cookies 🙂 thanks for linking up with #festivefoodfriday5 stars

  7. Oh these look so good and delicious for the holidays. Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me. #sharewithme5 stars

  8. Oh my sister would love this recipe and I am especially fond of how quick and easy it is to make! Thanks for sharing it and linking up with us at Talented Tuesday.
    Cheers,
    AJ

  9. What a lovely combination of flavours in these pretty cookies! Thank you for sharing your Cardamom Pistachio Cookies with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop. I’m featuring your post this week!5 stars

  10. That is an interesting recipe and they look good too. I have loved your input to the Blog Booster Party and I look forward to you being at the Blogger’s Pit Stop rally with more of your posts next Friday.
    Kathleen5 stars

  11. These look great. I’m not a big pistachio fan myself but my other half would love these. I’ve only ever had cardamom in Indian dishes, but I bet it goes really well in these too.

    Sally @ Life Loving
    #LifeLovingLinkie

  12. Oh these sound really, really good!!! We love Indian spices so I can’t wait to give this a try! Thanks for sharing on the Let’s Get Real link up 🙂

  13. These cookies look divine! I happened to forget that I already had a bottle of cardamom in my pantry when I bought another one, so I’m eager to try some yummy-looking new recipes that use this wonderful spice. Thanks for inspiration–I plan to make these for the holiday season!

  14. These sound divine and so easy to make, cardamom is one of those flavours I just love. Pinning it!
    Angela x

  15. What a fantastic looking cookie! Can’t wait to try it! Your recipe will be featured next week at the next Brag About It Link Party! Sure hope you will join us! Party starts Monday at midnight. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe with us! Pinning!
    ~Laurie

  16. Thanks for this recipe! I love cardamom. Growing up we had a Finnish coffee bread (pulla) that is favored with cardamom. Recently I began adding cardamom to coffee. I add some seeds to the fresh ground coffee before brewing. Like you I have discovered that cardamom seeds are more reasonably priced in the Indian grocery aisle.

  17. These sound utterly divine and I love love cardamom! So good to see this recipe, thank you for sharing!

  18. These cookies look so good! Do you think that the dough could be made up ahead of time and frozen to be sliced and baked right before Christmas? Thanks.

    1. Absolutely! You will have to adjust the cooking time to accommodate frozen dough. Or let thaw long enough to still be chilled. Maybe an hour or 2 at room temperature. Thank you for stopping by! Have a great Thanksgiving!

      1. I also will freeze the dough, should I also roll it in the pistachios before placing in the freezer or before I bake the cookies

  19. Ooh, these look delicious. Perfect for Christmas. Pistachios are so festive somehow aren’t they?! These would be perfect to link up to my FestiveFoodFriday linky over on my blog if you fancy joining in. This week’s is live until Tuesday night or there will be another next Friday 🙂5 stars

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