Vanilla Bean Cardamom Cookies
Delicate and lightly sweetened shortbread cookies are flavored with vanilla bean and fragrant cardamom and dipped into a spiced glaze. Perfect for adding to your holiday cookie menu as these are classic buttery flavors.
Shortbread cookies will always be my weakness. They are simple to make, aren’t too sweet, can be flavored with anything your heart desires. They are also a perfect cookie for gifting during the holidays as you can make them in advance and because they have low moisture, store very well.
A special thank you to Mill and Refill for their beautiful pastry flour that was used in this cookie. They are local to San Marcos, Texas and I have linked their website if you are interested in supporting them. I have been using their whole grain milled flour for making sourdough bread for the past 4 months and have also bought their biscuit mix as well. They have very fine products, and I am happy to support small local businesses when I can.
Why I Love This Recipe
Flavor-The cardamom in this cookie creates a warm almost citrus like notes when combined with the vanilla bean paste. Cardamom has an earthy and warm flavor profile to it and is balanced nicely with the soft warm flavor of vanilla. The glaze is creamy, spiced with cardamom and vanilla and creates a nice, sweet layer on the top of the cookies. The cookie itself is very mild, not too sweet, and has a nice salty snap at the end of every bite to balance the spices in the cookie.
Texture-The texture of this shortbread is melt in your mouth lovely. The use of cornstarch in the cookie dough creates a crisp but soft texture that crumbles and melts on the tongue. The cookie is light and has a light glaze which sets up as a nice sweet crisp layer on top of the cookie.
Made to Share-These are great to share as they are mildly sweet and can store well. These cookies can be made in advance and get better as they age since the spices in the cookie have time to permeate the dough.
Easy to Make-The cookie dough takes minutes to make and can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days or wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months. Rolling out and cutting the cookies is the only tedious step in this recipe and takes around 5 minutes, but you can avoid this step entirely if you want to roll the dough into a log and use the dough as a slice and bake cookie. The dough is very versatile. The cookies can be stored in a covered container for a week and are great to add to cookie gift boxes.
Ingredients You Need
-Butter- unsalted room temperature butter.
-Egg Yolk- the egg yolk makes a richer and softer cookie.
-Powdered Sugar-this will sweeten the cookies while also keeping them soft.
-Cardamom-
-Vanilla Bean Paste
-Salt-for flavor.
-Cornstarch-this will keep the cookie soft.
-Flour- I used pastry flour from a local mill in San Marcos, Texas MILL AND REFILL
Vanilla Bean Cardamom Glaze
-Powdered Sugar
-Vanilla Bean Paste
-Cardamom
-Milk
Optional: Edible rainbow glitter and star shaped sprinkles.
Let’s Make Cookies!
In a bowl I combine the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, cardamom, and salt. I used a handheld mixer to cream all the ingredients together for around 3-4 minutes. My mixer was being used to knead some bread dough and I had forgotten how easy it is to whip up cookies with the handheld mixer. Too fun.
Once the mixture is light and creamy, I add the egg yolk and beat for another minute. I scrape the bowl down to make sure everything is mixed evenly and there are no traces of egg yolk.
I add the flour and cornstarch and mix on low until it just comes together. The mixture will look dry and there should be no visible pockets of flour.
I place the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, wrap the dough into a disc with several layers of plastic wrap, then place in the fridge to rest.
**DISCLAIMER-although the Christmas tree cookie cutter was super cute and I was captivated by my childlike excitement to use them on these cookies, the Christmas tree shape is very delicate and finnicky to decorate after they are baked. These cookies will decorate easier as a slice and bake cookie or if you wish to roll it out, stick with designs that are more rounded and no bigger than 2 inches. You can roll this cookie dough into a slice and bake cookie. Roll the cookie dough into a log that is 2-3 inches thick using the plastic wrap then refrigerate. Slice the cookies into ¼ inch thick medallions and proceed to follow baking instructions below**
I left mine to rest for around 6 hours before getting back to the kitchen but at least an hour of chill time should be good. You can leave the dough in the fridge for up to 2 days or freeze for 3 months. If freezing dough, place in a sealed plastic bag and thaw in fridge overnight before using.
I leave the dough out for 20-30 minutes when I am ready to bake the cookies and prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper.
I preheat the oven to 350*F while I get the cookies ready.
Using a generously floured work surface and floured rolling pin, I carefully press the dough out to a ¼ inch thickness. I don’t want to go thinner than that or the cookies will be too thin and prone to breaking.
Using a cookie cutter of choice (again, read disclaimer about cookie cutters above!), I used a 4-inch Christmas tree I found at Target this time, I cut out shapes in the cookie dough. I usually use a 2-inch fluted round cookie cutter to cut out shortbread cookies, but the trees were too cute to pass up. Please use whichever cookie cutter you have available.
I use a pancake spatula to transfer the cut-out trees to the parchment lined baking sheet. I fit 7 cookies per baking sheet.
After cutting out one batch of cookies, I gently press together the dough to create a slab of cookie dough blank canvas once again. I take my rolling pin to smooth the top of the dough and continue cutting out cookies until all the dough is used.
I bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes or until they look dry to the touch and the edges are barely golden brown.
I let the cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. I want the cookies completely cooled off before dipping into the glaze.
Vanilla Bean Cardamom Glaze
In a bowl I combine all the glaze ingredients and whisk until it is smooth. The glaze should look like maple syrup. If the glaze is too dry, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
While the cookies are on a wire rack with a baking sheet underneath to catch any drips, I spoon the glaze over the cookies until they are all covered in glaze. I had to spoon the glaze over since the points of the Christmas trees were too delicate to dip in the glaze. With smaller rounder cookies it will be much easier to dunk in the icing.
This is completely optional, but I dusted the cookies with edible rainbow glitter from The Sugar Art and placed a few edible glitter stars on them as well. The stars were part of a mixed sprinkles container I purchased at Target in their holiday baking section. I added these decorations while the glaze was still wet so that the glaze could set up and harden to keep the decorations in place. This took a few extra minutes but was well worth the effort. They looked so festive and bright!
Super simple and easy cookies that are light, delicious, and perfect for sharing during this holiday season.
If you try this recipe and love it as much as I do, please tag, follow, and like @sunshinetxcookies on Instagram and Facebook. New posts every Thursday so be sure to follow me for more delicious cookie recipes. Happy Baking!
Vanilla Bean Cardamom Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- ½ tsp cardamom
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup flour I am using Mill & Grain wholegrain pastry flour. Can use all purpose flour as substitute.
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup cornstarch
Vanilla Bean Cardamom Glaze
- 1 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- ½ tsp cardamom
- 4 tbsp milk
- edible glitter Optional to decorate. I used Sugar Art rainbow edible glitter.
- star sprinkles Optional to decorate.
Instructions
- In a bowl cream together butter, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, and cardamom until light and fluffy. Around 2-3 minutes.
- Add egg yolk and continue to mix until no trace of egg remains.
- Add the flour, cornstarch, and salt and mix to combine on low speed or by hand with a spatula. Do not overmix.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. The dough will last 2 days in the fridge.
- When ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge for 20-30 minutes to soften slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 350*F.
- On a floured work surface and with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to a ¼ inch thickness.
- Using a cookie cutter, I used a 4 inch Christmas tree shape, cut out shapes. *SEE notes*
- Gently press the leftover dough together, being careful not to add too much flour and continue to cut out shapes until all the dough is cut.
- Using a spatula, transfer the cut out cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 9-10 minutes or until the outer edges of the cookies are barely golden.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to continue to cool.
Vanilla Bean Cardamom Glaze
- Combine all of the glaze ingredients in a bowl. Whisk until smooth and the consistency of maple syrup.
- If the glaze is too thick add a teaspoon of milk until it is thin enough to pour.
- Spoon glaze on top of the cookies that are on top of a wire rack with a baking sheet underneath to catch the drips. Use the spoon to gently smooth the top of the glaze.
- Optional: I used edible rainbow glitter on top of the glaze and small silver star sprinkles to decorate the cookies while the glaze was still wet.
- Cookies are ready to enjoy once the glaze hardens, this will take 20-30 minutes. They will stay fresh for a week in a covered container on the counter.
- Enjoy!
