These Orange Cardamom Cookies are a mashup between a simple sugar cookie and a snickerdoodle, with warm cardamom spice and fresh orange flavor. The texture is perfection: crisp golden edges yield to a soft and chewy center. Make a batch today!
Sugar cookies are welcome in any cookie jar, with their simple flavor profile and ability to pair equally well with a cup of coffee or tea as they do with a glass of milk. These orange cardamom cookies are made in one bowl to satisfy a cookie craving ASAP. I started with my favorite Snickerdoodle cookie recipe when creating these cookies, and I'm very pleased where things ended up.
If you love cardamom, try this cardamom-scented Crumb Cake next. For more citrusy dessert inspiration, check out these Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies or this Lemon Cream Cheese Fruit Dip!
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Ingredients
I include ingredient notes here when I think they’ll be helpful, including ways to source, any preparation tips, or why I've chosen a particular ingredient. Be sure to check out the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and their quantities!
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe and there's no need to bring it to room temperature to soften it. We'll be melting it for the simplest preparation.
- Eggs: As always, I use large eggs in developing my recipes.
- Granulated and Brown Sugars: Adding a combination of both plain white sugar and brown sugar adds an extra depth of flavor and moisture, thanks to the molasses in the brown sugar.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract adds that familiar cozy warmth and sweet base to the flavors in this cookie.
- Orange Zest: Zest is the best way to add orange flavor to the cookies. For maximum flavor, zest your washed orange directly over the bowl so that you catch all of the oils.
- Cardamom: Ground cardamom is easy to find at your supermarket, no harvesting of seeds and hand grinding required. Check out the section below for more information on cardamom.
- All Purpose Flour: Your basic everyday four works perfectly here, just make sure you are scooping and leveling the flour so that you don't pack it into the measuring cup and add too much.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda will add lift to our cookies.
One Bowl Preparation
These cookies are meant to be baked at the drop of a hat. You can definitely get them mixed up before the oven is heated! Start by preheating the oven to 350°F.
Melt your butter in a large bowl in the microwave and then stir in the sugars and vanilla. Zest the orange with a micro plane grater directly over the bowl so that you capture all of those lovely oils. Add in the cardamom, vanilla, and eggs, and stir until combined.
Sprinkle the flour and baking soda right on top of the wet ingredients. Making this recipe in one bowl feels like so much less work, and I’ve never had any issue with the flour or baking soda clumping.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients together well. You've got ribbons of lovely cookie dough all ready to scoop out and bake... NO CHILLING REQUIRED! It already smells heavenly and look at all of those lovely little specks of cardamom and orange zest in there!
Mix up ½ cup of granulated sugar and a teaspoon of ground cardamom in a small bowl for coating the dough balls. Use a cookie scoop to portion out generous tablespoonfuls of dough, roll them into balls, and then coat them with the cardamom-sugar mixture. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet about 2-3 inches apart.
Baking the Cookies
Bake the cookies for 9-11 minutes. They should be just barely getting a little color at the edges. Remove them from the oven and let them sit on the pan for an additional two minutes. This will allow them to continue to cook and get the golden edges you see above. Transfer them to wire racks to cool completely and enjoy right away for soft and chewy centers and crisp edges.
For another cookie with a soft texture and crisp edges, try these Chocolate Chocolate Chip Peppermint Cookies next!
Equipment
A cookie scoop is a great tool for shaping this soft dough into balls before rolling in the cardamom and sugar mixture. I use one that is about one tablespoon in volume.
Storage
The Orange Cardamom Sugar Cookies should be stored in an airtight container. They will soften a bit more over the next couple of days and lose the crisp edges, but they are still delicious. I actually think the orange and cardamom flavors get richer the second day!
Make-Ahead Options
You can store the baked cookies for a couple of days in an airtight container, but making the dough ahead of time is a great time saver! Once the dough is mixed together, wrap it in two layers of plastic wrap and freeze it for up to six months. Thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight and then scoop, roll in sugar, and bake as needed.
Notes on Cardamom
Cardamom walks the sweet-savory line and I love the way it pairs with citrus. Generally I use cardamom in Indian spice mixes and if you've never had it before I'd describe it as part mint, part clove, and part coriander, so you can see how it can work in a cookie. Cardamom seeds are packed into pods which can be crushed and added to recipes (think Indian curries or kheer) or the seeds can be ground which is what we use for this recipe.
FAQ
Cardamom is excellent in beverages like coffee or tea, stews and curries, baked goods, and other desserts like rice pudding.
Using brown sugar, which absorbs moisture, is one trick to making soft cookies. Starting with melted butter also helps create a soft and chewy cookie.
More Cookies and Bars
Check out these cookies and bars that are popular with the whole family:
Try It and Share
Give these Orange Cardamom Cookies a try and let me know what you think of them in the comments. I want to see your results! Tag your photo with #planeatpostrepeat and mention me @planeatpostrepeat on Instagram or Facebook. I can give you a virtual high five and thank you for cooking one of my recipes! Comment below with any questions and please leave a review so others can find this recipe more easily.
Recipe
Easy One Bowl Soft Orange Cardamom Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter (melted)
- 1½ cup granulated sugar (divided)
- ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon orange zest (from 1 medium orange)
- 1½ teaspoon ground cardamom (divided)
- 3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large heatproof bowl, melt the butter. Add in 1 cup of granulated sugar and all of the brown sugar and vanilla extract and mix well. Beat in eggs until well incorporated.
- Zest the orange over the bowl and add ½ teaspoon of cardamom. Mix well.
- Add the flour and baking soda to the bowl and mix well.
- In a small bowl, combine ½ cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom.
- Scoop generous tablespoonfuls of dough and roll into a ball. Coat the ball in the cardamom-sugar mixture and place on parchment-lined baking sheets about 2-3 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookie is just starting to develop color.
- Allow cookies to sit on the baking sheets for an additional 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container. Cookies will soften with storage.
Nutrition facts are sometimes provided below and are calculated using an online calculator. With specific brands of ingredients and additions, omissions, or substitutions the nutrition facts may change. We encourage you to use your own nutrition facts caculator to obtain the most accurate nutrition facts for your meal.
Cassie @ Plan. Eat. Post. Repeat. says
Let me know if you have any questions about these yummy cookies or their preparation!
Roberta S. says
These are now my second favorite, easy-to-make, great for guests cookie, right behind the lemon curd thumbprints. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
Cassie @ Plan. Eat. Post. Repeat. says
Thank you for making them! I'm so glad they take the second spot 😉
Jane says
…not a baker here. Why are my cookies falling flat once I remove them from the oven? I thought followed your recipe exactly so where do you think I could I have gone wrong?
Cassie Waltman says
Hi Jane, I'm sorry to hear the cookies didn't bake up the way you expected. IS there a chance your baking soda was out of date? That could cause them to fall flat. I hope they still had delicious flavor.
Jean W says
These cookies are delicious. So easy to make and very pretty. I’m adding this recipe to my rotation.
Cassie @ Plan. Eat. Post. Repeat. says
I'm so glad you enjoyed them!
Terri says
Great recipe. I add an extra egg yolk, but even without they are excellent and so easy.
Cassie Waltman says
Thank you, Terri! So glad you enjoyed them.
Emmy T says
I made these cookies for the nurses taking care of my grandmother and they were all gone in 10 minutes! I added some of the juice from the orange as well and they turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Cassie Waltman says
Love to hear it, nurses always deserve something special!
Martha says
Wow, unfortunately my cookies spread all over the pan and were very greasy. A whole cup of butter to 3 cups flour and 11/2 tsp of baking soda didn’t work for me. I’ll try adding more flour and some baking powder to tweak this. Loved the taste but the texture and look was like cow patties😕
Cassie Waltman says
Oh dear, that's not the look we are going for! I'm curious, did you save any dough in the refrigerator and bake it once it was chilled? I always make these cookies in winter (citrus and spice, ya know?) in a chilly kitchen and I'm beginning to think that the warmer the kitchen, the less successful the recipe is. I don't want anyone to have gone through the trouble of making one of my recipes and end up with poor results. Please reach out to me directly via email (you'll find a contact at the bottom of the page) if there's any other troubleshooting I can help with.