Soft and chewy cardamom spiced ginger cookies. Made in one bowl and ready in under an hour, these spiced cookies are grain, dairy, and nut free.
If I had a life motto, it would probably be something as simple as: bake cookies.
Bored? Bake cookies.
Sad? Bake cookies.
Celebrating? Bake cookies.
Last minute gift? Bake cookies.
When I lived at home with my parents, I used to always bake cookies with my little brothers whenever it came time to babysitting. It got to the point where my little brother, Matthew who was about 5 0r 6 at the cookie baking peak, would ask my parents to go run errands just so that we would bake cookies.
I’d divide up the tasks and eggs (because cracking the eggs is the most fun part) between both my younger brothers, Matthew and Michael, and put them to work. Despite their constant brotherly bickering, it was a time when both little boys put aside their differences to work together for the greater good: cookies.
The great thing about baking cookies, is that there are always ways to make it new with different flavors, add ins, toppings, whatever. I’ve already shared a grain free ginger cookie on my site, but these ginger cookies are a whole new kind of delicious. I based this recipe off of Caroline’s Paleo Gingersnap cookies making a few slight changes here and there until I ended up with these cardamom spiced ginger cookies.
I won’t be offended if you are after a more traditional ginger snap and jump on over to try Caroline’s recipe because they are really amazing. They aren’t just good grain free cookies – they are just good plain and simple. However, if you’re open to trying something new please do stick around because these cardamom spiced ginger cookies really are something special. If chai spiced cookies and traditional gingerbread got together and had delicious cookie babies, these are the cookies that would result from it. Because I reduced the amount of coconut sugar and cut out the maple syrup completely these don’t have that traditional snap that gingersnap cookies usually have. Instead they have more of that melt-in-your-mouth kind of cookie characteristic which is always welcome.
Only a few weeks left now until I get to fly to Arizona and spend Thanksgiving with my family. I’m looking forward to getting to bake again with my younger brothers – I don’t think I can still call Michael my little brother seeing as how he’s way taller than me. If he’s not already 6 ft he will be soon – and by the way he’s only 13. At least I’m still taller than Matthew. He’s been thinking up recipes and planning baking itinerary’s for the past several months. I should probably go make more of that spicy sweet potato and kale salad now and save room for all upcoming cookies.
What’s your favorite Christmas cookie? Any recommendations for me to pass along to Matthew?
Spiced Cardamom Cookies with Ginger
Cardamon, ginger and cinnamon blend together to create a unique and delicious aromatic spice blend taking crinkle cookie to a whole new level!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup tapioca flour (165g)
- 1/4 cup coconut flour - lightly packed (30g)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cardamom*
- 6 tbsp coconut oil, softened or slightly melted (80g)
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar (135g)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp blackstrap molasses
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp raw cane sugar for rolling the cookies, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F/160°C. Line or grease a couple of baking sheets with baking paper.
- In medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: tapioca flour, coconut flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the coconut oil and sugar on a medium speed until combined - it will look a bit like wet sand at this point.
- Add the egg, molasses and vanilla extract. Beat again on a medium-low speed until creamy.
- Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Mix on a low speed until mostly combined. Repeat this process you've added all the flour. In the end you should have a thick, soft dough that's slightly sticky.
- Scoop out the dough about 2 tablespoons worth at a time (about 40 grams) and roll into little cookie dough balls.
- Optional: Add the cane sugar to a small bowl or plate then roll the cookie dough ball in the sugar.
- Place the dough on the prepared baking sheets. Leave at least 2 inches on all sides so that the cookies have room for spreading. Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are browned. Less time in the oven will result in a chewier cookie, more time will make for a crispier cookie. They should be a golden brown color when you take them out of the oven.
- Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes then carefully transfer to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
- Pre ground cardamom is best, but you can use cardamom pods in needed. You'll need about 5 pods. Gently bash the pods to open up, remove the seeds and grind them up as best you can in a mortar and pestle.
AJ says
I absolutely love cardamom, and these cookies look amazing! What would you recommend using in place of the coconut flour for someone who is allergic to coconut?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi AJ! Coconut flour can be a tricky ingredient to replace in baked goods because it’s an extremely absorbent flour – you often need only a fraction of what you might need compared to most other flours.
I’m not totally sure without trying this out myself, but I think you might have some success using oat flour in place of the coconut flour. Almond flour could work but I’m almost certain you’ll need to double the amount to make it work.
I hope one of those suggestions might help!
Teri Parkhurst says
Can you use almond flour instead of tapioca flour?
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Teri! I haven’t tried this myself yet, but I do think almond flour would work here. The only main problem is that you might need to use more almond flour.
That being said, I think you might have better luck using this sugar cookie recipe as a base as it’s actually quite similar: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/almond-flour-sugar-cookies/#mv-create-recipe This recipe is made with almond flour and tapioca flour. You could add the spices and molasses from the cardamon cookies and use 1 teaspoon baking soda in addition to the 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. You can use butter or oil – both will work. I think that recipe would work better a starting point because it’s already got the right flour amounts. Hope that helps!
Brie Martin says
The taste was delicious, but my cookies spread out into more of a cookie sheet. How do I fix that for my next go around?
Thank you!!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Brie! You probably need a little bit more coconut flour – coconut flour can be a tricky flour to measure out correctly without using weights. If you were to try making these again I recommend adding 1-2 extra tablespoons of coconut flour and that should make a huge difference. Hope that helps!
cecilia says
I love ginger cookies and these have a real kick. Mine worked out. The texture is a bit different (melt in your mouth) but they hold together well like a regular cookie. I didn’t melt the coconut oil although it’s 35 degrees here today (sweltering) so it was half melted anyway. Spicy good.
Sarah Nevins says
Yay! Glad you enjoyed them! Thanks Cecilia!
Kira says
I made these cookies 3x already in the past 2 weeks! I love them a lot and so does my boyfriend& other friends who have tried them! <3 Thanks for sharing 🙂
Sarah says
That makes me so happy to hear! Thanks Kira!
Laura says
The recipe states 1 1/2 cups tapioca flour, but the Pinterest preview shows 5 1/2. Could you clarify? I tried the recipe tonight with 1 1/2 cups and they were super spicey. I had to throw them away 🙁
Sarah says
Hi Laura – the one that pinterest brings up is wrong. I’m not sure why it does that, but I’ve noticed it brings up strange measurements on recipes that don’t belong to me. Sorry they were to spicy for you!
Holly says
I made these cookies this weekend because my husband LOVES Gingersnap cookies. I was happy to make him a much healthier version than the ones I buy at the grocery store. I was super excited that these came out perfectly! The taste was sooooo much better than those hard cookies at the grocery store. I don’t need to look any further for the perfect Gingersnap. And I love that it has cardamom spice. I’ve been looking for more ways to use this spice. Thanks for a great recipe!
Sarah says
Thanks so much Holly! 🙂
Julia says
I definitely want to try these cookies! I finally found some reasonably priced ground cardamom–at Whole Foods of all places!
Sarah says
Isn’t it great when you can find more specialty items at a decent price? Hope you like them!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
I really don’t bake with cardamom enough, I bet it adds such a gorgeous flavour to these cookies. I didn’t think ginger cookies could be made better, but I think you’ve done it with these!
Sarah says
Aww, thanks Annie!
Lyndsay says
These cookies look and sound amazing. I just bought Cardamom the other day but hadn’t thought about using it in cookies. I’m going to give this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing ?
floritaflores says
I love cooking&baking thanks for the recipe
Sarah says
Thank you!