These sultry Cardamom Coffee Blondies with smokey undertones of espresso and the aromatic cardamom aren’t your mom’s chocolate chip blondie!
Don’t worry, cardamom coffee blondies still have the familiar brown sugar and butter crumb of a thick, slightly under baked cookie, the melted pockets of chocolate chips, and a crackled crust with that classic golden sheen. I’m just saying these aren’t your basic bake sale blondies…they’re definitely a little more worldly, which I think you’ll agree that isn’t a bad thing.
Cardamom coffee blondie ingredient notes
You already know I love the coffee plus cardamom combination. You’ve seen it in my Turkish coffee, truffles, and I use the combo in Turkish Coffee Shortbread, but there are so many other ways to enjoy these flavors that I’m always experimenting. (If you’re not familiar you can learn about Turkish coffee here.)
- THE SUGARS: Why use both? Brown sugar keeps blondies moist and chewy with deep caramel notes, while white sugar adds structure and gives them a lightly crisp edge.
- INSTANT ESPRESSO POWDER: Instant espresso powder is finely brewed espresso that’s been dried into concentrated granules. Instant coffee is weaker and won’t deliver enough flavor in these cardamom coffee blondies.
- CARDAMOM: The flavor is complex ~ bright and slightly floral at first, then mellowing into a cozy warmth with hints of eucalyptus and ginger. It’s decidedly less sharp than cinnamon.
- CHOCOLATE: I recommend dark or semi sweet in these chocolate chip blondies.
There’s just something about a blondie
My cardamom coffee blondies may be humble, but they deliver big ~ a paper-thin crackly top, chewy edges, and a rich, buttery center that’s pure brown-sugar comfort. I love those little Shar Pei–like wrinkles around the edges, and the way chocolate chips peek through the surface. Cardamom coffee blondies are simple dessert perfection.
tips and faqs for baking cardamom coffee blondies
Yes, if you don’t do coffee you can leave it out, cardamom chocolate chip blondies are delish!
Great question. Just like with brownies, our standard methods aren’t very useful. If you stick a toothpick into a perfectly done blondie, chances are you’ll come out covered with melted chocolate or brown sugary goo. With blondies there’s a little guesswork involved, but better to under-bake than to over-bake (and remember they really firm up as they cool.) My advice is to stick with the recipe directions, but check on the early side, and definitely make sure your oven temp is accurate with an inexpensive oven thermometer. It’s worth its weight in gold.
You might get different answers from different folks, but I want my blondies to be rich and dense, not at all cakey. My recipe includes a little bit of baking soda to give the batter a subtle lift, but the overall texture is moist and chewy.
Blondies freeze beautifully. Be sure to let them cool completely, then wrap in plastic, then in foil. They’ll keep for 3 months in the freezer.
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Cardamom Coffee Dirty Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder, heaped
- 2 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or paste
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, measure by spooning flour into your cup and leveling off with the side of a knife
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 oz semi-sweet, dark, or bittersweet chocolate chips, save a few to pop into the top of the blondies before baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour your pan.
- Cream the 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder and 2 tsp ground cardamom together until fluffy. About 2 to 3 minutes.
- Beat the 2 large eggs in, one at a time. Then the 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or paste.
- Whisk the 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt together and then add to the eggs and butter, mixing just until combined.
- Mix in the 10 oz semi-sweet, dark, or bittersweet chocolate chips.
- Spread the batter (it will be thick) into your prepared 9×13 pan. Pop a few extra chips into the top.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes. Don’t over bake. They’ll be wrinkled a bit around the edges, and a little bit of squooshyness inside is a good thing.
- Cool before cutting. (or don't.)
Nutrition
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These look incredible. I have a whole bag of cardamom in my pantry and I’m always struggling with ways to use it. Not that I need an excuse to make something as tasty as these, but I think it’s a good one. đŸ™‚ Yum!
A whole bag? You better get using it, Lori!
these would be tasty at any phase of their existence, but i doubt anything would top that still-slightly-warm, melty phase. great bars, sue!
I know it looks prettier if you wait, but that delicious melty phase trumps good looks!
Oh Sue these look amazing! I’m drinking a cup of coffee right now and WISH I had one (or two!) of your blondies!
Mary x
you know i have just been thinking about what to bake with some espresso coffee i’ve been sent to review and of course these are perfect… they look absolutely divine of course and I love the way they are so blonde on top and dark underneath… the true nature of us all perhaps?
I do like the contrast between the outside and the inside, too. The first batch I tried I used triple the amount of coffee powder and they were just as dark as brownies and very very potent!
Oh wow, love the idea of cardamom and coffee – YUM!
Cardamom is an awesome spice. I discovered it not long ago when I made a cardamom coffee cake and posted it on my blog. It’s such a plain looking cake but has the most amazing flavor. I would love to try your blondies! I don’t usually cook with coffee since I have to avoid caffeine, but maybe just a small amount of espresso powder won’t hurt. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Claudia
The classic cardamom coffee cake from the Moosewood cookbook was probably my first intro to cardamom, and I’ve been loving it ever since.
Oh yum, these look and sound so good! I’ve never tried baking with cardamom, but really want to give it a go now!
You’ll love it, it’s actually less of a strong flavor than cinnamon, which I find to be a little sharp for my taste.
I love love cardamom! These sound (and look) amazing…so gooey! I made a blondie recipe last year (also spiced!) that I submitted to the pillsbury bakeoff, and it sadly didn’t win.
I’m so excited to get a few new recipes, I think I want to do a blondie bake off here…
Cardamom is showing up everywhere lately. i better get on the bandwagon. And I liked sharpei rumples, too! But I love blondies!
Love cardomom.. Love coffee… SO I believe I will love the combo.. never tried it before.. By the way, these are so beautiful!!
You’ll love the combination, Krithi, let me know if you try them!