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Brownies With Coffee and Cardamom
Updated Oct. 11, 2023
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- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 55 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ¾cup/170 grams unsalted butter, plus more for greasing
- 7ounces/200 grams semi-sweet chocolate, cut into large chunks, or chips
- 4½teaspoons instant espresso coffee granules
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼teaspoon ground green cardamom, from the seeds of 6 to 9 pods (see Tip)
- ½teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3large eggs
- ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar
- ½cup/100 grams light brown sugar
- ⅔cup/85 grams all-purpose flour
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan with butter and line it with a sheet of parchment paper with a little overhang on two sides.
- Step 2
Melt the butter and chocolate in a medium pot over low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. (Alternatively, you can also melt the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, stirring at 15 second intervals, until melted.) Add the coffee granules, vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon and salt and stir to combine.
- Step 3
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs and both sugars and beat on high speed until the mixture looks pale, thick and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Step 4
Using a large metal spoon or a spatula, fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture by gently scooping up some egg mixture from the bottom and folding it over the chocolate at the top until fully combined.
- Step 5
Fold in the flour until you no longer see flecks of flour, making sure not to overmix.
- Step 6
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread it into an even layer. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack for 1 hour before using the parchment overhang to remove from the pan.
- Using freshly ground green cardamom will ensure a bold cardamom flavor. To do so, remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and crush them with a mortar and pestle or a rolling pin until well ground.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I buy sealed packets of instant espresso (I buy Len's Coffee, my sister uses Starbucks) that I keep on hand for any chocolate dessert I make. These are invaluable and convenient.
Green cardamom pods are "regular" cardamom as opposed to the black pods which have a smoky taste. The seeds of the green cardamom pods are brown, so when they are ground you get "regular" cardamom spice. It loses its flavor pretty quickly though, so I would use 1/4 tsp if it's really fresh, as in the recipe, otherwise maybe 1/2 tsp or more.
Made these yesterday to gift to our vet for taking care of our pup; I was a little heavy-handed with the spices, which I probably wouldn't have done again, but these were a lovely take on your classic brownie, with more depth and complexity than usual. Highly recommend!
I didn’t have cardamom pods, so I used regular ground cardamom and - little less coffee. I also used a combination of semi-sweet and darker chocolate. Delicious! And very easy to make.
The content of the pod is ground coffee, as opposed to instant coffee which dissolves in liquid. If you use what's in the pod you'll end up with random coffee grounds in your batter as opposed to the instant coffee dissolving and flavoring the brownies.
WAAAYY too much espresso powder ruins this. You can't taste the spices nor much of the chocolate, only the fake coffee aftertaste. The brownie itself is lovely and light and moist but the flavor profile needs a lot of adjustment. (And I love coffee.)
It was delicious, not cloying as some times brownies can be. I would omit the cinnamon next time and let the cardamon shines on its own.
If you are a cardamom freak, as I am, it is worth seeking out cardamon seeds and grind them as needed. They are expensive but last a long time. Picking out the seeds from pods is far too tedious. Pre-ground is flavorless after a couple of weeks. When you grind the seeds in a spice grinder, the aroma is breath taking.
The espresso completely overwhelmed the cardamom and you can’t taste it at all. Not crazy about the texture either.
I found that using instant coffee crystals but only using 3 teaspoons was more than enough. It still has a strong coffee flavor without overpowering it. I think 4.5 t. Is too much. I did like using fresh cardamom but I wouldn’t use more than 1/4t. These were really delicious and very moist.
these were so yummy! I admittedly didn't have cardamom, so I used hawaj, which is a spice blend instead and they came out amazing. They didn't last 5 minutes in my house.
These were a big hit! I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour. I think they would have needed a little more time to firm up, but everybody else loved the gooey texture. The flavors are lovely and complex. The 1/4 tsp cardamom goes a very long way when it's fresh-ground.
I'm not sure what happened but I ended up throwing these out. I am a fairly accomplished baker and followed the recipe exactly, and made sure I used a high quality chocolate. The flavor was fine but the texture was completely off - they were both wet and yet totally dry and cakey at the same time.
These are pretty good. I used a slightly bigger pan with slightly less cooking time and they turned out well.
Prepared as written, with the accidental exception of adding 1/2 tsp ground cardamom. They cooked longer than 35 minutes (otherwise the middle would have remained soupy). They were complex and delicious.
My god these are good. I use bustelo espresso (not instant) - the yellow shrink wrapped brick, emptied into an empty glass jar and kept in the freezer, is much more cost effective than the espresso sticks and keeps for a long, long time. I don't find that the non-instant coffee is grainy in the final product whatsoever, and the 4t is perfect. I use about 1/2-3/4t of ground cardamom. These brownies are now a staple, come together in a snap, and so fudgy and decadent. Highly recommend.
For my birthday a friend gifted me a HUGE package of Valhrona unsweetened chocolate so I made these brownies. I always reduce sugar in recipes so this time did not and they are amazing! I did only 1 tsp espresso as I didn’t want it to overwhelm.
In the month of February in particular finding new ways to enjoy the many ways chocolate can be complemented or taken in new directions is especially satisfying. Extracting the cardamon seeds and grinding them with the mortar and pestle slow is just one of many acts of love that go into making these the special treats they are.
I didn’t think it possible to beat my go to Rose Levy Berenbaum brownie. But wow. Used King Arthur’s Espresso Powder and a teaspoon of ground cardamom in lieu of mortaring pods. Truly exceptional depth, near steamed-pudding-like texture (which is what I also love about the Rose recipe) and perfectly baked at 30 minutes in a 9x9 pan buttered but without parchment liner. Thanks for another new classic!
Were still quite wet after 35 minutes in our oven at 350. Next time up the temp some, 360?
I skipped the coffee and went pretty heavy on the cardamom. I also only used a half cup of sugar instead of the full cup called for (I had less than I realized, oops) but the result was a very complex not overly sweet fudgy brownie! 10/10 would bake again
Can I use ground coffee beans?
I loved the spice. Had to use a cupcake pan and should have reduced the time but otherwise a lovely spicy intense choco holic brownie
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