Brownies With Coffee and Cardamom

Updated Oct. 11, 2023

Brownies With Coffee and Cardamom
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Mariana Velasquez.
Total Time
1 hour
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
55 minutes
Rating
4(470)
Comments
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These brownies are infused with the flavors of Arabic coffee, which traditionally include ground cardamom and often other spices such cinnamon, saffron or rose water. Proper bar chocolate or chips, not cocoa powder, gives the brownies a deep chocolate taste that is complemented by the coffee and spices. This recipe calls for an electric mixer, but you can also whisk the eggs and the sugar together. It will take a little time, but the results are worth it. 

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Ingredients

Yield:  9 brownies 
  • ¾cup/170 grams unsalted butter, plus more for greasing 
  • 7ounces/200 grams semi-sweet chocolate, cut into large chunks, or chips
  • teaspoons 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
  • 3 large eggs
  • ½cup/100 grams granulated sugar 
  • ½cup/100 grams light brown sugar 
  • cup/85 grams all-purpose flour
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (9 servings)

387 calories; 24 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 44 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 34 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 161 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Step 5

    Fold in the flour until you no longer see flecks of flour, making sure not to overmix.

  6. 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.

Tip
  • 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.

Ratings

4 out of 5
470 user ratings
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Comments

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.

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.

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 really like cardamom, but I found that as written, the cinnamon and cardamom detracted from an already weak chocolate flavor, and the coffee wasn’t quite strong enough either. It might be that this was me discovering I prefer cardamom with citrus, vanilla or black tea, just not chocolate. So if you know you like chocolate and cardamom, I would still recommend you leave out the cinnamon (doesn’t really need it) and bake for at *least* 40 minutes. I took them out at 32 minutes and they were nowhere near done. Respect to the author, but this was not for me.

These are close to the top for a favorite brownie. Easy enough for my 16 year old son to make, and they doubled without any issue. If you’re doubling, we had to add an additional 20-ish minutes.

Delicious. Managed to get the outer crust and the inner fudginess. Cook time was 30 min. I doubled the salt and used a quarter of the cinnamon. Cinnamon is just too scandalous so next time I'll just omit it -- this does not mean it can not do wonders under the right circumstances but in this case I think the protagonist should be the cardamom, which I actually doubled. I also used 90% of the sugar and the flour (eggs were medium). Next time will reduce the sugar and increase the salt some more.

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