Indian Cardamom Cookies for Holi

Eggless cardamom cookies with a melt in your mouth buttery texture and warm thandai spices. These are perfect for Holi or any celebration.

I made these cardamom cookies especially for Holi. But I would eat them year round, and they make an excellent cookie for a holiday cookie swap too. These are eggless, buttery, and full of warm cardamom, or elaichi as you might know it.

There is so much you can do with this recipe. To turn them into cookies special for Holi, I leaned into the flavors of thandai, the traditional drink of the festival, so you get cardamom, fennel, poppy seed, and a touch of rose. 

You can even stir some homemade chai spice blend into this dough for another layer of warmth. If you like baking without eggs, my eggless chocolate chip cookies is a good one to try next.

Ingredient Notes

A few things to note on the ingredients. See the recipe card for a full ingredient list. 

Cardamom is the main flavor here.  I use ground cardamom so the flavor runs evenly through the whole dough.

Fennel and white poppy seeds are optional, but they are what make these taste like thandai. Leave them out and you still have a lovely plain cardamom cookie.

The dough uses three flours: all purpose, almond, and whole wheat. You can keep the cookies nut free by swapping the almond flour for an equal amount of all purpose or whole wheat.

For the chocolate, I chopped up a rose flavored bar from Pacari, an Ecuadorian organic chocolate brand. Rose is another flavor found in thandai. You do not have to use a rose chocolate bar.  Any bar you love will work.

How to Make Cardamom Cookies for Holi

Start by whisking together the flours, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and the fennel and poppy seeds if you are using them. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the vanilla and cream.

As you add the dry ingredients, the dough will be crumbly, and that is normal. Stir in the chopped chocolate, then turn the dough onto a sheet of parchment and press it together with your hands. Flatten it to a ¼ inch thickness and chill it for at least 30 minutes.

Cut out your shapes and bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges just begin to brown. Let them cool.

Now for the fun part, because what is Holi without all the color? I painted mine using natural food dye gels thinned with a little vodka and a paint brush, the same technique from my paint splatter chocolate bark. You can also cover the cooled cookies in white cookie icing and paint on top of that.

Tips for Making Eggless Cardamom Cookies:

1. If chopping a chocolate bar, be sure to make small thin pieces so they do not stick out of your cookies too much.
2. Be gentle when working the dough. You only need to make it come together. Over kneading can make the cookie tough instead of tender after baking.
3. Press the dough down as much as you can with your hands rather than trying to roll it. It is a crumbly dough and does not roll well. Shape it into a flat rectangle, cover it with parchment and then roll between two sheets of parchment to even out the dough to ¼ inch thickness.
4. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes to make using a cookie cutter easier. The colder your dough is before baking, the better your cookies will hold their shape. I sometimes chill, cut and then chill again just before baking if the dough gets too warm.

These are such a joyful cookie to make for the festival of colors. Bring them to a Holi party, box them up for friends, or bake a batch just because.