Brownies With Coffee and Cardamom
Updated Oct. 11, 2023

- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 55 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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
- 3 large 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
Comments
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!
This brownie had a nice moist and dense cake texture. I liked the spice and coffee flavor, but I wanted a bit more chocolate to shine through.
has anyone tried this using ground espresso beans / making actual espresso, instead of instant granulated one?
they were tasty but I double the recipe and ended up overcooking them and so they were dry and cakey. Will try again