Pooja's Cardamom Snickerdoodles

Photo by:

Morgan Ione Yeager

From Malai: Frozen Desserts Inspired by South Asian Flavors by Pooja Bavishi. Copyright © 2025 by Pooja Bavishi. Reprinted courtesy of Weldon Owen, an imprint of Insight Edition. Photography by Morgan Ione Yeager.

My first foray into having my own business was when I was working for a nonprofit right out of college. I made desserts during my non-work hours and decided to turn my “hobby” into a little business called Sweets by Pooja. The quality of the desserts made up for the lack of originality in the business name. The most popular order by far was the snickerdoodles. In those days, I always wondered if they would be just as popular if I made them with cardamom instead of the traditional cinnamon. That question was answered when I started Malai and offered a cardamom snickerdoodle. Yes, they are, in fact, very, very popular. And these cookies make great ice cream sandwiches.

Ingredients

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¾ cups Madhur Jaggery or granulated cane sugar
1 teaspoon Surya Salt
½ cup honey
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoon ground Baraka Cardamom

Methods

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, ¾ cup of the sugar, ½ teaspoon of the salt, the honey, and milk on medium speed until well blended and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. On medium speed, add the flour mixture and beat just until blended, about 1½ minutes.
In a small, shallow bowl, stir together the remaining 1 cup sugar, the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and the cardamom.
Using a roughly 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop out a ball of the dough and drop it into the bowl of cardamom sugar. Flatten the dough ball in the sugar mixture, coating it on both sides and flattening to about 2 inches in diameter. Transfer the cookie to a prepared sheet pan. repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart on the pans.
Bake the cookies until lightly golden, about 12 minutes. Let cool on the pans on wire racks for 2 minutes, then transfer to the racks and let cool completely. To turn these into an ice cream sandwich, place a scoop of your favorite ice cream between two cooled cookies and enjoy immediately.