If you were to do a search on my blog for garam masala you’d find the usual suspects. A pot of lentils and apples might be involved. Maybe you’d stumble over chickpeas and tomatoes or tofu with squash. Cauliflower and coconut milk? Sure. Now, I can add cookies to the list. Perhaps the thought of adding curry to your cookies might scare you a little or maybe you’ll run to the kitchen and bake up a batch like I did. I hope you’re the latter, but if not, I think you can easily be convinced that garam masala doesn’t have to be served alongside brown rice.
Think gingersnap spice cookies. Spicy and redolent of cinnamon, cardamom, and a hint of black pepper. These are warm tasting cookies and perfect for a rainy Saturday downpour because apparently where there’s sun, a rainy string of days is sure to follow. So while I’d love the sun, I’ve got cookies and really tasty and wonderful ones at that. No complaints here.
These are vegan so they are perfect if you swing that way or are out of eggs like I was. I used a vegan margarine because I apparently do not grocery shop enough and was out of butter, but I’m sure these would turn out beautifully with butter too. The original recipe uses a garam masala spice powder, but I only had my standby Patak’s paste. And because the paste is oily and wet, I subbed out a teaspoon of the butter to compensate and it worked out just fine. However, please watch out when you bake them – these are spreaders, so I baked six to a pan without incident. In fact, they are pretty perfect looking cookies if I might be so bold.
I baked these for about 12 minutes which resulted in a crisp and crunchy cookie with a slightly chewy interior. If you want a chewier cookie, bake for 10 minutes and let them sit a bit in the pan to firm up before transferring them to a cooling rack.
elsewhere: So much good stuff is going on! Over at Poppytalk, I roast some frozen berries with vanilla which makes a wonderful sauce for yogurt or just about anything – get the recipe and thank me later! At ReadyMade, I make 2 wonderful summer drinks starring Aperol, a fantastic bitter orange liqueur. My husband’s hand makes a fine model so go check it out! And because we’ve got to ground ourselves with a bit of greens, I talk about ridding yourself of your salad rut. You need this.
vegan garam masala cookies
(adapted from peach and plum)
1/2 c vegan margarine
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 t garam masala (paste or powder)*
1 c flour
1/4 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t cardamomPreheat oven to 375F. Mix together the margarine and sugars together until fluffy. Add in the vanilla and garam masala paste and mix until incorporated.
Add in the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and cardamom and lightly stir until combined.
Drop about a tablespoon into your hands and roll into a ball. Flatten slightly and place on prepared cookie sheet (ie. covered with silpat or parchment paper). I added only 6 cookies to a sheet because these cookies do spread a lot. Bake for 10-13 minutes and let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely. Makes 12 cookies.
*If using paste, remove 1 teaspoon of margarine from the ingredient list.
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Interesting cookies! I have the mugs that match that plate!
I love your blog. You always have such fabulous recipes! 🙂
I really like the sound of these, think I’ll be giving them a try very very soon!
Whoa, crazy innovative! And delicious! I am SO making these.
those sound soooo good! i love garam masala spice…sometimes when i am cooking, and not even using it, i take it down and smell it a few times. (i know, weird.) i have a recipe for chai spice ones, but these are even more interesting!
Mmmmm, those might just push away the cold grey that is our extended March feeling here in the lower mainland. 😉
What a neat idea! I have an ancient jar of garam masala that is probably dessicated and flavorless… do you have a brand or type that you recommend? Or certain spice combos to look out for?
Katrina, your mug and my plate needs to get together!!
Thanks so much Shirleen.
Gemma, these are soooo good. Try them out 🙂
Indeed, Joanne! Give ’em a go.
Cindy that is not weird at all. I love chai spices in cookies and baked goods and this is just another interesting twist!
Don’t I know it, Tammy!
Rachel, I always use Patak’s curry pastes for pretty much everything. I don’t buy powdered because I’m not sure how long they’ll last. Plus, it’s the curry that I was first introduced to. I stick with a winner 🙂
Yum I cant wait to try these and i just happened to be eating garam masala myself with pan roasted carrots garlic and onion! I have got some friends that dont do the egg.
oh yeah I put them on a ciabatta with some fresh mozzarella( i so spelled that wrong) and toasted pumpkin seeds and broiled. YUM hooray for the garam!
Gasp! I need no convincing at all. These sound spectacular, somewhat like my all-time favorite cookie, the chewy vegan ginger snaps from Whole Foods. Except that these sound one hundred times better.
I was just thinking about making some ginger cookies soon, but these might replace that idea!
Um, yeah, that ingredient does kind of scare me in a cookie. But I am bookmarking this and just might try it on a day I’m feeling bold. They do look beautiful. And they sound pretty delicious.
I like cookies with character, and I bet these smell amazing!
These do look like the perfect rainy-Saturday cookie — just the thing to have next to you when you’re curled up with a book and a cup of tea. Love that they’re vegan, too!
Well my, my! These look fantastic! More and more of my customers are asking for vegan desserts/pies and I have yet to experiment with vegan margarine, but I think you’ve successfully given me a nudge. Thank you; happy weekend!
Serious spice! Garam masala is one of the reasons I enjoy Indian food so much. What a great thing to incorporate it into more familiar items, and even greater to incorporate it into an already killer cookie.
Cheers and happy Memorial Day weekend,
*Heather*
oh my gosh! must have. wow. now this is a creative lil cookie. would who have thought?
love love love when people get creative like this.
happy happy!
Very interesting recipe to use garam masala in cookies 🙂
I am the opposite of scared. I love intriguing spices in baked goods. Another winner 🙂
I love this idea! I’ve used Chinese 5 spice powder in desserts with great success, and I imagine garam masala would be absolutely delicious.
These look amazing and so interesting. We’ve posted them on our Facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/redpathsugar
🙂 – Anna
So awesome! I love super spice cookies. And vegan too? They look amazing.
I made these tonight….so SO amazing! I ground fresh cardamom and used just a little extra garam marsala (powdered) and they turned out deliciously!
Thanks!
Great idea! Lovely recipe and photos.
What an intriguing idea. I would never have thought to put that in cookies. They look totally delicious, though.
Officially intrigued.
Sounds fantastic! And, I happen to have a freshly roasted and ground batch of garam masala, too, so this could happen at any minute.
Totally fell behind on the comments here, but thank you!!
Megan, yes baking with Smart Balance is so good (just ease up on the salt since I find SB to be quite salty).
Rob, so glad you baked these up! Hooray for grinding up your cardamom fresh too! Bonus deliciousness.
Yum! Sounds delicious. I love playing around with spice and find the addition of garam masala to these cookies very exciting. Definitely a recipe to bookmark.
Wow these look great! I wrote in my blog about some Cardamom cookies which people normally find weird enough; I think garam masala cookies are even MORE interesting! Good work! (I have been reading your blog for a while but not daring to comment!) Keep it up! -Jess
These look absolutely fabulous! Even as a kid I always wanted spice cake instead of chocolate, so these are definitely on my list to try…
oh my god. Those cookies sound AMAZING. They actually combine all of my favorite things! I must make these asap
Bijoux, it’s a tasty recipe and not as usual tasting as it seems!!
Thanks so much Jess for commenting and reading 🙂 Cardamom cookies sound wonderful!
Cara, I’d go for a spice cake too!
Yay, glad you approve Victoria! Enjoy.
I love spice cookies! The sound of garam masala in these really intrigues me. And I agree – these are some really perfect looking cookies.
I just found your blog and I’ve already made your Banana Espresso Bread, and these Garam Masala cookies! I never doubted the gloriousness of these curry cookies and I am munching away completely satisfied! Only drawback: Ground cardamom is hard to find in Italy, and unavailable in my city! I really like cinnamon, so I just added an extra dash! Thanks!
These are so delicious. They are a staple at our house now. Thanks.
Thanks so much for this recipe. I made them tonight–a quick and amazingly flavorful recipe! I love that they are crispy but have that chewy center.
OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I saw this recipe and within an hour I had these guys in the oven. Verdict? Best cookies I’ve ever eaten! Oh I’m just smitten. My husband usually doesn’t love sweets, but since he’s Indian, I think he’ll love these 😉 Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I saw these mentioned in the comment section of another one of your posts & was really intrigued. Garam masala? In a cookie? Wow. This is something I would never think of but I assume it would work almost like Allspice powder. But what happens to the coriander, cumin and other spices in there …Hmm… another one I’m going to bookmark & try out soon! Thanks for the inspiration!
I made these recently and they were beautiful, the best biscuits I think I’ve ever made. Buttery, slightly chewy and really tasty spices – thanks for the recipe!
I am in love- the real thing- forever………just me and the cookies…….grrrrrrrr get your thieving hands away from that plate!
What makes this cookie vegan ?
No dairy or no eggs. And I assume if you are baking, you are also using vegan sugar too!