These Badam Halwa Shortbread Cookies might be one of my favourite fusion bakes yet. Buttery shortbread surrounds a crumbly almond filling flavoured with saffron and cardamom, then gets topped with more shortbread crumbs and sliced almonds. They’re egg-free, surprisingly simple to make and absolutely perfect for special occasions.

I'm so excited for you to try these!

Badam halwa shortbread cookies served in a oval gold serving tray.

Recipe At A Glance

✅ Recipe Name: Badam Halwa Shortbread Cookies
🕒 Ready In: 30 minutes
👪 Makes: 12 cookies (easy to scale)
🍽 Calories: 173 per serving
🥣 Main Ingredients: Plain flour, almond flour, butter, sugar, saffron, cardamom
📖 Dietary Info: eggless, vegetarian
⭐ Why You'll Love It: The shortbread is delicate and crumbly, while the almond filling bakes into it and leaves behind this gorgeous marzipan-meets-badam-halwa flavour. They're also deceptively easy to make!

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Recipe At A Glance
Hayley's Notes
The Main Ingredients
Let's Make Them Together
Don't Overbake Them!
📖 Recipe

Hayley's Notes

These cookies were inspired by the Almond Croissant Shortbread Cookies from Broken Oven Baking. The "frangipane" centre instantly reminded me of badam halwa, so I adapted the recipe to reflect Indian dessert flavours. I'd already made badam halwa chocolate truffles, so I knew the flavours could also work wonders in a cookie!

It's the texture I’m most excited about though! I genuinely didn’t quite have the words for how good the texture was when I first tried one - which isn’t very useful when you write recipes for a living! The base has that buttery, crumbly Scottish-shortbread feel, while the almond filling bakes into something tender and slightly crumbly rather than gooey. It almost melts into the shortbread as it cooks, so you can just about tell where one layer ends and the other begins.

I’ve clearly got a thing for turning Indian sweets into cookies. My gulab jamun cookies and barfi biscuits are two of my most popular Diwali bakes, and these feel like the almond-and-saffron addition to that little collection. If you want something more traditional, there’s always my nankhatai!

The Main Ingredients

You’ll find the full ingredients list with measurements in the recipe card below, but a few things are worth knowing first.

Butter

I used unsalted butter for both the shortbread and almond filling but salted can definitely be used here.

I used melted butter for the badam halwa filling and room temperature softened butter for the shortbread base. Butter straight from the fridge is difficult to whisk with the sugar!

Almond flour

This makes the crumbly almond centre and gives that almost marzipan-like flavour. I've specifically used almond flour but you can use ground almonds if that's what you have!

I also use it in my almond sukhdi and coconut almond ladoo.

Sugar

I use two different types. I use caster sugar and icing sugar for the shortbread. The small amount of cornstarch in the icing sugar helps make beautifully crumbly shortbread.

I prefer caster sugar compared with granulated sugar because it's easier and quicker to cream.

For the badam halwa filling - it's just icing sugar.

If you're in the US, icing sugar = powdered sugar and caster sugar = superfine sugar.

Cardamom

I use around equal amounts in the "badam halwa" filling and the shortbread dough so you get the flavour all the way through rather than only in the centre.

Saffron

I add saffron strands directly to the almond filling. I also used saffron extract for a little extra flavour, but consider that optional.

If you're already a badam-halwa person, you’ll know exactly why saffron and cardamom work so well here!

Nuts and decoration

Sliced almonds and pistachios go on before baking. Once the cookies are completely cool, I finish them with dried rose petals and edible silver varq.

Do they need all of that? No.

Do they look gorgeous with it? Absolutely.

Let's Make Them Together

Find a full video, useful tips and storage information in the recipe card below.

Mixture of almond marzipan in a small white bowl.

Make the badam halwa filling: Combine almond flour, melted butter, icing sugar, saffron and cardamom.

Butter and sugar creamed in a mixing bowl.

Cream the butter and sugars: Whisk until light and fluffy and you can't feel grains of sugar.

Sifted flour added to creamed butter and sugar in a bowl.

Sift in plain flour and cardamom:

Combine: Combine to form a crumbly dough.

Shortbread dough pressed in muffin cases in a muffin tray.

Shortbread cookie layer: Pat three teaspoons of shortbread dough.

Small disc of almond marzipan placed on pressed cookie dough in muffin cases.

Badam halwa layer: Place a small disk of almond layer on top of each cookie.

A female hand is sprinkling chopped almonds on cookie dough.

Sprinkle remaining cookie dough and nuts: Add approx 1 teaspoon of dough sprinkles on top of each cookie and top with almond and pistachio slices.

Female hands are holding a muffin tin that has twelve badam halwa shortbread cookies.

Bake until golden: Bake at 175C fan until just golden.

Technique

Don't Overbake Them!

This is probably the main thing I'd pay close attention for when making these!

The tops only need to be just starting to turn golden when they come out.

Don't wait until the whole cookie looks deeply browned or firm.

The muffin tin is still very hot after you take it out of the oven, so the cookies continue cooking slightly as they sit. They also firm up considerably as they cool.

Taking them too far means losing that lovely tender, crumbly shortbread texture.

Badam halwa shortbread cookies served on a round gold rim glass tray.

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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📖 Recipe