You can't go wrong with Maida Heatter. I'm sure that there are recipes of hers that are not universally popular (Check out the judging panel's comments in Cathy's Mondays with Maida to see if they ever find a bad one), but I have yet to try a recipe that does not work. And, of course, I love just about all of them.
Case in point, these cardamom cookies struck me as calling for an unusual mixing process. The spice, baking soda and salt were creamed into the butter before the sugar was added. Perhaps this is for more even distribution of the spice in the cookies? In any event, I went ahead with the recipe as written with only two small changes. First, I slightly increased the cardamom and did not use fresh ground. Too lazy for that. It is well over 100F here today and I am not grinding spices. Please overlook the illogic in refusing to grind spices but unhesitatingly running my oven to bake. Second, I added some vanilla because I think that cardamom and vanilla are an amazing combination.
If you do not know who Craig Claiborne is, take a peek at his biography. Among other things, he definately knew a good cookie. You can read the original recipe text here, where it is reprinted from Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great Cookies.
I have no guilt at reprinting the recipe here because I love these. I also simplified them into drop cookies because, to blame the heat again, I didn't feel like rolling them out.
The cookies are slightly chewy, slightly crunchy and slightly shortbready. They're also very good.