Nan Khatai
Delicious eggless cookies that are crispy-crumbly and light. Perfect cookies to have with your cup of tea or coffee.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup caster sugar
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- pinch of baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
- 2 tbsp. gram flour
- 2 tbsp. fine semolina/sooji
- 1 tbsp. crushed almonds or cashews
- 2 drops vanilla essence optional
Extra Ingredients
- 1 tsp. yoghurt/curds
- crushed pistas and almonds for topping
- egg yolk for topping
Instructions
- Mix the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, semolina, gram flour and crushed almonds together until well-combined then set aside.In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the sugar using a wooden spoon or spatula until light and creamy. Add the cardamom powder and vanilla (I like a drop or 2 of vanilla in the cookie but you can omit if you want), then add in the flour mixture and keep mixing until all is incorporated. You will end up with a very soft dough. If the dough feels too dry, add 1 tsp. of yoghurt/curds and mix. Wrap the dough in cling film and set it aside for 15 minutes.Preheat your oven to 150 C. Start shaping SMOOTH balls out of the dough, roll them using your palms to make sure no cracks. Any cracks will spread out even more during baking, ruining the appearance of your cookies. Place the balls on your greased or lined baking tray. You should get about 20-24 small cookies. Make sure you leave enough space all around each cookie as they will spread out during baking. If you want them to hold their shape slightly and remain thick, put the tray in the fridge for half an hour before baking. I like my cookies thinner and crispier, so I don’t refrigerate.Press some crushed pistas and almonds gently on top of each cookie. You can then brush the cookies with some egg yolk if you want, but this is an optional step, it won’t affect the results of the cookies…just adds a bit of color.Bake the cookies until very slightly golden, about 15-18 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, the cookies will appear to be soft still, but they will harden as they cool so don’t worry. Get the cookies gently off the tray using a spatula and place them on a rack. Let them cool completely.Serve and enjoy! 🙂
Notes
You can make castor sugar by grinding regular sugar. First measure the sugar, then grind it. I always prefer my cookies/cakes less sweet so I reduce 1-2 tbsp. out of the sugar amount before grinding.
Food is good for every one and I love cooking alote
My favourite biscuits and so pleased that I’ve discovered your website just as I start my maternity leave, bring on the baking! My question is can I prepare the dough in advance and bake the next day and would I put it in the fridge.
Yes you can refrigerate the dough wrapped in cling film and bake the next day.
for the sugar is it 2 or 3 cup of sugar or 2/3 cup of sugar
Two-thirds of a cup of sugar.
salaams….i followed the recipe exactly as u said…dont understand why the dough was very heard, although i added a couple of spoons of yogurt to make it soft..and the biscuits turned out very hard!! Wonder where i went wrong???
W/Salaam, did you measure out the flour accurately? And how long did you bake the cookies for?
salaams..i think maybe i didnt beat the sugar and butter long enough…i will give it another try. i hve tried many of yr recipes and they hve turned out awesome! Thanks for sharing, u r great!!!
Hi Fauzia, these were such a hit I baked them again but unfortunately I only put half the sugar in, any ideas how I can sweeten these biscuits as they haven’t come out as sweet?
Hi, you can dust them with icing sugar, that would help a little. Or dip them in chocolate.
Can I use coarse sooji?? Or can I grind it to make it fine??
Best to grind it until it is fine.
kindly guide me .how many spoons in 2/3 cup of caster sugar ???
1 tbsp is approximately 15gm.
kindly guide me …how many spoons in 2/3 cup of caster sugar ??
Please refer to this note for my measurement conversions: My Measurements
Wot z gram flour?
Chickpea/besan or bengal flour.
Hi! Is there any replacement for the gram flour can i substitute it for the same annt of flouras i want to avoid the taste of chickpeas in these. thanx
Hi, substitute with regular flour.
hi…can i use microwave oven to done this recipe? if i can then what will be the time and power?
Hi, have never used a microwave for my cooking/baking.
Asalam o alaikum dear fauzia,i want to ask tht v can use self raising flour” instead of plain flour in this recipe,need ur guidence pls,
W/Salaam, have not tried this recipe with SR flour.
what is gram flour
Besan or chickpea/lentil flour.
how much 2/3 cup of sugar in tbsp?…
About 9 tbsp.
Salaams aunty…My name is Ali and I love to cook! I am really inspired by your recipes. I would like to make these nan khatai tomorrow inshallah, with adding red/green food coloring mixed with water at the top of the biscuit. (presentation) Thank you very much for the recipes, and will keep following your website! 🙂
W/Salaam and thanks! Yes you can absolutely add the dots on top for presentation. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Salaams once again,
They turned out great! They were the perfect texture, and my grandma liked them as well. Thank you for your great recipes!
Ali 😀
1/2 cup of butter is equal to 112 grams?
Yes it is.
can i use oil or ghee instead
can i use oil or ghee instead of butter?
I have personally not tried
I have personally not tried substituting so cannot be sure of how the results would be.
I have been thrilled after I
I have been thrilled after I received your website from a close friend. I am a principal of a shariah based school. I am on holiday for Ramazan and I hope to try out your recipes inshsh Allah. Jazakhallah.
Hi if we don’t have baking
Hi if we don’t have baking soda can we leave it?
You will need baking soda in
You will need baking soda in this recipe for best results.
assalam o alaikum sis
assalam o alaikum sis
today m gonna try these cookies
m sure i follow exzactly ur all instructions n ingtedients. but still the dough is very dry n hard.
i added 1 tsp yoghurt as u mentioned but still dough is too dry.
Please let me knw soon what to do now
is it coz of winter?
any suggession to make it smooth before baking?
Plz Rply soon as m waiting to bake
Thanks a lot
W/Salaam, could be the
W/Salaam, could be the weather/altitude. Add a bit more yoghurt or milk and mix then use. 🙂
Salaam fauzia,,
Salaam fauzia,,
I have only one doubt, my biscuites we’re not crispy, after allowing them cool after baking also they are soft. What might b the reason???
I baked them for 20 min.
Did you cool them on a rack?
Did you cool them on a rack? That helps keep the bottoms dry so they do not go soft. If you did and they are still soft, just bake them a bit longer on a lower temp. 🙂
What do you mean by cling
What do you mean by cling film? Also can I add an egg if its dry???
Cling film is that clingy
Cling film is that clingy plastic wrap used for covering food/dishes. And yes you can add a bit of beaten egg if you find it too dry.
Assalamualikum
Assalamualikum
Fauzia
I m keen to try this recipe but the serving is 3 dozen n we are 2 person at home, can u kindly tell me how to half the ingredients ?
Like if I take 1 whole egg n reduce the other ingredients ?
W/Salaam, take half of all
W/Salaam, take half of all the ingredients.
Aslam O Alaikum fauzia!! can
Aslam O Alaikum fauzia!! can you plz share the rescipe of semolina cookies…
W/Salaam, will post one
W/Salaam, will post one inshaAllah.
My dough seems very very dry
My dough seems very very dry to make a dough..do you add water too?…
No, add some milk or yoghurt.
No, add some milk or yoghurt.
Hi can i skip cardarmom
Hi can i skip cardarmom powder?
Hi, yes you can.
Hi, yes you can.
Mine gets too powdery not
Mine gets too powdery not like dough…. What to do?
Add some yoghurt or beaten
Add some yoghurt or beaten egg.
Aoa..I tried nankhatai..bt as
Aoa..I tried nankhatai..bt as it was my 1st time so I tried half of the receipe ..mean half of every ingredient. When I put tray in oven..it was quite gud looking..i like thick nan khatai so i kept it thick and samll..bt after baking, it spread too much and b4 15min (as mentioned in receipe)I took them out cz it was burning from base and a bit more brown from above..its crispy like biscuit bt nt like usual nan khatai….plz help me where I went wrong? ? I wud hv uploaded pix of b4 and after bt there Is no option here..thanks
W/Salaam, not sure what went
W/Salaam, not sure what went wrong but it does sound like your oven was overheating based on your description of the quick browning of the cookies. Try reducing the temperature next time.
I accidentally added sugar to
I accidentally added sugar to the dry mixture…what should I do now …?? Please reply soon…
Oop, you really needed to
Oop, you really needed to cream the sugar with the butter which gives a good base for a better texture but go ahead and cream the butter on its own then add the other ingredients as per the recipe.
hi fauzia
hi fauzia
u didnt mention cream in ingredients but u mention in method.which type of cream ?
Hi. No cream is used in this
Hi. No cream is used in this recipe. When it says cream the butter and sugar, it means mix them until they reach a smooth creamy fluffy consistency.
Made them today, Love the
Made them today, Love the recipe they turned out SO DELICIOUS..exactly how they r when i had them some 4 years ago in Pakistan 🙂 cant believe they look and taste soooo good and authentic. Wish i could upload a pic here. I just added kewra easence drop instead of vanilla essence.
Thank you so much for the
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback! I would love to see the pic, if you could email it to me on fauziaskitchenfun@hotmail.com 🙂
Asalam aleikum can I use
Asalam aleikum can I use maize flour instead of semolina?
W/Salaam, no it will not turn out the same.
Aslm alkm. Pray all well.
Am allergic to semolina. Plse advise what i can substitute with.
Ramadhan Kareem!
W/Salaam and Ramadhan Kareem! You can omit the semolina in this recipe.