Servings : 20-24 cookies
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
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.
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! 🙂
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.