Butter Biscuits/ Nankhatai :Eggless Indian Cookies

It's almost Christmas and it looks festive all around. This is one of my favorite season in US.Where ever you go festive joy is filled in air. All over the town , you will see decorated christmas trees. Driving thru the neighborhood in the night, homes are decorated with festive lights, Trees on either side of the road are sparkly. And one more fun thing is festive shopping. And last but not least, it’s vacation time for kids so I’m not running under time crunch :-).

As usual, this year also my Kid has his wish list, so as my Tot. Even though the little one doesn’t understand it yet, he will be in couple more days, once he gets his presents :-). While My elder one wants Heelys, the lil one loves Cars and Swords and that’s what he will wish to see in the presents. As usual we will wake up in the middle of the night, after kids are asleep, to keep presents near the fire place, LOL.

This Christmas, I wanted to bake these good old Butter biscuits. It’s been really a long time I had em. Growing up my mom used to make em a lot. She used to make sponge cake and this biscuits in a renaissance kind of oven ,LOL! In those days we do not have ovens in households. This thing looks like pressure cooker, made with alluminum and it is shaped like bundt pan inside. She used to use sand, probably underneath it to heat it. Anyway her cake is the most famous among my family and friends. My cousins used to ask her to make

this cake for birthdays.

coming back to biscuits, it is a simple recipe and egg less. Very easy to make. If you love cookies, you will love these. If you are a bake-o-phobiac then this recipe is something you should try. Try my other easy oven recipes like veggie puffs, Oven roasted crunchy chick peas (Masala Senegalu). Also my awesome Mango mousse cake recipe which involves lil bit baking.

Lil insight into the ingredients and utensils etc. used in the recipe, I used unbleached all purpose flour to make these cookies. The usual flour/Maida is made by bleaching process which involves harmful chemicals.For that reason I always use unbleached flour.If it's not on hand, you can use Maida or regular All purpose flour.

I have used store bought powdered sugar in this recipe.You can get it from any american grocery store, in baking isle.I always have it on hand as I use it to make cake fondant. It saves some time and convenient.But if you do not have it on hand, use a blender to powder the regular sugar.

I have used my Ninja Food processor to make cookie dough in this recipe. It was my most adorable thanksgiving possession :-).Making cookie dough became easy with that. You can also use a stand mixer or a electric hand mixer or good,old whisk in place of it.
Another important thing is use parchment paper to line your baking tray, if you have it on hand. I forgot it during my first batch but used it afterwards. It makes it convenient to transfer cookies, after removing from oven.

By the time I posted this recipe, I made two more batches of cookies and indulged on them :-). On the day of Christmas, I made a Star shaped cookies to place at the top of my Cookie tree :-) which you can see in the pictures.

Servings:
About 16-18 cookies
Total time:
20 minutes
Category:
Sweets/Desserts
Author:
Praveena Gudipati

Ingredients: (I use US standard measuring; 1cup=8oz=250ml)

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour (or regular flour/Maida)
1 butter stick or 1/2 cup butter, unsalted
1/2 cup Powdered sugar
3 cardamoms (optional)
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1-2 tbsp Milk optionally

Butter Biscuits/Nankhatai Step-by-Step Recipe

Keep 1 butter stick (1/2 cup butter) outside for half hr. Or microwave it few seconds to make it soft, not melted.
Take 1/2 cup sugar in a mixing bowl. Add softened butter, cut into pieces. Now Mix sugar and butter till they blend well and look creamy.I have used my awesome 'Ninja' food processor for mixing . You can use a electric hand mixer or just a whisk to do the job.
Powder the 3 cardamoms and keep aside.This is optional.
Measure 1 Cup all purpose flour and add to the sugar,butter mixture above. I have used unbleached flour, which is healthier than the regular flour.Add pinch of salt, Cardamom powder,1/4 tsp baking powder to it.
Blend/whisk till all ingredients come together. At this point dough looks crumbly.
Now take the dough into a mixing bowl. Knead it till it come together and holds shape. You can add little milk if it’s too dry. I did not use any milk.
Now make 16-18 balls out of the dough. Press the ball to make a disc shape. You can make a dip the middle part and top with chopped dry fruits. I just left them plain.
Line the baking tray with Parchment paper, if you have on hand or you can use tray with out it.Place these discs on a baking tray,2 inch apart. By the time cookies are done, they are gonna spread out.
Pre heat oven to 350C. It takes about 8-10 minutes to preheat so you can do it in advance.
Transfer the cookies into oven and bake for 14-15 minutes. Mine took about 14 minutes.I kept the first batch for 15 minutes(The ones in below picture).They were good but crunchy. I like mine little soft inside. The second batch I took them at 14 minutes and they were perfect. Keep checking cookies after 10 minutes. When you see sides turn slight brown, time to turn off oven.You can turn on oven light to check on cookies, if you have light.This is the efficient way ,with out opening oven. Opening oven un necessarily fluctuates the baking temperature.
Remove cookies onto a wire rack to cool down or just transfer to another plate.
Serve at room temperature.