cookies Archives - Sugar et al

Pistachio Nankhatai Biscuits (Eggless)

24|10|2024

If you haven’t heard of Nankhatai biscuits before this, they are shortbread biscuits popular in India. The fact that they require only a few ingredients, are eggless and flavoured with spices and/or nuts makes them irrestible.

The chickpea flour and semolina add to the bite and melt in your mouth texture of the Nankhatai biscuits but you are free to use plain flour instead. To keep them authentic, I’ve used ghee but unsalted butter is a great substitute. Giving in to the craziness of pistachio and pistachio based treats, I got my hands on some pistachio paste that I knew instantly I wanted to use in these biscuits. I used this one but i’ve heard that the same brand is cheaper at Costco. If you want to make your own, the Internet is flooded with recipes of pistachio paste.

The unique taste of pistachios paired with a hint of rose and cardamom not only makes them perfect for those who celebrate Diwali but with the upcomng holidays, they would make lovely edible gifts or the most beautiful treats to share with friends and family.

If you love pistachio recipes, you will love these Mini pistachio cakes

Pistachio Nankhatai Biscuits
Makes 18-20 biscuits

1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup chickpea flour/besan (or use plain flour)
1/4 cup semolina
1/2 teaspoon powdered cardamom
1/2 cup ghee (or unsalted butter)
3/4 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoon milk (more if needed)
1/2 cup pistachio paste (home made or store bought)
Extra pistachio paste, to top
Dried rose petals, for garnish

Method : Place the plain flour, chickpea flour, semolina nd cardamom in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the ghee and sugar until the mixture is smooth.

Add the dry ingredients. Mix well. Add milk and pistachio paste and mix well to bring the dough together. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
Roll out uniform sized balls, place them on the tray I cm apart. Slightly flatten them with your hands and top them with the extra pistachio paste (about a tsp), if using.

Place tray in the oven and bake for 20 mins or until the base of each biscuit starts to brown. Remove from the oven, allow to cool. Decorate with rose petals. Once cooled completely, store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies

22|09|2024

I started my cookie baking for the festive season early, this year. Almost every year I end up with a bunch of recipes that I worked on but are too late to post as it’s almost January by the time I can get to it. These Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies are simply amazing. Not only do they come together in minutes, they are egg free, require no chilling of the dough or any rolling out and so on. They are extremely addictive due to the nuttiness of the hazelnuts that are complemented by dark chocolate.

I have used molds to create the design but if you don’t have a mold, use could use a sillicone muffin pan or simply bake the biscuits and then dip them in chocolate. Or you could create thumbprint cookies by filling the centres with chocolate. The possibilities are endless with these Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Cookies
Makes 10-12 cookies

125 g (approx 1/2 cup +1 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (60 g) icing/powdered sugar
1/2 cup hazelnut meal
3/4 cup (94 g) plain flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Spray your cookie mold with non stick spray. Alternately, line a baking sheet with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in the hazelnut meal and flour until combined and a dough is formed that is almost firm and can be rolled into balls easily. Add a little more flour if required.

Scoop 1 tbsp of dough and place in the hole of each mold. Using the back of a spoon or with your fingers, press the dough lightly to take the shape of the mold. You don’t have to be perfect as the dough will rise and spread slightly to fit the molds. If not using a mold, simply roll the dough into balls and place on the baking sheet 1 cm apart. Make a small dent in the middle with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned and feel firm to touch. Remove from oven, allow to cool in mold for 15-20 mins, then gently turn the mold tray over for the cookies to slide out. Allow to cool completely before coating with chocolate. If you’re baking the cookies on a sheet, allow to cool and fill up with melted chocolate or ganache.

Pipe (or spoon) small amount of melted dark chocolate into a clean mold. Place cookies over the chocolate, allowing some of it to come up the sides. Place mold tray in the fridge to set. Repeat with remaining cookies. Cookies should easily come off the molds.

Red Velvet Cookies

11|05|2024

Who doesn’t love Red Velvet Cookies? There are two occasions when i bake them every year. During Chrismas and during Mother’s day. There is something so elegant about the colour and the taste of a red velvet dessert. It has an underlying taste of chocolate but not very chocolate-y.

Because these were meant for Mother’s day I baked them in my favourite molds for the beautiful heart shape. Link here. The centres have been filled with a delicious cream cheese icing that is quick to make.

I hope you enjoy a beautiful Mother’s day with your family. If your Mum is far away like mine, make sure you tell her how much you miss her and definitely bake something for her when you see her, What I would do to share my treats with my Mum right now! Someday soon.

Looking for more heart shaped treats, try these Blueberry Friands/Financiaers.

Red Velvet Cookies
Makes 12 heart shaped cookies

1 cup (125 g )plain flour
2 tbsp (11 g) Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (114 g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (100 g) castor/granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
red gel food paste
gold leaf, to decorate
icing sugar, to dus (optional)

Cream Cheese Icing
1 tbsp cream cheese, room temperature
3 tbsp icing/confectioner’s sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp milk

Method : Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Lightly grease a sillione mold and set aside.

In a medium bowl place the flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda tpgether and mix. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about 2 mins). Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

Fold in the flour until just combined. Mix in the food colour until the desired shade is achieved. If the dough appears too sticky to work with, place in the fridge for 15-20 mins. Otherwise, working quickly, scoop out 1 tbsp of dough and place in the hole of each mold. using the bag of a spoon or with your fingers, press the dough lightly to take the shape of the mold. You don’t have to be perfect as the dough will rise and spread slightly to fit the molds.

Bake for 15-20 miuntes or cookies are lightly browned and feel firm to touch. Remove from oven, allow to cool in mold for 2 minutes, then gently turn the mold tray over for the cookies to slide out. Allow to cool completely before icing.

To make the cream cheese icing, place all the ingredients in a small bowl. Stir well to combine.

To assemble, pipe or fill using a small spoon, the cream cheese icing in the centre of the cookie. Allow to set until firm, about 30 mins. Decorate with gold leaf. Dust with icing sugar if desired.

Biscoff Thumbprint Cookies

1|05|2024

Biscoff thumbprint cookies are the next level treats in cookie universe. Biscoff on it’s own is a cookie spread, then imagine putting that spread on a chocolate cookie base that is rolled in Biscoff biscuits. All I can say is that this triple dose of cookie magic is every bit amazing.

I used a spiral mold for the Biscoff centres. All it requires is to pour melted Biscoff spread in the mold and freeze them. If you don’t have a mold, you can just add melted Biscoff in the indentation once the cookies are baked. My favourite part has to be the chocolatey edges covered in Biscoff crumbs and gooey middle. If you’re wondering if freezing Biscoff spread and allowing it to come to room temperature will alter the taste or texture, the answer is no. It doesn’t affect anything and the shape is retained very well.
I’m excited to try a Nutella version of these in the near future.

Love Biscoff? You’ll love this No bake Biscoff cheesecake

Biscoff Thumbprint Cookies
Yields 12-15 cookies

1/2 cup Biscoff cookie spread, melted in short bursts of 5 seconds in the microwave
1 cup (125 g) plain flour less 1 tbsp
1 tbsp (8 g) corn starch
1/4 cup ( 22 g) Dutch processed cocoa powder
a pinch salt
1/2 cup (100 g) castor/granulated sugar
1/2 cup (114 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 medium egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
5-6 Biscoff biscuits, crushed

Pour melted Biscoff spread in molds. Freeze until firm (about 30-40 mins).

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch, cocoa powder and salt.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until combined (do not over mix). Add the egg and vanilla. Beat to combine. Add the flour mixture and beat at low speed (approx 30 seconds).

The dough is ready when you’re able to easily form balls with your hands. If it’s too sticky or dfficult to handle, place in the fridge for 15-20 mins.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrres F), Line two baking sheets with baking paper. Place the crushed biscoff biscuits on a shallow plate. Scoop out about 1.5 tbsp of dough into balls, roll in crushed Biscoff biscuits and place on lined trays. Using a spoon, make an indentation in the middle.
Bake for 12-15 mins or until slightly golden and set.

Remove from oven. While cookies are still warm, use the spoon again to make a wide hole in the middle, in the size of the biscoff spirals. Be careful not to go all the way through. Allow cookies to cool down, Unmold the frozen Biscoff spirals and place in the space created for them. The biscoff will stick to the cookies as it keep thawing to room temperature.