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5 from 10 votes

Nankhatai | Eggless Indian Shortbread Cookies

Nankhatai is an Eggless Indian Shortbread Cookie made with flour, butter, powdered sugar, cardamom, and nuts.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time22 minutes
Total Time42 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 11 cookies
Author: Nisha Kapur

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients⁠

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour⁠
  • 1/2 cup almond flour⁠
  • pinch of salt
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Wet Ingredients⁠

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature⁠
  • 1/8 tsp rose extract
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp ghee

Garnish⁠

  • 1 tbsp pistachios chopped⁠
  • 1 tbsp almonds chopped⁠

Instructions

Prepare Nankhatai cookie batter

  • In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients - flour, almond flour, salt, baking soda, and cardamom powder. Mix and set aside.
  • In a large bowl, add room-temperature butter.
  • Cream the butter until light and fluffy.
  • Add powdered sugar and rose water. Blend the mixture until light and creamy.
  • Now add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 2 batches. Using an electric mixer, mix until all the ingredients are incorporated.
  • This is what you should have - the result will be a crumbly mixture.
  • Now using your hands, form a dough. This should only take about 1-2 minutes.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Form Nankhatai cookie dough balls

  • In the meantime, chop the almonds and pistachios.
  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Once the mixture is out of the fridge, add a teaspoon of ghee and knead the dough for a minute.
  • Now using a mini-scoop, you'll need 1 1/2 mini-scoops to form the cookie dough balls.
  • Roll them up and place them on a greased baking sheet tray.
  • Using a sharp knife, form a kris cross pattern on each cookie.
  • Top each cookie ball with the chopped nut mixture. Place into the oven for 22 minutes at 350 degrees. Do NOT overbake these.
  • Out of the oven. The cookies will still be soft to the touch, but they will cool and harden. Enjoy with a cup of tea.

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 76mg | Potassium: 29mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 261IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg