Ghee cookies, ghee biscuits, Nankhathai, also known as eggless cookies.

The use of ghee(clarified butter)in this ghee cookie recipe gives these Indian shortbread cookies their melt-in-your-mouth texture.

These eggless cookies are so easy to make and extremely budget-friendly.

The best part of making these homemade cookies can be made with just 4 ingredients.

What is Nankhatai?

If you are not familiar with the name Nankathai (which is an Indian term), they are also called ghee cookies, and butter biscuits.

With flavours of ghee, flour, and cardamom, these eggless cookies can be made in large batches for the festive season to serve family and friends as they are quick to make.

The eggless cookies also have a long shelf life.

This makes them great homemade baked gifts for anyone.

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FAQ: for baked ghee cookies.

• Can I make these ghee cookies with butter or oil?
  • Yes, you can substitute with butter or oil but it will compromise and affect the taste and texture of the cookies. The baking time also might vary.

• What is the shelf life of these eggless Indian cookies?
  • Kept in air-tight containers they can last up to 2-3 weeks. Highly unlikely as these don’t last more than 3 to 4 days at my place.

• Want to learn more about cookies?
  • Read these three articles to really know about ghee, its health benefits and its origin.
  • An article on ghee on Wikipedia
  • Is ghee healthy by time.com

tips on baking ghee cookies(eggless cookies)

• Sift flour and baking powder.
• You can either powder the sugar using a blender or use icing sugar.
• Cardamom powder can be replaced with vanilla essence.
• You can heat the ghee for a few seconds (7-8 seconds) before adding it. Only add as much ghee as you need to roll out firm balls. 
• Do not use heavy kneading as you would use for regular dough making. Use your fingers to combine and a light hand to make the soft dough.
• Cover the rolled-out balls to avoid them drying.
• I can’t stress enough how oven temperature varies depending on the brand, altitude, etc. For this purpose bake one or two on the time given and check if you need to lower or increase the time to keep the Nankhatai soft.
• I take mine out even when they are a little soft (a tiny bit) underneath right at the centre, knowing that the residue heat will help the cookie harden slightly.

utensils and tools needed

• Medium-sized sieve.
• Large plastic or glass bowl to combine all ingredients.
• Blender to powder the sugar.
• Cling film.
• Parchment/baking paper.
• Tray and a cloth to cover the cookie balls.

more cookie recipes

Microwave fudge made with condensed milk.

Chunky chocolate drop cookies

lemon drop cookies

chocolate crinkle cookies with cocoa powder.

recipe difficulty-easy

Ingredients to make the ghee cookies(ghee biscuits)

Ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons

1/2 a cup of powdered sugar powdered (you can also use confectioner’s sugar to make these melt-in-your-mouth cookies)
1 cup flour
1/2 a teaspoon baking powder}Ghee 8 and 1/2 tablespoons
1/4 teaspoon powdered cardamom (substitute with 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla essence)

How to make ghee cookies(Indian cookies)

Please make sure to read the recipe instructions carefully to avoid mistakes.

Before you begin, powder the sugar(1/2 a cup) to ease the process of combining sugar with the flour.

Add the powdered sugar to a bowl.
Sift flour(1 cup), and baking powder(1/2 teaspoon) into the same bowl.

Mix these three ingredients well.

The next step will be combining the ghee and flour mixture to reach a soft pliant dough without over-mixing it.

You will need to add ghee in tablespoons to reach the correct consistency.

As you add spoonfuls of ghee(8 tbs+1/2 tbs), the dough will first reach a crumbly texture.

As you add the ghee, you can firmly squeeze the dough mixture to form roughly shaped balls.

Once you reach the correct consistency to form the ghee cookies, you will be able to make a soft and pliant dough that can be rolled into small balls without crumbling into pieces.

Read beginner’s notes if you are unable to form firm yet softballs.

Wrap the soft Nankhatai(ghee cookies) dough in cling film and refrigerate (10-15 minutes).

Layer a baking tray with parchment paper.

Remove the soft eggless cookie dough(nankathai dough) from the fridge.

Use a measuring tablespoon to scoop the dough and form equal balls. 

You would be able to make 25-30 balls depending on the size.
I use my measuring tablespoon to give the ghee biscuits uniformity.
Cover with a clean cloth to avoid them drying.

Preheat oven to 170C. Place the ghee cookies on a baking sheet, 1 inch apart.

Gently press either a raisin, crushed cashews, or pistachios before placing the Nankhatai cookies in the oven.

Bake at 170C for 12-15 minutes(please read beginner’s tips).
These eggless Indian cookies need to be baked to be soft and have that melt-in-your-mouth texture.

As altitude and outside temperature, and the type of oven you use will affect how soft the ghee cookies turn out, I would recommend baking  2 or 3 cookies first for 12 minutes to check if you need to bake them more and then continue to bake the rest of the ghee cookies.

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