Pair these crumbly cookies with masala chai for tea time or serve alongside your favorite ice cream for a wonderful Holi dessert. In days leading up to Holi, one of my favorite things to do is to make a batch of instant thandai powder. Thandai is a refreshing milk drink popular in India during Holi. Thandai powder is is powered nuts & seeds bursting with aromatic spices like fennel, green cardamom rose and saffron. In this recipe, you could make your own or use store bought thandai masala.
About Recipe
If you have been following me for a while, you would have read me write often that I love shortbread cookies. Shortbreads are pure love and these buttery cookies are one of the easiest to make. I got hooked on to thandai shortbread last year when I made these thandai shortbread cheesecake bars. The taste of the the shortbread lingered on in my mind for quite some time. Taking inspiration from these badam nankhatai flavored with thandai powder from a few years back, I decided to play around and develop a fuss free, simpler recipe. These thandai cookies are made with just flour, ghee and thandai powder. They turned out lovely! They are crumbly and not too sweet (my favorite part). The taste of nuts and spices is spot on, and the ghee elevates their texture and flavor. These Thandai Cookies
are egglessare simple to make (all you need is a bowl and spatula)need basic ingredients from your pantry have a long shelf lifesuper easy to make(dough) can be made ahead and kept refrigerated for weeks!
How To Make Thandai Shortbread Cookies (Step By Step Photos)
Preparation
Room Temperature Ghee- For this recipe we need, softened (but not melting) ghee. If its warm season where you live, simply leave out the ghee container on kitchen counter for a few hours to soften. If it is cold outside, measure out the ghee. Simplest way to soften the ghee is to microwave it for 10 seconds on full power and then mixing it rigorously with a wooden spoon. Measure and Sift The Flour- It is best to sift the flour before using in any cookie recipe. Measure the powdered sugar & thandai masala.
Make The Cookie Dough In a large bowl, add the soft ghee.Using a spatula, beat it for a minute. The ghee should not be melting - it should be similar to softened butter. Add the powdered sugar and rigorously beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Depending on the color of your ghee, the creamed mixture will be pale yellow to whitish. Add the thandai masala and mix well. Next, add the flour and gently mix with the creamed ghee and sugar until you see no dry flour. Bring it together in a ball. The dough wont be sticky but it will be soft. Chill The Dough Flatten the ball, wrap in a cling film and refrigerate it for at least an hour. You can refrigerate it for a week. The longer the dough sits, the better the thandai flavors. Roll, Cut and Bake Roll the chilled dough between two pieces of parchment to ¼ inch thickness. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the cookies. Place the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Chill the cut out cookies for 20 minutes (don’t skip the chilling). Due to all the rolling and cutting, the dough warms up. We want the cookies to be cold when they hit the hot oven for a flaky crumb. Bake The Cookies Preheat oven to 325F/160C. Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes or until they appear light brown. I pulled out at 12 minutes. Let completely cool on the cookie sheet. They are very soft right now and will break.
Serving
Serve the cookies with your favorite indian ice cream like kaju kishmish, masala chai ice cream or tutti fruitti ice cream. You can also serve them with thandai, chai or falooda. Store in an air tight container for 2 weeks.
Tips for Sucess
I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients. Chill the cookie dough for 5-10 as needed while rolling or cutting.Dont skip chilling the cut out cookies before baking them. The cookies should be cold when they go in the oven. These cookies are mildly sweet with a robust aroma of ghee. You can dip them in melted white or semi sweet chocolate if you wish. You can add a scoop of ice cream in between and make ice cream cookie sandwiches.
