Nan Khatai

 Delicious eggless cookies that are crispy-crumbly and light. Perfect cookies to have with your cup of tea or coffee.

1 and half cups all purpose flour

half cup butter at room temperature
two-thirds cup caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of baking soda
pinch of salt
quarter tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp gram flour
2 tbsp fine semolina/sooji
1 tbsp crushed almonds or cashewnuts
2 drops of vanilla essence (optional)

extras:
1 tsp yoghurt/curds
crushed pistas and almonds for topping
egg yolk for topping

TIP: You can make castor sugar by grinding regular sugar. First measure the sugar, then grind it. I always prefer my cookies/cakes less sweet so I reduce 1-2 tbsp out of the sugar amount before grinding.

Mix the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, semolina, gram flour and crushed almonds together until well-combined then set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the sugar using a wooden spoon or spatula until light and creamy. Add the cardamom powder and vanilla (i like a drop or 2 of vanilla in the cookie but you can omit if you want), then add in the flour mixture and keep mixing until all is incorporated. You will end up with a very soft dough. If the dough feels too dry, add 1 tsp of yoghurt/curds and mix. Wrap the dough in cling film and set it aside for 15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 150 C. Start shaping SMOOTH balls out of the dough, roll them using your palms to make sure no cracks. Any cracks will spread out even more during baking, ruining the appearance of your cookies. Place the balls on your greased or lined baking tray. You should get about 20-24 small cookies. Make sure you leave enough space all around each cookie as they will spread out during baking. If you want them to hold their shape slightly and remain thick, put the tray in the fridge for half an hour before baking. I like my cookies thinner and crispier, so I don't refrigerate.

Press some crushed pistas and almonds gently on top of each cookie. You can then brush the cookies with some egg yolk if you want, but this is an optional step, it won't affect the results of the cookies...just adds a bit of colour.

Bake the cookies until very slightly golden, about 15-18 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven, the cookies will appear to be soft still, but they will harden as they cool so don't worry. Get the cookies gently off the tray using a spatula and place them on a rack. Let them cool completely. Serve and enjoy! :)