Nankhatai / Nankhatai Recipe (2024)

Nankhatai, or Indian shortbread cookies, are delicious, flaky, and truly melt in the mouth. These sweet cookies are widely popular across India, and they are delicious with a cup of tea or coffee!

There are various types of Nankhatai available in India. But this recipe is about simple, eggless, basic, and truly delicious Indian shortbread cookies. The recipe is straightforward and quick with only a few ingredients.

About Nankhatai

Making Nankhatai at home is thrilling and pure joy. I have loved these cookies so much and have been a massive fan of them since childhood. My parents often bought Nankhatai for me, which is still a tradition whenever I go to India.

If you search about Nankhatai, you might find different stories about the history of Nankhatai and how it became popular in India. Even though it is available in most of the bakeries in India, there are still only a few bakeries that are exclusively famous for Nankhatai.

The recipe I am sharing is the most popular and the basic version of Nankhatai. It does not require baking powder or baking soda and is made with only a few ingredients.

Believe me, making Nankhatai at home is super easy, and you will have these baked goodies within 30 minutes. The only thing is the correct ratio of ingredients and the proper technique.

Why You Will Love This Nankhatai

• Crispy Outside and Soft Inside
• Delicious and Melt in the Mouth
• Easy and Quick Recipe
• Prepared Under 30 Minutes
• Perfect with Tea or Coffee

Ingredients

1. Ghee or Clarified Butter: Ghee is the star ingredient of Nankhatai. We can make these cookies with butter as well, but then they will lose their Indian touch. Ghee makes the Nankhatai soft and so tender that they will melt in the mouth. Ghee should be in semi-solid form, and that is very important. It should be at room temperature but not melted. If you live in a hot area and your Ghee is melted, keep it in the fridge for a few minutes. Once it solidifies to semi-solid form, remove it from the refrigerator and start making Nankhatai.
2. Icing sugar or Powdered Sugar: Using icing sugar makes it easier to beat Ghee and sugar. And icing sugar melts quickly in Ghee. So after beating Ghee and sugar, the mixture will be very creamy, light, and pale in color. This step is essential for making soft and tender Nankhatai from the inside. However, you can also use granulated sugar or grind it until it is almost like a powder.
3. All-purpose Flour: I have used unbleached all-purpose flour. Also, we can replace ½ cup of all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. However, if half of the flour is replaced with whole wheat flour, the texture and taste of Nankhatai will slightly differ.
4. Chickpea Flour and Semolina: They are both necessary to make Nankhatai flaky and crispy from the outside. Use fine semolina to make Nankhatai; grind it to a fine consistency if you have only coarse semolina.

Step by Step Directions

Making The Dough

• Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and set aside.
• Sift all-purpose flour, chickpea flour, semolina, and salt together, whisk well, and set aside.

• In a mixing bowl, take Ghee and icing sugar, whisk well until the mixture is light, fluffy, and pale in color.
• Make sure to use Ghee in semi-solid form and not melted. If your Ghee is melted, keep it in the fridge for a few minutes until it comes to a semi-solid form.

• Add cardamom powder and vanilla, and whisk until well combined.
• You can skip vanilla if you don’t like it in your Nankhatai.

• To the wet mixture, add dry ingredients, and mix gently, initially with a spatula and then with your hands, until a very soft and smooth dough is formed.

• Do not over mix or do not knead the dough. The dough will easily be formed and should be very soft, but it should not be sticky.
• However, if your dough is too soft and sticky, you can keep it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes until it becomes a little firm and easy to handle.
• Then remove it from the fridge and continue with the next steps.

Baking Nankhatai

• Spoon the dough, and make an equal size of balls. I used a very small ice cream scoop to make approximately 1 & ½ tablespoon dough balls. I could make 18 balls.
• Flatten each ball slightly and place them on a baking sheet. Keep a good distance between each ball as the Nan Khatai will spread during baking.
• Make an indent in the center of each ball with your finger or thumb, and place chopped pistachio on it.

• Bake NanKhatai for 14-16 minutes or until the bottom is lightly golden. Keep an eye on Nan Khatai after 10 minutes of baking, as each oven is different.
• Remove NanKhatai from the oven, let it cool in the baking tray for 5 minutes, and then transfer it to the cooling rack.

Storing Suggestions

• Allow NanKhatai to cool completely before storing.
• Store these cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 10-12 days.

Helpful Tips

• Use Ghee in semi-solid form and not melted.
• Use powdered sugar rather than granulated sugar.
• Make sure to cream Ghee and sugar until very light and pale.
• Measure the dry ingredients correctly.
• Keep an eye on the oven after 10 minutes of baking time; Nankhatai should be lightly golden at the bottom.

More Delicious Cookies

You May Like More Eggless Cookies

• Orange Crinkle Cookies (Eggless)
• Eggless Chocolate Cookies / Double Chocolate Cookies
• Jeera Biscuits / Indian Cumin Cookies
• Eggless Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Eggless Coconut Cookies (Indian Style)

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