cookies

These cookies are so playful and within a few minutes, you will find yourself finishing them all at once. I say playful because there is no rocket science, no hard effort and no long hours required to make these cookies. Like just put on your headphones as you wake up on a Sunday, grab your morning coffee and that apron and you will be enjoying these cookies within the next few minutes. Yeah! it’s a winning deal right?

The best thing here is that you don’t need any butter or oil to bind the cookies here. Yes, you heard it right! No oil, no butter, no margarine nothing! Only the hazelnut butter will help in binding the cookies and add its own flavor as well. And well, you do know how healthy and easy hazelnut butter is right? Just pulse hazelnuts for a good one minute and the butter is ready! As simple as that!

Now let’s get to the flavors. Cardamom and hazelnut blend like long lost companions. The subtle nature of hazelnut marries the strong flavor of cardamom just perfectly. Desiccated coconut here helps in binding as well as adds to the taste bringing in a certain charm of its own. Flax seeds, of course, add the nutrition and help to keep these cookies together.

The cookies can be made with the addition of flour as well but in that case, you may just have to tweak the other ingredients a little bit. I would say, just stick to this one as of now and enjoy the flavors of all these ingredients merging together to make a beautiful little cookie.

RECIPE:

These cookies are simple and the perfect tea accompaniment. They’re not insanely sweet, which is a nice change from the usual cookie flavor profile. Vanilla extract, hazelnut, and honey give these treats a subtle sweetness while chia seeds keep them intact.

Ingredients:

2 cups hazelnuts

3/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

2 tbsp ground chia seeds

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/3 cup honey

Method:

• Take once cup of hazelnut and pulse them well, for about 1 minute till it becomes hazelnut butter.
• Pulse the rest one cup of hazelnuts just for a few seconds till it becomes a coarse powder.
• Add both of these to a bowl and then keep adding all the other ingredients one by one.
• Combine everything well to make a dough. Wet a muslin cloth and cover the dough with it and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

• Now take the dough and start and start forming small balls out of it in your palm and keep them aside.
• Flatten each with the help of your palm or a bowl.
• Preheat the oven on 160 C for 5 minutes. Bake the cookies at 160 C for 15-16 minutes.
• Cool them off on a wire rack and enjoy!!

A good dose of hazelnuts is never too bad I suppose. Those gorgeous golden chickpea twins are not just so damn addictive in flavor but also a good source of energy. In my opinion, both hazelnut and chocolate are simply irresistible and their combination is deathly. So a friend visited Turkey last month and got me a whole lot of Turkish hazelnuts. I almost have kgs of these hazelnuts loaded in shelves in my kitchen and every time I look at them, well, I almost have goosebumps thinking of all the splendid recipes I can make out of them. Hazelnuts are easy to work around because they have a subtle flavor and the crunch is indefectible, but only if you buy hazelnuts which are without the skin because the skin peeling process tends to get a little tedious testing your impatience while working on a recipe.

The best part is here in India you mostly get peeled hazelnuts and the Turkish hazelnuts were the same as well. I must admit, they are a weakness while prepping up in the kitchen, I always find my hand slipping away into the packet and a whole lot of hazelnuts getting wiped out only to land in my tummy. Don’t you all agree, they a beast of flavor?

Since life has pretty much been in lockdown mode and I was falling short of some cookies, I decided to use them first to dish out some sumptuous cookies. So one of those afternoons, while being glued to my favorite series on Netflix, I decided to pause for a while and give serious thought to what kind of cookie I wanted to bake. I always like combining flavors, nutty+spicy+sour+crunchy. etc. and this time I wanted to go a little overboard. Most of us, who have tried the hazelnut and oregano pasta know how the flavors merge perfectly.  Almost at that moment, a visual of the hazelnut and oregano pasta popped up in my head and hell, yeah, I had found my supreme inspiration for the cookie.

As I headed towards my kitchen, I happened to go off balance and banged myself against the wall, my hand thereby landing on a glass pot which fell off on the floor being lucky enough not to break. A look at that, and woah! God just sent me my second inspiration for the cookie. It was a pot full of chili flakes and I thought why not combine those gorgeous looking red flakes with oregano? Within seconds of putting the pot of chili flakes on the counter, I looked back at the kitchen rack and saw my favorite little thing which I happen to dose on without any feeling of guilt every time I enter the kitchen. There was my favorite jar of homemade Nutella that I made three days back and I knew I had to use this as an integral part of this cookie.

A little of that soul searching in and around the kitchen and all my ingredients were ready on the counter – all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, Nutella, grounded hazelnut, brown sugar, butter, a mix of oregano and chili flakes, salt, and baking powder.

Feel free to use brown sugar and Nutella as you want to. I like strong flavors and not much sweetness. I wanted to have a strong flavor of hazelnut and chocolate in the recipe so I decided to ignore the sugar a bit. What you will get here is a dense yet securely solid flavor of a cookie. Be sure you don’t add more of the butter than listed in the ingredients because you already have a good quantity of that in the hazelnuts and the Nutella.

Also, you don’t need to keep the dough in the refrigerator as you will notice you don’t really get a very soft dough here. And so, just be ready to get your favorite shape out and bake them on the go!

You can keep these cookies in an airtight container for up to a period of 7 days. No need to refrigerate it. Buzz me when you make them and tell me the experience!

Happy baking and happy quarantine to you! Stay safe and stay indoors! Love!

RECIPE:

An absolutely tasteful composite of hazelnut, Nutella, herbs and chili, this cookie is just what you need when you want to enjoy your evening tea or coffee with something strong in flavor. Indulge in it after a hard tiring day and watch how it ups your endorphins and helps you relax.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tbsp Nutella

1 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp grounded hazelnut

1 tbsp unsalted butter

5 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1-1/2 tsp oregano and chili flakes mix

Method:

• Ground the hazelnuts. Take the dried oregano and chili flakes and mix them together.
• Sieve the all-purpose flour in a bowl. Now add the Nutella to it.
• Add all the ingredients one by one and mix well.
• Make sure you knead the dough well. Within a few minutes, it will start taking shape. You don’t need to add any warm water to bind the dough in this recipe.
• When the dough comes together, form small balls out of it in your palm and keep them aside.

• Flatten each with the help of your palm or a bowl.
• Preheat the oven on 170 C for 5 minutes. Bake the cookies at 170 C for 15-16 minutes.
• Cool them off on a wire rack and enjoy!

If there is anything called death by cookies- then I bet you have just hit that spot!

Cranberries – those berries which are as famous as their counterparts and are not as widely eaten as the other berries because of their extremely sour taste. But, mind you cranberries are a hit when it comes to whipping up some lip-smacking desserts. The trick is to balance the scales of flavors when combined with other ingredients in a particular dish. It is difficult to source fresh cranberries if you need them but dried cranberries can be found in the stores all around the year. And they are a great addition to cookies, pies, puddings, etc. when they just pop up in the mouth within a bite giving that mild sour yet pungent taste to the recipe.

It was a really snoozy Saturday and I was in great need of some movement in the kitchen. I had an almost somnolent Friday as well and I was in no mood to let the weekend go waste. Besides, of course, being in the kitchen makes me the happiest. Since I had a whole lot of cranberries lying down from a  shoot I did for Kellogg’s, it would have been really bad on my part to ignore those gorgeous looking maroon-colored berries and not dishing out a pleasing recipe out of them.

I am also really biased towards the use of herbs, they help in giving such perspicuous taste to any recipe and are a good way of equalizing the flavors. They go well with citrus fruits and almost all kinds of nuts as well. And when combined with ginger, it is a fabulous mix you get that can never go wrong. Ginger is spicy, herbs are soothing (though powerful in the taste, of course, but I feel they are calm in nature) and cranberries help in binding both of these adding a tinge of sourness of their own, thereby helping to create a recipe that is perfect for times when you are in a somber mood. The nuts help to bring that extra crunchy feeling bite after bite which is so irresistible. And so I gathered my four major ingredients in the kitchen and was ready to dish out this handsome looking cookie equally powerful in taste as well.

When it comes to ginger, use only fresh finger in this recipe. I always prefer fresh ginger as compared to ginger powder as I find a huge difference in the flavors of the two. Also, nothing works like fresh, juicy bits of ginger in any given recipe, right? Where the herbs are concerned, use only dried herbs here, you need to hold and control the natural moisture that has already been passed on by the ginger and also I personally feel dried herbs work best in cookies. Leave the fresh ones to puddings, ice creams and that particular lot!

Be sure, that this recipe is only good when you use dried cranberries. Fresh cranberries are a big no-no here as they will add moisture which is not going to help add that crunchiness of the perfect cookie. Well, a little off the hook, but not unimportant though, let me tell you cranberries help our body heal in a number of ways and work like a magic wand.

Listen to this:

• You will delay anti-aging process a great deal by consuming a handful of fresh cranberries every single day.
• keep worries about having cancer at bay …that dose of cranberries will keep your body cells in check at all times.
• Your immunity is going to multiply manifold if you add cranberries in your diet every day.
• Want to keep the liver in check? well, just keep eating those cranberries like a few pieces of biscuits every day.

Ok now, back to the recipe….you really don’t need any market bought cookies when these adorn your plates at home…they are extremely nectarous and fit for a king! Feel free to bake them this weekend and give me a ping on how they turn out… I am sure these will remain a personal favorite just like how they remain mine…

RECIPE:

A touch of spice, sourness, and crunchiness of nuts comes together to make a fascinating cookie which is sure to hit you up in the head within the first bite. Lift your soul up as it lifts your taste buds. Enjoy these cookies with your tea or coffee, it just goes well with any of them.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 tbsp almonds

1/4th cup dried cranberries

8.5 gms chilled salted butter (If using unsalted butter, please remember to add 1/4 tsp salt to the recipe)

1/4th cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp dried mixed herbs

Few drops of Almond extract

1/2 tsp chopped ginger

Method:

• Chop the almonds and the cranberries.
• Sieve the flour in a bowl.
• Now add the butter, chopped almond, sugar, cranberries, dried herbs. almond extract and chopped ginger.

• Knead the dough well. All the ingredients should be able to come together and bind well without falling apart in your palm.
• When the dough comes together, form small balls out of it in your palm and keep them aside.
• Flatten each ball with the help of your palm or the back of a bowl.
• Preheat the oven on 170 C for 5 minutes. Bake the cookies at 170 C for 15-16 minutes till they are golden brown.
• Cool them off on a wire rack and enjoy!!

Everyone knows how much of a chocolate fanatic I am and you will always find every damn kind of cocoa based ingredient in my kitchen whether its Morde chocolates, cocoa powder, raw cacao or our Indian sugar fee brands.

The other day I was just in the mood to make something which is actually very minimalistic and which I can probably just load up on without thinking twice about the sugar content or the weight I may gain. In addition what mattered most was the time consumed. I was busy in the research of a project with a food brand and just wanted to savour something decadent without spending hours in the kitchen.

Within a few  minutes of a short stroll in my kitchen, I found Sesame in plenty. Sesame is a little hard to experiment what with the bitter taste it carries. You need to be extra careful when using sesame as one of the binding agent and as a primary ingredient as well. Also remember to use roasted sesame here to give that extra kick in the flavor. Remember these are actually those very wholesome cookies which will help you to stay on track with your health goals, so even if you are a fitness fanatic, you just have to dig into that jar and relish these cookies without a worry even in the dead of night.

Packed with feel-good ingredients and delicious flavors, these flourless cookies are dessert goodness. The best thing is these are vegan, plant based, oil free, sugar free, gluten free,  and contain no highly processed ingredients.

You will be shocked that these are actually made with 4 ingredients only. All you need is cocoa powder, dates, desiccated coconut and sesame seeds. Of course, you cannot substitute dates here with any other natural sweetening agent because it helps in binding the cookies together as well. Also, as for the use of dark cocoa powder, the stronger it is, the more of the chocolate flavor you will have. But you need to buckle yourself up here – You have two bitter agents here in this recipe – cocoa and sesame. So both have to be handled carefully and excess of any of them will only result in a complete disaster.

Simply loosen yourself up, grab that cup of coffee and enjoy these cookies as you head out to work or need to freshen yourself up after a hard day of work. These minimalistic cookies will become your go to snack at any given point in time…Devour and indulge, I would say!

RECIPE:

Easy, healthy, and quick to make, these cookies will help to give you that sweet kick despite not having to worry on the loaded calories. The next time you have guests coming over and you want to feed them your unique cookies, you know what to do, right?

Ingredients:

1 cup sesame seeds

¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes

12 Medjool dates, pitted * (If using any other dates which are small in size, just increase the quantity to 16 dates)

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 to 4 Tablespoons warm water

Optional Toppings:

Drizzle or dip half with melted chocolate chips

Sprinkle coconut flakes or sesame seeds over the melted chocolate

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place oven rack in the center position.
• Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• Place the Medjool dates in a food processor and process to break them up, about one minute. Then add all the other ingredients (except the warm water) and process for approx. 1 minute or until everything is well combined. Then add 3 Tablespoons of hot water (not boiling, just tap hot) and process for 20 seconds. Pinch the cookie dough, if it doesn’t hold together, then add the final Tablespoon of hot water.

• Next take about a golf ball size of dough (2 small cookie scoops) and roll it in your hands to form a ball, then place the ball onto the parchment paper/silicone baking mat lined cookie sheet. Try to keep the cookie size uniform.  Continue until you have rolled all the dough into balls, and placed the dough balls on the baking sheet. See notes about cookie dough tips.

• After the 2nd round of cookie ball rolling, flatten each ball to form a thick disk about ½ inch thick. Firm up the edges to keep a cohesive well-formed disk. The cookies will not spread while baking.
• Bake for 16 minutes.
• After 16 minutes, take the cookies out, allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet undisturbed for 5 minutes to firm up, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Enjoy!

NOTES

*Medjool dates: If using Medjool dates vs another dried date, there is no need to soak the dates as Medjool dates are typically very soft. However, if you are using a different date, test the date by pinching it. If the date is very soft, gooey, and pliable, then you can just add them to the food processor to break them up.  If the dates are drier and stiff, then you will need to cover them with boiling water for about 20 minutes to soften them up before adding the dates to the food processor.

*Cookie Dough Tips for Success:  The cookie dough is semi-sticky, but it should form a ball easily.  Tip: The more round and smooth you make the cookie ball, the better cookie texture results.  What we have found works well and creates a great cookie is the following:  We create all the cookie balls. Then we wash our hands again and pick up each cookie ball and roll it again in our hands to create a very smooth round ball.  The 2ndround of rolling is not required, but it does make a really nice cookie shape.  Then flatten each ball to form a thick disk about ½ inch in height. These cookies do not expand in the oven.

*Storage:  Refrigerate and use within 5 days.  Freezes well.

Everybody who knows me knows how much I worship hazelnuts. They are like a second world to me. No wonder you can find the fascination there in my blog name! Oh! and Italy, well, it’s just my go-to-place any time of the day! I am fascinated with it to the core. Let me also tell you first, when you start baking these cookies, the heavenly fragrance is going to surround your nostrils and all your senses like a big ball of blessing from the Almighty. Well, as for the taste, it’s simply delicious and blissful!

Now you would ask me, what did I do different here? And my answer is – I added a bit of citrus to the recipe and the result is – mind-blowing!! This needs to be stamped – chocolate and orange are forever friends, blend them and make up for a brilliant thing! So just grate some orange zest and add it with the melted chocolate for these amazing version of “Baci di Dama” cookies.

Named for their shape which is said to resemble the lips of a lady intent on kissing, Baci Di Dama or ‘ladies’ kisses’ have become a fixture in the Piedmont region since their invention in the town of Tortona over a century and a half ago. Ah these Italians! Delicate and sensual like their cookies!

The other day while cleaning some of the sections in my kitchen, I noticed that a few hazelnuts were lying in a big can. I knew, I had to do something before they find their place in the bin. So I got some extra hazelnuts and decided to bake my gorgeous “Baci Di Dama” coz I wanted to bring something Italian your way and something very dear to Italy, a recipe that they are proud of and something which originates from their rich history.

The premise for making these elegant, bite-sized morsels would appear to be simple. Simply unite two tiny, dome-shaped biscuits together with melted chocolate. And, with equal amounts of ground hazelnuts, flour, butter and sugar to be used, the ingredients are certainly easy enough to remember. There’s no egg to stabilise the biscuits while they are baking though, so a bit of technique is essential to achieving the right shape and consistency. And these tips are as simple as you can think of!

Tips that will help you make perfect Baci Da Dama:

– If the dough is too crumbly and doesn’t hold together, add ice-cold water (start by adding very little).

– It’s very important to chill the cookies at least overnight before baking. These steps help them keep their shape while baking.

– If the cookies melt in the oven, it’s usually because your ingredients were not thoroughly combined and there is too much butter in that ball of dough. Knead the dough until the butter is evenly dispersed.

– You can use almonds, hazelnuts or a mix of both. I prefer to use hazelnuts.

– Also using a relatively low temperature oven helps. Without getting too tensed about which kind of microwave or oven you have, simply set the temperature at 150 or 160 degrees Celsius to bake help this point.

By taking these precautions, your biscuits will refrain from sinking too much and have that delicate, melt in your mouth consistency.

“Patience” should be the subtitle of this recipe that I prepared with a lot of… Love! I may not be Italian but I can be very romantic, at least sometimes – whenever I think of Italy! I say “patience” as I weighed every single lip to obtain a perfect result. I was helped by music and the company of my best friend in my kitchen. An absolutely delicious result!

RECIPE:

Baci Di Dama or Lady Kisses are authentic Italian treats prepared with almonds or hazelnuts shaped as lips united by chocolate. They are delicate and have a melt-in-your-mouth texture that is quite addictive.

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

100 grams hazelnuts toasted and skinned

100 grams all-purpose flour sifted

100 grams unsalted butter cut into small cubes and at room temperature

85 grams granulated sugar

For the filling:

50 grams bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chopped

1 tsp Orange zest

Method:

• Toast the hazelnuts (If you have bought raw ones from the market):
• Toast the hazelnuts at 160 degrees C for 15 minutes, until golden brown and fragrant.
• Remove the hazelnuts from the oven and rub them in a kitchen towel until the loose skins come off (don’t worry about skins that don’t come off).
• Once completely cool, pulse the nuts in a food processor until they resemble sand.

Dough:

• Transfer the hazelnuts to a bowl, add the flour, butter, and sugar.
• Mix all the ingredients until the butter is evenly dispersed, and the dough is smooth.

Shape

• Take off equal-sized pieces (more or less weighing 8 grams each) and roll them into tiny balls between the palms of your hands. Gently roll the ball into a log kind of a shape. Cut off the dough with a sharp knife from both the ends so that you get both the parts of one cookie. Keep rolling the leftover piece of the dough again into a ball and then a long and keep repeating the process till the dough is over.
• Place the cookies on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, slightly spaced apart. Put the baking sheet in the fridge overnight.

Bake:

• Bake the Baci Di Dama for 15 minutes at 160 C, until they are set to the touch and lightly golden.
• Let the cookies cool completely before filling.

Filling:

In a clean, dry bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate until smooth.  Let it cool for a few minutes until it thickens slightly. Add the orange zest and mix well.

Assemble:

Put a dollop of the chocolate filling on one cookie and place another one on top. Once filled, put the Baci Di Dama on a cooling wire rack until the chocolate is firm.

Storage:

Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Biscotti truly taste best freshly baked! These Biscotti taste paradise. Studded with orange zest and cranberries, they have a warm and cozy spirit. Apt as winter delicacies, they sum up as perfect treats with the evening tea and coffee!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp grated orange peel

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Method:

• Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir together sugar, oil, orange peel, vanilla and eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients.

• Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth. On an ungreased cookie sheet, shape half of dough at a time into 10×3-inch rectangle.

• Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on cookie sheet for 15 minutes. Cut rectangle crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Turn slices cut sides down on cookie sheet.
• Bake about 15 minutes longer, turning once, until crisp and light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Brighten your summer holidays with these d-licious Orange and Coconut cookies that are the perfect grab-and-go kind of cookies and make you so refreshed with the touch of orange in them. Super easy to make, crispy, and surprisingly addictive!

Ingredients:

125 gms – Butter

1 cup – whole wheat flour

1 cup – all purpose flour

1 cup – Sugar

1 cup – Dessicated coconut

Zest of 1 orange

1 tbsp raisins

1 – Egg

A pinch – salt

2 tbsp – Orange juice

Method:

• Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg beat well. Stir in sifted dry ingredients, orange juice, coconut and raisins.
• Bind into a dough and refrigerate for at least 30-40 minutes.
• Roll mixture into small balls – the size of a walnut.
• Press on three sides with a fork to create a design.
• Place on lightly greased oven trays.
• Bake in microwave at 180 degrees for 12-15 minutes minutes or until light golden brown.
• Enjoy with your cup of morning coffee or evening tea.

Whether its a party, a simple feast or just another Sunday in your life, these cookies will remain one of the favorite snacks as they are super easy to make and full of the freshness of cardamom. even if you don’t like cardamom, you are sure to fall in love with these cookies with the first bite itself!

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

2 cup all-purpose flour

¾ tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp nutmeg

Method:

• Beat butter and sugar together by hand or in a mixer, until pale and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cardamom, and salt. Stir into butter mixture until just combined. Gather dough together, shape into 2 discs, wrap and chill until firm, about 1 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the first disc of dough to just less than ¼-inch thick. Cut out desired shapes and lift with a spatula onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll the second disc, saving all scraps to re-roll for more cut-outs. If you choose, add sprinkles or other decorations onto cookies before baking. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Let cool before removing from tray.
• Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

These Christmas special cookies are simple, easy to make and are going to keep everyone happy at home. A delightful combination of coconut and cardamom, they are miles away from all the other types of cookies you must have had on your tea table. With an added chocolate glaze, your kids will be their happiest self!

Ingredients:

1 cup Refined Flour

2/3^rd cup to 1 cup Granulated Sugar

1 stick Butter

1/4th cup shredded dry coconut

1 tsp Cardamom Powder

2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/4 cup Baking Soda

Method:

• Mix all the dry ingredients together. Mix in the shortening. (Shortening is nothing but Hydrogenated vegetable oil. It is not very good from health point of view but they make everything taste good)
• Combine everything well to make it into something like a soft dough. Pinch small balls out of it pressing it slightly into the palm of your hand.
• Preheat oven at 350 F. Arrange the biscuits on a parchment lined cookie sheet, giving at least 1″ between the biscuits.
• Bake for about 15 minutes or till they are cracked on the top and done!
• Melt a little chocolate and pour it over the cookies when they are ready. Sprinkle a little cardamom powder as well and let them cool.

Enjoy with fresh coffee and serve to your guests on the Christmas Eve!

These Christmas special cookies are sure to bowl you over. They are so mild and so different in taste from the usual Christmas cookies, that you are sure to be making them every single Christmas. The freshness of fennel adds to all the goodness that you feel on the tongue. Don’t forget to try these out, they are simply fantastic!

Ingredients:

2 cups Refined Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

50 gms Butter

1 tsp Baking powder

2 tsp Fennel seeds

Warm Water – as required

2 tbsp Sugar

Method:

• Take the flour and add the salt, sugar, butter, baking powder to it along with the fennel seeds. Keep adding water to make a soft dough.  Cover this with a wet muslin cloth and leave it for at least an hour.
• Then make small round balls and roll out to make a flat round shape. Take a star-shaped cookie cutter and cut out the pieces from this.
• Preheat oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes and bake for about 18 minutes. Then turn them around and bake for another 18 minutes.

For coloring:

• If you want to color these cookies in your favorite color, just add icing sugar with a little of your favorite color – red, pink or green or just about any color.
• Then brush this mixture over the cookies and freeze the cookies for about 8-10 hours.
• You can also coat your cookies with a little of the melted chocolate and sprinkle a fine powder of fennel seeds over them.