Learn how to make the best Eggless Cardamom Biscuits recipe with step by step pictures. Easy homemade Elachi Biscuits are best served with hot coffee/tea!
December is the bestest of all months, the nip in the air, the jingles and holiday happiness definitely puts all of us in a better place, inspite of all the chaos around us this year. December for me is synonymous of baking and that’s what I did last weekend. The first recipe is a much loved typical Indian flavored cookie, mostly called as biscuit. Cardamom Biscuits are crispy, light and golden with a mild underlining cardamom/elachi flavor. You can make these cookies melt in mouth or with a light crispness – either way, they are best for your tea time!
Homamde Eggless Cardamom Biscuits
Cardamom, also known as Elachi/Elakkai is a beautiful spice used for both sweets and savories in a lot of Indian cookies. It has a wonderful fragrance and the distinct flavor it imparts to the recipe – be it biriyani or halwa, is indispensable. In my recipe for Eggless Cardamom Biscuits, I used whole cardamom pods and that’s all it takes to flavor the biscuit.
Elakkai Nei Biscuit is an emotion, for those who have had an opportunity to travel by the electric train in Chennai. These are warm cookies (called as Biscuits) with ghee flavor wafting in the air are sold for a meagre price of 5 rupees a piece, wrapped in newspaper cutting. Although the ingredients and the quality is highly questionable, it reminds me of home and good old days. So, this holiday season I decided to make these Elachi Biscuits at home, just for the nostalgia.
Cardamom Biscuits – Key Ingredients
Like any other cookie recipe, this Elachi Biscuits recipe requires just a handful of ingredients.
Cardamom/Elachi – of course, the most important ingredient in this recipe. You can use both whole cardamom like me or directly use cardamom powder. If you don’t like the flavor, just swap it with ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Ghee/Clarified Butter – this is the magical ingredient. Period. I wouldn’t recommend using butter for this recipe, as the flavor of the ghee is just unbeatable.
Maida/All-Purpose Flour – you can make this recipe with 50% whole wheat flour but for lighter biscuit, maida is needed.
Sugar – we add powdered sugar, which is not same as the icing sugar. If you get very fine sugar or confectioners’ sugar, you can use it directly too. But for better texture, I always pulse my sugar before adding.
Baking Powder – this brings out the lightness in the biscuit, can be skipped if you are ok with slightly harder cookie.
Pinch of Salt – does wonders in bringing out the sweetness of the biscuit.
Milk – a tablespoon of milk varies the texture of the cookie. If you are fan of crumbly, melt-in-mouth biscuit skip the milk. For this edition, I did add milk to make it light & crisp.
Tips & Important Notes to Make Perfect Elachi Biscuits
Here are some of the basic tips when making these cardamom cookies.
- Make sure that all your ingredients are at room temperature. It would be the best if the kitchen is not too warm.
- Never over work your cookie dough. Don’t ever knead it, even if you are tempted to. It activates the gluten and the cookies turn rock hard.
- Bake the cookies until the bottom is golden brown and it takes just a few extra seconds to burn them. Keep a close eye on the cookies while baking as the oven timings and temperature differ between brands.
- The cookies are expected to be very soft right out of the oven, they will crisp up as they cool down. Take a couple of minutes to transfer them to the wire rack to avoid breaking them.
Storing & Serving Suggestions
Cardamom Biscuits should be stored in an airtight container and there is no need to refrigerate them. They will stay fresh and crisp for about two weeks. Serve them with your hot coffee/tea or as a midday snack!
Checkout other easy cookie & biscuit recipes
- Eggless Crinkle Cookies
- Karachi Biscuits
- Almond Orange Cookies
- Homemade Oreo Biscuits
- Eggless Gingerbread Cookies
Cardamom Biscuits Recipe with Step by Step Pictures
In a blender add ½ cup sugar with 3 whole cardamom pods.
Blend into a smooth powder.
In a mixing bowl add ¼ cup melted ghee along with ¼ cup cooking oil and ½ teaspoon baking powder.
Beat the mixture for a minute.
Meanwhile in another bowl add 1.5 cups maida/all purpose flour along with the powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix it well until combined.
Now add 1 part (of 3 parts) of the dry mixture into the wet mixture.
Mix it together using a spoon and then add the next part of the dry mixture and mix it in.
When the last part of dry mixture is added and mixed, it should look crumbly. When the dough is lumped together, it should hold its shape. At this stage, it is possible to make shapes using this method. It wouldn’t be easier to roll it though.
For making the dough workable/rollable, add 1 tablespoon of milk and bring it together. If it is still dry add another tbsp. Adding too much milk would make the mixture very sticky.
Meanwhile preheat the oven at 180°C for 10 mins and line a baking tray. Now place the dough between parchment papers and roll it to the thickness of about ¼th of an inch.
Cut into desired shape using a cookie cutter. I used a lid with sharp edges. Carefully remove the cut biscuits using a palette knife. Bring together the rest of the dough and repeat the process until all the dough is used up.
Carefully transfer the prepared cookies onto the baking tray with 1-2 inches between them.
Bake for 8-10mins at 180°C and if needed 1 minute more on toast mode. As the bottom turns golden brown, remove the tray from oven. The cookies will be soft to touch right out of the oven and will crisp up on cooling down. Wait for a few mins before cooling them down on wire rack.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for upto 2 weeks. Serve with hot coffee/tea.
Recipe Notes
- Adjust the sugar quantity per sweetness preference. These biscuits are just the right amount of sweetness, add ¾ cup sugar for much sweeter version or ⅓ cup for less sweet version.
- You can replace oil with ghee and make these totally with ghee. If ghee is not available, the same can be made with melted butter too.
Recipe Card
📖 Recipe
Cardamom Biscuits | Elachi Biscuits
Equipment
- Baking Tray
- OTG/convection oven
MEASUREMENT
1 cup = 250ml, 1 tablespoon = 15ml, 1 teaspoon = 5ml
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Maida/All Purpose Flour
- ¼ cup Ghee Melted at room temperature
- ¼ cup Cooking Oil any neutral oil
- ½ cup Sugar
- 3 Cardamom Pods
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- Pinch of Salt
- 1-2 tablespoon Milk optional
Instructions
- In a blender add ½ cup sugar with 3 whole cardamom pods.
- Blend into a smooth powder.
- In a mixing bowl add ¼ cup melted ghee along with ¼ cup cooking oil and ½ teaspoon baking powder.
- Beat the mixture for a minute.
- Meanwhile in another bowl add 1.5 cups maida/all purpose flour along with the powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. Mix it well until combined.
- Now add 1 part (of 3 parts) of the dry mixture into the wet mixture.
- Mix it together using a spoon and then add the next part of the dry mixture and mix it in.
- When the last part of dry mixture is added and mixed, it should look crumbly. When the dough is lumped together, it should hold its shape. At this stage, it is possible to make shapes using this method. It wouldn’t be easier to roll it though.
- For making the dough workable/rollable, add 1 tablespoon of milk and bring it together. If it is still dry add another tbsp. Adding too much milk would make the mixture very sticky.
- Meanwhile preheat the oven at 180°C for 10 mins and line a baking tray. Now place the dough between parchment papers and roll it to the thickness of about ¼th of an inch.
- Cut into desired shape using a cookie cutter. I used a lid with sharp edges. Carefully remove the cut biscuits using a palette knife. Bring together the rest of the dough and repeat the process until all the dough is used up.
- Carefully transfer the prepared cookies onto the baking tray with 1-2 inches between them.
- Bake for 8-10mins at 180°C and if needed 1 minute more on toast mode. As the bottom turns golden brown, remove the tray from oven. The cookies will be soft to touch right out of the oven and will crisp up on cooling down. Wait for a few mins before cooling them down on wire rack.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for upto 2 weeks. Serve with hot coffee/tea.
Notes
- Adjust the sugar quantity per sweetness preference. These biscuits are just the right amount of sweetness, add ¾ cup sugar for much sweeter version or ⅓ cup for less sweet version.
- You can replace oil with ghee and make these totally with ghee. If ghee is not available, the same can be made with melted butter too.
I would be delighted to know if you have tried this recipe, don’t forget to share your feedback and comments below. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me! I am also available on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter 🙂
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