Tea Biscuits | How to make bakery-style Osmania Biscuits or Moon Biscuits or Cardamom Cookies or Saffron-flavored Biscuits
Tea Biscuits or Osmania Biscuits are melt-in-mouth, buttery eggless treats or cookies with a delectable combination of sweet and salt, making them a perfect snack for your tea time.
I was first introduced to these cookies at Karachi Biscuits in Hyderabad. These biscuits are very popular in South India, especially Telangana, and are served with Irani Chai or cut chai. In some other states, there are variations to these, and they are sold as Butter biscuits or butter cookies.
Another popular sweet from this bakery is tutti frutti or candied fruit or Karachi biscuits. You will totally fall in love with these.
Are you looking for last-minute Diwali party food recipes? Then do try out this recipe. These eggless cookies are a perfect snack for your Diwali tea party.
If you are planning for gift boxes this holiday season, even Thanksgiving or Christmas, this is one of the best options.
I wish you all a very happy and prosperous Diwali, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Happy Holidays!
Because of the pandemic, many events that we have been attending or hosting all these years for Diwali, dinner for Thanksgiving and Christmas are being held in a virtual setting. It’s always good to stay safe.
If you are planning any events, make sure it is an outdoor event so that your guests can maintain safe social distance as well as enjoy spending time with family and friends. Encourage your guests to wash their hands and sanitize regularly. Wear masks when you are not eating 🙂 Stay safe.
FAQs
Ok.. Coming back to these cookies
Why are these cookies called Osmania biscuits?
These biscuits were named after Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad. He used to crave for these biscuits as they have the right balance of sweetness and saltiness and pairs perfectly with a hot cup of tea.
What ingredients are used to make Osmania biscuits? Can I make it eggless?
Osmania cookies are eggless cookies similar to shortbread biscuits and prepared using flour, sugar, butter, milk, custard powder, and flavorings.
Why are biscuits dipped in tea?
Dunking releases more flavor, especially by dissolving sugar, also softening their texture. In India, biscuits, rusks (crostini), and benne butter are generally dipped in tea. Oh wow... This reminds me of my childhood days. I was doing it a lot then and now my lil one eats his biscuits this way 🙂 He just loves dunking biscuits in tea.
What is your favorite childhood memory of food? Do comment below.
How Long Can I Store These Tea Biscuits Cookies?
When stored in an airtight container, these cookies remain fresh for up to 10 days.
To make these biscuits or cookies, I have used 2 different spices and 2 different powders. For all those who are new to cooking and baking, here is a quick summary of it.
Why Is Cardamom Used In Baking? How Does It Taste In Cookies?
Cardamom (Elaichi) is a very popular spice used in Indian and Scandinavian cooking and baking. Cardamom has a very strong, complex flavor and fragrance.
It is mainly used as it enhances cookies or any desserts with its unusual taste.
But be careful while adding cardamom powder as it has strong flavors. A small pinch is sufficient to impart the cardamom flavor. If you are new to this spice, use only ⅛ tsp. To make cardamom powder, you must crack the pods and remove the seeds. Then grind them finely or coarsely in a mortar & pestle or mixer or blender or coffee grinder. The outer skin can be used to flavor rice dishes or while making masala chai or tea or can simply be discarded.
Why is saffron or kesar used in cooking and baking?
Saffron or Kesar is called red gold as it's a premium, expensive spice and is grown in just a few places around the world. It is used to give color and enhance the taste of the dish. You can use it both in sweet and savory dishes like kheer, burfi (barfi), ladoo (laddu), pulao, biryani, kulfi, etc.
Even though it's expensive, add one or two strands of kesar for a totally different impact on the bowl of food.
What is custard powder?
Custard powder is a fine yellow powder made of thickeners (cornstarch), milk powder and flavorings like vanilla, mango, kesar, strawberry, etc. It gives cookies a delicate texture and makes them a little crumblier.
Why is milk powder used in cooking and baking?
When milk powder is added to cookies, it makes the cookies slightly chewy - which makes it stand out from the other cookies. Milk barfi or milk powder burfi, or Rose barfi is the best recipe you can try using milk powder. Vienna bread – another popular, no-fail bread recipe, also uses milk powder in its preparation. Two of my favorite Indian desserts like gulab jamun and barfi with different flavors (badam pista Barfi) can also be prepared using milk powder.
Don’t Miss To Check Out My Collection Of Snacks, Sweet And Dessert Recipes For This Festival & Holiday Season.
Step Wise Detailed Recipe For Tea Biscuits | How To Make Bakery Style Osmania Biscuits Or Moon Biscuits Or Eggless Butter Cookies Or Cardamom Cookies Or Saffron Flavored Sweets At Home
Recipe card
Tea Biscuits | How To Make Bakery Style Osmania Biscuits Or Cardamom Cookies Or Saffron Flavored Sweets
Ingredients
- ½ cup Butter , softened/room temperature
- ¾ cup Fine granulated sugar or Powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon Milk
- 1 ½ cups tablespoon All purpose flour or Maida (plus 1 tablespoon extra flour)
- 1 tablespoon Milk powder
- 1 tbsp Custard powder
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder or Elaichi
- ¼ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Other Ingredients
- 12 strands Saffron or Kesar
- ½ cup Milk
Instructions
Step I
- In a bowl, add saffron strands and ½ cup milk and keep this aside.12 strands Saffron, ½ cup Milk
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees C. Grease a baking tray or cookie sheet or place parchment paper and keep it aside.
- In a bowl, add softened butter and sugar and mix until well combined. Add 2 tablespoon of milk and mix it again.½ cup Butter, ¾ cup Fine granulated sugar, 2 tablespoon Milk
- In another bowl, add all dry ingredients - flour, milk powder, custard powder, cardamom powder, baking powder, and salt - and mix them together.1 ½ cups tablespoon All purpose flour or Maida, 1 tablespoon Milk powder, 1 tablespoon Custard powder, ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder, ¼ teaspoon Baking powder, ½ teaspoon Salt
- Add this dry ingredient mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and mix it well to form a dough. The dough should be soft and break easily like any other shortbread biscuit. If you have time, you can cover the dough and keep it aside or refrigerate it for 30 minutes. Resting the dough is totally optional.
Step II
- Dust the working surface. Roll the dough to 1 inch thickness. If you find it difficult to roll the dough, simply shape and press with your hands to the desired thickness.
- Then using round cutter, cut them into round shape and place these biscuits on baking tray few inches apart.
- Simply pour the saffron milk mixture on top of these round biscuits on baking tray. Make sure each biscuit is soaked in this flavored milk. Pour out the extra milk from the cookie sheet or baking tray.
- Bake these biscuits for about 15 minutes or until light brown on the edges. Remove from the oven. Let these cookies remain on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then transfer it to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.
- Osmania biscuits or Tea Biscuits are now ready. Serve and enjoy with a hot cup of tea.
Notes
- these biscuits are a combination of sweet and salt. Feel free to use salted butter instead of regular unsalted butter. In this case, skip the addition of salt mentioned in the recipe.
Nutrition
If you like this Indian sweet or dessert recipe,
Don't miss to check out some of my popular and delicious Indian desserts and sweets to try this festival and holiday season.
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April King
These were so yummy and had the perfect amount of flavor.
Andrea Metlika
Wow, These tea biscuits sound amazing! I don't know how I'll stop myself from eating them all in one sitting.
Marta
I love that these are eggless. I have a friend going through a tough time but she has an egg allergy. I baked these for her and she was so happy!
Beth
These look so delicious and yummy! My family is going to love these! Can't wait to give these a try!
Sarah
I agree with Osman, biscuits should have the right balance of sweetness and saltiness, and perfect with a hot cup of tea. These cookies are just that! These are going to be a regular treat on my holiday table.