Nankhatai Recipe | Nankhatai Cookies | How to make Nankhatai

4.99 from 68 votes

Nankhatai is a melt-in-mouth, delicious, eggless Indian biscuit or shortbread cookie prepared using just five ingredients.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Resting Time30

Total Time1 10

Course: Dessert, Snack, sweets

Cuisine: Indian, Konkani, Maharashtra, Mumbai, north indian, South Indian

Servings:

Calories: 154kcal

Author: Kushi

1 ½ cups All purpose flour or Maida
¾ teaspoon Baking soda
¾ cup Fine sugar or Powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
⅛ teaspoon Salt optional
⅔ cup Ghee or Vegetable shortening Ghee is also known as clarified butter and Vegetable shortening is known as Dalda

In a bowl, add flour, baking soda, sugar, cardamom powder, and salt, and mix.
1 ½ cups All purpose flour or Maida, ¾ teaspoon Baking soda, ¾ cup Fine sugar or Powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder, ⅛ teaspoon Salt
Now add shortening (or ghee) and mix to form the dough. Note that I have not added any water to the dough. Vegetable shortening (or ghee) binds everything together. Cover it and keep this aside for at least 30 minutes.
⅔ cup Ghee or Vegetable shortening

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F / 148 degrees C.
Form 16 golf size balls from the dough and place them in a baking tray lined with parchment paper, at least 1 inch apart.
Bake it for about 20 to 25 minutes or until cracks are formed on the top and it becomes light golden at the bottom. This is very important. Do not overbake the cookies. Since oven temperature varies, it may take more or less time. Keep checking it.
These cookies may look soft but will crisp up once it cools completely. Allow it to cool down for about 10 – 15 minutes.
Nankhatai is now ready. Serve with a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy.

You can also check out my variations to nankhatai like Wheat Nankhatai, Ragi Nankhatai, Wheat & Oats Nankhatai, and Thandai Nankhatai.
For those who want to use ghee, make sure you use them in a semi-solid state or even use butter at room temperature (semi-solid state). The texture of cookies and time for baking may vary accordingly. I have tried making it with ghee, and it tastes great!
You can store it in an airtight container for up to 10 days.
You can also bake this in the microwave on a convection mode. Preheat the microwave oven to convection mode at 180 degrees C. Then bake nankhatais for 15-20 mins or until it’s done.
Baking time depends on the size of the nankhatai, so adjust accordingly. Smaller ones generally take between 10 to 15 mins, and larger cookies will take 20 to 25 mins.
These cookies won’t brown, but cracks are formed when nankhatais are baked to perfection. They may feel soft when they come out of the oven but will crisp up as they cool down completely.
Every oven is different in how the temperature is maintained, and how the heat is circulated. So baking time may vary slightly.
In the USA, fine granulated sugar is readily available in the market. In India, the sugar which we use at home is coarse, so grind it in the mixer to get it to powdered form before adding it to form the nankhatai dough. This powdered sugar is different from confectioners sugar.