Nankhatai is a delicious crunchy Indian shortbread cookie made using ghee and flour. Make this yummy eggless bakery-style cookie at home using my simple recipe (vegetarian).
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About Nankhatai
Nankhatai is an Indian shortbread-like cookie that is made using ghee (clarified butter), all-purpose flour, and chickpea flour.
These crunchy eggless cookies are super easy to make and even a novice cook can easily attempt making these.
Nankhatai are made especially during the festival of Diwali. You can also make them any time of the year to serve as a tea-time snack.
This recipe makes 22-24 cookies but you can easily double or triple the recipe as per your requirement.
If you are looking for more cookie recipes to serve along with your evening tea or coffee, here are some
Ingredients
Flour – These cookies are made with a combination of all-purpose flour (maida) and chickpea flour (besan, gram flour).
Cardamom Powder is used to flavor the cookies.
Ghee – Ghee or clarified butter makes these cookies super rich and soft. Do not substitute it for butter or oil.
Powdered Sugar – Powder the regular sugar in a grinder. Do not use confectioner’s sugar which is sometimes also called powdered sugar. It has cornstarch added to it that can alter the texture of nan khatai.
Salt & Baking Soda – Baking soda helps to make these cookies rise and also adds to the soft texture.
Almond – Almonds are slivered and added on the top. They give a nice bite to these super soft and melt-in-mouth cookies.
How To Make Nankhatai
Add
- ½ cup chickpea flour
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 small pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
in a medium bowl and mix well
Whisk 1 cup room temperature ghee and 1 cup powdered sugar in another large bowl until combined.
Add the dry mixture to the ghee mixture and mix using your clean fingers to make a soft dough.
Divide the dough into 22-24 equal parts and roll each part to make a ball. Gently press the balls and arrange them on a baking tray in a single layer.
Note – If the tray is small, then make the cookies in batches.
Press some slivered almonds on top of the cookies.
Cover the tray with a cling wrap and refrigerate the cookies for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180℃ (360℉).
Once the oven is preheated, keep the tray in the middle rack of the oven and bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, till slightly browned.
Note – These cookies tend to burn very fast so keep a close eye on them while baking.
Remove from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
Store in an airtight container for up to 2-3 weeks at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour, but the texture will differ a bit and they won’t be as soft as the maida ones.
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Recipe Card
Best Nankhatai Recipe (Indian Eggless Shortbread Cookies)
Ingredients
- 2 ounces chickpea flour (besan, gram flour) (½ cup, 60 g)
- 8.5 ounces all-purpose flour (maida) (2 cups, 240 g)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 8.5 ounces ghee (1 cup, 240 g, at room temperature)
- 4.5 ounces powdered sugar (1 cup, 125 g)
- 5-6 almonds (slivered, for garnishing)
Instructions
- Add chickpea flour, all-purpose flour, salt, cardamom powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl and mix well
- Whisk ghee and powdered sugar in another large bowl until combined.
- Add the dry mixture to the ghee mixture and mix using your clean fingers to make a soft dough.
- Divide the dough into 22-24 equal parts and roll each part to make a ball. Gently press the balls and arrange them on a baking tray in a single layer.
- Note – If the baking tray is small, then make the cookies in batches.
- Press some slivered almonds on top of the cookies.
- Cover the tray with a cling wrap and refrigerate the cookies for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ (360℉).
- Once the oven is preheated, keep the tray in the middle rack of the oven and bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, till slightly browned.
- Remove from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 2-3 weeks at room temperature.
Shamla Nurbadh
Thanks so much for this recipe I tried it and it came out perfect.
Mufida
I tried this recipe and it was the best recipe I have ever tried I substitute chickpeas flour with cornstarch flour and it came out perfectly…..thank u so much for sharing
Mariam
Hello thank you for sharing your recipe, may I ask how much 1 cup equates to in grams? I am aiming to try these but don’t want to get them wrong with measurements 🙂
Neha Mathur
Each ingredient has different weight in grams per cup. Ex Maida 1 cup is about 120gms; Besan 1 cup is about 150gms; powdered sugar 1 cup is about 120gms; and 1 cup butter/ghee is about 225gms.
Mariam
Thank you so much for this breakdown, that’s more than helpful, I will make them and surprise my Daddi today 🙂
Neha Mathur
Welcome!
Isha Agrawal
I tried this recepie today and it came very soft and delicious
Thank you soo much for sharing
Neha Mathur
Thanks for trying 🙂
Shubhada
Tried ur nankhatai recipe….they turned really awsome…..Just wanted to know if i replace maida with whole wheat flour…should i keep all other ingredients same or any change is required especially in baking soda measurement….
msnehamathur
Thnx Shubhada. happy that they turned out good for you. To use Whole wheat flour instead of Maida, just increase the amount of Baking soda a little bit.
Uma Pandey
Thank you for sharing the recipe. I used the same recipe and baked nan khatai. It turned out yum.. I am going to post pictures in fb.
msnehamathur
Thnx for tryin the recipe Uma. I am happy they turned out good for you.
Debbie
I see this recipe calls for.cardamom but it doesn’t say how much?
msnehamathur
Hello Debbie. Thnx for noticing. Will edit the recipe. Thnx again