Prerna Singh with some sweet and savory shortbread cookies, inspired by her mother’s baking.
By Prerna Singh
My mom would make khasta biscuit, sweet and savory shortbread cookies with some whole spices. The ghee in them would make them crumble if held too hard and they would melt in the mouth in seconds.
Sweet and Savory Orange Cumin Shortbread Cookies
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12-15 1x
Description
My mom would make khasta biscuit, sweet and savory shortbread cookies with some whole spices. The ghee in them would make them crumble if held too hard and they would melt in the mouth in seconds.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup ghee (clarified butter) *Can substitute it with softened butter
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (loosely packed)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Zest of two large oranges- almost 2 1/2 tablespoon
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2–3 tablespoon orange juice ** Can substitute with milk.
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.
- In a large bowl, sift together salt, all-purpose flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar and ghee (or butter if using that) until they are just combined. Add orange zest and cumin seeds. Slowly add the flour and mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Add orange juice to make the dough smooth.
- Take the combined dough out of the mixer and knead with your hands over a clean counter top lightly dusted with flour. Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll them into logs. Cover with a plastic wrap. At this stage I just smoothed out the longer sides of the log giving it a square shape. Put it in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes to firm.
- Pull the dough out and cut into squares about 1/4″- 1/2″ thick. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, an inch apart from each other.
- Bake them for 10-12 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown in color. Take it out of the oven and cool on a cooling rack before serving with hot milk, coffee or chai.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
Just made and was deeply disappointed. I had high hopes to take to a holiday cookie party thinking savory might be welcome with all the sweets. For us, the cumin and orange just did not go that well together. Also, I think a pinch more salt and a 1/4 teaspoon of sugar might have helped. Texture was fine.
For such a straightforward recipe, this does not work. It is a dry dough that does not come together, even with the extra juice. I bake at least three times a week and had my suspicions about this recipe. I wish I had listened to my instincts. Disappointed I wasted ingredients.