Karachi Fruit Biscuits

                             

Karachi biscuits are the delicious and popular fruit cookies from the Indian state of Hyderabad. These egg-less, melt-in mouth cookies with a crisp texture are a healthy and guilt-free treat as they replace APF (plain flour) with whole wheat flour and are sweetened using jaggery powder. Moreover no baking powder is used. These slice-and-bake butter cookies are loaded with nuts and Tutti Frutti and mildly flavored with cardamom powder. Serve them with a glass of milk or enjoy as a tea time snack with family and friends. These Karachi bakery style fruit cookies make a wonderful festive treat and would serve a great edible gift this Christmas Season !

                           

A little more about Karachi Biscuits.

Karachi Bakery is one of the popular bakeries in Hyderabad. It is known for its fruit biscuits and plum cakes. Karachi biscuits are a tea-time delicacy in India . These egg-less short-bread cookies are colorful sweet treats made with all purpose flour, butter, powdered sugar and Tutti Frutti. Tutti Frutti is a colorful confectionery containing candied raw papaya pieces. A dough is made using buttered sugar, plain flour and Tutti Frutti. The prepared dough is shaped into log, wrapped in butter paper or cling wrap and  refrigerated until a bit firm. The solidified logs are then sliced and baked into cookies.  

                            

What goes into my version of Karachi bakery style fruit biscuits? The ingredients:

• Whole Wheat Flour: These healthy fruit biscuits substitute plain flour with whole wheat flour. Look wise the cookies made with whole wheat flour may be not that great but they taste great and are far more healthier than the ones made using all purpose flour (maida). 
• Custard Powder: I have used vanilla flavored custard powder in small quantity. It gives a lovely flavor and color to the cookies. If you do not have custard powder, you may use cornflour instead.
• Butter: I have used homemade white butter. You may use store-bought one instead. I have tried the cookies with ghee also but butter gives a better texture so i would recommend using it. Use coconut oil for vegan version.
• Jaggery Powder: These fruit cookies are sweetened using powdered jaggery. You may use coconut sugar or other healthier sweetener if jaggery powder is not available. The color of the cookies is light brown and not cream or yellow like the store-bought ones because of the whole wheat flour and jaggery powder used. 
• Tutti Frutti: Tutti Frutti gives a delightful fruit flavor and sweet taste to these cookies apart from making them appealing and colorful. I have also used chopped almonds and cashew along with Tutti Frutti.
• Salt : A bit of salt is used as i have used unsalted white butter.
• Cardamom Powder: The cookies are flavored with green cardamom which compliments very well with the jaggery flavor.
• Milk: A few teaspoons of milk is used if required to bind the flour together. Use any plant based milk for vegan version.

                          

Related Event: 

It is raining Xmas special sweet baked recipes at our Facebook gourmet group, Healthy Wellthy Cuisines. It is a bimonthly event where a bunch of passionate food bloggers share their culinary skills depending upon a pre-determined theme. Our hostess for the week was Vanitha di who blogs at curryandvanilla.com. Vanitha di is a versatile food blogger and has many wonderful recipes from around the globe on her blog. I am in love with her Mocha double chocolate chip cookies with candied grapefruit peel and walnuts that are just perfect festive treats.

Dietary Notes:

• Vegetarian fruit biscuits
• Egg-less cookies
• Refined flour free
• Refined Sugar free
• Festive cookies
• Kid Friendly
• Baking powder free
• Edible gift option

Preparation Time: 1 hour

Baking Time: 15 minutes per batch

Serves: 18 cookies

Ingredients: Measurements used 1 cup = 240 ml

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup custard powder, vanilla flavored
• 4 tablespoon white unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup jaggery powder
• 1/2 cup Tutti Frutti
• 1 tablespoon chopped almonds
• 1 tablespoon chopped cashews
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
• Few teaspoons of milk if required.

Method:

1. Sift the whole wheat flour, custard powder, salt and cardamom powder in a mixing bowl.

                                  

2.  Add Tutti Frutti and chopped nuts to it. Give a good mix. Keep aside.

                                  

3.  In another bowl take butter. Add jaggery powder to it and whisk until light and fluffy.

                               

                                

4.    Add the flour and Tuuti Frutti mixture to the buttered jaggery in batches and mix using a spatula. Do not over-beat. Just try to combine the flour and butter into a dough. Do not knead as that will lead to gluten formation which makes the cookies cheewy. Add a couple of teaspoons of chilled milk and try to combine the mixture into a dough.

  

5. Cover the dough ball in a cling wrap or butter paper and shape it into a thick log. Cover and refrigerate the cookie dough log for around 45 minutes to an hour. In the last 15 minutes of refrigeration, preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius .

  

6. Remove the dough log from the  fridge. We are looking for a solidified dough which is hard enough to handle and slice it using a knife. Cut  the dough into 1/2 inch slices and arrange the slices on a greased or lined baking tray. Keep some distance between each cookie slice as the cookies spread a bit while baking.

                                

                                

7.  Transfer the cookie tray in a preheated oven and bake for around 12 minutes at 160 Degrees Celsius. After 12 minutes increase the temperature to 180 Degrees and bake the cookies for another 3 minutes. The cookies will be a bit hard at the edges and soft in the center. Do not over bake. The cookies harden further on cooling. Allow the cookies to cool down completely on a wire rack before transferring them to an air-tight container. 

 

8. Serve the cookies at tea-time or with a glass of milk at breakfast and enjoy with your loved ones.

Recipe Notes:

• Karachi Fruit Biscuits stay good at room temperature for around 10-12 days when kept in an air-tight container.
• Butter can be replaced with edible coconut oil and dairy milk with any plant based milk for a vegan version.
• Custard powder can be replaced with equal amounts of cornflour or whole heat flour if custard powder is not available or handy.
• Any chopped nuts can be used along with Tutti Frutti in these fruit cookies.
• Do not over beat the cookie dough or knead it as doing so will create gluten formation which we do not want as it will make our cookies chewy and not crisp. Just try to combine the cookie dough using your hands.
• Do not over bake the cookies as on doing so the cookies will turn hard.
• Jaggery powder can be replaced with any other healthier sweetener like coconut sugar.

Would love to hear from you !

I hope you would love trying out these healthy and delicious Karachi Fruit Biscuits this festive season. If you do so, feel free to share your feedback with use in the form of likes and comments in the section below this post.

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See you soon with yet another healthy creation from my Kitchen . Until then stay safe and eat right !

Happy Cooking !

Happy Eating !

Regards

Poonam Bachhav

For more festive bakes, check out the following from this blog

• Plum Bundt Cake              

• Eggless Christmas Plum Cake

• 101 Christmas Special Recipes

• Vegan Figgy Pudding

• healthy Gingerbread Cookies

• Whole Wheat Nankhatai