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Nankhatai recipe(ghee biscuits).

Nankhathai, ghee biscuits are also known as eggless cookies.

The use of ghee(clarified butter)in this Nankhatai recipe gives these Indian shortbread cookies their melt in your mouth texture.

These eggless cookies are so easy to make and extremely budget-friendly.

And the best part of making these homemade cookies can be made with just 4 ingredients.

eggless indian ghee cookies on a plate with raisins and without raisins.

What is Nankhatai?

If you are not familiar with the name Nankathai (which is an Indian term), they are also called ghee cookies, and butter biscuits.

With flavors of ghee, flour, and cardamom, these eggless cookies can be made in large batches for the festive season to serve family and friends as they are quick to make.

The eggless cookies also have a long shelf life.

This makes them great homemade baked gifts to anyone.

bowl of nankhatai with raisins and without raisins.

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a bowl of ghee biscuits

Frequently asked questions about Nankhatai.

  • Can I make these eggless cookies with butter or oil?
    • Yes, you can substitute with butter or oil but it will definitely compromise and affect the taste and texture of the cookies. The baking time also might vary.
  • What is the shelf life of these eggless Indian cookies?
  • Kept in air-tight containers they can last up to 2-3 weeks. Highly unlikely as these don’t last more than 3 to 4 days at my place.
soft mely in your mouth Indian cookies.

Tips on making Nankahtai(eggless cookies).

  • Sift flour and baking powder.
  • You can either powder the sugar using a blender or use icing sugar.
  • Cardamom powder can be replaced with vanilla essence.
  • You can heat the ghee for a few seconds (7-8 seconds) before adding it. Only add as much ghee as you need to roll out firm balls. 
  • Do not use heavy kneading as you would use for regular dough making. Use your fingers to combine and a light hand to make the soft dough.
  • Cover the rolled out balls to avoid them drying.
  • I can’t stress enough how oven temperature varies depending on the brand, altitude, etc. For this purpose bake one or two on the time given and check if you need to lower or increase the time to keep the Nankhatai soft.
  • I take mine out even when they are a little soft (a tiny bit) underneath right at the center, knowing that the residue heat will help the cookie harden slightly.

Utensils and tools needed

Medium-sized siever.
Large plastic or glass bowl to combine all ingredients.
Blender to powder the sugar.
Cling film.
Parchment/baking paper.
Tray and a cloth to cover the cookie balls.

More biscuit/cookie recipes!

Pisang Goreng

Microwave fudge made with condensed milk.

Sweet semolina crumble(seeni ma)

Want to learn more about ghee?

Read these three articles to really know about ghee, its health benefits and its origin.
An article on ghee on Wikipedia

Is ghee healthy by time.com

recipe difficulty level.

How to make Nankhathai

(Indian cookies)

Please make sure to read the recipe instructions carefully to avoid mistakes.

Ingredients

Ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.

1/2 a cup of sugar powdered (you can also use confectioner’s sugar to make these melt in your mouth cookies)
1 cup flour
1/2 a teaspoon baking powder}Ghee 8 and 1/2 tablespoons
1/4 teaspoon powdered cardamom (substitute with 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla essence)

Method

Before you begin, powder the sugar(1/2 a cup) to ease the process of combining sugar with the flour.

Add the powdered sugar to a bowl.
Sift flour(1 cup), baking powder(1/2 teaspoon) into the same bowl.

Mix these three ingredients well.

mixing flour, powdered sugar, bakins soda to make the indian cookies.

The next step will be combining the ghee and flour mixture to reach a soft pliant dough without over mixing it.

adding the ghee to the flour mixture to make the nankhatai.

You will need to add ghee in tablespoons to reach the correct consistency.

As you add spoonfuls of ghee(8 tbs+1/2 tbs), the dough will first reach a crumbly texture.

mixing the flour and ghee to reach the correct texture to make the eggless indian cookies.

As you add the ghee, you will be able to firmly squeeze the dough mixture to form roughly shaped balls.

Once you reach the correct consistency to form the nankathai, you will be able to make a soft and pliant dough that can be rolled into small balls without crumbling into pieces.

forming the correct eggless cookie dough mix.

Read beginner’s notes if you are unable to form firm yet softballs.

refrigerating the cling wrapped dough for 10-15 minutes.

Wrap the soft Nankhatai(eggless Indian cookie) dough in cling film and refrigerate (10-15 minutes).

Layer a baking tray with parchment paper.

Remove the soft eggless cookie dough(nankathai dough) from the fridge.

Use a measuring tablespoon to scoop the dough and form equal balls. 

You would be able to make 25-30 balls depending on the size.
I use my measuring tablespoon to give the ghee biscuits a uniformity.
Cover with a clean cloth to avoid them drying.

formed balls placed on a tray covered in parchment paper then covered.

Preheat oven to 170C. Place the ghee cookies on a baking sheet, 1 inch apart.

Gently press either a raisin, crushed cashews, or pistachios before placing the Nankhatai cookies in the oven.

Bake at 170C for 12-15 minutes(please read beginner’s tips).
These eggless Indian cookies need to be baked so that they are soft and have that melt in your mouth texture.

As altitude and outside temperature, and the type of oven you use will affect how soft the ghee cookies turn out, I would recommend baking  2 or 3 cookies first for 12 minutes to check if you need to bake them more and then continue to bake the rest of the ghee cookies.

nankhatai(eggless cookies)without raisins and with raisins on a tray.

Nankhatai(Indian Eggless Cookies)

Yield: 25
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Additional Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Nankhathai (Indian shortbread cookies) also known as ghee biscuits, use ghee as the main ingredient to make these melt in your mouth cookies (I mean they really do).

The ghee biscuits (Nankathai) are extremely easy Indian shortbread cookies to make.

And the best part of making these homemade cookies is that you will be using only 4 main ingredients.

Ingredients

  • Ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.
  • 1/2 a cup of sugar powdered (you can also use confectioner’s sugar to make these melt in your mouth cookies)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 a teaspoon baking powder}Ghee 8 and 1/2 tablespoons
  • 1/4 teaspoon powdered cardamom (substitute with 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla essence)

Instructions

Before you begin, powder the sugar(1/2 a cup) to ease the process of combining sugar with the flour.

Add the powdered sugar to a bowl. Sift flour(1 cup), baking powder(1/2 teaspoon) into the same bowl.

Mix these three ingredients well.

The next step will be combining the ghee and flour mixture to reach a soft pliant dough without over mixing it.

You will need to add ghee in tablespoons to reach the correct consistency.

As you add spoonfuls of ghee(8 tbs+1/2 tbs), the dough will first reach a crumbly texture.

As you add the ghee, you will be able to firmly squeeze the dough mixture to form roughly shaped balls.

Once you reach the correct consistency to form the nankathai, you will be able to make a soft and pliant dough that can be rolled into small balls without crumbling into pieces.

Read beginner’s notes if you are unable to form firm yet softballs.

Wrap the soft Nankhatai(eggless Indian cookie) dough in cling film and refrigerate (10-15 minutes).

Layer a baking tray with parchment paper.

Remove the soft eggless cookie dough(nankathai dough) from the fridge.

Use a measuring tablespoon to scoop the dough and form equal balls. 

You would be able to make 25-30 balls depending on the size.I use my measuring tablespoon to give the ghee biscuits a uniformity. Cover with a clean cloth to avoid them drying.

Preheat oven to 170C. Place the ghee cookies on a baking sheet, 1 inch apart.

Gently press either a raisin, crushed cashews, or pistachios before placing the Nankhatai cookies in the oven.

Bake at 170C for 12-15 minutes(please read beginner’s tips).These eggless Indian cookies need to be baked so that they are soft and have that melt in your mouth texture.

As altitude and outside temperature, and the type of oven you use will affect how soft the ghee cookies turn out, I would recommend baking  2 or 3 cookies first for 12 minutes to check if you need to bake them more and then continue to bake the rest of the ghee cookies.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 25 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 34Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 0gSugar: 4gProtein: 1g

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Each recipe on this blog has been written with great care and love to the best of my ability with you in mind.
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