Cookies are my weakness and anytime I see a good recipe for cookies, I have to try it out. I joined a new group called Recipe Swap Challenge, where we are paired with another Food blogger and get to try a recipe from each other’s blog. This month I am paired with Paarul who blogs at Paarul’z Kitchen and I chose this delicious Jeera Cookies or Roasted Cumin Shortbread Cookies from her blog to try. The cookie base is a simple shortbread base made with butter, flour, and sugar. The roasted cumin adds a wonderful layer of flavor to the cookie and completely takes it to another level. The Roasted Cumin Shortbread Cookies are neither sweet nor salty. It is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee and is a great cookie for dunking. My little one is a cookie dunker (not sure if that is even a word) and would always bring his stack of cookies to my coffee to dunk. My father is here on vacation and he really enjoyed the cookies. We were leaving for Chicago to visit family the next morning and since everyone at home really liked it, I made 2 more batches of Jeera Cookies to take with us. Every single person who tasted the Jeera cookies at my aunt’s place loved it and I was so glad I made some at the last minute. I did not make any changes to the cookies. I just increased the sugar a little bit as I felt it was less for our taste buds. The dough comes together very quickly and after that, all we need to do is roll it and bake. Preparation time - 10 minutesBaking time - 15 to 17 minutesDifficulty level - Easy
Ingredients to make Jeera Cookies - Makes 18 Cookies
All Purpose flour - 1 cup + 2 tablespoon (might need a little more or less to bring the dough together) Butter (Unsalted) - ½ cup / 1 stick (softened) Powdered Sugar - ⅓ cup Salt - ¼ tsp Baking powder - ¼ tsp Cumin seeds - 1 ½ teaspoon ( roasted and slightly crushed)
Step-by-Step Procedure
Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I like to use a double baking sheet to keep the base of the cookies from becoming too dark.
In a pan, roast the cumin seeds until lightly brown and aromatic. It takes just 2 minutes in low heat. Once the cumin seeds cool down a bit, crush it lightly and keep it ready.
In a bowl, whisk the butter and the powdered sugar until creamy. Softened butter really helps to bring it together quickly.
In another bowl, sift the flour along with the baking powder and the salt.
Add the flour in batches and mix it with a spatula to bring it together and form a soft dough. Start with a cup of flour and then slowly add about a teaspoon of flour at a time to bring the dough to the right consistency.
At this point add the roasted and crushed cumin seeds to the flour mixture and make the dough.
You could roll the dough out to about ⅛th of an inch of thickness right away or keep it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and then roll it. I tried it both ways and it really did not affect the quality of the cookies.
When rolling the dough, make sure to liberally dust your work surface and the rolling pin with flour.
Use a cookie cutter, shape out the cookies, and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for about 15 to 17 minutes or until they are slightly golden at the edges.
Remove the cookies from the tray and place them on the cooling rack to completely cool.
Store the cookies once they are completely cooled down in a air-tight container.
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