Cumin cookies or Indian bakery style jeera biscuits are delicious, addictive & not overly sweet cookies perfect with your evening tea. Buttery, crispy melt in mouth cookies with a wonderful flavor of roasted jeera or cumin seeds.
These are egg free cookies, made in shortbread style without any baking powder. Do try out these sweet and salty cookies and I am sure you will enjoy it as we do.
For more cookies recipes please check thumbprint cookies, butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, nankhatai, custard creams, strawberry cookies recipes.
How many of you like something crispy, delicious yet light snacks with your evening tea or coffee. Though I don’t have snacks everyday with coffee, it is nice to have something crispy and tasty once in a while.
On some days I make fresh and hot snacks like pakora, masala vada, samosa, cutlet types but it is good to have snacks like homemade cookies handy too.
We like cookies that are light, crispy and not overly sweet to go with tea and these cumin cookies or zeera biscuits perfectly fits the bill.
You might you know these cookies if you are familiar with Indian bakeries. They have this array of cookies, each one different and delicious. We however call these biscuits and these cumin flavored cookies are called jeera biscuits. Jeera means cumin.
I have been making jeera biscuits for years as it a favorite with my husband and daughter. Sharing my keeper recipe with you all which will help you make best jeera biscuits that are crispy, melt in mouth with delicious cumin flavor.
About Jeera Cookies
Jeera biscuits or cumin cookies Indian bakery style cookies made with butter and sugar base. These classic shortbread style cookies are flavored with roasted cumin seeds and tastes delicious with tea or coffee.
These cookies are sweet and salty, perfect to dip in tea and enjoy as breakfast or evening snacks. You can make these cookies easily in less than 40 minutes with few simple pantry staple ingredients.
These jeera biscuits were a favorite while growing up and we used to get it freshly made, still warm from the local bakery along with veg puff , butter cookies, veg rolls, honey cakes.
These biscuits were something I learnt when I started cooking and have perfected the recipe over years. I like to use part wheat flour and part maida usually but here I have used only plain flour.
As I mentioned above these are shortbread style cookies which means no baking powder or baking soda are used. All you have to do is mix the ingredients, make a dough, chill it and shape into cookies.
You can either roll the dough into a log and slice or roll the dough into a circle and cut out cookies or pinch equal sized balls from the dough. I prefer the last method as it is easier.
While these cookies taste wonderful with cumin flavor, you can also use ajwain or carom seeds in the recipe. See my notes on flavor variations for more ideas.
Do try out these simple yet delicious eggless cumin cookies or jeera biscuits and make your tea time special. These jeera biscuits are
sweet and salty
delicious and crispy
packed with fragrant aroma of roasted cumin seeds
egg free
best to dip in chai
made in 40 minutes
Ingredients
Flour– you can make these cookies with all purpose flour if you want super light cookies or wheat flour for a healthier version. You can even use chick pea flour for gluten free option, it turns out well.
Corn starch– I like to add a bit of corn starch to keep these cookies super light, crunchy with melt in mouth texture. You can also use corn flour. If you don’t want to use it just replace it with plain flour.
Butter– I like to use unsalted butter for these cookies. If you are using salted butter make sure to add less salt or leave out salt in the cookie dough. You need butter to be soft and at room temperature. D not use melted butter.
Sugar– I have used regular powdered sugar in this recipe. You can use any variety of sugar but make sure it is fine and powdered.
Cumin seeds– you need roasted cumin seeds for making cookies. If you have raw cumin seeds you can easily roast them for few minutes and add.
The aroma of roasted cumin seeds is very different from raw cumin seeds so I highly recommend you roast them for this biscuits recipe. See my notes on how to roast cumin seeds easily.
Milk– It is an optional ingredient we will use only to the bring the dough together. You will need just 2-3 tablespoons milk here. You can use any type of milk for this cookies recipe.
Roasting Cumin Seeds
Roasted cumin seeds or jeera have an amazing nutty taste with warm earthy notes. The bitterness of raw cumin seeds go away on roasting.
You can roast cumin seeds in bulk and store for a 15 days and use in various recipes.
To roast cumin seeds first pick and measure the seeds. Heat a small heavy pan for a minute. Once the pan is hot, add the cumin seeds and lower the flame.
Roast continuously for 1-2 minutes or until the cumin seeds turn crispy and wafts out good aroma. You will also notice very slight change in color.
Once roasted remove from flame and let cool thoroughly. Store in airtight containers and use as required.
How To Make Jeera Biscuits Recipe
To begin with the recipe first of all bring butter to the room temperature. It should be soft and not melted.
Heat a small pan and add 2 tablespoons cumin seeds to it. Roast for 1-2 minutes in low flame or until a nice aroma wafts out. Remove to a plate and let cool.
Add 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup powdered sugar to a mixing bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar together until it is pale and light. You can use an electric beater or a stand mixer or hand held whisk to the beat the butter sugar mixture.
Add 1 cup all purpose flour and 2 tablespoons corn starch or corn flour. If you do not want to use corn flour you can just add 2 more tablespoons plain flour.
Add roasted jeera
Bring the dough together by mixing gently. Add 2-3 tbsp milk only if required to bring the dough together.
Now you can either cover the dough with a parchment paper or roll into long log and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C 15 minutes before you plant to bake the cookies.
Remove the jeera biscuits dough from the refrigerator and leave it on the counter for 5 minutes.
Now either slice into rounds or roll out the dough into a thin circle of 1/4 inch thickness using a rolling pin. Cut out into desired shape using a cookie cutter.
You can also simply use a 1/2 teaspoon scoop and scoop out small balls as I do. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or grease well with cooking spray.
Arrange the shaped jeera biscuits dough.
Bake in the hot oven for 12-15 minutes or the color changes tp golden brown and edges turn crispy.
Let the cookies cool thoroughly in a wire rack. Store in airtight container and serve as required.
Pro Tips
Taste– these cookies are mildly sweet and lightly salty too. If you want sweeter cookies you can increase sugar by another 1/4 cup and reduce salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
Jeera– The taste and crunch of jeera are felt through in the cookies. If you want a milder flavor you can add just 1 tablespoon zeera. After shaping the cookies you can sprinkle few jeera seeds on top of each cookie.
Flour– I have used a combination of maida and corn starch for this recipe but you can easily use whole wheat flour or even chickpea flour.
Milk– Add milk only if needed to bring the dough together and do not add more than 2-3 tablespoons.
Chilling the dough- It is important to chill the dough well before baking the cookies. Chilling the dough solidifies the butter and helps the cookies to hold shape while baking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use cumin powder instead of whole seeds especially when making for kids. Add 1 to 1.5 teaspoons along with flour and knead.
You can use ajwain seeds or carom seeds or nigella seeds (kolonji) in this biscuit.
Just replace dairy butter with vegan butter
Are you making this recipe? I would love to see a snap of your creation too. Do snap a pic and share on Instagram with hashtag #cookclickndevou and please give a star rating ★ in the recipe card above. Follow us on Pinterest , Instagram, Facebook for more recipes and ideas.
Recipe
Jeera Biscuits- Cumin Cookies
1 CUP = 250 ml
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour or wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons corn flour
- 1/2 cup butter soft, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoons milk use only if needed to bring the dough together.
Instructions
- Heat a small pan and add 2 tablespoons cumin seeds to it. Roast for 1-2 minutes in low flame or until a nice aroma wafts out. Remove to a plate and let cool.
- Add 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup powdered sugar to a mixing bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until it is pale and light. You can use an electric beater or a stand mixer or hand held whisk to the beat the butter sugar mixture.
- Add 1 cup all purpose flour and 2 tablespoons corn starch or corn flour and salt. If you do not want to use corn flour you can just add 2 more tablespoons plain flour.
- Add the roasted cumin seeds
- Bring the dough together by mixing gently. Add 2-3 tbsp milk only if required to bring the dough together.Now you can either cover the dough with a parchment paper or roll into long log and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
- You can also simply use a 1/2 teaspoon scoop and scoop out small balls as I do. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or grease well with cooking spray. Arrange the shaped jeera biscuits dough.
- Bake in the hot oven for 12-15 minutes or the color changes tp golden brown and edges turn crispy.
- Let the cookies cool thoroughly in a wire rack. Store in airtight container and serve as required.
Notes
- You can double the recipe.
- You can use wheat flour instead of plain flour.
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