Nan Khatai Recipe – Pakistan’s favorite tea-time cookie

Today I am sharing NanKhatai Recipe – Pakistani style, which in simplest words, is a South Asian (now Pakistan and India) shortbread cookie with some origin stories from Afghanistan, Iran and China. It is one of the favorite teatime biscuits in Pakistan consisting of three main ingredients (ghee/ clarified butter, flour, sugar).

This recipe is one of the famous variations of this cookie, called Besan NanKhatai, replacing some of the regular all purpose flour with besan or chickpea flour.

You can also try out these variations of NanKhatai recipe by Bakefresh; Easy NanKhatai Recipe with oil or Shortbread Recipe.

Recipe at a Glance

Butter/ clarified ghee – i always use ghee as it has no water content which is perfect for making the melt in mouth biscuits

Flour– All purpose, whole wheat, semolina, almond or chickpea flour in different combinations

Sugar- Icing, confectioner’s or powdered commercially available, not the home made

Step by Step Process

• Sift flour, chickpea flour (besan), baking powder and baking soda, cardamom powder (hari ilaichi), in a large bowl, add in sugar.

• Add ghee and mix well to form a dough. Knead gently into a soft dough till you can form a ball without crack. Do not over work.

• Make 18-20 balls or roll out thickly between parchment/baking/wax paper. Chill for 30 minutes before cutting out circles.

• Whether you have made balls or cut out the cookies, chill them in refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking.

• Brush with egg yolk and sprinkle pistachios.

• Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes at 350 F.

• Cool and store.

FAQs

Serving Suggestions

Nan Khatai is one of the favorite teatime biscuits in Pakistan and makes for a perfect teatime snack.

It makes a great addition to Eid tea trolley.

You can also give them in a nice jar/box as an edible gift to your friends and family.

Substitutions & Variations

In place of all purpose flour, you can use whole wheat, semolina, almond flour or chickpea flour in different combinations to make this cookie.

Storage and Make Ahead

The best way to store NanKhatai is in an airtight container once cooled down completely.

You can also freeze the unbaked ungarnished discs, lay them on tray, freeze, once solidifies, seal in a ziplock bag. To bake, place on the baking sheet,garnish and bake in a pre-heated oven right away.

Rolled out dough can stay in fridge cover for a couple of days.