If you love cookies, you’ll love these little bite-size treats called Nankaties. With just 4 main ingredients these are quick and easy to make and they freeze well too.
Baked from scratch in small batches, the days-old baked cookie's texture looks hard yet very crumbly. The fragrance is enticing, and the taste is absolutely nostalgic.
You can't miss Nankaties on the Christmas platter. Beautiful white little domes topped with an almond, cherry, or silver ball. These are also called white Christmas shortbread cookies because they stay white even after they are baked and crumble just like a shortbread cookie
These are one of the first Christmas sweets mom would make when we were kids. Beautiful white cookies topped with an almond (sometimes cherry) for color.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Flour - simple all-purpose flour or maida is all you need to make these cookies. We don't need any leavening agents in our flour so do not use any self-raising or cake flour either.
- Sugar - Use fine-grain white castor sugar which will dissolve in the mixture instantly. Any large granules of sugar will make the cookies grainy.
- Fat - while the shortbread is made with butter, these nankaties are made with ghee or clarified butter. This gives these cookies their unique flavor and sandy texture.
- Cornflour - enhances that crumbly melt-in-your-mouth feel when eating these cookies. If you don't have cornflour, you can also use rice flour, tapioca flour, or potato starch.
- Flavoring - traditionally, vanilla with a bit of almond and rose extract is used but you can use either or omit any you don't like.
Tips for Success
- Measure your ingredients correctly, the balance of flour, sugar, and fat is what gives these cookies that shortbread crumbles while still holding their shape.
- If possible melt the ghee in a saucepan over medium heat and let solidify again overnight. This gives a wonderful softer texture to the cookies.
- Use all white ingredients to maintain the white color of the cookies. So try using white castor sugar, clear imitation vanilla extract.
- The beauty of these cookies is that they are white just like snow so never over-bake them. If the tops start to brown means these are overbaked. Overbaked cookies will become hard.
- The trick to baking these right is to remove them at the time specified in the recipe. They may not look done on the top but if you pick one you will have a slight brown on the bottom. Remove it out from the oven and let it cool in the hot baking tray. They will continue to cook with the residue heat while still keeping the white Christmas cookie effect.
- Make plenty because these are easy to eat and often get over instantly.
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Nankaties - Eggless Shortbread Cookies
Print Pin RateEquipment /Tools
- Mixing bowl
- Baking tray
- Oven
Ingredients
- 500 grams (1 lb) All-purpose flour maida
- 500 grams (1 lb) Sugar fine castor sugar
- 250 grams (½ lb) Ghee
- 2 tablespoon Cornflour
- ½ teaspoon Clear vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon Rose Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 170°C/ Gas Mark 4
- Dry ingredients - In a medium bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cornflour.
- Wet ingredients - In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream the ghee and sugar until all the sugar has dissolved. Add the vanilla, almond, and rose extract. Pro tip - If possible melt the ghee in a saucepan over medium heat and let solidify again overnight. This gives a wonderful softer texture to the cookies.
- Combine - Add the dry ingredients mixture to the wet ingredients - Combine well but do not overmix. Pro tip - The dough is quite crumbly but resists the temptation to add more ghee or water. It's the crumbly texture of these cookies that give them the shortbread texture
- Shape - Take about 2 tablespoon amount of dough into your hands. Shape into small balls by shaping with your fingers on the palm of your hands gently. Place on the baking tray and top with a slice of almond, cherry, or dragee. Pro tip - Alternatively, you can roll small portions on a lightly floured surface and cut them into shapes using a cookie cutter. Top with a nut, cherry, or dragee (silver ball)
- Bake - Place the baking tray in the oven on the middle rack and bake for 6 to 8 minutes - or until the bottom of the cookie has a slight brown.Pro tip - these look fairly white when done. If the tops start to brown these are overbaked. Overbaked cookies will become hard.
- Cool - When baked leave on the baking tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before you store them in an airtight container.
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Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
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clifford rodricks
hi veena, my name is clifford rodricks from thane, which is next to mumbai, you may remember me from the add gram dal to the thalie sweet recipe. Anyway i was just going thru some traditional Israeli cookies and came upon 1 named Maamoul. just thought if you would like to add it to your collection. thank you for your time.
Veena Azmanov
Hey Clifford. Ah, the Maamoul cookies are Arabic cookies. I will add them to my list of future recipes. Thanks