Eggless, Gluten-Free Shortbread (with Roasted Cumin)| Jeera Biscuit with Jowar
With this recipe, you'll be making melt-in-mouth gluten-free and eggless flavorful shortbread cookies without any Store-bought flour blend! The use of roasted cumin seeds to recreate the iconic Jeera Biscuit flavor popular in India. Black sesame seeds add just the right amount of jazz to this delicious snack.
Equipment
- 1 Blender
- 1 Whisk
Ingredients
Flours
- 1 cup Sorghum flour gluten-free
- ½ cup Almond flour gluten-free
Binding and Leavening agents
- ½ tbsp Baking powder gluten-free
- 1 tbsp Ground flaxseed
Flavor
- 1 tbsp Brown sugar
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Roasted and crushed cumin seeds
Topping
- ½ tsp Black sesame seeds
- ¼ tsp Kosher salt
Fat
- ½ cup Unsalted butter
- 1-2 tbsp Milk
Instructions
- Preparation
- Make sure Butter is at room temperature. Roast cumin seeds: Dry roast cumin seeds in a pan over a stovetop or in the microwave for about 2 minutes. The cumin seeds change color and turn aromatic.
- Coarsely grind the cumin seeds once they cool down. If you are using whole flaxseed, dry roast them for 2-3 minutes, then coarsely grind and set aside. You can skip this step if you're using ground flaxseed or xanthan gum.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
Making the Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter at room temperature and whisk until light and fluffy. Blend in sugar and whisk until sugar is incorporated.
- Sieve sorghum flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl. Blend them with butter using a spatula. Add roasted and crushed cumin seeds, ground flaxseed and mix well.
- The mixture has a nice moist texture, add about a tablespoon of milk and using your hands, form a soft dough. You don't need to knead it too much, just make sure everything is well combined.
Refrigerate dough:
- Now place the dough on a piece of parchment paper and shape into a rectangular log. Cover the dough with parchment paper and tap the top to smoothen the edges.
- Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Do not place it in the freezer, we still want to be able to cut the dough.
Shaping and Baking:
- Preheat the oven to
350 °F - Take out the dough and make half a centimeter thick slices. Sprinkle black sesame and some kosher salt on the top edges to amp up the look. You can use any other topping of your choice.
- Arrange the cookies onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper about 1/2 an inch apart.
- Place the tray in the middle rack of the oven. After about 10-12 minutes, rotate the tray and bake for another 6-8 minutes. Keep a close watch on the cookies after about 15 minutes, as the baking times may vary slightly.
- Once the sides turn golden brown, turn off the oven and let the cookies remain inside for about a minute.
Serving:
- Transfer the cookies along with the parchment paper onto a wire rack (as the cookies are still very fragile) and let them cool for about 10 minutes.