Karachi biscuits recipe | Cashew biscuit

This Karachi biscuits recipe is inspired by the famous Karachi biscuits from Hyderabad. It’s an eggless cashew biscuit that is subtly flavored with cardamom and rose. It will have you wanting for more! Plus, these will be the most fragrant biscuits you’d have ever made.

My earliest memory of Karachi bakery was during one of my family trips to Hyderabad. My parents had heard so much about it, that they had to include it as a part of their itinerary. As we walked through the lane where the bakery stood, we were swept away by the smell of freshly baked biscuits.

It made our mouths water!

We’ve been hooked on to the delectable Karachi biscuits ever since. Back then, it was not very readily available everywhere. If you had a friend or a relative in Hyderabad, you were lucky to partake in them. These days, however it’s available even in the Indian grocery stores in the US.

The biscuits come in various varieties, with the most popular being the Fruit biscuit. Some of the other varieties I’ve tasted are Cashew, Almond, and Pistachio biscuits.

My son loves cashews, and I made these cashews biscuits for him earlier this year. He absolutely loved it. I’ve been making it frequently for him. It’s a lot better than store-bought cookies, especially for the little ones.

These cookies are eggless and don’t have any leavening agents. Yet, they are buttery soft and melt in your mouth. Depending on your preference, you can either bake them soft or crisp. I personally prefer them on the crisper side, as does my son.

It’s subtly flavored with rose essence, that’s not too overpowering. No, it doesn’t taste like pot-pourri, I can promise you that!

These Karachi biscuits are

• Eggless
• Easy to put together
• Uses no leavening agents (Baking soda or Baking powder)
• Can be modified to include other nuts or tutti frutti (candied fruit)

Ingredients

Butter

I always prefer to use unsalted butter in my recipes. You can use salted butter, but omit the salt from the recipe, in that case. Butter has to be at room temperature.

All-purpose flour /Maida

Any good quality flour should work. I personally like to use Unbleached Fine Pastry Flour.

Cashews

You can either use cashews or any kind of nuts of your choice. This recipe will work beautifully with all varieties.

Custard powder

Use any plain or vanilla custard powder. I used Bird’s custard powder.

Powdered sugar

It’s important to use powdered sugar for this recipe.

Cardamom

Cardamom gives a wonderful flavor to these cookies. I highly recommend using it.

Rose essence

Add just a tiny amount of rose essence. Anything more will overpower the taste. Some use pineapple essence as a substitute for rose essence. I haven’t tried that.

Karachi Biscuits recipe – Step by step

In a pan, roast the chopped cashews for about 3 minutes. Let it cool down completely. If they are not cool enough when you add them to the dough, the butter will melt, and you won’t be able to make logs easily.

In a bowl, sift in the flour, custard powder, salt, and cardamom powder. Keep it aside.

Take butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can use a hand mixer. Cream them together for about 3 minutes (use the paddle attachment of your stand mixer) or for 5 minutes (if using a hand mixer).

Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the rose essence. Mix well until combined.

Add in the dry ingredients and roasted cashews. Mix well until they form a dough. You might need to use your hands to bring the dough together.

If the dough is too dry, add 1 tsp of milk. I didn’t have to add any milk.

Divide the dough into two and make two logs. Wrap the dough in a cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours – overnight.

Karachi biscuits recipe – Baking:

Preheat oven to 350 F/175 C.

Once the logs have rested well in the refrigerator, take them out and slice them into ¼ inch biscuits using a sharp knife.

Arrange them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Leave about ½ inch gap between them, as they spread in the oven.

Bake for about 18-25 minutes depending on your texture preference (18 for softer biscuits and 25 for crisper biscuits).

Every oven is different. Keep an eye on them after 18 minutes. Don’t let them brown too much.

Let them cool down completely. Serve it with a glass of milk or chai!