Recipe- Popular In India Tutti Frutti Atta Biscuits

A combination of two biscuits that are very popular in India – Atta Biscuits and Karachi Biscuits. Atta biscuits are eggless cookies made of wholewheat flour and very few ingredients; they are very commonly eaten with tea and coffee especially in north India. Karachi Biscuits are eggless square-shaped cookies studded with tutti-frutti (candied papaya). They are the signature biscuits of famous Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad.

Ingredients

1.5 cup atta (wholewheat flour)
1/2 cup sugar
100g unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pineapple essence
3 tablespoons tutti frutti
1 tablespoon chopped pistachios
1 tablespoon chopped cashew nuts
5 tablespoons milk
A pinch of salt

Method

* Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl using a hand or electric whisk till it becomes light and fluffy. It takes about 2-3 minutes.

* Add the vanilla and pineapple essence and mix it using a spoon.

* Add half cup of wholewheat flour and mix using a spoon.

* Add the remaining wholewheat flour, nuts and tutti frutti. At this point, mix everything with your hand.

* Add 4 tablespoons of milk first and mix well so that the dough comes together. Add 1 more tablespoon of milk only if the dough looks too dry and it’s not coming together. You don’t need to knead the dough like chapati or bread dough; it just needs to come together as a ball.

* Divide the dough into 2 equal sized balls and roll each ball into a log.

* Flatten the sides of the log using your hands or by gently pressing it on a board so that you can cut square shaped biscuits. This step is optional; you can also cut round biscuits.

* Wrap the logs separately in a cling film and put them in a freezer for 15-20 minutes so that they become firm enough to be cut into biscuits. Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F.

* Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F.

* Remove the chilled logs from the cling film and cut into biscuits of even thickness. I was able to cut around 12 biscuits from each log.

* Arrange the biscuits on a greased baking tray keeping them about 1 cm apart from each other. They expand slightly while baking.

* Place them in the pre-heated oven and bake them for 15-20 minutes at 180 C. I baked them for 18 minutes; the baking time depends on the thickness of the biscuits and the type of the oven. When the edges of the biscuit become golden brown, switch off the oven and leave them in the oven light for another 15 minutes.

* Let them cool completely on a wire rack. Store them in an air-tight container and enjoy them with tea or coffee.