Easy, eggless and crispy Atta Biscuits are popular tea time cookies in India. Made with ghee, whole wheat flour and flavored with cardamom, these cookies taste best when dipped in chai!

Chai time is probably the best time of the day for everyone in India. All our talks, meetings, discussions everything always revolves around chai. Everyone in India drinks at least 2 cups of chai everyday, one in the morning and the other in evening. And of course if anyone comes to your place, you have to serve them chai. It doesn’t matter if it’s 12 in noon or 11 at night, chai is a must.

Our chai gatherings also involve a lot of food. A typical evening in a north Indian household would be chai with samosa or pakoda (fritters) and of course some biscuits (cookies). I cannot have my chai without my rusk or biscuit either. It’s a habit that I grew up with. Here’s the thing, a lot of people dip the biscuit in the chai and it somehow tastes extra delicious that way. By the way, I am talking about crispy cookies here, we call them biscuits in India.

My favorite chai time biscuits are often the ones which are super simple like these jeera biscuits, almond cookies or these atta biscuits or atta cookies. Atta = durum wheat flour, one which we use everyday to make our breads like roti and paratha. These cookies are one of my favorites and the best part about them is they are so easy to make. You need very few ingredients to make these.

Atta biscuits have always been a favorite of mine. I remember I would always request mom to buy a packet of these cookies only for me. I would love them with my chai. Here we don’t get as fresh atta biscuits as we would get in India and so now I make them at home.

These Atta Biscuits

• are made with whole wheat.
• use basic pantry staples.
• crispy and so good to dunk in chai.
• they are eggless, nut-free.
• make the perfect edible gifts.

Ingredients

Atta (whole wheat flour): you can find atta at any Indian grocery store, this durum wheat flour is used to make everyday roti (and many other things!) in most Indian homes. For this recipe, I have Sujata brand of atta.

Ghee (clarified butter): I love using ghee in my atta biscuits, it makes it so aromatic. If you don’t have ghee, you can use butter. Make sure it’s at room temperature. Do not use melted ghee for this recipe (or melted butter if you are using butter).

Cardamom: to flavor these cookies, I have used a little cardamom but it is optional. You can skip the cardamom. Sometimes I also add some nutmeg to these, they are nice.

Sugar: for this recipe, take your regular white granulated sugar and pulse it in a blender until powdered. Don’t confuse with powdered sugar/confectioners sugar/icing sugar here. For this recipe, we use regular white sugar which has been powdered in a blender.

Step by Step Instructions

1- Pulse 1/2 cup (100 grams) of granulated white sugar in a blender until its powdered. You can use caster sugar which is a finer variety of white sugar as well. Then transfer it to the steel bowl of your stand mixer along with 1/2 cup ghee (95 grams). The ghee should not be melted, it should be in a semi-solid state.

2- Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer (or using any hand mixer or wire whisk) beat for 2 minutes on medium speed until you have a smooth mixture. It will be creamy and the color will also become lighter.

3- Now add atta (whole wheat flour) to it. This is 1 & 1/2 cups (195 grams) of atta. Add 1/2 of if first.

4- Also add 1/2 + 1/8 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of salt and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder.

5- Using the paddle attachment mix until everything is well combined.

6- Now add milk, you would need around 4 to 5 tablespoons of milk here. The dough needs to be soft, so start with 3 tablespoons milk and then add as needed. The amount may vary depending on the quality of flour. I added 5 tablespoons of milk in total.

7- Add the remaining atta and then mix until it all comes together as a dough.

8- The final dough should be soft to that it easily comes out through the biscuit/chakli press. If the dough is tight, you will have a hard time getting it out through the press, so add enough milk. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.

9- To give these atta biscuits that characteristic shape like we get in India, we need to use a Chakli/Murukku press. You can find this kitchen press online or at Indian grocery stores. It comes with several plates, for these biscuits, we will use the plate with the long ridge.

10- Divide the dough into 3 parts, place the plate with a ridge at the bottom and then add one portion of the dough into the maker.

11- Close and seal the chakli maker.

12- Now take a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Press the dough through the plate and make biscuits. If the pressed dough comes out too long, simply cut with a knife to make them similar size. Make all the biscuits similarly, it will take multiple rounds to use all the dough. Bake at 325 F degrees for around 20 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Let them cool on a wire rack and then store in an airtight container.

Biscuits without using a press

If you want to make these biscuits and don’t have this chakli/murukku press, simply roll the dough and cut it into shapes using a cookie cutter. Please note that if you roll these to around 1/4 inch thickness it will take more time for them to crisp, around 25 minutes maybe.

When we make biscuits using the press, they are super thin and they are perfectly crispy at the 18 to 20 minutes mark. So, roll them thin, around 1/6 to 1/8 inch thick so that they are done at the 20 minutes mark.

Tips & Notes

• If you don’t use the press and use a cookie cutter to make these cookies, remember to roll them thin. If you roll them to around 1/4 -inch thickness, it will take around 25 minutes for them to crisp up. Every oven is different though and you should keep an eye after the 20 minutes mark.

• This recipe will make a lot of biscuits, around 40 to 50 if you use the press. If you roll and cut into shapes, then it would probably make around 30 cookies.

• You can reduce the amount of sugar if you prefer the cookies to be less sweet.

• It is very important for the dough to be soft. For this recipe, you would need anywhere around 4 to 5 tablespoons of milk for a soft dough. I added 5 tablespoons. If the dough is tough, you will not be able to easily press the dough and shape the biscuits, so add enough milk to form a soft dough.

More Crispy Indian Biscuits/Cookies

• The sweet and salty Jeera Biscuits are a favorite for a reason. The cumin goes so well in these cookies.
• Mawa Cake Cookies combine all the festive flavors making them perfect for festivals like Diwali and Holi.
• If you looking for a really nice homemade biscuits, then you have to try the Oats Jaggery Cookies. These always fantastic reviews!

This post has been updated from the recipe archives, first published in July 2016.

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