Vegan Ragi Cookies with made with ragi (finger millet flour), atta, jaggery and vegan butter.

These are extremely easy to make and a healthier alternative to store bought chai time cookies. They are also great as snack and are refined sugar-free!

I am back with yet another easy homemade cookie recipe. Every January, I try to cut refined sugar from my diet, it’s because I eat way too much sugar starting October until December.

In fact for me, it began way early this year in August when I started testing Diwali recipes and after that there was one festival after another and thus no break to the sugar overload.

That’s the reason that I always take a break from sugar in January, just to get back on track. This year is going to be no different and hopefully I can make it to the end of the month successfully.

Do you guys do this too? If yes, I would love to know and have you all join me.

My morning chai time is probably my favorite time of the day. Before the hustle bustle of life begins, those 10-15 minutes give me the energy to tackle the day and of course I could never have my chai without my cookies (or biscuits as we call them in India).

Over the years, I have shared several homemade cookie recipes on the blog and you guys seem to love the easy, wholesome recipes which are free of refined sugar like these oats jaggery cookies. 

So today, I am sharing yet another healthier cookie recipe with you guys, these Ragi Cookies. 

I have been eating lot of ragi roti these days (will share the recipe soon) and so I had to use it in my baking too. It’s a healthy and nutritious flour and adding it to cookies definitely makes them more wholesome. 

These Ragi Cookies

✔are made with ragi (finger millet flour) and atta (whole wheat flour).

✔sweetened with jaggery making them refined sugar-free.

✔are also vegan!

✔more wholesome alternative to store-bought cookies.

✔great with a cup of chai or as a snack.

These cookies can’t be easier to make, you don’t even need a mixer to make these.

I made the dough for these cookies in one bowl without using a stand or hand mixer. Can’t get easier, isn’t it?

Ingredients

This recipe uses few ingredients only and that’s what makes them so easy to make at home. 

Ragi flour (finger millet flour): this is a gluten-free flour made from finger millet. It’s highly nutritious and rich in iron, calcium, protein. It has a very rustic flavor. 

If you want, you can dry roast the flour for 5 to 10 minutes in a pan before using in the recipe. This will help in removing that raw taste from the ragi flour.

I haven’t done this step because I quite like the taste as it is and also you are baking the cookies for 20 minutes in the oven so that’s enough for the flour to roast. However it’s definitely an option if you are not a fan of the flavor.

Atta: the everyday atta that we use in making roti is what I have used here. This helps in binding the mixture as there’s gluten and also helps balancing the flavors of the ragi flour.

You can play around with the quantity of atta here, I like to use atta and ragi in 1:1 ratio but you can definitely change the ratios a bit according to taste and preference. 

Jaggery: these cookies are sweetened with jaggery. I have used jaggery powder here which is easily available at Indian grocery stores. You can sift the jaggery before using but I did not do it in this recipe.

Almonds: since the cookies are plain, it’s nice to have some crunch in them through nuts. I have used almonds here which I pulsed using a food processor. 

You can use a mix of nuts and even increase the amount of nuts if you want. Cashews, walnuts, pecans will also go well here.

Spices: these cookies are flavored with cardamom and cinnamon. I love these 2 spices in my cookies and so I regularly use them while baking cookies at home.

You can use either one of the spices if you want or can even add more spices if you prefer like nutmeg or ginger. 

Vegan butter: I wanted to make these cookies vegan and hence used vegan butter sticks. Here in the US, vegan butter is easily available at grocery stores, I have used earth balance vegan butter.

Other than these main ingredients, the recipe uses bit of baking powder as a leavening agent and some cashew milk to bring the dough together.

Baking time and temperature: these Ragi Cookies were baked at 350 F degrees for 20 minutes. I would suggest keeping an eye on them after 16 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies, you might bake additional 1-2 minutes.

For a little softer cookies, bake for 18 minutes. Again, every oven is different so see what works for you.

These cookies are 1/4 inch thick, if you cut them thinner, you will need to bake them for a shorter period of time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can regular butter be used? 

Yes, absolutely. You do not have to use vegan butter. Since, I wanted these cookies to be vegan, I have used vegan butter here but you can use regular butter here.

Can dairy milk be used?

Again, yes, absolutely. Replace cashew milk with any milk of choice.

Can ghee be used in place of butter?

I have not tested this recipe with ghee however you can definitely try. Just make sure that ghee is in semi-solid state and not in liquid form for this recipe.

Can baking soda be used in place of baking powder?

No, do not replace baking powder in this recipe with baking soda. 

Can I use 100% ragi flour?

This recipe is not gluten-free and I haven’t tested this recipe with 100% ragi flour. So do not replace all of the atta with ragi.

You can maybe try reducing the quantity of atta but you would still need some gluten in this recipe. 

What’s the replacement for jaggery powder?

If you do not have jaggery powder, you can fine grate block of jaggery and use that in the recipe.

Also brown sugar can be used in this recipe, however then the cookies will not be refined-sugar free.

Can I roast the ragi flour before using in the recipe?

Yes, especially if you do not like that earthy flavor of ragi, you can dry roast the flour in a pan for 5 to 10 minutes and then use in the recipe. I do not roast the flour in this recipe. 

Method

1- To a large bowl, add ragi flour, atta, cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, salt and baking powder. Mix everything using a wire whisk.

2- Add jaggery powder and mix using a wire whisk. Then add the chopped almonds and mix.

3- Break the room temperature butter into small pieces and then add it to the bowl.

4- Using your fingers, mix and rub the butter with the flour mixture until all the butter is well combined with the mixture. When all the butter is combined, the mixture will look like crumbs. 

5- Once the butter is well combined, start adding cashew milk to the dough to bring it all together. You would need 3-4 tablespoons of milk, I used entire 4 tablespoons to bring the dough together. 

6- Wrap the dough with a cling sheet and refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 350 F degrees. 

7- After 20 minutes, take the dough out of the refrigerator and start rolling it. I took a small portion of the dough and rolled it into 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into circles of 2 inch diameter. Repeat until you have used all the dough to cut cookies.

You would get around 28-30 cookies from this mixture. If you do not have a cookie cutter, you can simply pinch some dough (around 16-20 grams for each cookie) and roll between your palms to shape it. 

8- Transfer cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Poke the cookies on top using a fork. Bake at 350 F degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. I bake mine for 20 minutes. If you prefer extra crispy cookies, you can bake additional 1-2 minutes. 

Transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies crisp up as they cool down. Store ragi cookies in an airtight container. 

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