Creativity runs in the family, my grandmother Ajji was really good at baking, she had learnt several recipes when she was travelling all around the world with my grand father. My father told me the other day, when I baked this shortbread recipe, that Ajji used to bake the very same recipe. I got a book several years ago, with many egg free recipes. I modified this recipe to an Indian taste. Those of you who have been to Anand sweets in Bangalore, must have tried Badamika and Pistamika, this biscuit or shortbread tastes a lot like it. It is extremely crispy and buttery and it goes along really well with a cup of tea. Prep time would be about 10 minutes baking time about 20-25 minutes, very simple list of ingredients actually.
Ajji’s Butterscotch Shortbread
Creativity runs in the family, my grandmother Ajji was really good at baking, she had learnt several recipes when she was travelling all around the world with my grand father. My father told me the other day, when I baked this shortbread recipe, that Ajji used to bake the very same recipe. I got a book several years ago, with many egg free recipes. I modified this recipe to an Indian taste. Those of you who have been to Anand sweets in Bangalore, must have tried Badamika and Pistamika, this biscuit or shortbread tastes a lot like it. It is extremely crispy and buttery and it goes along really well with a cup of tea. Prep time would be about 10 minutes baking time about 20-25 minutes, very simple list of ingredients actually.
Ingredients
- 125 grams unsalted cooking butter
- 50 grams soft brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence or Butterscotch Essence or Hazelnut Essence
- 150 grams maida
- 25 grams corse ground almonds
Instructions
The recipe is fairly simple, very few ingredients required to make this.Perfect to have in the afternoon with a cup of tea. You will need a 9in square baking tin for this recipe. Steps for making the shortbread-
- Grease and dust a 9in square pan and pre heat your oven to 150 C for 20 minutes.
- Cream the butter and soft brown sugar together using an electric whisk or spatula. It needs to be light and fluffy.
- You can add any essence of your choice, half a teaspoon. I made 3 varieties, one using hazelnut, one with vanilla and one with butterscotch essence.
- Add the course ground almonds to this
- Add the flour gradually to this, start mixing the dough with your hand now, it is a little messy, but everything mixes in well this way.
- Roll the dough into a ball and transfer it to the baking dish.
- Pat the dough into all the corners of the baking dish. (Refer photo above)
- Place it in the middle of your pre heated oven, bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Visually the biscuits pull away from the edges of the baking dish (Refer photo)
- After baking, wait for about 10 minutes to cool down, cut the biscuits to a size or shape you prefer.
