Cookie is a relatively new term for me. I grew up calling those small, flat, crumbly, cakey, rich, dense, baked goodies “biscuit”. As it appears, outside of North America, cookies are mostly known as biscuits in the rest of the world. Whether you call these delicacies “cookie” or “biscuit”, these are special treats. I made these special semolina-coconut cookies with cardamom and rose-water for R’s pediatrician’s office during the Thanksgiving week. The cookies are great as gifts during the holiday season or anytime of the year. We packaged the cookies in a nice tray and wrapped with some ribbons before delivering as a token of love and to show gratitude for the excellent care the doctor and the staffs provide to our daughter.
Suji Halwa, a pudding like dessert made of semolina is immensely popular in Bangladesh and other parts of the Indian sub-continent. The main ingredients of the suji halwa consist of ghee or purified butter, cardamom, semolina, and sugar. Often some intensifies the pudding with eggs, coconut, rose water to add additional flavor and raisins and nuts to garnish. When thinking of what types of cookies to bake for the doctor’s office, I decided to turn the traditional halwa ingredients into cookies.
With all the ice, sleet and cold weather we are facing in the area, nature has decorated the city with crystal pieces all around. A hot cup of masala chai with extra cream and some of these coconut-semolina cookies provides the much needed warmth and comfort to enjoy the crystallized beauty created by the Almighty.
Enjoy the rich and dense cookies, a new spin to the classic suji halwa ingredients.
- 1 cup butter
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2 teaspoon rose water
- 2 cups semolina
- 1 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes or powder
- ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom powder (optional)
- ¼ cup powdered or slivered almonds (optional)
- 2 teaspoon sesame seeds (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg white
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone-baking mat.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Skim off the froth and pour clarified butter into a mixing bowl and let cool.
- While butter is cooling, grind the semolina to make flour.
- Sift flour, semolina flour, coconut, almonds, cardamom powder and confectioners’ sugar into a bowl. Add the salt and mix thoroughly.
- Once butter is cold, stir in the eggs and rosewater.
- Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and make firm dough.
- Knead well and cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside in room temperature for an hour.
- Knead the dough again until smooth and pliable. Take 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into a smooth slightly flatten ball. Shape remaining dough into flatten balls of the same size.
- Place on cookie sheets 1 inch apart (they do not spread much). Brush the tops with egg white.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds (optional).
- Bake for 12 -15 minutes or until lightly golden in color.
- Cool completely on wire rack.
Cookie will be soft when taken out of oven as they continue to harden after taking out of the heat.
Baking time may vary depending on the thickness and size of the cookie.
If you do not grind the semolina to a flour like consistency, the cookies will have a sandy texture. If you like more of a smooth texture, go ahead and grind the semolina. I’ve made them both ways. Though I am more of a smooth texture lover, my personal favorite is the sandy kind which resembles suji/semolina halwa.
The cookie dough can be stored in airtight container in the freezer. When ready, thaw and make the cookie shapes and bake.
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রেসিপি : সুজির বিস্কুট
উপকরণ:
১ কাপ মাখন
২ টি ডিম, ফেটানো
২ চা চামচ গোলাপ জল
২ কাপ সুজি
১ কাপ ময়দা
১/২ কাপ নারকেল
৩/৪ কাপ কনফেকসনারস্ সুগার
১/৮ চা চামচ এলাচ গুঁড়া (ঐচ্ছিক)
১/৪ কাপ কাগজি বাদাম, গুড়া (ঐচ্ছিক)
১/৪ চা চামচ লবন
১ টি ডিমের সাদা অংশ
প্রস্তত প্রণালী:
১. ওভেন ৩৫০ ডিগ্রী ফারেনহাইটে প্রিহিট করুন।
২. চুলায় কম তাপে মাখন গলিয়ে নিন। উপরের ফেনা ফেলে দিয়ে ঠান্ডা করে নিন।
৩. সুজি এমনভাবে গুড়া করে নিন যেন ময়দার মত মসৃন হয়।
৪. ময়দা, সুজি ময়দা, নারিকেল, কাগজি বাদাম, এলাচ গুঁড়া এবং কনফেকসনারস্ সুগার একটি বাটিতে টেলে নিন। লবণ দিয়ে ভালোভাবে মিশিয়ে নিন।
৫. মাখন ঠান্ডা হলে, ডিম এবং গোলাপ জল মিশিয়ে ফেটে নিন।
৬. ময়দার মিশ্রণ ডিমের মিশ্রনে যোগ করে খামির বানান।
৭. খামির ভালভাবে মথে নিয়ে প্লাস্টিক মুড়িয়ে এক ঘন্টা রেখে দিন।
৮. দুইটি কুকি শীেট পার্চমেন্ট কাগজ বিছিয়ে রাখুন।
৯. মসৃণ এবং নরম না হওয়া কুকি খামির আবার মথে নিন। ১ টেবিল চামচের মত খামির নিয়ে মসৃণ, চেপ্টা গোলাকৃতি বিস্কুট বানিয়ে কুকি শীটে রাখুন। অবশিষ্ট খামির দিয়ে একই আকারের বিস্কুট তৈরী করুন।
১০. প্রতিটি বিস্কুট ১ ইঞ্চি দূরত্বে কুকি শীটের উপর রাখুন। ডিমের সাদা অংশ ফেটিয়ে প্রতিটি বিস্কুটের য়পর ব্রাশ করে দিন।
১১. প্রি-হিট ওভেনে, ১৪-১৬ মিনিট বা হালকা সোনালি বর্ণ না হওয়া পর্যন্ত বেক কটুন।
১২. বিস্কুট ঠান্ডা করে বায়ুরুদ্ধ কৌটায় সংরক্ষণ করুন।
প্রয়োজনিও কিছু টিপস্ এর জনে্য দয়াকরে আটির্কেল অথবা ইংরেজি রেসিপির নোট সেকশনটা একটু দেখে নেবেন।
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Coconut and cardamon with some coconut and almonds sounds like a really nice combination of flavors and textures in these cookies!
Thank you so much Jeanette. Thrilled to have you come over. Glad that you love the cookies. Best wishes.
These cookies should be shipped to me…:) I am crazy for semolina treats as well as for coconut and cardamom. Lovely pics, Lail! Pinned!
Denise, my friend, please inbox me your address and I’ll surely ship them to you 🙂 Thank you, my dear friend.
Good morning! Seems like I know my cookies (or biscuits) it was awesome meeting you 🙂
It was great meeting you. I hope we can get more time to chat next time. AND yes, you do know your cookies. I still can’t forget those perfect macarons of yours 🙂
I grew up calling cookies biscuits too! No matter what they’re called I still love them with a cup of tea in the afternoon 🙂 These look like they have an awesome texture! 🙂
I’m with you Lorraine. It doesn’t matter what they are called, I love those flat, small baked goodies. The semolina cookies do have a crumbly texture. If you decide to forgo grinding the semolina, the biscuits will have a bit sandy texture which I find to be awesome.
Thank you for stopping by, my friend.
You cannot argue with rosewater, almonds, cardamom (my favorite!) or coconut. Or semolina. It is almost like Persia meets Italy – how inspired. I will absolutely make these this week. Thank you for sharing. Warm regards to you and your family. – Shanna
Best regards to you and yours as well, Shanna. I like your analogy of Persis meeting Italy. I haven’t thought of it that way, but it’s totally correct. Thank you, my friend.
I hope that you have a lovely night. Be well – Shanna xx
Wow, what wonderful sounding cookies these are! I love coconut, and these look so flavorful. Good recipe – thanks.
Thank you, John. Very glad that you like the flavorful cookies.
we can almost smell the aroma of coconuts and cardamom playing magic in these melt in mouth cookies…the rose water makes them even more pleasurable,thanks for sharing 🙂
You are absolutely correct, Kumar. The combination of coconut, cardamom and rosewater is magical. Thank you!
I can’t explain how much I love these. The whole rose coconut combination is serious gooness.
Love it. Pinned.
Thanks a lot, Ash. I love the delicate flavors of this biscuits as well. Thank you for pinning and stopping by.
Love all these flavors, wish I could taste these aromatic & flavorful cookies.
Thank you, Ambreen. I hope you get to try the cookies soon. Thank you for stopping by. Hope to see you around again.
Wonderful shoot Lail, can I be your neighbour?? I don’t mind these cookies and tea everyday !
Oh, Jehanne, I hope you already know the answer. I would love to have you as my neighbor in a heart beat and have our afternoon tea together everyday! Thank you, my friend.
i know what you mean by biscuits vs cookies. rosewater and cardamom makes everything better, doesnt it?
Exactly. Cardamom is one of my go to spices for dessert. Top that with rosewater, and you’ve got the most delicate flavor combination in my book. Thank you, Dixya.
your photos just blow me away–lovely and awesome. And the cookies look good, too! Such delicate flavors. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you for your kind and lovely words Liz. I still have so much more to learn about photography. Glad you love the flavors of the cookies. Thanks a lot!
Beautiful flavours in the cookie! I love that you took inspiration from the sooji halwa…I bet they tasted amazing.
They did taste amazing, Sonali. My husband is not a big fan of sweets and even he liked them. Thank you for stopping by. Thanks a lot.
Cookie or biscuit, it doesn’t matter to me but what it does matter is how delicious these coconut rose water baked goodies are! I love everything coconut flavored so I’ll have to try these out. Thanks for sharing!
I love coconut too. I hope you get to try the semolina coconut cookies soon. Thank you.
I love that photos of the leaf with the frozen water. Great shot. These cookie biscuits are delicate and perfect with a cuppa and some great friends. Wishing you a safe and happy holiday!
Yes, Bobbi, a hot cup of tea, some great friends and these cookies are a perfect combination. Thanks a lot!
You’ve combined some of my favorite things into these beauties! Will definitely have a go at these this weekend 😀
Hey, I have suji with me(the one you use to make upma, suji ka halwa etc). How do I make the semolina flour with it?
Hey Deepika. Glad you are planning to make the cookie. You can make suji flour by grinding the regular suji in a food processor or coffee grinder. Hope this helps. Let me know if any questions.
Thanks 🙂 Will definitely let you know how it turns out.
My pleasure. Look forward to hearing back with your verdict.