BENNE BISCUIT RECIPE – KARNATAKA IYENGAR BAKERY STYLE BISCUITS

Benne biscuit recipe

Nankhatai( Indian butter cookies) is called by different names in different languages. In Tamil nadu, we call it as”shrewsbury biscuit”. In Karnataka, it is called as “Benne biscuit”. But whatever be the name its a very popular biscuit all over India which you can find in all the bakeries. Here in Bangalore, Iyengar bakery is very famous for Benne biscuit, Khara biscuit, open sandwich, khara bun and many more.

 Though Iam in Bangalore for more than 10 years, I had tasted these bakery stuffs only a few times. But every time when I come across Iyengar bakery style recipes in my fellow bloggers blog, I feel like trying them immediately but somehow I didn’t. Yesterday I was tempted very badly by seeing this recipe. The comments & feed backs from the readers made me try the recipe immediately. Actually it was titled as Benne biscuit(butter cookies) but ghee was used in the recipe. I doubted & browsed through so many benne biscuit recipes and most of them had ghee or oil. And finally I got the explanation for its name from here.  
As this biscuit has a smooth & melt in mouth texture like butter, it is called Benne biscuit & not that its made of butter (Benne means butter in Kannada). Of course in bakeries they do use dalda or vegetable shortening. So without researching further, I just tried it. In the next 20 minutes, biscuits were ready in my hand & Yes, it was a big hit in my home & among my Kannadiga friends too. But my friends told cardamom is optional to use otherwise it is perfect ! My in-laws and myself loved it very much. I had already posted Multi grain Nankhatai recipe with oats,ragi & wheat flour using oil. But this recipe uses ghee. How come it tastes bad when you add so much of ghee??. Even Beginners in baking can dare to try this recipe. U will get the perfect result , Iam sure..
Ok, lets see how to make this iyengar bakery style eggless benne biscuit/Nankhatai at home easily.

Benne biscuit recipe

Benne biscuit/Nankhatai recipe

Benne biscuit/Nankhatai recipe Easy,bakery style nankhatai recipe for tea time!

Cuisine: Indian
Category: Baking
Serves: 10 
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 12 Minutes
Total time: 22 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • Homemade ghee – 3.5 tbsp ( use 4 tbsp max) 
  • Maida/All purpose flour – 1/2cup
  • Powdered sugar – 1/4 cup
  • Crushed cardamom + clove – 2 + 1 no (optional)
  • Baking powder – 1/4 tsp
HOW TO MAKE BENNE BISCUIT – METHOD

  • Powder sugar adding cloves & cardamom very finely. Melt ghee & bring it to room temperature. In a wide bowl, take the flour,powdered sugar, baking powder. Mix well. Add melted ghee at room temperature little by little and make a dough.

Benne biscuit 1

  • Dough should be non-sticky and soft without cracks . But it won’t be too soft & pliable like chapathi dough. So no need to add more ghee. Initially dough would look crumbly but as you roll it tightly, you will be able to make a soft dough.

Benne biscuit 2

  • Now take a cookie tray & grease it with little ghee. Take big gooseberry sized ball and press it lightly. Do not press it flat. These biscuits are meant to be small & round. Hope you know it. But by mistake, I flattened it bit more. Cracks may form. Pat it and seal the cracks. Arrange all the biscuits in the tray.

Benne biscuit 3

  • Preheat oven in convection mode for 10 minutes in 180c. Then keep the cookie plate and bake the cookies in 180 c for 12 minutes. Switch off, remove and set aside for 5 minutes. Now try to move the cookies. If they move, it is done. Else cookies will be sticking to the plate and it will break.
  • Let it cool completely. When the cookies are hot, it would be very soft. Cracks are unavoidable. It shows the cookies are done. May be if  you add 4 tbsp ghee, cracks might be less. Do not brown it. It will be cooking even after you remove from oven. So be patient & allow it cool completely. Remove, Serve & Enjoy with tea !

Benne biscuit 4

Note
  • I used ghee with sediments.So mine turned out slightly yellow in color. Otherwise it should be white.
  • No problem if the cookie dough is slightly crumbly. Just roll it tight and make balls. If you feel the dough is cracking too much, add little more ghee say 1/2tbsp.
  • In the actual recipe, it was told to rest the dough for 2 hours before baking but I din’t do it.
  • U can always replace ghee with oil or butter.But quantity may vary.
  • Never add frozen ghee. It won’t work. U should use melted ghee but it should not be hot. It should be in room temperature.
Enjoy this bakery style melt in mouth benne biscuit with hot milk or tea !
Benne-biscuit-recipe

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44 thoughts on “BENNE BISCUIT RECIPE – KARNATAKA IYENGAR BAKERY STYLE BISCUITS”

  6. Unknown

    today I tried benne biscuits the recipe of chitras food book .com,awesome taste less ingredients n   prepared in short time if u have unexpected guests.thanku so much for sharing the recipe Chitra.

    Reply
  13. Unknown

    Just baked a batch of benne biscuit tasty and quick. My 3 year old is munching on them nonstop .thank u for the recipe

    Reply
  14. Unknown

    Just baked a batch of benne biscuit tasty and quick. My 3 year old is munching on them nonstop .thank u for the recipe

    Reply
    2. jagan

      Mdm if you use oil there won't be any areation of air. But you can substitute with biscuit vanaspati, how biscuits are made so on local bakeries…

      Reply
  19. Archana

    Awesome recipe, I tried it today and it was a superhit!! Thanks for sharing the recipe Chitra. Tomorrow I will be making the spicy version that you have shared on this blog! 🙂

    Reply
  21. Unknown

    Hi Chitra,

    Thank you very much for a easy recipe. I'm a total beginner in cooking as well as baking. I tried your recipe today,and I have a problem 🙁
    My dough was very crumbly even after agg 4 Tbsp of ghee and wouldn't roll out. So I add about a Tbsp of milk to it. Though the taste is awesome the cookies are extremely crunchy and browned on the edges. And a little chewy in the center. I'm not sure where i went wrong. I did add room temperature ghee. And took 1/4 cup of sugar (crystals) and powdered it.

    Reply
    1. Chitra

      Hi, After adding ghee, the mixture would be crumbly to look at. But If you roll it tight, u can make a dough. No worries even if there are cracks. We can seal it by pressing. Instead of milk, you could have added some more ghee or atleast oil as mentioned in Notes section. Adding milk might make the cookie chewy and uncooked. I too have experienced this. Next time if you do it, use 200ml cup measures. Add more ghee or oil if needed.You will get it right for sure. Hope this helps 🙂

      Reply
    2. jagan

      In such case you knead the dough further,until the the dough start sticking to your palms. The other choice is, you can add little more fat( vanaspati/ ghee/butter) to bind the dough. If you add milk or any liquid and knead it, gluten will develop and the result will be asnu mentioned…

      Reply
  23. SuMaNa!!!!!!!!!!

    Everything went good….the dough was perfect..but it burnt in the oven😵😵though i followed the exact instructions.

    Reply
    1. Chitra

      I think u have overbaked the cookies.If the oven temperature is more, it happens. So better to remove the biscuit a little earlier than the time mentioned.

      Reply
    2. jagan

      Mdm always bake sweet biscuits @ 160-165*c. Baking time may differ according to thickens of biscuits. But generally 4-5 mm thickness biscuits will take 16-18 mts and it may 15-17g …

      Reply
  24. Poornima Saminathan

    There cookies turned out awesome… Just like bakery ones… But, first bite was a bit hard as time went on. . How to make it melt in mouth in first bite?

    Reply
    1. Chitra

      Hi thanks a lot for your feedback 😊. May be you can try adding a little more ghee next time. Adding a dash of cooking soda also help i feel.

      Reply
  25. Poornima Saminathan

    Hii.. .guess I added too much ghee and the dough is extremely soft to handle.. .how do I fix it? ( I used wwf 1.5 cup and added ghee accordingly)

    Reply
    1. Chitra

      Its not necessary to add all the ghee mentioned in the recipe. Its quantity differs based on the flour we use. For trouble shooting, you can add more powdered sugar and wheat flour.

      Reply
  26. Poornima Saminathan

    Do we have to add the same amount of ghee while using whole wheat flour?… Because, it forms a dough using less amount of ghee than mentioned.

    Reply
    1. Chitra

      Its not necessary to add all the ghee mentioned in the recipe. Its quantity differs based on the flour we use. For trouble shooting, you can add more powdered sugar and wheat flour.

      Reply
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