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Coffee Nankhatai is that ever-green, rustic Nankhatai with a bold twist of bittersweet coffee flavors. These biscuits are a treat for those avid coffee lovers.

Coffee Nankhatai is such a simple and delicious Indian shortbread cookie that can be baked in such a short time. Made with a few simple, readily available handfuls of ingredients, these Coffee Nankhatai are absolute magic.

The aroma that is released while baking these cookies is intoxicating and rich. Whenever I bake these Coffee Nankhatai, my house is filled with the beautiful aroma of the coffee, which makes me feel like devouring one as soon as it is out of the oven.

The first time I had ground coffee shortbread cookies was at one of my friend's place for a Christmas party. I was utterly awed by the flavor of those simple yet delicious cookies.

But instead of going by the regular shortbread cookies way, I decided to experiment with the coffee flavor in the famous Indian shortbread cookies, also known as Nankhatai.

Adding the ground or filter coffee powder to the Nankhatai makes it beautifully aromatic and gives it a different, unique, delicious flavor and an interesting look.

What is a Nankhatai?

Nankhatai comes from the Indian subcontinent, primarily from the northern area of India and Pakistan. The name has a Persian influence on it. In the Persian language, Naan means bread, and Khatai means biscuit.

Nankhatai is made with a blend of different types of flour. You can use any flour, like all-purpose flour, wheat flour, besan or graham flour, semolina, etc. Mostly a combination of these flours is used to get the perfect texture and flavor.

I usually make a blend of all-purpose flour, besan, and semolina, as I believe they bring out the best flavors and textures and elevate the level of Nankhatai.

Why you should make Coffee Nankhatai

• Low sweet

• Perfect for a coffee lover

• Absolutely Delicious!!

• No need for fancy equipment

• Quick and easy

• Perfect tea time snack

Ingredients for Coffee Nankhatai

All-purpose flour - You will need regular maida or all-purpose flour for this recipe.

Besan/graham flour - Use regularly powdered fine besan in the Coffee Nankhatai recipe and not the other grainy version available in the Indian store.

Semolina/ Rava/ Sooji - Coarse Sooji or Jada rava is perfect for this recipe. It provides a nice crunch to the cookies. Do not use the fine Sooji, as it won't yield the correct result.

Ghee/clarified butter - Use room temperature ghee/clarified butter for a beautiful rustic flavor and the perfect shape of the cookies. Ghee keeps the shape intact and stops it from spreading thin and flat.

Granulated fine sugar - Use fine or unadulterated powdered sugar for the Coffee Nankhatai. Do not use the crystal or bigger chunky sugar.

Salt - Regular or kosher salt enhances the flavor of the Nankhatai.

Ground or filter coffee powder - Try using the best quality and strong ground coffee powder for the best results. I like getting some freshly ground beans from a local store. I just love the aroma of freshly ground coffee powder.

How to make Coffee Nankhatai?

Preheat the oven to 320F.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Sift together all-purpose flour, semolina/sooji, besan, granulated sugar, and salt in a bowl.

Add the fresh ground coffee to the bowl, and whisk it together.

To the sifted flour mix, add the room-temperature ghee/ clarified butter. Mix it all together and knead it into a nice soft dough. The dough should not have any cracks.

If there are many cracks and the dough is too dry, then add a little more ghee to it, just 1 teaspoon at a time, and knead the dough into a softball.

Do not add any water or milk to the dough; otherwise, it will change the texture of the Nankhatai.

The dough should not be sticky but more like shortbread cookie dough.

Using a small cookie scoop, scoop up the Nankhatai dough and shape them into nice smooth round balls.

Place them in the baking tray about an inch apart, allowing them to expand, spread, and bake. press them gently on the top, so they don't roll off.

Bake the Coffee Nankhatai in the preheated oven for 20 to 23 minutes. Check the cookies for around 18 minutes to see if they need more baking. Continue cooking till you see some cracks on the surface.

Let the Coffee Nankhatai cool down at room temperature in the baking tray. Do not try to move them before they cool down. The Nankhatai is very brittle when it is hot and will crumble if you try to lift it.

They will become crisp once they have cooled down completely.

Do not over-bake the Coffee Nankhatai, as the over-baked Nankhatai will become too hard after cooling down. You do not need to brown the bottom of the cookies while baking as the pan is still hot when you get them out of the oven, and the Coffee Nankhatai will continue to cook and brown till the pan cools down completely.

Transfer the cooled-down Nankhatai to a wire rack and let them cool down further, then later store them in an air-tight container. They will stay good for about a month.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can I add water to the dough if it's dry?

Never add any water or milk to the Coffee Nankhatai dough. This is an Indian shortbread cookie that needs to be crisp and crumbly. Adding water will make it chewy.

If you need more moisture to the dough, add a teaspoon of ghee and keep rolling to form a soft dough.

How to store the Coffee Nankhatai?

You can store the Coffee Nankhatai in an air-tight container in a dry, cool place, and they will stay good for up to 3 weeks.

Can I use instant coffee powder instead of fresh ground coffee powder?

Though both coffee powders have a lot of similarities, they are essentially different. Instant coffee powder is less concentrated than ground coffee and imparts less richness to the Coffee Nankhatai. Also, it will change to color and look of the cookie.

You can swap them at a 1:1 ratio and still make some excellent Coffee Nankhatai.

Can you use butter instead of ghee in the Nankhatai recipe?

This biscuit is a quick, no-refrigerated cookie dough recipe. Dough made with ghee holds shape and does not spread thin while baking.

However, I do not recommend using butter in this recipe as the softened butter-based coffee Nankhatai will spread thin and not have the same flavor and texture as expected.

If you do not have ghee and want to use butter, use room-temperature unsalted butter and refrigerate the dough balls for a couple of hours before baking. This will harden the dough and stop the Nankhatai from spreading too thin.

Tools and unique ingredients for this recipe

(click the links below to check out)

Mixing bowl - You will need a medium size non, deep mixing bowl to knead the coffee Nankhatai dough.

Sieve - Sifting flour is essential to remove lumps in the flour.

Measuring cups/spoons - for perfect ratios in the recipe.

Ground Roast Coffee

Ghee/clarified butter - good quality ghee will yield the best results.

Baking tray - cookie sheet or flat sheet baking pan works best for these cookies.

DROP A COMMENT IF YOU HAVE TRIED THE RECIPE. I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES. ALSO, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, DO DROP A COMMENT BELOW. I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HELP.

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