Assorted Bakery Style Cookies

You will be enamoured by this recipe for Assorted Bakery Style Cookies because there is actually not much involved in making them. There is just a common dough that we will make and use it to create different variations of the cookies. Simple – Isn’t it. What More! You can choose not to make all the variants of the Assorted Bakery Style Cookies or you can make four, or two or make just one variant. My recommendation is to try all of them and then the next time, bake only the ones that are most popular with your kiddies and other family.

Yield: About 900 gms

Prep. Time: 1 Hour

Baking Time: 15 Mins @ 170° C

Ingredients:

• Maida [APF] – 450 gms
• Butter (salted, at room temp.) – 250 gms
• Powdered Sugar – 220 gms
• Egg (lightly beaten) – 1
• Vanilla Essence – ½ tsp.
• Baking Powder – 2 tsp.

Step 1:     Mix the maida and baking powder and then sieve it with a fine mesh sieve.

Step 2:     Cream the butter and sugar using a hand mixer till light and creamy. Then add the egg and vanilla essence and mix for 2 seconds.

Step 3:     Next add the flour a little (a spoonful) at a time and mix with the beater till it comes together and a soft dough is formed (do not over knead).

Step 4:     Now divide the dough into 8 portions (or the number you want) and follow the next steps as follows (The quantities from A to H below are for 1/8 of the total dough. Hence if you are making fewer variants you need to multiply the ingredients needed for each portion accordingly).

A.   Pista Cookies:

• Take 1 portion of the dough and add to it 1 ½ tbsp. of chopped unsalted pista. Mix the dough and divide into six portions and shape (I’ve shaped into a ball, then flattened and indented the top with a fork.

B.   Cashew Rose Cookies:

• Take 1 portion of the dough and add 2 drops of rose essence to it and mix. Then flatten. Take 1 tbsp. chopped cashew nuts and press lightly onto the flattened dough and then cut using a cookie cutter.

C.   Pineapple Coconut Cookies:

• Take 1 portion of the dough and add 1 ½ tbsp. of dessicated coconut and 2 drops each of pineapple essence and yellow food colour. Roll and cut into cookies.
• Take another tbsp. of dessicated coconut and add a drop of green food colour to it. Mix and top the cookies with this.

D.   Marble Cookies:

• Take 1 portion of the dough and further divide it into two portions. To one portion, add 1 tbsp. cocoa and mix.
• Further divide each portion (white and brown) into six portions. Then take one white and one brown ball each and roll together on your palm and flatten to form a cookie. Do this for all the portions.

E.   Rose Cookies:

• Take 1 portion of the dough and add 2 drops of rose essence and 2 drops of red food colour. Mix just a little so as to get a marble effect. Roll out and cut into heart shaped cookies.

F.   Tooti Frooti Cookies:

• Take 1 portion of the dough and add 1 ½ tbsp. of tooti frooti to it. Mix well.
• Place on cling film and form into a log. Cover with the film and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
• Take the log out of the refrigerator and slice into six portions using a dough cutter.

G.   Strawberry Jam Cookies:

• Take 1 portion of the dough and scoop into six portions.
• Use your thumb to depress each scoop in the center. Spoon in some strawberry jam into the depression of each cookie.

H.   Mango Jam Cookies:

• Take 1 portion of the dough and scoop into six portions.
• Use your thumb to depress each scoop in the center. Spoon in some mango jam into the depression of each cookie. (for a Goan Mango Jam Recipe, click here).

Step 5:     After you shape the cookies, you need to place them on a plate lined with parchment paper. Then place them in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes. (This is not needed for the tooti frooti cookies as they have already been refrigerated before slicing).

Step 6:     Later, set your oven to pre-heat at 180° C for 15 minutes.

Step 7:     Remove the shaped cookies from the refrigerator and a place on your baking tray lined with parchment paper and then bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 170° C. till the bases of the cookies are browned.

Step 8:     Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Later store in an airtight container.