I had totally forgotten about this savory oats cookies post that I had drafted a few months back. Don’t we all love cookies!?! There is an endless array to choose from – gluten free ones, fruity ones, breakfast cookies, dessert cookies, jammy ones, raisin ones, sandwich cookies, spiced ones, nutty ones and a few healthy ones with a bit of indulgence. And of course, we all tend to have our favourite; the one that comforts us, the one that induces nostalgia, the one that is capable of lifting our mood even or the ones for which we need no reason at all! I have a special bias for the savoury ones though. Even as a kid I used to prefer bakery style Jeera Biscuits over sweet ones. In fact, those of you who are regular here would know my preference for all things savoury. I do enjoy sweets and love my desserts yet I tend to have a soft corner for savories. Taking a cue from the Savory Biscotti that I posted last year, I gave a thought of trying savory cookies, with oats, but this time around with some Indian flavours and some spice kick J
1 cup Rolled Oats
½ cup Flour (मैदा) ½ tsp Baking Soda (bi-carb)
½ tsp Salt (adjust to taste)
1 Green Chili (de-seeded and finely chopped) 1 Red Chili (de-seeded and finely chopped)
¼ tsp Crushed Black Pepper
1 tsp Mustard Seeds, lightly dry roasted
1 tbsp finely chopped, Curry Leaves
2 tsp Flax Seeds (अलसी), lightly dry roasted
1/3 cup finely chopped, Walnuts (अख़रोट)
½ cup plus 2 tbsp Butter
2 – 4 tbsp Caster Sugar
1 small Egg OR 3-4 tbsp Milk (adjust the amount)
Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C. Prepare a baking sheet by greasing it lightly with butter or oil. Mix together the dry ingredients except sugar and keep aside. Whisk the egg lightly and keep aside.
Add the sugar to butter and beat for a minute and a half. Add the whisked egg (or milk, if using) to it and beat for another half minute. Tip in the dry ingredients to the egg batter. Using a silicon spatula or a spoon mix them together till there remain no dry bits in the batter (do not over mix or over work with the batter) Taking a table spoon or more, drop the batter on a greased baking tray/ sheet. I prefer to make ‘rough’ balls and then flatten them before placing them on the baking sheet.
Bake the cookies for 20-25 minutes or more, depending how brown you prefer them. Once done, remove them from the oven and let them rest for two minutes before transferring them on a wire rack. Cool and serve these flaky cookies with the beverage of your choice J
Do not forget to check the notes at the end of the post.
Note: The amount of chili depends on the the heat of the chilies you are using. Note: You can substitute curry leaves with cilantro leaves (dhaniya patta) or may be rosemary or any herb that you fancy. Note: These cookies turned out soft & chewy and if you like yours a little bit more crunchy bake them a few minutes longer.
Yield: Makes 12 (the size shown in the pic)