Rose and Pistachio Cookies

Eggless Rose and Pistachio shortbread cookies – easy to make and fit for a royal treat!

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There are only a few days to go for Diwali – the festival of lights! The festivities have begun and the excitement is truly palpable. Diwali to me invokes so many emotions and a ton of nostalgia – of a lit-up house, lots of family gatherings, lots more food and sweets, and cheer all around!

It truly is the best time of the year and it has been this way for many years now. While we traditionally made and ate a lot of Indian sweets around Diwali, in the past few years I’ve tried to bring my own twist to the common Indian ‘mithais’ by incorporating unusual flavors and combinations. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t.

This year, I thought of reciprocating the love I’ve been receiving from all of you – my dear blog readers by sharing a few of my more successful recipe trials! My last Instagram poll in which I asked what kind of recipes you all wanted to see, cemented my belief that “fusion baking” was where all the trend was at. And so – here I am – doing some exclusive festive fusion recipes that you can easily make at your home to bring in the festive fervor. After all, nothing says festival like a kitchen smelling of delicious flavors and a home full of loved ones.

I’m starting this series with a recipe that is a twist to the traditional shortbread cookie.

In addition to the flour-butter-sugar, we’re incorporating some desi flavors with rose water, edible rose petals, and pistachio powder, while the method remains the same

Creaming Butter & Sugar 

Start with softened butter. Not cold or firm, and not melted butter either. This is important to get the right texture. Beat the butter on it’s own for a few seconds to get it light and nice. Then add the icing sugar and continue to beat till it’s fluffy.

Dry Ingredients

Next go in the flour and pistachio powder. I used raw, unsalted pistachios and ground them into a fine powder. Be careful while grinding nuts because they have a high oil content and if you grind longer than required, you’ll end up turning the nut into nut butter.

Also while pistachio powder is a wonderful green color, don’t expect the cookie to have the same shade because most of the brightness gets lost during the process of baking. If you do want a sharp green colored cookie, you’ll have to use a few drops of edible food coloring in the dough. Use milk to bring together the dough into a ball. Start by adding only 1 tsp at a time and add more as required. You want a dough that is firm enough to shape into a ball yet not hard.

Rose Water & Petals

Rose water brings in a really subtle but fragrant touch to the cookie. You could even use a rose extract or essence in its place but only a few drops since extracts are way stronger than rose water.

The rose petals I’ve used are store-brought but if you know how to and want to use home-dried rose petals, it will work too. Just ensure they’re cleaned well and good to eat. Crush the rose petals before adding so they don’t create a mess while you’re cutting the dough into cookie shapes.

Chilling the Dough

It’s important to chill this dough in order to be able to roll and shape it easily. Cover with a cling wrap and refrigerate it for 35-40 minutes. You can even store this dough for upto 24 hours this way or freeze for upto 2 weeks.

Rolling the Dough

You have to roll the dough while it’s still cold from the fridge. Sprinkle a little flour on the surface and then roll out the dough into a round/rectangle or any shape you like but of even thickness all over. Since this recipe doesn’t use any leavening agent and the cookies won’t spread much, don’t roll the dough too thick.

Use any cookie cutter of your preference to cut out the shapes and transfer to a lined baking tray. If they’re soft/or breaking while lifting up, use a thin spatula to pick them up.

You could even just make round balls of the dough and flatten them with your hands and place on the tray.

Baking the Cookies

The cookies don’t take long to bake, however, you need to bake at a lower temperature to ensure they don’t burn. If you have a smaller oven, (under 40 litres) reduce the temperature further by 10-20 degrees. To know when the cookies are done, watch out for a slightly golden-brown edge. I bake these in an OTG with only the lower rod on because I prefer these cookies retaining their light color instead of browning all over.

Decorating the Cookies

White chocolate goes really well with the cookies. However, dark or milk chocolate will taste just as good. Simply dip the cookies in melted chocolate and place over a wire rack to allow the chocolate to cool and harden. If you’re using nuts or rose petals as a garnish, you need to sprinkle them immediately after dipping in the chocolate while the chocolate is still liquid and hasn’t set. 

You could dip the whole cookie, half of it, or even just pour the melted chocolate over the cookie with a spoon. 

I hope you make these and do share your comments with me. What other fusion recipes would you like to see here? Tell me on Instagram!

Some more festive recipes that you may like

• No bake chocolate pudding
• Orange Almond Cake
• Thandai Panna Cotta
• Fudgy Chocolate Cake
• Cinnamon rolls
• Savoury Crackers