Cumin Cookies – Jeera Biscuits
Sweet and salty cumin cookies, perfect with tea!
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Cumin cookies or jeera/zeera (hindi name for cumin) biscuits as we call them in India are ideal for tea time. Little sweet and little salty, I love to dip them in my chai, so yum! I have tried making these cookies before but somehow they never tasted the way I wanted them to and so I tried and tried again and finally I found a recipe which was just perfect. This will be my “to go” recipe for cumin cookies from now on.
These cookies are very different in texture from the ones we get in USA. Basically in India we call these “biscuits” and not cookies. Biscuits are supposed to be crunchy and crispy, on the other hand cookies in USA are soft and chewy. It’s funny how the same term has different meaning in different countries. Biscuits in UK/India are hard, crispy and dry whereas biscuits in USA are soft and flaky.
These cookies are great with tea and so I made them crispy and baked them for a longer time. I baked till the edges were nice golden brown in color. If you are not a fan of crispy cookies and want them to be on the softer side, bake them for a less amount of time.
My husband has been asking me to bake these cookies for days as he loves to dip them in tea and I finally got around making them and the best part was that they came out so well that now he can’t stop eating them! I bet they taste better than the store bought jeera biscuits and they are so easy to make. So try these out and I assure you won’t be disappointed.
Method
Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
1. In a baking tray, take 1 tbsp of cumin seeds and roast them for 3-4 minutes at 350 F degrees or till you get a nice fragrance from them. Set aside.
2. In the steel bowl of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
3. Add the flour, salt and 3/4 tbsp of cumin seeds to the butter and sugar and mix. Reserve the remaining cumin seeds to sprinkle on top of the cookies. Mix at low speed till the mixture looks smooth and comes together in form of a dough. You may add 1-2 tablespoons of milk here if the dough doesn’t come together.
4. Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface or wooden floor and shape the dough like a flat disc.
5. Using a roller, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into different shapes using cookie cutter. I cut them into small round cookies.
6. Place the cookies in a baking tray and bake at 350 F degrees for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take them out and reduce the temperature to 325 F and bake the cookies again for 5-6 minutes or till light they are golden brown from sides and also from the bottom.
The reason I baked them for a longer time was because I wanted crispy cookies for my tea.
7. Place on wire rack to cool completely.
8. Store the cookies in an airtight container.
Enjoy the sweet and salty cumin cookies with tea!
EDIT: Some of you face the problem in getting the dough together. In that case, add 1-2 tablespoons of water or milk. Start with 1 tablespoon of water/milk and add more as required to bring the dough together.
* If you want softer cookies, bake them for a lesser time, around 10 minutes.
* If you want crispier cookies, bake them for some more time.
* You can cut down the sugar and increase the salt if you want the cookies to be more salty. This was just about perfect for me.
* I used a small cookie cutter and ended up with 20 cookies but  if you are using a bigger cutter, you might only be able to get 8-10 cookies out of this dough.
Cumin Cookies - Jeera Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1-2 tablespoons milk optional, only if required
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
- In a baking tray, take 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds and roast them for 3-4 minutes at 350 F degrees or till you get a nice fragrance from them. Set aside.
- In the steel bowl of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour, salt and 3/4 tbsp of cumin seeds to the butter and sugar and mix. Reserve the remaining cumin seeds to sprinkle on top of the cookies.
- Mix at low speed till the mixture looks smooth and comes together in form of a dough. You may add 1-2 tablespoons of milk here if the dough doesn't come together.
- Sprinkle some flour on a flat surface or wooden floor and shape the dough like a flat disc.
- Using a roller, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into different shapes using cookie cutter and sprinkle them with the remaining roasted cumin seeds.
- Place the cookies in a baking tray and bake at 350 F degrees for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take them out and reduce the temperature to 325 F and bake the cookies again for 5-6 minutes or till light they are golden brown from sides and also from the bottom.
- Place on wire rack to cool completely.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
 Cumin Cookies – Jeera Biscuits
I see in comments that many people want to try this recipe with whole wheat flour and raw sugar . So , I tried it today with whole wheat and fully raw sugar ( jaggery powder) with cardamom powder instead of jeera.
They turned out really good . The only difference was i had to bake them for 20 mintes. I hope I that could post the picture too.
Thanks Divya for your feedback and for trying them with whole wheat flour and sharing your experience. I am sure it will help others 🙂
hi Manali
I am so happy that I tried your recipe for jeera cookies . the texture and the crunchiness was just perfect, but for next batch I will add little bit of more salt for my salty taste buds 🙂
Thanks for trying Divya! yes of course we can always adjust salt and sugar to taste 🙂
this recipe turned out really nicely. i pan-fried my cumin seeds in a dry pan, added a tiny bit of vanilla, and baked at 325 for 10, and then another 5 or so at 350. i would have loved metric units, but overall this is good.
Thank you!
Can these be made without sugar for family with high blood sugar?
yes sure, add more salt but they will just be salty cookies then
Can I use ghee instead of butter? Thanks
yes!
Hi ,
Can I use oil instead of butter ?
Thank you for great recipes
I would not recommend
Cumin is one of my faves! It smells divine when crushed using a mortar and pestle. When I saw this recipe, I knew right away I wanted to try it. Tonight, in my anxiety over a thunderstorm, I couldn’t sit still and had to do something so I made these cookies! Delish!! I don’t have the patience to roll out cookies, so I used two loaf pans and made bar cookies, following the baking times, keeping an eye on them. All turned out fabulous! Thanks for a simple, delicious recipe! And I already had all the ingredients on hand!
glad you liked them 🙂 thanks for trying!
Excellent recipe. Cookies are great for dipping in coffee or tea.
Loved it!!! 10/10
Hi, can i ask if we can replace the butter with ghee? Also, as for the milk, is it okay if I use coconut milk?
Planning to make this tonight. Thank you! 🙂
sorry for the late response, I was traveling and getting back to comments now. You can use coconut milk and ghee should also be fine.
I liked it
What is the shelf life for these cookies? Do i need to freeze them if i am going to use them after 10 days?
You can try freezing them, I have not tried. Since these are fresh homemade cookies, they should be consumed within a week, they taste best that way.
Hello! These were amazing; they tasted just like the ones I bought in the store!
Question: Could I use whole-wheat flour instead of AP? I have AP, I’m just curious on how much/if the taste would change at all.
You may, the texture will be a little dense. If you want, you can also do 50% all purpose and 50% whole wheat
Hi Manali,
I made these cookies today and they came out fabulous. My family loved it. Is there any difference between Bleached APF vs unbleached APF?
Do the ingredients proportion remain same for both types of flours?
it’s the difference in processing, the proportion will remain same for both
This was so simple to make and the cookies taste heavenly.
Thanks much !
Great flavor! Easy to make!
I have made these cookies a dozen times and my whole family loves them. I add a few extra tablespoons of sugar just to make them a bit sweeter and they are absolutely delicious….and very easy and fast to make.
Tried this recipe. Cumin Cookies turned out so well and crispy. Thanks for the recipe?
h Manali I am going to try your recipes tomorrow ajwain cookies with whole atta . n jeera cookies with all purpose flour . in jeera cookies you have not mentioned the baking powder. please make it clear for me. thanks
please follow the recipes as mentioned, thanks.
This is my go to recipe for Cumin cookies!
Love this simple recipe.
thank you!
Hi
Can we use salted butter?
you may
How long can it be stored ?
Also,can I freeze the cookies and use it as required ?
not sure about freezing, never done that. Store, in an airtight container, good for 10-14 days at least, they never last that long
These cookies turned out so well. Perfect measurements and fail proof recipe. Baked a batch of Oats jaggery cookies last night. Delicious with chai!! Thank you so much??
Can we replace all purpose flour with wheat flour ,other ingredients remains the same in quantity.
yes you may
Shouldn’t we freeze the dough for like 30 mins?
I don’t, up to you
Can you please share recipe in metric measurements. TIA?
when I make these again, sure
These came out absolutely delish! Will be making again!
awesome!
Hi, can I bake them in convection mode microwave? The lowest temperature I have is 180 degree Celsius. So I can’t go to 325F..can you suggest an alternative?
Hi I don’t have a microwave so I am afraid I can’t help since I have never baked in one. 180 C =350 F so you can very well reach 325 F which is 163 degree C
Did you try in the microwave oven?
sorry I don’t have much experience with microwave baking
My cookies turned out super good. I tweaked it a lil bit and added kasuri methi, ajwain and jeera. I made a big batch and it was gone in 2 days.
Perfect recipe!! I was really craving for this exact taste of sweet and salty. Incredibly easy to make and needs no fancy ingredients. Thank you!!
welcome, glad to know!
Can we use oil instead of butter ?
no, butter is needed for flavor. Also if you use oil, the ratio of wet to dry ingredients will change which in turn will change the whole recipe.
I’ve never liked how my baking turned out enough to ever leave a comment or rate a recipe before. But this one, i just had to because it turned out so good and my grandparents loved it!
awesome!
Can maida be substituted with whole wheat
do 50% maida and 50% whole wheat
Since I don’t have a stand mixer or a hand one can I knead the dough with hand would it work??
it should
Can I replace all purpose flour with wheat flour. Does it change the baking time?
do 50% whole wheat and 50% all purpose, that will be better.
Don’t we need baking powder for this recipe
no
Any ideas on what to do with a failed batch of these biscuits? I baked them for 10 min and as you said they are softer or rather crumbly. Can i rebake them to make them crisp?
after 10 minutes, you had to bake them again for 6-7 minutes. Please read the instructions again.
Excellent recipe. Tried and came out fab ????
Thank u so much!
welcome!