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
Cumin Cookies – Jeera Biscuits
me and my family LOVED this recipe! the result was exactly what i was looking for! the classic bakery biscuits!
there are many other recipes that might work but friend YOU made my life easy when you gave the ingredients in cups and spoons (US) measurements!
since i dont have a weighing scale – besides i like the cups measurements! so hassle free. so quick, classic and DELICIOUS recipe!!!
thank you! looking for more great recipes from you!
if i may request, could you please do a simple coconut cookie recipe? 🙂
Mahvish, thanks a lot for your feedback! You made my day 🙂 And requested noted, I will definitely try and post a coconut cookie recipe soon 🙂
Mahvish, I just posted a simple coconut cookie recipe which you requested! Check it out > https://www.cookwithmanali.com/eggless-coconut-cookies/
Hi Manali,
This is supreep from IL :). You have a great food blog.
Just wanted to know if you have wholewheat version of cookies. I really like jeera cookie but I see that you have used APF for making it.
I would like to make it with Wholewheat flour. Please share the recipe if you have one.
Thanks
Hi Supreep, thanks so much for visiting my blog! 🙂 You can just replace APF with WWF in this recipe supreep, I am not sure about the texture but you can give it a try. Also you might need to increase the baking time when baking with whole wheat. Hope this helps!
I tried these with whole wheat flour 1cup and 2tbsp AP flour and 1/4tsp baking powder.
Had to add a little more water to get the crumbly dough together. But it rolled fine and the result was great. Buttery, crispy, sweet and salty.
Thanks for a great recipe.
Welcome Ria!
Hey Ria I tried with WWF 1 cup and 2 tbsp AP and 1/4 tsp bp and biscuit turned out awesome thank you
Tried these today morning and they turned out to be VERY TASTY! 🙂 i think the proportion of ingredients that you so painstakingly perfected is actually superb! Loved the balance of salty and sugary flavors. I had to add couple of tbsp milk to bring it together. Made double the quantity and my family is delightfully relishing it. Thanks again.
Aww thank you! your comment made my day, I’m so happy the cookies turned out well 🙂 Thanks for the feedback, means so much!
i completely agree!!! 🙂
Hello Manali,
Thanks for the recipe. I tried it and it tasted very good. but I had one issue in the process. The dough was very dry and wasnt at all binding together even when the butter was at room temperature which had it impossible for me to roll it. hence i had to finally had to add some egg white to it. what would have gone wrong? Please advise.
Thanks again!
Hi Asmi, thank you for the feedback. I am not sure how the dough turned out dry, that’s strange. This recipe calls for 1/2 cup that is 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter so I hope you used the required amount. If the dough was not binding, you could have added 1-2 tablespoons of milk. The dough shouldn’t be dry at all. Try adding 1 tablespoon of milk and if it still doesn’t bind add 1 tablespoon more. Please let me know if you try again. 🙂
Tried these today, and the dough didn’t bind at all even though I followed it to every word. Maybe it’ll be helpful to add how long we need to whisk things
Sabrina, as I have mentioned in the recipe, please add milk to bind the dough if it doesn’t come together. The dough comes together with a stand mixer but not with a hand mixer. And if it doesn’t come together even with a stand mixer, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time till it comes together. Hope this helps!
Omg!! I hav tried these cookies and they turned out awesomeee especially the crispiness of cookies:)
I was looking for eggless cumin cookies and this recipe made my day:) as everyone likes it.
Thanx manali:)
and your comment made my day Rupali! 🙂 Thanks a lot for your feedback and you are so very welcome!
Hello Manali, I am planning to try these and your mango yogurt popsicles.
They looked too good to pass! 🙂 It’s my first time here and I am sure I would come back!
Best,
Ria
Hello Ria, Thanks for dropping by! Please let me know how they turn out 🙂 and I just checked, you have a great blog!
What equipment/appliance can be used for mixing other than stand or hand mixers? Will hand blender do the job equally well?
Hi Rashmi! You can use a simple wire whisk if you don’t have a stand/hand mixer. Whisk will be fine for making simple cakes/muffins etc. The stand mixer just makes the job easier especially if you do a lot of baking!
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe! For me it was a very uncommon idea to put cumin in a sweet treat – therefore I had to try it and I am sure that I will make those cookies again. And again. And again.
Thank you for dropping by Judith! I’m so glad you liked these cookies, yes they are very different from the ones we get in USA for sure 🙂
Lately I had the idea to create a layer cake with rather uncommon seasoning. I came up with an orange and cumin layer cake, where I used this recipe as the bottom layer. It was topped with an orange bavarian cream, a carrot sponge cake, orange marmalade, orange heavy cream and an orange mousse layer. Besides it was a little too sweet for my taste, I was surprised how good the cumin worked in this cake. Thanks again for the inspiration 😉
Greetings from Germany!
Wow Judith, that sounds like a very interesting combination! I would have loved to taste a bite! Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Awesome..
Thanks! : )
Wonderful….
Thank you!! 🙂
Hi man alive , my cookies are in the oven but just now realised there was no baking powder or soda…..will it still turn fine???
Hi manali *..sorry iPads auto texting..
they should turn out fine Zafira…these cookies don’t need baking powder or soda!
I love this recipe.
My mom love jeera biscuits so I tried to make at home , they came out really perfect.Keep sharing such wonderful recipes.
Thank you ☺️
Welcome! 🙂
hello!
hope your doing well.
i saw your site three days back and thought of trying jeera cookies.
OMG is the best word i want to say. i am never confident when i am baking cookies (I am a home baker).
But this time …it was amazing , easy recipe , easy method and they turnout so beautiful and sooooo yummy.
surely will try more of your recipe.
Thanks a lot
I am so glad to hear that Amita! 🙂
Amazing Jeera biscuits!! So buttery and delicious. Turned out really well for a beginner! Thanks so much for the recipe.