Karachi Biscuits/Eggless Candies Fruit Biscuits

Sift the flours, custard powder, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl or use a wire whisk to mix them well. Stir in the cardamom powder. Add the tutti frutti and mixed nuts. Give it a good stir and keep aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter (not melted!) and powdered sugar with a spatula or spoon till soft, fluffy, light and well mixed. Add the pineapple essence and about 3 to 4 teaspoons of milk and mix again.

Slowly add the flour mixture in batches, mixing it with your fingers. It will start to form crumbs. If needed, add more milk to bind the dough together (I added about 6 teaspoons of milk)

Once it comes together, gently make a soft dough (do not knead or the cookies will become hard). Divide the dough into 2 pieces, and shape them into tight logs.

Wrap each log in cling film and refrigerate them for at least an hour. I kept them in the refrigerator overnight. This ensures that the shape of the cookies is maintained while baking.

Just before baking, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade or 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take a large baking sheet and lightly grease with oil or butter. You can line with parchment paper too.

Remove one log from the refrigerator, unwrap from the plastic film and place on a cutting board. Gently, with a sharp knife, cut into slices about ¼ to ½ inch thick and place on greased pan.

Place in preheated oven and bake for 13 to 15 minutes till the edges of the cookies start to brown. They will be soft but firm up on cooling.

Leave on the pan for about 1 minute, then gently, with a spatula, remove and place on cooling racks to cool completely. Follow the same procedure for the other log of biscuit.

Once completely cool, store in airtight containers. Serve these delectable, eggless, healthy and exotic flavored cookies/biscuits with your evening tea or coffee, at parties, in your kids’ lunch box or at your next Diwali,