Eggless Orange Cookies

Citrus based desserts have a special place in my family. I'd been wanting to try orange cookies for a really long time, and I finally made time to bake some early this year.

They burst with the aromatic flavor of orange, and are chewy and soft inside. Also, incredibly easy to make a quick batch in no time at all!

Eggless Lemon & Lime Cookies with Palm Sugar

I love a certain brand of lemon cookies that are handed out in specific airlines. Needless to say, my husband is also a big fan of citrus based desserts and sweets. So, this is actually long overdue.

I have been trying to bake with sugar substitutes like splenda or truvia, so that everyone can enjoy the baked treats. But, it's been a challenge to use these substitutes and get an end-product that is satisfying and not a complete compromise. My mom had been asking me about the availability of palm sugar here, and I was clueless. A quick visit to the organic section of our grocery store revealed the presence of several brands of palm sugar (coconut palm sugar), so I picked up a packet. And what a wonderful discovery! Palm sugar tastes wonderful - it is slightly less sweeter than regular white sugar, but with amazing smokey caramel undertones. I also read that palm sugar can be comfortably substituted for white sugar (measure to measure) while baking. So, I used palm sugar to bake these cookies and they turned out fantastic, probably even better than regular sugar!

Palm sugar is called pana vellam (in Tamil) and is commonly available and used in India and rest of Asia. It has a low glycemic index (that is, it doesn't cause blood sugar spikes) and is rich in nutrients, so it is ideal for both people with diabetes as well as those that are trying to cut down on white sugar. Yes, it is definitely more expensive than regular sugar (outside of India/Asia, at least), so it's not economical to splurge on desserts with palm sugar alone. But, for special occasions, everyone can enjoy desserts made with palm sugar without much guilt.

These cookies are so lemony and chewy and fragrant, they are refreshing and yummy! Plus, because of the addition of palm sugar, the cookies have a slight caramel flavor and they are chewy and soft. And of course, they are not too sweet, so one can munch on a few too many without realizing how many have gone in! Palm sugar is similar to brown sugar in that, while used in baking cookies, they make the cookies soft and chewy. White sugar makes the cookies crisp. So, a mix of brown and white sugars ensures a chewy middle and crisp exterior, like Nestle Tollhouse cookies!

Anyway, I think my excitement at finding a good white-sugar alternative is palpable! I will stop now and go onto the recipe.

Mini Cumin Butter Cookies / Jeera Butter Biscuits

Jeera biscuits/cookies (we call cookies as biscuits in India) are one of my husband's favorite savory items. Every so often, he hankers for them, and requests that I make some. Last weekend was one of those days when he craved for them. Thankfully, they are very easy to make and takes just 30 minutes of total work. 

I use two basic methods to make these cookies. The most frequently used recipe is this one (with cumin seeds instead of oregano), and the other commonly used is this one (with lots of cumin!). This time I borrowed elements from both recipes and decided to add more butter (sinful!) for the buttery aroma reminiscent of the melt-in-your-mouth powdery soft butter biscuits we get in Indian bakeries!

Also, this time I used a 1" (I think it's 1", but could be slightly smaller or larger) fluted round cookie cutter to make cookies that look like clouds of puffed buttery, cumin-y, golden-brown crunchiness! Anything that is a mini/baby version of anything is cute by default, right?!