Millet Cookies With Jaggery | Bajra Cookies

 These Millet Cookies, crispy from outside and soft from inside, are a healthy treat to go with tea or coffee.

And the best part is that just like Jowar Nan Khatai, even these are gluten-free and do not require any leavening agents, that is neither baking powder nor baking soda.

Easy to make

Making Bajra cookies is way easier than rolling a Bajra chapati!

All you need is to have Bajra flour with you, rest everything will be at your place by default, so no special requirement. These are so crunchy and yummy that these will be a regular at your place giving the usual all-purpose cookies a back seat.

I am loving my millet recipes. Each one is coming out too good and is definitely a keeper. I am sure with this pace, wheat and rice usage are going to decline drastically in my pantry. And the best part is that these recipes are appealing to everyone in my family. Hubby, as well as children, are enjoying these and want me to cook more of millets only.

I made these gluten-free cookies using jaggery, figs and other nuts. While making regular cookies, we need to take care that the dough doesn’t get kneaded else gluten would be developed which in turn would make cookies chewy. But no such case in millet cookies as the millet flour itself is gluten-free.

How To Make

To make these Millet cookies, I followed the same method as in my whole wheat choco chip cookies but here, instead of butter, I used Ghee and replaced choco chips with figs and other nuts.

The addition of figs reduced the quantity of jaggery to a great extent.

Nuts added crunchiness and thus came out perfect cookies. I thought of adding dates too but these are not there in my pantry so I couldn’t. If you have then add little dates too.

I tried these cookies both with butter as well as ghee and both came out very well. I tried the first lot in the air fryer only and was very happy. But the second time, I used microwave convection for baking these. You can bake these in whichever mode you are comfortable with.

A Little About Pearl Millet Or Bajra

• Pearl Millet is the most popular as well as widely grown millet in India. India is the largest producer of pearl millet followed by Africa.
• Its a high energy cereal as is rich in carbohydrates, protein, fat vitamin A and B, calcium and all other minerals.
• Of all the millets, Pearl Millet is rich in iron. Every 100 gm of Bajra flour has 8 gm iron in it.
• Its name by different names in different regions of our country. In most of the languages, it is called Bajra or Bajri only. In Tamil it is called Kamboo. What do you call it?

Benefits Of Pearl Millet

• Aids in weight loss and also prevents gaining weight.
• Good for sugar patients as it releases glucose slowly.
• Good for lowering blood pressure as is rich in magnesium.
• Good for the digestive system by avoiding prevents issues like bloating, gas, belly cramps etc. as it is rich in fiber.
• Good for preventing celiac disease as is gluten-free.

If looking for more Bajra recipes, then I would strongly recommend to try this Pearl Millet Pudding. A unique recipe!

  Step By Step Recipe 

• Chop figs and nuts to small pieces.
• In a bowl, take ghee and jaggery powder.

Tip: Always sift jaggery powder before creaming it with ghee.

• Beat it with a wire whisk for 30 to 40 seconds.

• Add Bajra flour, salt, figs and other nuts. Reserve some nuts for topping.

• Combine everything together. The dough should be crack-free. If need be, add very little milk. I added just 1 teaspoon milk and it was sufficient.

• Start preheating the oven. I made these in microwave convection at 160 degrees.
• Form cookies.
• Take a little dough, roll it between palms and press it lightly. Do not keep the cookies too thick. I got 15 cookies from this much flour.

• Stick some nuts on it, though optional.
• Line the baking tray with parchment paper or lightly grease it with oil and place cookies on it.

• Bake the cookies for 20 to 22 minutes till the cookies change colour from the sides. Besides, your house will be filled with the lovely aroma that itself will give you a signal that these are baked.

• Take out the tray from the microwave and just keep it as it is for 10 minutes. Cookies will be very hot as well crumbly at this stage. If you try to pick up then they might break. So, let the tray be like this only.
• After about 10 minutes, lift cookies carefully from the tray, better to use a spatula, and place these on a wire rack or mesh.

• Let them cool completely.
• Store these in an airtight container.
• Serve with love, tea optional.

Baking In Air Fryer

• Preheat the air fryer at 180 degrees C. Preheat it for 5 to 7 minutes. During this time, form cookies.
• Place all the cookies in the air fryer basket. You can keep close to each other as there is no leavening agent, therefore, they will not spread much.

• Reduce the temperature to 160 degrees and air-fry the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes.
• No need to flip the cookies in between.
• When the colour changes and sides get golden brown, they are done. Do not expect them to be hard. These will be soft and crumbly at this stage and will get crisp when cooled completely.
• Take out the air fryer basket and let the cookies be in it for about 10 minutes.

• Now carefully using a spatula take the cookies out and place them on a wire mesh/rack.
• Let them cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Baking In Conventional Oven (OTG)

• Preheat it at 180 degrees for 10 minutes with both the rods ON.
• Do not preheat the baking tray.
• Line the baking tray with parchment paper and Keep cookies on it.
• Reduce the temperature to 160 degrees, and keep the baking tray in the middle rack. Use both the rods while baking.
• Check after 15 minutes and bake further accordingly.
• When golden brown, carefully lift each with a spatula and keep on a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once completely cool, store in an airtight container.
• Serve with love, tea optional.

Baking In Kadhai

Please refer to my Nan Khatai recipe for complete details.

Related Recipes:

• Ragi Crackers
• Multigrain Crackers

Let’s Connect

I hope you have liked this recipe for Millet cookies and will surely try it out for your loved ones.

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