Kaju Phool Cookies

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When I was in India I came across every shape and style of mithai (Indian sweets) and one of my favorites was kaju phools (cashew flowers). Kaju phools are made of cashew fudge that’s shaped and decorated to look like lotus flowers. Basically kaju katli in a rounder, more glam form! I wanted to see if I could turn them into tea cookies! I used a basic wedding cookie dough recipe and added in a ground cashews and a touch of doodh masala for more flavor!

It took a little trial and error to try and get the cookies to keep their shape, but in the end, I got it! I made them by wrapping different colors of cookie dough around each other, making almost a cookie version of a Gobstopper! I then froze them to help them keep their shape, covered them in gold leaf, and cut an X into the cookie dough balls before baking. The key to making these kaju phool cookies is to keep freezing the dough! The dough is quite soft, so freezing the dough balls before wrapping them in another color helps keep them round.

My kaju phool cookies also kind of look like little cut guavas or watermelon to me, too! Either way, I think my kaju phool cookies look adorable and pair beautifully with chai since they aren’t too sweet!

Kaju Phool Cookies

Author: Milk and Cardamom
Total Time: 45
Yield: 12 1x
Diet: Vegetarian

Print Recipe

Description

Buttery, tender tea cookies that look like kaju phool (cashew flowers) mithai. Perfect with a cup of chai! Makes 12 cookies.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
In a medium bowl, add the butter, powdered sugar, cardamom, and salt, and whisk until well combined. Add the vanilla and ground cashew powder and mix for 1 minute. Fold in the flour until you have a smooth cookie dough.
Split the dough into 3 even amounts (~122 g each). Dye each dough ball pink, yellow and green. I add two drops of the following and then fold the dough on itself over and over again until the color is even. Fold the doodh masala into the pink dough ball. Cover all the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Divide each color of dough into 12 even balls, (~11 g each). Roll the pink dough into a ball and freeze for 10 minutes. Then wrap the yellow dough around each pink dough balls and roll it until it’s smooth. Freeze the pink dough balls for another 10 minutes. This helps the balls keep their shape as your wrap them. Finally wrap the green dough around the cookie dough ball and roll until it’s smooth. Freeze for an additional 10 minutes. Top each dough ball with gold or silver leaf and then cut a X into the each dough, making sure to only go halfway down, if you go too far the cookie will fall apart while baking.
Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes or until the bottoms are just golden brown. The cookies will naturally open up slightly while baking! Cool completely on a rack before enjoying.