Eggless Tutti-Frutti cookies ( Short bread cookies with dried fruit pieces)

Wishing all my followers,readers, blogger friends a very Happy, peaceful and prosperous 2015!

Most Indians are vegetarian and then there are people like us who enjoy fish and chicken once in a while. Many, for religious reasons, observe certain days of the week when they don't consume anything that is not vegetarian. Vegetarian in India means that they do not consume any kind of meat or poultry including eggs or products that contain egg in them.Milk however is not considered non-vegetarian and is acceptable. One of the delightful snack/dessert that I came across was this tutti-frutti cookies. These are perfect for such days!These are like shortbread cookies with fruit pieces in them. These however would be a rare indulgence as they are rather high in calories owing to the fact that it is made with butter. But it is perfect for kids like mine, who are picky eaters and you are looking to feed them high-calorie snack. It is rather easy to make and does not take a whole lot of time. Problem arises when you try to skimp on butter like I did and the whole dough fails to come together and falls apart! It definitely does not shape into cookie pieces! So, word of caution: DO NOT try to cut down on the butter. Next time, I would however try to use coconut oil and try to make it.

Servings:

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter: 2 cups
All purpose Flour/ Maida: 2 1/4 cups
Powdered sugar: 1 cup
Vanilla essence: 2 tsp
Tutti Frutti: 1 tbsp

Method:

Seive flour and keep aside.

Mix together butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Do not overbeat!

Add vanilla essence and the tutti frutti and mix well.

Slowly add the flour and mix until together until well-combined. Do not over mix.

Divide the mixture to make 2 big balls.Using your hands shape each ball into a log.

This is the tricky part and fails if there is not enough butter in the dough to hold it together.

Wrap the log in a cling film and keep it in the fridge overnight ( I am sure 2-3 hours may work as well, but overnight was how long I kept for convinience) or in the freezer for an hour.

Preheat the oven at 350 deg F or 180 deg C.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and keep ready.

Take the log out of the fridge. Using a serrated knife, slice the log into 1.5 to 2 cms thick slices.

Place the slices 2 cms apart on the baking sheet.

Place the baking sheet on the middle rack and bake for 18-20 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. The cookie might be soft in the center which is ok as it will harden upon cooling.

Take the baking sheet out and let the cookies cool down completely on a baking sheet before eating /transferring them to a container.

This is my own makeshift cooling rack!;)

Store in an airtight container. Stays fresh for 8-10 days at room temperature.

Enjoy these melt-in-the-mouth cookies with a cup of tea/ coffee. I am bringing in these treats for my friends at Fiesta Friday.If you haven't been there yet, I would recommend that you do! It is a great place of learning and sharing and most importantly the people there are absolutely wonderful! This week's co-hosts are two of my favorite people Selma@selmastable, whose recipes I absolutely love and my namesake Sue@Burgerbird. What fun!

Cooking made easy:

These cookies tend to spread upon baking and therefore it is best that they are sliced thick.

If you have kept the dough in the freezer, it is best to thaw it a little before slicing so as to get smooth slices.

Tip for healthy living:

People often balk at the thought of consuming butter. Butter in it's true natural state is much better than the various butter substitutes and butter-like products available in the market. They might tout themselves to be low in calories but have many deleterious effects on one's health.

Food for thought:

Gossip is when you hear something you like about someone you don't. Earl Wilson