Thandai Shortbread Cookies

March 27, 2021 by Tiffany 1 Comment

I’m a lazy baker, so I usually go for cookies that can be scooped and baked immediately. But every once in a while I’ll go for something a little more “work-intensive.” It’s been a while since I’ve made shortbread cookies. The nice thing about shortbread cookies is that they tend to have a longer shelf-life since there are no eggs in them. The annoying thing about them is having to chill the dough, and get it to the right temperature to roll out and cut neatly.

I saw these Thandai cookies on thefeedfeed instagram in anticipation of Holi, the Hindu holiday known as the “festival of colors” and which commemorates the arrival of spring (among other religious significance). I won’t pretend to know much more about the holiday itself, but these cookies looked so pretty, I just had to try. Amisha of The Jam Lab explains:

Thandai is a spiced boozy cold milk drink served during the Holi festival in India signifying the onset of Spring. It is made with a ton of nuts and spices steeped in warm milk, and then made cold before serving.

One day I’ll use my leftover Thandai spice mix and actually make the drink, but this spiced cookie is pretty good for the time being. The mixture consists of:

• Almonds
• Pistachios
• Cashews
• Poppy seeds
• Black peppercorns
• Cardamom pods
• Cloves
• Fennel seeds
• Anise seeds
• Dried roses
• Nutmeg

It recently came to my attention (as I was gathering these ingredients) that white poppy seeds exist. However, I did not use them in this mix, opting for the more common black poppy seeds. My dough definitely looked darker and more speckled than the cookies in the featured photo, and I’m wondering if that’s the reason why…

The white chocolate adds to the “brightness” of spring, however, I felt like it made the shortbread too sweet. If I make these again I’ll opt to use dark chocolate, and I’m sure the pistachio and rose petal garnish will look just as nice!

Here’s the recipe from The Jam Lab.

Happy Holi!