Easy Way To Make Homemade Whole Wheat Cookies Flavored With Pistachio

healthy cookies with atta

How do you make crunchy homemade whole wheat flour cookies?

You are here, so it's understood that you are looking for a healthy cookies recipe, isn't it? Of course, given the amount of disadvantages of refined flour or maida or white flour, whole wheat flour certainly makes a healthier alternative.

After having read and understood how maida affects our bodies, besides providing it no nutritional value, I have quit including it in my grocery. I can proudly say, maida finds no place in my home!

All my baked goodies are healthy, for they use healthy grains and cereals, including whole wheat flour, oatmeal, barley, chickpea flour, almond meal, and what not!

So, let's come back to the healthy whole wheat cookies recipe. I prepared this batch of healthy cookies when mom and dad were here last year. I wanted to send a batch of fresh cookies for my dearest brother.So did I , for home-made cookies have no match in terms of taste and health quotient.


Why Avoid Maida/Refined Flour?

• results in blood sugar spike
• adds empty calories in your body
• lacks minerals or vitamins
• comprises alum for a whitish look, which is an artificial ingredient
• is nutrition deficient and loses 98% magnesium, 80% iron, 70% phosphorus, 60% vitamin B, 50% calcium, and all of vitamin E when it is processed (source:Mercola)

Look for more disadvantages of maida here. 
We are coming to the whole wheat biscuit recipe soon.

Refined Flour Disadvantages

The best thing is you know what you are eating. But the bakery junk that you buy outside is beyond imagination. You never know what is going inside your mouth and travelling to your tummy! Typically, bakeries use maida or all-purpose flour and dalda.

We substitute maida with whole wheat flour and dalda with home-made pure ghee (clarified butter), oil, and milk. This does make a healthy combination.

On top of it, we can add nuts and spices to add a nutty flavor to our homemade healthy cookies. Who would not want to enjoy a fresh batch of baked whole wheat biscuits? Nobody!

In this cookie recipe, I have added pistachio.

Pistachio lends a unique flavor to any recipe, isn't it? Besides making food and desserts flavorful, pistachio benefits health in numerous ways.

Let's see how:

Pistachio Benefits
With a low calorie content of 160 per ounce, pistachios comprise vitamins, minerals, proteins, dietary fiber, and healthy fats. It takes the pistachio tree 10-12 years to bear fruit. Some of the pistachio benefits include a healthy heart and cardiovascular system, diabetes management, weight management, protection from hypertension, and digestion aid.

Packed with dense nutrients, pistachio is a health-boosting aid from nature’s pharmacy. 

heart healthy nuts

There are multiple pistachio benefits to make these power-packed nuts a part of your regular diet. According to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition,pistachios have a higher amount of beta-carotene, lutein, and gamma-tocopherol compared to other nuts, which are rich in vitamin A, vitamin E, and boost health.

The research study reveals that a heart-healthy diet, comprising pistachios, helps reduce serum oxidized-LDL or bad cholesterol levels due to the presence of antioxidants in pistachios.

Moderate use of pistachios can

• ·         improve the level of antioxidants in your body
• ·         lower lipids and lipoproteins
• ·         promote heart-healthy lipid profile
• ·         reduce systolic blood pressure

If you love pistachio, you might want to try this kid-friendly 2-ingredient pista badaam ladoo recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup= 175ml
1 1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup - chilled butter (desi ghee)
8-10- Pista
2 tbsp - curd/yogurt
2-3 tbsp milk
8 tbsp- jaggery powder
8-10 almonds (optional)
1/2 tsp - green cardamom (elaichi)
1/2 tsp -cinnamon powder (optional)
1/2 tsp - roasted fennel (optional)
1tsp- baking powder (or 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda)


Let's see how these whole wheat biscuits are made:

pishta cookies

Whole Wheat Cookies Procedure

1. Sieve baking powder & wheat flour.
2. Take chilled butter. Grate it.
3. Add sifted jaggery powder to wheat flour.
4. Mix elaichi, cinnamon, roasted fennel with wheat flour.
5. Add grated butter to the wheat flour.
6. Add sliced pistachio and almonds.
7. Rub the butter into the flour. 
8. Add yogurt and milk.
9. Do not knead. Just gather the ingredients.
10. Make into 3 logs.
11. Fold into aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
12. Next day, preheat the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.
13. Cut the log into thin slices.
14. Grease the baking tray.
15. Bake the pista wheat cookies at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
16. Do not keep the cookies in the oven for longer than 5 mins. Take out and cool on a wire rack. Store in an air tight container upon cooling completely.
17. Enjoy these healthy cookies with a hot cup of tea.
18. Here's another whole wheat cookie recipe with pista badaam - with a secret ingredient :) Enjoy

If you want to bake on stovetop, here's the procedure:

I have tried making cookies on a greased non-stick skillet (tawa) or pan. Take one iron tawa and place a nonstick tawa or pan over it. Grease the nonstick pan with oil.

Place cookies on it and cover it. Cook on low flame.

Check after 3-4 minutes. Then change side of the cookies. Again cook for 3 minutes or more.

That's it.

Feedback on homemade whole wheat flour cookies by Mili Jain: