Buttery, crunchy and perfect as an evening snack, these sweet and salty cumin cookies aka jeera biscuits are an Indian snack recipe you definitely need to recreate in your kitchen.
These cookies can be prepped in advance and stored for weeks, which is another plus.
Ready to try them out? Scroll down and read on to get a quick rundown of everything you need to know about making them.
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Ingredients For the Recipe
You’ll need a very short and simple list of ingredients to put these sweet and salty cumin cookies together.
- Whole Wheat flour: 1 ½ cup
- Butter (softened): ½ cup
- Salt: ½ tsp
- Cumin seeds: 2 tbsps
- Baking powder: 1 tsp
- Baking soda: ½ tsp
- Milk: 3 tbsp
- Jaggery (powder): 2 tbsp
How to Make the Sweet and Salty Cumin Cookies
Once you have all your ingredients ready, here’s the process you’ll need to follow to make the cookies from scratch.
In a large bowl, add the softened butter and all the dry ingredients.
Mix all with your hand into a crumble texture.
Next, add the milk and prepare the dough. Do not knead the dough, just combine.
Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Take the dough out and let it reach room temperature. Then shape the dough into small circular discs.
Next, place the prepared discs on a baking tray.
Apply some cumin seeds on top.
Preheat the oven and bake at 180 degree celsius for 15-20 minutes or until they turn golden brown.
Take it out of the oven and let it cool.
Serve with tea.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your biscuit dough has turned out too crumbly, and doesn’t seem to hold its shape together, you add in a little more melted butter to make the dough softer.
Another great trick to fix a crumbly dough is to cover it in cling wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour before trying to shape it. If the dough still feels dry, you can sprinkle a few drops of milk into it and give it a good mix.
Letting the cookies in the oven for a few additional minutes will get them even more crispy and crunchy. Conversely, you can reduce their cooking time by a couple of minutes if you want them to be slightly more soft.
Using whole wheat flour for this recipe is great- you’ll end up with a batch of cookies that are delicious as well as healthy. However, if you don’t have whole wheat flour or are just looking for an alternative, you could also make use of regular, all purpose flour and have pretty much the same results. 
The simplicity of the recipe is what makes these jeera biscuits such a hit. To bring a bit of variation into these sweet and salty cumin cookies, you can replace the cumin with carom seeds.
Your leftovers and extra sweet and salty cumin cookies can stay fresh for up to 2 weeks when stored in an airtight container.
Tips & Tricks to Make the Sweet and Salty Cumin Cookies
Ready to give this incredibly easy recipe a try? You might want to keep these little tips and tricks handy.
- To get the flavor of the cumin seeds to stand out, you can lightly roast them in a pan until they turn fragrant, allow them to cool down and then use them for the recipe.
- Pounding a pinch of the cumin seeds and then adding them into the biscuit dough is another great way to make the biscuits have more of the intense cumin flavor.
- To make your sweet and salty cumin cookies thicker, roll out the dough in a slightly thicker size, and make sure you allow the cookies to cook for a few extra minutes.
- If you’re not sure about the exact cooking time, just get them out of the oven when they turn slightly golden- they’ll get nice and golden brown in the residual heat after you get them out.
- Remember to allow the jeera biscuits to rest on the tray and then on a cooling rack for a few minutes before you serve (or store) them.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
These sweet and salty cumin cookies are a delight when served with your evening Masala chai, or even when enjoyed on their own.
Loved making this crunchy and delicious snack? Looking for some more easy snack recipes to try your hands at? Here are a few good ones you need to look at.
📖 Recipe
Sweet and Salty Cumin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup Whole Wheat flour
- ½ cup Butter , (softened)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoon Cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- 3 tablespoon Milk
- 2 tablespoon Jaggery , (powder)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the softened butter and all the dry ingredients.
- Mix all with your hand into a crumble texture.
- Next, add the milk and prepare the dough. Do not knead the dough, just combine.
- Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Take the dough out and let it reach room temperature. Then shape the dough into small circular discs.
- Next, place the prepared discs on a baking tray.
- Apply some cumin seeds on top.
- Preheat the oven and bake at 180 degree celsius for 15-20 minutes or until they turn golden brown.
- Take it out of the oven and let it cool.
- Serve with tea.
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