Orange Crinkle Cookies For Diwali Or Halloween (Eggless, Butterless And Vegan)

Cookies are the best thing to try if you are new to baking. I tired eggless naankhatai (cardamom) cookies for the first time and it was such a fulfilling experience-it was baked to the perfection I can say. Almost a year back I attempted to make oats cardamom cookies (for a health conscious friend) and it was a hit too. Next I tried vanilla cookies dipped in chocolate which was a little advanced type but I will still say the method was very easy and the overall look was very professional. I also made an effort to bake savory cookies with curry leaves and it grabbed lot of attention from my south Indian friends and co-bloggers.

Today I will talk about crinkle cookies also known as snowfall cookies or festive cookies. It is the appearance that make these cookies distinctive- the cracks and the coated sugar crafts the touch of snow flakes and crinkle which is very eye catching and dazzling. Even taste wise these cookies are poles apart from the regular ones- they are soft and chewy like a blend of brownie and cookie.

2 weeks back our friend invited us for lunch and I wanted to bake something special for my friend's family keeping in mind that they are not chocolate lovers. And also to mention I was out of butter, eggs and vanilla essence. So that's when and how I dared to experiment and bake Eggless Orange Crinkle Cookies. It was such a blissful time when the house of overflowing with the warm aroma of orange while it was raining outside *happy dance*. Anyways, everyone loved these cookies and her daughter ate the whole bowl of it.

Why not make a batch of these butterless eggless cookies this Diwali or Halloween –they are a sure shot crowd pleaser and indeed very easy.

Ingredients:

1 medium orange that gives 1/3 cup of juice.

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour/atta

½ cup gram flour/besan

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon corn flour

A pinch of salt

½ cup olive oil

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup icing sugar to dust

Method:

Grate the orange and take out 1 teaspoon orange zest. grate the orange peel to get the orange zest. make sure to grate the orange part and not the white pith as its bitter.

Peel and chop the orange. Remove the seeds and blend the orange to pulp. Strain the organ juice from the pulp and measure 1/3 cup form it.

In a large mixing bowl add the orange juice, sugar and olive oil. Combine till the sugar.

Also sieve the whole wheat flour, gram flour salt, corn starch, baking powder and baking soda directly in the bowl.

Add the orange zest and mix everything to form a soft dough. Cover the bowl and keep in the fridge for atleast 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 20 parts and shape into flattened balls.  Take a powdered sugar in a bowl and roll the flattened cookies in the sugar. Arrange them on a greased baking tray with enough space between them.

Bake in a preheated oven for 185C degrees 20 to 25 minutes.

You will know cookies are done when the colour changes. Cool them on a wire rack.

When cookies cool down, using a small sieve, sprinkle icing sugar on them.

Notes:

For mixing the sugar in the dough you can use any sugar-cane, brown, demerara sugar

For rolling the cookies in the sugar, you will need white sugar that is powdered.

The dust of icing sugar is optional, however it does give nice look.

Remember these cookies are not crunchy ones, they are chewy and soft.

If you want you can use readymade/packed orange juice as well.

It remains fine in a air tight container for 4-5 days.

Serving suggestions:

Serve with tea, coffee or milk.

These cookies are eggless and soft which makes them perfect for adults and vegetarians and vegans.

Pack these cookies in a festive tray,box or a plate and gift to your friend or relatives for Diwali.
Instead of buying ready made sweets, make these cookies for your guests.