Are Cookies Healthy? Karachi Biscuits With Millets, Jaggery, NO EGG, NO baking powder/soda in Airfryer

 Are cookies healthy? Should cookies be part of your healthy diet? 

One question that has troubled you for a long time! Our lives are busy. 

We have a lot of responsibilities to take care of. In this maddening rush of responsibilities, we tend to reach out to that ready-to-eat junk, which is literally JUNK and does your body no GOOD. This includes store-bought cookies and cakes. 

Besides, exposing your body to a lot of calories, ready-to-eat stuff is laden with chemicals and preservatives that your body is not designed to digest. As far as cakes are concerned, you do not eat cakes on a regular basis. 

But cookies are your tea-time companion. Kids are literally addicted to cookies. They are more likely to reach out to their favorite cookie packets in the store. You struggle hard to keep them at bay. 

Can you relate to it? True, this is the case with a majority of kids who have grown up being exposed to market junk. Now their moms struggle hard to transition them to healthy stuff. So it is a good initiative on your part to replicate the taste and flavor of market junk at home without reaching out to all that UNNEEDED UNWANTED STUFF. 

eggless karachi biscuits in airfryer

This way you can RESCUE your little ones from a lot of unwanted junk. You will feel relieved you did. Bake your own cookies because kids are cookie addicts! Even I am! Yes, I love my hot cuppa with a homemade biku. 

So now the question is: Are cookies healthy? Well, cookies are cookies. They use fat and sweetener - ingredients that you want to keep a check on. Too much fat and sugar (read sweetener) are not good (for that matter, too much of anything is bad). But when you make something at home, there are several advantages compared to buying market junk. 

You can CHOOSE your Ingredients. You can Control the sweetener (bake with healthy alternatives - but remember, all sweeteners raise blood sugar levels - healthy or not). What are healthy sweeteners? Will come back to this?

 You can Adjust the fat (use relatively healthier options - market stuff uses hydrogenated fats that simply accumulate or deposit on your liver and do not break down). You can ELIMINATE chemicals, additives, artificial colors, food dyes, and flavoring agents (I was gravely surprised to learn that most confectionaries use ammonia). 

We have discussed baking cookies without baking powder and soda in length and learned that we do not need to include these chemical agents in our cookies to make them crispy. The Right proportion of fat, sweetener, and flour is all that can create magic for you. I have experimented with a few cakes without baking powder or soda. 

Yes, it is possible. Sifting dry ingredients is one step to making cakes without chemicals - the more you sift, the better the results. If you are baking eggless cakes, you need more amount of fat to make a cake without chemicals. 

millet biscuits eggless recipe with jaggery no sugar no maida

Else, baking with egg is relatively easier and you have the leverage to bake without chemicals because eggs give cakes the lift/rise and airy texture. So coming back to where we begun - are cookies healthy? Guilty indulgence is not recommended even if you bake at home. Remember, cookies are still high in fat and calories (especially if baking without bp/bs). 

Yes, you may reduce the amount of calories by substituting flours with low-carb/calorie alternatives. You can also replace fat with unsaturated fat. Stay active and kicking. I love my hot cuppa with 1-2 cookies (homemade). That's it 🙂 In the frame is another beauty Whole wheat Almond pie with jaggery (no bp or bs) *This is calorie-dense from whole wheat, butter, jaggery 🙂 Almond flour is low carb though 🙂 This is just an example to replace one ingredient with another to cut down on calories. But the rest of the ingredients do make it a high-calorie snack. Again, homemade is healthy. Eat in moderation but still Enjoy your homemade stuff ! Stay active and kick away stress.

Millet karachi Biscuits with jaggery, malai No Baking powder and soda 

With the right amount and proportions of ingredients, you can bake with malai (saroo in Odia and cream in English- cream that floats on  boiled milk). To me, malai acts like condensed milk and the Punjaban in me is crazy for this cream. But it's been ages since I indulged in malai. Gone are the days when I used to fill malai as a layer sandwiched between two glucose Biscuits.

 I was crazy for it. Lol 

Then the health ka keeda cautioned me against indulging in guilty eating. Malai is fat and I literally parted ways with it. It was tough to refrain from my favorite food but when the health bug bites you, the first thing that seems like a villain is FAT. 

So I sacrificed malai in an instant. In fact, I started to distance myself from all things fat. Ghee was far from my reach, for I saw fat as an enemy. But my dear friends, it's not the best approach to exclude fat from your diet. A little amount of fat is necessary. 

Our bodies need some fat for cell regeneration. There are some essential vitamins that are fat-soluble so your body needs fat. With that said, you ought to cherry-pick your ingredients. What type of fat is good for the body? Always reach out to unsaturated fats, including monosaturated and polyunsaturated. Limit the use of Saturated fats and trans fats. You may try including nuts and seeds as part of your healthy diet, which are loaded with good fat and help raise your HDL levels. Some nuts, such as almonds, help lower your LDL too. But say no to guilty indulgence. Watch your portions. There are different schools of thought that consider one type of fat better than other. 

I just follow my research studies and logic. But for this millet Cooke recipe, I have used malai as fat and jaggery to sweeten the biscuits , which are flavored with coconut flour and homemade tutti-fruity made without color or heating.

Ingredients

1 cup 240 ml 

1/2 cup coconut flour

 1)2 cup millet atta 

2 tbsp tutty fruity

 1)4 cup +2tbsp jaggery powder 

1/4 cup malai or ghee

How to make Millet Cookies Recipe gluten-free in airfryer

Let's see how to make healthy millet cookies in airfryer.

Whip together malai and sifted jaggery powder until just mixed.

Add coconut flour and millet flour. 

Combine the ingredients and add tutti fruity. 

Press the dough gently into a box and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Preheat the airfryer to 160 deg c for 5 minutes.

Cut shapes and place in a baking basket.

Bake millet eggless cookies at 160 deg c for 15-18 min or longer, depending on your over, otg, or airfryer settings. 

Timing remains the same, though temperature might vary from one appliance to another.

Let cool and enjoy an outburst of flavor. You will love those naturally sweetened and colored tutti fruity bits in eggless gluten-free millet Karachi biscuits without baking powder or soda.