Eggless,Vegan Ragi/Finger Millet Cookies

It's raining Ragi/Finger Millets at our home! Ragi as I mentioned in my earlier post, is a good source of protein, calcium, fibre and carbohydrates. So why not try every possible dish that could be made with Ragi.

Baking cookies have always fascinated me, ever since I started baking. I try and make them by all  means a healthy ones, most of them ending in the trash but that does not stop me from trying. Along these lines, I had to compulsively bake some Ragi cookies that's so famously available in all super markets and home bakers list. But I wanted to make it egg-less, flour-less and a Vegan one too. It all seemed impossible but when I finished I was glee that I had my Ragi cookies freshly baked and more so the aroma of baking just excited me.

Cookies are the easiest ways to start off with kids helping in the kitchen and cooking, like the toppings of the cookies, mixing the flours, assembling them in the baking tray. Since Kavya was behind me for chocolates, I traded it with some help from her the cookie toppings. Isn't she good? We were so thrilled when we saw the cookies nicely decorated with chocolates and cashews.


Here's what the cookie takes to bake

Ingredients

Ragi Flour                                                                              200 gms
Almond Meal ( Ground Blanched/Unblanched Almonds)    100 gms
Powdered Sugar                                                                    150 gms (adjust according to your taste)
Baking Powder                                                                      1 tsp
Chocolate Powder                                                                  3 tbsp
Cinnamon Powder                                                                 3/4 tsp (if you like the flavour inc to 1 tsp)
Peanut Butter                                                                         150 gms
Chocolate Chips & Broken Cashews                                     Handful for the toppings

Milk (skip if you want it to be vegan)                                    1/4 to 1/2 cup


My way of making
1. In a wok dry fry the Ragi Flour, this way the cookies tastes better rather than the chewy nature.
2. In a bowl sift together the Ragi Flour, Almond meal, sugar, baking powder, chocolate powder and cinnamon powder together.
3. To this add the Peanut butter and bring them together to make a dough.
4. Pinch out some dough and press them between your palms to flatten them and lay them in the baking tray leaving about few inches gap between each.
5. Preheat your oven to 180C and meanwhile top the cookies with nuts of your choice.
6. Bake the cookies at 180C for about 30 minutes. Mine was done around the 27th minute .
7. Cool them totally and enjoy them as a snack or a quick breakfast.
8. Store them in air tight containers or refrigerate them for longer shelf life

Notes
1. Milk could be used for preparing the dough but then your dish will not remain Vegan.
2. You could use White flour/Cornflour too, but that would make the dish highly unhealthy and will need to adjust the butter accordingly.
3. Jaggery could be another alternative to sugar and taste may vary, if any one tries let me know.