Sesame Ginger Cookies

Thanks to the pre monsoon showers at Bangalore, the weathers already turned from unbearable heat to unbearable chillness. All that I look to eat now is some soups, cutlets, samosas and masala tea. How I wish I could eat them without having to worry about adding up some calories ;)

Baking healthy cookies has so turned into an obsession for me, that I can keep myself away from anything to do them be it forgoing my sleep as well. Not really! So this time around I decided let me bake something that could give me the energy and keep me on my toes in this clumsy weather.

Ginger and Sesame are two ingredients thats always around in my kitchen pantry. Having googled enough I realized they can do justice to my need of energy. Thats how the idea of ginger sesame cookies came up.

Sesame seeds are a good store house of energy and the abundant presence of various forms of nutrients such as copper, manganese, tryptophan, calcium, ,magnesium, iron,  phosphorus, Zinc, selenium, fiber makes it every bit a healthy ingredient. It also goes a long way to keep cholesterol at bay according to few studies.

A google search on the cookies will give u some links that has cornflour and all purpose flour as their ingredients. I generally avoid them in my cookies these days and I am happy at the end result for I got some good compliments from AR's colleagues.

Ingredients
Whole Wheat Flour                                     200 gms
Brown Sugar Powdered                              30 gms
Powdered Dry Ginger                                 6-7 tsp
Shredded Coconut                                      50 gms
Salt less Butter at Room Temperature          40 gms
Sesame seeds                                             5-6 tbsp just enough to roll the cookies on
Baking Powder                                           1/2 tsp
Baking soda                                                 a pinch would do. 1/4 tsp at the max.

My way of making
1. Dry roast sesame seeds and keep aside.
2. In a bowl mix together the powdered ginger, shredded coconut and brown sugar.
3. In a separate bowl sift together the whole wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Bring both the mixes together and add in the butter and make them into a dough.
5. Refrigerate the dough for around 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 180 C.
7. Pinch out some dough, roll them into balls, press them between your palms to flatten and roll them on the sesame seeds. The sesame seeds will stick on to the cookies.
8. Place them on the cookie tray and bake at 180C for 30 mts.
9. Cool and relish them with a hot cup of tea.

Notes
1. You could add some almond meal to the mix and make it healthier.
2. You could replace butter with buttermilk or milk. The cookies would turn out soft and chewy types.
3. Nuts like cashews and pistas could be added as well.