Chocolate nankhatai is a crunchy, delicious and easy to make sweet recipe.  It is made with all purpose flour, powdered sugar, butter, cardamom powder and with a flavour of little cocoa powder which gives a good colour as well as taste too.  Chocolate nankhatai  can be made for Diwali festival or Christmas and is best enjoyed by both elderly as well as kids.  There are different versions of nankhatai like badam nankhatai, pista nankhatai or saffron flavoured, but chocolate nankhatai is liked by all because of its colour and chocolate flavour. Chocolate nankhatai is very easy and quick to make tempting Indian sweet and different from the traditional nankhatai which is also very tasty.

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE NANKHATAI RECIPE

Grind the sugar in a mixer grinder to a fine powder and set aside.  In a bowl, add the powdered sugar and butter and mix well.

With the help of a blender, beater or whipper, whip the butter and powdered sugar to a soft and creamy mixture, till it is light and fluffy.  In a separate vessel, add maida, cocoa powder, baking powder, cardamom powder and mix well.

Mix the ingredients thoroughly.  Now add these  mixture to the powdered sugar-butter mixture and mix well by hand till it appears like bread crumbs.

Add 1-2 teaspoon of milk and knead into a smooth dough.  Cover and keep the dough aside for 10 minutes.  Divide the dough into equal small balls,  Grease the tray with little ghee or butter and place the balls on the tray and make a thumb impression at the top and garnish with almonds, pistachios or any nuts of your choice.  I have a made a criss cross mark on the balls  with the help of a knife to give a different look.

Preheat the oven on convection at 170 degree C for 5 minutes.  Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes.  They need not be baked till golden brown.  Even if they appear to be little soft after baking for 20 minutes, it will become crispy once it is cooled down completely.  Once cooled down, store the nankhatais in an airtight container.

NOTES/TIPS

• You can decorate with nuts of your choice like  cashew nuts, pistachios or even place few chocolate chips on the top before baking them.

• Always sieve the flour to remove any impurities as it helps to get  better crunchy nankhatais.

• Ensure that the dough is of right consistency, neither  too soft nor too hard.  

• Adding choco powder not only gives a good taste but also crunchiness to the sweet.

• Give enough spacing between the nankhatais while placing them in the tray before baking, as they tend to swell after baking.

• You can chill the dough in the freezer for half an hour and then thaw them before  making nankhatais.

• I have used salted butter, so I have not added salt to the mixture.  In case you are using unsalted butter, you can add a pinch of salt to the mixture.

• You can add vanilla essence instead of cardamom powder to get a different and nice flavour.