I’m going to give you a few reasons as to why you should make cookies – they are versatile, customizable, a perfect snack and a quick brekkie. In short, a cookie can make anyone happy! That’s why you should even bake your own batch of cookies at home. If you haven’t started yet, begin with these cute, Fruit Biscuits also known as Tutti Frutti Cookies. Crispy, yummy, eggless and made with whole wheat flour.
Can’t Do Without Cookies
Cookies, or biscuits as popularly called in India, are one of the most common tea time snack. Not just me and my family, we all love to dip these in our tea or coffee and have.
Also, get upset, if while dipping, a mushy portion just falls into the cup or mug and settles at the bottom!
Like most biscuits or cookies, these Tutti Frutti Cookies are also an awesome evening snack.
Since the time I had tried these for the first time during one of the Christmas/New Years, I was hooked to the taste. This recipe of mine has been adapted from a book on industrial baking.
Table of Contents
Wondering what is tutti frutti? Tutti frutti are candied papaya, made with raw unripe green papaya. These small colorful bits add a lovely sweet chewy bite to any dessert or snack they are added in.
The same goes for these cookies too. You can get yourself a pack of tutti frutti easily from a grocery store near you or by ordering online.
Some more lovely recipes made with tutti frutti that you must try are Tutti Frutti Ice Cream and Tutti Frutti Cake.
About Fruit Biscuits Recipe
My Fruit Biscuits recipe is a bit healthier as it is made with whole wheat flour. The other ingredients that I use are sugar, butter, vanilla, milk and candied papaya a.k.a. tutti frutti.
These Fruit Biscuits get done easily with the butter-sugar creaming technique. You just have to pay attention to the recipe and follow it to the T.
Either use a handheld electric mixer, a food processor or even a stand mixer for the same. While these cookies are made with tutti frutti, you can also add chopped nuts and dry fruits in it.
Texture of the Fruit Biscuits is flaky and crispy, and a bit crumbly too. Just in line with the famous phrase “that’s the way the cookie crumbles,” but in a positive sense.
This recipe yields about 475 grams (60 to 62) of small-sized Fruit Biscuits. Quite a large batch! Make a small batch by proportionately halving the recipe.
Pack the Fruit Biscuits in airtight jars and keep at room temperature. This way, the cookies stay good for a few weeks. Make these cookies sans egg, and gift to your near and dear ones too.
How to make bakery style Karachi Biscuits
If you have heard of Karachi Fruit Biscuits, then you know they are cookies made with tutti frutti. You can also use my recipe and make bakery style biscuits like the Karachi Biscuits.
To make bakery style Karachi Cookies, replace the whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour. Using all-purpose flour (maida) will make your cookies softer and crumbly.
You could also add custard powder to the cookie dough. Use a combination of 1 and ¾ cup all-purpose flour and ¼ cup custard powder.
Make sure to add less liquids in your cookie dough when you make these fruit biscuits with all-purpose flour.
Do remember to add ¼ teaspoon of mixed fruit essence or as needed, so that you get the distinctive fruity fragrance reminiscent of the Karachi Bakery Biscuits.
How to make Fruit Biscuits
Make Cookie Dough
1. Firstly, take ½ cup raw sugar or white sugar in a dry grinder, mixer-grinder or spice-grinder.
2. Grind to a fine powder. You can also use ½ cup powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar instead. Keep aside.
3. Grease a baking tray with some butter.
4. In a mixing bowl, take ¾ cup softened butter (140 grams butter). You could use either unsalted butter or salted butter.
5. Add the powdered sugar.
6. With a beater, cream the butter and sugar till the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
7. On a medium speed, it took me about 4 to 5 minutes to cream the butter and sugar till smooth and light.
8. Here’s a picture of the creamed butter and sugar. Also, preheat your oven to 180 degrees C/356 degrees F. The oven should be preheated 15 minutes before baking.
9. Now, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla essence. You can also use ½ teaspoon cardamom powder or ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder, if you do not have vanilla extract.
Also, rose essence or extract can be added. In fact, you can add any fruit extract or essence.
10. Fold the vanilla extract with the creamed mixture.
11. Next, directly sift 2 cups (240 grams) whole wheat flour (or atta) directly in the bowl containing the creamed butter.
You can also sift the flour in a plate and then add. Instead of whole wheat flour, you can also use all-purpose flour or maida or half-half of both the flours.
12. Now, add 3 to 4 tablespoons milk. I added 4 tablespoons. Depending on the quality of flour, you may need to add more or less milk.
The milk helps in binding and to get the mixture together in a dough.
13. Begin to gently mix with your hands.
14. Mixing gently, gather the whole mixture in a dough. Do not knead. The mixture should be able to come together and hold easily.
Tip 1: Add 1 or 2 tablespoons more milk if the dough is not able to come together in a dough.
Tip 2: In case, the dough becomes sticky, sprinkle some flour evenly all over and gently mix again.
Assemble and Shape
15. Before you roll and cut the cookies, preheat your oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 180 degrees C/356 degrees.
Roll the cookie dough gently with a rolling pin to an even thickness of about 0.5 cm.
Tip: If the dough feels too soft, then wrap it up with a cling film or cover in a bowl and refrigerate for 15 to 20 minutes.
16. Sprinkle 4 to 5 tablespoons tutti frutti evenly on the rolled cookie dough.
17. Gently roll and press the tutti frutti with the rollin pin, so that they get stuck and embedded in the dough.
18. With a biscuit cutter, cut the cookie slices.
Bake Fruit Biscuits
19. Gently remove them and place on the greased baking tray. These cookies are light and soft, so do remove gently and carefully without breaking them.
20. Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees C/356 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or till the top becomes light golden. Since oven temperatures vary, it may take less or more time. So, keep a check.
For convection ovens, use the preheating and baking temperature of 165 to 170 degrees C/329 to 338 degrees F. In an OTG, keep the tray on the center rack with both the top and bottom heating elements on.
21. Bake till the cookies are light or pale golden. Do not over bake them as then they will become very hard. Here’s a closer look of the cookies.
22. The base should also be light golden to golden as you see in the picture below. I baked in two batches as I have a small oven. If you have a big oven, you can bake the cookies in one go.
23. After a minute, place them on a wired rack. Let them cool to room temperature. Once cooled, store them in an air-tight box or jar.
24. Serve Fruit Biscuits as a sweet snack or tea time snack.
Expert Tips
- If you don’t want to make these cookies with whole wheat flour, then use all-purpose flour (maida) or half-half of both.
- Sugar alternative? Jaggery powder. But make sure to filter out the hard particles from the jaggery powder. You can even grind it to fine in a mixer. Ensure that the cookie dough does not have any jaggery granules.
- Substitutes for butter in this Tutti Frutti Cookies recipe is Ghee. If you use oil, you will have to add some baking powder to the dough.
- Other flavoring alternatives for vanilla are green cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, rose essence/extract or any other fruit essence/extract like orange extract, pineapple extract or strawberry extract. If using any fruit or spice essence, just add 1 to 2 drops of it.
- Less or more milk in flour? Depends on the quality of the flour. So, adjust the quantity of milk accordingly.
- You have to gather the entire mixture, without kneading, to form a dough. Not being able to bring the mixture together? Solve this problem with 1 to 2 tablespoons more milk added. A sticky dough? Sprinkle some flour evenly all over and mix again gently.
- The baking time will vary, as temperatures are different in each oven model. Cookies can take less or more time to bake. So, adjust your baking timings accordingly.
FAQs
Yes. With whole wheat flour, the cookies are a little healthier and have a unique earthy flavor. However, you can swap it with maida or all-purpose flour. Doing so will make them taste like bakery style Karachi Fruit Biscuits.
You can just use your hands or mix with a spatula or spoon till the mixture comes together in one ball of cookie dough.
Avoid pressing or giving any kneading strokes. If you feel the mixture is dry, add some milk. This helps in binding the mixture.
Certainly, you can by replacing the sugar with it. However, keep in mind the following: Use a sieve to filter out hard particles in the jaggery powder or run it in a mixer to make it finer.
The cookie dough should not have any small hard granules of jaggery. You can even mix grated/chopped jaggery with the milk used in the recipe.
Yes, it is possible, but cookies made with oil are softer and not crisp and firm. So, if you are ok with this, you can use ⅓ cup oil in this recipe in place of the butter and also remember to add about 1 teaspoon baking powder to the flour.
Try baking for some more time as temperatures vary from oven to oven. It can take more or less time. Preheating the oven 15 minutes before beginning to bake is also important.
Yes, you can. In this case, just increase the quantity of milk as with the said amount the mixture will be dry.
No, you should not leave the cookie dough at room temperature. You should cover them and refrigerate till further use.
It is advisable that you sprinkle it on top as if you add in the cookie dough, then rolling it becomes a bit difficult.
More Cookie Recipes To Try!
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Fruit Biscuits Recipe (Tutti Frutti Cookies)
Ingredients
- 240 grams whole wheat flour or 2 cups – swap with all-purpose flour or maida for making bakery style Karachi Biscuits. Read point no 1 in notes
- 140 grams Butter or ¾ cup softened butter, unsalted or salted
- 100 grams raw sugar (or white sugar) or ½ cup sugar or ½ cup powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- 35 to 40 grams tutti frutti or 4 to 5 tablespoons tutti frutti (candied papaya)
- 3 to 4 tablespoon milk or add as required
- 2 to 3 teaspoons butter – for greasing the baking tray
- ¼ teaspoon mixed fruit essence – optional and if making Karachi Bakery style fruit biscuits
Instructions
Making Dough
- Firstly take the sugar in a dry grinder or mixer-grinder or spice-grinder.
- Grind to a fine powder and set aside. You can also use ½ cup confectioner' sugar or powdered sugar instead.
- Grease a baking tray with some butter.
- In a mixing bowl take the softened butter and powdered sugar.
- With an electric beater, cream the butter and sugar till the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
- On a medium speed, it took me about 4 to 5 minutes to cream the butter and sugar till smooth, fluffy and light.
- Add vanilla extract or vanilla essence. You can also use ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder or ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder, if you do not have vanilla extract. Also rose essence or extract can be added. In fact you can add any fruit extract or essence. If using any fruit or spice essence, add ¼ teaspoon of it.
- Fold the vanilla extract with the creamed mixture.
- Next directly sift the whole wheat flour directly in the bowl containing the creamed butter and sugar. You can also sift the flour in a plate and then add. Instead of whole wheat flour, you can also use all purpose flour or maida or half-half of both the flours.
- Now add 3 to 4 tablespoons of milk. Depending on quality of flour you may need to add more or less milk. The milk helps in binding and to get the mixture together in a dough.
- Begin to gently mix with your hands and gather the whole mixture in a dough. Do not knead.
- The mixture should be able to come together and hold easily. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons more of the milk if the cookie mixture is not able to come together in a dough.
Assembling and Shaping
- Preheat oven for 15 to 20 minutes 180 degrees C/356 degrees F.
- If the dough has become to soft too handle, keep it covered in a bowl or wrap in cling-film and place in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Roll the dough gently having a thickness of 0.5 cm.
- Sprinkle the tutti frutti evenly on the rolled cookie dough.
- With the rolling pin, gently press the tutti frutti so that they get embedded in the dough.
- With a biscuit cutter, cut the cookie slices.
- Gently remove them and place on the greased baking tray.
Baking Fruit Biscuits
- Bake the cookies in the preheated oven at 180 degrees C/356 degrees F for 15-20 mins till the tops become light golden.
- Keep the baking tray with the cookies on the center rack with both the top and bottom heating elements on.For convection ovens, use the preheating and baking temperature of 165 to 170 degrees C/329 to 338 degrees F.
- Since oven temperatures vary, it may takes less or more time. So do keep a check.
- Bake till the cookies are a light or pale golden. Do not over bake them as then they will become chewy or hard.
- The base should also be light golden to golden.
- After a minute, place them on a wired rack. Let them cool at room temperature. Once cooled, store them in an air-tight box or jars.
- Serve these cookies as a sweet snack or tea time snack.
Notes
- If using all-purpose flour, add less milk to bind the flour. First add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk and later add as needed for the cooking mixture to come together. You could also add custard powder to the cookie dough. Use a combination of 1 and ¾ cup of all-purpose flour and ¼ cup custard powder. Also add ¼ teaspoon of mixed fruit essence together with the vanilla extract or essence.
- Other flavoring alternatives for these fruit biscuits are green cardamom powder, ground nutmeg powder, rose essence or extract or any other fruit essence/extract like orange extract, pineapple extract or strawberry extract.
- If using any fruit or spice essence, simply add ¼ teaspoon of it or as needed.
- Add less or more milk in flour depending on the flour’s texture and quality. So, adjust the quantity of milk accordingly.
- You have to gather the entire mixture, without kneading, to form a dough. Not being able to bring the mixture together? Solve this problem with 1 to 2 tablespoons more milk added. For a sticky dough, sprinkle some flour evenly all over and mix again gently.
- The baking time will vary, as temperatures are different in each oven model. Cookies can take less or more time to bake. So, adjust your baking timings accordingly.
- I baked in two batches as I have a small oven. If you have a big oven, you can bake these fruit biscuits in one go.
- The approximate nutrition info is for 1 small cookie made from the recipe.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Fruit Biscuits recipe from the blog archives first published in December 2015 has been updated and republished on September 2023.
Dear Dassana,
Tried the recipe yesterday and the cookies turned out to be awesome…i ofcourse used ½ cup ghee instead of butter and the cookies came really good. Do you also have recipes for salted cookies?
Thanks Pavitra for sharing your positive feedback. I will try to add the salted cookies recipe as well.
Hi dassana,
If I want to add cocoa or cashew powder to the flour for change of flavour, should I change the amount of butter or just add more milk as required?
ruchi, add some more milk as with this amount of milk, the batter will be dry. so just increase the amount of milk.
Ok thanks
Welcome Ruchi
ma’am without the baking soda or powder will the cookies rise?
sampada, they do rise. in fact baking powder and baking soda is not essential in all recipes.
What is nutmeg?
rekha, nutmeg is called jaiphal in Hindi.
Dear Dassana,
I made the cookies yesterday. They were awesome! I followed your recipe completely, used half maida and half atta. They sweetness and crispness was just perfect. Thank you for the awesome recipe 🙂 Keep up the good work..
Welcome Mekhala. Glad to know that you liked the cookies recipe. Do try some more recipes from the blog.
Hi Dassana,
I love your recipes and make them quite often. This eggless tutti frutti cookies are the next on my list. Can you please tell me if I can make these cookies with maida?
Thanks Mekhala. Yes you can make theese cookies with maida.
i tried two variations of this recipe today. one was plain biscuits without tutti fruiti. and in the second one i layered chocolate ganache in thin cookie dough. both turned out fine in taste. but both had turned dark from below. Only from below. I kept the otg at 180˚ and it for about 20 min. Can u suggest what might have gone wrong?
navneet, when baking cookies keep the pan or tray in the centre rack of the OTG. if you keep close to the bottom heating element or even slightly above it, the cookies will get too browned or burnt from the bottom. temperature and timing is fine. if the cookie tray is kept close to the bottom heating element, the cookie gets too browned or burnt and also the top does not bake well. so for even baking, i suggest to keep the tray in the center rack of the oven.
Hi Dassana,
It is an awesome recipe. Thanks for sharing it . I make it for my toddler with nuts as I do not give her maida and she loves it . I had one question can I make savory version using this same method?
thanks bhavana. it is better not to give toddlers and small kids maida or any refined food product. you can make savoury version by adding some spices and herbs. a bit of sugar can also be added.
Hi 🙂
I tired this cookie today.It came out really good n yum 🙂 This is the first time i tried making a cookie and I was really happy seeing the result.One thing,I couldn roll it out 🙁 like mentioned in ur recipe.(It was not as easy as chapathi rolling).Like u have mentioned,I added a lil extra wheat flour but was scared to add anymore.Any tips to roll the dough perfectly?
Thank you so much 🙂
thanks for the feedback maha. what issues you faced while rolling. was the dough sticking or the dough dense. if the dough looks dry and dense, then you can add some more milk and mix again. if the dough is sticky, then you can sprinkle the flour. this dough is light. so i am not sure what you were not able to roll it. did you keep it the fridge. if a cookie or biscuit dough is kept in the fridge, then it becomes difficult to roll it.
Hey dassana..!! I am Binal Patel .. can you share jira biscuit (makhniya biscuit ) recipe … plzzzz…
Thanks ….
binal, i will add the recipe in some time. i have got some more requests for jeera biscuits before too. so will try to add the recipe.
Thank you…
hi.. my cookies had a bitter after taste. I didn’t add baking soda. any ideas what could have caused it?
cheryl, bitter after taste could be due to the following reasons. one – the butter used was not fresh, meaning about to turn rancid or gone rancid. another issue could be due to vanilla essence. in the recipe i have used vanilla extract which is different from vanilla essence. so if you have used vanilla essence, then bitter after taste could be from it.
Hi,
If I bake the cookies in multiple batches, then while baking first batch, can I leave the remaining dough/cookies at room temperature for the time being or they should be covered or something?
And I was planning to use steel plate for baking (in the cooker), should I use aluminium foil or parchment paper for base lining?
Thanks
ruchi, cover them and refrigerate. just use the steel plate. no need to use foil or parchment paper.
okay, thanks. some people have commented that they used ghee instead of butter and it turned out well, so if i substitute butter with desi ghee, should I just stir ghee with the sugar? as ghee would not fluff up like butter
ghee will also become fluffy like butter when you beat it. it becomes nicely soft and smooth. but here the ghee should be a semi solid state and too much liquid state.
Can you tell me which brand of electric beater you used?
this is philips brand.
OK, thanks
I’ll try 🙂
welcome nikita 🙂
Hi, I have tried many of the recipes like paneer lababdar , paneer kadhai , mushroom kadhai etc and all turned out great. I don’t have oven and want to bake cookies, I use aluminium thick bottom utensil for making cakes so can those be used for making cookies too ?
nikita, thanks for the feedback on the recipes. yes you can use it for making cookies too. if you can bake cake in it, then you can also bake cookies in it.