These crumbly Paan Snowball Cookies are flavored with fresh paan leaves, and gulkand and are super refreshing to enjoy with a cup of chai or coffee!

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 65 minutes
  • Yield: 22 cookies
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • ½ cup butter (1 stick/114 grams, I used salted butter, make sure it's at room temperature)
  • ½ cup powdered sugar (60 grams, + more for rolling, also known as icing sugar/confectioners sugar)
  • 3 large paan leaves (betel leaves, chopped fine using a food processor, use 4-5 leaves if you find small paan leaves)
  • 1 tablespoon gulkand (rose petal jam)
  • 1 tablespoon mukhwas (use any brand of choice)
  • 1 cup all purpose flour (130 grams)

Method

  1. Add butter (make sure it's at room temperature) and 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to your stand mixer (or use your hand mixer). Beat using the paddle attachment on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until the butter and sugar is well combined and creamy. If you have paan extract, you can add a drop of it at this point but this is optional.
  2. Then add the finely chopped paan leaves along with the gulkand and mukhwas. Beat until well combined. You can use any mukhwas that you like.
  3. Then add the flour and mix using the paddle attachment until the dough comes together. If the dough doesn't come together, you can always use your hands to bring everything together.
  4. Now, make small dough balls from the mixture. I got 22 cookies, around 15 grams each. You can make these bigger if that's what you prefer. Then place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper 1-inch apart. You can also roll some dough balls into more mukhwas. Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator and chill for 20 to 30 minutes. This helps in preventing the cookies from spreading when they are being baked.
  5. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Once the dough balls have chilled, transfer the baking sheet into the oven and bake at 350 F degrees for 15 to 17 minutes or until they are browned from the bottom. I baked mine for 15 minutes. Once out of the oven, let them cool for 2 minutes and then roll them in powdered sugar (first rolling). Then let them cool completely and then roll again for the second time in powdered sugar. This give them that snowballs appearance. Garnish with candied fennel if you like and enjoy!

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.