Eggless Almond and Custard powder cookies

These cookies were inspired by Fauzia M Afif’s custard cookies. I initially thought of going the same way but by the time I pinged my hubby saying I’m planning on making them he was like- “just custard cookies ” and here I would sincerely like to mention that when it comes to his regular food my hubby prefers the simplest the best. But give him snacks, midnight munchies or dessert (which he is not so fond of) he is nowhere near simple. So I thought of adding almond essence and then garnishing with finely chopped almond with a hope that it might click. I kept my fingers crossed till he was back from work, served it with tea, and was actually relived to get the nod from him. This might not be the perfect version but it is quick , delicious and sure is a hit. Did I forget to mention in the whole drama that these are egg less? Well I used milk to bind the flour so the cooking time stretched a bit extra but the texture is almost same.

Preparation time- 10 minutes

Cooking time- 20 minutes

Ingredients-

Custard powder- ½ cup

All purpose flour- 2 cups

Butter- 250gm

Castor sugar- ½ cup

Almond essence- ½ tsp

Finely chopped almonds – ½ cup

Milk – ½ cup

Method-

Mix custard powder and flour in a bowl. Cream sugar and butter along with almond essence in a separate bowl, once the sugar is incorporated mix the flour mixture. Work on the dough by adding tsp of milk to bring the dough together. Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate it for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C and prepare the baking tray. You can use baking sheet / parchment paper or grease it with simple butter and sprinkle flour on it. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and using a cookie cutter cut as per desired shape. Place it on the tray, sprinkle the almond on top of the cookies and seal it off by brushing some milk carefully on the top and the edges (this gives the golden brown color). Bake for 20-25 minutes.