Tea Kadai Thengai Biscuit | Coconut Macaroon | Coconut Biscuit with step by step pictures and video recipe. Coconut biscuit is so addictive and can be prepared within 20 minutes. It is a tasty bake for Christmas cookies, get together, kids snacks box/lunch box. During my childhood days, thengai biscuit from our nearest bakery was my favorite. Every time I go to Iyengar bakery veg puff, thengai biscuit, butter biscuit, masala toast are my favorites. One day when we went for a road trip we stopped in a tea Kadai for tea. They have kept them in a large glass jar and I saw the shop seller wrapping them in Newspaper. Shop keeper Anna said thengai biscuit is a tasty side to be munched with hot tea. After coming to the US I realized coconut biscuit is widely popular as coconut macaroons here in the US. Thengai biscuit made with only 2 main ingredients. It is such an easy tasty cookie recipe that has eggs, baking powder/ soda, butter or ghee. Without any preprocessing coconut, macaroons can be made easily. Cookies taste so yummy😍 It is soft inside and chewy with a nutty coconut flavor.
What kind of coconuts to be used for the Thengai biscuit?
For this recipe, I have used unsweetened dry coconut flakes. Coconut flakes I used were lengthy so I just crushed it with hands and used it. With Sweetened coconut / desiccated coconut you can get a perfect texture cookie but it is going to be extremely sweet. Regular / frozen coconuts can be used but dry roast it in low flame for 3-4 minutes till the moisture evaporates. Also, it should not turn brown.
I have tried the same recipe with dry coconut and roasted coconut and both taste good. Store brought coconut was not at all compromise in taste.
Other cookie recipes in TMF,
Cookie collection All-purpose flour is optional for the thengai biscuit. I have made the cookie without the flour with just 2 ingredients but sometimes depending on the coconut, it might be needed. Coconut macaroon dough will be slightly gooey compared to other cookie dough. If you feel it is extremely sticky add little flour else skip it. Condensed milk is my favorite ingredients, in this coconut cookie recipe it acts has a great substitute for eggless/ egg-free version. condensed milk-based sweets/ desserts coconut-based recipes
Thengai biscuit Vs Coconut macaroons
The same set of ingredients works for both thengai biscuit and coconut macaroons. For thengai biscuit follow the same below mentioned proportion but if you are planning to make firm coconut macaroons either reduce the condensed milk to ( 6.9 tbsp) or increase the coconut by 1/4 to 1/3. The key is for coconut macaroons the dough should hold after scooping but for the thengai biscuit, it won’t.
Ingredients: Unsweetned coconut - 1 +1/2 cup (120 g) Condensed milk - 1/2 cup (165 g) Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp How to make thengai biscuit with step by step pictures
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Line the baking tray with parchment paper and use baking spray or gently grease with butter/ ghee
In a wide mixing bowl add condensed milk and mix well with a spoon or an electric mixer. Mix well for a minute till condensed milk turns like a free following sauce
Add coconut and cardamom powder; mix well till everything is well combined
Add all-purpose flour and mix well
I used 1 tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop a small portion of the dough. Level the dough and remove the extra dough
Place it on the parchment paper and Leave 2-inch gap in-between the dough
Bake for 12 - 15 minutes till the cookie edges turn to brown. Cookies look soft after pulling from the over but the turns good after cooling down for sometime
