These delicious homemade kueh makmur biscuits are made with a mix of ghee, coconut, palm sugar and more. They'll be a warm way to embrace any festive occasion, all with a little bit of sweetness and even peanut filling, if you prefer.
Yield: Makes 24
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Difficulty Level: 4/5
Ingredients
- 2½ cups (375 g) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 150 g ghee, melted
- ⅓ cup (80ml) cold water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Green food colouring
- ½ cup (40 g) desiccated coconut, roasted
- ⅓ cup (90 g) grated dark brown palm sugar
- ½ cup (80 g) icing (confectioners') sugar
Steps
01. Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease and line a large oven tray with baking paper.
02. Spread flour over a large oven tray. Bake 8 mins or until lightly toasted; cool. Sift flour into a large bowl; make a well in the centre and pour in the warm ghee, the cold water and vanilla. Using a dinner knife, stir until the mixture just combines. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into two even portions; tint one portion pale green, knead until smooth and evenly coloured. Knead plain portion until smooth.
03. Using your hands, combine the coconut and palm sugar in a small bowl until mixture clumps together; shape ¾ tsp of the mixture into 24 flattish cube shapes.
04. Roll 1 tbsp of the dough into a slight oval shape; flatten with the palm of your hand until 5 cm (2 inches) wide. Place a piece of the palm sugar mixture in the centre. Bring up dough edges around filling, pinching to enclose filling. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Using the back of a knife or a pastry crimper, mark a leaf pattern on the top of each biscuit.
05. Bake for 12 mins or until lightly golden; cool on trays.
06. Place sifted icing sugar on a plate. Roll biscuits in icing sugar to evenly coat.
TIP Biscuits will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Ghee is sold in tubs alongside butter in the refrigerated section, or in jars in the Indian section, of supermarkets. Ghee is an Indian form of clarified butter , made by cooking butter until the milk solids turn a nut-brown colour; the clear, intensely buttery tasting golden fat is ladled off and used.Photo: bauersyndication.com.au