Air Fryer Funfetti Nankhatai (Indian Funfetti Cookies)

Name: Air fryer Funfetti Nankhatai (Indian Funfetti Cookies)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 27 min
Ingredients: 500 g Plain flour; 50 g Chickpea flour; 70 g Semolina; 220 g Sugar (castor ); 1/2 tsp Baking powder; 350 g ghee (at room temperature); 1/4 cup funfetti (rainbow sprinkles, heart sprinkles )

My Air fryer Nankhatai with funfetti are so crumbly, melt in the mouth and full of sprinkles! These eggless Indian shortbread cookies, or besan nankhatai, are easy to make with few ingredients. Flavoured with real vanilla extract, they make the perfect birthday or bake sale treat all prepared on your counter top!

Air fryer funfetti nankhatai placed on top of the parchment paper

One of my first memories of Indian grocery shopping was wishing that my Mum would buy me and my brother a small box of nankhatai. Afterall, the job of designated list holder is a difficult task, so I deserved a treat right?!

They had a few different brands of nankhatai on the shelves but the best by far was version that was crumbly with a bite on the inside and a tender "khasta" top. One bite and the biscuit would simply melt-in-my-mouth and release warm nutty and ghee flavours.

Proper bakery-style nankhatai is flaky on the surface and slightly crunchy inside. It also has grittiness which you can really feel once the biscuit has begun melting away.

It should not be chewy like a soft cookie but more like good quality Scottish shortbread. The surface of the nankhatai should have deep cracks.

My Mum perfected her nankhatai recipe when I was younger and now there is no other recipe that we would ever use! This recipe yields perfect buttery nankhatai every single time and this same recipe forms the base for the one we will be using today.

A close up shot of air fryer funfetti nankhatai

Air fryer Nankhatai

Up until now, we have always baked our nankhatai - after all why fix something if it isn't broken? Since owning a few Air fryers in our household, we have been experimenting more with air fryer recipes.

Not long ago I shared air fryer Rose and Pistachio Puff Pastry Cream Horns and Sutarfeni with you guys and that I know many of you have made and loved the recipes. These are perfect to celebrate any occasion!

Air fryer Nankhatai is so, so easy and quick! You can make small batches without having to play about with your oven and heat up your whole kitchen!

The nankhatai only need 8 quick minutes in the air fryer. I also find it much easier to control the temperature of an air fryer. Often with ovens, it is difficult to get the heat just right and depending on fan vs conventional ovens there is just too much variation.

In the air fryer, you will still get the original nankhatai crumbly texture with the characteristic cracks on the surface.

Love making air fryer recipes in your kitchen? Try my Air fryer Puff Pastry Chilli Cheese Pineapple Parcels

Ingredients

(full ingredients and measurements found in the recipe card below)

Flour - for authentic nankhatai that you find in the bakery, add white flour/plain flour or all-purpose flour. Sieve the flour prior to using for the best results.

Semolina - I have used fine semolina

Besan - also called chickpea flour or gram flour, we have used fine chickpea flour

Ghee - using good quality desi ghee is the key to perfect nankhatai. We like to make our own homemade desi ghee from unsalted butter

Sugar - You will need white sugar for these nankhatai. Use caster sugar where possible as you do not want sugar granules in your dough. If you only have granulated sugar to hand, simply grind it down in a food processor. If you do not have access to a food processor, you could add granulated sugar but at the sugar and ghee creaming stage, you will have to keep on whisking until the sugar has dissolved - this takes a while!

Optional - baking powder. Our original nankhatai recipe contains a small amount of baking powder. I completely forgot to add it to these nankhatai that you see pictured above and still ended up with pretty much the same results. I'm not quite sure what to take from this, but I would suggest adding baking powder if you do have it! I will still continue to add it to my future nankhatai bakes to ensure they are airy and perfect inside.

Vanilla - for the vanilla flavouring, I have used real vanilla extract.

Funfetti - funfetti, confetti, rainbow sprinkles, coloured vermicelli, 100s and 1000s - whatever you choose to call them! Choose whichever style you fancy.

You can also use the base of my chocolate nankhatai made with cocoa powder for this recipe!

How to make Funfetti Nankhatai in the Air-fryer + Tips

Preparing the Nankhatai dough

Ensure your ghee is at room temperature and semi-solid. Cream together the ghee and sugar until the mixture is whipped and airy - it should lighten in colour and go pale.

Whisk in the vanilla extract.

Sieve the plain flour and besan into the mixture and add the semolina. Add the baking powder at this stage also.

Bring the mixture together to form a dough

Add your sprinkles and combine well.

Shaping

If you are pressed for time, make round balls all roughly the same size

If you have a little more time, use a weighing scale or scoop/spoon of some type to ensure all pieces of dough are the same size. Do between 25-30g each.

Shape into round balls. Do not flatten.

Air-frying the Funfetti Nankhatai

Preheat the air fryer to 180C for 4 minutes.

Cut parchment paper into the same size as the air fryer basket. Cut through a few holes to prevent the paper from flapping in the basket during the cooking stage

Keep a decent gap between the nankhatai when adding into the basket. They will spread slightly. Nankhatai are not meant to be flat but should have height and still look round.

We have air-fried for 8 minutes. The nankhatai will seem crumbly and soft at this stage but they will continue to cook as they cool so do take them out of the air-fryer. Use a wide flat spatula to remove them gently.

Do not leave the biscuits in the air fryer once the air-frying is complete. The air-fryer remains hot and will continue to cook!

FAQS

Do I need to chill the dough?

No. Many cookie recipes require chilling the dough before placing in the oven. This is to ensure that the fat is cold preventing the cookies from overspreading. In this case, we are shaping the dough into perfect spheres. We are only air-frying for a short period of time therefore the dough balls do not need to be refrigerated.

If you live in warmer climates, you may want to try this step out if you feel your ghee is melting.

Can I bake funfetti nankhatai cookies in the oven?

Absolutely yes, please follow my original Nankhatai recipe to bake them in the oven. Link is above in the post.

As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!

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