The last week of the year is here and time to the kitchen to whip up delicious treats.

Ditch maida for healthy millets and opt for Gingerbread Cookies and a Plum Cake made with ragi and jowar.

They are a little more guilt-free, scrumptious and can be enjoyed by people cutting back on sugar.

Millet Gingerbread Cookies

Servings: 10-12

Ingredients

• 1 cup ragi flour, sieved
• ½ cup jowar flour, sieved
• 1 cup melted butter
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• ½ cup powdered oats
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• ½ tsp cinnamon powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Pinch lavang or clove powder
• Pinch nutmeg powder
• Pinch salt
• Cookie cutters of different shapes, available online
• Icing sugar, for decoration 

Method

• In a mixing bowl, add the butter and the sugar.
  Mix until well combined.
  Add the ragi flour and the jowar flour, powdered oats, ginger powder, cinnamon powder, baking powder, clove powder, nutmeg powder, salt.
  Mix well and knead using your hands to get a smooth dough.
• Using cookie cutters, cut the cookies into your favourite shapes.
  Arrange all the cookies on a mesh rack and place in a microwave oven.
  Select the convection mode at 170°C, set the timer to 10 minutes and press the start button to bake the cookies.
  Once baked, let the cookies cool down completely.
  Decorate the freshly-baked gingerbread cookies with icing or any toppings of your choice.

Millet Plum Cake

Servings: 1

Ingredients

• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup powdered sugar/jaggery
• 1 cup ragi flour, sieved
• ½ cup jowar flour, sieved
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ cup fresh orange juice or rum
• Handful mixed dry fruits like prunes, apricots, walnuts, cranberries, cashews, almonds and black and golden raisins soaked in the orange juice or rum (optional) 
• 1½ tsp powdered mixed spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove and black paper)
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Pinch salt
• ½ tsp vanilla essence
• Milk as required
• Butter to grease the microwave-safe bowl

Method

• In a bowl, combine the oil and the powdered sugar/jaggery.
  Mix well.
  Add the ragi flour and the jowar flour, cocoa powder, orange juice, mixed spices, baking powder, salt, vanilla essence, milk as required.
  Combine everything and mix until you see air-bubbles in the batter.
  Add the orange juice/rum-soaked dry fruits (reserve some for later) to the batter and mix.
  Pour the batter into a lightly greased microwave oven-safe bowl.
  Select the microwave mode and set the timer for 10 minutes.
  Press the start button to bake the cake.
  Once the cake is baked, top with the remaining dry fruits and serve warm with chai.

Recipes: Kind courtesy Godrej Appliances

• REDIFF RECIPES