Rose cookies (rosette cookies) are traditional Christmas cookies prepared in Scandinavian & a few European countries and also in most of the Southeast Asian countries. In India rose cookies are prepared for Christmas and also for Diwali, and they are known as achu murukku in Tamilnadu, achappam in Kerala, gulabi puvvulu in Andhra Pradesh, and Rose De Coque in Goa. Traditionally rose cookies are dusted with icing sugar and served with tea or coffee.
Rose cookies are prepared by dipping a hot mold into the batter and also into hot oil to form thin wafer-like cookies. Generally, the batter is made using plain flour, eggs, and sugar. But we, Indians, use rice flour, eggs, sugar & coconut milk, and I have prepared the egg-free version. Usually rose cookies are made without adding any food color into the batter but I have used homemade beetroot syrup for adding rose color to these rose cookies.
Rose Cookies Recipe:
Yields: 13 cookies
Ingredients:
| Rice flour (I used store-bought idiyappa maavu) | 1 cup |
| Plain flour (maida) | 1/4 cup |
| Powdered sugar | 1/4 cup |
| Cardamom* | 2 |
| Salt | 1/8 tsp |
| Sesame seeds | as desired |
| Coconut milk | 1 cup |
| Beetroot syrup * | 1 tbsp (or more) |
| Any neutral oil or coconut oil for frying |
*Please refer the receipe for home-made beetroot syrup at the end of this post
Rose Cookies Batter:
| 1 | Add rice flour, plain flour & salt into a mixing bowl and mix well. |
| 2 | Add some coconut milk & sugar and mix until sugar is dissolved. |
| 3 | Add beetroot syrup & remaining coconut milk to get the desired color & consistency of batter. |
| 4 | Add sesame seeds into the batter & mix well. |
| 5 | Keep the batter covered for at least 30 minutes. |
How to fry rose cookies:
| 1 | Heat a frying pan with oil in low flame until the oil reaches the temperature of 170 deg C. |
| 2 | Immerse the mould into the pan for 10-12 seconds. |
| 3 | Remove the hot mould from oil and wait for 5-7 seconds. Dip the mould into the batter right up to the brim. Take out the mould & shake a little to drip the excess batter off. |
| 4 | Now dip the mould into hot oil and hold it without touching the bottom of the pan. When the cookie begins to separate, shake the mould slightly until detached. Remove the mould from oil and fry both the sides of cookie. Take out the cookie using skewer and place it on a plate lined with tissue towels. |
| 5 | Repeat the same from step#2 until the batter is used up. |
| 6 | Store rose cookies in an airtight container upto 10 days. |
Key factors for perfect cookies:
Earlier I was of the opinion that it is a boring, time-consuming, and also tricky procedure to get the perfectly shaped thin rose cookies. Now I have understood the factors affecting the cooking procedure after a couple of trials and shared them below.
A) Temperature:
The most common difficulty faced while making rose cookies is that the sticking of batter onto the mould. It happens due to the heat of oil & mould, but it does not happen due to the consistency of the batter. So we need to dip the mould into the batter only when it is just hot (heating time varies if we use the iron or brass moulds) and dip it into the oil at the right temperature. We can also keep the oil hot in a low flame till the end without adjusting the flame.
B) Batter consistency:
It is possible to make crispy cookies with thick batter and also with thin batter without getting stuck to the mould. So we can adjust the consistency of the batter according to our convenience or preference. Also, we need to learn to adjust the heat of mould according to the consistency of the batter, if the batter is thick it is required to increase the heat of mould a little more and vice versa.
C) Seasoning the mould:
It is mandatory to season the moulds before every use, else the batter may get stuck to the mould while frying in hot oil. We can season the mould by immersing in hot oil for few hours the previous day.
Tips & Tweaks:
- There are about a dozen of moulds of various patterns available in the market for making rose cookies. They are usually made of brass, iron, or aluminum coated with Teflon. I prefer to use aluminum moulds (but not Teflon coated) as they get heated up quickly.
- It is convenient to use a shallow frying pan with flat bottom rather than using a deep pan with a convex bottom.
- For the recipes using powdered sugar & cardamom, we usually grind them together for an enhanced sweet flavor. But you may use icing sugar and replace cardamom with half a teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Since I don’t prefer to use synthetic food color, I have prepared beet syrup and added it into this recipe for the beautiful pink color. First I have cooked the roughly chopped beets in copious amounts of water, separated cooked beet chunks from the cooking water, and then prepared the concentrated beet syrup as below.
- I like to use black sesame seeds for making plain achu murukku, and white sesame seeds for pink achu murukku.
These are such pretty cookies!
Yes, adding pink color to these cookies make them look really pretty. Thanks so much for stopping by.
I love rose cookies !! Because my name is Rosie 🌹🌹
The cookies look so beautiful!
They are a wonderful sight on a nice white plate.
I think everyone is happy to see and eat such beautiful cookies.
Rosie from Germany…
Absolutely! Even these words “Rose Cookies” sounds beautiful & delicious to me. 🙂
Thanks so much, Rosie!
🤗💖
They look beautiful! Almost too beautiful to eat 😉 I’d eat them!
Thanks much, Christy! 🙂
These are so pretty!!
Thanks, Deepa!
You are Welcome dear
I’m so intrigued by the beetroot coloring! Cardamom’s one of my favorite flavors. These look fabulous!
I’m glad you liked these. Thanks so much.
wow! So pretty!!
Thanks so much, Alessia! I will check out your blog posts soon.
They look almost too pretty to eat! 🙂
Thank you!
The shapes are very cute
Glad you liked it, thanks much.
wow……pretty
Thank you,
Pretty! Tower of YUM! ??
Thank you. 🙂
Such a nice creation , looked like jelabis at first sight .They must be delicious !
Yes, indeed! Thank you so much.
Thanks for sharing the recipe and also tips for making it. Much appreciated. 🙂
Most welcome! 🙂
A happy 2020, Megala. 🙂
Adding beets syrup is such a wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing !
Most welcome! 🙂
Thanks for the share Megala. This is interesting indeed ?
Most welcome. 🙂
These are so pretty & delicate! Great job 🙂
Thank you. 🙂
The red ones somehow remind me of ‘chakras’ 🙂
Yes! 🙂 Thank you.
These are so pretty!
Thank you. 🙂
May this Christmas end the present year on a cheerful note and make way for a fresh and bright New Year. Here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 🙂
Thank you so much! 🙂
May this New Year bring new happiness, new goals, and a lot of new achievements on your career & life. Wishing you & your family a great New Year! 🙂
You’re welcome, Megala!
So so pretty Megala!
Thank you.
Aaha.
Achumurukku that too colurful ones. The best for the season. Lovely presentation. You take a great deal of effort to make it reach to us. Really appreciate it.
Thanks for your kind appreciation!
Wow .. Different designs.. that would delight children..
Happy holidays..
Yes, thank you.
(EN) Love the colourful and natural recipes! So thanks a lot for sharing, Megala ?
(IT) Adoro le ricette colorate e naturali! Quindi molte grazie Megala per la condivisione ?
My pleasure! 🙂 Thanks so much for your time.
Looks wonderful.
Thanks Rupali!
Oh my gosh I remember these from my childhood but haven’t seen them since! I think my grandmother made them, or someone gifted them to us at Christmastime, but I can’t say for sure b/c it happened so rarely that we had these. Thank you for this! I want to try to make these b/c I want to taste them again, but it’ll probably be a while before I get to it. I’ll just save your recipe!
Yes, they are indeed traditional cookies, but are still available in every super market/ bakery here.
I’m glad to know that these cookies brought back your childhood memories. 🙂
Thanks Kristen!
Another great post?
Thanks much!
How beautiful!
Thank you. 🙂
Merry Christmas to you!
And to you Megala!
I love how the beetroot ones look. And I’m sure they’re very tasty! Have a great day, Megala!
Thanks much, Mihaela! 🙂
Wishing you & your family a Merry Christmas!
Such pretty cookies! Love the device for shaping them. 🙂
Thanks, Ronit! 🙂
Wish you a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
Delicious cookies.
Thank you!
These cookies are so pretty! Perfect for the holidays!
Thank you! Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas!
Looks so lovely in keeping with the festive spirit! I love the butterfly cookies..they look so cute!
Glad you like it. thank you so much. 🙂
You are so brilliant! Who else would have thought to do the beet juice AND you even included it to show us how. These are beautiful and yummy, what is not to like 🙂 I pray your holiday is full of blessing my friend 🙂
Thanks so much dear friend! 🙂
May the special occasion of Christmas become merrier for you with His love & His blessings. Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones especially your mother & your sister! 🙂
Wow, looks AWESOME! Love the color! 🙂
Yes, I do like this color, but I didn’t expect such a beautiful pink here. 🙂 Thanks Richa!
Beetroot syrup for the color! What a smart idea!
the moulds look very good. How nice to make such beautiful cookies for holidays!
Enjoy. Happy Holidays.
Thank you. 🙂
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
The addition of beetroot syrup makes it so enticing, Megala!
Thank you.
How nice and unique ! Love those cute shapes, perfect Christmasy treats for sure !
Merry Christmas to you and your family Megala ??✨?
Thanks so much! Wishing you & yours a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Aww these are cute! I love the moulds for them too but I can see why it’s a bit fiddly with the batter; it may have took you a few trials to perfect it but it would take me hundreds! Brilliant recipe, Megala!
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas lovely! ♥?
Caz xx
Thanks so much, Caz, for reading & commenting.
Wishing you & your family a Merry Christmas & a great New Year filled with health, happiness & success!
A festive treat, perfect for the holidays. Thanks
Thank you! Happy Holidays!
Megala,this is completely new and very intresting for me.Thank you so much for this share.I am going to ask my friends for this mould.
Thanks Deeksha!
Megala this is one of your best preparation and never knew the history behind these red cookies and it is nice for vegan people who do not eat eggs. Awesome recipe.
Thank you!
Welcome.
Love your recipe, Megala ??
Thank you.
This is one of my fav, Megala. I wanted to make it for this Christmas. But unfortunately I was not able to do it. Yours idea of adding beetroot juice is innovative. Loved this recipe.
Thank you.
Great job! You’ve nailed it. We buy this murukku from a store here. It’s our favourite!
Thank you.