Almond and Pistachio Kulfi Shortbread

These buttery kulfi shortbread are filled with almonds, pistachios, cardamom and saffron. Then dunked in chocolate for an extra special twist.

Shortbread cookies are always a winner in my books. They’re also my mum’s favourite biscuits.

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as a crumbly, buttery, sweet shortbread. If anyone else grew up with those classic red tartan boxes of Scottish shortbread, I think you’ll understand.

If buttery cookies are your thing, especially ones with a little extra flavour, then these Kulfi Shortbread cookies are definitely for you.

Kulfi Shortbread

These are kulfi inspired shortbread cookies. They’re a riff on your traditional shortbread cookies with flavours from kulfi (a South Asian ice cream).

These Kulfi Shortbread are filled with pistachios and almonds to give them a nutty edge. A lot of South Asian desserts are based on nuts so it only seemed fitting to include them here too. We love our nuts!

There’s also a sweet warmth here from cardamom and a floral note from saffron. Both are also used in a lot of South Asian desserts and often in Kulfi too.

These shortbread make for perfect Diwali gifts

The idea for these Kulfi Shortbread along with my Pistachio Kulfi Cookies came about as Diwali gifts. I was always wondering what to give to friends and family to celebrate Diwali.

And being a foodie, it was obviously going to be something edible. So a South Asian riff on some western favourites (cookies and shortbread) led to the invention of these.

I’ve been making these as Diwali favours for years and they’re always a hit. But they’re honestly suited for any celebration really. But I mean, do we really even need a reason to make shortbread?

What is shortbread?

Shortbread are a traditional Scottish biscuits that are made from sugar, butter, and flour. They’re named as such due to their texture being ‘short’, in other words crumbly.

This is because of the high fat content from the butter, which also makes these biscuits tender and extra rich. Hands down one of my favourite types of biscuits.

I also add in cornflour to my shortbread (this is corn starch for US readers). And this helps to make these even more short and even more tender.

What is Kulfi?

Kulfi is a traditional Indian ice cream that’s commonly made with milk, sugar, nuts and cardamom. The milk is often simmered for a long period of time to thicken it and to evaporate some of the liquid, leaving a high proportion of fat solids.

This allows for a more creamy, rich, and slightly more dense result, which is served straight out of a kulfi mould. The flavours of kulfi are running throughout these shortbread and the buttery-ness mimics the richness we find in kulfi.

We’re dunking these Kulfi Shortbread in chocolate!

This makes them a little extra special, which they rightfully deserve. You can dunk them in any chocolate of your preference, dark/milk/white will all work here.

I’ve gone for half dunked in dark chocolate and half dunked in white chocolate. As someone who normally can’t stand white chocolate, I have to say it worked very, very well here.

So much so that I think I have to agree I actually preferred the white chocolate dunked shortbread! The pronounced dairy flavour from the white chocolate just added another layer of flavour that’s quite synonymous with kulfi.

What you’ll need to make these Kulfi Shortbread

I’ll cover the main ones below but the full recipe can be found at the end of the blogpost

• Cornflour – this is cornflour for UK readers and corn starch for US readers. It’s a thickening agent but also helps to provide a more tender and crumbly shortbread
• Caster sugar – caster sugar is better for shortbread or cookies with short baking times as it dissolves more readily to prevent a grainy texture
• Almond extract – I like to use the Nielsen Massey brand for this – if you’re using a high quality brand of extract you’ll only need around 1tsp max. If you’re using a supermarket own brand (which is much weaker), you’ll need around 1.5tsp
• Ground cardamom – this can be purchased from most regular supermarkets in the spices aisle. I grind my own which is also really easy to do if you have some cardamom pods and a pestle and mortar
• Nuts – I’ve used almonds and pistachios here, but you could substitute these for other nuts if you wanted to
• Saffron – it is an expensive spice and a little goes a long way. The higher quality the saffron is, the more colour and flavour it will impart

The KEY tips for making shortbread

• Don’t knead shortbread dough – kneading will create gluten which is a big no no here. We don’t want any gluten otherwise you risk the shortbread becoming tough and chewy
• Refrigerate the dough – this allows the fat to harden and the flavours to mingle. You get a more tender and crumbly shortbread with cold dough
• Don’t even think about reducing the butter – when it comes to shortbread, butter = good. This is crucial for flavour and texture, so keep it in!

How to make Almond and Pistachio Kulfi Shortbread

Let’s start with the shortbread dough

1) Start to mix the butter and sugar together. This just needs a brief mix as we’re not trying to aerate or cream them together

2) This will literally take a minute or less

3) Add in some milk that’s infused with saffron

4) Along with some vanilla bean paste, cardamom, almond extract, and a pinch of salt

5) That just needs another quick mix until everything is incorporated

6) Sift in the plain flour and cornflour (that’s cornflour for UK readers and corn starch for US readers)

7) Switch to a fork and mix the flours and butter mixture together. It will look a little dry and crumbly, don’t worry!

8) Blitz the almonds and pistachios until they’re coarsely ground

9) Add around 1/2 to 2/3rd of the nuts in

10) Then briefly mix that together just to bring the dough together – don’t knead

11) Shape the shortbread dough into a log

12) Then pour the remainder of the nuts on to the counter

13+14) Next, roll the shortbread log into the nuts to coat the outside as evenly as possible

15) Finally roll the log in some baking paper or clingfilm. Then place into the fridge for at least 2 hours to chill

Now let’s bake the shortbread

1+2) Slice the shortbread evenly, I like to go for around a 1.5cm thickness. They’re much easier to cut with cold dough

3) Pop the shortbread onto a lined baking tray and bake

4) Allow them to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely

5) Once cooled completely, give the shortbread a half dunk in some melted dark chocolate

6) Or white chocolate – I have to be honest, I don’t normally like white chocolate. However I did actually prefer the white chocolate ones here, it just adds another level of dairy flavour that’s synonymous with kulfi

7) Then transfer the shortbread to a lined baking tray

8) Finally sprinkle on a few more ground nuts and some rose petals, then place in the fridge briefly to set

Frequently asked questions

Can I make these in advance?

Yes, and I often do. You can make the shortbread dough the day before/night before and leave it wrapped in the fridge until you need it. Add an extra 3 minutes to the bake time to allow these to bake fully if you’ve refrigerated them over night.

Do these Kulfi Shortbread need refrigerating before baking?

I’ve always found better results when baking cold shortbread dough, not only is it easier to cut into slices but also the finished result is more flaky and tender. Hence the refrigeration step in the recipe (sitting in the cold actually helps with flavour development too).

Can these shortbread be made vegan?

They can with simple substitutes. Use a plant based block of butter and plant based milk in lieu of the dairy counterparts. Make sure the butter is the block style and not the spreadable kind.

Use any vegan chocolate you like too!

Can these shortbread be made gluten free?

I want to preface this by saying that I haven’t tried myself. However other users have had success just by substituting the plain flour/all purpose flour with a gluten free flour blend.

If you enjoyed this recipe

Please do let me know! Leave a review and a rating below, I’d love to know how you got on.

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Until then, happy baking!