10 Healthy Christmas Recipes for the Whole Family

4. Chavanprash Gingerbread Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oats, heaped
• ½ cup Ragi  flour
• ½ cup oil
• ¼ cup jaggery powder
• 2 tablespoon chavanprash
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Take a 5 liter pressure cooker that has a wide mouth. Remove the whistle and gasket of the cooker lid.
2. Add 2 cups of salt in the cooker. Place a stand over the salt. 
3. Using butter, grease an aluminium plate that fits inside the pressure cooker. 
4. Dry roast the oats lightly. Cool and grind it to a powder to get oat flour.
5. To the the oats flour, add the ragi flour, baking powder, salt and jaggery powder and mix well.
6. Add oil and chavanprash to the flour mix. Mix well to get a smooth dough.
7. Cover the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
8. Take out the dough and divide the dough into 2 portions. Re-wrap one half in the plastic wrap and refrigerate.
9. Place the other dough ball between 2 sheets of parchment paper.
10. Roll out the dough between the parchment till the dough is about ¼” thick.
11. Remove the top parchment paper and cut out cookies using cookie cutters of your choice.
12. Transfer the cookies to the greased plate, leaving enough space between the cookies. 
13. Collect the leftover cutouts of the dough and roll them again into a dough ball.
14. Repeat steps 9-11 until you use up all the dough, including the dough in the fridge.
15. Place the plate with cookies in the refrigerator for 15- 20 minutes.
16. You can bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or use a pressure cooker.
17. To preheat the pressure cooker, cover the cooker and heat on medium flame for 15 minutes.
18. Take out the plate of cookies and place it on the rack of the preheated pressure cooker. Place the cooker lid.
19. Bake the cookies at low flame for about 15 minutes. The cookies turn dark and may feel soft in the center. They will harden as they cool. 
20. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.
21. Bake the remaining of the cookies using the pressure cooker in the same manner as described above.

5. Dates and Nuts Cooker Cake

Ingredients:

• 1½ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup dates, pitted
• 1¼ cup milk
• 1 cup chopped nuts and dry fruits like almonds, walnuts, figs, dried black currants, dried cranberries, candied cherries
• ½ cup fresh apple juice
• ½ cup oil with a neutral flavor
• ½ tsp ginger powder
• ½ tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Take a 5 liter pressure cooker that has a wide mouth. Remove the whistle and gasket of the cooker lid.
2. Add 2 cups of salt in the cooker. Place a stand over the salt. 
3. Reserve some dry fruits to garnish the cake. Soak the remaining nuts and dry fruits in apple juice for 2 hours.
4. Soak the pitted dates in warm milk for around one and a half hours.
5. Grind the dates with the soaking milk to get a smooth puree. Add oil and blend again.
6. In a mixing bowl, sift the whole wheat flour, cinnamon powder, ginger powder, baking powder and salt.
7. Add the dates oil puree and the soaked nuts along with any left over juice. Mix well with a wooden spoon. 
8. If the batter appears too dry, add a little milk to adjust the consistency.
9. Pour the batter to an 8 inch greased or lined baking tin. Tap it twice on the kitchen counter to release trapped bubbles.
10. Garnish the top of the cake with the reserved chopped nuts.
11. To preheat the pressure cooker, cover the cooker and heat on medium flame for 15 minutes
12. Carefully place the cake tin on the stand in the cooker. Cover and bake on low-medium flame for 40-45 minutes.
13. You can also bake the cake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 35-40 minutes.
14. Check if the cake is done by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. If you find sticky batter on the toothpick, bake the cake again for 5-7 minutes.
15. Let the cake cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Run a knife through the edges of the cake pan to release it.
16. Place an inverted plate over the cake pan and flip the cake onto it. Use another plate to flip the cake back so the garnished side is facing up.
17. Slice the cake in desired shapes once it cools down completely.