Chocolate Crinkles

brownie substitutes...

OH MY GOD !!! Its been almost 2 months since i've posted anything, how did time fly... I know i've been busy, what with my grandmother not being well and then ramadan and plus a talking toddler who doesn't leave me any free time. But still better late than never.
Chocolate Crinkles...I've seen over half a dozen recipes for these cookies, ranging from tough n time consuming to quick n easy...and knowing me you can gues that i obviously tried the quickest and easiet one of them, also i got this from the hershey's website..So thats like my textbook for all things chocolate. I was expecting a traditional chocolate cookie, which would have a white icing sugar exterior. but after having my first chocolate crinkle i realised they tasted just like brownies.I mean without the icing sugar coating, i would have called them brownie biscuits, or something like that. also maybe next time i'll try them with some nuts added to the batter.

anything that tastes like a brownie ..Mmmmm....

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
4 eggs OR 2/3 cup liquid eggs(such as AllWhites)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup powdered sugar for rolling


Method:
Combine granulated sugar and oil in large bowl; add cocoa, beating until well blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to cocoa mixture, beating well.
Cover; refrigerate until dough is firm enough to handle, at least 6 hours.
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in powdered sugar to coat. Place about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until almost no indentation remains when touched lightly and tops are crackled. Cool slightly. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Snowy bites ...

Spinach and Corn Swirl Buns

The Smell of Bread....

Freshly baked bread, or still in the oven bread....I swear if there were a bread scented air freshener, i'll probably buy it and spray it in the whole house every day...

We all love the smell of baking goodies in the kitchen, but I believe that its the smell of oven fresh bread that pulls us into a bakery which we initially had no intention of entering and were just going to pass by it.

There is something really satisfying about making bread at home. And the best part with making bread is that your base recipe remains more or less the same, and you can change the form in which its made and voila, you have more than 50 different dishes (thank you artisan bread in 5).

This recipe is kind of like a savory relative of the cinnamon rolls, and you can put whatever filling you want inside.

I choose a spinach, corn and cheese stuffing this time, for a change, coz i usually end up putting pizza toppings or something similar in most of my savory bread, and i wanted something different this time.

Its the best snack you can make for your kids, and yourself...they will even eat up the spinach without making a face.

Best rolls ever

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups all purpose flour

¼ cup ground oats

1 tbsp yeast

1 tsp salt

1 cup luke warm water

2 eggs

¼ cup sugar or less

1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 tsp pepper powder

1 tsp oregano 

1 tsp dried basil

For filling:-

12 - 15 spinach leaves

1/2 cup of boiled sweet corn

cheese spread of your choice

Mozzerella cheese

chilli flakes

pepper

oregano

basil

sesame seeds for topping 

melted butter for topping

Method:

Soak the yeast in half of the lukewarm water with some dissolved sugar.(keep in a warm place)
mix all the dry ingredients. add the rest of the ingredients, mix with a spoon, and bring together with your hands, you may have to wet your hands a bit.
and keep for proving for two hours, in a cool dry place. If you are using the dough the same day then remove as much as required and shape. you can store the rest in an airtight container in the fridge, or you can even freeze it if you want.
Here is the secret to getting the right texture for the buns. You need to fold the dough over a few times and get that gluten all linked up and excited. Just 3 or 4 turns will do the trick, an extra 30 seconds of work will make all the difference.
let the dough rest for 10 - 15 minutes. Once the dough is ready, roll it to 1/4-inch thick rectangle.
Spread the cheese spread on your dough.
Spread the spinach leaves and corn kernels. Sprinkle with pepper, chilli flakes, oregano, and basil. Cover with thin slices of mozzarella cheese. Roll into a log and cut into 8 - 10 pieces.
Arrange with rolled side on top in a baking tray and allow to rest for half an hour to 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter ans sprinkle with sesame seeds, oregano and basil.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

healthy and tasty !!!

Barazeq (Sesame Cookies)

Nutty delights

slightly chewy, slightly crunchy...these biscuits have a lovely earthy,nutty texture and flavor.
These are classic Arabic style cookies loaded with pistachios, which gives them that distinct flavor that can be found in almost every bakery in the gulf.
i knnow i know, i'm reminiscing about the gulf again (i'm sorry but i can't help it), although the first time i actually tried these cookies was after i shifted back to India. Someone had brought us tray of these sesame crusted cookies from Abu Dhabi, and after my first bite into the cookie, i knew i had to try making it.
so as usual and googled various recipes until i found one which looked easily doable. although i still made a few changes to fit my liking better. this recipe doesn't exactly recreate the same flavours that you get from a traditional labanese bakery, but it was still pretty good, and everyone at home enjoyed them.

Ingredients:
200g sesame seeds
120 g pistachio
120 g plain flour
160 g semolina flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
65 g ghee
1 medium sized egg
70 gm castor sugar
a pinch of salt

Method:
mix ghee, egg sugar and salt together until smooth and creamy.
combine, flour, semolina and baking powder together. sift this into the ghee mixture, combine to form a soft dough. set aside.
coarsly chop pistachios an keep in a plate. keep sesame seeds in a seperate bowl
take some dough (1/2 tbsp) and shape into a ball. drop the ball into the pistachios and coat half the ball in pistachios, then transfer into the sesame seeds. gently press so that the sesame seeds will adhere.
place onto a lined baking tray, sesame side up. gently press it flat with a fork
repeat with the rest of the dough.
bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees C for 15 minutes or until done, cool on a wire rack ad store in an airtight container.

Rustic goodness !!!

is

Garlic Sauce

Mediterranean marvels...

If you have stayed in the gulf, or even visited any of the gulf countries, most probably you have tasted this wonderful condiment cum dipping sauce that is often served with most Arabic, or Lebanese dishes.

Its somewhat akin to a garlic mayonnaise, but it uses only egg whites and not whole eggs. (also for some reason i have mastered this recipe but have failed, each time i have tried making mayonnaise).

I found this recipe, with video on dedemed (the video is really important, coz i have found that even one ingredient put in the wrong order can spoil this recipe)

Ingredients:

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup canola oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 or 2 cold egg whites

Method:

In a food processor add minced garlic, begin processor and slowly add oil and lemon juice alternating them. after it turns whitish add one to two cold egg whites while the processor is blending until you reach mayonnaise consistency. Add the rest of the oil and lemon juice until gone, scrape down sides intermittently. add the salt and give it a few pulses in the end.
Serve with chicken or meat and cover and refrigerate remainder. Refrigerate for up to 1 week in closed container.

To be enjoyed with various fried or grilled meats, fries or even carrot sticks...why not.

Orange wafer cookies

Sweet Nostalgia.....

Most of my baking experiments are trials to recreate stuff that was once readily available to me in Abu Dhabi, and now in Mumbai I simply crave for them sometime...

One of these aforementioned cravings is for these orange wafer cookies..i don't remember the brand name, or even what they were called, i only remember picking up the orange box of tiny cookies, every time we were in the biscuit section of any supermarket.

so naturally when i was deprived of the yummy snack in Mumbai, i went in search for a recipe that would recreate them, and luckily found the perfect one, on my first try (what were the chances of that, without even a name of the cookie).

I really didn't have to change anything in the recipe....like i sadi, the recipe perfectly recreates my favorite orange cookie, 

BEWARE !! You can't just have one..

Ingredients:
½ Cup Butter Softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange extract or 2 tbsp orange juice
1 cup all-purpose flour
5 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
Thin orange or lemon peel strips, optional

Method:

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, orange peel, lemon peel and extracts. In another bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inche. apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets. If desired, top with orange peel strips.

Bake at 180°C for 6-8 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. 
Yield: about 4 dozen.

Little rounds of perfection ...

Gulab Jamuns

Going Traditional....

I have to confess...I like traditional sweets, But I am Very picky about where I have a particular Indian sweet from , My Kaju Katli Has to be from MM mithaiwala, my rossogulla has to be fresh and spongy, my carrot halwa has to be mom made and so on and on it goes...(people think i'm impossible, but thats just how i am).
When it comes to gulab jamuns, the traditional way of making gulab jamuns is by addind a little khoya or mawa to the dough, plus some people even add rose water to the syrup. but i don't like them if either of these ingredients are added, and i prefer the modern recipe for this traditional sweet , that is, making the dough with milk powder. 

Ingredients:

8 tbsp milk powder

3 tbsp maida

1 tsp ghee

1/4 tsp soda bicarbonate

milk - as per consistency

for syrup -

2 cups sugar

4 cups water 

Method:

mix milk powder, maida,ghee, and soda bicarbonate, add milk to make shaping consistency. make balls, make sure that the surface of the balls is smooth. fry the balls in ghee.

make sugar syrup, and add balls in warm syrup, cover and keep till the balls are softened.

Golden balls of perfection !!!

chips

Healthy Munchin...

This is not much of a recipe, more of an Idea, but a really good one. you can make baked chips with whatever you want, you can make your classic all time favorite potato chips, the indian favorite banana chips, or healthier versions like sweet potato or tapioca chips.
believe me, your kids will love you, and you will be the cool mom, who makes them Chips...

The recipe that i initially found was for sweet potato chips, and believe me i found them better than potato chips, especially for kids, they are richer in vitamins than the regular potato and because of the slightly sweet taste in them, you actually require no salt or seasoning...(not joking)

Sweet potato crisps

Ingredients:
2 Sweet potatoes,Scrubbed and sliced into small strips with a potato peeler.
Few sprays of olive oil

Method:
Turn the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with foil.
Pat the sweet potato slices dry with some kitchen paper and arrange on the tray.
Spray with the spray oil and lightly stir to coat all sides.
Spread them out again so they are mainly in contact with the foil.
Bake for 8 - 10  minutes until golden brown, turning once half way through. Keep an eye on them towards the end as they can quickly turn from done to burnt.

You might have to experiment with the temperatures and timings depending on you oven and the type of hips you are making, but once you have perfected that, there is not much effort required for making these

Baked banana chips