Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins For A Sweet Beginning

Dear all,

I know I know I have been away for quite a while and to be honest I really needed this break. Initially it was pure laziness and my hectic work schedule which kept me away from blogging but the good news is I missed blogging so much that now I have finally decided that enough is enough and from now on I'll be regularly posting and updating my blog. 

I am gonna update few things on my blog so you may see quite a lot of changes in the coming few weeks so please bear with me for a while :) Also the Recipe Index is almost done!! Please do have a look and let me know if you have any suggestions :) I have marked recipes which are kids friendly or a cuisine specialty along with some of my most recommended recipes! So do check it out!

Chocolate Kisses (Eggless Vanilla Chocolate Cookies)

Dear all,

On my last trip to US I had bought a big bag of Hershey's Kisses on request from my baby sister. Though I am not very fond of these but she adores them and hence I ended up buying a big bag of these! On the other hand I truly love their packing, its so very attractive and cute :) As I had lots of these I planned to use them in my baking experiments and I must say I am glad because these were delicious...light, crispy, buttery with a tinge of vanilla! Oh boy these were perfect for a lazy evening snack :)

Anzac Bicsuits for my 100th post !!!

Dear Foodies,

Finally I have reached my 100th post. The journey till here has been quite a roll-a-coaster ride sometimes slow and sometimes with lots of bumps but I cant complain as this has been one of the most beautiful and enriching journey for me and my blog. I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who have supported and encouraged me, a very big heart felt thanks to all of my readers!

If you have been following my blog closely you would know I am not a big cookie person in fact the only cookies I love to munch are Chocolate Chip Cookies and very recently I have fallen in love with Anzac Biscuits. Anzac biscuits are very popular in Australia, made with oats, flour, sugar and golden syrup, it has been said that wives of soldiers used to make these biscuits during the WWI. These biscuits are extremely easy to prepare and taste extremely delicious, if you like your cookies eggless, mild in sweetness and chewy then these little drops are for you!

Recipe adapted from here
Recipe yields 24 cookies
Ingredients:-
1 cup (240 gms) all purpose flour
1 cup (90 gms) rolled oats, I used quacker
1 cup (85 gms) dessicated coconut, I used 100 gms
3/4 (155 gms) cup brown sugar
1/2 cup + 1tbsp (125 gms) unsalted butter
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp water

Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven to 160°C, line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Sieve the flour in a bowl, add in oats, coconut and sugar, mix well.
• Put butter, honey and 2 tbsp water in a pan, stir over medium heat until butter is completely melted. Add in baking soda.
• Pour the butter mixture on the flour mixture and stir until well combined.
• Roll a tbsp of mixture into small balls and place on the baking tray 5cm apart from each other.
• Using a fork, flatten the top of the cookies lightly.
• Bake for 12 to 15 mins until lightly browned. If you like your cookies crunchier than bake them for 2 to 3 mins more than the specified time.
• Remove the cookies from oven once done, let them cool down for 5 mins and then transfer them to a cooking rack. After 20 mins store these in air tight containers.

Verdict? These cookies were fantastic in taste, not over sweet and just perfect for some tea time munching. I did not have golden syrup so i substituted honey and it worked like a charm! I love my cookies a little crunchier so I baked these for close to 17 to 20 mins or until the top was golden brown. I shared these cookies with my friends and colleagues and got great reviews, everybody loved these! 

These were so easy to prepare, no heavy beating or mixing required, just fold in all the ingredients and you are ready! I urge everyone to try these wonderful cookies once, do share your experiences with me and you can always email me if you have any questions or doubts and I will try to answer them to best of my knowledge! Until next time thank you an wish you all a wonderful week ahead!

Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes/Eggless Strawberry Muffins

Dear Foodies,

Hello everyone! I know I have been away for quite sometime but last two weeks have created quite a stir! First of all there is this never ending assignments and work in office, on top of this monsoon has finally hit India. Last couple of days have been a complete mess. It rained quite heavily here in Pune, with strong winds blowing there was quite lot of destruction. Several trees have fallen, cables wires have been uprooted, infact we almost had an accident in our office with the glass doors bursting due to strong winds! Thank god no one was hurt! With electricity gone for 2 days and maid not turning up for work I was really frustated!

So when V asked me if i could bake a batch of muffins for her office party I got the much needed break! She wanted something other than the usual chocolate and vanilla flavors. I had strawberry extract in my pantry, so thought of making some Strawberry cupcakes with vanilla buttercream icing. She loved the idea and she wanted to use the same color combination which I had used for the cake which I made for my parents anniversary.

This is off to Bangalore Baker's Bake-Off event!

Eggless Strawberry Cupcakes/Muffins
Recipe yields - 9 muffins
Ingredients:-
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tin (200 gms) sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp strawberry essence
1/4 cup limca or plain aerated soda water

Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven to 180 degress C, grease and flour 9 muffin moulds.
• Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda together.
• Beat butter, condensed milk and icing sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the strawberry essence.
• Alternatively add flour and limca and beat well after each addition.
• Fill in the muffin cups to 3/4 full and bake the muffins for 15 to 18 mins until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool them completely before going ahead with icing.

Buttercream icing, recipe here

Verdict? I got great reviews on these cupcakes and everyone in the office loved them! As compared to other eggless recipe, i like this one the most as I have always got fantastic results! Muffins were light and fluffy, perfectly baked! With vanilla buttercream icing it was a winner! Do try these and let me know, you can replace strawberry essence with any other flavor and it will still work like a charm!

Classic Vanilla Beans Muffins

Dear All,

Vanilla has always been apple of my eye when compared with other universal flavors. Did you know vanilla is the second most expensive spice after saffron, due to extensive labor required to grow the vanilla seed pods. And still I am sure we all love vanilla flavor for its oure and delicate flavor which is described by author Frederic Rosengarten Jr as "peculiar bouquet". The most common types of vanilla pods are Bourbon or Madagascar vanilla, Mexican vanilla and Tahitian vanilla.

Vanilla beans are not easily available in India though few super markets do sell them but one really needs to search a lot. My sources say that the only place in india where you can find Vanilla pods is Kerala so if any of your friends and family coming down from kerala or visiting kerala dont forget to request them to get a bunch of fresh vanilla beans for you! I probably dont mind visiting Kerala only to buy vanilla pods, I am sure its worth it! Or if anyone coming down from US or EU you can request them to get vanilla pods from there as well as I too got mine from Switzerland, a little expensive but I have no complains! Planning to request few more, hope D is listening :-)

Recipe is adapted from Deeba's blog, which can be found here
Recipe yields 12 medium muffins
Ingredients:-
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of vanilla sugar
2 tsp  baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
*1 vanilla bean or use 1 tsp vanilla extract

* Tip - Slice the vanilla bean from middle and scrape the sides using back of a knife to remove the seeds

Procedure:-

• Gease and line 12 muffins cups or muffin pan.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
• Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda.
• Beat butter and sugar together in a seperate bowl for 2 to 3 mins until light and fluffy.
• Add in one egg at a time and beat well between each addition.
• Add in flour and milk alternatively in 3 additions. Beat well after each addition.
• Add in the scraped vanilla seeds and mix well.
• Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and bake them at 180 degrees for 15 to 20 mins, until tooth pick inserted comes out clean/
• Remove from oven and cool them completely, you can see the muffins leaving the side of the pan.
• Serve warm or at room temperature, its a perfect tea time cake!
• Enjoy!

Vanilla Beans and Chocolate Chip Muffins

Dear All,

Wishing all my readers a very Happy and Safe Holi !!!

I have been planning to use the bunch of Vanilla Beans I got from Switzerland from a very long time. Apart of making some Vanilla Sugar and Vanilla Essence I really wanted to bake something. Initially I thought of baking a pound cake but didnt have enough flour in hand so I turned them into mini muffins.

What makes these mini muffins special is the fact that the I didnt follow any recipes, just mixed and matched ingredients i had on hand and BANG!! I got these wonderfully moist and sinfully delicious muffins. Oh i love the flavor of vanilla beans in them, it filled my kitchen with an aroma I have never experienced before. I am so gonna use vanilla beans in my all bakes! I wish we could get these here easily. Next on target is to make some homemade Vanilla Essence and Vanilla Sugar.

Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients:-
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, softened
1 egg
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 vanilla bean
1 cup sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Procedure:-

• Grease and flour 12 muffin moulds.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
• Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda in a seperate bowl.
• Split the vanilla bean from middle and remove the seeds. Mix the seeds in the milk.
• Beat together sugar and butter until light and fluffly
• Add in the egg and beat for another 2 mins.
• Now mix in the flour and milk alternatively until everything is combined well.
• Add in the chocolate chips and mix well, donot beat.
• Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and bake them for 15 to 20 mins until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Serve these warm with a glass of milk.

Verdict?  Muffins were insanely flavorful and soft with melt in mouth texture. If you are a vanilla lover just like me you ve got to try these!

Have a wonderful week ahead!!

Eggless Low Fat Hot Chocolate Muffins

Dear Foodies,

Its been quite a while since i last baked anything with chocolate. The baker in me was desperate and it was like a race against the time as my work was keeping me quite busy. Finally my craving got better of me and i decided to give up, but to my horror i was out of eggs as well as cocoa powder, I felt as if my world turned upside down!! No that is not an exaggeration and I am sure the bakers would understand my sentiments. Now i really had to bake something chocolaty, ok so i decided to go for eggless muffins, quick and easy but to go for cocoa powder hunting at 11pm in the night was out of question. I could use some of my dark chocolate which i got from swiss but i just have few slabs left until my next batch comes from abroad and so i guard them with my life!! Argghh.....pacing up and down in my room i saw some hot chocolate sachets of Lindt, do i need to mention what happened next?

My recipe for these low fat, eggless chocolate muffins is inspired from Mandira's recipe for Eggless Chocolate Nut Muffins which i had bookmarked sometime back.

Also I am sending my Jain Vegetable Makhanwala to Think Spice : Poppy Seeds event guest hosted by Rv brainchild of Sunita.

Recipe yields 6 large muffins
Ingredients:-
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar (adjust according to taste, if required)
1 1/2 tbsp good quality hot chocolate powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp oil
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract


Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
• Line 6 muffins holders with liners or grease them.
• Sieve together flour, hot chocolate powder, baking soda and baking powder.
• Add in oil, milk and whisk properly until everything is mixed properly. I did not use a beater for this, hand whisk is fine.
• Finally add vanilla extract and mix well.
• Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for 15 to 18 mins, until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Serve them warm with a cold glass of milk, enjoy!
  

Eggless Tutti Frutti Cookies

Dear All,

Christmas is coming very near and baking season is in full swing everywhere. Though we dont celebrate christmas here but i love the season as i get a chance to bake lots of goodies. My friends have started calling me Baking Fairy who spreads baking love all around, now that certainly makes me very happy! I have been eyeing these gorgeous tutti frutti cookies from Sailu's blog from a very long time and finally i got some time last week to create them. My cookies are not as white as her's since i used vanilla flavored custard powder but that doesnt alter the taste at all. These are soft and chewy in the middle with crispy edges. I shared these with my colleagues and everyone loved it, few even mentioned that these cookies are better than ones we get outside, that certainly made me climb high. The recipe is deifnately a keeper and i'll be making them very often.

These cookies are off to Eat Christmas Cookies - Season 3 hosted by Susan of Food Blogga, you can view the round up page here. 

These cookies are also off to the Cakes & Cookies event by Sara and to EC's WYF Tea Time Snacks event. Happy Hosting gals!!

Original Recipe Source :- Sailus Food
I have made few changes to the original recipe.

Recipe Yields: 14 to 15 cookies
Ingredients:-
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup vanilla custard powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
tutti frutti morsels for garnishing

Procedure:-

• Preheat the oven to 180 C degrees.
• Sift together flour, custard powder, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl.
• Beat together sugar and oil well, add sieved dry ingredients and vanilla essence.
• Mix well to form a dough, the consistency should be right to roll out the dough into round balls.
• Incase the dough is too dry and difficult to roll out balls, add in few drops of milk and chill for few mins.
• Flatten the balls slightly and garnish with bits of tutti frutti morsels, press them slightly in the dough.
• Place the cookies on on greased tray or line the baking pan with parchment paper. I used butter paper as here i donot get parchment paper, butter paper works fine.
• Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 mins, remove the completely cool them.
• Once baked after 12 mins, the cookies might appear soft to touch but they will firm up once completely cooled.
• Store in an air tight container.

Weekend is nearing so wish you all a very happy and relaxing weekend, until then cia!

Daring Baker's October Challenge: Violet French Macarons filled with Nutella

Dear All

The 2009 October Daring Baker's Challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming 's The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I was extremely happy when I came to know that October's Daring Bakers Challenge is French Macarons, after my successful first attempt I really wanted to experiment making these gorgeous treats using different flavors and colors. As ecstatic I was there was a little fear too because of the humidity and high temperature in my part of the world. I really didnt want to make them 2 or 3 times before I get it right therefore I used the same recipe which I had used earlier from Chef Nini.

                                                   Macarons filled with Chocolate Ganache

The choice of color and filling is my sister's favorite, initially she wanted me to prepare pink color macarons but we only had violet color in hand hence we went with it and i must say the color looks really gorgeous, dont go by pictures my camera is playing tricks and not functioning that well so until I figure out what to do with my camera pls bear with me.

The only problem I faced this time was that I didnt get a very smooth surface, sure i got my feets but the top surface wasnt smooth as in my first attempt. I think it may have required more of mixing, I did tap the baking tray several times and let it sit for 40 mins and then baked. If anyone has any idea regarding the smooth surface problem pls let me know.

For the recipe and directions pls visit my earlier post here

I was really glad the way macarons came out and this time in my very first try I got my feets. I would love to try making these again using some different filling. These are ideal for gifting your loved ones something special. I would urge everyone to try them atleast once, do mail me if you have any questions and i'll reply as soon as possible.

Till next time, take care and enjoy!!!


Love,

French Macarons with Chocolate Ganache...finally i got my FEETS !!!

Dear All,

You cannot imagine the amount of happiness and satisfaction i got when I saw these little drops in the oven and developing their small feets!! The moment I tucked them in the oven, I sat beside to see them rise and turn into these gorgeous treats! I was literally jumping up and down with joy. I was terribly disappointed from my last attempt and truly determined to get them right so this time i took all the advice i could get, read numerous posts, videos, etc.

I am thankful to Deeba who suggested to check the folding technique, the video for which is here, she also suggested to use a recipe with one egg white as its easier and helps to reduce wastage in case of disasters. The video is by ChefNini and I must say its really good. I would suggest everyone to go through the video before trying your hands on macarons. Chefnini suggests to warm up the egg whites over a double boiler which i was skeptical so when Rachael of  La Fuji Mama made her macs using chefnini's recipes, i contacted her regarding the warming of the egg over the double boiler and she mentioned that she had used an aged egg and skipped the warming method. I too used an aged egg for 48 hours and it did wonders for me. Thank you Deeba, Rachael and everyone who supported and encouraged me, thanks a zillion !!!

I have followed the recipe from Chefnini, which can be found here

I am sending this dish to Mansi's Sweet Celebrations's Event

Makes 8 macarons
Ingredients for Macarons:
1 egg white aged for 48 hours in fridge
(Remove from fridge before 3 to 4 hours to bring the white to room temperature)
65 gms icing sugar
40 gms powdered almonds (sieved)
15 gms castor sugar (I used very fine)

Ingredients for Chocolate Ganache:
50 ml heavy cream
60 gms bittersweet/semisweet chocolate

Other baking essentials required:
1 pastry bag fitted with 2 cm nozzle
1 baking try lined with parchment paper
electronic beater

Procedure:

• I had sieved the almond powder and than measured 40gms.
• Mix together powdered sugar and almonds (make sure you dont have any lumps).
  
• Beat the egg white with a electric beater until frothy. 
• While beating add in the castor sugar (and 1 to 2 drops of color if desired) and beat at high for 2 mins until glossy stiff white meringue forms.
• Fold the almond and sugar mixture with meringue in 4 to 5 turns. Donot over mix. Fold very gently in one direction only. (Pls refer to the video above for folding technique).
• Scrape the batter in a pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you're alone).
• Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.
• Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, and let it sit for 40 mins. 
• After 30 mins preheat the oven to 160 degrees C.
• Bake the macarons for 10 mins and then reduce the temperature to 140 degrees C and bake for another 4 to 5 mins.
• Cool completely and store them in air tight containers.

Procedure for Ganache:

• Heat the cream in a pan, as soon as it stars boiling on the sides remove from heat and add the chocolate pieces in them.
• Let it stand for a min.
• Whisk gently until smooth paste.
• Cool completely before using, after it has cooled ganache will become thicker in consistency and is easy to pipe.

Sandwich the macarons together with a tsp of ganache and store them in air tight container. They will stay upto 5 days.

Verdict: You just cant stop eating them, I am already planning for my next batch..so stay tuned  :-)

Luv

Mediterranean Tomato Soup and Failed Macarons !!!

Dear All,

How are you all doing? Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Cant believe its already mid september now, in another week i'll again have to start packing but this time for going back home..oh I am so gonna miss this place :(((

Macarons have haunted me from the moment i saw them at Helene's blog , these colorful little treats look very attractive and beautiful. When I saw these at Deeba's blog, I was truly inspired to make them but at the same time very scared too. If you look at the ingredients, they are few almond powder, egg whites and sugar..how can one go wrong with such simple ingredients...believe me you have to try these in your kitchen to believe it!!

Passionate bakers like Deeba, Meeta, Aparna, Jamie, Barbara, Ria and many more have come together and formed the Mac Gang, this fabulous event is driven  by the very talented Jamie, so there was no looking back! Me being so passionate about baking...i cudnt stop but join them and try my first macarons! Unfortunately my attempts to these gorgeous french treats were a complete disaster with cracked tops and most importantly no FEETS!!!!.....though these were quite tasty but they turned into more like chocolate meringue cookies and we did enjoyed them a lot.

I was quite a bit depressed with my failed macaron attempts and even more obsessed to get them right !  Nithya, my dearest blogger buddy encouraged me and cheered me up...thanks dearie for your faith in me and now I am determined to get my FEETS!! 

After such a debacle I was quite exhausted and not in any mood to cook up a meal, and wanted something quick and fulfilling..apparently i had skipped my meal and didnt realise until my empty stomach started to growl....grr.....
I had bookmarked this recipe few weeks back and thought it would be perfect and fulfilling dinner. The original recipe can be found here.

This recipe is off to No Croutons Required, this month hosted by Lisa , the current theme for this month is Mediterranean Soups and Salads.

This is also off to Soups & Juices event hosted by Sireesha.

My version of Mediterranean Tomato Soup:-
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 can of tomato puree about 800gms
1 zucchini, finely cubed
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely sliced
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry basil
fresh cream to garnish

Procedure:

• In a deep vessel, heat olive oil, add in sliced onions and saute them for about 3 to 4 mins until soft.
• Add in zucchini and bell peppers and cook for another 5 mins.
• Now add in tomato puree, salt, sugar, paprika, black pepper, oregano and basil.
• Add in little water if required.
• Simmer the soup for 7 to 8 mins on slow-medium heat.
• Add a dollop of fresh cream on top before serving.

Eggless Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

After my successful attempt of baking with whole wheat flour with Plum Baskets I wanted to try my hands on muffins and with berries in the season I immediately set my mind on blueberries. So my search started for a perfect recipe, there are thousands of eggless and vegan muffin recipes, majority of them call for egg substitutes like tofu, yogurt, flax seeds or applesauce. To my horror I didnt have any of these at home, as i have mentioned before I am trying to empty my pantry and not buying new things as i will be shifting to a new place. While going through my reader I saw the Classic Blueberry Muffins by Happy HomeBaker and thought my prayers were answered. I have been following HappyHomeBaking blog from quite sometime now and I have tried few of her recipes, they always turn out perfect! I twisted and tweaked the recipe to make it eggless and they came out perfect. These were sooooo good, I didnt miss the eggs in the muffins at all. They were light and fluffy, well risen and baked beautifully! A glass of cold milk with warm muffins is perfect way to start your day! Oh these are so easy you dont even require a hand mixer, just a spatula is enough :) Sending these to Madhuram's Whole Grain Eggless Baking event.

Ingredients: 2 cups white whole wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour is also fine) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 2 tsp baking powder 3/4 cup sugar (170 gms) 1/2 cup milk (125 ml) 75 ml vegetable oil (i used sunflower oil) 2 tsp vanilla essence 1 cup fresh blueberries (125 gms) Procedure:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degress C, line 12 muffin molds with wax paper.
• Wash blueberries and pat them dry with a kitchen towl. Add 1tbsp of flour and coat them well. Set aside.
• Sieve together whole wheat flour, baking soda and baking powder.
• In a seperate bowl whisk together oil, sugar, milk and vanilla essence.
• Make a well in between the flour mixture and slowly add in the liquid mixture, fold lightly using spatula. DONOT over mix .
• Now add in the flour coated blueberries and fold in lightly.
• Spoon the batter into the muffin pans, filling upto 3/4 full. Bake them fo 20 to 30 mins, until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove and serve them warm with a cold glass of milk or ice cream!

Note: The batter should not be runny but thick consistency, if its too dry add a tsp of milk.

Orange Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies and Click May

I am not a very big fan of cookies but i do love chocolate in my cookies so chocolate chips are the best ones for me. I like my cookies crispy but untill now i havent found any recipe which gives me those crispy and crunchy cookies, if anyone has such a recipe pls let me know....Ok back to todays recipe..i had lots of dried cranberries in my pantry which i had bought to make some fruit cake which is still on my mind and hopefully i'll make it in coming weeks. I somehow wanted to use these cranberries so while surfing i found these wonderful cookies at Peabody's blog here, I loved the flavors used in this cookie..orange and cranberry really goes well, in the original recipe she has used pistachios which i replaced with chocolcate chunks as i was out of chocolate chips. Freshly baked these cookies filled my kitchen with beautiful aroma of orange and boy i loved it. The below recipe gave me 36 cookies of medium size. I have made few changes to the original recipe, i have cut down butter and sugar both as i am a health freak and even after these changes my cookies came out wonderful. I found orange flavor little less for my taste so next time i will add little more orange peel and may be little orange essence too. This is definately a keeper, if you love tangy taste of cranberry and orange than this is must a try!!!

Also this is the first time I am participating in the Click monthly event by Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi where this month's theme is Click Cookies , though I am totally new to photography and learning to take good pics :)

I am also sending these cookies to Ria who is hosting Lets Celebrate Cakes,Cookies and Cocktails.

Ingredients:

For coating:

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp grated orange peel

For Cookies:

2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter softened

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp grated orange peel

1 egg at room temperature

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup roughly chopped chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven at 175 degree C and line the baking tray with parchment paper or butter paper.
• Sieve flour, baking soda and baking powder together and keep aside for coating.
• Mix together 1/3 cup sugar and 1tsp orange peel nicely and keep it aside.
• In a bowl beat together butter, sugar and egg on medium speed until fluffy.
• Now reduce the speed and in flour, baking soda and baking powder and beat well.
• Add in finely chopped cranberries , orange peel and chocolate chunks and mix well without beater.
• Make small 1 inch round balls and roll them in the orange peel sugar coating all the sides.
• Place these balls on baking tray and flatten them using back of a glass.
• Bake these for 10 to 12 mins or until the sides have turned light brown.
• Immediately remove and cool them, store in air tight containers.
• Enjoy with a glass of milk!!!

Chocolate chip cookies

I usually do my baking sessions on weekends as i can take my own sweet time which is quite impossible during the weekdays. I wanted to make these cookies from a very long time but unfortunately something or the other came up. In the past i have tried quite a few recipes, some were good and some went in trash. I usually prefer crispy chocolate chip cookies with lots of chocolate in them. When i started to make these cookies I realized i didnt have enough chocolate chips on hand but the craving for having them was so STRONG that i went ahead. I was making this cookie after a very long time but the results were pretty good, these cookies were crispy around the edges and chewy in the middle and brown sugar does give them a distinct flavor. I wouldnt call them the best cookies ever but they are definately a keeper. I got around 15 to 18 medium sized cookies from the below recipe. I am sending these cookies to For the Love of Chocolate event hosted by Poornima and to EFM-Cookies hosted by Srilekha.

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter softened (about 50 to 60 gms)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 small sachet vanilla sugar (15gms)

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven at 180 degrees C.
• Sift the flour and baking soda together and  keep aside.
• Beat the butter until it gets creamy, add in the sugars along with the vanilla sugar and beat for about 2 to 3 until well blended.
• Now add in the egg and vanilla essence and beat on medium for about 2 mins.
• Slowly add in the flour mixture and mix together using a spatula (Donot use beater for this).
• The mixture will be quite thick, now add in the chocolate chips and mix well.
• Line the baking try with foil or butter paper and drop a spoonful of mixture. Make sure there is atleast 2 inch space between each as the cookies will expand.
• Bake for about 10 to 12 mins, until they turn light brown around the edges.
• Remove the tray and cool it completely for about 15 to 20 mins.
• Store the cookies in airtight container.
• Enjoy them with a  glass of cold milk or just munch them inbetween meals as i do :)
  

Eggless Vanilla Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am not a big fan of muffins but as I had a box of strawberries in my fridge which I had bought last week and I had to use them as they were getting spoiled, I thought why not lets make vanilla strawberry muffins, vanilla and strawberry go well together. Even while making strawberry milkshake I always add little dab of vanilla which gives nice flavor...hmmm..I love vanilla. When i started making these muffins i realized, I was out of eggs...hence made eggless version using milk and yogurt. I always used to prepare eggless cakes using milkmaid or condensed milk but somehow i dont like the flavor of condensed milk which empowers the cake, on the other hand yogurt is an excellent binding agent and it also helps to make the cake moist. I have used plain yogurt here but you can also use vanilla yogurt. The strawberries which i had bought were not very sweet, to make them sweeter, I chopped them fine and added little sugar to it and kept it aside for few mins, you can also reduce the sugar in the recipe accordingly. Finally after making the batter, I added few chocolate chips and wow the results were surprisingly good....I took these muffins to a friends place and they were gone in seconds..:) The recipe made 12 medium sized muffins.

This is my entry to the event Egg substitute - Yogurt/Buttermilk hosted by Madhuram, you can find the event details here

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of All purpose Flour

1/2 cup sugar (I have reduced sugar little as I had added sugar in strawberries as well)

1/2 cup yogurt

1 - 2 tbsp milk

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup butter at room temperature

2/3 cup strawberries finely cut

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Procedure:

• Preheat the oven at 180 degree C.
• Sieve all purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder together and keep it aside.
• Beat butter and sugar together until creamy.
• Add yogurt in the butter and sugar mixture and beat well.
• Add the dry ingredients in the yogurt mixture along with milk little at a time and beat well. Check the consistency, donot use the entire milk if not required. Sometimes yogurt may be very thin because of which you may not require all the milk given in the recipe.
• Finally add vanilla essence, chopped strawberries and chocolate chips.

• Mix gently, donot overbeat as the strawberries may get mushy.
• Grease the muffin pan or fill them with paper liners.
• Fill in the each muffin mold upto 3/4 level.

• Bake them for 25 to 30 mins, until a knife inserted comes out clean.
• Remove the muffins from oven and cool them completely on wire rack.
• Serve them with cold milk or enjoy them like I do with jam... :)

The muffins turned out to be moist, not too sweet and just perfect for my taste. You can skip chocolate chips and add any other dry fruits of your choice.