Whole wheat butter cookies (Eggless)

A perfect buttery cookie that will go well with your hot cup of tea, coffee or plain milk! I made these with whole wheat flour (Atta). you can also replace whole wheat flour with All purpose flour. These are made from just 3 ingredients.

Ingredients

1. 2 cups Whole wheat flour (Atta) 
2. ¾ cup powdered sugar (add more to adjust the sweetness)
3. 1 cup unsalted butter(softened not melted)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150ºC for 10-15 minutes (300º F, Gas No-2, Oven Terms- Slow) 
2. In a large bowl, cream the sugar & butter with hands or hand mixer. it should change its color to white. 
3. Sift the flour and add it to the sugar & butter mixture, until it forms a soft dough. Rest the dough for 15-20 minutes or more.
4. Make small balls with palm, press with fingers to make a desired shape, you may also use a cookie cutter. I used a tiny round shaped steel box as a cookie cutter. you can use a fork to prick the cookie on the top.Roughly It should be of .50cm thickness
5. bake for 20 minutes or until the cookie turns brown in color. 
6. The above ingredients will yield 28-30 cookies depending upon the size you give.

Notes: 

1. Add more sugar if you think the cookie dough is less sweet.
2. Remember every brand flour acts differently (I used ashirwad atta), after resting the dough for more than 20 minutes it shouldn't be sticky to your hands, it should be relatively dry, i.e. when you touch the dough it should be dry but not very crumbly. if it is too crumbly add 1 tsp butter or more as needed.
3. I added a tbsp of butter after resting the dough as I thought the dough was dry. 
4. If you make the cookies with All purpose flour (Maida), you may be able to roll out the dough with the help of rolling pin, but rolling the dough with wheat flour was not possible.
5. When you remove the cookies out from the oven, they might be soft but once they cool down they will harden.
6. Baking time depends upon the side of the oven. Mine took 18mins
7. You may also use 1 cup APF & 1 cup wheat flour. 

Banana & chocolate cake

II didn't have the heart to throw away 2 bananas which were over ripen. I searched for the banana cake recipe on the Internet and made some changes like adding cocoa powder n walnuts to it & baked a chocolate & banana cake. My kids loved it. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup butter, ( melted )
• 3 tsp of cocoa powder
• ½ cup walnuts
• 1½ tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1½ cup of white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1¼ cup of banana purée made in blender to remove lumps

 Directions:

• Heat oven to 180ºC
• Dry roast the walnuts n keep then aside. After they cool roughly chop them. 
• In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt set aside.
• In a large bowl beat butter, sugar, eggs  & vanilla until light and fluffy. Incorporate banana purée.
• Add the dry ingredients to the large bowl. Also add the walnuts. Transfer the batter to a baking tray which is greased with butter. 
• Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Pizza Base (Wheat)

As a foodie I'm always on the look out for new recipe & inspired by my family members, friends or food bloggers around me. The other day I was chatting with my cousin who inspired me to make pizza base at home. She mentioned she always makes pizza base at home & it doesn't take much time to make them as its an easy process. I was always reluctant in giving it a try as I was quite skeptical about working with yeast. Finally I decided to give it a try & bake pizza base at home but I was running out of self raising flour, so I decided to make the base with wheat flour.

My verdict- The pizza base turned out exactly similar to the one we buy it from local bakeries or shops. My son who loves cooking helped me in making the base, it was a fun activity for him.
As per the measurements mentioned below you can make 10 mini pizza base of ¼" thickness 

Home made mini Pizza with Wheat flour

Ingredients

1. ¾ cup warm water

2. 2 tsp active dry yeast
3. 1½ cup wheat flour + some more for kneading & rolling the base
4. 1 tbsp olive oil
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 2 tsp sugar

Method

1. In the large bowl add the warm water, add the yeast & sugar, give it a quick stir and let it sit aside for 5-10 minutes until the yeast is activated & turns into a foam on the top of the water. then add the salt & oil. 
2. Gradually add the wheat flour as you stir the mixture simultaneously, when the mixture becomes too thick to stir you will know you have added enough flour.
3. Knead the dough- sprinkle some flour over the kitchen top & knead the flour by adding more flour to make a dough which is not very moist or sticky. Gather the dough, press it with the help of the heels of your hands firmly, pushing forward lightly, the dough should resemble a chappati dough.
4. Cover the dough with cling film and let it rise up for 1 hour at room temperature. After an hour the dough must have doubled in size. punch down the dough to remove air and knead it well.
5. sprinkle some flour on the kitchen top & using a rolling pin form a circle of ¼" thickness. I used a circular bowl with sharp edge to make mini pizza base. Prick each pizza base with a fork
6. preheat the microwave at 180°C and bake the base for 8-10 minutes
   
   
   
   
   
   
   How to prepare Pizza Sauce & toppings?
   

   1. 4 medium size tomatoes (roughly chopped)
   2. 2 small onions (roughly chopped)
   3. 5 cloves of garlic (crushed)
   4. 1 tsp oil
   5. 1 tsp pepper
   6. salt as per taste
   7. 1 tsp oregano
   8. For toppings-
      chopped Mushrooms, onions, capcisum & grated cheese

   
   

   

   Method
   1. Heat oil in  a pan, add garlic, onion & tomatoes. When the onions turn transparent, turn off the gas and add pepper, salt & oregano. Grind the vegetables to a smooth paste to make pizza sauce.Adjust the salt & pepper as per your liking.
   2. You can add the pizza sauce & toppings along with the cheese over the mini pizza base (Refer to Method no 5 above) & bake it in the microwave at 180°C and bake the base for 15 minutes
      OR
   3. Prepare the pizza base, add the pizza sauce, toppings & cheese & grill it until cheese melts.

Mango Muffin with Mango frosting

These gorgeously looking Mango muffins with a little crunch of walnuts are to die for. The mango frosting will add extra richness & creamy taste for this mango dessert. To add more vibrant orange colour I added the mango pulp with the batter; you can try different variations like adding mango pieces instead of the pulp- Surely they will be delicious & full of flavour.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup walnuts
2. 1¾  cups cake flour (I used wheat flour)
3. ¾  cup powdered sugar
4. 1 teaspoons baking powder
5. ¼  teaspoon baking soda
6. ¼  teaspoon salt
7. 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
8. ½ cup unsalted butter
9. 1½ cups fresh mango puree (i.e "Amras")
10. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla essence
11. 1-2 spoon of milk if the batter becomes very thick

for frosting

1. ½ cup butter (room temperature)
2. 4 tablespoon mango puree
3. 2 cups icing sugar
4. few drops of vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C
2. Place the walnuts on a baking sheet & bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Let cool and then chop roughly
3. In a medium-sized bowl beat eggs until light and fluffy, combine the mango puree, melted butter, and vanilla with spatula. In another large bowl combine the wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, & walnuts.
4. Now lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they combined and the batter is thick and chunky. (Do not to over mix the batter. Over mixing the batter will yield tough, rubbery muffin.) Add milk as required if the batter becomes too thick.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
6. Place on a wire rack to cool for five minutes and then remove muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature. Prepare the mango frosting by mixing all the ingredients, pipe it with a regular mango flavoured buttercream frosting using the star tip.  

the batter looked yummy, i felt like eating it raw :-)

 

Yields- 20 medium sized muffins. 

Oats & Banana Loaf (Eggless)

Ingredients
1 cup oats
 ½ cup honey
½  cup ripe banana (mashed)
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup milk
½  cup buttermilk or curd
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
Method
Grease a baking tray or line it with a baking paper.
preheat it at 180°C.
In a mixing bowl mix the dry ingredients i.e. (oats, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda & a pinch of salt). Keep aside.
In a separate bowl add the mashed banana, curd or buttermilk, vegetable oil, milk & honey. mix well until all are incorporated.

Now mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and with the help of a wooden spatula gently mix it.
Pour the batter into a baking tray and sprinkle some oats on the top.
Bake for 30 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
When the loaf comes to room temperature remove it and serve with coffee or tea.

Almond Cookies

If you wish to gift something different to your dear one's this Diwali, try these Almond cookies, which are home baked with love. You may pack these in gift boxes or a decorative plates or gift bags. Hope you all have a safe and a wonderful Diwali!

Ingredients

1. 1 cup almond powder
2. ¾ cup whole wheat flour (atta) 
3. ¾ cup powdered sugar
4. ¾ cup clarified butter (ghee) or melted butter (I used melted ghee)
5. pinch of salt

Method

1. In a deep bowl, mix the dry ingredients (wheat flour, almond powder, sugar & salt). Mix well.
2. Add the ghee keeping aside some so that the dough doesn't become too wet. knead the dough to make a firm ball and let it rest for 15 mins, cover with a damp cloth or cling film. If needed add the remaining ghee.
3. Make small balls of the dough and press them with the help of your palms to form the shape of cookie. Place them on a cookie sheet (or baking sheet) 
4. Bake the cookies at 150ºC about 10-15 minutes or until they turn golden brown.  After they become lightly golden brown remove the cookie sheet from the oven.
   Keep aside the cookie tray until the cookies come to room temperature.
5. Note: the above measurement will yeild 12 Almond cookies- size of store bought biscuits or 30-35 cookies of coin shape

Dough- Let it rest for 30-45 mins

 

Arrange the flatten balls on the cookie sheet

Molten Chocolate cake

It's my blog's 3rd birthday, and to celebrate this occasion I baked Molten Chocolate cake. A shout out to all my friends for your constant support & encouragement, hope you all would continue to support me throughout this journey. My special thanks to KD & my family, without them I could not achieve so much.

Ingredients
5 tbsp cooking chocolate
2 tbsp butter
1 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour, sifted
½  pinch of salt
½  tsp vanilla essence
Icing sugar & Strawberries for serving.
Vanilla Ice cream (optional) - for serving
Method 

Preheat your microwave at 200°C

Melt the dark chocolate & butter together using a double boiler, you can also use the microwave to melt it. Keep aside to come to room temperature.
Grease 3 individual ramekins with butter

Use hand blender to mix together the eggs, egg yolk along with the sugar, a pinch of salt & the vanilla essence, until eggs triple in volume.

Slowly fold the melted chocolate in, add the flour on top and fold in, making sure to keep the batter light.

Fill the ramekins with the chocolate-egg batter
Place in the microwave & bake for 10 min and take out. Keep aside to cool, you can also demould the ramekins before serving the molten cake. For this you have to line the ramekins with baking sheet.
Sprinkle with icing sugar & serve with strawberry.
The above measurements will serve 3 people.

For baking the Molten Chocolate cake in a baking tray, take 4 times the above measurements for serving 12 people & you will need 2 baking trays for baking.
You can also serve the Molten Chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Home baked doughnuts

Traditionally, doughnuts are deep fried, but there's no harm in baking them, right? As I am a firm believer of "tradition says be different".  I came across a baked doughnuts recipe on the internet, made some changes & baked them at home. Some people use buttermilk instead of milk. Feel free to substitute milk from my recipe with buttermilk. My 3½ y.o son and K are big fans of eating the doughnuts (also spelled as donuts). Since these are baked one's, these taste similar to a cake. A perfect snack for kiddos lunch box.

 Ingredients

(for doughnuts)

1 cup wheat flour

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

½ cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanillaessence

2 tsp vegetable oil

for chocolate coating

1 cup of choco chips.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Sieve the wheat flour & mix the dry ingredients (wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt) in a bowl.

In a separate bowl beat egg until fluffy, add the vanilla essence, oil & the milk beat again for a minute.

Add the dry ingredients to this egg mixture, fold well until it becomes into a smooth batter.

Spoon this batter into doughnut pan. Fill only ½ of the doughnut pan with the batter, because the doughnuts will rise after they get baked.

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted come out clean.

how to make the chocolate coating?

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Dunk the doughnuts into the melted chocolate to evenly coat the chocolate over the doughnut by making a swirl. Over the chocolate add sprinklers of your choice. Keep on a wire rack to cool and the chocolate to harden.

Yeilds: 12 doughnuts

Double boiler method

1. Add water to a pot and over it keep another pot with choco chips in it
2. See to it that the water from the lower pot doesn't touch the pot placed above it.
3. When the water becomes hot (don't bring it to a boil), the choco chips will start melting, stir it with a spoon to evenly melt all the choco chips.
4. Switch off the flame, use the same process to melt more chocolate if required.