Marbled butter cookies

Oh no!!! Chinese New Year is just next week? No, you mean this coming week?? Where has all the time gone? I have yet to bake this, that and that. With so little time left, I realised I need to make a strategic decision. That is to bake one more last cookie for Chinese New Year. Haha!!

Then I asked the sister if she wants to eat butter cookies. She said yes please even if she's on a diet. So you probably have an idea how good these cookies are. 

This time, I've decided to make a slight twist to these cookies after seeing some inspiration. The butter cookie recipe is not something new I've baked. You can see my earlier recipe from here.

However, this time, I've decided to make the butter cookies marbled with addition of some cocoa. Oohh I love it when cocoa is added. Suddenly I thought of oreo cookies. Ok that would be another post sometime later this year :) Yes, I'll definitely be making them for sure so stay tuned ;)

Let's focus on our marbled butter cookies.

This time, I've made the batter in two batches. One batch which is the usual butter cookie batter. The other batch is one where I sifted 20g cocoa powder together with the potato starch and plain flour. 

Take note that this cookie batter is really quite soft. I think some people would roll it up with plastic wrap and then let it firm up in the fridge for sometime before baking. My preference is to immediately bake the cookie to get that melt in the mouth texture.

Here's the trick for marbled cookies. I used 1/2 tsp butter cookie batter and 1/2 tsp cocoa cookie batter and combine them together to form a cookie each. You can use any kind of combinations to create different marbled looks as long as the proportion is even so that your cookie would be 1 tbsp each to ensure even baking throughout.

Amidst the baking, I dropped several cookies on the floor in my haste. Literally, the floor were visibly butter crumbles. This is definitely evidence of a melt-in-the-mouth texture even without tasting. Haha!!

Have fun with different marbled looks :) Psst, this is the time to utilise child labour if you have any on hand :P

I'm submitting this post to Cook and Celebrate: CNY 2015 organised by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids. 

I'm also submitting this post to Best Recipes For Everyone Jan & Feb 2015 hosted by Fion of Xuanhom's Mom and co-host Victoria Bakes.

I'm also submitting this post to My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies (Jan/Feb 2015) hosted by Miss B of Everybody eats well in Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House.

I'm submitting this to Little Thumbs Up - February 2015 organized by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen of my little favourite DIY and Grace of Life can be Simple.

                                   

Melt-in-the-mouth peanut butter cookies

For the past 1-2 weeks, I have been seeing posts in the facebook where people have already started to do massive baking for the Lunar Chinese New Year. I thought it's a tad too early for that. And now, I'm beginning to panick since it's already the 1st week of February 2015 and nothing is being done except for trying to clear up the house to start on a clean slate. Haha!! of course, cleaning the house is something done but for me, nothing baked for Chinese New Year would be deemed as nothing is done :P

I happen to stumble upon some posts of peanut butter cookies and then Mr G said, I like peanut butter cookies. Immediately, I showed him the YUCK face. As you can see, I'm not a fan of peanut butter or peanut for that fact. But for Mr G, I'll attempt these cookies just to see if it's as good as it seems. I was pretty much intrigued because this recipe uses peanut butter instead of using peanut powder. See my modifications in blue.

Ingredients:

180g peanut butter (creamy without any peanut crunch)

50g peanut oil (I used extra 20g peanut oil**)

85g icing sugar

250g plain flour (I used cake flour and don't seem to see a difference in this)

1 egg yolk + 1 tsp water (beaten together)

Method:

1. Whisk peanut butter, 50g peanut oil and icing sugar together till it all combines together.
2. Sift flour into mixture 1 and knead to the consistency of soft dough. At this point of kneading, if you still see bits of loose flour that cannot gel with the dough, add about 10g to 20g peanut oil. I would suggest to add this slowly as you knead so that you can gauge and not overpour the oil and make a greasy dough.
3. In order to get equally shaped cookies, use small ice-cream scoop or even measuring spoon sized of 1 tbsp (levelled). Lightly roll the rough into a ball and place on the baking sheet. Use your fingers to flatten the top of the cookie and place a half peanut on top of the cookie for decorative purposes. Brush the cookies with beaten egg wash.
4. Bake in preheated oven at 150 deg C for about 14 to 15 minutes (depending on your oven temperature).

As a non-peanut lover, I had to try the cookie I made for taste and to ensure that I don't poison my tester(s) give my testers sub-standard cookies that I won't eat. After a bite of the cookie, I must say that I really like this melt-in-the-mouth cookie. It's unlike the usual peanut butter cookie I've tasted before. I would definitely make this over and over again for sure.

I'm submitting this post to Cook and Celebrate: CNY 2015 organised by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids. 

I'm also submitting this post to Best Recipes For Everyone Jan & Feb 2015 hosted by Fion of Xuanhom's Mom and co-host Victoria Bakes.

I'm also submitting this post to My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies (Jan/Feb 2015) hosted by Miss B of Everybody eats well in Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, it's Mystery Box Madness week. If you have no inkling what a Mystery Box is, you might have a clue if you have taken a glimpse at the Mystery Box challenges on Masterchef Australia. Basically, it's a box where it contains various items whereby you can choose to cook/bake all or some of the items. In our Mystery Box Madness for this week, we are given a choice to choose 3 items out of all the ingredients in the Box.

For this MBB, I've chosen chocolate, rolled oats and cinnamon. To me, these 3 ingredients symbolize a simple but yet homely dessert that is close to the heart. If you haven't eaten oatmeal raisin cookie then you should definitely stay on this page. But even if you have, you really might like this so do bookmark this to try.

This recipe is from Jamie Oliver. To me, Jamie is a food hero that uses a lot of simple and beautiful ingredients but yet, I've always link Jamie with savoury foods and never with sweet desserts. So you can tell that I was pleasantly surprised to find this staple cookie in his repertoire. Now I'm getting excited as I believe this cookie is sure to be yummy.

This recipe from Jamie Oliver is from page 52 of Jamie Magazine December 2009 - D.I.Y. cookie jars.  See my modifications in blue.

Ingredients:

115g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

150g raisins

165g rolled oats
100g chocolate chips

125g brown sugar

1 vanilla pod

115g softened butter

1 egg

Method:

1. Beat softened butter with sugar and vanilla pod seeds scraped with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
2. Mix in 1 egg. Combine the rest of the ingredients until smooth. To give the cookie batter chocolatey, I also added some dark chocolate chips.
3. Refrigerate the dough for half an hour, then make small cookies with the help of a tablespoon and put them on a lined cookie sheet, leaving room for them to spread.
4. Flatten the cookies with a tablespoon, they should not be regular and nice to see. 
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden at the edges but soft in the middle. Leave them to cool completely; when you remove from the oven, they are still soft but they will get firmer in minutes.

  



I love how this oatmeal raisin cookie tastes like after keeping the batter in the fridge for sometime. The sugars and ingredients gel together very well after sometime and that is a wholesome cookie for me. But of course, if you are not a oatmeal or raisin person, you probably wouldn't like it very much. Thanks, Jamie!!

I've also prepacked some cookie batter and froze them so it can baked at anytime I have a cookie craving ;)

I'm submitting this post to I Heart Cooking Clubs.

I'm submitting this post to Cook-Your-Books #19 organized by Joyce of kitchenflavours.

Coconut Butter Cookies

Lately, I have been reading articles on coconut, in particular, coconut milk, coconut cream and even their complementary products like coconut cream powder. And then I was thinking, hey, is this a new superfood as they called it? I realised that it is true.

 

Honestly, I have my misgivings about coconut since from young, I was taught that we can eat food with coconut but not too much because of the cholestrol 'benefits' it would give us. So when I read those articles, I was shocked and keep going like NOooooo no way....but as I read more and learn more about coconut, I realised that it is not as what we think.

 

I think the most common reason I understand about people avoiding coconut like plague would be because of its high saturated fat content especially when it's used in curries, desserts and cakes especially for those people who want to lose weight.

 

Oddly enough, do you know that coconut cream contains good saturated fat that improves your health and encourages weight loss as your body easily converts it to energy the moment it is absorbed? This is similar to how your body reacts when it absorbs carbohydrates.

 

Literally, that also means despite what you believe about the saturated fat that exists in coconut cream, it does not increases your bad cholestrol level that clogs up your arteries and triggers heart attacks and causes stroke. The most important thing is, it doesn't causes you to gain weight as easily as what you perceived it to be.

 

In fact, researchers and scientists have found the lauric acid content in breast milk to be present in coconut cream as well. Did you know that this content aids you in fighting viruses, bacteria, promote normal  brain development and contributes to healthy bones as well as the fact that it also has anti-carcinogenic and anti-pathogenic properties that keep cancer far away? Having said all the above, would you still believe that coconut is bad for you?

But please don't start indulging yourself in coconut cream daily. This should be the same for all health food. When you eat too much of a health food, you will still be piling on extra calories and gain weight as a result. So hence, it is better to eat wisely by consuming everything in moderation in order to reap health benefits without getting its disadvantages.

 

Enough talk about coconut cream. I think you should be quite ready to check out this easy peasy cookie recipe that uses coconut cream powder :)

 

The recipe is from 孟老師的100道手工餅乾 and it was through Wen's Delight that I saw it. See my modifications or comments in blue.

 

Ingredients:

75g unsalted butter (softened) I used Golden Churn, you may use a butter that has very strong buttery fragrance like SCS butter.
50g icing sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence100g top flour I used cake flour
10g cornflour
20g coconut cream powder You can find this in big, flat sachets in the local supermarkets. I used the Kara brand.

 

Method:

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven at 160 degrees celsius.
2. Sieve top cake flour, corn flour and coconut cream powder together and set aside.
3. Use an electric handheld mixer to beat the softened butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence till light and creamy.
4. Add in sifted flour into (2), use a spatula to fold in the flour and mix into a soft dough. It doesn't matter if you add the sifted flours to (2) or you add (2) to sifted flours.
5. Wrap the dough with cling wrap and chill for 30mins. I blast freeze the dough in the freezer for about 10 minutes and it worked.
6. Weigh and shape the dough into 12g balls.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 25 mins 14 minutes (this works for my oven but please use the usual baking time for cookies for your oven), turn off heat and leave the cookies in the oven for another 10 mins.
8. Remove from oven to cool it on a rack.

You wouldn't believe how my kitchen and literally whole house was scented with the perfume of the coconut cream powder. It's wonderful considering the fact that I've only used 20g of the powder. I think the next time I bake this, I would shorten the baking time by not leaving it in the oven for another 10 minutes. Nevertheless, the cookies are pretty fragrant and have a slight buttery taste. I would definitely use SCS butter next time I bake this for more buttery taste :)

 

 

 I'm submitting this post to Cook-Your-Books #11 organized by Joyce of baking flavours.

 

 

I'm also submitting this post to The Biscuit Barrel organized by Laura of I'd much rather baked than...

 

 

Chocolate Chip Cookies #2

Do you remember this?

Source: mycutegraphics

Yes, this is part 2 of our chocolate chip cookie throwdown!! For this part, we are going to use the Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip recipe which is featured here. My modifications are in blue below. For this throwdown, a few factors will remain the same so that comparison of tastes will be fair. Hence, no nuts will be used, quantity of sugar (brown and white) will remain the same for all recipes and all cookie batter will be refrigerated between 24 to 72 hours.

Ingredients:

281g all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

226g butter, softened

168g granulated sugar 50g caster sugar

150g brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

340g chocolate morsels

134g chopped nuts

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F 170 degrees celsius.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. 
3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. 
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. 
5. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. 
6. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
7. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

I followed this recipe to a T except that I refrigerated the batter or rather froze the batter after rolling them into balls of same size. I refrigerated them for at least 72 hours.

After baking, this was how it turned out to be.

Honestly, although I followed this recipe to the T, I felt that maybe I could have baked them longer than 11 or 12 minutes but then again, would that make my cookie dry? I seriously wonder. Personal preference perhaps that this cookie is a fail for me since it turned out to be a tad soft and cakey. I never liked such cookies. I love my Famous Amos!! ;) Yes, I'm a Famous Amos gal, are you too? :)

Clearly, even Mr G didn't really like this one. Ok, sorry Tollhouse, you are going down. That means for now, NY Times aka Jacque Torres rules! Till the next cookie bake.

For now, I think we are pretty sick of cookies for now ;) Peeps are asking for cake!! cake!! cake!! No more cookies! @@ 

Nevertheless, I'm submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #36: Choc-a-cookie (October 2013) hosted by Genie of Honeybee916 Food.

I am submitting this post to AlphaBakes hosted by Ros of The more than occasional baker and Caroline from Caroline Makes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies #1

Did I even mention that October is going to be a fun month full of treats and birthdays? Yes, it is indeed my birthday month and so many friends I know have the same birthday month too. So that means double celebration!!

On top of that, it is Choc-a-cookie month at Aspiring Bakers. This means it's going to be cookies and chocolate in one. Oooh, that to me is chocolate chip cookie for sure! In view of this, I'm going to have a chocolate chip cookie throwdown! For this throwdown, I'm going to have 3 chocolate chip cookies from various sources where many people have acclaimed each of these cookies to be THE BEST. This throwdown is just for personal reference and also to note what the people who have tasted the cookies love most.

Source: mycutegraphics

For this 1st part of the chocolate chip cookie throwdown, I'm going to try the recipe from Jacque Torres which is also famously known as The NY Times cookie. See my modifications in blue.

Ingredients:

240g cake flour

240g bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

283g unsalted butter

283g 150g light brown sugar

226g 50g granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

566g bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (I used chocolate chunks)

Sea salt

Method:

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. 
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 
4. Stir in the vanilla. 
5. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. 
6. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. 
7. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be is best refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
8. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
9. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 14 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.

Do note that the recipe has been followed to a T for this chocolate chip cookie throwdown. If you note the highlighted portion above, do not skip this step. Refrigerating the cookie batter will allow the sugars in the cookie batter to blend and obtain a nice caramel flavour.

Mr G took one when it was almost out of the oven because of the incredible chocolate caramel flavour he smelt. I think it's normal  because I couldn't resist and snitched on one too which was barely out of the oven :P If you are the testers, what would you think about it?

Personal Notes:

• to freeze cookie batter, use a cookie scoop and place your cookie rounds into baking pans. Put the baking pans into the freezer for about 1/2 hour or so where they have hardened. To keep them easily, put them into freezer bags and label them accordingly.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #36: Choc-a-cookie (October 2013) hosted by Genie of Honeybee916 Food.

I am submitting this post to AlphaBakes hosted by Ros of The more than occasional baker and Caroline from Caroline Makes.