(click on the pic for a larger Image)
My last post was some time 2 months ago,though i have been cooking but you know that moment where you hardly have the time even to eat properly let aside taking pics :D
But here i am with the Seasonal Goodies
Winter
brings cravings of all what is sweet fluffy buttery and heartwarming and not to forget the cals but; honestly are we even thinking about it :)D
Chocolates
are always there to be gobbled when it’s cold and freezy, but the delish taste
and aroma of fresh baked cookies is simply out of this world, heavenly
unbeatable.
I spent the last three days playing around with
different doughs :)
Don't get irritated with the different Colors of the Pictures as i have used two different cameras
My actuall Cam is on a journey now a days :)
I mostly
make the ones which are requested from my family and friends sort of “Block
Buster” lol .
So the
most favorite are always the Date Rings and the Cranberry/White Choc and these
are always in my hit list.
I made a
new batch of cookies this time with Coconut and lemon zest and lemon oil, and
some chewy Orange peel/Walnuts they are really very tasty, the combination of
lemon with coconut and the orangy touch feels really yummy good. I think I will change my sides and stand with
the Orange Cookies :)
I will
just jot down the recipes under each Cookie precisely and short, so try it out
and enjoy your winter eves like me :)
Oh yes
I’d like to mention here that I have
used all organic ingredients here, specially for the cookies as the
flour is really the main ingredient and it makes a difference visibly, but of
course the plain all-purpose flour is also very good, nothing against it as I
have been using that for ages and ages but with the passing time I have skipped
to many organic things, especially after attending the seminars and knowing what
all comes under the name “Refined” I try to avoid chemically refined stuff as far as possible :)
As I
always write in my notes, Always the Best for our “Machinery” it has to carry
us a long long way :)
Okay
back to the recipe:
Cranberry/White
Choc Cookies
An all
time runner and loved for its chewy structure
The
important thing is not to bake it too long, when the recipe says 8-10 minutes
then it actually is 8-10 and not 10-12 minutes as we usually tend to exceed the
given time
But yes
exactly these two minutes do make a great difference!
My experience speaks here
:)
As you
take them out from the oven they may seem a bit raw but no worries they are
cooked and are just too soft and
crusty and be careful they are not to be shifted immediately so
give them a 2-3 minutes cooling time and then shift it with the help
of a spatula over to the cooling wire.
Here’s
how to make them:
180 g
soft butter
100g
sugar
1 large
egg
2 tbs
brown sugar
2tsp
Vanila extract
250g Ap
Flour (plain flour)
1 ½ tsp
cornstarch
1tsp
level baking soda
2-3
pinches salt
150g of
mixed cranberry/white choc together
70 g
nuts of your choice, I chopped walnuts and almonds to add in
-beat
the butter till fluffy white
-add the
sugar and beat again
-add the
egg, beat well, it will seem crumbly, it’s normal don’t panic or throw it away
:D
-sieve
the flour, corn starch baking soda and mix in slowly and keep beating till all
forms a very sticky dough
-Drop in
the vanilla extract and mix in the dried ingreidients: White Choc and
Cranberries
-Wrap it
in a cling and keep in the fridge for at least an hour
This
dough has to be chilled before you work on it as it is too soft and needs to
set.
Take out
of the fridge and let it come to the room temperature but not too warm or else
it will be difficult to handle.
You can
either roll it out or cut out cookies with the cutter or just roll is into a
thick roller pin and cut squares with a sharp knife or you can also make tiny
balls and place them on the tray, they will spread and form a nice round cookie
while being baked
Best is
to use a parchment paper to have a smooth flat structure, besides it’s easy to
slip them out of the tray.
Bake
these in a preheated oven on 180°C for ONLY 8-10 minutes!
After
taking them out of the oven, allow them to cool down and then sprinkle some
castor sugar on them , it’s optional, your own choice
They
stay soft and delish in a good tight Tin Container
Coconut
/Lemon Cookies
120g
soft butter
150g
sugar
1 large
egg
1 ½ cups
plain flour ( Approxi 200 grams)
1tsp
level baking powder
½ tsp
vanilla extract
2
pinches of salt
Zest of
one lemon
1 tbs
lemon oil
100g
desiccated coconut powder
3-4 tbs
castor sugar for coating
-combine
butter and sugar and beat fluffy
-add the
egg vaniia extract baking powder salt and the lemon oil and beat all together
-add the
flour and beat once again
-now add
the coconut and mix all with a wooden spoon
-place
castor sugar in a bowl
-make
small balls and toss them in the sugar and then place them on the baking tray
lined with a parchment paper.
-I just
pulled some apart to form macaroons
-Bake
them in a preheated oven on 190°for 9-10 minutes
Take
them out and allow cooling on a wire rack
Keep in
a air-tight Tin Container.
Ps: When i say Cup it's always meant a measuring cup. It's the best to use that as there are different types of cups and mugs and if you use that, the recipe might fail due to the incorrect measurements
This is what i use
Date/Fig
drops in bitter orange marmalade with nuts
I have
no exact recipe or measurements for these as I have really just created
something with my fantasy :)
I had
bought the bitter orange marmalade from the weekly market and just used it
twice on my toast. So as I was making the date rings last year, I had plenty
left over dates so I simply chopped them, added Figs, threw in some chopped
Walnuts and Almonds and mixed all.
Poured
some organic honey on it and 2-3 tbs of the bitter marmalade and to bind all
these I just took 1-2 tbs of flour and
mixed all. Just pinched the dough in small uneven sticks and baked in a
preheated oven on 170°Ctil they were a bit darker in color, it took around
10-14 minutes
Sprinkled castor sugar on them after they had rested a
while. Voila!
In the
Christmas time we have these very delicious fruit cakes with all dry fruits in
it, like cherry, raisins, dry plum, dry apricot, orange and lemon peel, I love
that fruit cake but due to some liquid ingredients in it I don’t eat it, so as
I made these ,here I could feel THAT taste as I also soused it in the marmalade
for an hour. I think it’s worth a try
Orange
Peel/Walnuts Cookies
The
ingredients are more or less similar to the Coconut Cookies with the exception
of some little tid bits.
One
important hint, don’t get confused with the Zest and Peel
Zest is
in simple words: The Grated skin of the Orange
Peel is
the skin itself, like when we peel off any fruit, in this case i peel the skin
and cut it in very fine stripes and lay it to get dried up. It’s the best aroma
you can get. It seems like a lot of work but it is’nt
Just
peel, cut and let them dry. My friend had ordered Lemons and Oranges from Mallorca (They are the best Sun-Riped fruit
ever) and gifted me some so I used them
till the last drop with skin and seeds :D
I also
use the tiny sachet we get with the lemon and orange peel, it’s available
everywhere
So here
we go;
120g
soft butter
150g
sugar
1 large
egg
1 ½ cups
plain flour (Approxi 200grams)
¼ tsp
baking powder
1 tsp
vanilla extract
2 pinches
of salt
Zest of
1 big orange
Peel of
1 Orange
(Later
you can press the fresh juice of both and enjoy the pure vitamin C :D )
2 cups
of Walnuts and I added cranberries to it too
I always
add more things to just see the new outcome, that’s how we create new
dishes na :D
-beat
butter,sugar,vanilla extract,orange zest and peel baking powder with salt
-beat in
the egg, will make all look crumbly but that’s the way it is
-add
theflour slowly and keep mixing
-add the
nuts and cranberry and just fold
-place walnut sized dough balls on the baking tray
with a distance of ½ inch allowing it to spread
Bake in
the preheated oven on 180°C for just 6-8
minutes!!
Same
process, take out,allow to cool,sprinkle castor sugar,let totally cool down
before you preserve
In the
Tin Box
Coconut
Macaroons
I used
the same dough of the Coconut/Lemon Cookies just added a bit of fresh milk to
make it a bit soft
Date
Rings
Some beautiful impressions i gifted our friends
These pictures are Courtesy a dear friend who shared these with me with great delight and joy as a thankyou...It's me who has to Thank you :)
