**It’s Cookie Time**

While enjoying the beautiful chill Autumn Sunday at home today, i was surfing through my recipes and thought it is time to start thinking of the baking sessions in Winter :)

I am so looking forward to it as i love the Fall and Winter, the cold chilly eves in front of the heaters wrapped up in woolen shawls and knitted socks with a large cup of hot coffee or hot milk with honey holding with both hands absorbing the heat through it and taking a sip and enjoying the atmosphere with candles... Phu i just love it!!!

I planned to re-load my recipes of the differents cookies i usually bake and many of you loved them and baked them too, so may be this will give you some motivation to get set to bake soon :)

So here's my most favorite cookies recipes which are a must bake each year :D

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

1/4 tsp 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)

1/4 tsp 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 andsugar 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

http://www.raniazohaib.com/2012/12/cookies-baking-fun-time.html

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 :)

Some for more friends :)

*Couscous Patties*

As i sit here to jot down a new recipe I tried this week, I noticed Oh gosh how long is it here, that I uploaded the last time….

It’s either the short time due to other chores, or one or the other picture is missing to upload and not to excuse but the laziness creeps in somewhere too  :D

So here I am with what I made this week and wanted to share with you all too

The Couscous Patties, easy, yummy a delight even the next day and I felt they tasted like falafel the next day, really nice with a light dip.

Couscous, is a grain from hard wheat semolina flour, and is coated with all-purpose flour to keep it from sticking as it cooks.

It has become very famous in the International  kitchens. And it's not because Moroccan food is suddenly the favorite on top list but  It actually has  to do with a healthy diet for many.

It is said that Couscous is , North Africa's answer to pasta,it is a tiny form of Pasta yet full with nutrition  and cheap in cost to fulfill the required amount of hunger : )

This little grain puffs up in no time and is ready to be served within half an hour

Many of my Turkish and German friends make tasty salad with it, I like the salad too but I thought of some finger food, similar to what I have in my Pakistani cuisine too.

It’s very easy to make, tastes really wonderful, can be taken all over as a snack or on trips and as a small lunch item @ work :)

I have made it the very simply way, you can add any vegetable according to your taste.

I have used chickpea flour as a coating here, we can surely omit that, or we can also use the all purpose flour for a crispy coating, I was making it for a special friend who avoids flour.

I’ve tried to make small videos, they are not the Prize winning ones hihi but I was using one hand to record and the other to work, so I think it’s pretty okay :D

So here we go, we need:

100 grams Couscous

150 ml vegetable stock

1 fine chopped onion

1 big carrot chopped or julienne cut

1 medium  pepper bell any color, red and orange make it colorful

2 tbsp butter

1 egg

2 tbs of curd (Quark) Which I did not add

½ cup of grated cheese ( which I forgot :/)

¼ cup of chopped Parsley (I used fresh coriander )

Salt and pepper to taste ( as the stock is salty too)
1/4 tsp Garam masala
(a blend of ground spices; black pepper, cumin seed, coriander seeds, cloves,cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg)

       ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
½ tsp red chili flakes

½ tsp Cumin powder
2-3 twists of black pepper from the Mill

For the coating i took around 3 tbs of chickpea flour, added red chili flakes and a dash of salt and mixed it with chill water till it was quite flowy, sort of tempura batter.

The videos are step by step the way i prepared them,so hope it will be easy to follow.

-Put the Couscous in a big bowl and pour the boiling Veg Stock on it, mix it gently,cover a lid and let it work

-It will puff up in around 15 minutes

-twist and toss the couscous with a spoon so that it's not sticky and loosen up.

-now add all the rest ingredients and mix all well

I must confess I forgot to add the cheese, I was so into making the videos that it totally slipped out of mind, but actually I din’t miss the taste of it in the patties, yes the cheese has a binding effect and makes it juicy too while frying, so do add if you have it at hand and no harm if not.

-I am no great fan of Parsley so I added Coriander but I’d say do add the parsley as that gives it a special kick in taste  :)

 Add all spices and chopped Vegetable one after the other and mix all slightly.
I sprinkled some Orange/Lemon juice for a tangy taste.

Mix well after adding the egg so that all is equally smooth

I made a very gooey mixture with the chickpea flour for the coating

Fry carefully so they do not break, if you coat with flour they hold on, here i fried without the coating, but the rest i coated so you can see the difference in the following video ⤦

These ↧ are with the coating so you see they are steady and firm :)

The  different color is due to one handed camera lady so don't get confused :D

Enjoy making and having them with Yogurt Lassi as i did :D