honey sunflower nestum cookies

When I was given a packet of Tong Garden honey sunflower kernels, I decided to use them as an ingredient to bake cookies.

To complement the taste of the honey sunflower kernels, I added Nestum cereal as well.

The outcome? Yummy, yummy cookies that you will not stop eating.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup corn flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 cup ground peanuts
1 cup Nestum cereal
1 cup honey sunflower kernels

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Sift the plain flour, corn flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream the butter and castor sugar in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and mix well.

4. Add the eggs, ground peanuts and Nestum cereal and mix well.

5. Stir in the honey sunflower kernels using a wooden spatula.

6. Fold in the flour using a wooden spatula and mix until blended.

7. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper.

8. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

9. Let the cookies cool thoroughly on a wire rack before storing an air-tight container.

oat and pumpkin seed cookies

I baked these cookies for the mother of my friend, GP. Auntie N likes oat cookies.

Da's niece, MAT happened to have a stay-over at our place for a baking session. When she was done with her baking and she was using our computer, I told her that it was my turn and I was going to create a new recipe. She wished me luck.

In less than half an hour, the smell of oat and pumpkin seed cookies baking in the oven waffled throughout our apartment. I like experimenting with creating recipes and it is very satisfying when the trial and error session is a success.

Do I have my share of failures in baking? Yes, I do. However, I learn from the failure and improve the next time. This is why when MAT started taking an interest in coming to our home during weekends for baking sessions, I was prepared to let there be failures in her initial attempts at baking because I did not intend to hold her hands at every stage of the baking process. I intended to guide her but to let her handle the entire baking process herself, from the preparation (including understanding of the recipe) to the cleaning up. I am happy to say that MAT has been improving with time and I give her full credit for her positive attitude and her willingness to learn.

INGREDIENTS

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 cup corn flour

2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter (softened)

1 cup castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

1/2 cup ground peanuts

1 cup instant oats

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Sift the bicarbonate of soda, corn flour, plain flour and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

3. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

4. Add the vanilla essence and mix well.

5. Add the ground peanuts, instant oats and pumpkin seeds and mix well.

6. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and mix until blended.

7. Drop by teaspoonful onto a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper.

8. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown.

9. Let the cookies cool thoroughly on a wire rack before storing the cookies in an air-tight container.

clam chowder buns

Credit goes to Da's niece, MAT for the beautifully shaped buns that you see in this post.

MAT has barely entered her teens and she has already developed an interest in baking. Keep it up, sweetie!

Whenever I bake bread buns with savoury filling, I like to use a bread dough that contains egg. Somehow the bread has more oomph and complements the savoury filling.

For the filling for this bread bun, I cooked some clam chowder stew. If you prefer, you can use canned clam chowder.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup low fat milk

4 tbsp butter (softened)

1 egg (lightly beaten)

3/4 tsp salt

3 cups bread flour

1 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

filling - clam chowder / clam chowder stew

egg wash (optional) comprising 1 egg mixed with 2 tsp water

METHOD

1. For the bread dough, place all the ingredients (except the bread flour and the yeast) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough several times.

6. Separate the dough into 8 equal portions, shape into balls and place the balls on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper. Cover the baking tray with a dry cloth and leave for 10 minutes.

7. Roll out each ball and place some filling in the centre. Join the edges of the dough together and shape into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

8. Place the buns in a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper. Cover the baking tray with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

9. Brush with egg wash if desired.

10. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.

chocolate chip bars

Da's niece (MAT) and I found a recipe at the back of a packet of Hersheys chocolate chips for "blondies".

I read the recipe and realised that it was for something similar to a biscuit bar.

As MAT is developing an interest in baking, I asked her whether she wanted to give the recipe a try. She agreed.

Along the way, I made some modifications to the recipe to suit our Asian palate. Asians tend to prefer crunchy cookies instead of chewy cookies. Also, I wanted to cut down on the amount of sugar content in the bars.

The recipe in this post is a modified version of the Hersheys recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup corn flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter (softened)

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup chocolate chips

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and line a 12" x 9" x 1" baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.

3. Sift the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Cream the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl using a hand whisk until light and fluffy.

5. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla essence and beat well.

6. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and mix well.

7. Stir in the chocolate chips.

8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread out evenly.

9. Bake for 30 minutes.

10. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in the baking tray and then use a pizza cutter to cut into bars.

11. Put the baking tray back into the oven and heat for a further 10 minutes.

12. Remove from oven and let the bars cool thoroughly before storing in an air-tight container.

banana butter cake

If you like butter cakes, you will like this banana butter cake.

The secret is to use overripe bananas because they are very sweet.

The aroma of the butter mixed with the bananas when the cake is baking in the oven is simply heavenly.

INGREDIENTS

2 large overripe bananas
180g self-raising flour
250g butter (softened)
110g castor sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp banana essence

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Grease and line the bottom of an 8" round cake pan with baking paper. Grease and flour the sides of the cake pan.

3. Mash the bananas in a bowl. Set aside.

4. Sift the self-raising flour in a bowl. Set aside.

5. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

6. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well with each addition.

7. Add the banana essence and the bananas. Mix well.

8. Fold in the flour using a wooden spatula and stir until blended.

9. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

TIP

When you are baking butter cakes, do use a better brand of butter so that the cake is more aromatic. I use SCS butter whenever I bake butter cakes.

chocolate ice cream

I love chocolates, either plain or with some nuts. I am not so keen on chocolates that contain other types of filling such as jelly.

I have been having fun using the ice-cream maker that Da gave me. There are 6 recipes in the instruction manual that came with the ice-cream maker. However, I have not tried out the recipe. Instead, I have been doing some trial and error on my own and in the process, creating new recipes.

This is another of those trial and error recipes. I happened to bake some chocolate chip cookies and I wondered how it would taste like if I were to break up the cookies and use them to make chocolate ice cream.

This is the end result:-

INGREDIENTS

200ml low fat milk
5 tbsp icing sugar
300ml thickened cream
1 cup chocolate chip cookies (crushed)
1/2 cup chocolate (chopped)
1/2 cup ground peanuts


METHOD

1. Mix all the ingredients in a blender and blend until evenly mixed.

2. Assemble the ice cream maker and switch it on.

3. Use the chute and pour the mixture into the freezer bowl.

4. Allow the mixture to church until the desired consistency is reached. (I usually allow the mixture to churn for 30 minutes.)

sardine buns

When I posted in my facebook a photograph of the sardine buns that I baked, one of my friends commented that the buns look like those that his mother used to bake. *grin*

I used my breadmaker to prepare the dough. JT once asked me whether the bread dough can be prepared by hand. It can but I find it convenient to use my breadmaker. Having said this, I prefer to finish the baking process in my convection oven instead of in my breadmaker. This is because I find that bread made from start to finish using breadmaker tends to harden faster than bread whose dough is made using the breadmaker but baked in the oven.

INGREDIENTS (bread)

1 egg (lightly beaten)

1/4 cup butter (softened)

1/8 cup fine sugar

1/2 cup warm milk

3/4 tsp fine salt

2 cups bread flour

1 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast

INGREDIENTS (filling)

canned sardine - you will not need the entire can of sardine

1 small red onion (chopped)

1 small red chilli (deseeded and chopped)

juice of 1 small lime

METHOD

1. Place the egg, butter, fine sugar, warm milk and salt in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough for 5 minutes.

6. Separate the dough into 12 portions and shape into a ball. Place each portion on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper, cover with a dry cloth and leave for 5 minutes.

7. Mix the filling together in a bowl. Set aside.

8. Roll out each portion and add the filling. Join the edges of the dough together and shape into a ball. Place each ball onto a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper.

9. Cover the baking tray with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

10. Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.

coffee chocolate chip cookies

It has been some time since I last baked chocolate chip cookies.

This time, I decided to bake a variation - coffee chocolate chip cookies. As I intended to give the cookies to adults and children, I did not add as much coffee as I would have liked. As such, the cookies had a hint of a taste of coffee but it was not strong. If you prefer a stronger taste of the coffee, do feel free to increase the quantity of coffee powder and/or coffee emulco to your taste.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup corn flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp fine salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp 3-in-1 instant coffee powder (I used white coffee, hazelnut flavour)
125g butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
1 tsp coffee emulco
2 eggs
1/2 cup ground peanuts
1 cup chopped peanuts
2 cups chocolate chips

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.

3. Sift the plain flour, corn flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and ground cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the coffee powder and mix well. Set aside.

4. Cream the butter, castor sugar and coffee emulco using a hand whisk or an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition.

6. Add the ground peanuts, chopped peanuts and chocolate chips and mix well.

7. Fold in the flour mixture using a wooden spatula and mix until the flour has disappeared into the batter.

8. Drop by teaspoonful unto the prepared tray.

9. Bake for 15 minutes.

10. Let the cookies cool thoroughly before storing them in an air-tight container.

ham and celery quiche

When MIL gave us several slices of ham, before we could finish eating the ham, she gave us some more. So as not to waste the earlier batch of ham and before they expired, I decided to bake a ham and celery quiche.

If you do not like celery, you can substitute with spinach.

If you intend to use spinach, you can buy cooked spinach in a can or frozen. Whichever you choose, be sure to drain the spinach before using.

INGREDIENTS


2 cups low fat milk
4 eggs (lightly beaten)
3/4 cup Bisquick pancake and baking mix
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese - I used Kraft grated parmesan cheese
1 cup celery (sliced, boiled and drained)
1 cup ham (cubed)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp bacon bits

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius.

2. Lightly grease a 10" round casserole dish. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, mix the milk, eggs, baking mix, butter and parmesan cheese using a hand whisk. The batter will be lumpy.

4. Stir in the rest of the ingredients using a wooden spatula and mix well.

5. Pour into the prepared casserole dish.

6. Bake for 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

peanut butter buns

I actually wanted to bake some peanut butter cookies. However, it was a warm day and the thought of shaping each cookie did not appeal to me.

I changed my mind and baked peanut butter bread buns instead.

I did not use any egg wash (that is, 1 egg beaten with 2 tsp of water) to brush the dough before I baked the bread bun as I was running low on eggs. Had I used the egg wash, the bread buns would have turned out nice and shiny when baked.

INGREDIENTS

175ml water

15g butter (softened)

1/2 tbsp milk powder

1/2 tbsp castor sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice

250g bread flour

1 tsp instant dry yeast

1/4 cup raisins (optional)
chunky peanut butter

egg wash (optional)

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour, yeast, raisins and peanut butter) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. Ten minutes into the cycle, add the raisins (if desired) without stopping the cycle. Let the cycle continue.

6. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough about 5 times and separate the dough into 6 portions.

7. Shape each portion into a ball, then roll out. Place a generous scoop of chunky peanut butter in the centre of the rolled out dough. Lift the edges of the dough, join them together and shape into a ball.

8. Place each dough on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper.

9. Cover the baking tray with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

10. When the dough is ready, brush with egg wash (if desired) and then bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees celsius for 20 minutes.

very berry bread

Although it is not the yuletide season, I was in the mood to bake a loaf of bread that had a lovely Christmasey aroma.

This loaf of bread is full of the lovely aroma of spices such as cinnamon, ground nutmeg, etc.

For an even more lovely Christmasey aroma, you can add orange juice instead of the mixed berries juice that is in this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

250ml mixed berries juice

100ml water

25g butter (softened)

1 tbsp castor sugar

1 tbsp milk powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

500g bread flour

2 tsp instant dry yeast

1/2 cup assorted dried berries (eg. cranberries, blueberries, cherries, boysenberries, etc)

METHOD

1. Place all the ingredients (except the bread flour, yeast and mixed dried berries) in the bucket of the breadmaker machine.

2. Add the bread flour, making sure that the wet ingredients are totally covered.

3. Add the yeast.

4. Place the bucket in the breadmaker machine and set to "dough" cycle. Start the cycle.

5. Ten minutes into the cycle, add the mixed dried berries without stopping the cycle. Let the cycle continue.

6. When the cycle has been completed, turn the dough onto a floured board. Using floured hands, knead the dough 5 times.

7. Place the dough in a loaf pan that has been greased and lined with baking paper.

8. Cover the loaf pan with a dry cloth and leave for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

9. Bake in an oven preheated to 185 degrees celsius for 35 minutes.

pineapple upside down cake

Da's niece, SCT bakes a lovely pineapple upside down cake. I have not obtained the recipe from her yet but in the meantime, I decided to try my hand at baking my own pineapple upside down cake.

I am pleased with the end result. The brown sugar and butter blended well with the pineapple and gave a delicious topping.

INGREDIENTS (topping)

4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp brown sugar
5 slices of pineapple - for the type of pineapple, please see the photographs in this post


INGREDIENTS (cake)

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp fine salt
125g butter (melted)
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp orange essence
2 tbsp low fat milk

METHOD

1. Grease and line the base of an 8" round cake pan. Grease the flour the sides of the cake pan.

2. Melt the butter and brown sugar in a bowl. Mix well and pour it to the base of the cake pan. Arrange the pineapple slices in a circle over the base. Set aside.

3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

4. Sift the plain flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

5. Mix the butter and castor sugar in a mixing bowl using a hand whisk until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time and mix well.

6. Add 1/2 the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well. Add 1 tbsp of milk and mix well. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and remaining milk. Mix until combined.

7. Spread the batter over the pineapple slices and bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

8. Let the cake cool in the cake pan for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a serving plate.

cherry muffins

When I baked these cherry muffins, I was so thrilled at the "Christmasey" look of the muffins. This was due to the addition of red cherries and green cherries.

Hmm.... next in line to try my hand at baking would be a Christmas stollen, I guess!

Whenever I buy a packet of cherries for use in baking, I would use my spare time to cut the cherries into small pieces and store the cherries in the refrigerator. This way, when I need to use the cherries, I do not have to spend time cutting the cherries and I can cut down on my preparation time.

INGREDIENTS

225g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

75g castor sugar

1 egg

30g butter (melted)

200ml low fat milk

1 tsp orange essence

1/2 cup red cherries (chopped)

1/2 cup green cherries (chopped)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Line the muffin cups with paper muffin cases. Set aside.

3. Sift the plain flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add the castor sugar and mix well.

4. Whisk the egg using a hand whisk and then add the melted butter, milk and orange essence. Mix well.

5. Mix the cherries into the wet ingredients.

6. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir using a wooden spatula until just combined. Do not over-stir.

7. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.