Almond Butter Cookies

I'm trying to finish my almond butter before expiring thus, decided to make use it into my Deepavali cookies. The idea comes from the classic peanut butter cookies. Instead of peanut butter,i find almond butter give a rich,nutty flavor to the beautiful cookies. The creaminess from the almond butter and crunchiness from alnond slices complement each other really well. My elder daughter already started finishing few cookies in the name of testing 🤣. Time to find a hiding place if i want the cookies to stay until Deepavali 🤭. A perfect cookies for festive season.

Ingredients

1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter,room temperature
1 cup all purpose flour
1 egg,room temperature
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/8 tsp almond exttact
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup almond slices

Methods

Preheat oven at 375'F or 180'C. Line a baking tray wid parchment paper. Keep aside

Using a stand or hand mixer, cream almond butter,butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

Add egg and beat for 5 seconds. Add vanilla and almond extract. Beat for another 5 seconds.

Reduce speed to low and beat in the flour till combine. Using a spatula fold in almond slices.

Shape into equal size balls and place onto a baking tray. Lightly flatten using ur palm and arrange almond slices.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or till the edges turns golden. Remove from oven and cool on baking pan for 10 minutes.

Cool on wire rack till cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Bread Breakfast Bowl

Remember i blogged about oatmeal bread few days ago? Today i'm taking the oatmeal bread to the next level with a simple recepi. This recepi makes a great deal for weekends breakfast. It has everything you need for a perfect kick start morning. Eggs,turkey ham,cheese,cream & milk..do you need anything more than this for a lazy weekend breakie? Pair it with a piping hot cup of coffee and you are good to go.

Ingredients

1 loaf of oatmeal bread
4 eggs, divided
1/2 cup cream
1 cup milk
1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sliced turkey ham
1 tbsp chopped scallion
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper powder

Methods

Make a medium-large hole on the loaf and scrap off the inner part. Tear of the inner part of the bread into bite sized pieces. Keep aside.

Preheat oven to 375'F or 180'C.

In a large bowl whisk  together milk and cream. Crack in 2 eggs & whisk to combine.

Add diced turkey hams,grated
 and cheddar and chopped scallion. Season with salt and pepper. Add the torn bread pieces and whisk.

Place the bread on baking pan lined with parchment paper. Pour to the prepared custard mixture into the bread hole and gently crack in the remaining 2 eggs.

Bake for 15-20 minutes till the custard set.

Remove from oven and brush the sides of the bread with butter while still hot.

Let it cool for l5 minutes before slicing.

Durian Butter Cake

I made this gorgeous looking cake two months ago when durian were abundance in market. It's durian season whereby, it was found everywhere from the street to hypermarket. The king of fruit is my younger daughter's favourite fruit in whole world. She could eat them 24/7 but eating too much of the thorny fruit will make you fall sick 😔. As a mother, i do check on her durian intake and make sure she drink plenty of water to flush it out as durian been rated as 'heaty' stuff.

There are few people who loathe the smell and taste of durian but believe me, millions love this humble fruit and our family are not exceptional. When we brought back more than what we could eat, those sweet and creamy fruit went into making desserts. That's how this beautiful durian butter cake emerged from my oven. The whole house filled with the intoxicating fragrance of durian and i just love it. I used D24 type of Durian to make this butter cake..you may use any good quality durian to satisfy your durian crave. It's rich,dense,moist,sweet & creamy everything that could take a humble butter cake to the next level. Even now while typing the recepi, i'm drooling 😉

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups cake flour
1 cup fresh durian flesh
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature
4 eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Methods

Preheat oven at 375'F or 180'C. Grease a bundt pan & lightly dust with flour. Tap excess flour and keep aside.

In a bowl combine together flour,baking powder,baking soda and salt. Stir to combine.

Using a stand or hand mixer, beat butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition.

Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in two batches and beat after each addition.

Using a spatula, fold in the durian flesh.

Pour batter into a prepared bundt pan and bake for 50-55 minutes.

Remove from oven and let it cool on the pan for 15-20 minutes.

Carefully transfer the cake to cooling rack and cool completely.

Slice and enjoy.

Rose Petals And Pistachio Nankhatai

Deepavali or Diwali is around the corner and like any other festival, its time for the never ending core. House spring cleaning, bundles of festive clothes to wash,cooking and baking taking the center stage. I started making muruku and baking cookies yesterday. My cashew muruku and red velvet cookies which i blogged years ago making its entry for this year Deepavali too. While thinking for another cookie option nan khatai came to mind. The buttery,crunchy and delicate Indian shortbread. What i love about nan khatai is the simplicity of the cookie without compromising in taste. This is an eggless recepi which is an ideal choice of cookies for vegetarians.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 confectioners sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/8 tsp salt
Pinch of baking soda
Pinch of cardamom powder
1/4 tsp rose water or few drops of rose essence
1 1/3 tbsp crushed dry rose petals
1 1/2 tbsp chopped pistachio

Methods

In a bowl, combine flour,salt,cardamom powder and baking soda. Keep aside

Using an hand or stand mixer, beat butter and confectioners sugar till pale and fluffy.

Add rose water and beat for 2-3 seconds.

Add in the flour mixture in 2 batches making sure to beat after each addition. Do not overbeat.

With a spatula, fold in the rose petals. Shape the dough into a log and wrap in a cling wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven at 375'F or 180'C. Line a baking tray with parchment papet and keep aside.

Divide the dough into a equal 16 small sized balls and place onto a prepared baking tray.

Using a knife, gently slit the top of the balls to create a design.

Sprinkle chopped pistachi on the prepared cookie dough and give a light tap for the pistachio to stick onto the cookies during baking in the oven.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or till the edges slightly golden.

Remove from oven and let it cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• You may easily double up the recepi. Original recepi yields 16-18 cookies

Honey Oatmeal Bread

Baking your own bread is some kind of "theraphy'..i have said this oncr and i'm repeating myself agakn. The kneading and punching release you from stress which is good for your mental health. My stand mixer comes with hook attachment and that takes away the pleasure of kneading sticky dough into a smooth dough but, i shall say ir saves lot of my time and energy. I do knead my own dough once inawhile to fr thr excitement. Today, i'm sharing honey oatmeal bread which is ideal to go with any spread or topping of your choice. The breaf itself are soft and fluffy. This is my second time baking this healthy honey oatmeal bread and both the recepi never failed me.

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups instant oats
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 tbsp active yeast
1 cup milk,warmed
2 tbsp
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp bread flour, for dusting

Topping

1 1/2 tbsp honey,warmed
2 tbsp instant oats

Methods

In a large bowl, combine flour,yeast,salt and oats.

In another bowl, add warmed milk and butter. Stir till butter melted. Add the honey and warmed water.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and let the stand mixer fitted with dough hook do the job of the kneading till the dough turns ingo soft and smooth dough.

Transfer the dough into a large greased bowl. Cover with damp clean kitchen towel and place in a warm place for the dough to rise for about 1 1/2 or 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and transfer it onto a clean working surface dusted with flour.

Knead the dough into an oval or into a loaf. Place the dough in a loaf pan or onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Brush the loaf with warmed honey and sprinkle with oats. Cover the dough with damp kitchen towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven at 180'C or 350'F and bake the dough for 45-minutes
Remove from oven and cool on the pan.

Transfer the bread from the pan to a wirerack to cool completely

Slice and enjoy

Srichacha Chilly Clams

One of the most challenging task is late night blogging especially, when your eyelids begging to close yet.. for the sake of passion let the midnight candle burn. I'm sharing a very easy to make shellfish dish which one can prepare in jiffy. I bought back some fresh clams from market to cook a spicy clam dish to pair with white rice. I'm not in a mood to grind chilly thus made use of srichacha chilly which i have in stock and that's how i got my spicy,delicious chilly clam with easy steps. You may add or redice the amount of srichacha sauce according to your heat tolerance. I like it spicy thus, three tablespoon are just enough to satisfy my heat.

Ingredient

500 g clams,wash & cleaned

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp srichacha sauce

1 tbsp corn flour

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 inch ginger,julienned

2 cloves garlic,julienned

1 medium onion,sliced

2 tbsp oil

Handful chopped scallions

Methods

Wash and cleaned the clams well. Rinse and keep aside.

In a bowl add oyster sauce,light soy sauce,dark soy sauce,sesame oil & srichacha sauce. Stir well. Keep aside.

Dilute cornflour with 1/4 cup water with any lumps. Keep aside

Heat oil in a wok and saute onion till translucent. Add ginger and garlic. Saute for 30 seconds. 

Add the cleaned clams and stir. Add the preparef sauce mixture. Stir and cover with lid. Cook for 5-7 minutes.

Add the diluted corn flour mixturere and stir. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Add chopped scallions and stir. Transfer to a serving plate.

Serve hot with white rice.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I have a big packet of luscious cream cheese in my fridge waiting to be used. Thinking what to whip up with the cream cheese and came up with this rich and decadent pound cake recepi. As the name suggested, pound cake recepi calls for all the ingredients to be measured in pounds and i have converted them into cups. The batter is not your ordinary flowing cake butter but thick and creamy similar to butter cream consistency. Pound cake batter has no baking powder or baking soda like any other cake batter. Do not taken back with the sugar measurement..i know its quite an amount but, trust me its just the right balance of sweetness for the large batter. The cake itself was moist and rich in texture. It is good on it's own or serve with a dollop of cream and berries.

Ingredients

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cream cheese, room temperature
6 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cups butter,room temperature
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups granulated white sugar
2 tbsp vegetable/canola oil

Methods

Grease a bundt cake tin with butter & dust with flour evenly. Tap to remove excess flour. Keep aside.

In a large bowl, add oil,cream cheese and butter beat using a handmixer for 1 minute.

Add sugar and vanilla extract. Beat for 5-7 minutes till fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition.

Reduce speed to low and add flour in two addition. Scrap the sides of the bowl and beat till just combined. Do not overbeat.

Pour the batter into prepared bundt cake tin and bake for 1 hour 16 minutes or till a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let it cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Invert frm pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Slice and serve with dollop of cream and berries

Cornmeal Almond Muffins

This recipe is a gluten free muffins recipe which will attract many gluten intolerant or people on diet. The beautiful golden colour of the muffins are derived from cornmeal..it's absolutely natural without any artificial colouring or preservatives. Indeed a healthy muffins to serve your family over breakfast for a boastful morning or even as tea time treat. Cornmeal almond muffins is something you want to give it a try if you have some polenta sitting on your kitchen counter. Now you may enjoy a guilty free without compromising in taste healthy delicious muffins.

Ingredients

1 cup finely ground cornmeal
1 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup butter,melted
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda bicarbonate
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs,whisked
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp milk

Directions

Preheat oven at 350'F or 180'C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin cups

In a large bowl, sift together rice flour,cornmeal,baking powder,salt and soda bicarbonate.

In another bowl whisk together eggs,milk,melted butter and maple syrup.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold until well combined.

Using an ice-cream scoop, fill in the muffin cups till 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the center of the muffin comes our clean.

Cool for 10-15 minutes and serve with a generous spread of butter.

Steamed Tofu With Pumpkin Floss

It was a public holiday here few weeks ago which in my case is a working day. Me and my my colleague planned to have lunch in a Chinese vegetarian restaurant and there's where i bumped into pumpkin floss on their shelve. Sounds interesting thus, i grabbed a packet to give it a try. The person behind the counter highly recommended this golden pumpkin floss.

The pumpkin floss comes with added seaweed which adds to the flavour & texture. Back home i can't wait to try them and decided to sprinkle it over steamed tofu and i shall say it tastes divine. Taste almost like chicken floss and the best part is it's vegan.


Ingredients

1 packet of soft tofu
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Pinch of black pepper powder
2 tbsp pumpkin floss

Methods

Gently remove tofu from the packet and place it on a plate.

In a bowl, add oyster sauce,dark soy sauce,light soy sauce,sesame oil and black pepper powder. Mix well.

Pour the soy mixture onto the tofu and steam for 8-10 minutes.

Remove from steamer and sprinkle with pumpkin floss.

Serve hot with white rice.