Banana, caramel and date cookies

We are back people!!

Yeah, all has been quiet for some time in the cooking area. I was on vacay with the fam fam in sunny Orlando Florida.

It was exhausting to say the least... (park after park... and 12 hour difference in time doing havoc on my internal clock.-- waking up at 3, 4am)

So, after a week recovery, I FINALLY was able to cook. A friend went to PARIS (PAREE) and ate a lot of french maracons. (LADUREE). She came back and gave me a cookbook (she was planning of letting me taste the maracons but she got back earlier and it did not reach me... =(()

Anyhow...

Here's one of the recipes from the cookbook she gave me: Ok, I know we REALLY like bananas. I also had the ingredients ready and it was an easy recipe.

You'll need:


125g (1/2 cup) butter softened
1 cup (220g) firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup (100g) mashed banana
2 cups all purpose flour sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped dried dates
Caramels (quartered)

Preheat oven to 180c. Line baking pan

Beat butter, sugar and egg yolk in a small bowl with electric mixer until combined. Stir in banana, sifted flour, baking soda and dates.

Roll tablespoons of mixture in balls and push a pc of caramel in the middle. -- for this I used a small ice cream scooper and pushed the caramel inside before scooping it on the baking sheet.. you can use spoons too if you don't have an ice cream scooper.

Place balls 2 inches apart on baking trays and bake 20 mins.

I bought the caramels in LANDMARK supermarket. (in case you were wondering where I got them) I also quartered them instead of halving them- as per original recipe. I was afraid they would be too big for my small cookie)

The cookies turned out great. They smelled really banana-ey. - like banana bread but in cookie form. I would still have to wait for other opinions on the taste though. But of you like bananas, this one is a keeper for sure!!

Macademia cookies

Baking in my house has gone into overdrive. This is one of the recipes I tried using leftover egg white I had from baking a batch of oatmeal cookies. (I was actually baking several batches).

The cookies are very light and airy because they only have eggwhites in them. If you like cookies that have a very light texture, this one is for you.

Forgive me if I don't have a lot of pictures for this post. (too busy baking)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/3 cups macadamia nuts (or whatever nuts you have on hand)

2/3 cup sugar

2 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

preheat oven to 180C.

process nutswith 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor and grind into fine powder

put egg whites and salt in a bowl and whisk with electric mixer until soft peaks form. add the remaining1/2 cup sugar until the egg white form stiff peaks. Add hazelnut mixture, flour and vanilla. mix on med- low speed until combined. refrigerate covered until cold (about 1 hour)

with spoons,  mold heaping tablespoons of dough into pyramids (although you can just do a mound of dough). space about 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

bake until edges begin to brown. 15-18 minutes. Let cool on sheets and on wire racks.

cookies can be stored in airtight container up to 3 days

adapted from martha stewart cookies cookbook

Hope you get to try these if you have some left over eggwhites too!

enjoy!!!

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I used to dislike Martha Stewart. I thought she was mean and very "plastic"... well, this is from the things I read from the gossip magazines. Lately though, I have watched several of her shows and even subscribed to her magazine- Martha Stewart Living.


Whatever the case, I found her magazine VERY well written and full of information on home decor, recipes and crafts you can do. It also has links to her website where you can download labels stencils you can use to package the food you make. -- and this is for FREE!!!


So, when I went to the bookstore and found her cookbook on sale, I quickly bought it. She has several volumes on different topics. I bought the MARTHA STEWART COOKIES. There are others like pies and cupcakes, To see it click HERE


So, I was eager to try her recipes and see how good they were. My daughter (the slave driver), "ordered" the milk chocolate cookies. (to tell you, my daughter loves looking at cookbooks and giving me "orders" on what she wanted. However, most of the time, she just tastes one and leaves the rest)


For this you will need:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably HERSHEYS... it just tastes better)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 ounces (1 cup) milk chocolate (I used bittersweet)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract


Preheat your oven to 325F or 160C. whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt in bowl. (I sifted these onto wax paper so you can easily pour the contents on the bowl when you are mixing)


Melt 4 ounces of chocolate over a heatproof bowl set over some boiling water. let cool slightly
tip: I used to store my chocolate in the fridge, but this made it impossible to chop once you needed it. So I opted to store it in my cupboard in a plastic container. Is was SOOOO much easier when I wanted to bake. Just don't put it in an area where it is too hot. (like near an oven).

Put chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs and vanilla into a bowl and mix at medium speed until combined. Reduce speed to low and mix in the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

Using a ice cream scopper, scoop the batter unto a wax paper lined  baking sheet. (this is for easy clean ups), about 2 inches apart. bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack. about 15 minutes.

The verdict???
It was a success!!! The cookies were very chewy, like the ones you buy from Mrs.Fields. My daughter, the picky eater that she is, consumed most of the cookies. (she took them to school with her)-- she even asked me to make them again! (shock)


newly baked, the chunks of chocolate in the batter were gooey and literally melt-in-your-mouth

What I find about Martha Stewart is that she gives you the best recipes. I have tested another one in the book and it turned out great too. She also included (in the book) tips on how to package the cookies and lots of tips on rolling, decorating, etc which I haven't seen in other books. She is very thorough in making a cookbook. LOVE IT. Can't wait to try the others in the book. I just hope my waitline can cope! hahahah

Chewy Chocolate Chips

Rainy days call for comfort food... what is more comforting than a batch of chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven?


I am trying Michael Smith's recipe for chewy chocolate cookies

the results of my efforts

For this you will need:


1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup, half of a regular block)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp corn syrup
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips


preheat your oven to 375F. whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add the corn syrup, egg vanilla and continue beating until well combined.

Scrape down the bowl and gradually add the flour mix, beating until combined.Stir in the chocolate chips

Using a spoon, scoop out a ball of the dough and drop onto a lightly greased cookie tray (you can use oil or cooking spray). flatten slightly. Leave spaces between balls for the cookie to expand. Bake for 12-14 minutes (when the edges turn slightly brown). cool on a wire rack

And to enjoy it.. just get a glass of milk and chomp!~ Hope everyone tries this!