Cookies and cupcakes Archives - Page 11 of 15

Apple Blueberry Muffins

5|03|2014

A couple of Saturday’s back, I woke up with the widest smile on my face. It was time for the reunion. At last! A moment I had looked forward to since weeks. The call had come two days before. She was ready. And waiting!

Our apple tree!

At this stage, I need to take you back to a favourite little post I had done to share my excitement on adopting this apple tree. Time flies! It was almost a year back and with the first signs of Autumn in the air, we knew it was time to re-visit the orchard.

It was a rainy weekend. The ground was wet and the sun was missed. Yet it was a pleasure walking through the rows of red and yellow…surreal, indulging, inviting. Our tree like all the others was laden with sweet red juicy apples…almost sparkling from the rain wash they just received. They were picked in no time.

We’ve had two full weeks of apple eating but we are still nowhere close to finishing our pick. Neither are we tired of them. Galettes, crumbles, cake, soup and muffins are some of the ways we used them. Yes, there will be more apple recipes and photographs to share with you.

These muffins are quite fluffy and light on account of the buttermilk used in the recipe. Blueberries pair well with apples and a mouthful of these muffins will have you tasting different textures. I have used royal gala apples that are quite sweet. Both fresh and frozen blueberries can be used.

Apple Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup Castor sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 apples peeled, cored and finely chopped
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen)
1 large egg, lighly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
125 g unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.
Lightly grease a muffin tray or line with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, apples and blueberries.

In another bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk, butter and vanilla extract. Gradually fold in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula, taking care not to over mix the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan (about 2/3rd full for each muffin) equally. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the centre should come out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins

11|02|2014

I think most of us have a favourite banana bread or muffin recipe. At a baker’s home, it’s not too difficult to predict the fate of ripened bananas. In my case, I can’t say that there have been too many instances that I have gone shopping for bananas for a particular recipe. Or maybe this is my first.

I’ve been meaning to make banana muffins with coconut in them for a while now. Actually I was looking for a desperate change from my usual banana plain or chocolate flavoured muffins. And I didn’t want a frosting this time, like the one I had posted earlier with Chocolate Malt Buttercream. So when I came across the recipe I knew I wanted to make it. It was by far the simplest banana muffin recipe that I tried out.

It turned out great. Moist with a bit of crunch from the desiccated coconut and sweet from the bananas. Chocolate chips almost always make their way into my muffins. There’s not much else to say about this recipe other than it is sure worth a try.

Banana Coconut Chocolate Chip Muffins (adapted with variation from Taste.com)
Makes 12 large muffins

125g unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup (165 g) castor sugar
2 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup (100g) dark chocolate chips
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper liners.

Place butter, sugar, banana, eggs and vanilla in a bowl and mix till well combined. Place flour, coconut and chocolate in a large bowl, then fold in banana mixture. Working in batches, place spoonfuls of mixture into the prepared pan (up to 2/3rd full). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.

Cool slightly in pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Apple and Maple Syrup Friands (Financiers)

17|01|2014

I did not make resolutions for the new year because somewhere along the course of the year, I feel they change for me. Perhaps the greatest lesson I have learnt over time is that with some minor adjustments, a bit of flexibility and a wee bit of make-do, life becomes a lot easier to embrace. Flexibility means along with the expected you also make room for the unexpected things in your life, both good and bad. And in doing so, you save yourself from a few let-downs and disappointments. The world becomes a happier a place to live in.

I have decided to adopt a ‘take it as it comes’ approach to both life, in general and blogging. There will be days when meringues will crack..I will not fret. I will make an Eton Mess instead. Lava cakes may turn out over-baked…I will enjoy them as puddings. If l can’t pipe pretty swirls around life, then so be it. I will learn to have fun with dollops. Dollops aren’t perfect…you can’t weigh or measure them. That’s why they are dollops and we love them.

Uh..well, think I could do with a sugar fix at the moment.

These friands are the simplest things to bake. Easy, uncomplicated and quite forgiving. Flexible, in other words.

All you need is a bowl to mix. If you do not have friand moulds (I have used oval ones), bake them in muffin pans or mini loaf pans. You can use honey or golden syrup instead of maple syrup and your own choice of fruits or berries if you like.
Try them, they taste great!

Apple and Maple Friands (Financiers)
Yields 12

1 cup almond meal (ground almonds) or any nut meal of your choice
3/4 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
11/4 cup icing sugar
6 egg whites
125 g unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp. maple syrup
1 cup peeled, cored and chopped apples
2 apples, cored and thinly sliced to place on top of the friand

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Place the almond meal, flour, baking powder, icing sugar, egg whites, butter, maple syrup and chopped apples in a bowl and whisk until combined. Divide the mixture into friand pans/friand moulds or muffin pans (till half full) Place a few sliced apples on top of each mould. Push slightly into the batter so that the apples are enclosed within the friand batter. Bake for 20–25 minutes or until the friands are golden and cooked through. Using a palette knife, loosen the edges and remove the friands from the tins immediately. Allow to cool on a wire rack before serving.

Marshmallow Sandwich Cookies with Home made Marshmallows

15|12|2013

Holding on to the last two weeks of a beautiful year. And I cannot find a better way of bidding farewell to it than filling it with some more sweet treats. You know all the joy and cheer of the holiday season makes it harder to say goodbye. You really don’t want the party to end…when you are enjoying so much. Almost makes me sad. But there will always be good memories to take forward…some learning..a lot of hope AND a thousand ideas to work on for my dear little blog.

I’ve been meaning to make marshmallows at home since months. I made them a couple of years back and promised myself never to get store-bought ones again. But when something is so easily available you don’t give much thought to recipes however simple they may be.

Home made marshmallows not only taste better than the store-bought ones, you can do so much with them. Colour them, flavour them, cut them into any shapes…coat them with your favourite candies. And just 2 basic ingredients. It can’t get easier than this. I have used a 5 cm round cutter to cut out rounds and sandwiched them between store-bought biscuits. If you want to make the biscuits from scratch, you can use any basic cookie recipe (that is not crumbly) or similar cookies with this recipe. The best part is that they are gluten-free and if you sandwich them between gluten-free cookies, they will make a lovely gluten-free gift too.

A few things to note about the recipe. Do make sure you beat the sugar mixture till it is really thick..it should somewhat hold its shape for a few seconds when you lift the beaters. You can coat them in dessicated coconut or equal parts of corns starch and icing sugar. After 3-4 hours if you find the marshmallow too sticky to work with, put the tray in the refrigerator for an hour. Dust your cookie cutter or knife with the sugar- corn starch mixture each time you cut into the slab of marshmallow. Tying ribbons around the cookies not only makes them look festive and pretty but keeps them intact.

Marshmallow Sandwich Cookies with Homemade Marshmallows (Marshmallow recipe adapted from here)
Makes 12-14 sandwich cookies

1 1/2 cups castor sugar
2 tablespoons gelatine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup icing sugar and corn starch mixture (equal parts)
Cookies (home-made or store-bought) to sandwich the marshmallows
1/2 cup of either melted chocolate, nutella or jam of your choice

Grease a 3cm deep, 16.5cm x 26cm (base) slab pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends. Combine sugar and 2/3 cup hot water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves and syrup is clear.

Using a fork, combine gelatine and 2/3 cup cold water in a jug. Pour into hot syrup. Cook, stirring, for 2 to 3 minutes or until gelatine has dissolved and mixture is clear. Pour into bowl of an electric mixer. Set aside to cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes).

Using an electric mixer, beat sugar and gelatine mixture on high for 6 to 10 minutes or until very thick. Add vanilla and beat for 1 minute. Spread into prepared pan. Smooth top. Set aside, at room temperature, for 4 hours or until set. Lift onto a board. Using a round cutter that is dusted with a mixture of icing sugar and corn starch, cut out round marshmallows (depending on the size of the cookies).

Sieve 1/2 cup icing sugar and 1/2 cup corn starch in a large bowl. Place 1 marshmallow at a time in the bowl and gently toss in the mixture to coat. Remove to a wire rack. Set marshmallows aside until surfaces feel dry (about 1 hour). Meanwhile, apply a little melted chocolate or Nutella or jam on the under side of each cookie and keep aside. Once the marshmallows are dry to touch, sandwich between two cookies and press firmly. To retain shape, you can tie them up with kitchen strings or ribbons.