Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

Another school year is coming to an end...which means the kids need to contribute to the year end party noshes.  This year, instead of the chips and Crispers, Amelia wanted me to bake something for the class.  She was getting smirks from the kids in her class as to why the teacher would get a piece of our homemade brownies and none for the rest of the class. So, we decided on cookies...and not just cookies.  Chocolate chip would be the base cookie recipe...then I would add something else from the pantry to make it a bit more special -- dried cranberries and marshmallows.  Enjoy!!

Chocolate Chip - Cranberry - Marshmallow Cookies (makes 36 cookies)

Preheat the oven to 375 F

1 cup of soften unsalted butter
2 cups of brown sugar
2 eggs
2 2/3 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of chocolate chips
3/4 cup of dried cranberries
2 cups of marshmallows

1. Mix butter, brown sugar and vanilla.  Then beat in eggs; one at a time.
2. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and baking soda.
3. Gradually stir flour mixture into sugar mixture;
4. Fold in chocolate chips, cranberries and marshmallow until well combined.
5. Using the tablespoon measuring spoon; spoon cookie dough unto baking sheet lined with parchment paper/silicone mat. I found that the silicone mat produced nicer cookies. Lightly using fingers, flatten the dough slightly. Don't overcrowd your baking sheet, 6-8 cookies worked best.
6. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.
7. Let the cookies cool before transferring to a cooling rack. Cookies will be soft and chewy.

Banana Muffins

With the summer like temperatures upon us...I will be using less of my oven.  As we step into June, the temperatures have gotten a bit cooler.  So, yesterday, I decided to bake some banana muffins to satisfy my baking "itch".

These moist little muffins are healthier than the original recipe I found. Instead of butter, I substituted with margarine.  I also added nutmeg and vanilla as part of my twist to the recipe. They are very simple to make and hope that you will get a chance to make them for your family.  Even Aidan asked for seconds.

Banana Muffins

Makes 18 medium size muffins

1 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt
3 large bananas, mashed
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup of margarine, melted
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1 tsp of vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F

1. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg
2. In a larger bowl, combine banana, sugar, egg and margarine and mix well.
3. Gradually add flour mixture to banana mixture (1/3 at a time).
4. Mix until well blended.
5. Line muffin pan with liners; use a tablespoon to scoop muffin batter into each muffin cup.
6. Tap the muffin pan on the counter to eliminate any bubbles in the batter.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Insert toothpick at 20 minutes and bake longer if needed. They don't need to be brown on top to be cooked thru.

Another Brownie - Chocolate Banana Brownie

I decided to try another brownie recipe again.  This time, I needed  a recipe that did not require 2 cups of brown sugar since I did not have enough on hand.  I also needed the recipe to have bananas.  Chocolate and bananas are such a great combination.  Better then zucchini.

I found a recipe...and made one change to it.  I added a 1/2 cup of shredded coconut. Hmmm...here it is:

Banana Choco-Coconut Brownie

Preheat the oven to 325 F.

You will need:

1/2 cup of butter
2/3 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips
1 egg
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1 ripe banana
1/2 tsp of vanilla
1/4 tsp of salt
3/4 cup of flour
1/2 cup of shredded sweetened coconut

1. In a sauce pan on low to medium heat, melt butter.  Then add the chocolate chips until they have melted and you have a chocolate ganache mix.  Set aside.

2. In a bowl, mix brown sugar, egg, vanilla, coconut and salt.  Mix well til there are no lumps of brown sugar and egg is thoroughly mixed.

3. Add the chocolate mixture to the brown sugar and egg. Mix well.

4. Add flour and mix til batter is well incorporated.

5. Pour into a greased pan 8 inch pan (again I used the same pan as I did for the butterscotch brownies).  Spread evenly.

6. Bake for 30 minutes.  Do not over bake.

7. When it is done, let it cool before cutting.

Rocky Road Butterscotch Brownies

Brownies are my guiltiest pleasure. They are in between a cookie and a cake, chewy and sweet, and have a calorie count that rates as "Scary". You would have thought my blog would have more recipes on them.  The reason? I either buy them already made or I buy the mix.

This recipe was originally for a butterscotch pecan brownie. But because I like to make sure everyone can enjoy a piece, I made it nut-free.  The result was to "rocky road" it!  Oh, I also added dried cranberries -- for, ahem, the health factor.

The brownie texture was soft and chewy as promised -- the marshmallows added some extra gooey-ness too. It was also very sweet. I suggest to have the toothbrush ready in case the cavities raid from after the last bite.

Rocky Road Butterscotch Brownie

¾ cup of butter

2 cups of brown sugar

1 ½ cup of all-purpose flour

1 tsp of salt

2 tsp of baking powder

2 eggs

2 tsp of vanilla

½ cup each of chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F

1.      On stove top, melt butter in a small pot;

2.     Add brown sugar to melted butter and mix until there are no lumps in the mixture;

3.     In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well.

4.     Small bowl; mix eggs with vanilla.

5.     Add brown sugar mixture to flour mixture and mix lightly. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.

6.     Stir in chocolate chips, marshmallows and cranberries.

7.     In a greased 9 x 9 baking pan (I used a 9 x 7 because that was all I had), pour batter in pan, spread evenly.

 

8.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.

It should look slightly undercooked or soft. This makes the brownie have its chewy texture.

Mochi

I have made mochi once but the texture was a bit dry.  Also, I stuffed it with red bean and rolled it in coconut.  Nice but not quite what I was expecting in a mochi.

So here is my second attempt and this time, it is closer to the chewiness I was looking for.  The recipe is just as simple and I used the microwave method instead of the steamer.

Mochi

1 cup mochiko (glutinous rice flour)
1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn starch (for dusting and handling)

food colouring (optional)

1. In a bowl, combine rice flour and sugar and mix.


2. Add water and mix well.  The mixture will be runny (not batter like)

3. If you want to make coloured mochi, add 3 drops of food colouring of your choice.

Note. If you wish to make more than one colour; pour in to separate bowls before you add colour.


Because I was making pink hearts, I added 3 drops of red to get the light pink colour and I made a chocolate one by adding a tsp of chocolate milk powder in a another bowl (from dividing the "batter").

4. Pour each bowl of batter into a microwaveable shallow dish.  Cover with plastic wrap -- make sure it does not touch the batter.  Be sure to have a small edge open to allow steam to escape.
5.  Microwave for 5 minutes and check after it reaches 4 minutes.  When it bubbles, it should be close to being cooked.  The centre will be set and gummy in texture.
6. Let cool for 15-20 minutes.
7. Dust your working area with corn starch; pour the cooked mochi unto the starch.  Add more starch if needed as it will be sticky to work with.  Using a plastic knife makes it easier to cut into pieces.
9. Dust each piece with corn starch.


Different ways to pretty it up:
1. Melt chocolate chips.  Roll out mochi into a rectangle shape.  Spread melted chocolate and then roll into a log.  Cut into pieces and serve.

2. Before dusting them, roll mochi into circles and fill with jam/ice cream/custard.  Close into a tight ball. Then dust them with corn starch. Freeze if filling is ice cream.

Banana Cake

Dickens bought some unripened bananas a few days ago, hoping that when we are all no longer coughing, it will be time to eat them. Unfortunately, the bananas ripened faster than we hoped.

So, instead of banana bread, I opted for banana cake. This cake is moist with the help from the fruit and the smell is just like banana bread. I also frosted the cake to make it look more like a dessert than breakfast bread.

It tasted so good that everyone had seconds. I think you and family will enjoy it as much as mine!

Banana Cake

Preheat oven at 350 F. Lightly grease a 9 inch spring form cake pan and set aside.

1/2 cup of soften butter
1 1/2 cup of sugar
2 eggs
2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp baking soda (add to mashed bananas)
4 ripe bananas mashed

Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Add vanilla. Mix well.
In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt
Add 1/3 of flour mixture to butter/eggs mixture. Add 1/2 of the milk. Mix well.
Repeat until all the flour and milk has been added.
Stir in banana mixture and mix well.

Pour into spring form pan and bake for 45 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let the cake cool completely before spreading on your choice of icing or frosting.

Apple Pie Cake

How can we not celebrate the autumn season without making some sort of dessert with apples? I fiddled between apple pie, crisp and cake. Then I found a recipe that had the best of both worlds...apple pie cake. Who would have thought about that?

Picture to follow but here is my version of the recipe.

Apple Pie Cake

Preheat oven to 350 F.

2 eggs
2 cups of granulated sugar
1 cup of oil (I used corn oil, the original recipe asked for vegetable oil)
1 tsp of vanilla
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 each of baking powder, baking soda and salt
4 cups of apples (the recipe called for 5 cups but I found it to be more apple and no cake)
1 tsp of orange juice

Peel and core the apples. Cut into bit size pieces.
Add orange juice to apples to prevent from browning.

Wet: In one bowl, beat eggs, sugar. oil and vanilla. Set aside
Dry: In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
Fold in the apples.

Pour batter into a 9 inch springform cake pan. Be sure to place parchment paper on the bottom of the cake pan and lightly grease the sides.

Bake for approx. 50-60 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out dry.

Your house will smell sooo goood.
Serves 12.