White Chocolate Shortbread (Eggless)

How to bake White Chocolate Shortbread

         Shortbread is supposed to be mild tasting and so tasty on its own is even more delicious with add-ins like chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips. You can also add chewy dried cranberries, but I had to skip cranberries upon request from my kids. Adding dried cranberries will enhance the sweetness in the recipe too. Glad to share this recipe (from a magazine clipping )with my fellow bloggers at SriValli's CCC #52 December Week 3.

Makes about 35 cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour (maida)

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup (250g) unsalted butter, softened

1.5 cups confectioner's (icing) sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp cocoa powder

3/4th cup, chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips

OPTIONAL - 1/2 cup(75g) dried cranberries, coarsely chopped (I chose to skip this ingredient)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 325 F (170 C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift the flour, salt & cocoa powder into a bowl.
• Beat the butter, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until pale & creamy. Stir in the flour mixture, cranberries (if using) & chocolate chips.
• Use a spatula to mix all the ingredients in, until it forms a ball of cookie dough. Cover tightly & refrigerate for about 20 to 30 minutes until the butter hardens & the dough becomes easy to handle.
• Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls. Place on the prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Use a fork to flatten slightly, & make an impression on the top. 
• Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through for even baking. Remove from oven  & let cool completely on the baking sheets & transfer to a wire rack.

Important Notes;

• To achieve, a browner shortbread, add a total of 4 tbsp of cocoa powder instead of two. And you get a double chocolate shortbread.
• The chilling of the dough prior to baking is a very important step so the dough will be less sticky & easier to handle.
• After sharing a batch with a friend, I could only save (hide) it for a week, to check for freshness. My shortbreads stayed fresh for a week, in my pantry.

Eggless Lime Shortbread Trees

How to bake Lime Shortbread Trees (eggless)

         These cute shortbread cookies are a must for the holiday season...It hard to resist these mildly sweet, delicate shortbreads with a refreshing lime flavor. I ran out of time and couldn't shoot pics of them being iced, but it can be any which way you like it to be. Your kids can help you out with the decorating part of these cookies. This recipe is from 'Better Homes and Gardens Very Merry Cookies' cookbook. Linking this with my friends at Sri Valli's CCC# 38: November -- Week 4.

Prep 1 hour 15 minutes

Bake 12-15 minutes per batch

Cool 10 minutes per batch

Makes 30 cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

2 teaspoons finely shredded lime peel

¼ teaspoon salt

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

For the Icing- 

1 cup powdered sugar

Milk - as needed

Green food coloring (optional)

Small decorative candies

METHOD

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the ½ cup powdered sugar, the lime peel, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in flour until the dough just comes together. Divide dough in half. If necessary, cover and chill dough for 30 minutes or until it is easy to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F. On a large ungreased cookie sheet, place the dough; place a sheet of wax paper on top & roll half of the dough into a 13x4-inch rectangle. Do not roll the dough thin or cookies will crumble easily.

3. Score with a long knife (in the shape of multiple X's ) to make medium sized tall triangles. Remove dough scraps. Make small triangles from the dough scraps & place them at the bottom of the trees as trunks. Repeat the process until all of the dough is used up. 

                                                                                OR

 Use X'mas tree cookie cutter, after rolling out the dough into the cookie sheet. Remove dough scraps. Roll dough & repeat the process until all of the dough is turned into trees. 

4. Bake about 12 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. While still hot, re-cut trees with the long sharp knife. Cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

5. For icing -  

In a small bowl stir together the 1 cup powdered sugar and enough milk, 1 to 2 teaspoons at a time, to make an icing of spreading consistency. Remember the 10-second rule - If you score the icing with a knife, the line should be covered up within 10 seconds. If it's too runny, add more powdered sugar. If desired, divide the icing into 2 bowls & tint some of the icings with green food coloring. Spread icing on cookies; decorate with small candies.

To Make Ahead and Store: Layer unfrosted cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw cookies, if frozen. Ice cookies as directed.

Notes:

• It may seem strange to roll the cookie dough directly on the sheet, but in this case, doing so helps you create extra-tender cookies. 

Easy Milk Chocolate Fudge

How to make easy Milk Chocolate Fudge

                       

                     My li'l one is a fussy eater. Off late, he's started to like chocolate with no frills. I wanted to make chocolate fudge with nuts; but he will only eat plain chocolate fudge. You can guess the rest of the story here. I cut the fudge into tiny bite sized pieces, since we were having couple of friends over. I like tiny pieces of the sweet stuff, so I don't have to finish eating a large piece of something, just coz' I bit into it. Plus, we can always get seconds. So here's a recipe that you can whip up in under 30 minutes plus the setting time. Sharing this one with my friends over at CCC# 33: June -- Week 4.

Ingredients: 

3/4th cup of sugar (I used raw cane sugar)

1 can (13 oz) of sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup, unsalted butter

1 tsp, pure vanilla extract

4 oz (2/3rd cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips or grated chocolate

1/4 cup of your favorite nuts, chopped (Optional)

Frozen Fruit & Yogurt Bars

How to make Frozen Fruit & Yogurt Bars

                 You know how we buy an ingredient for a recipe & you have leftovers. Then we need another recipe to use that leftover ingredient; which calls for more ingredients, so on & so forth...This is one such recipe. I bought some honey graham crackers for the Raspberry French Silk Bars & I noticed this recipe on the back of that box. I immediately knew that, the frozen fruit & yogurt bar was going to be my next dessert. 

                    I was going to have some friends over for dinner & made these bars just in time for them. Our friends liked these refreshing bars & wanted to know how to make them too, before they left. Sharing this delightfully easy & mildly sweet frozen treat with my friends over at Sri Valli's  CCChallenge #30.

Ingredients for 21 bars:

10 & 1/2 Graham (honey) crackers, broken into quarters (42 rectangles) or any similar variety of crisp, square or rectangular cookies/unsalted crackers/biscuits

1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries

1/2 cup chopped bananas

1/2 cup blueberries

1 cup vanilla Greek-style yogurt

1 cup thawed frozen whipped topping(ex: cool whip)

Upside Down Peach Cake (Low Fat & Egg less)

How to bake an Upside Down Peach Cake

         What would you bake for someone on their anniversary; that is egg less, healthy, and low fat ? Well, luckily I came across this recipe in a big book of luscious low fat cooking, called Great Good Food by Julee Rosso.

         Last week was the 46th wedding anniversary of my in-laws, I can't imagine what that must be like. Every passing year seems like an achievement for some of us. They say - 'With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone'. I just hope, I am the first kind ;o)

         Getting back to the cake, I had to serve this cake to friends & family with my fingers crossed, because, I hadn't tasted it and had no clue if it was fit for the occasion. Delightedly, the whole cake disappeared within minutes of cutting the first slice. I managed to grab a piece, so I could write this post. My favorite part of this cake are the peaches on the top with the caramelized brown sugar. Serve this with a whipped cream topping if you like & enjoy your treat, guilt free. Sharing this recipe with my friends over at CCChallenge.

Ingredients for 8 to 12 servings:

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 cups peeled, pitted & sliced fresh peaches (about 3 peaches)

1 Tbsp ground/chopped crystallized ginger ( I used "inji murabba")

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

vegetable oil, to grease the pan

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

up to 5 Tbsp of buttermilk as needed to get the batter to pouring consistency

1 tsp vanilla extract

All Natural Orange-Lime Sorbet

How to make Orange-Lime Sorbet

         Last winter, we took a break from the sub-zero temperatures here & sneaked out to the Sunshine state, for a couple of days. It was an awesome trip - check out the pics, below. On our first day we ventured out to a local farm for Orange picking. We chose to pick a seedless variety of Navel oranges.  It was so much fun, strolling through the grove and taking in the fragrance of the Orange blossoms. Our day ended with a 4 x 4 ride through the 2500 acre estate. 

         As we departed on our ride into the farm, I had a feeling that the herd of cows were a bit restless, in anticipation of something; which proved to be right, later on. On our return trip, the driver handed each of us some oranges & asked us to throw the oranges out, for the cows to eat. That was the first time, I had heard of cows eating oranges. My 3 year old wasn't keen on parting with his orange, so I decided to lend a hand and feed a hungry cow. Little, did I know, what was going to happen next - my preschooler started yelling at the cow, who ate his orange - "Hey Cow!! Give me my orange!!" Not once, not twice; it went on for a few minutes - I bet he(cow) understood, what was being asked of him. You should have seen the look on that poor cow's face.... :)

Honey Wheat Bread

How to make Honey Wheat Bread at home

      Since the time, I heard about the yoga mat chemical in fast food breads (McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, and KFC & many more); I remained, ever so slightly bothered about why the FDA permits Azodicarbonamide, while it is banned as a food additive and in food packaging in most European countries and Australia. And its use in Singapore has some pretty severe penalties. The reason being - two suspicious chemicals are formed when bread with Azodicarbonamide is baked, which is linked to respiratory problems & potentially carcinogenic.

      While we do like to have an occasional meal at fast food chains (in spite of it being high in empty calories)  & have nothing against them; the fact that we might be compromising our health, affects the decision to go back there. While reading about the additive, I learnt that this particular chemical is also used in numerous other popular brands of packaged breads. Next thing to do, was to check my regular (multigrain bread) brands for the additive & there it was listed among a ton of ingredients - decided not to buy that anymore. A week later I found that it was also on my white bread - another brand had to be kicked off my list. While your visit to the fast food chains can be controlled, the packaged breads will be consumed on a daily basis, through out the year (at least, in my home)!! At this rate, chances of any reactions from the additive are enormously higher from packaged breads than from fast foods, I would say.

        The necessary ingredients in bread are pretty basic. You need flour, water, yeast, and salt for sure. And then maybe add a little fat for dough consistency and a little sugar to get the yeast going. A little flavoring, if you like. You take a look at the commercial breads or any packaged food for that matter and the ingredient lists are freaking scary!

         Now, will I stop buying breads altogether & make my own bread, hereafter? Very unlikely! Will I read the ingredient list, before i buy any packaged bread - of course, Duh...! Although more than 500 grocery store food items have this foaming agent, you can easily get commercial breads without the additive. Even if you are not the kind of person, who fusses over what you eat, remember to check the ingredient list of all packaged foods. It's always better to go with products that have a short list with mostly natural ingredients. It's best to err on the side of caution, when it comes to health; but hey, that's just me! Eat, Thrive & Stay Healthy!!

Very Easy Berry Ice-Cream

How to make easy Berry Ice-Cream

           I can hear some of your mind voices going "Ice-Cream, in this kind of weather!!" :) There are 2 kinds are people I know; people like myself, who relate ice-creams to classic Summers, when the mercury is soaring & the Sun is shining bright. And then; there are people, like my older son who loves to lick up an ice-cream, even if the Polar Vortex is going around freezing everything in it's path, including the awe-inspiring Niagara falls. The record-breaking chill last week was so frigid, it literally stopped Niagara Falls in its tracks. On the day, when the sub-zero temperatures were breaking records - I asked him how his early morning walk to the bus stop was & he simply replies "Good!". What else can i say... So, here goes - a very quick & easy recipe with just three ingredients to make your loved ones, something they will like with no added color, preservatives or high fructose corn syrup etc. Just simple, fruity, all-natural & delicious Ice-Cream.

               

Ingredients:

1.5 cups frozen Berries 

5 Tbsp powdered Sugar

1/2 cup Whipping Cream

Gingery Date Treats

How to make Gingery Date Treats

           These delicious chewy treats were made as a part of the weekend menu for our dear friends, who were visiting us from out of town. I had made Chocolate Cup Cakes with Chocolate Glaze topped with pecans for adults & candies for the kids, which turned to be a hit. I chose this as a second treat because, I wanted something that was egg less for them. I was delighted to find this recipe in a book called 'Incredibly Easy Desserts' just in time for their visit. These treats are a healthy choice for adults & kids as well, with Candied Ginger, Dates & Pecans. If you like Ginger, then you will love the mildly spicy flavor from the candied Ginger combined with the sweetness of the Dates and the crunchiness of the Pecans.

Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients:

1.5 cups Gingersnap crumbs (about 20 broken cookies)

1 cup finely chopped Pecans

1 cup finely chopped Dates

1/2 cup finely chopped candied Ginger

1/4 tsp Salt

3/4 cup powdered Sugar, divided

1/2 cup light corn syrup