Oreo Muffins

The mood to bake strike again and this time I chose the easiest recipe with most of the ingredients already available at home. Oreo Muffins … 🙂

I did not have enough muffins cup so I combine with few from the balance of my aluminium pie moulds instead.

Within half an hour the muffins were already in the oven …  😉

Here’s the recipe for the Oreo Muffins :

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup butter
1 cup milk
1 egg
16 pcs of Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped
50 g chocolate chips

Method :

Mix flour, sugar and baking powder in a medium bowl.

Add butter and use rubbing-in method till flour mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Blend milk and egg in a small bowl. Stir into flour mixture. Then add in Oreo cookies and chocolate chips. Mix well.

Pour batter into lightly greased muffin trays or muffins cups. Sprinkle with more chocolate chips on top.

Bake for 15-20 mins at 170 degree Celsius till toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean.

Cool and ready to serve.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok here’s the recipe for the Chocolate Chip cookies I baked for the Teacher’s Day. A simple recipe shared by one of my longest friend, colleague and sister, a very strong and brave woman, a woman I admire and look up to.  Thank you Umm Z for always being generous with your knowledge.

One of the best recipes for Chocolate Chips I’ve reckon …. even my colleagues at work said so, what more my children  😉

Chocolate Chips Cookies

Ingredients:

Butter – 250 g
Self-raising flour – 14 oz
Sugar – 6 oz
1 egg
Milo – 2 tbsp
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
pinch of salt
1/2 cup of crushed cashew nuts (pound roughly)
3/4 cup of chocolate chips

Method:

Beat the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla essence, cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda (beat again for few seconds). Then add egg, salt and milo. Continue beating for a minute then add flour, mix thoroughly.  Finally, add the cashew nuts and chocolate chips. Mix them evenly. Scoop using either a spoon or your own fingers, arrange the cookies on the baking tray and bake at 180 degree C for 10 mins.

Night baking

Finally, I am able to sit down.  Time to cool off after being in front of the hot stove.  Today’s menu for the family is just rice and black pepper beef.  Kids’ favourite and easy to cook dish.

Yesterday, after work, as I was walking home, I decided to try out the choc chips cookies recipe from my colleague.  This recipe was given to me months ago and only now I tried it out.

So the kids and I, we did night baking together.  My eldest and youngest had no choice but to help because our electric mixer went missing on me hehee 😉

So the creaming was done by hand … we took turns to do it and though the cookies turn our well, I think with an electric mixer it would have been better.

On another note, looks like it’s time to get a new mixer.  Maybe should hint hint to my daughters to get it for me as a birthday present 😉

Okay back to the cookies, verdict from my gals and my husband (who had just came back from work and had just popped 3 cookies into his mouth) …. “Very GOOD!” 🙂

 

Close up on the choc chips cookies ….

Manage to get more than 3 dozen ….

I think if I did not stop the kids from eating these yesterday, it would not lasts till today …hehee

Ok here is the recipe for these choc chip cookies :

Ingredients :

1 cup white sugar (can be less if prefer less sweet)

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or any other nuts you prefer, I used cashew nuts)

1-2 cups of semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 and half cups only)

Methods :

– thoroughly cream sugars, butter, oil, egg, milk and vanilla

– add dry ingredients, nuts and chocolate chips

– drop by teaspoons onto baking tray

– bake at 175 degrees C for 10-12 minutes or till cookies are brown nicely.

Chocolate Almond Cookies

Ingredients :

400 g butter
175g fine sugar
250g fine brown sugar
2 tsp essence vanilla
1 tsp fine salt
2 eggs
2 tsp bicarbonate soda
800g plain flour
200g chopped almonds
250g chocolate chips

Methods :

1) Beat the butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and salt till fluffy.
2) Add in the eggs, plain flour, bicarbonate soda. Beat and mix thorougly for a few minutes.
3) Add in chocolate chips and chopped almonds. Mix thoroughly using a spatula or spoon.
4) Using a pastry board, roll the mixture into a thickness of 3/4 cm and cut into squares of 3 by 3 cm. (You can also use cutting biscuit moulds instead of cutting into squares.)
5) Put the squares into a baking tray and bake till cook at 160 degree celcius.
6) Once cooled, put the biscuits into containers and close tight till its time to serve.

An all time favourite of the family, these cookies are superb, I began baking them since 2008.  Usually made them for Hari Raya, though the last two years I did not make any cookies.  Maybe this year … hmm will have to see how later …hehee 😉

Chewy Pretzels

Last year, a friend who’s staying in America, posted this recipe on her FB, she got it from a magazine…. and since I do love eating pretzels even though I was only introduced to this during our family vacation to KL about 2 years ago.  It was my nieces who said I must try and that its so yummylicious and so it was 🙂

Definitely not of Aunt Annie’s quality but hey I’m no professional chef …. only a mother who happens to have the mood to cook and bake at times 😉  Still the pretzels turn out well…. I even modified a bit by sprinkling a few of the pretzels with choc chips on top …. now that taste even better 😉

Chewy Pretzels

For the dough

1 tbs sugar

1 cup warm water

1 tbsp active dry yeast

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp salt

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

For the boiling

10-12 cups water

3 tbsp baking soda

For topping

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp water

coarse salt to taste

Method 

in a small bowl mix the sugar and water. sprinkle the yeast over the top and set aside for 10 mins.

in a small pan, melt butter and salt.

in a large bowl, add flour and make a well at the center.  Add yeast and butter mixture and stir together until flour has absorbed the liquid. then knead until smooth and elastic.

oil the bowl and form the dough into a ball. cover the dough with the oil and cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm place for 45-60 mins or double in size.

pre heat oven to 475F or 190C. boil the water and stir in baking soda and kept at a simmer.

gently deflate the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. divide dough into 6 – 12 pieces depending on what size you want.

roll the dough into 18 inch long rope. if the rope shrink to a shorter length, let it sit for a few more minutes and then try again.

shape them into pretzels shape. immediately after shaping, drop them into the water bath for 10 seconds. Hold it under the water for at least 5 seconds, remove pretzels and drain on a slotted spoon or spatula and placed it onto an oiled baking sheet. Set them 1 inch apart. in a small bowl whisk egg yolk with water and brush it on top of each pretzels and then sprinkle some salt onto it. Allow to rest and rise for 5 minutes and bake for 10-12 minutes until they look golden brown. cool on wire racks 🙂

Choc Chips toppings

Banana and Choc Chips Muffins

Another of my kids favourite 🙂

Somehow the combination of banana and choc chips are always a favourite with the young and old … truly a made in heaven food galore combination … yum yum!!!

Banana and Choc Chips muffins

 

Ingredients :

1 3/4 cup of plain flour (sieve)

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup olive oil (or vegetable oil)

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup mashed bananas

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Method :

– In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

– In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, milk and vanilla.  Whisk thoroughly.

– Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients till moistened. Use the whisk to do so.

– Add in the bananas and chocolate chips.  Mix thoroughly.

– Fill the muffin cups with 3/4 of the mixture.

– Bake at 180 degree celsius for 20 min or till cook (use a toothpick to insert into the muffin and if it comes out clean then it’s already cook)

– Cool and ready to serve.