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Cooking, Recipe and Food Blog

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

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Here is an interesting twist to the usual oatmeal cookie recipe. Carrots are added for more flavor and added nutrition. It is perfect to get kids to eat more vegetables or just to add more vitamins to our daily diet. We used dried currants for this recipe, but you may use mixed dried fruit as well.

 

Makes about 15

Ingredients:

60g polyunsaturated margarine

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 egg white

1/3 cup finely grated carrot

1/3 cup currants

1/2 cup wholmeal self-rising flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup buttermilk

 

Preheat the oven to 180C and then grease two 32 x 28cm baking trays using the polyunsaturated oil or margarine.

Use the remaining margarine and sugar beat them until light and fluffy. Add the egg white and mix well. Fold in the carrots, currants, flour and cinnamon. Stir in 2/3 cup of oatmeal and the buttermilk. Mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

Form a ball with 2 tablespoons of cookie batter. Coat it in rolled oats and repeat this procedure with the remaining cookie mixture. Place the oatmeal coated balls on the baking tray. Make sure that they are an inch apart. With a fork press the tops of the cookie ball. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Let it cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely. You may serve the cookies or store them in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

 

Photo Courtesy Of:  whitneyinchicago

 

Easter Cookies

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Easter is fast approaching and it isn’t complete without cookies. Kids just love them. Be creative with decorating them or ask the children to help you out. They will definitely love that.

 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1/3 cup butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Salt
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Milk
Food coloring

 

Place the butter and the shortening in a large mixing bowl. Beat them using an electric mixer on medium high for 30 seconds or until they become soft. Add half of the flour, sugar, a dash of salt, egg, milk, baking powder and vanilla. Continue to beat the mixture until the ingredients are well combined. Slowly add the remaining flour and mix. Scrape of the sides occasionally. Cover the dough and chill it for 2-3 hours; after cut it in half.

Flour a flat surface and roll out both pieces of dough using a rolling pin until they are 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place the cut pieces in a lined baking tray. Make sure they are an inch apart.

Bake the cookies at 375F for 6-8 minutes or until the bottoms are light brown. Let it cool for 1 minute or before transferring to a flat surface or wire rack.

Combine sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon of milk and desired food coloring. Add more milk if needed to reach piping consistency. Decorate the cookies. Let the icing set before serving.

Check out other Easter treats and recipes for the whole family.

Photo Courtesy Of: Jim Crocker

 

Red Chilli and Chocolate Brownies

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Chilli? And Chocolate? Sound like a random mix? It goes remarkably well together, so give it a go! The heat and flavour of the chilli will complement the richness of the Chocolate, so it needs to be good quality to taste right.

Chocolate Brownies

For 16 to 18 squares:
– Butter (for greasing the pan)
– 300g good-quality dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa Solids)
– 250g hard butter, cut into cubes
– 5 eggs
– 325g caster sugar
– 200g plain flour
– 2 medium red chillies, seeds removed and cut into small strips
– 120g plain chocolate chips

1. Heat the over to 180 C/ 350 F/ Gas Mark 4. Try to avoid using a fan setting. Line the sides of a baking tray with the butter.

2. Melt the dark chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl isn’t in the water, because it will damage the chocolate if it gets too hot

3. When fully melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Whilst waiting, mix the eggs and sugar together, and slowly pour the chocolate and butter mix on top, combining well.

4. Sift the flour and gently fold into the mix. Add the chocolate chips and chillies into the mix, and then pour into the buttered tray, then bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the brownies look cracked on top, but slightly undercooked. The chocolate will set as it cools, and the brownies will start to firm up.

Getting Ready for Christmas

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Fortune Cookie

Okay, so I didn’t really need a fortune cookie to tell me that my Christmas would be a busy one- last year, I felt like I couldn’t stop to breathe for the whole of December.

This year, I’m doing things differently. This year, I’m preparing for Christmas. Here’s how: I’m using my freezer.

A few weeks ago, my freezer just upped and died. We had it repaired, and now it’s running like (almost) new- something I’m extremely grateful for, because it’s not even December yet, and I’ve already packed the following in my deep freeze:

… all of which, of course, will make my December so much better. Consider: my husband, friendly guy that he is, invites a bunch of people over “for coffee”. In about fifteen minutes, I can serve them their coffee with freshly baked Sugar Cookies or, better yet, Chocolate Chip Cookies hot from the oven. Or I could suddenly have a hankering for rockin’ Apple Pie. Since I already have the crust chilling in the freezer, all I need to make is my recipe for Rockin’ Apple Pie Filling.

While it’s not yet December, start planning ahead. Use your freezer. You’ll be glad you did.

Simple Pleasure: Milk & Cookies

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bfmoreomilk

The Urban Dictionary defines “milk and cookies” as:

the best medicine to be found in the kitchen

… and I have to agree. My mother-in-law is 82 and looks incredibly good for her age. Seriously, she looks at least twenty years younger (I’d post a photo here if she wasn’t so shy). One of her secrets? Milk and cookies for dinner.

Now, this might not seem like the healthiest of choices- but really, how can you go wrong? The milk gives you calcium and Vitamin D, the cookies give you chocolate (chock-full o’ antioxidants). And the combination of a chilled glass of creamy milk and some chocolate cookies gives you comfort- and a lot of pleasure. It is, after all, what you traditionally leave for Santa on Christmas Eve.

You can, of course, simply open a bag of Oreos, which are classic. But if you’d like to kick up your experience a notch, here are some of our recipes for cookies that go awesomely with milk:

Colored Sugar Cookies = Happiness

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sugarcookies
I won’t pretend these are anything but delicious and fun- and decidedly not healthy- cookies. I’m always amazed, though, at how happy these cookies make people. I’m happy when I make them, happy when I eat them, and whenever I’ve gifted them to anyone, they can’t hide the happiness on their faces either.

It must be the colored sugar? Which I make myself, by the way- it’s ridiculously simple- just add a few drops of your favorite food coloring to a little tupperware or sealed ziploc bag of sugar (try to get the larger crystals, if you can) and shake shake shake. I’m particular to pink.

And the cookies? Couldn’t be easier- and absolutely delicious:

Happy-making Sugar Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (or 1 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk or buttermilk. I interchange this with no problems.
Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
Colored sugar crystals

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside. In the bowl of your mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light in color- around 3 minutes. Add egg and milk and beat to combine.

With mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture, and beat until incorporated. Do not overbeat. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Take your chilled dough and roll it out using powdered sugar to keep it from sticking. Cut into shapes. If you don’t want to roll it out, roll it into a cylinder and slice rounds from it. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, just until cookies are beginning to brown around the edges.

While still hot, sprinkle with colored sugar. Smile and enjoy.