Thank You Tray

Thanks to Tray, featured here are Tray's photos of our baking adventures together in the short span of time we were able to meet again. This bake was in preparation for a very special person's wedding; a cousin sister who I know  loves little delights such as these. Though she did not personally request that we make anything, she did hint that she would like one of my small creations to be presented on her special day.

It was late. Another midnight bake. Nevertheless we carried on knowing there would be no other time to fulfil her request as well as bake together.

Supposedly the cookies with white milo cereal on it were brides with veils and the groom had brown milo cereals for hair and choc chips for ears. 

 With leftover M & Ms we got creative and decorated some cookies with flowers.

This recipe proves a success once again. Next time I shall hunt for Horlicks to make this recipe with because the cookie faces do look rather tanned hahs...

Thank you Tray for the baking adventure of a night. It was a worthwhile bake and one that brought smiles to many people's faces on such a happy occasion.

Baking Cookies For A Best Friend

On this sunny morning I decided to bake some cookies for a best friend as we were catching up later since each of us had gone on a long holiday away from home. And I've been wanting to try this recipe for quite some time, so I seized the opportunity to bake it.

I had such a jolly good baking time; beating, mixing, folding, rolling, and flattening the cookie dough. I even divided the recipe into three different flavors; vanilla, Milo (which looks like choc chips), and green tea.

My friend must have been in the same baking mood as me. She baked an assortment as featured below! So many Chinese New Year cookies and traditional Malaysian cookies. Of course, she knew my favorite was the chocolate nutty cookie-I'm all for anything chocolatey and/or nutty ^.^

Maybe it was the weather that made me giddy, or maybe I was just happy to be going out on this fine sunny morning.

Melt-in-Mouth German Cookies
Makes 60

Ingredients:
125 grams butter, softened
40 grams icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional)/ or 1 teaspoon of cocoa or matcha powder or Milo (optional)
125 grams potato starch
80 grams cake flour

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Prepare a non-stick baking tray or line a tray with baking paper.
2. Mix butter with icing sugar in a bowl. Then add vanilla essence or desired flavouring.
3. Sift potato starch and cake flour into the butter mixture and incorporate it using a spatula until it becomes dough-like.
4. Divide and roll the dough into 1 inch sized balls (you can leave it in the fridge to harden for 10-15 minutes if too soft to work with). Then press the dough ball gently with a fork.
5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the surface of the cookies is slightly browning.

Recipe adapted from Happy Home Baking

Back To School Little-Lunchbox-Delight

Don't they just make you smile? Maybe laugh? Maybe frown? Maybe confused?

With everybody preparing to go back to school, my photographer B and I decided to bake something special and simple for the students, including the photographer herself.

When it came to putting on the decorations for these little treats we just had to make every one of them unique. No doggie has the same facial expression as another.

I hope these doggies will cheer on their recipients as they all return to school tomorrow. The first day of school can sometimes be daunting, or maybe exciting, or an adventure. 

Though it's a recipe I've baked before, this was another memorable bake because we had chocolate sticks to decorate with!

Can't Get Enough Of Cookies On Sticks

My aunty gave me a recipe for soft chewing chocolate chocolate cookie which I just had to try. I hope I did justice to the recipe.

I ended up making double the batter because of two farewell occasions. Some for work colleagues and some for the children in the school that I am volunteering in. So I made some pretty and decorated, and some classic homestyle-looking cookies. 

These cookies just make you speechless after the first bite. It's so soft and slightly chewy, and it just crumbles    then melts in your mouth. Delightful and delicious.

Soft Chew Chocolate Cookies

Makes 36-40

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoon coco power
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
•    Or semisweet white chocolate chips
•    Or 1 cup each of semisweet chocolate chip and semisweet white chocolate chips
•    Or 2/3 cup each of both chocolates with 2/3 cup mini size marshmallow .

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda ,coco power and salt set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted dry ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches ( 7 cm ) apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

My Aunty's baking tips on this recipe :)

1. I will set alarm of baking time to 13 minutes, and check on back of the cookie if light brown yet and also cookie edges if lightly toast or burn . So, you have chance not to over bake it. If edges of cookie is burn, better take it out.  Cookie always taste good even under cook, but when it over bake and burn then that sucks. 

2. Don't press cookie flat this time , because due to the baking, it will go flat itself and keep moisture inside them.

Happy baking my dear!!! Chocolate cookie always go well with cold milk in summer!!!

"My Mom Says Milo Is The Best"

When I saw a box of Milo cereal in the pantry I knew I just had to bake these Milo Doggie Cookies, adapted from Happy Home Baking, for the kids at church. As some kids have nut allergies I really try to bake nut-free recipes during big occasions or events such school parties, birthday parties, and church outings.  

I don't think Australia sells Koko Crunch but our Milo Duo and Milo Cereal is just the same. Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to buy any chocolate sprinkles but I used whatever baking decoratives we had in the pantry. I think the doggie above looks the cutest-all chocolate chips!

The large choc chip eyes in comparison to the tiny nose makes the doggies look a tad strange don't you think? 

Nevertheless these Milo doggies were a hit. Crunchy, chocolatey, full of Milo-flavour and finished within the hour.

Milo Doggie Cookies
Makes about 48

Ingredients:
180 grams butter, at room temperature
80 grams Milo
200 grams cake flour (I used self-raising cake flour)
25 grams corn flour
25 grams milk powder ( I used more Milo powder)
100 grams of choc chips
some Milo cereal
some chocolate sprinkles

Directions:

1. Preheat 140 degress Celsius. Line two baking trays.
2. Sift cake flour, corn flour, and milk powder (Milo).
3. Cream Milo and butter together for about 2-3 minutes at low speed.
4. Pour in cake flour mixture and beat for 1 minute until it forms a dough.
5. Divide dough into 10 grams each.
6. Insert two Milo cereals for ears into the small round dough, and add a choc chip for the nose and 2 sprinkles for the eyes.
7. Bake for about 25 minutes. Leave it to cool and put in airtight container.

Soft Oatmeal Cookies

I was eager to try this recipe that my Aunty gave me and I happen to have all the ingredients in the house too.

The texture of the cookies were really soft on the inside and slightly crisp on the outside. With every bite you could really taste the components of the cookie, in fact, you could smell the cinnamon at the opening of the oven door when these little cookies were done baking.

I hope these were what my Aunty's cookies looked like, well, not stacked upon each other like a tower.

Soft Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 40-50

• Ingredients:

• 
  
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups quick cooking oats ( 1 minutes cook oatmeal)

• Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into 1/2 sized balls of large egg , and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
3. Bake for 8 minutes in preheated oven (I baked it an extra 3 minutes). Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

p.s.Oatmeal cookies always taste better under cooked than over cooked, so don't over cook it, or it will be very hard to chew when it's cooler. You can add nuts, raisins, or dry dates, cherries etc., so there's many different kinds of oatmeal cookies.

Fancy A Yoyo

Once, I went to Melbourne and I brought back a box of biscuits called Melting Moments. When I came across this recipe, it reminded me of those unforgettable biscuits. It might have been better not to have come across this recipe, but I just had to recreate that moment once more.

You'd probably be speechless after a bite of these. Honestly they are full of butter, but it's only for the moment hence it's called Melting Moment. It's also called a yoyo and the biscuit does live up to its reputation. 

Most of these were also wrapped up and stored away for the kids that my mom has to treat.

Butter melting away in your mouth. Every bite is only for a moment. 

Yoyos (or Melting Moments)
Makes 10-14

Ingredients:
biscuit
175 grams butter at room temperature
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 custard powder

cream
50 grams butter at room temperature
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons of custard powder

Directions:
biscuit...

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place baking paper on a tray.
2. Cream 175 grams of butter with 1/4 cup icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and beat. Sift flour and 1/4 cup custard powder into the butter mixture and mix well.
3. Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls. Place on oven tray and flatten with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

cream...

1. Meanwhile, beat remaining butter, icing sugar and custard powder together until well combined.
2. When the biscuits have cooled completely, sandwich the cream in between two biscuits.

Source of recipe: Cookies-Collectors Edition

Gingerbread Bears, Hearts and Flowers

My mom needed something to treat the children. So I happened to flip to a gingerbread men recipe, which I had all the ingredients for but no cookie cutter template of men.

What's gingerbread men without the men? Anyways these turned out like ordinary cut-out cookies but the aroma of the ginger really feels up the kitchen when it's baking.

My mom absolutely adored these little cookies, but I look forward to hearing what the children think.

Gingerbread Bears, Hearts and Flowers
Makes 12-24

Ingredients:
125 grams butter at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups of plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 cup golden sugar (I used honey)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add egg yolk and beat to combine.
3. Sift dry ingredients together, then stir into butter mixture with golden syrup (honey). Mix and combine until it resembles a dough, then knead gently on a floured surface until smooth.
4. Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper until about 3mm thick. Cut gingerbread cookies with cookie-cutters (continue rolling and cutting to make more), and then place in the oven to bake 10 minutes or until lightly golden.
5. Decorate with desired toppings or icing sugar.

Source of recipe: Cookies-Collectors Edition.

Who Ordered Brownies?

Actually my little sous baker had been requesting these for quite some time, except I never had the courage to attempt something like this. I prefer cakes, cookies, jellies, and puffy things. A brownie is like a block of chocolate, well, almost.

Since she mentioned it again today, I gave her one chance to collect all the ingredients and if she was able to find it all in the pantry, then I'd attempt it. Doesn't it look decadent (above picture)? Those white bits are actually white choc bits, making this brownie a really chocolate-sugar filled treat. It's 2cm x 4 cm x 4cm, and we made about 16 pieces though the recipe calls for 10 pieces but one little piece was enough for even the sweet-tooth sous baker.

Chocolate Brownies
Makes 10-16

75 grams butter softened
1/2 cup baking cocoa (unsweetened)
2 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/3 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup white choc bits

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degree Celsius. Line a 9cm x 14cm x 3 cm (approx.) tin with baking paper.
2. Melt butter and stir in baking cocoa, allow to cool slightly. Beat in eggs. Stir in sugar and vanilla.
3. Sift flour and baking powder together. Add to mixture and stir thoroughly. Stir in white choc bits. Pour mixture into tin.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until firm when pressed in centre. Leave in tin to cool for 20 minutes before removing. Allow to completely cool then cut into bars.

Source of recipe: Nestle's Baking Cocoa Can

Cocoa Cookie Cut-Outs

Cool, right? Just plain and simple.

Cute little cookie cut-outs for everyone. And there's no need to worry about the little things like added nuts and too much sugar, well, maybe a little. But a treat in a while is well worth the bite in the moment.

Cocoa Cookie Cut-Outs

Makes about 20

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of butter at room temperature

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of all purpose flour

50g of white choc chip to decorate (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius.
2. Cream the butter and brown sugar together. Then add the flour in and mix to incorporate until it becomes one piece of dough.
3. Roll it out to about 0.5 cm thickness and cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters.
4. Decorate with white chocolate or other items (e.g m & ms, sprinkles). Note: place a piece of foil over the cookies if decorating with white chocolate as the white chocolate will become burnt.
5. Bake on a tray with baking paper for about 20 minutes.

Fumble With Vanilla Jumbles

If you're low on ingredients on a Sunday afternoon, bake some vanilla jumbles!

 I think the pictures say it all...

 Lots of smiles, laughs and fun.

 I think we spent more time taking pictures than actually making the cookies. 

Vanilla Jumbles
Makes 12-20


Ingredients:
45 grams butter softened
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup self-rising flour, sifted
1 tablespoon milk


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degree Celsius.
2. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Slowly add the egg in and then the vanilla essence while continuing with the mixing of the butter and sugar. 
3. Add the flour in and mix until it becomes a firm dough.
4. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to about 0.5 cm thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut desired shapes and glaze with milk (optional: decorate with sprinkles, choc chips, m & ms).
5. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.