Rocky Road Healthy Brownies

I was craving for something chocolatey the other day. But I was sorta hesitant to bake. You see, our things are almost packed as we're moving this weekend. And I'd have to take out my baking stuff from the boxes and put them back again and it'll mess up the arrangement. I was having an argument with myself the whole afternoon.

Oh, but the craving won. :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup applesauce/butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• rice crispies (optional)
• marshmallows (optional)
• almond slivers (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2.  In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder).
3. In a saucepan, melt the brown sugar with the applesauce. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla.

4. Mix in the dry ingredients carefully. Fold in the additional toppings such as marshmallows, nuts, rice crispies, or nuts.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. 6. Let brownies cool for about 20-30 minutes before cutting up and serving.

I love how it turned out. It was moist and gooey and just delicious.  The top of the brownies were shiny  on top. And I believe letting the sugar dissolve with the applesauce/butter over low heat before mixing in with the other ingredients does the trick! :)

I did 1.5 of the recipe that's why I have extra, I made them brownie muffins! :)

Source: Allrecipes.com

Cottage Cheese Biscuits

Warm biscuits with jam

If you're thinking what to pair with your stew, steak, pot roast or just for snacking, try biscuits. I mean the American biscuits, not those sweet snacks you buy at the supermarket. :) It's easy to do and you can actually mix it up to be savory or sweet!


Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp white sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cottage cheese
• 2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 egg + 2 Tbsp milk for eggwash

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
4. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead lightly. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. You can also drop the biscuits for a more rustic feel.
5. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
6. Brush with egg wash and bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

Fudgy and Chewy Brownies

I got this recipe online, My Baking Addiction.  According to the site, this is "Fudgy, Chewy, Cakey Brownies from “The Perfect Recipe” by Pamela Anderson".

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
• 10 tbsp (1 stick plus 2 tbsp) butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• optional: 3/4 cup toasted walnuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, peanuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Grease a 8"x8" baking pan and set aside. You can opt to place foil or parchment paper to line the pan. Make sure to grease the insides as well.
2. Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside. 
3. In a shallow mixing bowl, melt chocolates and butter over a pan of simmering water. Once fully melted and combined, remove from heat; whisk in sugar and vanilla. Add in eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each one before adding the next. 
4. Continue to whisk until mixture is completely smooth and glossy. Add dry ingredients, mix until well combined incorporated. Add in the nuts, if you're adding them.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in center comes out with wet crumbs, this will take about 35-45 minutes.  Note: If you wait until toothpick inserted comes out clean, they’re overcooked. You want fudgy crumbs.
6. Cool brownies in pan on a wire rack for five minutes. Cut them up into squares. Can do 16 or 20 squares.

Mixed Berries Muffins

Yesterday, I made mixed berries compote for the muffins I'm making today. It's almost weekend and we don't have anything left in the pantry for in between meals munching. :D

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups wheat flour (can use all-purpose flour)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup mixed berries compote (can use fresh berries)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Grease muffin cups. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the first four dry ingredients. 
3. Using the 1 cup measuring cup, pour the vegetable oil. Add the egg and fill it with milk until it reaches the rim of the cup.
4. Mix the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold in the compote carefully. Spoon the mixture into the lined muffin cups.
5. To make the topping, mix all the crumble ingredients in a bowl until it becomes coarse. Sprinkle over muffins before baking. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Before going to the oven

A Chinese New Year Party at School

Last week, I received a notice from my daughter's school that they will be having a small party today (January 27) and that parents could contribute food for the kids' snacks. However, there were rules to be followed. For one, the snacks should not contain any pork or beef as most of the kids are Indians and they usually don't eat these. Also, it should not be sweets, jellies or fish balls because these might have animal gelatin in it and could also cause choking for the kiddos.

Because of these rules, I thought of contributing Choco Chip Banana Muffins since this is something kids love and of course, so I can use my new lovely muffin cups. :) I found my guide on Allrecipes.com. I love that it has yogurt and banana because I want the kids to have a healthy snack for the party today :)

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp banana essence (optional)
• 1 1/4 cup mashed banana
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease the muffin cups or line them with paper baking molds. 
2. Combine all the dry ingredients into a bowl (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt)
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg. Add vegetable oil, yogurt, vanilla and the banana essence.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture carefully. Fold in the mashed banana and chocolate chips.
5. Fill the muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake about 25 minutes.
6. Cool for about 5-10 minutes before removing them off the cups and transfer to cooling rack.

I love how the smell of the banana muffin fill our entire kitchen. I was like in banana heaven! Haha I guess the banana essence really worked. :) You can try to add walnuts if you want variety to your muffin. I hope the kids will like this.

Smells good, tastes even better! :D

Coffee Revel Bars

It's just two months before I can go back to Davao and eat all the food that I missed. Even if I have been out of the country for less than a year, I have not stayed in my hometown since 2010. I think about Davao every time I see expensive pastries and long to be back home to enjoy the delectable yet affordable food there. :( One of my most missed food in Davao is the Revel Bars. I frequent this place called Babycakes in Marfori. They have the most luscious Revel Bars, I tell you! I have tried a lot of different kinds but I always go back to them. The balance of the oats and chocolate is satisfying to the palate. Instead of just dreaming about it and be sad, I decided to make one today. Just in time because we already ran out of cookies and biscuits to munch on. Originally, the recipe only calls for chocolate chips but I wanted to add coffee to make it more flavorful. :)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup condensed milk
• 2 tbsp margarine, softened
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp instant coffee granules

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
2. Mix flour, rolled oats, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients until combined.
4. Cook condensed milk, margarine, coffee and chocolate chips over low fire. Stir until well mixed. Add vanilla.
5. To assemble: spread the oats mixture at bottom of the greased pan. Pour chocolate mixture generously on the top. Dot with the remaining oat mixture to look like this:

Assembled coffee revel bar

6. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is brown. Cool over rack and slice according to your liking.

Crunchy top - just the way I like it :)

The recipe I got online had walnuts and used two cups of sugar. I don't want my bars to be too sweet that's why I used 1/2 cup less than what the recipe called for. For the chocolate mixture, I didn't use up 1 can of condensed milk. Probably it was just 3/4 of a cup that I used. And I added instant coffee for an extra kick of caffeine.

I was happy with the outcome of my experiment. Just the perfect balance of sweetness and coffee flavor. And the Husband was satisfied with it, too! Hurray! :)

This bar goes good with coffee or tea - anytime of the day. :)

Puto - Steamed (Rice) Cakes

Usually, what we have back in the Philippines as kakanins (a collective term for snacks made with kanin (rice), particularly malagkit (glutinous) rice; or native delicacies) are the ones made of ground rice. But the one I'm going to write about is made of flour. I actually learned this from my sister who used to be so crazy about making these little steamed cakes when we were younger.

Here's my recipe:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• cheese for topping

Directions:

1. Grease small cake, puto molds, or ramekins for use in a steamer. 
2. Mix the flour, sugar, and baking powder together in a bowl. In a separate, large bowl, scramble the eggs with the evaporated milk and water. Fold the dry mixture into the eggs until evenly blended. Fill the prepared molds 2/3 of the way up with the batter.
3. Fill a wok or a sauce pan that will hold a steamer basket with a few inches of water. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Place the molds into a steamer basket and place over the boiling water and cover.
4. Steam until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the putos comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove from steamer and place the cheese on top just in time to make it melt a bit.
5. Cool on a wire rack and serve warm or at room temperature.

This yields around 20 pieces (big plastic ramekins used).

Freshly made

This kakanin is so easy to make. You just need a steamer (the rice cooker steamer would do), the easy-to-find ingredients and you're good to go! :)

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

I have been baking like crazy since earlier this month.  I only discovered recently that the oven we bought could actually be used for baking! Oh my goodness! At first, I started with the Oatmeal Cookies, Carrot Cake and I also tried using the oven to make Chicken Roulade! I was just going gaga about baking! And oh, I made Lemon Bars too!

At first I felt bad not being able to realize that I could've used the oven to bake ham for the holidays. But then again, it could be a blessing in disguise! Haha Because the Husband doesn't like ham and secondly, ham is very expensive here in the Lion City. Actually, almost everything here is expensive. :|

God knows how much I missed baking. I love love love it. It's been 2 years since I last baked a decent cake. Maybe I was too tired from babysitting that I completely forgot about my love for baking. I have not been trained formally but I guess it comes naturally if it's in your genes. You see, my mother loves baking and so does my sister. We have a small bakery back home and I guess it would be insane if I didn't know basic baking at all!

I'm planning to make a healthier version of the Oatmeal Cookies this time. I will use the recipe from Food.com because it's easy to prepare and the ingredients are tummy-friendly.

• 3 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a cookie sheet. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix butter, brown sugar, honey, egg and water. Make sure to scrape the sides to make mixture well blended.
3. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking soda). Add the oats then carefully mix in with the butter mixture. Also add the chocolate chips.
4. Scoop spoonfuls on the cookie sheet. Bake them around 12-15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

Guide: http://www.food.com/recipe/healthy-honey-oatmeal-cookies-147497#ixzz1jht6TmPP

Here's the first batch of my Healthy Oatmeal Cookies:

For a yummy and tummy-friendly snack :)

Easy Biscotti

Here's another recipe I tried two weeks ago. Since I only had a few ingredients in my cupboard, I tried looking up some goodies that I can make with what I had. And it's biscotti that I decided to bake. :) I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com and I love how it's so easy to make. I mean, even a 10 year old can do this!

Choco Nutty Biscotti

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease cookie sheets.
2. Beat oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine all purpose flour and baking powder. Carefully, add this to the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. Mix in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips.
3. Divide the dough into two and form each piece into a roll a long as the cookie sheets. Place onto the prepared sheets and press to half an inch thickness.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown.
5. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack. After cooling, slice each roll crosswise with half an inch thickness. Put back into the baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes more. This will make them a bit more toasted.

Guide: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/biscotti/

Baking Like Crazy

I have been baking like crazy since earlier this month.  I only discovered recently that the oven we bought could actually be used for baking! Oh my goodness! At first, I started with the Chocolate Chip Cookies, Carrot Cake and I also tried using the oven to make Chicken Roulade! I was just going gaga about baking! And oh, I made Lemon Bars too!

At first I felt bad not being able to realize that I could've used the oven to bake ham for the holidays. But then again, it could be a blessing in disguise! Haha Because the Husband doesn't like ham and secondly, ham is very expensive here in the Lion City. Actually, almost everything is expensive here. :|

God knows how much I missed baking. I love love love it. It's been 2 years since I last baked a decent cake. Maybe I was too tired from babysitting that I completely forgot about my love for baking. I have not been trained formally but I guess it comes naturally if it's in your genes. You see, my mother loves baking and so does my sister. We have a small bakery back home and I guess it would be insane if I didn't know basic baking at all!

I made Oatmeal Cookies this time. I will use the recipe from Allrecipes.com because it's easy to prepare and the ingredients are tummy-friendly.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions:
In a bowl, cream butter with brown and white sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
Combine the remaining dry ingredients such as flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Fold this into the butter mixture. Add the oats, chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. Cover the bowl and chill the dough for an hour.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Grease cookie sheets. Set aside.

Drop a tablespoon of the cookie dough onto the baking sheets with 2 inches apart from each other. Flatten the cookie a bit to have an even result. Bake for about 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Source: http://allrecipes.com./recipe/soft-oatmeal-cookies/

I made some revisions with the recipe.  I used regular flour instead of the whole wheat or all purpose. I also used granulated brown sugar because I didn't have the refined one at home. :( It took longer for me to cream the butter and sugar. Huhu I didn't put cinnamon but I added chocolate chips and walnuts to make them yummier. :)

Here's the first batch of my Soft Oatmeal Cookies:

Fresh from the oven

My young tot and the Husband enjoyed these goodies that they didn't last for more than 3 days!