Brown Sugar Butter Syrup & Gulkand / Rose Petal Jam Sauce

Brown sugar butter syrup is a quick and easy preparation. It is a yummy syrup to use in lieu of maple syrup over pancakes / waffles. For those wondering where the pictures of that syrup are, I haven't posted them. :) I was not happy with the quality of the syrup pictures I took and so, they are going to get updated the next time I make the syrup.

Ingredients for brown sugar - butter syrup:

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

1/8 tsp. vanilla or maple extract (optional)

Method:

* Add sugar and water to a sauce pan on medium heat, Bring it to a boil, stirring until the sugar melts. 

* Let the mixture continue to boil for about five minutes and add butter. Stir until the butter melts and add any extract if using. Turn off the stove.

* Serve warm over pancakes / waffles. Refrigerate any leftover syrup and reheat before serving.

 
I used some of the leftover syrup to prepare an interesting sauce based on gulkand that turned out to be delicious. Even my daughter who detests gulkand could not stop eating it. Basically a jam sauce can be prepared by adding a little quantity of water and sugar, if needed to the jam and cooked until a desired quantity is reached. The gulkand sauce also can be prepared this way, only if you prefer the pronounced flavor of gulkand in the sauce. Somehow I didn't and tried the sauce again with some of the left over brown sugar butter syrup I had and that's what caught my fancy. 

Ingredients for gulkand syrup:

1/4 cup syrup from above 

1/4 cup gulkand / rose petal jam

2 tbsp. water 

Method:

* Add the ingredients to a small sauce pan and cook on medium flame, stirring. If the mixture appears too thick, add a tbsp. or more water and cook until the desired consistency is reached. Or add the ingredients to a microwave safe bowl and cook in the microwave in 30 seconds / minute intervals until desired consistency is reached. Please note that this sauce thickens after cooling because of the butter used.
 
This post goes to Blogging marathon #78 under the theme "Toppings for Pancakes / Ice creams". Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

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Chocolate Chip - Oatmeal Cookies (Version 2)

KAF is my to go website for baking recipes since most of their recipes are foolproof and the user reviews gives me an idea how a recipe is going to turn out and in case if it needs any tweaks or twists. These chocolate chip - oatmeal cookies come from there and are supposedly their recipe of the year for 2015. An apt choice I would say. This recipe yields addictive cookies with the right amount of chewiness and crispiness. My daughter loves chocolate chip cookies and I had bookmarked them earlier for her. I tried a small batch yesterday making it an eggless version and got a big happy thumbs up from her. The only regret I had was that I should have made more cookies as mine were gone in a day. They are just subtly soft at the center and have a crispy exterior if baked for the mentioned time. If one prefers crispy cookies, they must be left in the oven few minutes more after turning off the oven. Cookies can be made bigger or smaller than the size mentioned in the recipe below and the serving size would differ. I used a tbsp. sized scoop and got sixteen, 2.5" sized cookies. 

Ingredients: (Yield 16 cookies)
1.5 tsp. flax meal or a substitute for half an egg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:
* Combine flax meal and 1.5 tbsp. water in a small bowl and set it aside for about 4 -5 minutes.
* Whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
* Preheat the oven to 325 deg F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it.
* Beat butter and sugars together until smooth. Next add the flax egg and vanilla and beat well once again. Add the flour mixture into the butter bowl and mix until thoroughly incorporated, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips.
* Scoop out tbsp. sized portions of dough onto the cooking sheet, leaving about 1.5 to 2 inches between cookies.
* Bake for about 12 - 15 minutes, until they are light golden brown, with slightly darker edges. They continue to bake as they cool on the pan and so it's ok if they look slightly shiny in the middle. Remove the cookies from the oven, and as soon as they're set enough to handle, transfer them to racks to cool.
( If baked for the mentioned time, they wouldn't be crispy when they come out of the oven. When they cool down, they crisp around the edges while remaining softer at the center. I baked them for 15 minutes and turned off the oven. I left half of the cookies in the oven itself for few minutes more and those cookies had turned out perfectly crispy.) 

These cookies are going to be a part of
1. Blogging Marathon #52.
2. Srivalli's 'Kids' Delight' event hosted by Sandhya this month with the theme "Snacking all the Way".

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Eggless Zucchini- Chocolate Chip Muffins

 
I had asked the other adult at home to get a zucchini and as usual I ended up getting four instead. And also was told that I would find ways to use them anyway. That was true in a sense and I made some crisps, and a bread but was still left with one zucchini. It was not sufficient to make a chocolate zucchini bread but I could bake some muffins instead. I found a recipe online which had eggs and the muffins looked super moist going by the images. I was so tempted by those images that I made them instantly converting it into an eggless version and was very much pleased with the results. Somehow I could not trace the original recipe now as these were made a few weeks back and I forgot to save the link.  

I am surprised to notice that my muffins are kinda looking dry in images but they were moist in reality. I forgot to take pictures showing their crumb and by the time I remembered, there were no muffins left to try. Usually I take a bite of what I bake to notice their texture and taste but I ended up eating the whole muffin as it was really good. The base of the muffins are subtly sweet and the sweetness comes more from the chips when you bite into the muffins. They were moist and yummy and the latter part was certified by my daughter as well who sat and ate three in one sitting. That's like a aatwa ajooba (8th wonder) in my home considering that she needs a lot of cajoling and threatening to eat anything.

Ingredients: (Yield 9 muffins)
1 flax egg or go with any other substitute
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peeled and grated zucchini
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Method:
* If using flax egg, combine 1 tbsp. flax meal with 3 tbsp. warm water and let it sit for five minutes.
* Preheat the oven to 425 deg F.  Grease a muffin pan or line them with paper cups.
* Combine the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl.
* Whisk the flax egg, brown sugar, oil, milk and vanilla in another bowl.
* Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Finally stir in grated zucchini and chocolate chips.
* Fill the muffin cups up to 2/3rds with the batter and place the muffin pan in the preheated oven.
* After 5 minutes, lower the temperature to 375 deg F and bake for another 15 minutes or until, a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.

Check the blogging marathon page to see what my fellow marathoners are cooking for BM#52.

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Monday Meals ~ Eggless Zucchini - Carrot Bread

I had planned early on that I would bake at least one loaf of bread for this marathon. I wanted it to be a little on the sweet side, moist and yummy instead of a plain sandwich loaf and this zucchini - carrot bread adapted from here perfectly fit the bill. This quick bread would be a great addition to any breakfast / brunch menu. I converted the original recipe into an eggless version, replaced a portion of plain flour with wheat flour and used equal quantities of carrot and zucchini. This bread is a great way to sneak in vegetables for picky eaters.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm milk (I used fat-free milk.)

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar 

1 medium sized zucchini (about 1 cup gated)

1 large sized carrot (about 1 cup grated)

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or substitute all purpose flour)

1 tsp cinnamon powder

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla essence

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup raisins 

Method:

* Stir together milk and vinegar in a bowl and keep aside.

* Peel and grate carrot. Peel and grate zucchini and squeeze out excess liquid.

* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 8"x3" pan. (I used 9

x5 pan.)

* Combine flours, cinnamon, baking powder, baking salt and salt in a mixing bowl.

* In another bowl, whisk the milk-vinegar mixture, oil and vanilla. Next add brown sugar and mix until smooth. Gently stir in grated zucchini and carrot.

* Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. Add the raisins finally and stir gently to combine.

* Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 45 - 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean. (Mine was done in about 45 minutes.)

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51.

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An InLinkz Link-up

Yeast Breads ~ Sweet Pull-Apart Bread

Event: Blogging marathon #40
Theme: Yeast based breads

I saw a monkey bread for the first time on American TV, about 15 years ago. The idea of pulling apart the chunks of bread seemed fascinating at that time. I have been planning  a pull apart bread since then and somehow the opportunity never came until now. In my quest, I landed at this recipe which was on the similar lines of a monkey bread. This recipe doesn't need the biscuits and the added bonus was my kids love cinnamon flavored bakes. The recipe uses bread machine and is easy, no fuss kind recipe. Recently I had stowed away my bread machine in the basement and was lazy to bring it up and so I hand kneaded the dough and baked in the convection oven instead. 
This recipe is very simple and reliable. There are no surprises springing up at you during any steps of the bread making and so even for novice bakers, it is good recipe to try. The dough balls are usually arranged in a bundt pan or cake pan but I layered them in a loaf pan. The shape wouldn't matter if you ask me since you are going to pull apart the pieces anyway to devour them. As expected, my kitchen was filled with cinnamon flavor while baking and the kids' who stepped into home a little later were inquiring whether I was baking any cinnamon buns. The texture of the bread pieces is somewhere between a cake and a bread. I have considerably reduced the brown sugar quantity when I made this bread and probably that's why it was not very gooey. That's a good thing if you ask me. The pieces were not sticking to your fingers and yet the bread was not bland. When you first bite into a bread piece, you encounter the sweetness but as you take more bites, the sweetness subsides because only a small quantity of sweetener went into the dough making. This was more than a super hit at my home and the bread was gone in about a day. 

Ingredients for the dough:
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp instant yeast
4 tbsp butter
1& 1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla

Ingredients for topping:
1/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar mixed with 1 tbsp cinnamon

Bread machine method:
* Place all the dough ingredients into the bucket of a bread machine. Program the machine for dough and press start. After about 10 minutes of kneading, check the dough's consistency. It should be soft and smooth; though it should form a ball and clean the bottom and sides of the bucket. If necessary, adjust the consistency with additional flour and water and allow the machine to complete it's cycle.
* Lightly flour the work surface if needed. Divide the dough into 32 small pieces and shape them into balls. Dip the balls in the melted butter and roll them in the cinnamon - sugar mixture. Layer them in the bucket.
* Place them in the bucket, close the lid and allow the bread to rise until doubled, for about an hour. 
Program the machine for bake only, 65 minutes, light crust and press start.
* Let the bread stand for a few minutes when the baking cycle is complete. Remove the bucket from the machine and turn the bread out onto a serving platter.

Manual method:
* If preparing the dough manually, combine the ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead by hand for about 8 - 10 minutes. The final dough would be smooth and pliable, leaving not any residue on your fingers.

 * Lightly flour the work surface if needed. Divide the dough into 32 small pieces and shape them into balls.

* Dip the balls in the melted butter and roll them in the cinnamon - sugar mixture. 

*  I had lined the pan with foil as I didn't want to ruin the pan with those sugar stains.

* Place them in a loaf pan, cover it and allow to rise until doubled, for about an hour.

* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F / 175 deg C. Bake the bread for about 40 to 45 minutes.

* Let the bread stand for about 5 minutes and flip it on the serving platter. Serve warm.
* If serving on the next day, just zap them in microwave for few seconds before serving.

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Quinoa - Dry Fruit Muffins ~ Moist, Yummy and Eggless

 

I honestly had no expectations when I decided to try these muffins and was also skeptical about the outcome in terms of texture of these muffins. I somehow had this preconceived notion that the quinoa muffins would be on the drier side. However since I am always gung ho over quinoa as my non enthusiastic husband points out, I wanted to try them out for a healthy snack option (as I don't eat sweet stuff for my breakfast) and also to figure out how quinoa works in baking recipes. 

I landed here while looking for baking recipes that used whole grains. The positive review the recipe got coerced me to try the recipe. I changed it into a vegetarian one and I must admit I was very much impressed about the texture and flavor of these muffins. Besides the muffins rose beautifully too. (I dropped about a heaped Tbsp batter into each muffin cup.) This recipe yields perfect textured, awesome tasting, moist muffins and it is a keeper. It gets five stars from me. Even the signature flavor of the quinoa was unnoticeable and so, if you are looking for ways to sneak in quinoa in your cooking, this is a good one to go.

Ingredients: (Yield 12 standard size muffins)

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 cup all purpose flour 

1 tsp salt 

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar 

2 Tbsp vegetable oil (I used canola oil.) 

1/4 to 1/2 cup dry fruits of your choice (I used finely chopped dates, raisins, dried cranberries, and walnuts.)

1 banana, mashed

Scant 1/2 cup milk 

1 tsp vanilla flavoring

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Grease a muffin tray and dust with flour, tapping the excess or use the paper liners.
2. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, dry fruits / nuts in a mixing bowl. Add quinoa and mix well.
3. In another bowl, whisk together oil, milk, mashed banana and vanilla. Add this to the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. 
4. Divide batter among the muffin cups, filling them about only 2/3rd. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Mine were done in 30 minutes. Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. 
5. Serve them as breakfast or as a snack. Refrigerate the left over muffins.

Note:
1. I had cooked quinoa ready. I cooked 1/2 cup quinoa + 1 cup water in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. It can be cooked in a saucepan too. Bring the water to a rolling boil and add quinoa. 
Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until quinoa is tender and all the water has been absorbed. Don't make it watery.
2. If you prefer subtly sweet muffins, then reduce the brown sugar quantity to 1/4 cup in the above recipe.
3. Don't skip the dry fruits from this recipe. I would personally recommend dates and the dry fruits certainly enhance the taste of the muffins.


This is my Day 3 post under "Baking with Whole Grains" theme. Check here to know what other marathoners of BM#25 are cooking.
Also sending this to "Dish name starts with Q" event.

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Oats - Raisin Scones

 

I usually try to stay away from high calorie baked stuff. However I don't feel guilty to consume one or two scones whenever I bake them. And so naturally my inclination was towards scones, when I was planning to bake with whole grains this week for the blogging marathon. I came across these when looking for some oat based ones and modified the recipe a little, to suit my needs. I ended up with slightly bread textured scones since I added melted butter by mistake but am still happy with the result. They tasted good with a crunch offered by raisins and nuts. 

Ingredients: (Yield 16 scones)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats or quick cooking oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup / 4 oz / 1/2 stick butter

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup each - raisins & walnuts (I used 1/2 cup each.) 

Method:

* Preheat the oven to 375 deg F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper.

* Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the butter into the dry ingredients until it looks unevenly crumbly. (Using a food processor to cut in the butter is what I recommend. By mistake, I used melted butter and ended with soft, bready scones.) Mix the raisins and nuts. Stir in the buttermilk and form the dough.

* Transfer the dough to a floured surface and divide it into two portions. Form each portion into a disk and pat into a round of about 6 inches in diameter. At this point, you can sprinkle with coarse sprinkling sugar if desired. Cut the round into 8 wedges. Don't separate the wedges.

 

* Transfer the wedges to the prepared baking sheet and bake them for about 20 minutes or until they are just beginning to brown. Remove them and serve them warm.

Check what other marathoners of BM#25 are cooking.

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Oatmeal - Raisin Cookies

I really love oatmeal cookies and was looking for a good recipe. I stumbled upon this recipe accidentally and found that this one is a keeper. The cookies turn out so good that they disappear in no time. :)

Ingredients: (Yield 30 cookies)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp flax meal + 3 Tbsp warm water
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 & 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup raisins

Preparation:
* Add flax meal to warm water and mix well until blended. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
* Beat the butter and sugars in a bowl until light and fluffy. Next add oil, vanilla and flax meal mixture and beat until well blended. On low speed, beat in flour, salt and baking soda until combined. Stir in oats, raisins and nuts.
* Preheat oven at 375 deg F. Grease the cookie sheets and keep them aside.

Baking:
* Drop dough by rounded Tbsp, 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet. Slightly press them with your fingers.
* Bake until edges are slightly brown or about 10 minutes. Cool and then remove from cookie sheets.

Check here to know what my fellow marathoners are cooking during BM#16.

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Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Blogging Marathon # 13 starts from today and I chose to go with "Eggless / Vegan Baking" as the theme. This week long, I am going to post some of my kids' favorite stuff that I regularly bake in my kitchen.
Chocolate, cheese and olives are my daughter's favorite foods. She doesn't prefer any sweet stuff on her plate but the whole scenario changes when it comes to chocolate. The girl somehow had to force herself to eat even a tiny portion of her own birthday cake but the magical chocolate makes her forget the fact that she is in no love with sweet stuff. :) And these chocolate chip cookies top her favorite "chocolate" stuff.

Though I don't remember the source, this recipe comes from a  cookbook and yield very yummy cookies. The ingredients yield about 3 dozen cookies, if made in small size. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup softened butter (vegan margarine for vegan version)
2 Tbsp honey (pure maple syrup for vegan version)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (vegan choc. chips for vegan version)

Method:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F / 180 deg C.
* Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in the honey and vanilla and mix well.
* In another mixing bowl, add flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
* Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir well to combine and fold in chocolate chips.
* Drop the dough on ungreased cookie sheets by tablespoons (half or full depending upon the size you prefer). You can flatten them a little if you wish. Bake until slightly browned around the edges, about 15 minutes. (I baked 3 - 4 minutes more.) Remember that they firm up a little after cooling.
* Cool and store in an airtight container.

Linking this to
1. Srivalli's "Kid's Delight" event, guest hosted by Priya this month with the theme "Eggless / Vegan Bakes".
2. Anjali's "Cakes, Cookies & Desserts" event.

Check here to find out what the other marathoners participating in this BM are cooking.

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Microwave Apple Crisp

Microwave Apple Crisp ~ My Day 4 entry for BM#12 .

I was looking for a quick and easy, fruit based microwave dessert to contribute to the Cook.Eat.Delicious.Desserts event I am hosting this month and landed up here. This delicious crisp is done in the microwave and a serving can be prepared under 5 minutes. I quartered the ingredients and got a single serving. The recipe was like a reflection of my style of cooking - simple, quick and undemanding one. 2 minutes of prep work and 2 minutes of cooking and you will end up with a generous serving of delicious apple crisp (or two servings if you prefer portion control). I have found equally tempting versions on other websites that I am planning to try later.

Ingredients:
1 small apple, peeled, cored and sliced thinly 
1.5 to 2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
3 Tbsp quick cooking oats
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder (I used cardamom-clove powder instead.)
1 Tbsp dessicated coconut (optional)

Method:
1. Combine butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon in a small bowl.

2. Arrange the apple slices on a baking dish evenly. For the above measurement, I used one cup baking dish. Sprinkle the topping prepared in step 1 evenly over apples.
3. Cook in the microwave for 2 to 2 & 1/2 minutes or until apple can be easily pierced with knife.
* Serve with a few scoops of vanilla icecream.

This is going to
1. Raven's CEDD event guesthosted by me.

2. Srivalli's MEC event guesthosted by Kalyani.

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Eggless Baking ~ Chocolate Chip - Oatmeal Cookies

My pantry auditing prompted me to look for ways to use the leftover oats I had so that I could free some space. And the search led me to this shortbread cookie recipe. What interested me was that the cookies were eggless and had chocolate chips in them. I didn't have to think twice since my daughter loves to eat chocolate chip cookies. I baked some last night for the third day of BM#12 under "Something Sweet" theme. They came out really crunchy.

Ingredients: (Yield 9 cookies)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp butter, softened (original recipe uses 1/4 cup.)
1/4 cup quick cooking oats
6 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk (or as needed)
6 Tbsp semisweet chocolate chips

Method:
* Preheat oven to 325 deg F / 160 deg C.
* Beat butter and sugar using a electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, oats, baking soda and vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips. (The mixture was very dry since I didn't use the recommended amount of butter. I added 2 Tbsp of milk to it to form the dough.)
* Drop dough by tablespoons 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
* Bake 11 - 13 minutes or until lightly browned.

Note:
1. Regarding the temperature: After reading the reviews, I baked for 10 minutes at 335 deg F. The bottoms started to brown quickly and so I reduced the temperature to 315 deg F and baked for ten minutes more. I therefore think that 325 deg F temperature should work fine.
2. Regarding the time & quantity of cookies: The original recipe recommends to drop the dough by teaspoons and so the quantity will be more than what I got. The baking time of 11 - 13 minutes did not work for me. I baked for about 20 minutes, turned off the oven and let the cookies remian in the oven for 5 minutes more. The cookies came out with a bit darker bottom side but were good.
3. Use the recommended amount of chocolate chips. I used about a little less than 1/4 cup since they appeared to be more than the actual dough quantity. However after baking, I realised that I should have added more.

Check out here to know what my fellow marathoners have come up with during this marathon.

This goes to
1. Vardhini's Bake Fest, hosted by Pradnya this month.
2. Srivalli's Chocolate Mela 
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Eggless & Delicious ~ Carrot - Apple Muffins

Another edition of blogging marathon starts from today and by now, my regular readers must have become familiar with the exercise attached to it. BM is for 2 weeks every month and the participants have the choice to take part in the 1st and / or second weeks sticking to a particular theme per week. My theme for the first round of BM#12 is "Something Sweet" and obviously the readers get to see some yummy stuff here all weeklong.

I have been noticing this muffin recipe for years now whenever I buy gold medal brand flour. The recipe comes printed on the flour pack under the name "glorious morning muffins". The yummy and healthy combination of carrots, apple, nuts and dry fruits had piqued my interest well enough that I tried them last week at last. Thanks to Gayathri's tips about egg substitutes during last marathon, I could convert these egg based muffins to eggless ones. They turned out truly delicious and actually were not dense as muffins would be. The texture was somewhere between a muffin and cupcake and so I really enjoyed them. We thought they were subtly sweet the evening I made them but by the next day, they were perfect for us.

The sweet stuff never counts as breakfast at my home and these could pass as yummy cupcakes actually. I am therefore sending them to Raven's CEDD (cook.eat.delicious.desserts) event, that I am guesthosting this month.

This also goes to Vardhini's Bake Fest, hosted by Pradnya this month.

Ingredients: (Make 12)
1 cup flour (1/2 the quantity can be substituted with whole wheat flour.)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1.5 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup yogurt
6 Tbsp butter
2 - 3 Tbsp milk (adjust as needed)
1 big carrot, grated (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup peeled, shredded apple
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup sliced walnuts / almonds

Method:
* Heat oven to 350 deg F /175 deg C. Place paper baking cups in the muffin tray or grease them.
* Combine butter, milk, yogurt and vanilla in a mixing bowl and just whisk to blend the ingredients. Add flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in carrot, apple, coconut, raisin and 2 Tbsp of nuts.
* Divide the batter equally among the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Sprinkle the remaining nuts over the batter.
* Place the muffin tray in the preheated oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes and remove from the pan.

Check out here to know what my fellow marathoners have come up with during this marathon.

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Eggless Brownie Cookies

This is one of cocoa recipes that I bookmarked recently to try. If my memory serves me right, it must be from diabetic living website. The recipe attracted me since it was mentioned that these cookies taste like rich brownies and to top that, they were eggless. The recipe is quite an easy one and so I tried them around 11 pm last night when I was not feeling sleepy. :)
The recipe mentioned that the cookies would be set by 8 - 10 minutes. The scoops of dough remained unaltered in shape until the sixth minute and so my daughter and I sat in the kitchen thinking that they would be ready by the next couple of minutes. However, after that period, they started to spread and began to become almost gooey. I thought that this experiment was going to end in a disaster and started to curse myself for trying those at the middle of the night. However, I kept them baking for around 8 - 10 minutes more and removed them thinking that probably they would end up in trash.
Nope, I was wrong. They were absolutely delicious and crispy. I forgot to sprinkle the powdered sugar at that hour but they were absolutely good. They are very dark brown in color, just like brownies but were perfectly done. They were more like chocolate cookies than brownies and received more than a seal of approval from my kids. I need to bake one more batch this week. :)

Ingredients:
(The following ingredients yield 24 cookies. If you want to halve the recipe to get a dozen cookies, use the ingredients mentioned in the parentheses / brackets. )
1 cup all-purpose flour (1/2 cup)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (1/4 tsp)
1/4 cup butter (2 Tbsp)
2/3 cup sugar (5 Tbsp)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Heaped 2 Tbsp)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar (2 Tbsp)
1/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk* (2 Tbsp)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Nonstick cooking spray
1 tablespoon sifted powdered sugar (I didn't use it. )
Note
* To make 1/4 cup sour milk, pour 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1/4 cup total liquid; stir. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes before using

Method:
1. Combine flour and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in sugar, cocoa powder and brown sugar. Add buttermilk, vanilla and flour. Stir just until combined. Cover and chill dough for 1 hour. When you remove the dough out, it would be firm. 
2. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
3. Drop chilled dough by rounded teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet. The cookies will spread while baking and so space them accordingly.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are set. (Actually I baked around 16 - 18 minutes since they were not set by 10 minutes and were almost at semi liquid stage.)
5. Transfer to a wire rack after a couple of minutes and let cool.
6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

This is my day 4 post in BM#11 with "eggless baking" theme. Check here to find out what my fellow marathoners are cooking during this marathon.

I am sending these to the following events -
Bake Fest # 2, hosted by Sangee, originally started by Vardhini
Bake With Your Heart by Khushi
CC - Holiday Baking by Sravs
Christmas Delicacy by Julie
Let's Cook - Baked Goodies, an event by Radhika.

Sinful Delights hosted by Vardhini

Sweet Baked at Krithis and Dennys.

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Creamy Corn Kheer

I was eagerly waiting to try this corn kheer ever since I watched it on a television show. A sweet dish with corn sounded interesting and the chef & hostess of the program made it sound very delicious. Finally the time came to try it out a couple of weeks ago and it turned out yummy. We absolutely loved this rich, creamy and delectable kheer. This is going to be my Day 3 post during this blogging marathon #5, with the theme "Indian Sweets". 

Check what the other marathoners are cooking today.
Curry in a hurry under 30 min: Priya Suresh, Srivalli, Usha
Seven Days of Colorful Dishes Kid's Special: Vardhini
Seven Days of Indian Sweets: Harini,  Veena & Me
Seven Days of Regional Specials: Aarthi, Kalyani, Pavani, Shylaja
Summer Coolers: PJ,  Vaishali
Under 15 mins Quick Breakfast: Sushma Pinjala

Ingredients: (4 servings)
3/4 cup corn (I used frozen)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated khoya
4 - 5 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1 - 2 Tbsp ghee
1 Tbsp cashews
1 Tbsp raisins

Method:
* Cook the corn kernels. Save a few Tbsp of corn if using as garnish and grind the remaining corn adding a little milk / water if needed.
* Heat the ghee in a pan and toast cashews and raisins. Remove them with a slotted spoon and keep them aside.
* Then add the corn paste to the same ghee and fry for a couple of minutes.
* Then add the milk and bring it to a rolling boil. Next add the grated khoya, sugar, cardamom powder to the mixture and keep cooking for a few minutes. By the time, the khoya gets incorporated into the mixture and the kheer turns rich and creamy. Turn off the stove.
* It can be served hot or chilled. Garnish with the saved corn kernels if desired.

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