Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Jam filled Pinwheel Cookies



We are in the 3rd week of Blogging Marathon#51 and under the eggless cookies theme I am sharing a simple and cute looking cookies.I bookmarked this recipe from Priya's blog where Divya shared it in a guest post.
These cookies were made with egg and cream cheese but I made an eggless version.Also used thick yogurt instead of cream cheese and powdered sugar as it has a considerable amount of corn starch helps in binding.Any type of jam can be used,you can either keep it inside and fold or fold it and keep it on the top.
One of my friend's daughter who is a teen helped me out to roll the cookies and so humble to be a hand model to hold the cookie.Now off to the recipe........................................



                                                                        
                                                                                                 Jam Filled Pinwheel Cookies


                                                                  
   Basic Information

   Preparation time 25 minutes
   Resting time 1-2 hours
   Cooking time 10-12 minutes
   Makes 18-20 cookies
    


  Ingredients


Ingredient
Quantity
All purpose flour
1 cup
Powdered sugar
6 tbs
Unsalted Butter(room temperature)
5 tbs
Yogurt/thayir
3 tbs
Vanilla extract
1 tsp
Baking powder
1/2 tsp
Baking sodaa pinch
Any seedless jam variety2 -3 tbs 
Chopped nuts(cashew/pistachio)2 tbs
Milk (if needed)2 tbs


  
  Method 
  • In a bowl mix in the all purpose flour,baking powder,soda and salt.Set it aside.Cream the butter,yogurt and powdered sugar together well.Add the vanilla extract,to this add the flour mixture.
  • Knead it to a soft dough,if the dough is crumbly,add some milk.Wrap it with a cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour.After an hour take a big gooseberry size dough and roll it to thin round on a floured surface.
  • With the help of pizza cutter or knife the round shaped flatten dough to a square of 2x2 inches as shown.Cut the four edges slightly and keep the center portion intact.Fold each cut edge as shown to form a pinwheel.

  • Keep a dollop of jam in the center of the pinwheel or keep the jam in the center before folding and fold the edges to form a pinwheel.
  • Arrange it on a lined baking tray and sprinkle chopped nuts on the top of the cookies.Bake it for 10-12 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350 F.Let the cookies gets cool down completely.

  • Store it in an air tight container



  • While folding to a pinwheel if the dough is getting cracked apply some milk and fold it.
  • Here I used strawberry jam and chopped cashews.



Enjoy.....................................................







Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Monday, April 13, 2015

Kaju Cookies /Cashew Cookies



Today's recipe is going to a be crunchy and mouth melting,rich cookies with cardamom flavor.I have tasted these type of cookies in India in local bakery shop.So wanted to recreate those cookies and tried couple of times but I couldn't get the exact taste of the store bought one.After so many trials I found a perfect recipe here.I slightly altered the original recipe to our taste.As we prefer mildly sweet cookies I reduced the amount of sugar and made it.Also in the original recipe store bought cashew meal is used.But here I powdered the cashews and used it.The cookies were so crunchy and delicious and we like it a lot.With no further delay lets move on to the recipe.............................







                                                                        
                                                                                                     Kaju Cookies/Cashew Cookies


                                                                  
   Basic Information

   Preparation time 15 minutes
   Resting time 1-2 hours
   Cooking time 18-20 minutes
   Makes 25-28 cookies
    


  Ingredients


Ingredient
Quantity
All purpose flour
11/4 cups
Powdered sugar
1/2 cup
Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup
Neutral Cooking oil
2 tbs
Cashew meal or powdered cashew
1/4 cup
Chopped cashews
1/2 cup
Baking powder
1 tsp
Baking soda1/8 tsp
Corn starch1 tbs
Cardamom powder/ellakai podi1/8 tsp
Milk (if needed)2 tbs
Oil2 tsp

  
  Method 
  • Powder the cashews in a blender till it becomes bit coarse and keep it aside.In a bowl mix in the all purpose flour,cashew meal,corn starch,baking powder,soda and salt.Set it aside.Cream the butter,oil and powdered sugar together well.

  • Now add in the flour mixture and mix it well.Now the dough will be crumbly,to this add around 1/4 cup of the chopped cashews and cardamom powder,mix it well to form a dough.If needed use couple of tbs of milk.

  • Line baking tray with the parchment paper or foil.Take a small gooseberry size of dough and flatten with the palms and keep it on the baking tray.Press in gently 4-5 pieces of chopped cashews on top of the flatten dough.Continue for the rest of the dough.Cover the baking tray with the cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour or two.Bake it in a 300F pre-heated oven for 18-20 minutes(mine took 20 minutes).

  • Cool it on a cooling rack and store it in an air tight container.




  • Instead of flatten the dough and keep it in the refrigerator,make the dough into a log and keep it refrigerated.Then slice and bake it.
  • As these cookies tend to spread,arrange the cookies an inch apart in  the baking tray.



Enjoy............................................






Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Tea Shop Style Butter Biscuits/Tea Kadai Butter Biscuits



We are in week #3 April of Blogging Marathon#51 and for this week I am going to share eggless cookies.
Today's recipe is a simple and popular cookies aka biscuits popular in most of the Tea shops in Tamilnadu.
These biscuits are crunchy,mouth melting and delicious even without any fancy ingredients and flavoring agent.
These cookies/biscuits are so close to my heart,as this cookie was the first bake in my life. After I came to US,the first thing baked in the oven was this cookie.
This cookie I noted it 15 years back from a local bakery shop baker.The recipe was given roughly in kilo measurement.
The cookie was not only my first bake and did not aware about the number of cookies for 1 kilogram of all purpose flour.After seeing the convention oven got excited and blindly follow the recipe and mixed roughly a kilogram of  all purpose flour.Finally made more than 50 cookies for 2 of us.The cookie was not bad for the first time.Since no hand blender or electric blender to cream the butter,I used my wooden dhal masher(paruppu mathu).
After so so many trials and scaled down measurement,I am making this cookie perfect.In the original recipe the refrigeration was not mentioned.But I personally feel refrigerating the dough helps to hold the shape and also prevents the dough from spreading.Here I didn't use any flavoring agent but it can be used according to personal preference.
This cookie was the first recipe I made for this Blogging Marathon series in December in my brand new oven.It was bit difficult to understand the oven temperature,so reduced the temperature to 340 F instead of 350 F.As I was ran out parchment paper I used aluminium foil to line the tray.Thats why the bottom of the cookies turned brown faster.After that I stopped using aluminium foil for lining and reduced the temperature to 10 F of the given temperature.Lets move on to the recipe............................





                                                                        
                                                                                         Tea Shop Style Butter Biscuits


                                                                  
   Basic Information

   Preparation time 10 minutes
   Resting time 1 hour
   Baking time 12-14 minutes
   Makes 18-20 
    


  Ingredients

  


Ingredient
Quantity
All purpose flour/maida
1 cup
Rice flour/arisi maavu
2 tbs
Butter/vennai(room temperature)
1/2 cup
Granulated sugar(powdered)
5 tbs
Salt
a pinch
Vanilla extract(optional)1/2 tsp

  

  Method 
  • Powder the granulated sugar in a  blender to a fine powder.In a separate bowl,mix the all purpose flour,rice flour and salt well.Keep it aside.Now in take the butter and powdered sugar in a bowl.Beat it with a electrical or hand blender till it becomes creamy.To this add the flour mixture and mix it well.Knead it to a soft dough.

  • Now roll the dough to a log and wrap it in a cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour.After an hour remove the wrap and slice the cookies to 1/2 inch thickness.Meanwhile pre-heat the oven at 350 F.Arrange it on a lined baking tray ,use a fork prick it on the top of the cookies to give a pattern.Bake it for 12-14 minutes and remove it from the oven.Cool the cookies on a cooling rack and store it in an air tight container after cooling.
    • Serve it with tea.


    • As these cookies bake faster,keep an eye after 10 minutes otherwise it may burnt.
    • Addition of rice flour gives a very nice crunch to the cookies.
    • The amount of sugar given is perfect,but if you want it can be increase up to 1/2 cup.











    Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

    Friday, April 10, 2015

    Vanilla Sweet Bun/Sweet Vanilla Bun


    Today's recipe is a sweet vanilla bun which I tried from Gayathri's space.These buns were crispy outside and soft inside with a mild sweet taste and vanilla flavor.These buns are a perfect tea time snack and it tastes delicious when its served warm.
    When I made the dough for this bun and kept it for proofing,the dough was not raised properly even after 11/2 hours.But after rolling and kept it for the second raise it rose well and ended up in a soft,crispy delicious buns.Lets move on to the recipe................................................








                                                                          
                                                              Vanilla Sweet Bun/Sweet Vanilla Bun


                                                                      
       Basic Information

       Preparation time 30 minutes
       Proofing time 1 1/2 hours+11/2 hours
       Cooking time 20-25 minutes
       Makes 12 buns
        


       Ingredients


      
    Ingredient
    Quantity
    All purpose flour
    13/4 cups+2 tbs
    for dusting
    Instant yeast
    1 tsp
    Unsalted butter
    1/4 cup(melted)
    Sugar
    3 tbs
    Milk
    1/2 cup+2 tbs
    (for brushing)
    Salt
    1/2 tsp
    Vanilla extract11/2 tsp


       For the filling
    Ingredient
    Quantity
    Granulated white sugar
    1/4 cup
    Unsalted butter
    3 -4 tbs



        Method 
    • Mix in melted butter,sugar,milk and vanilla extract together.Take all purpose flour,instant yeast,salt and in a bowl.To this add the milk and butter,knead it to a soft dough.Knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes till it becomes smooth and elastic.Shape the dough and keep it in a warm place for 11/2 hours or the volume of the dough doubled.

    •  Knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes till it becomes smooth and elastic.Shape the dough and keep it in a warm place for 11/2 hours or the volume of the dough doubled.

    • After the raise,punch down the dough and divide it to two equal portions.Now divide each portion to 4 equal portion and roll it to  around ball.Now on  a floured surface,roll each ball to 5-6 inch diameter.Apply a tsp of butter and sprinkle some sugar.Keep it aside.Continue for the rest of the 3 balls.

    • Now stack 4 layers and roll it to a log from one end,cut it into 5-6 pieces.Continue the same process for the remaining balls .Roll and cut it.

    •  Arrange the cut rolls on a greased round baking tray as shown.Keep it in a warm place for another 11/2-2 hours.Before 10 minutes of the second proofing time pre-heat the oven at 350 F.Brush the rolls with the milk and bake it for 20-25 minutes or a nice golden crust formed.Cool it in a cooling rack.


    • Serve it warm with a cup of tea or coffee







      • Since sugar and butter is stuffed inside the roll the top of the rolls become slightly crispy and browned faster.
      • If you feel the top is getting golden in 10 minutes,wrap the baking pan with aluminium foil and bake it.
      • Arrange the cut rolls closer to each other,after the second raise it will expand and cover the whole pan.
      • I didn't warm the milk as the butter was melted and bit hot so added the the milk to it.



      Enjoy....................................................








      Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com

      Thursday, April 9, 2015

      No Knead Classic White Bread






      After I decided the themes for this marathon,I wanted to share a classic white bread for the bread and buns theme.I never tried baking a loaf bread on my own.Long time back may be years ago once I tried in the bread maker and it took 3 hours to finish one loaf.After that I never made a loaf with that,packed the bread machine and kept it in storage.
      I finished most of my yeast bread and bun recipe before the marathon starts.White bread was left and wanted to make the Tangzong method.One day tried and it came out good and couldn't control my eagerness how the bread turned out.As a result slice the bread when it was warm and made a mess.But the taste and texture was very nice,made sandwich out it and finished in a day.
      Second trial came out very well and waited till the bread was cool but my bad luck the weather was very bad and the clicks were shaky and blured.Finally left the idea of making loaf bread for this series.
      One fine day when I was googling,found a you tube video of making no knead white bread loaf.The output of the bread and the texture tempted me.So that evening itself made the dough and kept it for over night raise.The next morning the dough rose well and made the loaf.For my surprise the bread came out very well and had it for our breakfast.
      Since this is a no knead version and uses less amount of yeast,it needs to be proofed for at least 10-12 hours.Lets move on to the recipe....................................................





                                                                            
                                                                                    No Knead Classic White Bread


                                                                        
         Basic Information

         Preparation time 15-20 minutes
         Proofing time 10-12 hours
         Cooking time 30-40 minutes
         Makes 1 loaf
          


         Ingredients


        
      Ingredient
      Quantity
      Bread Flour
      4 cups+2 tbs
      for dusting
      Instant yeast
      1/2 tsp
      Unsalted butter/oil
      (room temperature)
      3 tbs
      Sugar
      1 tbs
      Salt
      1 tsp
      Tap cold water
      2 cups
      Milk /butter/oilfor brushing


         
          Method 
      • Take all bread flour,butter,instant yeast,salt and sugar in a bowl.Mix it well,to this add the tap cold water and knead it to a dough.If the dough is sticky that's fine no need to add flour.Cover it with a cling wrap and keep it undisturbed in a warm place for 10-12 hours or overnight.

      •  After 10-12 hours or overnight raise the dough would have doubled.Now on a floured surface knead the dough for 5 minutes and shape it to a rectangular log and keep it in a greased loaf pan.Cover the pan and keep it in a warm place for 1 hour.Before 10 minutes of the second rasie,pre-heat the oven for 375 F. 

      • Now brush the loaf with milk/butter/oil.Bake it for 35-40 minutes or a nice golden crust formed.Once its done remove it from the oven and let it sit for 2-3 minutes,now transfer it to a cooling rack and let it cool completely.

      • Slice it and serve it with spread of your choice.




        • Instead of bread flour,whole wheat flour or 2 cups of all purpose and 2 cups of wheat flour can also be used.
        • Here I used 81/2 x 41/2 loaf pan,but for this measurement 9 x 51/2 also works fine.



        Enjoy.................................................................................









        Sumber http://www.naliniscooking.com