CNY Baking – Pineapple Tarts

After I finished my Peanut Cookies baking, I continued with Pineapple Tarts. Ok, let me tell you this…making this Pineapple Tarts is really a hard work! It took me a so long to complete the task! No wonder people only bake this once a year or rather buys it from the shop.

 

 Ta da! Here's my first ever Pineapple Tarts!

For Pineapple jam

Ingredients

2 medium-size pineapples, grated and drain the juice
300g sugar
A stick of cinnamon

* Here’s the recipe for the step by step pineaple jam.

What to do

1. Cook grated pineapple in a pot with sugar and cinnamon for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2. Cook until the pineapple jam starts to leave the sides of the pot. Remove from stove and set aside to cool.

For the pastry

Ingredients

200g butter, room temperature
3 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp of salt
1 egg yolk
375g flour
2 tbsp corn flour
2 ½ tbsp custard powder
2 tbsp milk powder

What to do

(1) Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

(2) Add in the egg yolk and beat well.

(3) Sift salt, flour, custard powder, cornstarch and milk powder. Mix flour mixture into the butter until it forms a smooth dough.

(4) Remove and let the dough rest for half an hour.

(5) Roll out the dough about 0.5cm thick and cut into shape with a pineapple tart mould. Fill the center of tart with some pineapple jam. Repeat until the dough is finish.

(6) Bake the tarts in a pre-heated 180 degree until golden brown. Cool tarts on rack before storing it.

 

Here, I would like to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year and Gong Xi Fatt Chai!!! May the Year of the Rabbit bring you good health, wealth and happiness! =)

CNY Baking – Peanut Cookies

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. Unfortunately there is no celebration here (living in non Chinese community) and I can’t even feel the CNY atmosphere, especially when hubby is someone who doesn’t give a damn about CNY. =(

Well, I am trying to create some atmosphere for myself here. Teehee

I’ve baked 2 types of CNY goodies to enjoy which are Peanut Cookies and Pineapple Tarts. Both are my favourites!

Love my peanut cookies as it taste exactly how it should be. Hooray for myself! It was quite simple, all you need are:-

Ingredients

250g roasted peanuts
450g self-raising flour
225g icing sugar
200g vegetable oil
tsp salt

Egg Wash
2 egg yolk


What to do

(1) Pre-heat oven to 200 degree. Roast peanuts for 15-20 min in the oven. In a food processor, ground peanuts till fine.

(2) In a mixing bowl, mix flour, ground peanuts, sugar, and salt. Mix well.

(3) Add in oil and knead to make into a dough. Shape the dough round or cut into desired shape.

(4) Brush the top with some egg. Bake it at 180 degree in the oven until golden brown.

(5) Cool completely and keep cookies in an air-tight container.

Viennese Finger

I always wanted to have a try on this recipe but I’ve forgotten to get myself the piping bag when I did my grocery shopping. Eventually, I remembered to get one pack of piping bag last weekend.

I was so excited! It was fun to pipe the mixture out to create the shape that I wanted!

I was enjoying piping it, though my piping skill needs to be improved still, I guess. They seem like not even at all. Haha!

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter, soften
40g icing sugar
2 eggs yolk
125g plain flour
100g dark chocolate, chopped
30g unsalted butter


What to do

(1) Preheat the oven to 180 degree. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

(2) Using electric beaters, cream the butter and icing sugar in a small mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg yolks and beat thoroughly.

(3) Transfer the mixture to large mixing bowl, and then sift in the flour. Using the flat-bladed knife, mix until just combined and the mixture is smooth.

(4) Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a fluted 1com piping nozzle and pipe the mixture into wavy lengths on the prepared trays.

(5) Bake the biscuits for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly on the trays, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

(6) Place the chocolate and butter in a small heatproof bowl. Half-fill a saucepan with water and bring to boil, then remove from the heat. Sit the bowl over the oan, making sure the base of the bowl does not sit in the water.

(7) Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter have melted and the mixture is smooth. Dip half of each biscuit into the melted chocolate mixture and leave to set on baking paper.

Christmas Cookies and Cupcakes

3 days to Christmas! I’ve prepared some goodies to give away to friends and colleagues.

For the cookies, I used classic butter cookies recipe taken from Joy of Baking. I’ve shaped the dough with difference sizes of star cutters. Then, after baked, I sprinkled them with icing sugar which made them look snowy. ^_^

I’ve replaced the granulated white sugar with raw sugar which came out nicely. I still can feel the sugar crusty while biting the cookies. Plus, it was not too sweet at all. It was yummy!

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Cookies recipe

Ingredients

226g unsalted butter

135g raw sugar

1 egg

1tsp lemon zest

295g plain flour

1/4tsp salt

What to do

(1) Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and follow by the lemon zest.

(2) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated.

(3) Make the mixture into a ball and wrap it with cling wrap, and leave it in fridge for 10 minutes.

(4) Shape the cookies with cookies cutter and arrange them on the baking tray.

(5) Bake in the preheat oven at 180 degree for 15-20 minutes.

Christmas Cupcakes

For the mini cupcakes, please click here for the recipe. I’ve added some dried cherry as decoration on top.

Aren’t they cute?

Packaging the cupcakes and give away to my friends and colleagues…

Cute little Santa wishing you

**Merry Christmas n’ Happy New Year**

Cornflakes & Apricot Bars

I got this recipe from the cornflakes packaging that I bought last week. The ingredients are pretty simple which I already have in my pantry. So, decided to bake this for afternoon tea!

Here you go…

Ingredients

250g cornflakes
50g coconut desiccated
80g sugar
80g diced dried apricots
125g butter
1tbsp honey


What to do

(1) Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
(2) Place butter and honey in a saucepan and melt over low heat.
(3) Pour butter mixture over dry ingredients and mix well.
(4) Press mixture firmly into a lightly greased baking pan.
(5) Bake in a moderate oven at 180 degree for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
(6) Cut into bars when cold.

Nutella Almond Cookies

My brain was blocked! :P I had no idea what cookies to bake for hubby’s snack this week. I was checking through my pantry to find some ideas for baking. Then, I found half a bottle of Nutella and a pack of almond flakes. Well, I thought I can combined them and call it Nutella Almond cookies! :P

Sad to say, the outcome was not satisfied because it was not as crunchy as the cookies that I baked last week. I am not sure why… even though the cookies were not crunchy enough, the taste was not that bad though. ^_^

Ingredients

300g self-raising flour

30g cocoa powder

180g canola spread

100g caster sugar

25g Nutella
20g almond flakes, crushed

What to do

(1) Preheat the oven to 170C.
(2) Sieve flour and cocoa powder. Set aside.
(3) Cream butter and sugar until pale and light.
(4) Mix in the flour mixture, Nutella and almond flakes until the dough forms.
(5) Roll into walnut-sized balls, and arrange on a greased sheet.
(6) Flatten the balls with the back of a fork.
(7) Bake at 170C for 5mins, then lower the temperature to 150C and bake for 10-15minutes.

Cornflakes and Raisins Cookies

In the beginning I planned to bake cornflakes cookies for hubby’s snacks. While I was looking for the flour I saw a pack of raisins that I bought quite a long time ago which was still sealed. Cornflakes are quite plain and I thought if I add in some raisins it will be better??? (This is what I thought).

Well, the outcome was not bad! It was so crunchy and you can taste a little bit of sweetness from the raisins. They were perfect combinations! = )

Ingredients

60g butter

50g castor sugar

20g egg (about half an egg)

140g self-raising flour

1/4tsp baking soda
60g cornflakes, crush into pieces
10g raisins, chopped

What to do

(1) Cream butter and sugar till creamy. Beat in egg.
(2) Pour in flour and baking soda till combined.
(3) Pour the crushed cornflakes and raisins into the dough mixture and blend well.
(4) Spoon batter on baking tray with baking paper and flatten the dough by using fork.
(5) Bake for 10 minutes at 170 degree or until cookies turn golden brown.

Cookies Galore!

I baked these cookies over the weekend and made them into 3 variations.

- Cookies dipped into melted chocolate
- Melted chocolate drizzled on top of cookies
- White and dark chocolate chips on top of cookies.

The cookies taste fantastic especially the ones with “messy” drizzled melted chocolate on top. Hmm… yummy! (^_^)

Ingredients

60g butter
50g castor sugar
20g egg (about half an egg)
140g self-raising flour
1/4tsp baking soda
Some dark chocolate (melted) and chocolate chips, for decoration

What to do

(1) Cream butter and sugar till creamy. Beat in egg.
(2) Pour in flour and baking soda till combined.
(3) Spoon batter on baking tray with baking paper.
(4) Bake for 10 minutes.
(5) In the mean time, melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
(6) After baking, leave cookies to cool in try for 2 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yes! It is peanut butter which is loved by everyone, including myself… I love peanut butter! It is best to spread with sliced white bread. Hmmm… it is yummy! ^_^

Besides the peanut butter, I added some peanuts into the cookie batter. These peanut butter cookies were excellent! The aroma of the peanut butter was nice and they were so crunchy! I couldn’t stop myself and ate nearly 10 pieces at a go. I gotta work out harder later on… :P

Here you go, the recipe… **“Peanut Butter Cookies”**

Ingredients (24 pieces)

50ml olive oil
80g brown sugar
20g egg (about half an egg)
140g self raising flour
30g peanut butter (chucky / smooth)
1/4 tsp baking soda
20g peanuts


What to do

1. Line baking tray with parchment or baking paper. Preheat oven to 170C.

2. Whisk egg and sugar together. Add in olive oil.
3. Fold in sifted flour, peanut butter and baking soda till just combined.

4. Mix in peanuts. Cover with cling wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Measure out leveled 1/2 tablespoonfuls of dough, roll them into a ball and place on baking tray. Use a fork and flatten the cookies.6. Bake for 13-15 min.

Wholemeal Cookies

My brother had sent me some cute cookies cutter from Japan and I haven’t tried all the shapes yet. I had only used 2 shapes for my Easter Goodies few weeks back. I had search in Google for easy wholemeal cookies recipes and I found one. Required ingredients are simple and I also already had them in my pantry. So I can start right away… can’t wait to use those cute cutters.


Hmmm…they were so GOOD, crispy and crunchy! I really like the nutty texture of the wholemeal flour. It is a very healthy snack for everyone. You may keep them in airtight container for about 1 week. It is also less oily compare with outside cookies as I had replaced butter with olive oil. It is worth to try! Enjoy!

Just out from oven. **hot hot**

Ingredients

150g wholemeal flour
100g plain flour
Pinch of salt
80g sugar
80ml olive oil
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
115ml milk

What to do

(1) Sift together flour, salt, sugar and bicarbonate of soda.
(2) Add in olive oil into the dry ingredients and follow by milk. Mix well to form dry dough.
(3) Keep refrigerated for 2 hours.
(4) On a lightly floured bench, roll the dough out 1/4 inch thick.
(5) Cut out shapes and place onto lined tray and refrigerate until firm.
(6) Bake at 180 degree for 15 to 20 minutes.

Muesli Cookies

I have muesli for breakfast or morning tea everyday as it is really nice to eat and it is healthy too! I’ve tried to bake Muesli Muffins, and this time I will try to make it into cookie! It differs from muesli muffins as it is very crunchy! While baking, I can smell the honey!

I’ve uses olive spread for this batch of cookies instead of butter. The olive spread is better compared with butter. Olive oil or canola oil is the best for baking though. Well, you have to know when to use olive oil / canola oil. I am experimenting these 2 oils for my baking. I tried to use olive oil for my Banana and Choc Chips Muffins and they were really good.

Anyway, here are my Muesli Cookies! (“,)

Ingredients

(A)
150g muesli (toasted with dried fruit) + 20g sultana (optional)
80g self raising flour

(B)
100g olive spread
70g honey
1 egg, lightly beaten

What to do

(1) Line two baking trays with baking paper. Combine ingredients (A) in a bowl.
(2) Whisk ingredients (B) together in another bowl.
(3) Add ingredients (B) to ingredients (A) and mix well. Set aside for 15 minutes.
(4) Roll spoonfuls of mixture into balls and place on trays, 3cm apart. Flatten.
(5) Bake for 10 minutes and let it cool before transfer to a wire rack.

Easter Goodies

Hooray!!! It is Easter Holidays. We have 4 days holidays continuous for this weekend. Well, most of the shops will close on Easter Friday and Easter Sunday. I didn’t plan to go anywhere on Easter Friday but stay at home and bake some Easter bunny cookies and Chocolate Cake top with Easter egg! I already prepared all the baking ingredients few days ago.

I planned to buy some Easter eggs and Easter Bunny for my baking decorations but I had received some of them from colleagues yesterday. Here are the photos of Easter Eggs and Easter Bunny.

Alright, first recipe that I am going to bake is the Chocolate Cake top with Easter egg.

I had also bought a white chocolate writing icing for decorations on the cake and cookies. Oooo no…my handwriting with the icing is very bad!!! = D

**Happy Easter** : )

~~Happy Easter~~ ; )

*~Happy Easter~* = )

Chocolate Cake top with Easter egg

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate, chopped
200g butter, softened
220g brown sugar
1tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs, at room temperature
225g self-raising flour
32g cocoa powder
255ml milk
Easter eggs, for decorations


What to do

1. Place chocolate into a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. With medium heat, stirring every minute with a metal spoon, or until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla essence until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Add cooled chocolate. Mix well.

3. Sift flour and cocoa powder together. Fold half the flour mixture into chocolate mixture. Fold half the milk into chocolate mixture. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and milk.

4. Spoon cake batter into muffin pan. Smooth surface. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand for 15 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

5. Top with Easter eggs. Serve.

Following will be the Easter Bunny Cookies! I had added some sesame seeds so that it wouldn’t look too plain. You may imagine that this bunny is wearing a cloths with black and white dot! Hehe…

Too bad…I failed to draw the eye on the bunny. I tried but it looked so ugly so decided to leave it plain. = )

I have also used part of the cookies dough for my cookies cutters my brother sent to me from Japan. See, they look cute huh! = D

Easter Bunny Cookies

Ingredients

200g Butter

30g icing sugar

1 egg

1tbsp fresh milk

300g Plain flour

40g wholemeal flour
30g black and white sesame seeds

What to do

(1) Cream butter and sugar till well combined. Add in milk and egg.

(2) Add in flour and mix well followed by wholemeal flour and sesame seeds to form a soft dough.

(3) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth. Divide dough in half. Press each half into a 10cm (diameter) round. Wrap separately in greaseproof paper and refrigerate for 40 minutes, or until firm.

(4) Preheat oven to 160°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Roll dough out between 2 sheets of baking paper to 5mm thick.

(5) Cut out shapes and place onto lined tray. Refrigerate until firm. Press leftover dough together. Repeat until all dough is used.

(6) Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

With this fabulous chocolate cake and Easter bunny cookies, I wish everyone have a happy and safe Easter!