Quick & Simple Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies

Did you all have a great weekend? I did. Made it to the Windmill Design Festival on Saturday and picked up some nice stuff for the home. Will update you about my experience there soon. Caught up with friends after a really long time and discovered another awesome place to chill and have a few drinks (perfect Saturday date night with the hubby). See more about that here. 

I was going through the blog a few days ago and I realized I've not done a recipe post since probably before Christmas... actually I don't think I've actually done any baking since then, so it was a good thing that last Friday I had the most unbearable cookie craving. This usually happens when work is a little slow and my mind starts wandering to food. I also blame Pinterest :) I tried to ignore it, I tried to make myself busy... but it just wouldn't go away. My mind was saying cookies, cookies, cookies... and soon my stomach also joined in this chorus :) 

Do you sometimes have these unbearable cookie cravings? You know, the ones where you feel like you will absolutely lose it if you don't get a cookie fix? And then you open the pantry and to your utter despair... no cookies! This is exactly what happened on Friday. I thought I'd just eat a tiny cookie from the pantry and make the voices go away (sounding a bit crazy?) But when I saw zero cookies around I knew I was defeated and the voices in my head cheered!

Although I wanted cookies, I also wanted them quickly and I was in no mood to do anything too complicated. So I threw together a few things and whipped up a batch of chocolate chip oat cookies in, I kid you not, 30 minutes from start to finish.  The toughest thing about making these cookies is stopping yourself from eating them in the 20 minute cooling period. 

[All images- Shalini Pereira]

You know you have a problem when you make a batch of cookies telling yourself that you are making it for a loved one (in this case for the hubby), when in fact you know deep down you are making it for yourself :) But I was good this time and saved a few for him :)

Here's the recipe for these... 

Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup oats (I used Quaker oats)

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 dried coconut shreds (unsweetened)

2 tbsp small chocolate chips

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp dried ripe mango (cut into tiny bits)

Wet Ingredients

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp almond essence

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a pan, melt the butter with the brown sugar. Once the butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, remove from flame and add the olive oil, maple syrup, essence, cinnamon, salt. Combine the dry and wet ingredients. 

Line a cookie sheet with butter paper or a silicon sheet. Take heaped teaspoons of the mixture and place on the sheet, keeping a space of about an 1 1/2" between each heap. Flatten each heap with your hand. Don't worry if the mixture is a little loose. It will come together on cooling after baking.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until they are golden. Remove and allow to cool completely. Transfer to an airtight jar.

Love these cookies because they are delicious and ridiculously easy to make. And since they have no flour, they are slightly better than regular cookies. Next time I'm going to also add a 1/4 cup salted peanuts to the mix. Think they'll be quite tasty too. Will keep you updated.

On a totally different note, the All Things Nice FB page is in serious need of some love... so please, pretty please show it some love. The link is here. I'm thanking you all in advance for all the love & likes :) have a great day and a Fabulous week guys!

Jeera (Cumin) Cookies

I recently got back from a holiday in Wayanad, Kerala. While there, I stayed at Vythiri Resort, which I must say is a lovely place if you want to get away from it all and really enjoy some peace and quiet. No TV, almost no internet and not the best network, so no annoying calls from work :)

One of my favorite experiences of the resort was afternoon tea, which was always accompanied by delicious goodies like cinnamon rolls, banana fritters and various yummy treats. One of the items they served was a sweet and savory puff pastry biscuit which I absolutely loved! Which gets me to the point of this post. Now I know I love cooking, but even I don't have the patience to make puff pastry. Besides I'm sure if I did make it myself, I would stop eating it once I see how much butter goes into it! 

But the taste of these tiny bites of happiness reminded me of a long forgotten favorite of mine- Jeera biscuits! These slightly sweet, slightly savory biscuits flavored with bits of jeera (cumin) are so nice with afternoon tea or coffee and would even be nice as a party snack, served with a spicy jam or chutney. 

Here's my recipe for Jeera cookies...

1 1/2 cups plain flour (maida)

2 tbsp powdered sugar

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp roasted cumin seeds (jeera)

2 tbsp butter (cold & cubed)

1 tbsp ghee

1/4 cup cold milk

1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cumin. Add the cubed butter and mix with a fork until the mixture resembles  bread crumbs. (This can also be done in a food processor). Next, add the ghee. 

Mix the milk and vanilla together separately and add this milk mixture to the flour mixture slowly and bit by bit until the flour mixture comes together like a dough. Its okay if you don't use the entire milk mixture. Lightly knead the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide into four balls. Roll out each ball till about 6mm thick and cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Place cookies on a tray lined with butter paper and chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Bake the chilled cookies for about 20 mins or until they just start to appear pale golden along the edges. Cool on a wire rack.

Best enjoyed with a nice cup of tea and a good book! 

[Image- All Things Nice]

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don't you just love lazy Sundays? Waking up late, lolling around in your jammies, reading the newspapers and catching up on Pinterest and Facebook. This Sunday was one of those Sundays. With nothing to do and nowhere to go (and we were really grateful for this since temperatures in Delhi have hovered around 45 degrees Celsius all week), the hubby and I just lazed around at home. While he read the newspapers, I caught up on some  of my favorite blogs and managed to do a little cleaning (something I strangely enough find very relaxing). 

For me lazy Sundays also mean baking and experimenting in the kitchen, and this Sunday it was chocolate chip cookies. Before I go ahead, I should warn you that this story is going to sound a lot like that Friends episode when Monica tried to make chocolate chip cookies just like how Phoebe's grandmother did when she was a kid.  For those of you who are Friends aficionados, you will remember she went on a baking spree and made several batches to arrive at a recipe that was 'the perfect cookie'. Well, when I was a kid a family friend, a lovely American lady by the name of Joanie, made me a batch of chocolate chip cookies and, I have never tasted cookies quite like that, ever again. And I've eaten a lot of cookies! For those of you who don't know me too well, my close friends say I am another Monica and I can be quite obsessive about something once it comes into my head. So, over the years I have been experimenting and tinkering with chocolate chip cookie recipes in order to come up with something that is remotely close to that yummy cookie I tasted so many years ago. 

I still haven't managed to turn out a cookie quite so delicious, but I came quite close a few days ago. I sent some of these cookies to the hubby's office. That evening he came home and reported that they were wolfed down and a few people had even requested the recipe. So I decided to put it up on the blog and this Sunday was the perfect time to improve on a few things and get the measurements right.

So here goes... my own chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Here's what you need...

1/3 cup oats

1/2 cup rice flour

1 cup plain flour (maida)

1/4 cup corn flour

1/4 cup almond meal

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

1/2 cup butter (chopped into small cubes)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/3 cup white chocolate chips

1 egg 

1 tbsp milk

1 tbsp cream

Here's what you do...

Mix all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips and nuts in a bowl.  Add the butter and lightly rub the flour and butter with your fingers till the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Next add in the nuts and the chocolate chips. In a small bowl lightly beat the egg with the milk and cream and add to the dry mixture. Knead very lightly with your hands till the dough just comes together. Don't over knead as the butter will melt and the cookie will be hard and dense. Cover the dough and place in the fridge to cool for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime preheat your oven to about 180 degrees Celsius. 

Once the dough has cooled, make rough, one inch diameter balls and lightly press into discs that are about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Place on a lined cookie tray and bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes till they just start to color slightly and the base is golden brown. 

Once the cookies are cooled, they will crisp up, but will still have a slight chewiness in the center. These cookies are great with a nice cold glass of milk or some hot chocolate.

Here's how they turned out...

[Images- Shalini Pereira]

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Spicy Double Chocolate Cookies

I have been experimenting with this recipe for a long time and after a number of initial disasters, I finally managed to get the result that I was looking for. This spicy double chocolate cookie is sinfully chocolaty with the spice giving it an extra little kick by bringing out the chocolate flavor even more. It is crisp and light on the outside and just a little chewy on the inside. I must admit the cookies take a little work to make, but the results are well worth it!

Ingredients (makes about 18 cookies)

1/2 cup plain flour

1/3 cup + 2 tbsp castor sugar*

1/4 cup cocoa

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp Kashmiri chili powder or cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

Instructions

Sift flour and baking soda together. Add salt, pepper, chili powder, cinnamon, walnuts and chocolate chips to the flour and mix together. In a pan combine butter and cocoa and heat over low flame stirring continuously till butter melts. Set aside till cool. Wisk together egg and sugar in a bowl till mixture is pale yellow. Add vanilla and whisk for a minute. Add the cooled butter and cocoa mixture to this and whisk. Finally fold the combined dry ingredients into the egg mixture until combined. Cover bowl with cling film and chill in fridge.

While the cookie mixture is chilling, preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Grease a cookie tray and line with wax paper or baking paper. After the cookie dough has chilled for 10 minutes, take a heaped teaspoon full of dough and roll into balls between the palms of your hands. Each ball should be a little over an inch in diameter. Place on lined cookie tray about 1 1/2 inch apart and chill for an additional 5 minutes.

After chilling, remove tray from fridge and place in oven. After about 3 minutes reduce oven to 150 degrees Celsius and bake for about 10 minutes. I found that the base of these cookies burn quite easily so I placed a few sheets of slightly damp newspaper directly below the baking tray and this took care of the problem. Although I have given about 13 minutes as the baking time, I suggest you check the cookies before this to make sure the base doesn’t burn. You will know the cookie is ready when the top is cracked and firm, and the bottom of the cookie is lightly browned.

Once ready allow cookied to cool for about 5 minutes and then remove from tray and cool on wire rack.

* Castor sugar is a fine grained sugar. If you can’t get your hands on it, coarsely grind sugar in a processor.

[Images- Shalini Pereira]

Eggless Cardamom & Almond Cookies

There are some afternoons when you are home alone and wondering how to pass the time. This is when my mind wanders to food- things like biscuits and cakes, and that steaming cup of tea that I have every afternoon at 4pm. I start thinking that some cookies would be wonderful with my hot cup of tea laced with the flavor of mint leaves. That’s when I pull out my cook books and scour the net for interesting recipes to try out.

I came across this recipe for almond & cardamom biscuits during one of these hunts, when my mind was looking forward to tea time and my stomach was begging for some tasty treats.

I must admit that I’m not a big fan of cardamom, but for some reason I love these biscuits! They go really well with a cup of chai! You won’t believe how incredibly quick and easy they are to make. And they are delicious. Each time I bake them they disappear within minutes. The fact that they are also eggless means that they are also great for vegetarians.

Here is my take on this recipe that I found at Edible Garden

Ingredients

3/4 cup of plain shifted flour (take out 1 tablespoon of flour from this and replace with a tablespoon of semolina)

1 tsp of green cardamom seed coarsely powdered

1/3 cup castor sugar (you can coarsely grind sugar if the granules are too large)

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup finely chopped almonds

1/3 cup unsalted butter (butter should be very soft, not hard and cold)

1 tbsp of milk, add only if required

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Mix all your dry ingredients in a bowl. Add butter to the flour mixture and make dough. Add only a little of the milk if the dough is not forming. Take care not to add too much since the cookies will end up very hard.

Divide dough into 15 balls. Press down on each ball with your palm to make disks of a little less than half an inch. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Reduce temperature of oven to 150 degrees Celsius and bake for 15 to 20 minutes taking care to check the cookies after about 10 minutes. The cookies are ready when they appear golden brown.

I baked these cookies in an OTG and found that the bottoms of the cookies browned really quickly. A solution to this is to place a tray filled with a little water on a lower shelf in your OTG, below the cookie tray.