Whole wheat cranberry tea cake

Fall is one of the most spectacularly beautiful seasons where I live. Every time I see the vibrant red and yellow hues in nature, I am awed. Of course, it is a precursor to the cold, dreary winter that is to come, but while it lasts, I love the crisp, cool air and the many sights and smells of autumn. Cranberries usually make an appearance in the markets around this time and I have used dried cranberries (also known as craisins) to make an eggless tea cake. Despite using no egg and no butter, this cake has a beautiful texture and is perfect with a hot cup of coffee/tea.

What you need:

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup *
Oil - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
White vinegar - 1 tbsp.
Milk - 1 cup
Dried cranberries - 1/2 cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, add the oil and milk. Whisk the sugar into this. Add in flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Add vanilla extract and white vinegar. Whisk quickly. Gently mix in the cranberries. Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Cool completely and use a serrated knife to cut into slices.

This is my first post for Blogging Marathon #82 under the theme Fall fruit desserts.
 Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#82

Nachos

A Mexican dish which is very popular , nachos in its most basic form, consists of tortilla chips topped with lots of melted cheese. To this basic form, you can add ingredients of your choice like black beans, roasted corn, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos and onions. No matter what ingredients you choose to add, this snack is a crowd pleaser. Here is my version of this dish.

What you need:

Tortilla chips
Black beans - 1 can
Red onion - 1 small, chopped
Corn - 1/2 cup
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Salt
Grated cheese - a generous amount

Spread the tortilla chips in a single layer on a baking sheet.
In a large bowl, combine the drained beans, onion, corn, cumin powder and salt. Mix well. Spread this mixture evenly over the chips. Top with grated cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit until the cheese melts.
Serve with guacamole, sour cream and salsa on the side.

This is my second post for Week 2 of BM#78 under the theme Oceanic Cuisine - dishes from countries that are bordered by two or more oceans.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM# 78

Whole wheat eggless apple walnut banana squares

Some days back, I went apple picking. Apples, fresh off the tree, are so delicious, so crisp and so juicy - the store bought ones cannot hold a candle to these. Seriously, they are so juicy that even if you were to accidentally scratch one with your nails, you can see the juice spurt out. I came back home with a huge bag of apples that we picked and other than eating them as is, have been trying them out in various bakes. This week's theme for the Blogging Marathon is baking with veggies/fruits and this healthy apple square fits the bill perfectly.

What you need : (Recipe adapted from here)
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups, leveled
Apple -  finely chopped(with peel), 2 cups (I used about one and a half medium sized apples)
Walnuts - 1/2 cup, chopped
Over ripe banana - 2, mashed well
Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 cup * (see notes at the bottom)
Baking soda - 2 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

In a mixing bowl, mix together, the mashed banana, oil, sugar, yogurt and vanilla essence. Stir in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar and salt to this.  Mix in the chopped apple and walnuts. Pour into a 15x10x1 cookie sheet, spread evenly with the back of a spatula or wet hands and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees farenheit for 20 -25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Once cool, cut into squares and store in an air tight container.

Note :
The apples I had were sweet in themselves. Plus, I do not like my bakes to be overly sweet. One cup of sugar makes these squares only moderately sweet. Add up to half a cup more of sugar if you want it to be sweeter.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#45

No knead focaccia with caramelized onions

A lot has happened between my last food post and this one. For one, we have moved cities AGAIN. I am now a Mumbaikar doing my best to do justice to the umpteen kinds of street food served in the city. Between sampling every kind of chaat imaginable and setting up home in this city, I totally forgot to acknowledge the sixth anniversary of this blog which came and went  in June this year.
 Suma Rowjee's No Knead Focaccia is something that I wanted to bake when she posted it waaaay back in May of last year. Then, of course, I promptly forgot all about it until she re-posted it on facebook yesterday. Memory and want rekindled, I decided to bake it today. The basic recipe I have followed is hers, with changes made to suit our palate, as far as the add-on ingredients go.

What you need:
Maida/All purpose flour - 1.5 cups + 2 tbsp
Lukewarm water - 3/4 cup
Salt - 3/4 tsp
Active dry yeast - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1.5 tbsp
Juice of half a lemon
Onion - 1 large, chopped lengthwise into thin  strips
Seasoning - I used a mix of dried garlic, rosemary & parsley - 2 tsp (to be mixed with the dough)+ 1 tsp(for sprinkling on top)

Step 1 : Proof the yeast.
Dissolve sugar in water. Add the yeast to it. Mix well and let it stand covered for 10 minutes till it becomes frothy.
Step 2 : Caramelize onions. 
Take a teaspoon of olive oil in a pan. Stir in the onions along with a teaspoon of sugar. Saute on low heat till light brown. I did not let them turn dark brown in the pan as I felt that the onions would burn once they were in the oven.
Step 3 : The dough
Mix all the ingredients (including the caramelized onions) together with a wooden spoon. Once well mixed, stir it around 20 strokes with the spoon. Grease a round baking dish generously with oil (I used olive). Transfer the dough to the greased dish and spread it using your greased hand. Cover and let it stand for an hour. After an hour, I found that my dough had not risen much. So I let it stand for another 30 minutes. Again, not much of a rise, but the dough did look puffy and aerated. Dimple the surface of the dough with your fingers. Drizzle 2 tsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of seasoning on top. Preheat the oven to 200 degree centigrade. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Mine looked done at about 20 minutes, but I put it in for an additional four minutes to let the top brown further.
Cool on a wire rack.

Slice and enjoy!!!

My thoughts :
This really is an easy and fool proof recipe. If you are looking for a good recipe to start baking bread with, this is it.
The caramelized onions add a lovely flavour to the bread. However, feel free to substitute with any topping of your choice. I think I did the right thing by not letting the onions brown too much. By the time they were out of the oven, they were crisp and beautifully browned.

Banana chocolate chip muffins

Making healthy snacks for kids is an art. Dodging requests for Maggi, Lays or Kurkure every evening and providing something healthy in its stead is definitely something that requires practice and a certain amount of sternness and will power. These muffins are easy to whip up, healthy and at the same time something that kids will love. In fact, my little one made this herself. She did the measuring, the mixing and the spooning into the muffin tin. Needless to say, she enjoyed eating what she made.

What you need: (Recipe adapted from Tarla Dalal's Healthy snacks for kids)
Bananas (mashed) - 1/2 cup(I used 3 small overripe ones)
Whole wheat flour - 4 tbsp
Oats - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Oil/butter - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Chocolate chips - 1/4 cup
Salt - 1 tsp

Mash the bananas in a small mixing bowl. This is a task my little girl did very meticulously and with great enjoyment. Mix the vanilla essence and sugar into it.
Take the whole wheat flour, oats, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the banana mixture and oil to it. Mix well. Gently stir in the chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 150 degree centigrade.
Line/grease your muffin tin. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Enjoy!!!

This is my first post for Blogging Marathon #17 themed on Kids' Delight - Evening snacks/Tiffin. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 17
This post goes to Radhika's Let's cook - Kid's special

Eggless oats cookies

Recipe source : Nirmala's kitchen
What you need:
Oats - 1.5 cups
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1/2 cup

Mix all the ingredients together to a soft dough. I had to add about 2-3 tbsp more of flour to get a smooth mixture. If you find the dough too dry, add a little milk while kneading.
Pinch out small balls of dough. Shape into round cookies and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until the cookies start to brown on the edges.
This is my 5th post for the blogging marathon and my theme for the day is eggless baking.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#6 hosted by Srivalli