Showing posts with label Cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cookies. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Sesame Cookies


I love these cookies because they’re quick and easy to make. You don’t even need a mixer to do this as you can just mix it by hand. It is lightly sweeten but you can add more sugar to it. The sesame seeds gave these cookies a very nice nutty flavor to it and it goes really well with a cup of tea.

Ingredients:

1 stick/1/2 cup unsalted butter – room temperature
½ cup of sugar
1 cup + 3 tbsp of flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup of sesame seeds, lightly toasted


Thursday, May 26, 2016

Cherry Blossom/Sakura Cookies


I’ve seen many people making dessert with the preserved sakura for the past few years and they were so pretty. I found them online but there were not cheap so I waited until Diana went back to Japan and she bought some for me. My two good friends Linda and Maria got me some too when they were holidaying there. So I’ve been using it to make moon cakes, macarons and now these cookies. Diana is in Japan again now so hopefully she is able to find more for me.


I made these cookies for a birthday tea party for a very good friend last week. Turns out really pretty and everyone goes oooh and ahhh over it and said they look too pretty to eat. I got the recipe from Daily Delicious with a tiny change. I added some almond powder to it and increased the flour by 20 gram as I find to dough too wet to handle. I think it might be the size of the egg yolk I used.


Monday, January 04, 2016

Taiwanese Pineapple Cake/Cookies


I always like this cake. I am not sure why they called it cake as it tasted more like cookies. I bought it a few times from the Asian supermarket and also once at Hong Kong airport but they were not good. The pastry was so dried and the filling doesn’t taste like pineapple at all. I found out that they added winter melon to the filling….mmmmm no wonder it is not good. Anyway, I always wanted to try making these and finally did it a few months ago after buying more moulds from eBay. My friend Alan gave me some too. It cost me quite a bit of money and in order to justify spending so much I should make it more often :)


I used only pineapple for the filling instead of adding winter melon to it. I coarsely grated the pineapple so that I can still feel the bite of the filling. I tasted one once it cools down but the pastry was more on the crunchy and dry side so I let it sit for a day and the pastry turns out soft, rich and very buttery. It was really good. I think it tasted much better than the one I bought. As CNY is just around the corner, maybe you can making this instead of the usual pineapple tarts.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Meyer Lemon Bars


Lemon lemon. I just love them. I have a huge lemon tree at my backyard but the lemon is not that juicy as for my little meyer lemon plant, it’s not producing any fruits this year. Not sure why. My good friend Maria gave me some Meyer Lemons from her backyard and she told me she love lemon bars. So lemon bars it is. So I made some to share it with her and Linda. I prefer meyer lemons as they are more juicy and less tart. Hopefully my meyer plant will give me some fruits next year but if not I can always get some from Maria.


I used Ina Garter recipe but the next time I make this again I will cut down a bit of the flour for the filling as I like the filling to be softer. For the sugar I cut it down to 2 cups as meyer lemons are not that tangy so needed less sugar.

Sunday, June 07, 2015

Almond Cinnamon Stick Cookies


I love the smell of cinnamon in baked pies and cookies and I don’t think I use it enough in my baking. So I decided to add some cinnamon to these cookies. This cookie dough a more pastry like rather than cookie as I wanted a sturdier cookie. It actually turns out pretty well, they were crunchy, not overly sweet and it goes really with a cup of tea or coffee. Do try it out.


Monday, January 19, 2015

Macadamia White Chocolate Chip Cookies


I am never a fan of white chocolate because I find them way too sweet for my liking. I am not sure why I bought a bag of it and it has been sitting in my fridge for the longest time. I finally used some of it to make this batch of cookies. I added some macadamia nuts to it so that I don’t have to put too much of the white chocolate chips. I baked them a bit longer as I prefer crunchier cookies rather than chewy. But if you like chewy cookies just bake it to lightly brown.
On the side note I have not been very active in my blogging now. I am more into FB, Dayre and Instagram. You can follow me at Instagram user name Gertrudewan


Monday, June 02, 2014

Palm Sugar Coconut Tarts


Carlos has been asking me to make some coconut tarts for the longest time and I finally made some for him last week. I think the last time I made these were a few years ago. I used the same recipe for the pastry of my previous coconut tarts and did some changes on the filling. Since I have quite a bit of palm sugar or gula Melaka brought from Malaysia I decided to use it in the filling as coconut always goes well palm sugar. True enough, we prefer this version of coconut filling to the one using white sugar. These little tarts look so cute and great to have it for afternoon tea. I am planning to make some again for our upcoming tea party. If you can’t find palm sugar you can always replace it with dark brown sugar.


Monday, January 20, 2014

Daisy Cookies/Biskut Dahlia


These cooking made their appearance during festive occasions like Chinese New Year, Aidil Fitri, Diwali or Christmas in Malaysia. This is one of the very first cookies that I’ve learned to bake years ago too. One thing I like about these cookies is they look very pretty especially with the little red cherry on top. They are basically butter cookies that are light and literally melt in your mouth.


There are quite a few variations of Daisy cookies out there. Some use condensed milk, milk powder and custard powder but my recipe used none of those. This is one recipe that I had it for many years. I was too lazy to search for the special daisy mold in my garage so I just use a piping bag with star nozzle to pipe it. It was difficult to do that and I only managed to do a batch and in the end I just shape it with hand. It thinks it still look alright ;)


Friday, December 13, 2013

Ma’amoul Cookies with Pistachio and Walnut Filling


Is time for Christmas baking again and Sam at Oh Nuts sent me some nuts for my baking this year. They came just in time for me to bake some Ma’amoul cookies for AFF – West Asia Month event. Ma’amoul is small shortbread pastries filled with nuts, dates or dried fruits. They are very popular in the Gulf countries especially on religions festival. The Muslims eat them at night during Ramadan, the Christians eat them during Easter and the Jewish communities eat them on Rosh Hashanah or Hanukkah. They may be in the shape of balls or domed usually decorated by hand or be made in special wooden molds. Since I don’t have any of the molds I just shape them using my tart mold.


Thursday, November 21, 2013

Chocolate Chips and Pistachio Granola Bars


Carlos like granola bars. He will always have one or two in his lunch bag so he can munch on it when he gets hungry. Granola bars are not cheap. It cost around $4.00 for a box of 5 or 6. I usually make it myself as it is not that difficult. Most important is basic proportion of chunky (nuts, dried fruits) to sticky (syrup, honey, sugar, peanut butter, butter or oil) and from there you can go to town with it. You can toss in things like oats, cereal, flax seeds, chia seeds etc. I will normally add in whatever I have in the pantry. The vanilla is optional and so is the cinnamon. The possibilities are endless. Since we like an extra crunch granola so I twice bake these bars.

Monday, February 18, 2013

French Vanilla Pistachio Sables


I am hit by the lazy bugs and I don’t really feel like doing much nowadays. I usually get depressed during this time of the year as I will be thinking of home and family. With everyone posting their CNY gatherings with family and friends on FB make it worst. I wish I can be home with my family. Well, I guess this is what we have to sacrifice being away from home. Well, enough of my depressing feelings and let’s talk about this cookie. I don’t use pistachio much in my baking but I bought it to make Macaroons last year and I still have ¾ packets of the pistachio meal and shelled nuts sitting in my fridge. I decided to make some ‘sable’ out of it. The first time I heard about this cookie was from a French Pastry Chef whom I took bread lesson from. Sables, also known as a French Butter Cookie or Breton Biscuit, are a classic French cookie originating in Normandy France. The name 'Sables' is French for "sand", which refers to the sandy texture of this delicate and crumbly shortbread-like cookie.

 

Saturday, February 09, 2013

Happy Chinese New Year!



To my family, friends and blog readers, Gong Xi Fa Cai/Keong Hee Huat Cai. May the year of snake brings all of us joy, happiness, peace, prosperity and good health.


I didn't bake much this year. Just a few types of cookies like Almond Cookies ,Pistachio Sables, Kuih Bangkit, Date Rolls and 2 types of Pineapple Tarts .




Not forgetting some Bak Kua/Pork Jerky too.


Saturday, February 02, 2013

Almond Cookies


This year I decided to bake almond cookies instead of the regular peanut cookies after seeing Bee Bee of Honey Bee Sweets posted a pictures of her cookie on FB. Since I still have a packet of almond meal given by Oh Nuts in the fridge I like to use it up before ordering some new packets. The cookies turn out like how Bee Bee describes it. Buttery and melts in your mouth. Carlos love it a lot and I have to hide it away from him if not it will be all be gone before CNY.


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Date Rolls


I have a lot of dates left from my Christmas baking and I wanted to use it all up for my Chinese New Year baking. I can’t keep the dates for too long as it tends to get dry real fast so I decided to blend it all up in a food processor and used it as the filling of these rolls. It turns out really good and it will be on the bake list for my next Christmas baking.
 
Ingredients for the filling:

600 gram dates – I used Medjool dates
¼ cup sesame seeds – toasted
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp soft butter
½ tsp cinnamon powder
1 tbsp orange zest
3 tbsp orange juice

 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Lemon Polenta Cookies


These are crunchy, lemony, and buttery cookies. The polenta in these cookies puts them on the crunchy side rather than soft and chewy. Normally I will just shape these rounds but this time I did something different using piping bag. The polenta absorbed the moisture from the mixture pretty fast and toward the end I find it a little bit difficult to pipe. If this happens just add a bit of milk to soften up the mixture up again.



Thursday, January 10, 2013

Dried Cherry Shortbread Cookies


We love shortbread but I hardly make any because of the high fat content in it. It is so addictive and you can’t stop just having one or two so the best is not to make any of it but I did make some to be given away for Christmas. This way there won’t be much left for our own consumption so we feel less guilty ha ha.. Anyway instead of making plain shortbread I added some dried cherries to it this time. All my friends love these cookies and some of them even asked for the recipe. So here it is.

 

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Candy Cane Sugar Cookies


I know it is a bit late to post Christmas cookies this but I am trying to make it on time for Aspiring Baker’s event. I have wanted to make this cookie for many years but just never get to do it until this year. I will normally bake simple cookies for Christmas with requires minimal work but because of the Aspiring Baker’s Christmas Motif Bakes I decided to attempt to bake something a bit more challenging. One of them was the Snowflake Sugar Cookies with requires decorating it with royal icing and this one.

First I thought it might be difficult to make but they’re not. Basically it’s a sugar cookie recipe with a little bit extra in it. The dough freezes well too so you can make it earlier and bake it whenever you want. Don’t they look festive? If you are looking for a unique and delicious addition to your traditional Christmas cookies this might be the one.

 

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Pistachio Linzer Cookies with Strawberry Filling


I love making linzer cookies as I think they are the most beautiful I ever made. Beside the look, I just love the taste of this light shortbread combined with a tiny dollop of jam in the middle. They are just perfect with a cup of coffee and tea. They might look delicate but they are quite easy to put together. It just involves a few extra steps compare to the regular cookies but the end results are all worth it. I made quite a few of these to give it out to my friends and neighbors.

To my dearest family, friends and blog readers,

May peace, happiness and goodwill be with you not only on Christmas, but throughout the year and beyond. Wishing you Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!


Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Snowflake Sugar Cookies


I know I’ve been posting a few sugar cookies here but this time I tried out Alton Brown of Food Network recipe. I think I like this recipe better than the previous one. Since I will be submitting these cookies for the Aspiring Baker # 26 Creative Christmas Motif Bakes hosted by Alan of Travelling Foodies I decided to use snowflakes cookie cutter and decorates it with royal icing. I am not a fan of decorating cakes or cookies but after doing it a few times I got the hang of it. I kind of enjoy doing it now :)


Sunday, December 09, 2012

Nutella Swirl Thumbprint Cookies


Christmas is just around the corner and I am sure many of you are busy baking cookies now. I won’t be baking much this year. I asked Diana what cookies she wants me to bake for Christmas and as usual she wanted Chocolate Chips cookies and this Thumbprint Cookies. These cookies are one of the classic cookies that I made every Christmas. I think we like it a lot because of the combination of buttery cookies and sweet jam.



Making these cookies is a bit more work if you are doing it alone as it took me a couple of hours just to roll them and filled them up with jams. Feel free to get your family or friends involved if you are making this. I add some Nutella to the dough to make it look a bit more attractive. I just mailed them to Diana and another friend of mine in PA and I hope they like it.