Cookies – ohdenny

Crispy Almond Slices

March 20, 2015 Posted in Baking, RecipesLeave a comment

Wafer thin almond cookies are incredibly addictive. I found this recipe by Alan Ooi from his recipe book In Love with Cookies and adjusted it slightly for sweetness. The thinner you make the cookies, the more evenly crunchy it will be. If you prefer a bit of density and for some bite, just make the cookies slightly thicker. This recipe is pretty easy to make, and perfect for some fun with children.

Crispy Almond Slices

Makes: ~ 25 cookies

Ingredients
50g caster sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
50g plain flour
200g almond flakes
20g white sesame seeds

Method
1. Put sugar, egg and egg whites in a bowl and mix until well combined.

2. Stir in sifted plain flour, then add in almond flakes. Stir lightly until well mixed. Set aside the batter for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 165°C

4. Use a spoon to take 1 tbsp of batter, place on a baking tray and make into thin slices.

5. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.

6. Bake the cookies at 165C for 15 minutes to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Checkered Cookies

February 27, 2015 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

There are these checkered cookies that my mother used to buy for us as kids growing up. I love the look of the cookies with its contrasting colours and the buttery goodness of the biscuits. We received a gift of these biscuits from Malaysia one day and it spurred me to try making it myself. Not an easy task mind you. I found this wonderful recipe from Cook & Be Merry with amazing photos to boot. Being a perfectionist in this instance is probably for the better but alas I was a bit pressed for time so my “checkered” cookies were a bit more individualistic. Loved the taste of them though!

Checkered Cookies (Cook & Be Merry Recipe)
Makes: ~100 cookies

Ingredients
Vanilla Cookie Dough
170g unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (reserve egg white for brushing)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Chocolate Cookie Dough
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted after measuring
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
115g unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

1 egg white, beaten, for sticking layers of dough together
2 cookie sheets with 2 sheets parchment cut to fit sheets

Method – Vanilla Cookie Dough

1. In a large bowl or a mixer, beat the butter, sugar and salt until well mixed, light colored and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in the vanilla and egg yolk. Keep beating until very smooth, about 2 more minutes.

2. Scrape the bowl and beat in the flour. Cover and chill the egg white until needed.

3. Scrape dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and press into a 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick square. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, several hours or up to 3 days.

Method – Chocolate Cookie Dough
1. In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir well with a whisk to mix.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with a fork until well mixed and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Beat in the vanilla and egg until the mixture is very smooth, about 2 minutes longer.

4. Mix in the flour mixture until well combined.

5. Form the dough into a ball and press into a 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick square. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, several hours or up to 3 days.

Method – Assembling the Checkers

1. Unwrap the Vanilla Cookie dough and roll it out on a floured parchment sheet on work surface into an 20×30 cm (8×12 inch) rectangle about 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick with square corners. Slide dough on parchment onto a cookie sheet, cover securely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes until firm again. Do the same with the Chocolate Cookie dough.

2. Place the unwrapped vanilla dough on parchment on your work surface. Paint with the egg white and place the chocolate dough on top, parchment side up. Place a cookie sheet on the stack and gently push down so the two layers stick together.

3. Cut the dough rectangle in half through the parchment so you have two 20×15 cm (8×6 inch) rectangles. Paint the top of one rectangle with egg white and put the second rectangle on top so the four layers are alternating black and white. Press gently with pan to help stick together. With a sharp knife, trim the four sides so they are straight and square. Wrap and chill for several hours, keeping the corners square.

4. Place unwrapped dough stack on cutting board with the 20 cm (8 inch) side facing you. With a sharp knife, cut the 15 cm (6 inch) side into sixteen 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick slices.

5. Place one striped slice on the cutting board and brush it with egg white. Turn the next slice over and place it on top of the first slice so the stripes are alternating in color. Repeat two more times so there are four layers with alternating colors and the end looks like a checkerboard.

6. Make three more stacks with four slices each. Wrap each stack in plastic wrap and gently press each side with the pan to square it. Refrigerate on cookie sheet for several hours or freeze for future use.

7. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius (350 degrees F) with racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven.

8. Slice the cookies to roughly 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) thick, turning the stack after each cut so it doesn’t become flat from the knife pressing down.

9. Place cookies on parchment covered pans one inch apart and bake for 9 to 11 minutes until firm to the touch. Slide the parchment with the cookies onto a rack or countertop to cool. Store in one layer between parchment in air-tight container.

Walnut and Choc Chip Cookies

January 31, 2014 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

I love freshly baked cookies and even more so love making cookies. For one, it’s so easy to make and secondly, just the smell of them baking in the oven makes you all feel like a kid again. I made these cookies when I really had nothing else to do and had walnuts and choc chips lying around in the pantry. I must point out that these cookies don’t use baking powder so you will find they will not expand in the oven nor will they have that chewy texture some might prefer (like Subway cookies). These are slightly denser but tasty nonetheless. Check out the recipe from Taste.com.au below

Walnut and Choc Chip Cookies (Taste.com.au)

Ingredients
125g butter, softened (You can use baking margarine but will not have the same taste)
50g (1/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
225g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour
150g good-quality dark cooking chocolate, coarsely chopped (or buttons)
150g (1 1/2 cups) walnut halves, coarsely chopped

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

2. Use an electric beater to beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl until well combined. Add the egg and beat until combined.

3. Sift the flour over the butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Add the chocolate and walnuts, and stir to combine.

4. Use your hands to roll tablespoonsful of the cookie mixture into balls. Place the balls, 3cm apart, on prepared trays. Use a fork to flatten slightly.

5. Bake in preheated oven, swapping the trays halfway through cooking, for 20 minutes or until light golden. Remove from oven and set aside to cool on the trays for 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Impressions

I used margarine (that can be used for baking) but found it lacks the buttery taste that makes cookies so tasty and also slightly drier. It’s a somewhat strange taste at first but after a few bites it isn’t so bad and actually kinda addictive. The chopped walnuts have this beautiful aroma in the cookies and the dark chocolate chips give it just enough sweetness. I know most would prefer more sugar, so even doubling the sugar while using dark chocolate chips still would be not too sweet.

I found that the original recipe uses 200g of cooking chocolate but when mixing it all in, it looked like a ridiculously large quantity that would overwhelm the entire cookie and you wouldn’t be able to shape them properly. Just slowly add the walnuts and chocolate in until you come to your preferred balance. As mentioned above, the cookies will almost be the same size before and after baking so keep that in mind. I wouldn’t call these healthy cookies but they are a lighter option if using margarine and less chocolate (and sugar)

Ginger Snaps (SimpleRecipes)

December 21, 2012 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

It’s that festive time of year and what better way to get into the mood then to bake some ginger cookies! I really don’t know why I like ginger snaps/cookies so much, I have such a strong distaste for ginger in anything. I found this recipe on SimpleRecipes.com and thought they looked quite cute. Little did I know how out of ordinary the recipe was when I started to make it.

Gingersnap Cookies (SimplyRecipes)

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 dozen cookies.

Ingredients
8 oz unsalted butter (226g)
1 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar (I used a bit more than 1/2 cup brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 small eggs or 1 1/2 large eggs
1/3 cup molasses
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Method
1. Cream butter until soft; add sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, and beat until fluffy. Add molasses and beat until well-mixed.

2. Sift the dry ingredients; add to the mixture, 1/3 at a time. Mix only until the dry ingredients become incorporated.

3. Line a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with plastic wrap, so that some hangs over the outsides. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan. Pack it tightly, and try to make the top as level as possible. Cover the dough with the plastic overhangs. Freeze until very firm, preferably overnight.

4. Unwrap and remove dough from the pan. Slice brick into thin slices, no more than 1/8″. Place on a parchment or Silpat-lined sheetpan (space at least an inch apart) and bake at 175 degrees Celsius until the edges turn dark brown, 7-12 minutes, depending on how thinly you have sliced the dough. Check the oven for doneness at 7 minutes.

Impressions

I made a few variations that didn’t seem to turn out that well. For one, I used cooking margarine which will have a lower fat content so it makes it less firm. So you’ll have difficulty trying to slice it evenly after it’s supposedly frozen and it’s hard to cut thin pieces because of it. Using a loaf pan is probably a good idea so you’ll get a consistent shape. My cookies certainly look terrible unattractive so that’s a reason to use a loaf pan instead of just throwing it into the freezer on a flat surface.

The other change I made was to the sugar content, I halved roughly but the cookies come out slightly less sweet then I would have liked. Probably 3/4 cup brown sugar would be the right amount if you’re eating them like this. I think if you intended on icing these

Other than that, taste wise it’s pretty good. I added a tad more ground ginger maybe 1/2 tsp and it gives it a more pronounced flavour to it.

Would I try the recipe again? I might, the long “cooking” time is a bit of a disincentive as you’ll have to wait one night or so to bake it but if I had an abundance of free time it’s worth a shot to try and perfect it.

Merry Xmas and have a safe and joyous New Year!

Cranberry and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

December 14, 2012 Posted in Bakery, RecipesLeave a comment

One day I had the urge to make Cranberry and White Chocolate cookies, I think I’ve seen it in stores before but I had this idea that dried cranberries were small and diced. I was searching high and low for these cranberries but to no avail. I don’t even think they exist now. So instead I bought the usual dried cranberries which are a bit chunky. I came across this recipe from Rachel @ Simple Girl and they looked absolutely delicious.

Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies (Simple Girl)
Makes 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine (softened) – I used margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (1/2 cup used)
1/2 cup granulated/caster sugar (1/8 cup)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or white, whole wheat flour) (I used all whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips (Reduce this to 1/2 cup)

Method

1. Heat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
2. Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
4. Add combined flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
5.. Stir in oats, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

7. Bake 8 – 9 minutes. (I prefer to slightly under bake until the tops just turn slightly brown.)

Impressions

I liked this recipe but even after reducing the brown sugar and caster sugar it was still very sweet! I think it was because both the cranberries and white chocolate are already sweet. If I were to make these again, I would reduce the white chocolate to 1/2 cup as I put in 1 cup when I made these and the white chocolate was too plentiful. The oats can be slightly big so you may want to add them to a food processor give it a couple seconds whizz so the oats are a tad smaller.

These cookies with oats aren’t your typical crispy/crunchy type, because of the oats it makes it slightly soft so if you’re not fond of it then this might not be for you. Nonetheless it’s a tasty treat that makes you feel less guilty about eating them and very easy and quick to make.

Whole Wheat Ginger Snaps

January 6, 2012 Posted in Baking, Cooking, Recipes2 Comments

Ginger snaps or even ginger cookies are one of my favourite little treats. It’s quite funny though since I have a strong dislike for ginger in general, whether it’s raw, in a stir fry, congee, steamed fish etc. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com a few Christmas’s ago and have made it a couple times now and I like it because it feels ‘healthier’ even though wholemeal/wheat flour isn’t really all that much better for you considering the other ingredients in these cookies. I’ve made a few changes as I didn’t have a few of the ingredients and to make it less sugary sweet.

Whole Wheat Ginger Snaps (Allrecipes)

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Makes: 5 dozen (60 cookies)

Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine (Slightly less)
3/4 cup white sugar (Caster sugar)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup molasses (Slightly less)
4 cups whole wheat flour (Wholemeal flour)
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Extra sugar for the topping

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar until smooth. Mix in the eggs, and then the molasses. Combine the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, and cinnamon. Stir the dry ingredients into the molasses mixture just until blended.

3. Roll the dough into small balls, and dip the top of each ball into the remaining white sugar. Place the cookies about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.

4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are cracked. Bake longer for crispy cookies, less time for chewy cookies. Cool on wire racks.

Impressions:

I like this recipe because these cookies are nice and crunchy and you get a nice cinnamon and ginger taste that isn’t particularly overpowering. These cookies aren’t like your usual ginger snaps that are wafer thin and ‘melts-in-the-mouth’ since it doesn’t contain icing sugar and it has wholemeal flour for that grainy texture.

Just a warning though, the cookie dough is extremely sticky because of the molasses so it’s quite difficult to shape but somehow they all turned out round.

Mocha Nut Cookies

August 31, 2011 Posted in Baking, RecipesLeave a comment

I was given this recipe from my sister who bought an entire book dedicated to cookies called The Golden Book of Cookies. Nuts, coffee and chocolate were an appealing combination so I asked her to send me the recipe so I could try it out.

We had to make some alterations to the recipe. One: all cookie recipes appear to be ridiculously sweet so we cut down on sugar and chocolate. My mother’s love of nuts and something crunchy knows no bounds, so of course extra nuts were added.

Makes: around 20 cookies

Preparation: 20 minutes

Cooking: 20-25 minutes

Original Recipe:

2/3 cup (100g) all-purpose (plain) flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

12 oz (350g) biitersweet (dark) chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup (125g) butter

3 large eggs

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (essence)

1 1/2 cups (150g) coarsely chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups (150g) coarsely chopped hazelnuts

1 cup (180g) semisweet (dark) chocolate chips

Altered Recipe:

2/3 cup (100g) all-purpose (plain) flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

300g biitersweet (dark) chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup (125g) butter

3 large eggs

1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (essence)

1 1/2 cups (150g) coarsely chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups (150g) coarsely chopped hazelnuts

+ extra chopped nuts ~ 50g more

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheight (170 degrees Celsius)

2. Set out two baking trays

3. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl

4. Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water

5. Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and thick

6. Beat in the chocolate mixture, coffee granules and vanilla

7. Mix in the dry ingredients, pecans, hazelnuts and chocolate chips (if you want an extra chocolate kick)

8. Drop tablespoons of the dough 3 inches (8cm) apart onto the trays

9. Bake until lightly cracked on top, 20-25 minutes. Transfer to cool racks

Impressions:

I found these to be quite good if you like crunchy chocolate and nuts cookies, with a hint of coffee. With less chocolates added, it still has a great chocolate flavour but it doesn’t overpower the whole cookie. Quite an easy recipe to follow too.

I only had a horrible time trying to make them look nice and round, and with all the nuts it was quite a challenge. As you can see, I didn’t seem to fulfill my goal but they taste great nonetheless.

Chocolate Mousse Torte

July 4, 2011 Posted in Cooking, Desserts, RecipesLeave a comment

I found this recipe in one of Coles free food magazines. It looked like a really nice mousse and I guess that’s how they get you! By having attractive and delicious looking pictures. I commend their photographer for making it look delectable.

I made a couple of alterations to the recipe. I substituted the Oreo cookies with just a packet of Arnott’s Chocolate cookies and 250g of Dark Chocolate. I also reduced the sugar to around half as well, and with the top layer I reduced the butter by just half and I used Crunchy Peanut Butter.

Here is the recipe below;
Chocolate Mousse Torte
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves 10

Chilling Overnight
150 g Oreo Cookies
40 g butter melted
250 g Coles Milk Chocolate chopped
50 g dark chocolate chopped
½ cup thickened cream

Chilling Overnight
4 Coles Free Range Eggs separated
10 g sachet powdered gelatine
¼ cup boiling water

Chilling Overnight
¾ cup caster sugar
small Easter eggs and white chocolate curls to decorate

Ganache Topping
¾ cup dark chocolate melts
½ cup Coles Smooth Peanut Butter (see tip)
40 g butter chopped

Method
1. Line base of 20cm springform pan with plastic wrap. Spray sides of pan with cooking oil and line with baking paper.

2. Place cookies in a food processor. Process until crushed. Add butter and process until combined. Press into base of prepared pan and refrigerate while preparing filling.

3. Melt milk and dark chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in cream. Whisk in egg yolks. Whisk together gelatine and boiling water until gelatine dissolves. Add to chocolate mixture and mix to combine.

4. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, beating constantly until thick and glossy. Carefully fold into chocolate mixture until just combined. Pour over biscuit base. Refrigerate overnight until firm.

5. To make ganache topping, combine chocolate, peanut butter, butter and ½ cup of water in a small saucepan. Stir on low heat until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool completely.

6. Pour ganache evenly over top of mousse and refrigerate for 2 hrs, or until ganache is firm. Unmould cake and place on a serving plate. Decorate with Easter eggs and choc curls.

Tip: You can replace the peanut butter in the Ganache ingredients with ½ cup cream and then omit the water added in the method.

Impressions
While the torte was pretty easy to make, I wasn’t too fond of the top layer. Either I over heated the chocolate or I probably should have used the correct amount of butter because it wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked. Also the nuts probably may have made a slight impact on the texture too.

The bottom layer wasn’t as rich and tasty as a Oreo base would have been, it didn’t taste like those cookies you find in a Cookies & Cream ice-cream or the bottom of ice-cream cakes. I was just confused on whether the filling of those Oreos were to be processed too so I opted for a different brand.

The mousse of the other hand, was light and fluffy. It was moist and smooth, and nicely aerated. So I deemed the whole cake a success because the mousse was just how I wanted it. Maybe my cake base was too big for the mixture, but I’d also prefer a higher mousse filling so maybe If were to make it another time, I’d use a smaller base.