Stained Glass Ginger Cookies, Eggless colored cookies

Its Christmas time!!! Yay...this festival just makes me happy....and so much so that I almost feel like Santa (without the elves)!!! I go into baking overdrive and bake and bake and bake like there is no tommorrow...and end up with so many cakes and cookies that in the end I dunno what to do with them so my kiddo and hubbys friends end up making merrry!!! 

But then Christmas is always about giving and spreading cheers right??? Every year I bring home a small Xmas tree albeit a faux one...but here the emotions count...and decorate it with cute accessories.
This year I wanted to make the accessories, so what better than these edible ones!!!

Ya, it was purely on experimental basis as I was trying these cookies for the first time and the stained glass did not look perfect but then they tasted so good....I have tried to rectify my goof ups in the recipes that I have posted. So guess You will get it right....so cheers and happy baking!!!



Ingredients:

For the stained glass:

Hard boiled sugar toffees (fruit flavored) in different colors

For the cookies:

1/2 cup        Sugar
1 cup           Butter
1 1/4 cup     Flour (I used self raising flour)
1 tsp           Grated Ginger

a little milk if required

Method:

Crush the toffees into powder using a mallet or even our good ole belan will do.

Just put the same colored toffees in a lock bag and crush them so they don't create a mess.

Cream the butter and sugar together till fluffy. Add the ginger and the flour slowly and mix. (Here I have used self raising flour so If using the regular one just add about a tsp of baking powder and sieve it before using.). If the dough becomes dry add about 1 tsp of milk. Knead the dough, wrap it in a cling wrap and keep it in the fridge for an hour.

Remover the dough and roll it to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into different shapes using cookie cutters. Use smaller cutters or knife to cut smaller shapes in the cookies.

Line the baking tray with butter paper. Transfer the cookies to the tray about 1 inch apart. Using a spoon fill the hollowed out centers with the crushed candy. Do not mound the fillings just level it till it touched the edges.(here I made the mistake of mounding the filling and did not get a even texture ). Gently brush off the excess as it will color the cookies.

Bake at 180 degrees for 15 to 20 mins or till the cookies begin to brown at the edges.

Remove and cool. Allow the cookies to cool down completely else the candy centers may come off.

These can be used as ornaments on Christmas trees. Just make a hole in the cookies before baking.

this is our entry for

hosted at

http://www.simplysensationalfood.com/2012/12/announcing-eventlets-cook-edible-gifts.html

and

http://nivedhanams.blogspot.in/2012/12/syf-hws-ginger.html

This is our entry for 

http://cooksjoy.com/blog/bake-fest-hosting-schedule

This is our entry for


My Culinary Creations: Cookies And cakes For Xmas




 This is our entry for

SYF & HWS - Ginger

This our entry for

Kid's Delight-Desserts 

 

Nutella Surprise Cookies / Molten Center Cookies

Winters and Baking are quiet synonymous! Love the smell of  freshly baked cake or hot n crisp cookies, just out of the oven ......Ummm...
And with the Christmas festivities around...its time to fill up cookie jars to enjoy the winter chills with a hot cuppa Coffee and crumbly cookies and cakes !

I love the taste and flavour of Nutella , but I choose not to dilute the delicate flavour with chocolate or coffee....Not that it does not tase good...but I love to devour every bit of the delicate hazelnut flavour that nutella offers...
Using nutella as it is was a challenge,considering the runny nature of the spread....
So I dropped spoonfulls of nutella over a foil and put them in deep freeze for about 30 mins..
And used them to stuff my cookies......
So heres a Nutella Surprise ...... soft cookies with mushy nutella center!

 

 

Ingredients:
1 Cup Maida / All purpose flour
3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Cup Butter
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Nutella


Drop spoonful of nutella on a foil and freeze it for 30 mins or till they solidify.

My frozen nutella drops!

Sieve maida with baking powder and mix it with sugar.
Add melted butter and rub them with finger tips with flour.
Add lightly beaten egg and mix till you get a thick semi solid dough. Add milk if the batter or dough is too solid.

The cookie dough...just the correct consistency!

Grease palms with oil and flatten the batter on the palms. Take out one nutella drop at a time from the freezer  and place over the dough and seal it with the remaining dough.

Stuffing nutella into the dough...a delicate task!

Place stuffed dough over a greased baking tray.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 15 to 20 mins , until the cookie crust just browns.
 It should be light brown. Do not overbake the cookies . They are slightly soft. Overbaking might burn the stuffed nutella.

Umm,cant wait to grab a bite...best to dunk in coffee!

Cool a bit and serve.
These cookies can also be stored in airtight jar for a week or so,...thats only if you and your family resists these tempting goodies!

This is our entry for event

hosted at http://cookcookandcook.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/merry-christmas-celebrations-event-
announcement/

and

http://myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.in/2010/12/cookies-and-cakes-for-xmas.html

Choco Hazelnut Cookies

When ever we go out to InOrbit mall,I end up buying cookies from The Cookie Man!!!!  Reason......who can resist the divine fragrance of freshly baked cookies....not me nor my hubby and kiddo. So we just follow our noses and end up buying a big tin of assorted cookies!!!

Saw a similar recipe in BBC Good Food Mag. and must say it did look quite tempting so wanted to try it... Actually I am not too comfortable making cookies (I have had my share of blunders)  but then you need to get out of your comfort zone from time to time Right???
 
I have given it my own touch by adding Hazelnuts, you can add walnuts or almonds too!
Its surprising...a recipe with such limited ingredients and simple steps can actually lead to a crumbly delicious cookie!
So leave aside your reservations about baking and take a plunge!

Ingredients:

1 cup         Flour
1 cup         Butter
1 cup         Powdered Sugar
1/4 cup      Hazelnut (roasted and powdered)
1                Egg
1/2 cup      Chocolate Chips

Method:

Lightly toasted Hazelnuts,added into the dough in powdered form

Cream together the sugar and butter. Add the egg and beat again. Now add the flour little at a time till all the flour is used up. Toss in the hazelnut powder and the chocolate chips and mix well. Put the cookie dough in the fridge for 15 mins.

Take out the dough. Line the baking tray with butter paper. Scoop out the cookies on the tray and bake at 180 degrees for about 40 mins or till they start turning light brown.

If you want the cookies more chocolaty add more dark chocolate chips. 

Cool and store in airtight containers.

This is our entry for contest"what with my Cuppa?" hosted at

http://uk-rasoi.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/what-with-my-cuppa.html

Cheesy Mushroom Spinach Quiche

Quiche has a pastry crust and a filling of eggs and milk or cream which, when baked, become a custard. Though the crust base is similar in tarts,pies and Quiches, the Quiche is a savory, open-faced pastry crust dish with a savory filling.

I wanted to try quiche for quite some time now but was never sure how it would turn out to be.
So one fine day just out of whim I decided now was the time and just went for it. And believe me it is  piece of cake!!!!! 

Ingredients:

For the filling:

1 bunch     Spinach
5 to 6        Mushrooms
4 to 5        Garlic Cloves
2               Eggs
1/4 cup      Milk (can also use cream)
1 cup        Grated cheese (cheddar or the good old cheese cubes)
a pinch      Nutmeg
a pinch      Pepper Powder
1/4 tsp       Namak Shamak
1 tsp         Oil

For the Crust:

1              Egg
1 1/2cup   Maida
1/2 cup     Butter
a pinch     Namak Shamak

Method:

For the crust:

Add the butter and salt to the maida and mix till they resemble breadcrumbs. Make a well in the center and add the egg. Knead the dough adding a little chilled water if required. Roll the dough in a cling wrap and keep in the fridge for atleast an hour. This dough can be prepared in advance and kept. It will keep for 8 to 10 days.

Remove from fridge and roll the dough into a roti but thicker.  Gently transfer the rolled dough into a pie dish and press it into the dish just ensure that the whole area is covered. Remove the excess dough by trimming the edges. Now prick the pie with the fork so that it does not rise. Bake at 180 degrees for 20 mins. Just half bake it so that it does not turn soggy when we add the filling. Again the pie pastry can be baked in advance and kept ready so you can just make the filling and viola your quiche is ready in minutes.

 

For the filling:

Finely chop the garlic and the spinach. Also chop the mushrooms.

In a pan. Add the oil and saute the garlic and the mushrooms now add the spinach, salt, pepper powder and saute till all the water evaporates. Keep aside to cool. Generally the quiche is not spicy at all but if you need more spice just add finely chopped green chillies and increase the quantity of pepper powder. Also add just a little salt because spinach has salt moreover we will be adding cheese later.

In a bowl, take the eggs and whisk. Add the spinach mushrooms mixture, grated cheese, milk or cream and the nutmeg powder and mix.

Fill the pie crust with the custard filling. Bake at 180 degrees for 25 to 30 mins till the custard becomes firm and the toothpick comes out clean.

Serve warm.

You can make a variety of filling like chicken and spinach combo, or fried golden onions and mushrooms combo. The possibilities are endless and it totally depends on your palette. So go ahead and make your own quiche.....

This is our entry for


hosted at
http://uk-rasoi.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/cook-n-bake-with-spinach.html