ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE COOKIES

Baking Partners, a baking group created and hosted by Swathi Iyer, I am a part of  this group, this time Baking Partners decided to go with the theme cookies. Being part of the 'Baking Partners - A Group of Home Bakers', our challenge for this month, Suggested by Tina of  http://www.pinaycookingcorner.com/ suggested, Ultimate Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies from 'Food & Wine Best of the Best Cookbook Recipes Vol. 14.'

Here it is a simpliest and most favourite cookies recipe, the best ever chocolate cream cheese cookies. These cookies truely are as good as they look, with a soft dense inside, and little harden from outside. These cookies are every bit of comfort you could possibly need and they are as good as they sound.

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa powder
2 tsps Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 sticks / 226 gm Unsalted Butter (soften)
4 Oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
2 Large Eggs
2 tbsps Heavy Cream
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
3 OZ Bittersweet Chocolate (melted and cooled)
8 OZ / 225 gm of Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips 

METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, shift the flour with cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat about 3 minutes, with a electric hand mixer until fluffy.

Scrap down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the eggs, heavy cream and vanilla until blended.

At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients. Add the melted chocolate and chocolate chips and beat just until incorporated.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes or upto 2 hours.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookies are just set. Shift the baking sheet for top to bottom and front to back half way through. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for upto 3 days.

If you want to either share or enhance your baking skills, join us for a monthly baking adventure at Baking Partners!

You might like:

HOMEMADE OREO COOKIES: FAUXREOS

Cornflake Cookies

CREAMY CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Linking to: Cooking made easy with chocolates / Cocoa @ Spice n Sugar Tales



CORNFLAKE COOKIES

Baking Partners, a baking group created and hosted by Swathi Iyer, I am a part of this group, this time Baking Partners decided to go with the theme cookies. Being part of the 'Baking Partners - A Group of Home Bakers' , our challenge for this month, suggested by Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes is "Cornflake cookies from a cookbook called Baking: A Commonsense Guide by Murdoch Book."

I used Kelloggs cornflakes and they tested absolutely delightful, crunchy and addictive. Butter rich coconut cookies rolled with crunchy cornflakes. Every bite is a perfect crunch. It melts in your mouth with buttery coconut and raisins, just heavenly.

INGREDIENTS:
4 OZ / 125  gm softened Unsalted Butter
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 nos Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1&1/2 cups dessicated Coconut
2 tbsps Black Raisins
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Cups Crushed Cornflakes (Kelloggs brand)

METHOD:
Sieve the flour with baking powder and baking soda.

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl, using electric beaters untill they turn light and fluffy.

Gradually add the egg, beating thoroughly after each addition, add vanilla extract and beat untill they well combined.

Now add raisins and coconut, give a stir.

Fold the flour mixture with a metal spoon and stir until the mixture is almost smooth.

Preheat the oven to 350 F, line two baking trays with baking papers.

Put the crushed cornflakes in a shallow dish, then drop tablespoon of this cookie mixture onto the cornflakes and roll it into a flat ball.

Arrange on the trays. Bake for 20 minutes or till it turns golden.



Cool completely. Keep it in an air tightened box. At room temperature these cookies will keep fresh for 5 days.

If you want to either share or enhance your baking skills, join us for a monthly baking adventure at 'Baking Partners'.

 

SPICY EGG TOAST

This is actually French Toast of Indian twist. Everyone is much more familier with this dish. Always I like breakfast food, like our traditional breakfast dishes, egg toast, French toast or pancakes. This is an amazingly easy, healthy and heavy option for breakfast or brunch, a very useful way to use your stale bread. If you have only 10 minutes time in hand, your delectable brunch is ready to serve. Ginger, garlic, onion, green chillies and maggi spice cube give it a spicy kick. I like my own way of Egg Toast, not exactly French Toast, on crispy fried Indian style. 

INGREDIENTS:
6 Slices of White Bread
4 Eggs
2 tbsps Grated Onion
2 pods Garlic (minced)
3/4" Ginger (minced)
2 Green Chillies (very finely chopped)
1/4 tsp Black Pepper powder
1 tbsp finely chopped Coriander Leaves
1 Maggi cube-spice (crushed)
Oil as required
Salt to taste

METHOD:
Cut each bread slice diagonally. So that from 6 slices of bread we can get 12 pieces of egg toast.

In a large bowl, combine onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves and crushed maggi cube.

Add eggs, black pepper powder and salt in the same bowl. Whisk eggs with all spices, till it turns into a homogenous mixture.

Now dip each bread piece into the mixture, coating each side heavily.

Add 2 tbsps oil in a non-stick skillet on medium heat. Place two soaked bread pieces at a time in it. Fry till it turns golden brown. Shift the opposite side of the bread. Fry for another 2 minutes and remove from skillet. Follow the same process for the rest of the bread pieces.

Serve hot with chilli garlic tomato sauce.

MIXED FRIED RICE - INDIAN STYLE

Here I prepared mixed fried rice typically in Indian style with veggies, shrimp and eggs. It can be a lunch box menu or a nice party dish for main coarse. You may say it is a mixed up of veggies, eggs and shrimp; so it is called a mixed fried rice. A delightful style of one pot scrumptious meal, a wonderful Indian recipe. Here, I stated a really appetizing mouthwatering rice dish with easiest way of preparation.

INGREDIENTS:
4 Cups Basmati Rice
4 Eggs
7 OZ / 200 gm Cooked Shrimp
2 Carrot, cut in 1" thin slices
1 medium Onion, thinly slices
1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
1 small bunch of Green Onions, finely chopped
2/3 cup Green Peas (frozen)
1 tsp minced Ginger
2" Cinnamon
6 pods Cardamoms
4 pods Cloves
10-12 Black Peppercorns
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Freshly Pounded Garam Masala
1/3 tsp Ground Netmug
2 Pinches of black pepper powder
1 tbsp + 2 tbsps Oil
1 tbsp Clarified butter
Salt to taste

METHOD:

Chop cooked shrimp in 2-3 pieces, wash nicely.

Add turmeric powder and little salt in it. Set aside.

Wash and soak basmati rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain water and keep aside.

Boil water in a pan. Add cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves, black peppercorns and little salt in it. When water starts to boil, add rice in it.

Cover and cook for 15 minutes in low heat. Remove from heat when rice almost 3/4th done. Drain water completely and spead it over a flat surface.

Now heat 1 tbsp oil in a large non stick pan. Break 4 eggs in it. Sprinkle salt and pepper powder in it. Set it for 2-3 minutes.

Now make scrambled egg with these four eggs. Remove from pan and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil with clarified butter in the same pan. Add minced ginger in it. Saute for 40 seconds. Now add onion in it. when onion gets translucent, add carrot, bell pepper, green peas, chopped shrimp and salt in it. Fry for 4-5 minutes. Add garam masala and nutmeg powder in it. Fry for 2 minutes.

Add cooked rice, scrambled egg, green onion in it. Fold nicely. Fry for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Switched off heat now.

Serve hot with any curry or gravy. This mixed fried rice is itself an one-pot meal.

Linking to: "Bon Vivant #8 - Rice Recipes"

MATAR SEDDHO / COOKED YELLOW PEAS

 

This is a no-oil recipe, very popular Bengali snack, not only in Bengal but eastern India is influenced by this terrific healthy snack recipe. It is served as breakfast with toasted bread/luchi or evening snacks with a piping hot cup of tea. Boiled yellow peas with gravy, is goes very well with samosa or chat. Here after cooked, yellow peas retain their shape and nicely soaked in all flavorful spices.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Dry Yellow Peas (Matar)
1 medium Potato, cut in cubes
1 Tomato (chopped)
1/2 medium Onion
1 small Cucumber
2 tbsps finely chopped Coriander Leaves / Cilantro
2 Hard Boiled Eggs, each cut in 4 slices
A pinch of Baking Soda
3-4 Green Chillies (finely chopped)
1/3 tsp Ginger paste
2 tbsps fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Roasted Cumin & roasted Dry red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Chaat Masala
1/3 tsp dry Mint leaves (coarsely pounded)
Salt to taste 

METHOD:

Wash yellow peas and soak in water for overnight.

Take yellow peas, potato and 2 1/2 cup of water in a pressure pan. Add chopped tomato, coriander leaves, baking soda, chopped green chillies, ginger paste, dry mint leaves and salt in it. Pressure cook it till 10 whistles. Let it cool naturally. Add roasted cumin and dry red chilli powder in it. Fold well.

Finely chop onion and cucumber. Set aside.

Now divide cooked yellow peas in two bowls equally.

Spread onion and cucumber on the top.

Garnish with sliced eggs and sprinkle chaat masala and lemon juice on the top.

Nutritious cooked yellow peas is now ready to serve.

TIPS: If you are purely vegetarian, just omit eggs, then also it is excellent in taste.

Linking to: Spotlight : Healthy Snacks @ Cuisine Delights & Recipe Junction