Blondies

We ran out of chocolate chip cookies, so I thought of baking some. But instead of making cookies, I decided to make chocolate chip blondies or maybe brownies instead.

So I searched for some recipes from my favorite sources: tastespotting and allrecipes. I saw one from tastespotting, which was posted by Mike Lesiuk. The recipe was adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

The blondie recipe posted was a very adaptable, mix-whatever-you-like recipe. It's a basic blondie recipe, just flour, butter, egg, sugar, salt and vanilla. Then you choose your add-ons. It's also simple to follow and not much utensils and equipments needed. I just used one bowl, a spoon and a whisk.

Blondies
from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Pinch salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Butter an 8×8 pan
2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below).
4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. (I baked mine for 21 minutes). Cool on rack before cutting them.

Some of the additional ingredients can be the following:

• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor
• 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 teaspoon mint extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla
• 1/2 cup mashed bananas
• 1/4 cup bourbon, scotch or other whiskey; increase the flour by one tablespoon
• 2 tablespoons of espresso powder with the vanilla
• Stir 1/2 cup dried fruit, especially dried cherries, into the prepared batter
• Top with a vanilla butter cream or chocolate peanut butter cream frosting

Since I wanted chocolate chip cookies originally, I decided to add chocolate chips. I used 200 grams of chips (the packaging of the chips I have is in 100gram packs, didn't want to measure them anymore, so I just dumped 2 bags). And, to add a little oomph to that, I added a tiny pack of Starbucks Via to the mix.

I was supposed to mix it the same time the vanilla was added, but I forgot so I added them together with the chips. Not right, I know. But it turned out OK anyway.

Visit smitten kitchen or mike lesiuk for the recipe. You won't regret making them. :)

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The Chocolate Chunk Cookie Disasters

I baked some cookies early this week and another batch a few minutes ago, and they were both disasters! I didn't bother taking pictures as I am too disappointed to take photos of them.

Disaster # 1

I used the recipe I got from the Ultimate Chocolate Treats course I did last year (read post here). I've used that recipe a few times before, but this is the first time it failed! It dropped and spread too much, and not as chewy as I expected. Plus the chocolates melted too much. I don't have any chocolate chips, so I used chocolate and chopped them to pieces.

The next day when I took one from the cookie jar and had my first bite, they turned out okay. Not chewy but definitely not hard. It's like rubbery, like eating nougat (in Tagalog, it's called makunat). That texture is okay with me because I like makunat. :D For example, I like Hershey's Whopper's more than Maltesers because some Whopper pieces are more tough/rubbery when you chew on them.

But still, this batch was still a disaster because they look too flat and not as soft as they should be!

Disaster # 2

Hubby and I ran out of sweets to eat, so a few hours ago I decided to bake some. This time I used the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe I used last week.

Since I used this last week and they turned out okay, I tried this. I still used chocolate chunks as I was out of chips. Disaster strikes again! As soon as those cookies cooled a bit, they were stone hard! Terrible! I wanted to throw all of those cookies in the trash! Hubby just won't let me!

Next week I'll buy some chips and bake again!

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Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

After moving to our new apartment a month ago, I finally baked something!

I've always wanted to try the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe, but never had the chance. One thing that encouraged me the most is an episode from Friends, when Monica was trying to copy the chocolate chip cookie based on Phoebe's grandmother's recipe. Turned out it was the Nestle Toll House recipe. hihi!

So now that I've got my oven, got my baking utensils and finally bought ingredients, I baked! Funny thing is, I can't find any Nestle Toll House chocolate chips! hahaha!

You can get the recipe from Very Best Baking.

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I Need a Pressure Cooker

A few hours ago, I was cooking pork sinigang for dinner. When I cook pork sinigang, as my mother taught me, I will usually boil the meat for at least 30 minutes (and can reach up to an hour, depending on the meat) to soften the meat. When the meat has soften a bit, that's when I add the sliced tomatoes and onion and leave it to boil some more. After everything has cooked, I'll add the sinigang mix & other vegetables and cook some more! :D

The stove in our apartment is an electric induction cooker, and I realized then that our electricity bill will surely be higher than expected everytime I cook meat! So now, I'm thinking of buying a presssure cooker. I am now searching for a few pressure cookers online. But the thing is... I don't know how to use one. I'm scared that in the middle of my cooking, it might explode or something! hihihi!

So for now.... it's still a thought. 75% possibility :D

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Lemon Cakes

I love having guests around or going to our friends' house so I can bake something. On a normal day, there will only be two of us at home - me and hubby. An 8-inch cake will take us one week to finish, and there's a big chance that half of it will just be thrown out. I can make muffins that's 10-12 pieces a batch, and we'd still end up throwing 1 or more. So, if I'm sure that there will only be the two of us eating whatever I'll be baking, I try not to bake at all. Finally, some of our friends decided to drop by our place during the weekend... my chance to bake something again!

For a change, I decided to make something without chocolate. Something completely opposite of chocolate... something with lemon. So there goes my search for a lemon-something recipe - lemon cookies, breads, cakes, etc.

I found one by Ina Garten, it's a Lemon Yogurt Cake. But... I'd rather not do that. Hubby already hates the thought that I'm not baking something chocolate. Baking something with lemon is already bad, baking it with yogurt (which he hates a lot) will just make it worst. Good thing I found a Lemon Cake recipe by Ina Garten. :)

Friday evening I went to the supermarket and bought my ingredients - buttermilk and lots of lemon. When I got home, I prepared my ingredients so that I'll just mix and bake on Saturday morning (our friends will be arriving after lunch).

Saturday morning, I started "harvesting" my lemon zest, then squeezing the lemons for my lemon juice. Once I'm done with the lemon, I pre-heated my oven and did the cake.

The output: oh my gosh! I never expected it to taste so yummy and moist! The lemon syrup really made it more moist and soft and lemoney. The lemon glaze was also hmm-mmm-good! Just the right amount of sweetness. The sweet and sour was in sync!

I used a tube pan for this. And since I only have one small tube pan, I used my cupcake pan for the others.

If you love lemon cake, you have to try making this Lemon Cake. If you're not a fan of citrus cakes/sweets (like me & hubby), try it! Recipe can be found at FoodNetwork.com.

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Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Been gone for a while. Working has been a big hindrance to my blogging! And to my baking! tsk tsk...

Anyway, here's a new recipe I'd like to share. Since it's already obvious and I think I've said it a million times that hubby & I love chocolate, and a chocolate chip cookie is not enough to satisfy our cravings that day, I searched for a double chocolate-chip cookies.

Sorry for the blurry photo... I just used my phone to take a shot. The important thing is they were yummy! They're not as chewy as I expected, but chocolatey nonetheless.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Real Simple

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk-chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed. Lower to medium speed and add the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. On low speed, add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Beat until fully incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips.
2. Form the dough into approximately 1 1/2-inch balls. Place on parchment- or foil-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart.
3. Bake until the centers are just set, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

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My New Apron

A few days ago, my sister was here for a week of vacation with her friends.

When she was here, I accompanied her to this store that sells kitchen stuffs - baking, cooking, etc. We looked around and drooled at what the store is selling... we love them all!

Before we left the store, I was able to purchase something... this cute little apron.

By the way, that apron... it's for kids. :D I chose to buy this instead of their adult aprons (which also have cute designs) because this size fits me well, and covers all the right places. The adult size just hangs too low, I would need to clip the neck part.

Cute, right? :D

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Mugicha

I was in the Philippines last week to attend to some family matters. During that short period that I was in Manila my sister, my mom and I went to 2 Korean restaurants. They serve (actually more on we requested) cold tea for the drinks.

The tea they served is roasted barley tea. It's called mugicha in Japanese, damai-cha in Chinese and boricha in Korean (for this blog post I'll call it mugicha as it's more popularly known). It is caffeine-free and is said to have a lot of health benefits - Japanese believe that mugicha helps to cleanse the body.

After going back to Singapore, I craved for mugicha. I went to the grocery store and searched for mugicha. And there they were... bags and bags of them, packed in little tea bags!

I bought a pack then went to the department store and bought a pitcher that can handle hot/boiling water. I went home and made my pitcher of cold mugicha. I've been drinking it everyday for a week now and I just can't stop! I think I can finish half a pitcher in less than an hour (FYI, it's a 1.8L pitcher).

They say that it can help cool down the body when you drink cold mugicha. I can't directly say that it cools down the body, but all I know is it's a refreshing drink and I love drinking it. :)

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Ramen

Since we got back from Japan, that was two months ago, our cravings for Japanese food are not the same. We took a break from eating Japanese food for a while, I think we didn't have any for three or so weeks since our vacation. After that, the cravings began.

We've tried real/authentic food from Japan and now we now know the taste, texture, smell of the real ones. We went to our usual sushi fastfood/restaurant here and... we saw the difference. In Japan, there were less rice and more of the meat (fish, prawn, etc). Here, there was more rice and just a small portion of the meat.

Other than sushi, we've also looked around for delicious ramen. I think we've already tried three to four and they're all delicious, but we're still on the search for that yummy ramen. We've heard of one ramen restaurant at Meritus Mandarin Hotel along Orchard Road, but everytime we go there, the line is like a mile long! That's a good sign, though, because that means their ramen must be delicious. :)

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The Japan Food Trip

Hubby and I went to Japan during the long holiday (Chinese New Year). On top of our agenda - to eat authentic Japanese food! I was even able to convince hubby to eat rice for dinner so we can eat yummy food (he doesn't eat rice for dinner).

Some of the food we've tried (in no specific order):

1. Gyudon (Yoshinoya & Matsuya)
2. Japanese Curry
3. Kaiten Sushi (sushi served in a conveyor belt)
4. Katsudon
5. Tempura
6. Okonomiyaki - we had this in Kyoto and that's the only item in that restaurant's menu
7. Takoyaki
8. Ramen
9. Japanese Crepe
10. Onigiri
11. Yatsuhashi - from Kyoto
12. Dango
13. Taiyaki
14. various drinks from vending machines (I think that's included hihihi) 

Just listing them down is making me hungry...will try to post more details/pics when I'm no longer busy. :D

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Nutella Cookies

 have to post this now before I completely forget about it hihihi!

I baked some Nutella cookies a few days before Christmas. I got a bit tired of baking all those chocolate crinkles we gave out for Christmas, plus I got some orders from a friend (happy!). So I decided to bake something new... something I haven't tried before.

I've been wanting to bake something with Nutella since I got my oven. I have a jar half-empty that's starting to harden and needs to be used immediately. I finally saw a recipe from My Kitchen Addiction (original recipe from Taste of Home Recipes). The cookies are called Caramel Nutella Crisps, which the author shared as part of the 12 Days of Sharing.

The author got the recipe from Taste of Home Recipes. It's originally a peanut butter cookie recipe, and not made of Nutella at all. But I read from another blog (I seriously can't find the link... I'm so sorry) that since peanut butter has the same consistency as Nutella, you can substitute one with the other.

I made a few changes - I did not roll the cookie doughs in sugar and I didn't put Milk Duds inside. In other words, it's plain Nutella cookies.

I got two ice cream/cookie scoops at home. One is the normal ice cream scoop size, and the other is a smaller cookie scoop. I used the big cookie scoop first, and realized that the cookies will flatten and spread out while baking. It ended up so big it was four times bigger than the size of a chocolate crinkles.

So I used the smaller scoop for the succeeding cookies. I didn't bake it as long as I should (just 8-10 minutes), so I can still have the cookies soft and chewy.

 The first bite... didn't end on the first bite. Even when they were still a bit warm, I think I had two to three cookies in one sitting.

If you love Nutella, you'll love this recipe. Next time I'll try rolling it in sugar, or maybe adding some chocolate chips hihi!

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Banana Crumb Muffin

I loooove bananas! As a kid I can finish two to three bananas in one sitting! hihihi! I also looooove banana bread! My favorite so far is the one from Red Ribbon... very flavorful and with a sweet crumbly top... perfect!
When I was searching for a banana bread recipe, I always thought that banana extract/flavoring was added to the batter to make it tasty... when I finally baked some I realized that the flavor was all natural. :)

I finally found a recipe for banana crumb muffin and was able to try baking some a few weeks ago (see previous post Bake On Baby!). It has the crumbly top too, just like the one from Red Ribbon! :)

The muffins were moist and soft and the crumbs made a perfect complement.

Banana Crumb Muffin
from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

The original recipe yield 10 muffins. I was able to make 11-12.

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