Coffee-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes when you are feeling low, its amazing how a single passing thought or statement of something you like can cheer you up. A song, a place, a memory, a friend, a book, a conversation, a shopping spree, anything really!! It was one of those days on Tuesday when nothing was right, right from the time I woke up. All morning was spent in mundane chores and just after noon, with dark clouds hovering above in the sky and a gloomy weather to add to my crappy mood, I was about to resign to a dull boring day ahead when a phone call changed all that!! As my friend and I chatted over nothing and everything, the conversation drifted to the latest Archer book in stores and what we thought of the stories in the book!

And then outta the blue, she asked me, "So what will you bake today?" The very thought of the book in hand with warm cookies and coffee completely changed my mood and the next minute my mind was thinking what to bake. And voila, just as if the heavens above knew my changed mood, it started pouring!!

I made these quick cookies that I had bookmarked a few weeks back from Deeba's blog. The cookies didn't look as perfect as the ones she had posted, nevertheless, the taste was a big hit with all at home (I think the coffee worked its magic!), so much so that I am planning to bake a second round this weekend when my relatives are around.

COFFEE CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIES (As taken from PAB)
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
 

Ingredients:
100gms unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup vanilla sugar (or granulated)
1 egg
1 tbsp instant coffee powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Sift the flours, baking soda and salt. Keep aside in a bowl.

Place butter, sugar, egg, coffee powder and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl, and whisk with a hand blender until well mixed. {You can even do this by hand if you don't have a blender. In this cake, just beat the egg lightly with a fork first.}

Add the sifted flour mix and chocolate chips to the bowl, and mix well.

Drop tablespoons on an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving about an inch between each to allow for spreading.

Bake at 180C for 12-15 minutes till golden brown.

Allow to cool on cookie sheet for a minute, and then transfer to rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight box in a cool place for 4-5 days.

Try it...I bet these warm soft and chewy cookies will cheer you up too !!

Chocolate Walnut Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Three cute little tots running around the house, another one scheduled to arrive the next day and my mind craving for some chocolate.....

I read once somewhere that "There's nothing better than a good friend, except a good friend with chocolate" and I still had some dark and white chocolates (Ghiradelli too !!) left in the fridge that "kid" had brought when she visited m.

Surely, I didn't require more reason than these to bake some goodies !! Didn't look further than Mallika's blog for the recipe and she didn't disappoint !! I added some walnuts to the chocolate batter to make it crunchy. 

With the below quantity I made 6 muffins and a small cake on Sunday. The muffins were over before I could get a few pictures!! I let the cake set in the fridge for a day and made the chocolate ganache on Monday just before assembling the sinful cake.

Here's what the recipe called for:

For the cake

1/2 cup butter, room temp (50 gm)
1/4 cup sugar (25 gm)
1 egg, room temp
1 cup sweetened condensed milk (100 gms)
3/4 cup flour (75 gms)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (50 gms)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the ganache

200 ml fresh cream (I used Amul, 25% fat)

4 blocks Chocolate

Method :

For the cake

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat an egg lightly with vanilla extract and add to batter. Pour in the condensed milk and milk. Beat well. 

In a second bowl, sieve together twice the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder.

Add the wet to dry ingredients. Scoop batter into cupcake cups / cake tin. 

Bake until the fork comes out clean. It took me approximately 20 mins to make the cupcakes and around 35 mins to make the cake.

Let it cool on a wire rack.

For the ganache

Pour the cream into a thick saucepan and simmer till it bubbles. Cut chocolate bars into small chunks and add to the cream. Stir continuously for a few seconds. Take it off heat and continue to stir until all the chocolate has melted. Cool. Let it set in the fridge for around 15 mins before topping it on the cake.

To assemble

Cut the cake into two horizontally. A little tip - Use a thread to cut the cake to minimise the crumbs.

Spread (generously) some chocolate ganache on the bottom piece of cake and put the other piece on top of it. 

Crumb coat the entire cake with the ganache and let it set for half hour in the fridge.

Remove from fridge, add a second layer of ganache on the cake and top it with grated white chocolate.

Cut into desired pieces and INDULGE or better still, try to wait for 5-6 hours while it sets/matures in the fridge and then INDULGE .. The wait will be worth it .. I promise you..

Chocolate and Muesli Blondies

There is something about the aroma of  a dish baking in the oven that I simply cannot resist. It is seductive. It overpowers my senses. It is addictive. And yes, despite many a disasters that I have encountered, I will not give up baking :) :) God save the guinea pigs who will have to eat my babies .. !!! :D :D

Ok .. Deepti's tryst with the Blondies got me all curious and eager. With a little bit of search on the internet, I landed on Smitten Kitchen's and Deeba's version of Blondies, also having learnt the Blondie tale in the meantime.


Story goes that Blondies or the lesser popular "albino cousin" of Brownies probably originated in the mid 19th century when butterscotch was popular. Cookbooks then had recipes with butterscotch (made by combining brown sugar / molasses with butter) , flour and a leavening agent ( baking powder / soda). The modern version of Blondies typically comprise these basic ingredients (brown sugar/butter/baking powder) and the fillings / variations with chocolate / nuts / dried fruits / fruits.


I was a little hesitant about using vegetable oil on my first try of Blondies (prior experiments with cakes / cookies having failed), so decided to go with butter as in Smitten kitchen's / Deepa's version. I ran into a little trouble when mixing the sugar and butter as I used fine crystals of sugar rather than powdered brown sugar (God knows why!! ). I had to warm the mix a little and then cool it down before adding the egg and the remaining ingredients. Thought all will be well soon, however ran into problems again when removing the blondies from the dish (I became a little impatient and tried to remove it from the dish sooner than the suggested time.. Lesson learnt .. It pays to be patient :)). Left it for a few more minutes and all was well indeed.


Though I wasn't infinitely pleased with how I had made the Blondies or the end result (I felt the sugar had masked other flavours, am sure it would be tastier had I cut the quantity of sugar / increased the dark chocolate/muesli quantity), this recipe is a definite keeps' / try again in my recipe archives. 

Ingredients
1 cup Flour
3/4 - 1 cup Light Brown sugar (I used 1 cup and thought the sugar masked other flavours)
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tsp Baking powder
1 Egg, lightly beaten
10 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
3/4 tsp Baking powder
3/4 - 1 Cup Muesli (a little toasted / roasted)
1/4 - 2/3 cup chocolate chips
A pinch of salt


Method
- Toast the muesli for about a minute on a low flame and set aside
- Preheat oven to 180C and prepare an oven-safe baking dish / grease and line with butter paper leaving around one and half inch extra at the rim of the dish.
- Melt the butter in a non-stick sauce pan and pour into a large mixing bowl. Add brown sugar to this and stir till it is smooth.
- Add the lightly beaten egg and vanilla extract and whisk
- In a separate bowl, sieve the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add these dry ingredients to the above wet mixture and mix.
- Add chocolate chips and muesli
- The batter will be thick, though not as thick as dough!
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish
- Bake for about 35 minutes. A skewer test may show the mix still sticking to the sides of the knife/pick but that's ok if you like it a little gooeey !!
- Allow to cool completely and then lift it with the help of the extra butter paper and cut into 1 inch squares
- Top it with more chocolate / sugar frosting if desired. Else just enjoy as is !!