Butter Cookies

This is a very crunchy, buttery cookies. It goes very well with a glass of milk. My kids love it with their evening milk.  The dough can be prepared before had and kept in the refrigerated. 

 

 

Ingredients

Unsalted butter  – 175gm

Caster sugar – 90 gm
Flour – 250gm
Demerara sugar – as required

 

 Method

 1.    Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy 

2.    Add the flour, mix with hand, and gradually work in the crumbs until the mixture forms a smooth dough.

 3.    Roll into a long log and then flat the side to form a square log.
 

4.    Sprinkle a thick layer of demerara sugar on all the 4 side of the square log and press. 

5.    Wrap and chill for 30 min until firm. 

6.    Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unwrap. 

7.    Cut it into thick slices. 

8.    Place apart on lightly greased baking sheets.

9.    Preheat the oven to 160⁰ c. 

10. Bake for 20 min.

 

Spooky Witches' Fingers Cookies

This hallow-en will it be a trick or a treat ? Surely a deadly treat !!

Ingredient

Salted Butter – 250gm

Powdered Sugar - 150gm

Egg – 1

Almond extract – 1tsp

Vanilla extract – 1tsp

All purpose flour – 400 gm

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Almond – ½ cup ( skin peeled and halfed)

Icing sugar – 5 tbsp

Red colour – 1 to 2 drops

Fruit jam – 2 tbsp

Method

1. Combine the butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat together.
2. Gradually add the flour, baking powder, continually beating;
3. Knead it into a dough, cover and refrigerate for 30 min
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
5. Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time. Roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie.
6. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles. You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance
7. Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Remove the almond and apply some jam at that portion and then press the almond back.
8. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.
9. Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 minutes. Let it cook
10. Mix the icing sugar with colour and few drops of water to make a thick paste ( a consistency that it drips a little)
11. When the cookies are cooled, drop 2 to 3 drops of red icing sugar on the other end of the cookies, let it drip a little                      
12. Your delicious, scary cookies are ready.

Custard Cookies

Ingredients

All purpose flour / maida – 250gm

Powdered sugar – 155 gm

Butter – 250gm

Custard powder – 155gm

Egg -1

Castor sugar for coating about half a cup

Method

1.           In a bowl cream butter and sugar by whisking to together.

2.           Now mix in the egg and whisk it.

3.           Mix together the maida and custard powder.

4.           Add the powder mixture to the liquid mixture.

5.           Mix in to a loose dough.  ( don’t over mix and rub into a soft dough)

6.           Line a baking tray with butter paper.

7.           Now make lemon size round balls from this dough.

8.           Coat it with castor sugar.

9.           Place it on the butter paper.

10.      Take a fork and press it on the top of the roundels

11.      Bake them at 180C for 15 min.  ( don’t overbake it as it will discolour and become hard. 

Heart Centred Cookies

For this Valentine’s Day this is what I have prepared. The only twisted part is to make the heart shapes stand straight and get it combined. Rest its pretty simple and fast to make. I made about 5 batches with this recipe and took it to my office for a small Valentine ’s Day celebration. My colleagues enjoyed it.

So try to make it.

Ingredients 

Butter – ¾ cup

Castor Sugar – ¾ cup

Egg – 1

Maida / all-purpose flour – 2 cups

Baking powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – 1 pinch

Red food colour

Strawberry essence

Heart shape cookie cutter 

Note : all in room temperature

Method 

1.           Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2.           To this beat the egg for a minute.

3.           Now add the essence and mix.

4.           In another bowl swift together maida, baking powder and salt.

5.           Mix the dry mixture to the wet mixture.

6.           Mix well and knead it to a dough.

7.           Tint 1/4^th of the dough with red colour and wrap into a plastic wrap.

8.           Wrap the remaining plain dough also in a plastic dough.

9.           Refrigerate the doughs for 2 hrs.

10.      Lightly flour the rolling surface and roll red dough into a thick rectangular sheet. With the cookie cutter, cut as many shape as possible.

11.      Repeat the same with the remaining red dough.

12.      Place the cut heart one above the other to make a long heart rod (as shown in the figure). Refrigerate for 15 min.

13.      Make a long thick strip of the white dough and fill the groove of the heart.

14.      Now roll the plain dough and rollup to cover the red dough and roll it to make a cylinder.

15.      Wrap up in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hrs.

16.      Preheat the oven to 180^OC.

17.      Unwrap and cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices.

18.      Line a baking tray with butter paper and place these cookies with a little gap between each cookies.
19.      Bake the cookies at 180^OC for 12 min.

20.      Remove to cool. 

Watermelon Slice Cookies

This long weekend of Republic day, after a little looking around in the net. This is what I found and made. My husband loved it and kids are all ready to show it off in school tomorrow.  I enjoys make this and it’s a visual joy to see the end product.

I summer fruit, recreated in winter. So, Enjoy Baking !

Ingredients

Butter – ¾ cup

Castor Sugar – ¾ cup

Egg – 1

Maida / all-purpose flour – 2 cups

Baking powder – ¼ tsp

Salt – 1 pinch

Red and green food colour

Chocolate chips – as required

Note : all in room temperature

Method

1.     Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2.     To this beat the egg for a min.

3.     Now add the essence and mix.

4.     In another bowl swift together maida, baking powder and salt.

5.     Mix the dry mixture to the wet mixture.

6.     Mix well and knead it to a dough.

7.     Reserve one cup of dough. Tint the remaining dough into red and shape into a long cylindrical log around 12cm. Then wrap in a plastic wrap.

8.     Tint 1/3 of the reserved dough with green colour and wrap it into a plastic wrap.

9.     Wrap the remaining plain dough also in a plastic dough.

10.    Refrigerate the doughs for 2 hrs.

11.     Lightly flour the rolling surface and roll plain dough into a thin rectangular sheet long enough to cover the red dough.

12.     Place the red dough on the plain dough sheet and rollup the plain dough to cover the red dough.

13.    In the similar way roll the green dough to a rectangular sheet. Place the red and plain dough roll on the sheet and rollup to cover.

14.   Wrap up in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hrs.

15.    Preheat the oven to 180^OC.

16.    Unwrap and cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices. Now cut the slices into half slices (like a half circle).

17.     Press chocolate chips in the red dough to resemble watermelon seed.

18.      Line a baking tray with butter paper and place these cookies with a little gap between each cookies.

19.      Bake the cookies at 180^OC for 12 min.

20.      Remove to cool. 

  

Coconut Cookies

When we were kids we never had banded fancy cookies like today.  For us in the 70ies and 80ies there was biscuit-wala who got nankathai, coconut cookies, pista cookies etc. in his tin boxes on his cycles. Remembering childhood days days here is coconut cookies of those days.

Ingredients

Butter – 150gm

Castor sugar – 150gm

Desiccated coconut – 100gm

Refined flour/maida – 150gm

Egg – 1

Desiccated coconut – for dusting

 Method

1.      Mix butter and sugar with beater. 

2.      To this add the egg. 

3.      Now mix the desiccated coconut and flour.

4.      Make a dough of the above mixture.

5.      Cover the dough and keep it in a refrigerator for 30 min.

6.      Now take a lemon size portion of this dough, make a ball and flatten (let it be thick).

7.      Light dust desiccated coconut on top.

8.      Line the baking tray with parchment paper and place the cookies in it.

9.      Repeat from step six with the rest of the dough.

10.  Preheat the oven for 150⁰C.

11.  Bake the cookies for 15 min.  

Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookies

After the Christmas vacation, I got some confectioneries gift form one of my expat colleague. In the pack there were 2 packets of caramel butterscotch chips. I had no clue, what to do with this.  That when I started searching in the net, for some appropriate recipe where I can use this.   And finally I found this recipe in “allrecipe.com”. Tried it with some variation according to what was locally available.  It was fantastic. The crispiness of oats after baking is wonderful.  If you don’t have butterscotch chips your replace it with easily available chocolate chips or some nuts.

But do try it the kids would love it.  

 

Ingredient

Salted butter  – 100gm

White sugar – ¾  up

Brown sugar – ¾ cup

Eggs – 2

All purpose flour/ maida – 1 ¼ cup

Baking powder – 1tsp

Ground cinnamon – ½ tsp

Rolled oats – 3 cups

Vanilla essence – 1tsp

1 cup – caramel butterscotch chips (u can use chocolate chips)

Method

1.    Preheat the oven to 190 degree Celsius. 

2.    In a bowl beat butter, white and brown sugar. Let it mix nicely.

3.    Mix together flour, baking powder and cinnamon powder.

4.    Add this flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix well.

5.    Now add the oats and butterscotch chips and mix well.

6.     Line a baking sheet with butter paper.

7.    Now take a lemon size portion of the batter, roll it and flatten it .  place it on the baking sheet.  Make the rest of the cookies.

8.    Bake it for 10 min at 190 degree C. 

Sugar Cookies

Christmas goody bag is incomplete without sugar cookies.  It is soft and sugary taste.  It can be shaped the way you like with a cookie cutter e.g.. Star, bells, Christmas tree, etc. Then decorate it with royal icing or sugar icing. 

So, try to make it this Christmas and impress your loved one with this special treat.

Ingredient

Maida/ flour – 2 cups

Butter – ½ cup
Caster sugar – ½ cup + 2tbsp
Egg – 1
Baking powder -1tsp
Vanilla essence – ½ tsp
 

Method

1.  Mix together maida and baking powder.

2.  Cream together butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

3.  Now add egg and mix well.

4.  Mix in the maida  and knead lightly to combine.

5.  Cover in a cling wrap and keep in refrigerator for 3 to 4 hrs.

6.  Take it out. Roll it and shape into cookies.

7.  Bake at 180⁰c for 10 min.

8.  Cool and decorate.

Ginger Bread Man Cookies

Christmas is near the corner, and the festive mood is back again. I start my baking season with ginger bread man cookies. This is an adaptation the site joy of baking.  It was sweet and spice. And I enjoyed decorating it.

Please try it and send your feedback.  

 

Ingredient

Maida/ all purpose floor – 3cups

Salt – ¼ tsp
Baking soda – ¾ tsp
Dry Ginger powder – 2 tsp
Cinnamon powder – 1tsp
Nutmeg powder – ¼ tsp
Clover powder – ¼ tsp
White butter – 100gm + 1tbsp (around ½ cup)
Granulated white sugar – 100gm (1/2 cup)
Tight packed brown sugar granulated – 160gm (2/3 cup)
Egg - 1

Method

1.   In a large bowl, swift together the flour, salt, baking soda and spices.
2.   In another bowl beat the butter and both the sugar with electric mixer until light & fluffy.
3.   Add egg and beat until well combined.
4.   Gradually add the flour mixture to form a dough.
5.   Take and ball size portion of the dough.
6.   Roll the dough to ¼ inch thick.
7.   Cut the cookies with the ginger bread man cutter.
8.   Line the baking sheet with butter paper and place the cookies.
9.   Pre heat the oven and place the rack in the center.
10. Place the baking sheet on the rack and bake for 15 min, depending on the size of the cookies.

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a recipe which I got from a magazine called Club Class which I flicked from my bosses cabin. It look simple so I tried it and it came out well. You can also try and enjoy it and send in your feedback.  

Ingredient

Maida/ all purpose floor – 230gm

Baking powder – ½ tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Butter – 200gm
White sugar – 75gm
Dark brown sugar – 110gm
Egg – 1
Chocolate – 200gm  

Method

1.        Sift flour, baking powder and salt, keep aside.

2.        Beat butter and both the sugar in a mixing bowl for few min.
3.        Add in the egg and beat the mixture.
4.        Fold in flour and chocolate chips and mix well. It form a soft dough.
5.        Grease a cookie tray.

6.        Take a spoonful of the mixture, roll and gently flatten (don’t flatted it as the mixture will spread).

7.        Place it on the tray leaving enough space between two cookies for it to spread.

8.        Bake at 170⁰C for 12 min.

9.        Remove from the oven, loosen the cookies while still warm, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely (handle it carefully, because when it is warm it has the tendency for breaking). 

10.     Now enjoy the cookies.