Valentine's Cookie

If there's one food we have a lot of at home right now, it'd be cheap, store-bought biscuits. You know, the kind that's made in some factory, and comes wrapped in plastic with twenty-four other identical ones? Sure you can get four packages for a dollar, but they taste chalky and they have a bunch of ingredients you don't really want to eat in it (care for some trans fat shortening anyone?). So why do we have so many packages at home? My dad likes to be a smart shopper and when he sees a great deal, he just can't miss out on it. Plus, he enjoys his cookies. So my challenge was to make a batch of cookies that would be more flavourful, healthier, and not cost a whole lot more than those store-bought ones. Inspired by the upcoming Valentine's Day, I came up with these heart-healthy cookies.

They've got walnuts and flaxseeds (these are the only fats in the recipe), and oats and psyllium fibre (these are the only 'flours' in the recipe). They're crispy, nutty, and healthy. Here's the recipe...

The Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2/3 cup psyllium cereal (I used All-bran Buds)
• 1 cup walnut halves (no shell)
• 1/4 cup flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup skim milk powder
• 3 egg whites
• 1/3 cup golden syrup (can add up to 1/2 cup if you prefer sweeter cookies)
• 2 tbsp skim milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• (optional: up to 1 tsp flavourings, eg. vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, coffee, cardamom...)

Toast walnut halves in the oven or a dry skillet. I find heating the oven to 350°F, placing in the tray of walnuts on a cookie sheet, and then shutting the oven door and turning it off works well. 

Pulse oats and cereal in food processor until it becomes the consistency of wholemeal flour. It's alright if small flecks of oats remain. Add salt and baking powder and pulse again to mix evenly. Empty into a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients into the food processor and mix until a smooth paste forms. Simply add the paste to the bowl of pulsed flours and knead until a dough ball forms. Roll out dough into a 1/8 inch thick layer, cut out the shapes you desire, and place on a lined cookie sheet. They don't rise or spread very much so you can place them quite closely. Bake in a 300°F (~150°C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until cookies have the slightest colour on the edges. Cool on a rack lined with paper towel. Cookies will crisp up as they cool. 

If you like, try spreading some jam on them and sandwiching two together!

The dough before kneading

Just out of the oven and cooling

Since it's almost Valentine's Day: a sweet treat for a sweet couple

Homemade Apple Butter for a Winter Breakfast

It's been a cold, cold, winter week here. I've always thought of winter as my favourite season for many reasons. First, there's Christmas and New Years. Then there's Chinese New Year, which has always been exciting, and my birthday. Of course, there is snow, and with snow comes many hours playing in it and the thin sliver of hope that I'd always kept for a "snow day" to happen. The other wonderful thing about winter is the coziness you can achieve by having a pot of something simmering and releasing wafts of warm fragrance for hours on the stove. I enjoyed hours of that yesterday; it was like having a scented candle lit the entire day, with the added benefit of being able to stir the pot and taste the deliciously sweet and rich concoction bubbling inside. I made apple butter.

The Recipe:

Ingredients: 

• 10 medium apples (any variety or mix)
• 1/2 cup chopped pineapples (drained from can or fresh)
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Wash and peel apples. Save half of the peels, and place in a loose-thread cotton spice bag. Then cut apples into small cubes, and cook in a covered pot on low heat. Add a little water to cover the bottom of the pot to prevent burning. Add apple peels, chopped pineapples, and lemon juice. Continue to cook on low heat, with the lid covered for 20 to 30 minutes to let everything soften. Then prop the lid ajar, and continue to cook over low heat for 3 to 4 hours. Stir every 15 minutes or so to make sure the bottom is not burning. After a few hours, the apple pieces should be broken down, and the colour should be darkened. Transfer to your favourite glass jam jar, allow to cool and chill overnight. Then spread on toast and enjoy!

Note: I didn't bother going through the proper canning technique that's normally used for making jams, because this wasn't a very large batch, and I'd planned to keep it in the refrigerator. Besides, something this yummy will be gone before it has a chance to spoil, I'm sure. By adding the apple peels, I was hoping for the natural pectin and rosy red colour to seep into the apple butter. I'm not sure whether the pectin made a difference because this was the only batch I made and I had nothing to compare it to. It did add a touch of rosiness though!

Apples, peels, pineapples – after 20 minutes

Jar of homemade apple butter

Ideal breakfast.
(that's just milk by the way)

Lemon Yogurt Bars

These really taste like cheesecake, but I put more yogurt than cream cheese in it so it would probably be more appropriate to call it "yogurt bars". Besides, it sounds more austere than "cheesecake bars". Instead of the traditional graham crackers crust, I make a hearty buckwheat crust. The yogurt I use is 2% plain greek yogurt, and the cheeses I used were light ricotta and light cream cheese. I know it seems like I'm using light everything, but there's no shortage of flavour. Even my mom, who thinks desserts have to be full fat to taste good, couldn't tell I used light ingredients. Try them for yourselves.

The Recipe:
Crust:

• 1 cup dark buckwheat flour
• 1/4 cup soy flour
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 – 6 tbsp water
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Yogurt layer:

• 1 cup 2% plain greek yogurt
• 3/4 cup light ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup light cream cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• zest and juice of one lemon

Stir together buckwheat flour, soy flour, wheat bran, and salt. Rub in butter until there are no visible chunks of butter left. Don't worry about keeping it cold because we aren't making flaky pastry; we are only trying to distribute the butter evenly, and I find it easier to do it this way rather than melting it. Add water as needed until it forms a crumbly mixture. If you squeeze a handful of dough together, it should stick together like wet sand. Press into a lined 9 inch (22.9 cm) square tin and bake in a 350 F (175 C) oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool. 

For the yogurt layer, simply stir all ingredients together, pour onto the cooled, baked crust, and bake at 325 F (~165 C) for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the yogurt layer has just set. Cool to room temperature and chill before slicing into bars. 

Note: to prevent the crust from becoming soggy, I poured about 1/4 of the yogurt mixture over the crust, spread it in a thin, even layer, and baked it for about 5 minutes before pouring the rest over the crust. 

Lemon yogurt filling

Buckwheat crust, before baking

Buckwheat crust, after baking

Baked and cooled lemon square – no cracks! :D

We sliced it into smaller pieces this time to serve as finger food

New Year's Breakfast

Happy New Year!

I thought I'd share my first breakfast of 2013 here. Quinoa porridge instead of oatmeal, with cubes of toasted apple and leftover cake on top. I used light coconut milk to cook the quinoa, which makes the porridge vegan. Add a few dried cranberries and some sliced fruit on the side, and we have a hearty, healthy, and tasty breakfast to start the year off.

Hope all of you have a happy, healthy, and fulfilling year. I look forward to sharing more kitchen creations with you!

Herb Flatbread Crackers

Do you like crackers? I love eating crackers, so I decided to make a batch today, from scratch. These crackers are flavoured with fresh parsley and garlic. Some wheat bran gives these crackers a delicious hearty flavour and healthy fibre. A drizzle of olive oil makes these crispy. I know you can easily buy a box of crackers in stores, but they probably don't have fresh herbs or fresh garlic. Besides, you won't get the satisfaction of making them nor would you get to eat them while they're still warm from the oven.

The Recipe:
Ingredients

• 1 cup chapati flour
• 1/2 cup soy flour
• 1/4 cup wheat bran
• 1/4 cup pea fibre
• 1 tsp dry instant yeast
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup water (add enough to make a pliable dough)
• salt (optional, to sprinkle over the top before baking)

Stir together flours, bran, fibre, and yeast. Add parsley and garlic to flour mixture and stir to evenly distribute. Add 1/2 cup water and the olive oil and knead as you would a bread dough. Add more water as needed to make a pliable dough. The dough should not be runny or crumbly, and you should be able to form shapes with it easily. Allow dough to rest for an hour or so. 

Roll out to get a 1/16 inch (about 1.5 mm) layer, cut out into your little crackers, place on a lined baking sheet, and sprinkle some salt over the top if you want. Bake for about 12 minutes at 325 °F (about 165 °C). Allow crackers to cool on a rack and enjoy! 

The flours

Fresh parsley

Soft dough 

Rolled out crackers – look at all that parsley!

Baked

Oatmeal Citron Macaroons

I don't know what to say about these cookies; they speak for themselves. You just have to try one. It's a simple recipe, easy and quick to make, and delicious to eat. They are crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside, thanks to the citron preserve.

The Recipe:
Dry ingredients:

• 1 cup desiccated unsweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 tbsp pea fibre (optional, to increase fibre content)
• 1 tsp five spice powder (you can also use pumpkin pie spice)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup citron preserve (you can substitute with any marmalade)

Stir dry ingredients together in one bowl. Beat egg whites and sugar to a stiff peak. Add dry ingredients at once to egg whites and fold until all dry ingredients are completely coated with egg white. Add citron preserve and fold in until thin streaks of preserve remain. 

Scoop spoonfuls (~1tbsp) of cookie batter onto a lined cookie sheet. Press to flatten cookie a little. Bake at 350 °F (~175 °C) for 15 to 20 minutes or until sides are golden brown and crispy. Allow to cool on a rack. Hope you like these as much as I do. 

Dry ingredients without salt and five spice

Just before baking

Just out of oven

They look so beautiful, so I thought I'd put a close-up here too

Holiday Baking

It's Christmas Eve! The weather's cold, there's a speckle of snow on the ground outside, and the forecast says more is on its way. It looks like it's going to be a festive, white Christmas this year. As such, I have more holiday recipes to share with you. Wishing you all a lovely happy holidays!

Green Roulade | Cornbread Muffins | Fruitcake Mini-muffins | Gingerbread snaps