Chocolate Chunk Cookies

 

My daughter’s speech & drama class will be having a party tomorrow. It’s a potluck and everyone is to bring something. Since I will be busy tomorrow, ferrying my 2nd son for this exams, I reckon I would not have much time to prepare something elaborate for her.

It strike me that its about time to get my daughter involved in the culinary skills. When she was younger, she used to  watch me do my baking. However, as time goes by, she prefers to spent her time in front of the computer.

To revive her interest in baking, I got her to bake some cookies for her class tomorrow. Of course, this is done under the watchful eyes of her mother……

Despite her lack of confidence (especially in breaking an egg), she did well.

 

The Chocolate chuck Cookies turned out well.

We (or rather she) made a total of 52 cookies. Since they are for kids, I suggested having them in bite size and lined on small cupcake liners.

 

These are like chocolate chip cookies. Only difference is, we cut chocolate into chunks instead of using chocolate chips.

The cookies are crispy on the outside and chewy inside…..yummmm!!!!!

Simple yet heavenly. Perfect recipe for beginners….

 

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients :

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch (also known as cornflour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
200g bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks

 

Method :

• Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius.
• Cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.
• Mix the rest of the dry ingredients.
• Stir in chocolate chunks.
• Drop cookie dough onto a greased baking sheet (or like us,, onto paper cupcake liners.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

*What makes the cookies chewy is the cornstarch.

If you prefer the crispy, omit the cornstarch and replace the baking soda with baking powder.

How time flies………..

 

For those residing in Malaysia and Singapore, it is the year end school holidays now. Many would have packed their bags and headed off for a family vacation.

For me… we will probably have to forget about year end family vacation as our 1st and 2nd offsprings will be sitting for examination in the coming weeks. Our 2nd boy will be sitting for a major public examination (SPM or GCE O-Level equivalent) commencing tomorrow. Whereas our eldest son will be having his 1st semester exam (1st year pursuing a degree in Finance & Accounting) from next week. They will both complete their respective examinations by December 9th. Thereafter each and everyone of them have their individual plans to chill out. This includes our little girl who will be off to camp in mid December. Sigh…. looks like there won’t be time for us to slot in a family vacation before the end of 2010.

Realised that as the children grow up, it becomes more and more difficult to plan a family vacation. Wish I could turn back the clock….when they were much younger, we could just pack our bags and head off to a family vacation without having to consider their schedule.

Anyway.. it is stressful time in our household now and I wish both my boys the very best in their forthcoming exam.!!!

Violets are Blue

 

Those who knows me would probably know that I love flowers in the shades of blue. I had one time kept one portion of my my garden specifically for blue flowers. I have always wanted to have blue water lilies and also hydrangeas in shades of blue.

For some unexplainable reasons I can’t seem that have my blue water lilies to bloom (despite having nurtured them for over a year). As for my hydrangeas… it is another disappointment!!! Over more that 5 years since I brought them home, they have yet to flower ;(.

Nonetheless, I had a very pleasant surprise last week. On my birthday, I noticed a dark shade of purple peeking out of a water lily bud from my little lily “pond” right next to the entrance of my home. Couple of hours later, this is what greeted me…………….

It’s not exactly the deep blue water lily that I have wanted….but .. this is close enough. What more… I had almost gave up hope on it…my very own violet water lily!!!

Nature’s birthday gift to this homemaker cum gardener ;)

  

Since the arrival of the first bloom, we have seen another 2 blooms. There are still more to come and each and everyone of them will be greeted by a smile (just like when the first one came along),

Next…awaiting hydrangeas

Vanilla Extract

What do you get if you “marry”

             This                  with              This ???
        
         Vodka                                       Vanilla Beans

Well you will get this luxurious bottle of vanilla extract!!!!!
  
Being one who bakes regularly, vanilla extract is a must have. It’s not easy to find a good quality vanilla extract. Moreover, quality ones are usually rather pricey.
To save cost, I googled on how to make this “must have” and found that the process is very simple. All I need is alcohol and some good quality vanilla beans. I have a bunch of vanilla beans given to me by my sister-in-law from her trip to Bali. Have been treasuring them and saving each pod in the sugar canister to favour the sugar.
I wanted to used vodka for this project and had requested DH to get me a bottle of Vodka (so that I could make vanilla extract) on his way back from his business trip sometime back. He came back with a bottle of vanilla favoured Vodka!!
Anyway,… with a glass bottle I added some vanilla beans (after scraping of the beans for cake making) and filled it with the vanilla vodka. (the normal proportion is 3 beans to a cup of vodka).Tighten the cap of the bottle and left it in a cool and dark area. The vanilla pods immersed in the vanilla vodka will released its aroma into the vodka. When the colour of the vodka turn amber, it would be ready for use. This will normally take about 3 months to be done. However, mine turned dark amber within a month!!! Lucky me ;)
The  minute you unscrew the cap, the whole room will be filled with the heavenly aroma of the vanilla extract. This bottle will last me quite a while. The longer I keep it, the richer the aroma would be!!!

Bacon Cheese Rolls

 

I made these a while ago. Took the photos but totally forgot to blog about it as I have been busy with my daily commitment.

The pictures did not do justice to the actual buns/rolls. (pardon my poor photography skills). However, the buns are so delectable and the aroma is just irresistible. Bun is light and soft and this is one of our favourite savoury bun.

The bread dough used is my “fail proofed”  Hokkaido Milk Bread dough.

To assemble this “baby”, roll the dough into a rectangular sheet of 1 cm thick.  

Sprinkle bits of smoked bacon and your favourite types of shredded cheese on top. I used mozzarella and cheddar.

Roll it up like a swiss roll. and cut into 4cms sections and place each one into an aluminium mini pie or cupcake mould.

Proof for about 45mins or till they double in size.

  

They looked like cupcakes/muffins. Sprinkle more shredded cheese on top.

Baked at 180C for about 12mins

YUM!!!!