Productive (baking) day

Sigh today I was supposed to have training but found like 2 spots on my body so i demanded to be taken to the doctor, who said that i have an extremely high chance of contracting chicken pox from my bro and advised me not to go to training... i missed so many already,feel so guilty ):

Finally started on my homework today! Bad choice to start with math though cos I gave up pretty soon and decided to bake instead. I just picked up the hobby last year around this time and I'm glad to say it has managed to 'survive' until now! :)) Love the feeling of turning nothing into something yummy haha~

So...I started baking oat cookies at around 8+ as I wanted to use up the old fashioned rolled oats :)

Put this dessicated coconut into the cookie mix, along with choc chips and sultanas~

 

The mix! Looks really ugly oops and there's like more oats than dough :P

Before baking~ shaped into rounds :)

Baking~

It spread out a lot after it baked haha

Yummy! It tasted really good just out of the oven, albeit a little too sweet for my tastes ( though i reduced the sugar alr) I expected the oats to taste chewy but they turned crunchy after baking suprisingly!

Tower of cookies :)

mandatory close up

The good cookies! For giving away etc. I separated the bad cookies ( cracked, ugly, shapeless etc) from the nicely-shaped ones :)

sorry for the spam but i thought this was really cute! Edited it using the snapee app on my phone :) cookie doesn't want to be eaten ):

Oatmeal Cookies: ( adapted from http://www.joyofbaking.com/OatmealCookies.html)

1 cup (110 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped (optional) ( i omitted this)

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (210 grams) packed light brown sugar (reduced to 180g, but even then it was too sweet)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract ( didn't have this so i didn't use it)

3/4 cup (105 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups (260 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup dried cranberries, cherries, or raisins or 1 cup white or dark chocolate chips(optional) (added dark choc chips and sultanas)

**dessicated coconut, for fragrance

Oatmeal Cookies:

1)Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

To toast nuts: Place nuts on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop into pieces. (omitted the nuts part)

2) In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth (about 2 - 3 minutes).

3) Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine. 

4)In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat until incorporated.

5) Stir in the nuts, oats, and dried cranberries or chocolate chips. 

6)For large cookies, use 1/4 cup of batter (I like to use an ice cream scoop) and space the cookies about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the baking sheet. Then wet your hand and flatten the cookies slightly with your fingers so they are about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick.

7)  Bake the cookies for about 12 -15 minutes (i baked it for 20 mins) or until light golden brown around the edges but still soft and a little wet in the centers.

8)  Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 20 - 24 large cookies (made smaller ones so i made many more than this haha )

After lunch I tried continuing on my math but i got so distracted and annoyed with it...so i decided to bake AGAIN. so deprived of it, due to the exam period and then the o lvl chinese after, I'm glad my parents understand and allow me to bake whatever I want heheh<3 As the bananas were very ripe, my mom told me to make something banana...and since we bought like 3 boxes of blueberries that were on offer in the morning I made... BANANA BLUEBERRY MUFFINS :)

Fruits~ That's deseeded dates in the orange bowl btw

Mix the dry stuff tgt first! Forgot to add the wholemeal flour at this part sigh ):

Add the wet stuff and mix until incorporated, not too much or the muffin will get tough

Before baking

while baking

After..such a lovely golden colour eh :)

Look at the exploded blueberry~  I didn't know blueberries explode when they are baked haha

spongy squishy yummy thing

Whoohoo my platter of mini muffins~ My family liked them and so did I! Relatively healthy and not too sweet :)

Banana and Blueberry Muffins ( recipe from http://neckredrecipes.blogspot.sg/2006/07/banana-and-blueberry-muffins.html)

Ingredients
1 cup (150g) self raising flour
½ cup (75g) wholemeal flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt


½ cup (100g) brown sugar
½ cup (60g) pitted dates, chopped
1 large ripe banana, mashed
1/3 cup(80ml) sunflower oil
2/3 cup (160ml) milk
1 egg
½ cup blueberries

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan). Line a 12 cup muffin with paper cases.

2. Sift the flours, bicarbonate soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and dates and mix well.

3. Make a well in the centre of the mixture and add the banana, sunflower oil, milk and egg, then stir with a fork until just combined. Don't over-mix.

4. Spoon to paper cases and add 3-4 blueberry to each muffin. (i poured it directly into the mix haha)

5. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked (test with a fine skewer) (baked for 15mins coz i used a mini muffin pan)
Note : Makes 8 big muffins ( 24 small ones in my case)

While making this, I also peeled and grated apples for apple jam :) Made by my breadmaker which is also a jam maker :)

After 1 hr 20 mins in the jam maker~

It became all sticky like real jam! :)

I actually wanted to make pancakes for dinner but in the end decided to make mian jian kueh instead, since I had red bean paste that needed to be used up and it's been a long time since I've eaten this kueh... 

Didn't take pic of the whole process but I'll definitely make it again! So easy, even easier than normal pancakes cos you just dump all of the batter into the non-stick pan and wait for it to cook :)

Whoohoo~ Thick layer of red bean with a crispy outer crust

 close up shot

Glad that mine has the honey-comb structure!

My parents think it tastes like the ones sold outside~ I can make this for brekkie on weekends next time!!!

*Also made peanut ones but i didn't take pic, red bean ones are less messy though :)

Ingredients: ( recipe from Mimi bakery house )

130g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp yeast

1 egg

25g sugar

160ml water

Method:

Mix all ingredients together to form a smooth batter.

Leave it aside for 30 mins.

Pour batter into a non stick pan, smooth out to get an even thickness.

Cook on low heat for about 6-8 mins.

Remove from pan, spread your fillings. Fold into half and serve.

Okay so productive day in terms of baking! it's so tedious adding all the pictures and recipes and i really have more respect for those food bloggers who regularly post their bakes and stuff hehehe. I'll continue to post up my bakes though, it'll serve as a note for me in the future too.

kbye~