Jean made this very easy but delicious Whipped Shortbread Cookies. It is always a challenge using a different oven from your home. The Gilmore Park Church has a gas oven which takes a long time to heat up. Usually, we will turn the thermometer up by 50F to achieve the same result as the electric oven.

However, this Whipped Shortbread Cookie is very delicate. You really have to watch the cookies as they burn easily. We burnt the batch we made in the kitchen due to the unfamiliarity with the oven.

This batch of Whipped Shortbread Cookies were made by Jean the day before. They are so buttery and they just melt in your mouth. Great for holiday cookies exchange.

Ingredients

• 1 cup soft butter
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• dash of salt
• 1 capful of almond extract

Click on the link below for the instructions.

continue reading "Whipped Shortbread Cookies"

Minoo also made this scrumptious Oatmeal, Raisin and Chocolate Chip Cookies in the South Arm Community Kitchen. It is about time to switch on the oven to do some baking as the weather is getting colder. I love the aroma from baking sweet treats.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup raisins

continue reading "Oatmeal, Raisin and Chocolate Chip Cookies"

Arkensen’s appetite has been growing lately. He is constantly looking for snacks. So, I decided to bake a batch of cookies to satisfy his huge appetite.

After browsing through my recipe collections, I decided to try this Corn Flake Cookies since I have some corn flakes in my pantry. My kids are not a fan of cereals. I bought the corn flakes to make Peanut Butter Pita Bread.

The Corn Flake Cookies came out thin, crispy and buttery, just the way Ben likes cookies. However, Arkensen would prefer chewier cookies.

This recipe yields 40 cookies. This is a very simple cookies recipe and I don’t think I need to illustrate the steps with pictures. I will just post the recipe here.

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups cornflakes, whole

Instructions

• Cream the butter and sugar (I just cream them by hand).
• Mix all dry ingredients and add to the butter-sugar mixture. Mix well.
• Add nuts, vanilla and cornflakes (no need to crush as the mixing will crush them). Mix until blended (by hand).
• Roll into balls about the size of an English walnut. I used a small ice-cream scoop to do the job.
• Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet (which I lined with parchment paper). Leave space (2″ apart) for spreading as the cookies spread quite a bit. Flatten the ball with a fork.
• Bake in a preheated 350F (I set mine to 325F as I’m using dark cookie sheet) for 10 to 12 minutes.
• Let cool slightly on cookie sheet (cookie is very soft just out of the oven) before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

I hope you’ll enjoy this cookie as much as I do.

During Chinese New Year, tangerine is the official fruit. Every Chinese family will surely have tangerines. Tangerine in Cantonese is ‘kum’ which has the same pronunciation as gold in Cantonese. So, tangerine is an auspicious fruit during this festive season.

It is the Chinese customs to visit families and friends during the 15 days of Chinese New Year celebration. During such visits, the visitor will bring gifts which always include tangerines.

I saw this Tangerine Cookies in a recipe book which Ben brought back from Malaysia and its just perfect for Chinese New Year celebration. Unfortunately, the Tangerine Cookies did not turn out as pretty as those in the recipe book. I think its the temperature of the oven which caused the cookies to be slightly burn. Anyway, if you would like to try this recipe, I’ll recommend you lower the oven temperature.

Since the first batch of the Tangerine Cookies did not turn out as I expected, I used the rest of the pastry to make Pineapple Tarts. Actually its more to a Thump Print Pineapple Cookies because I do not have a pineapple tart cutter.

The Pineapple Tart turned out pretty good. Of course, I bake them in lower temperature that the recipe book recommended. I have always love the tartness of the pineapple in a slightly sweet pastry cookie.

Ingredients

• Pineapple filling (I will blog about this tomorrow)
• 300g plain flour
• 50g custard powder
• 1 tablespoon milk powder
• 180g butter
• 70g icing sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 beaten egg yolk
• Cloves for decoration

continue reading "Tangerine Cookies"

Kueh Bangkit is one of the traditional cookies served during Chinese New Year. It is a very light and fragrant cookie that melts in your mouth.

Traditionally, its made with a mold in the shape of little chick. I do not have such mold, so I tried to use my cookie press to make it.

I was successful with the cookie press for the first batch of the Kueh Bangkit and ran into difficulty with the second batch. The dough just wont come out from the press. So, for the rest of the dough, I just shaped the dough into long strips and cut them into 2 cms strips for baking.

Ingredients

• 300g tapioca flour
• 3-4 pieces pandan leaves (screwpine leaves)
• 20g margarine, softened
• 1 egg yolk
• 140g icing sugar
• 120ml coconut milk
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder (I substituted with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract)

continue reading "Kueh Bangkit"

Allie passed me a jar of M&M Cookie Mix because she said she does not like baking. She told me that most of her baking came out not so nice and that I make such nice cookies. She joked that she does not have an oven as good as mine! So, I took her cookie mix and baked the cookies for her instead. I am glad she likes them a lot.

Come to think of it, Cookie-Mix-In-a-Jar is a great gift idea. It makes baking cookies much simpler. Most of the ingredients are already in the jar except for the butter, egg and vanilla or other liquid. Moreover, the instruction is on the jar too.

You can Google for the phrase “cookie in a jar” and get recipes for the cookie mixes.

Ingredients

• a jar of M&M cookie mix
• 3/4 cup softened butter or margarine
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

continue reading "M&M Cookies from Cookies-In-A-Jar"

This is a very simple Peanut Butter Cookies recipe and yet very rich in peanut butter flavour. It’s a flourless recipe.

This Peanut Butter Cookie is the ultimate cookie for peanut butter lovers.

Ingredients

• 2 cups peanut butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

continue reading "Peanut Butter Cookies"

Biscotti is an Italian traditional cookie — the word biscotti simply means cookies. Biscotti comes from a Mediaval Latin word, “bis costus” which means twice cooked. This is the only type of cookies I know that is baked twice — once as a slab and then the slices are re-baked again.

Biscotti is easy to make, easy to keep without going stale and delicious to eat.  They’re also lower in fat and sugar than a traditional cookie.

The general hardness and crispy texture of biscotti makes the cookie ideal for dipping into coffee, tea or even wine.  Here is my cup of coffee with a piece of Almond Chocolate Chips Biscotti.  Yummy!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup almonds (whole or slivered or chopped, I used whole almonds)
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

continue reading "Almond Chocolate Chips Biscotti"

Friends are chocolate chips in the cookie of life!

Believe it or not … Suanne’s chocolate chip cookies were so good that her recipe has landed into the Richmond School Board’s Grade 5/6 curriculum. He he he … not exactly … but this is how things happened: Just before Christmas, Suanne baked some chocolate chip cookies and gave some to Arkensen and Nanzaro’s teachers. Ms T, Arkensen’s class teacher, liked it so much that she told Arkensen she rationed herself to just one a day. She also asked Suanne for the recipe and decided to organize a class baking project using Suanne’s recipe. Well, the project was carried out today by Arkensen’s class in the staff room and the gym’s kitchen. The class was divided into two groups: the boys vs the girls. Here is a picture of the boys’ cookies:

The two teams were given the written recipe and were expected to make the cookies all by themselves. They are to learn how to read instructions very carefully. Suanne supervised the boys team while Ms T. supervised the girls.

Suanne can’t be at two places at a time and so she just took pictures of the boys in action. They had a great time and everyone took active part. Everyone wanted a hand in every step of the process that they did the math and divided the tasks equally between themselves. For example, when the recipe called for 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract, the boys divided the task into 8 half-teaspoon so that each of them had a chance to pour it into the mix. That is teamwork!!

Here are the pictures of them in action, starting with creaming the butter and sugar in the picture above. They then added in vanilla extract, flour, baking soda, oats, chocolate chips and shredded coconut. They had great fun …

After all the mixing, they’re all ready to be placed on the cookie sheet. They rolled the dough into a ball and then flatten them with a fork … some used to flatten them with their hands … and some ate the dough just like that!

They are then ready to go into the oven — even though they are not round. The baking takes 10 minutes. Strangely, the boys did not fool around the kitchen but just waited patiently. I think this project has domesticated the boys!! That’s Steven and Steven with Arkensen below — domesticated and all. What bliss!

So, here it is. All done by the 5th/6th Graders. It was a great job by both the boys and girls team.

And finally the hardest part of the chocolate chip cookie baking project … the cleaning up. Trust me, savor this picture of Steven and Steven because it’s a rare sight. The other boys all disappeared from the kitchen to the class just in the nick of time. Arkensen coyly volunteered to bring the cookies back to the class for his group. He he he … that’s my boy!

Arkensen said that the cookies tastes just as good as mum’s. So, cookie baking duties in the family has successfully been transitioned to Arkensen!!

Email Arkensen if you want the recipe! :-) Don’t email Suanne.