Kueh Bangkit

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.

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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)

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M&M Cookies from Cookies-In-A-Jar

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.

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Ingredients

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

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Almond Chocolate Chips Biscotti

Biscotti is an Italian traditional cookie — the word biscotti simply means cookies. Biscotti comes from a Medieval 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.

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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

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

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:

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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.

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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!! (more…)

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