June 29, 2012

An Easy Crowd Pleaser

Sometimes even failed experiments can turn into something wonderful! That's certainly the case with this crowd pleasing Almond Cookies I made for Shankar's birthday party. I was going to make a meringue, but over-beat the egg whites. So, I added ground almond and powdered sugar with the egg whites and baked it as cookies. They were a huge hit at the party, as they were gluten free too. We used the frosting (coconut + pecan + sugar + cream cheese) to sandwich the cookies and it was yum!

 

June 28, 2012

Maple, Dates & Pecan Scones

One of the first thing I do when I go to work is to throw scones in the oven for 13 minutes and ice them. Yesterday was my day off and what do I do first thing in the morning? Bake a batch of delish scones and glaze them! I love my work :)

I have a standard scone dough recipe - the most simplest - I think it was adapted from the Joy of Baking. I then add whatever flavors I think of to this basic recipe. I use my food processor in making the dough, and add the buttermilk or cream as I keep mixing and hence no standard measure for this ingredient. 



Ingredients (for 8 scones): Flour - 2 cups (I use a mixture of all-purpose, whole wheat and whatever else I find appealing); Sugar - 1/2 cup (brown, white, fine); Butter - 5 or 6 tbsp; Baking powder - 1 tsp; Baking soda - 1 tsp; Salt - 1/4 tsp; Dates & Pecans - 1 cup (chopped); Maple syrup - 2 tbsp; Buttermilk or Cream - as needed.

  • Pre-heat the oven to 375F
  • In the food processor add all the dry ingredients (except the dates and pecans) and pulse a few times 
  • Add the butter, sliced into small pieces and pulse till the dough is crumbly
  • Add maple syrup, run the processor and slowly add the buttermilk till the dough is soft, but not wet
  • Add the dates / pecans, pulse once of twice and transfer the dough to cutting board
  • Shape into a large round and slice into 8 pieces or use a mold. Sprinkle some sugar on top
  • Bake till golden (15 - 20 minutes)!
  • For the maple glaze, I mixed powdered sugar with maple syrup and a little water - heated for 30 seconds in the microwave and brushed on top of the scones.

Now there is healthy breakfast to go for the rest of the week!

June 18, 2012

Iced Chai - Concentrate

I brought back this wonderful growler (for a locally made Kombucha) from work today and taking a leaf out of my work kitchen, decided to make a chai concentrate. This is a concentrate that can be mixed with 1:1 milk for a delicious iced chai. I basically used my Cuisinart Coffeemaker to brew my tea and added sugar and spices. In the coffeepot, I added cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and dried ginger. I added the tea leaves in the filter, and in my coffee maker you can steep by removing the pot (the pause and pour stuff). So, I would let the leaves soak in hot water, insert the pot, and remove for the next round. After about 5 rounds, here is a half gallon of chai concentrate.   

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