Chocolate-chip cookies is the one thing that I could make over and over and rest assured that they will disappear in no time! :) My kids just love it! My sister-in-law and her kids are visiting us and I figured what better than home-made chocolate chip cookies. I made huge batch, one big container of big ones and one cookie jar of small ones for my little one. My son the minute he saw the little jar, he goes.. "Cookies".. "Mommy cookies, baby cookies!" ; Referring to the big and small cookies!The cookie jar was half-empty by that night and within 2 days of making them, they were all gone and become a part of history:)! Here is the classic chocolate chip recipe from Nestlé:
Servings: makes about 60 cookies
Ingredients:
Flour: 2 1/4 cups
Baking soda:1 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp
Butter: 1 cup, at room temperature.
Brown sugar: 1 1/2 cups
Vanilla essence: 1 tsp
Eggs: 2 large, beaten.
Chocolate chips: 1 cup
Method:
In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.
In another bowl, using an electric mixer, mix together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence until creamy.
Add the beaten eggs and mix well.
Slowly add in the flour mixture little by little. Mix well.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Cover the batter with cling film and freeze it for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 deg F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Using a ice cream scoop, drop spoonful of dough onto the cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
Place the cookie sheet on the center rack of the oven and bake for 9-11 minutes depending on your oven.
Check for doneness using the toothpick test. When the toothpick is inserted into the center of the cookie and it comes out clean, then the cookie is done!
Let the cookies cool on the cooling rack for 5-10 minutes.
Once completely cooled,store the cookies in an airtight container.
Enjoy with a cold glass of milk or just like that! :)
Cooking made easy:
Freezing the cookie dough makes for cookies with desired thickness. The dough balls when placed on the cookie sheet tend to spread out making the cookie large but thinner. Freezing the dough minimizes this phenomenon.
I generally tend to make a huge batch of batter ( like above) and freeze half of it for future use. This way I have fresh cookies any time the kids desire!
Tip for healthy living:
Limit the amount of sugar in your daily diet. Use natural sugars like palm sugar, jaggery, honey, molasses,coconut sugar whenever possible. It is much healthier.
Food for thought:
Be mindful when it comes to your words. A string of some that don't mean much to you, may stick with someone else for a lifetime. Rachel Wolchin
It is fun to bake when you have a houseful ( in my case an apartment-full)of kids who appreciate, enjoy, relish and can afford to eat all the baked goodies! After all, they require energy to run around! I just love it! I had some bananas that were getting ready to go bad and decided to make banana-nut muffins.I usually make banana-nut bread, but muffins are easier to serve, easier to eat and easy to pack for picnics at the park. I threw in some chocolate chip for the extra temptation and drizzled some more chopped walnuts on top! The result was an irresistible Banana-nut chocolate-chip muffin. The kids loved it! My son didn't have the patience to wait to eat it! He kept saying "no,no,no" wiggling his cute little index finger every time I set out to take a picture! He just wouldn't let me take a good picture!
I was very happy to see them all gone in record time!
Servings: 2 dozen muffins
Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour: 2 cups+ 1 tbsp
Baking soda: 1 tsp
Salt:1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon: ½ tsp
Ground nutmeg: ¼ tsp
Vanilla extract:1 tsp
Butter:1/2 cup
Brown sugar:3/4 cup
Eggs: 3
Overripe bananas: 2 cups(4 bananas),mashed
Walnuts:½ cup + 1/4 cup,chopped(optional)
Chocolate chips: 1/2cup
Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners and keep aside. If you don't have liners, you could just grease it.
Mix 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts with 1 tbsp flour and keep aside.
Using a electric mixer,beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg in a medium bowl until creamy.
Add the banana, and eggs, beating until smooth.
Now add the flour in little by little stirring with a wooden spoon.
Mix in the nuts and chocolate chips.
Let it rest at room temperature, uncovered for 10 minutes.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tray.
Now sprinkle little bit of the dry flour mixed chopped walnuts on top of each muffin.
Place the tray on the center rack of the oven and bake for 15-20 mins at 350 deg F. or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Take the muffin tray out and let it cool for 10 minutes before removing them out onto a rack to cool completely.
Enjoy them warm.
Cooking made easy:
Mixing the nuts with the flour prevents it from sinking into the batter.
To make muffins you don't necessarily need an electric mixer . You could just use a simple whisk. It will strengthen the arm muscles.;) Just kidding. The truth is there is not that much of mixing/ beating involved. The only thing that you have to worry about is making sure the butter is at room temperature, mixed with sugar and that the eggs are beaten well. The rest only need to be stirred or mixed gently. Over mixing the batter can make it hard.
Tip for healthy living:
Eating a banana first thing in the morning boosts your metabolism and kick-starts your day. It is a wholesome complete food containing all the essential vitamins and minerals.Banana is rich in potassium and is a known prebiotic.
Food for thought:
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. Robert Louis Stevenson
