Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

"Cookie is the answer.... who cares what the question is..."

Exams over and the kids (and their parents!!) can breathe easy again for some time.

To celebrate the end of her confinement, my daughter had a sleepover planned at our house with two of her closest friends. Having the advantage of being in the same school for over 10 years (for a person like me who has changed over 11 different schools because of my father being in the army, I feel my children are blessed to have the opportunity to continue in the same school for the past so many years). This also means that, apart from being saved from going through the trouble of changing schools every year or two years in addition to having to make the effort to make new friends (which being an introvert I found pretty stressful), they were extremely fortunate to literally grow up with the same group of friends and form a close bond over the years. 

Sadly, now school is over for my daughter and her friends and they have to part ways as each one of them has to choose a path that will lead them to their destiny. But that does not necessarily mean that they have to say their final good-bye's. I am sure their paths will cross again and knowing them they will always be there for each other. The sweet memories of their schooldays will forever be there for them to cherish in their hearts. God bless them and may they all be successful in whatever endeavor they choose and whichever path they plan to tread on.

With 4 teenagers in the house I knew my ammunition needed to be ready in the kitchen. Not wanting to spend the whole day in the kitchen, I planned on making goodies which could be had as small bites and most importantly be made without much effort.

I got down to work and by the time the army arrived I was completely ready for the kitchen raid with chocolate chip cookies, pizza rolls and a chocolate cake lying ready in the refrigerator for the hungry battalion to feed on their nightly escapades.

I was happy and satisfied as the chocolate chip cookies, which I adapted from Betty Crocker were a big hit with the girls. More so because they were such a breeze to make. 

I added an extra egg and opted out of adding nuts as I know few kids (read my son) totally dislike nuts. I also upped the chocolate content by adding in extra cocoa powder and chocolate chunks which I knew would hit the right spot with the kids.

Ingredients (makes about 15-20 medium sized cookies)
100 gms Butter or Margarine
11/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1 egg
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 tsp baking soda
11/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup small chocolate chunks

 Method
Heat oven to 180 C.
In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar till smooth.
Stir in vanilla essence and egg and beat till light and fluffy.
Stir in the oats, flour, baking soda and salt.
Stir in the chocolate chips and the chocolate chunks.
Onto a greased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoon about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 10 -12 minutes or until golden brown.
Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Note; Cookie dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before baking. If it becomes too firm, let stand at room temperature.

Triple Chocolate Cookies: A Sweet Start To Year 2014

Don’t Think About Yesterday, Think About Tomorrow Because Tomorrow Is A Chance To Correct The Mistake Of Yesterday. 
                           

Another year has passed!! Another year to look forward to!! 

As we bid goodbye to year 2013 and welcome a brand new year 2014, I would like to wish everyone an amazing year ahead full of peace, hope and happiness. Lets all pledge to begin a new chapter by starting on a fresh note, leaving the burden of unpleasant memories behind and making way for better ones in the future. Lets all try and find the good and positive in things rather than focus on the negative, as in the end the only person who stands to lose is yourself. 

I know many of you must have set high goals for yourself to accomplish in the New Year, but this year I have decided not to make any New Year resolutions. I plan to take each day as it comes, enjoying each and every moment as it dawns on me. 

Let me also take this moment to thank my wonderful family and friends for all their support and encouragement and for always been there whenever I have needed them. I feel blessed to be surrounded and loved by such amazing people. 

What could be a better way to welcome this wonderful year than with these delicious Triple Chocolate cookies made by my dear son. 

Recently, there has been a lot of excitement in my house as I was gifted a 'Kitchen Aid mixer' (my dream machine) by my husband on our 20th Anniversary, and more than anyone else my son has been dying to use it. So, he decided that the first thing to be made in the mixer were to be cookies and being a great fan of chocolates he zeroed in on a recipe with three different kinds of chocolates - dark, white and milk.

Packing a powerful punch of chocolate, nothing could be more delicious than these lusciously rich, dense, soft chewy cookies. When you take a bite into the cookies, the irregular chunks of chopped chocolate give you a lovely burst of melted fudgy chocolate. But, you can also use ready-made chocolate chips if you prefer. 

Be careful not to over-bake them, so once you see the edges just beginning to set and turn slightly brown, take them out. They will continue to bake on the hot baking tray. 

I suggest with the weather turning bitterly cold outside, these cookies would be the perfect comforting thing to make, to lift up your mood and perk you up.

Go ahead and try them out right now. You will thank me, as believe me, nothing could be more delicious than these super duper dose of Triple Chocolate cookies.

Ingredients

50 gm dark chocolate, (roughly chopped)

50 gm white chocolate, (roughly chopped)

50 gms milk chocolate, (roughly chopped)

150 gm butter softened

150 gm caster sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

200 gms flour

2 tsp baking powder

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C. 
Lightly grease 2 baking sheets/trays. Chop all the chocolate into small chunks.

                               

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. 
Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. 
Stir in the chocolate. 
Sift the flour and baking powder and beat into the mixture, until well combined.

Place round tablespoon of the mixture onto the baking sheets leaving plenty of space around each one. 
Shape each mound into a round and flatten slightly with the back of a spoon. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. 

Allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy with a hot glass of milk!!

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

                        

Today sonny boy decided to take over my kitchen!!

He's been wanting to make chocolate chip cookies for a long time and today he finally took the initiative to get around to making them. Somehow the kids  have been really busy enjoying life fully in these summer holidays and simply don't have time for anything or anyone. Their body clocks too, have gone totally haywire as they sleep late, wake up very very late, because of which, at present, nothing is being done on time. But frankly, unlike my hubby, who doesn't approve of their strange sleeping habits, I feel it is okay as this is the only time off they get to really relax and enjoy and except for the in-between nagging to finish off their holiday homework, I just let them be. After all, I too have done the same things as a child and realize how much these holidays mean to them before the buggery of school starts.

So, when my son showed serious interest (he has been wanting to make these for quite a while, but somehow other things kept him busy enough to sidetrack him) in wanting to make the cookies, I gave him the green signal and an absolute run of my kitchen. My proposal to make it all by himself, without absolutely any help  from my side was met with an instant approval and a joyful jump. I knew I wouldn't be able to resist the slightest opportunity to jump in and 'interfere', so to keep myself away, I left for the swimming pool, after of course showing him where the ingredients were kept and how to set the oven temperature, as the cookies had to be done in 2-3 batches. Keeping my fingers tightly crossed that he doesn't burn himself while handling the hot cookies and my kitchen doesn't turn into a war zone, I kept my mind off the present situation by cooling myself off in the pool.

Boy!! was I in for a surprise on reaching back home. As I opened the front door, I was greeted first by a delicious waft of baked cookies and then by the lovely sight of two trays of cookies cooling off in the baking tray and looking at the size of the jumbo cookies I could make out how much fun he must have had.

You can't imagine at that moment, how proud I was feeling off my son. Infact, I even told him that he should go ahead and become a chef, (which he vehemently disagreed to) so I could bum off all the recipes from him!!(wouldn't that be fun)

Seriously the cookies were incredible, probably one of the best I have tasted so far. And this is not because they were made by my little guy, they were seriously delicious -  crispy on the edges and nice and chewy in the middle. 

This is a recipe that is not only great to taste but is really simple to make. It is perfect to make when you are short of time and want to come up with something delicious in a jiffy. So go ahead and treat yourself and your loved ones with this yummy treat.

Ingredients
1 cup butter softened
1 cup white sugar 
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs 
2 tsp vanilla essence
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven to 175 C.
Cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar till soft and creamy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Add in the vanilla essence.
Dissolve baking soda in hot water.
Add to batter along with the salt.
Drop spoonfuls onto a greased baking pan making sure to leave enough space for the cookies to expand.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes in a preheated ovens till the edges are brown.
Remove from the oven and cool for 5 -10 minutes.

Sheer happiness !!

Vedant's jumbo chocolate chip cookie

Honey and Prunes Oatmeal Cookies

This is the time of the year when I am the busiest!! With 3 birthdays (one of which includes mine too) in a row, falling right one after the other, there is hardly any time to breathe. It all starts with my daughter's birthday on the 25th of April followed by my son's on the 11th of May and finally ending with mine on the 14th of May. But for us - its a happy time of the year, full of fun and excitement and loads of "sweet" celebrations. I just thank God that the kids are grown up and I no longer have to spend sleepless nights organizing their birthday parties (with hardly a breather for me between the two birthdays) baking and icing birthday cakes, managing to keep busy a dozen of highly energetic kids. Life is so much simpler now with kids preferring to take their friends out to the mall for a birthday treat. But on second thoughts, I do miss those times too - even though they were exhausting it was good fun decorating the whole house with balloons and streamers, planning the menu, the birthday games, slaving over their specifically demanded birthday cakes (from a barbie doll cake to teddy bears, Powerpuff girls, Ben 10 to Power Rangers) and forgetting about all the hard work you put in after seeing the excitement on their little faces and the shine in their eyes on seeing their birthday cake. Those little moments are truly precious and will always remain close to my heart. Even though they are considerably grown up now (my daughter just turned 17 and my son will be 12 in another 3 days) the tradition of baking their birthday cakes at home still goes on. In fact there are always two cakes, one to cut at 12 0 clock at night to welcome in the birthday and another, a more elaborate one to cut the next day with friends and family.

This year on my daughters birthday, in addition to an Orange Chocolate Cake and a Chocolate Beetroot Cake (she is a die-hard chocolate fan), I also baked some cookies for her to share with her friends. The original recipe asked for cranberries but as I did not have any dried cranberries, I used prunes instead. I also added a dash of honey in the end, the sweetness of the honey complimenting the freshness of the orange flavor. Incredibly easy to make the cookies were deliciously soft and chewy with a delicate hint of orange and honey. With the summer holidays just around the corner, go ahead and plan to make these with your little ones. I am sure they will love it !!

Ingredients

100 gm butter

100 gm castor sugar

2 tbsp orange juice

Grated zest of 1 orange

100 gmsplain flour 

1 tsp baking powder

100 gms rolled oats ( I used Quaker's oats)

50 gms dried prunes, chopped

25 gms candied orange peels

50 gms raisins 

2 tsp honey

1 tsp dried orange powder 

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C.
Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
Place the butter and sugar in a saucepan and heat gently, stirring until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Stir in the orange juice and orange zest. Remove from heat and beat in the remaining ingredients.
Place dessert spoonfuls of the mixture on a baking tray allowing enough space for the mixture to spread.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes till slightly browned on the top.
Allow to cool for a minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

               
I don't know if this is the same with all the boys or just my boy  but I find it an absolutely herculean task to get my son to study. Exams being just around the corner, I can see no signs of anxiety in him. In fact, I am more nervous and tense ( I think all mothers go through this phase of anxiety pangs during this particular time, barring a few lucky ones, who are blessed with kids who study on their own) as contrast to his calm disposition towards his exams.
 Though I had resolved that this time I will not teach him for his exams (in an attempt to get him into a habit of studying independently) even though it might be at the cost of his marks. But seeing no progress towards starting his preparations for the exams, my anxiety got the better of me and promising myself to keep my resolve for the next exams, I finally issued him an ultimatum to come to me with his books.
I thought it best to begin with social studies as it had a really vast course (with 16 chapters coming altogether in History, Civics and Geography - I actually pity the poor kid). We started off  with the chapter "Rocks and Minerals". Midway through the chapter, was an explanation about the formation of rocks, where the rocks were compared to chocolate cookies. The book gave a  detailed explanation about how like a chocolate cookie was made up of chocolate, sugar, butter etc, similarly a rock was made of many minerals. I had hardly even completed my sentence when my boy announced, "Mom! I am feeling really hungry! How long do you think it takes to make these cookies?"
One look at him and from his  expression, I could already make out that after this concentrating on the lesson would be hard for him. Guiltily, I gave in but not without getting him to promise to make it up by an extra hour of studies (How wicked we mothers can be !!)
I hurriedly searched through my recipe books for a quick and easy recipe and finally found one which I thought would come out the best (I think I was as excited as he was since I hadn't fed my poor blog for a long time and obviously was feeling the withdrawal pangs). 
The cookies were perfectly delicious in every way - buttery and crisp with loads of chocolate chips inside them and so easy to make. Couldn't have asked for anything better........

A much better pastime than studying !!

Ingredients
1/3 cup castor sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
100 gms butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
11/4 cups flour
250 gms chocolate chips
1 egg

Method
Set the oven to 185C
In a mixing bowl beat the butter with both kinds of sugar till soft and creamy.
Add an egg into the butter mixture and beat until smooth.
Then add the vanilla essence and mix again.
Next, add  in the flour, salt and baking soda to the mixture a little at a time.
Stir everything together until smooth.
Now add the chocolate chips to the mixture and stir them in until they are spread evenly through the cookie dough.
Butter a baking tray and spoon small mounds of the dough onto it, leaving lots of space between the mounds.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until they are an even golden brown.
Keep aside to cool.
This batter will give you about 18 big sized cookies.
Once they are completely cool transfer them to an airtight container to keep them crisp and fresh - though you don't have to worry about this one as they definitely won't last that long.

Valentine Peanut Butter Cookies

 It was Valentines Day yesterday and to celebrate this love filled day  I, along with my daughter and son excitedly set about to make Valentine Day Cookies. Its another story that the recipe turned out entirely different than what we had actually started with. 
I searched out a recipe for "Vanilla and Sugar Cookies" from the net, which looked absolutely perfect to me. We began alright, with my son and daughter both taking positions on either side of me, ready to take the challenge heads on. I too was looking forward to trying out the new recipe as I did not have much experience in making cookies, especially Royal Icing with which we were planning to ice the cookies with. 
Armed with the recipe in front of me, I started giving instructions. My son started measuring out the butter and sugar in a bowl, and on my other side, my daughter, was measuring the flour in a measuring cup. While I had all my attention on my son, as I was trying to tell him that when he turns the hand mixer on it should be on low speed to insure that the sugar doesn't go flying all over the place, my daughter having finished measuring the flour,was asking me what to do with it. 
I told her to put it in a separate bowl, maybe I wasn't clear enough because before I knew it she had dumped the flour in the bowl with the sugar and butter. When I realized what had happened I totally froze because as per the recipe we were supposed to beat the butter and sugar till really fluffy, then put in the eggs and in the end the flour. Standing there for a moment I just didn't know what to do. The first thought that came to my mind was to salvage the ingredients. I thought of adding more eggs and milk to the mixture and make a cake - maybe that could have been a possibility but looking at the disappointed look on my children s faces, I decided to just go ahead and take a chance at making the cookies.
I added one egg and then beat the flour, butter and sugar mixture really well with a electric beater but even after a few minutes the sugar was still grainy and the mixture was really dry like breadcrumbs. I added one more egg to the mixture but still didn't seem to make much of a difference. Then I thought of adding peanut butter as I thought it  might help the mixture to come together. I  rolled up my sleeves, added in the peanut butter and started kneading the dough. After about 5 minutes, the dough seemed more soft and pliable. Relieved, I kept the dough in the fridge to rest for 10 minutes. Later, to test the dough, whether it would actually work, I rolled out a small  piece and keeping my fingers crossed put it in the preheated oven to bake. It worked!! The cookies actually tasted great!! Excitedly, I called out to the kids, who had left the kitchen earlier disappointed. Hearing all wasn't doomed, they rushed back, all ready for the next step. Everyone had great fun - cutting, baking and then decorating the cookies just the way they wanted.
Down below I am giving both the methods, the original (just omit 1 egg and the peanut butter) and my new found one. Go ahead and make whichever one you prefer.

Ingredients
1 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp peanut butter
 For the Royal Icing
1 egg white
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups Icing sugar, sifted


Original Method
In a bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, baking powder and salt. 
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. 
Add the egg and vanilla and beat on low speed until well mixed. 
Beating on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture and continue to beat till incorporated.
  Press the dough into a rough rectangle, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 10 - 12 minutes until firm.
Preheat the oven to 180C. 
 Roll out the dough until 1/4 inch thick. 
Using cookie cutters, cut the cookies into the desired shapes.
Use a metal spatula to transfer the cookies to the prepared sheets, spacing them 1 inch thick. Press the dough scraps together, roll out, and cut out additional shapes.
Bake the cookies until they are lightly golden around the edges but the tops are barely colored, 14 -16 minutes.
 Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes. Using the metal spatula, transfer to wire racks and let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
 Decorate the cookies as desired.
My Method
In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, butter and sugar till the mixture resembles that of fresh breadcrumbs.
Add in the 2 eggs,salt and vanilla essence. Beat again 2 -3 minutes.
Next add the peanut butter and knead the dough well with your hands till the dough comes together and is soft.
 Press the dough into a rough rectangle, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 10 - 12 minutes until firm.

.For the rest, follow the same steps as above.

For Royal Icing : In a bowl, beat the egg white with the lemon juice with an electric mixer until combined. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth. Using a small knife, push the icing to the edge of the cookie. If the icing runs off the edge, thicken the icing by adding a little more confectioners sugar. Conversely, if the icing is too thick, add a little water.The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.

       

Humble cocoa cookies

Humble cocoa cookies

Ingredients:-

5 Tbsp butter (apprx. 100 gms.)

½ cup cocoa

2 cup flour

¼ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

½ cup chocolate chips

1/3 cup yogurt

1 tbsp water or milk

Method:-

Preheat oven to 180 C.

In a bowl melt butter. Mix cocoa sugar with butter.

Add remaining ingredients and whisk till smooth.

Add milk if you want slightly thin batter.

Take a spoonful of batter and roll it between your hands to form smooth balls.

Place them on cookie sheets and flatten with the palm of your hands or the back of a glass.

Bake for 8 – 10 minutes.

Allow to cool for 3 – 4 minutes before removing.

This is the first time that I tried making cookies. They came out a little softer than I had expected though my kids loved them. If you want slightly firmer cookies bake them for an extra 2-3 minutes. Let them cool totally (its going to be difficult to keep the kids away) before serving.