Another long overdue post. I'm not sure when I baked these cookies but I think it was around last month. Didn't get the time to write up a proper post, and since I'm being so unproductive academic-wise tonight, I might as well be productive blog-wise :P

So, as you can tell from the title of this post, this recipe is about a cookie within a cookie. To be specific, an oreo cookie within a chocolate chip cookie. I first came across this idea from a really cute baking blog, Picky Palate. Every sweet tooth should really check this blog out! And really, the name of the recipe alone sounds fantastic - what's not to love about the idea of everyone's favourite sandwich cookie stuffed in a good old traditional chocolate chip cookie?

I still remember how these cookies came about. I was having a really bad day and I just had this overwhelming urge to bake. On the train home I suddenly thought of this recipe, and that I had a huge bag of mini oreos at home. The original recipe used normal-sized double stuffed oreos but I decided mini oreos could do too. I had to make two trips to two different supermarkets in a bid to find the cookie mix (the first supermarket I went to didn't stock it) but it was well worth it. No better therapy than baking, I say. My mood lifted the minute I plucked the box off the shelf. :)

These cookies are both ridiculously easy and ridiculously yummy. The recipe is a no-brainer - click on the link above for it! Basically, just follow the instructions on the box mix (I followed the original recipe and used Betty Crocker), then wrap up an oreo cookie with some cookie dough to make one proper stuffed cookie. As stated in the original recipe, remember to completely seal up your oreo cookie with the dough. It's a really cute surprise for your unsuspecting family and friends!

More notes: because I used mini oreos, I didn't use as much dough as the original recipe called for. I find that having two mini oreos within a cookie is much more satisfying than one. ;) Oh, and one more thing: sticking the dough into the fridge for a while helps - it hardens the dough slightly and makes it less sticky and easier to shape.

I'm having another bout of cookie craving already just looking through my old photos. Maybe it's time to whip up another batch? :P

Labels: chocolate, cookies, oreos

2011 will end in nearly five hours here! It's been a great year, and I have many things to be thankful for. Even though I don't have celebratory plans this New Year's Eve, I'm still pretty excited about the new year - both excited and nervous, to be honest - and what it will bring! I'm going to graduate and (hopefully) find a job that I will truly enjoy in 2012. It's not going to be an easy year. Bring it on, I say!

My last baking attempt of 2011 was the most yummylicious Red Wine Chocolate Cake, which I baked twice during the Christmas period as gifts for my family and friends. It's a really delicious cake. It's really soft but at the same time, a very solid cake - not the crumbly sort. The red wine taste is subtle and just right. Everyone loved it and there just wasn't enough to go around - I barely had enough for myself! :( Nevermind, though - I'm glad to have found such a keeper of a recipe that I can use many times in the new year!



I took the recipe from a cooking blog that I really enjoy reading, 17andbaking. I barely made any changes to the recipe, except for a few - I simply couldn't find Dutch cocoa powder here, so I used normal cocoa powder from Red Man, a local brand, but didn't make the adjustments indicated for natural-processed cocoa. The red wine I used wasn't any quality one either - it was some bottle that I picked up from the Airport's Duty-Free store :P. Lastly, I didn't have a tin that was exactly 9x5 inch; mine was slightly smaller but still worked. Anyhow, the cake turned out most delish anyway :)

Here's the recipe below. Enjoy, and Happy New Year! :)

Red Wine Chocolate Cake
Adapted from 17andbaking

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (6 7/8 ounces) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (4 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
3/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (2 5/8 ounces) Dutch cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Steps
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Butter and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan.

Beat the butter on medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugars and cream until lightened and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg until well combined, then mix in the wine, yogurt, and vanilla. The batter might look curdled, but don’t worry. Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir with a spoon until there are no streaks of flour left, scraping down the sides of the bowl and being careful not to over mix.

Scrape the batter into the loaf pan and bake 60-70 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool the loaf in the pan on a rack for 10-15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and turn it out.

Labels: cake, chocolate, festive, wine

There is nothing more heartwarming than a dish well-remembered from childhood. I'm fortunate enough to have plenty of those. They include home-cooked dishes with rice, the simplest and most homely chocolate cake I've ever had from my old neighbourhood bakery, and round sandwich cookies with a sweet, chewy jam centre.

And then there's marble cake.

Funnily enough, I didn't start out liking marble cake. It was a frequent appearance for breakfast and afternoon snacks, but it was more popular with my mum and sister. I didn't hate it, but I didn't particularly like the taste either. Gooey, creamy cakes were more my thing.

Perhaps you could say that my taste has changed as I grew older, or maybe it's simply an acquired taste for me. I now appreciate marble cake for how simple it is - both to make and to eat. Good on its own, even better with a mug of steaming coffee.



I made this cake on 9th August, National Day. I proclaim it my birthday cake to Singapore - I mean, it's only fitting that I present a cake I grew up on to the country I grew up in, right? ;)

This recipe is a keeper. It's so simple and fuss-free, and with wonderful results. The texture is perfect. The chocolate was just right. And I absolutely love how yellow the cake is. It has always seemed a bit miraculous to me, silly as it sounds - how does marble cake get so yellow when you don't add any yellow food colouring?



To celebrate the fact that I was baking a whole cake for no special reason (it's kind of a big deal for me, seeing how cupcakes and cookies are more typically my thing), I went out and bought an 8-inch cake tin. I'm glad I used that instead of my 9-inch one. I love fat, springy cakes, and I imagine that it'd have been much flatter if I had used a larger tin.



I took the recipe from BBC. Judging from the number of positive reviews on the website, you definitely can't go wrong!

Enjoy! :)

Labels: cake, chocolate, marble cake

I have made a resolution. Now, I know myself very well when it comes to resolution-making. I tend to hold up pretty well the first few months, then I - for want of a better word - regress. I procrastinate, whine, complain, or just plain forget... and the resolution becomes naught.

I really hope that this time round things will be different, because this particular resolution is of great relevance to this blog.

I've resolved to bake or cook at least twice a month. Every month - even the busiest, schoolwork-filled ones. Two times may not sound like a lot to some, but I have to be realistic with myself (and my finances). That, and the fact that my folks start to grumble about electricity bills when I use the oven a bit too much.

In a way, this will be healthy for me in a spiritual sense. I've always found baking extremely therapeutic, so during the exam period this may actually do me some good! I've even gotten a cute notebook to record down what I bake every month. Sounds lame but I really enjoy recording things (weird, I know) so it makes this all the more fun!

So. Anyway, kicking off this resolution is my first baking attempt of August 2011: flourless chocolate cookies!



The thing that attracted me most about this recipe is the lack of flour and butter. How could it be? It seems like icing sugar is the substitution here. Anyway, the recipe seems easy enough, and saves money on ingredients... so I thought, why not?

These cookies are best consumed right out of the oven, warm and gooey and fudgy and sticky. Sadly, most of mine turned out to be any shape but round. Any advice on how to make cookies round, people?

These cookies are still good when they cool. My sister's friend loved them, but I felt they weren't spectacular or anything. Maybe it's because they are no longer fudgy and sticky once cooled, and I feel like the whole point of the cookie is lost then.



I do love how glossy the cookies look though. :)

I took the recipe from Recipe Girl. Click on the link for the original recipe!

On a side note, when you bake at midnight with a recipe that only calls for egg white, all the excess egg yolk can only mean one thing...



... A very eggy, very yellow supper! I could have fixed something more presentable, like pudding, but I'm still a novice at cracking eggs and the majority of the yolks broke :(

So... one down for the month. What to make for my 2nd attempt of August? *ponders... till the next post!*

Labels: chocolate, cookies

I know, I know... Nutella again?

Labels: brownie, chocolate, nutella

Cheesy as it seems, I want to say this - welcome to my new Food Blog!

Introductions-wise, there's nothing much to say because I've put it all up on my blogger profile; basically, I'm studying in University now, 21 years old and I love to cook and bake. Two simple reasons behind the birth of this blog.

I didn't know what recipe to start off with, but it didn't take me long enough to decide that it was best to begin with something simple.





Chocolate chip cookies!

Without a doubt, this is my favourite type of cookie. Chocolate cookies remind me of cold wintry days (even though we don't get winter here, but I can dream all the same), steaming cups of milo and snuggly mornings in bed. They're simple, loved by all and difficult to go wrong with. But somehow, for me, it's a recipe that's very hard to master.

I've tried several chocolate chip recipes now and by far, this one is my favourite. It's posted on the Neiman Marcus website, and according to them there's a myth behind this recipe (I don't know what it is though, they refused to tell!). Maybe it's partially due to the fact that I got a new oven recently, but these cookies are chewy and chocolatey enough, and I just love that brownish-but-not-too-brown colour! I made them last night while my siblings watched the National Day Parade; it was fun, bursting into national day songs together while stirring dough, fighting greedy hands off my dough, and seeing how eager everyone was to try them when they came out of the oven, freshly baked.

I love how this recipe is so simple. I had practically everything on hand for this. It's going to be my go-to cookie recipe for now - so easy to whip up when the homemade cookies craving strikes. I'm still not 100% satisfied though - that's how I am with chocolate chip cookies. There are so many different recipes out there, all labelled as someone's favourite, that I know I'm going to try out a new one sooner or later in the hope that those will top the recipe I currently have.

Who knew simplicity could be so hard to achieve?




Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg (I used two small eggs in replacement as I didn't have any large ones)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (As I didn't have any, I used baking powder here instead)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I omitted this as my butter was salted)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder (I used cocoa powder as a replacement - it worked out fine!)
1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream the butter with the sugars using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy (approximately 30 seconds).

2. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract for another 30 seconds.

3. In a mixing bowl, sift together the dry ingredients and beat into the butter mixture at low speed for about 15 seconds. Stir in the espresso coffee powder and chocolate chips.

4. Using a 1 ounce scoop or 2 tablespoon measure, drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Gently press down on the dough with the back of a spoon to spread out into a 2 inch circle. Bake for about 20 minutes or until nicely browned around the edges. Bake a little longer for a crispier cookie.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies (I got around 3 dozen instead. Oh well, the more the better!)

Labels: chocolate, cookies, neiman marcus