Vanilla Cookies with Chunky Chocolate

 Hearty vanilla cookies loaded with chunks and chunks of chocolate bites, oh cookies you are so wonderful

I have been on cookies quest so how come the amazing vanilla cookies loaded with chocolate chunk could be missed. The best things about these cookies is their wonderful taste and texture, chewy yet soft. Couple of important things to remember, do not over mix the dough and chilling for at least 3 hours. It’s advised to use egg for the wonderful chewiness in cookies but I avoid it as much as I could and replace it with curd. Please try to use thick curd and not runny one. Have everything at room temperature before you start working on you cookies. I can keep writing about how wonderful these cookies look and taste, but like to leave you just there with the recipe, try yourself and let me know.

2 cup Flour

½ cup Granular Sugar

½ cup Brown Sugar

½ cup Butter

½ cup Curd

½ Teaspoon Baking Soda

½ Teaspoon Baking Powder

½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 Cup chopped dark chocolate

Cream the butter for 2mins until light and then add both the sugars. Beat till its light and pale in color. Add curd and vanilla extract and beat for another minute.

Shift the flour, baking soda and baking power together. Add the chopped chocolate chunks

Add this dry mixture in the wet mix small amount at a time and mix till the all of the flour mixture is incorporated. You will get a dough, which is quite easy to handle. If you find yours too sticky don’t worry and if its too hard you and sprinkle a tablespoon milk to loosen it up. Try not to over work the dough, you will not get the right texture

 

Bring the dough together by gently working on it and make a ball, wrap it with cling film and keep in the refrigerator for chilling for at least three hours

Pre-heat the oven at 180 Degree C

Take out the dough from refrigerator and make 11-12 dough balls. Line the baking tray with baking paper and place them slighting apart from each other

You might need to press the dough balls a bit to help them get the cookie shape sooner if the dough it too hard after chilling

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden in color

Chocolate Cake Batter Cookies with Almonds

Chewy, fudgy and rich chocolate cookies loaded with Almond crunchy goodness.

The world of easy cookie recipe cant be any better than this. When you have the most easy recipe at your hand which would yield you the better than the best tasting cookies, you just cant be happier. I am a sucker of simple or rather I should confess “Simplest recipes”. Complex and elaborated recipes are for Chefs and Professional not for home bakers. We bake for taste, joy and above all love. Love for baking, love for the products, love for the entire home fill with the great aroma of baking and above all for people who gonna eat our dishes.

I have been a “Crazy Cookie Lady” lately. Whatever spared minutes and seconds I have got from my busy life, I spend it searching, surfing and reading cookie recipes. Chocolate, vanilla, whole wheat, coffee, fruit flavor based, crunchy, chewy or soft..there is no limit of variances. I came across cake batter cookies…Voila!! Well to tell you honestly it was not a new thing to me. Few cakes I made in my teens but more like cookies then cakes but I did not know at that time there could be such a thing like cake batter cookies.

This recipe is dedicated to all the people who think cookie baking is technical, go through the steps and you would be baking these lovely cookies even before you know it.

1 Pack Cake mix (I used Pillsbury’s chocolate cake mix)

½ cup refined oil (Canola, Sunflower anything will work)

1 Cup curd ( or 2 eggs)

1 Teaspoon Baking powder

1 Teaspoon Vanilla exract

1 Cup chopped Almond, take out 1/3 of this for decoration

Preheat oven to 180 °C.

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix well. The mixture not be that wet and will take some efforts to get it all combine. Chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Pour chopped almonds onto a plate.  Form dough into tablespoon-sized balls and roll in the almonds.

Line a tray with baking paper and place prepared dough balls on it giving enough space to expand.

Bake 10 minutes. Let cool on the sheet for another 10 -15 minutes after removing from the oven.  

You will not be able to resist these chewy and fudgy chocolaty bits.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownie

Dark chocolate gooey brownie combined with peanut crunch and peanut butter cups.

What do you do, when you have super simple (don’t tell anyone) brownie recipe and got some peanut butter cups. Yeah we don’t get peanut butter cups everywhere in India so it get a special stature. I have read quite a few peanut butter recipes in books and on internet. So I thought to give it a go, to combine chocolate and peanut butter flavor. I wanted to play with the textures too and I roasted the peanut in oven with some salt until golden brown. These brownies are special for one more reason that it achieves that salty, sweet, chocolaty and butter balance. I layered brownie, then roasted peanuts with chopped peanut butter cups followed by milk chocolate ganach. How good is that??? Heaven!! That’s the work.

Now we have a new favorite brownie and don’t mind baking them every now and then.

2 ½ Cup Plain Dark Chocolate Chopped

1 Cup unsalted butter

3 Eggs

1 ¼ Cup Light Brown Sugar

3/4 Cup  Flour

1/2 Tps Baking Powder

1/2 Tps baking Soda

1 Cup gm Peanut (Skin Removed)

1 Cup Chopped Peanut Butter Cup

½ Cup Chopped Milk chocolate

½ cup Heavy Cream                      

Preheat the oven at 190 ºC. Grease and line a square baking tin.

Spread 2 Tablespoon salt on the baking tray and spread the peanut on it. Roast for 10-12 min at 210 ºC or until golden brown. You don’t want them to get brown. Remove the salt and set aside.

Melt the plain chocolate and butter in microwave for 2 min but keep string it every 30 sec or you can melt them in heavy base saucepan.

Beat Together eggs and sugar then beat in the melted chocolate mixture.

Shift together flour and baking powder and add this is in wet mixture. Add walnuts and mix to bring everything together.

Pour the batter in the baking tin and spread the roasted peanuts and chopped peanut butter cups evenly. Press this layer with light hands in the batter.

Bake for 40 minute at 190 ºC until cake feels just firm on the crust but soft underneath. Please do not overcook or the brownies will be dry. Leave to cool in the tin

Warm the heavy cream in a heavy bottom pan and add chopped milk chocolate and tip a tablespoon butter and mix well. Remove from heat and let it thicken a bit

Spread the cooled ganach over the cooled brownie and cut into square.