Wholesome with wholewheat!

Decadent is the word we associate with lot of baked creations. Which they are, mostly. But this post is about something not so rich. It is about something you would call wholesome, healthy, scrumptious and non-baked! Whole wheat Banana Pancakes!

Every once in a while I prepare pancakes for breakfast, from scratch. We love our pancakes. It's like having a treat at breakfast. Also, I enjoy the process of making them. Measuring and whisking and finally watching the pancakes fluff up on the frying pan.
But my recipe for original pancakes uses all purpose flour. Not a very healthy option for a meal, I know. So, although that recipe is a keeper, which I might share on this blog in future, I was looking for a healthier version.

This recipe was perfect because it uses whole wheat flour. And bananas. Banana-anything is welcome at our home. And Cinnamon. I love the combination of bananas and cinnamon. You can view the original recipe here.

For the pancakes to rise and get their trademark thickness you need some rising agent amongst the ingredients. Most of the pancake recipes I have come across use eggs and baking powder. Loads and loads of baking powder for one breakfast I say. Quantity enough to make one 8" round pound cake. Why not use the egg white meringue power instead to make the pancakes fluff up, I thought. So I have reduced the baking powder by half and whipped the egg whites to stiff peaks to get thick pancakes. A hand mixer comes handy for this purpose, though two egg whites can be easily whipped by hand.

I added a tablespoon or two of sugar to the batter. You can omit it if your bananas are very sweet. May be next time I will go for brown sugar. It would give a beautiful flavour too. Yum!

If you are looking for healthy, tasty and guilt-free option for pancakes, these are it. Hope you would give these a try. Here's the recipe:

Whole wheat Banana Pancakes

Yields 10-12 pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour/ atta
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder
1 pinch of salt
2 Bananas, ripe or overripe
2 Eggs, separated
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Cup Milk, room temperature
3 Tbsp Butter or Ghee, melted
1 - 2 Tbsp sugar

Steps:

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. This is the bowl in which you'll be preparing your batter.

In a separate smaller bowl mash the bananas. Add egg yolks, milk, vanilla extract, melted butter and sugar. Mix and set aside.

Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks using a whisk. A hand held mixer would do this job in less than two minutes.

Pour the wet ingredients into dry in 2-3 batches, stirring just until mixed. Fold the whipped egg whites into the batter in two additions.

Heat a skillet/fry pan. Pour about 1/4 cup or ladle full of batter in the pan. Let it cook on medium flame till bubbles appear on top and the edges of the pancake become dull and loose their shine. This is an indication that the pancake is done at the bottom. Flip the pancake and let cook on other side for 1-2 minutes.
Serve warm.

Serving suggestions:

Serve the pancakes warm with honey, fresh fruits, fresh fruits, whipped cream or even Nutella. Kids would love these studded with some chocolate chips.


Happy Cooking!
Shwe

Choco bliss: a bite at a time

Happy Leap day!
I have been meaning to share a couple of recipes this past month but haven't been able to do so. Well, starting this year I wanted there to be at least one post per month. 2-3 would be better, 4-5 would be great! Alas, we don't get to live in dreamland. But life, on Earth, does give you small yet meaningful gifts including an odd extra day every couple of years. Today morning when I was sulking, thinking 'There goes my resolution regarding this blog', I realized all is not lost! And here I am trying to make the most of the '28 dino pe ek din Free!' offer.

On to today's recipe. Chocolate cookies. Yup, nothing fancy, nothing extravagant, no frosting or decoration. Simple chocolate cookies. Simple, yet divine. And eggless.

These cookies are easy to put together and the prepared dough can be stored in refrigerator for about a week. So you can have fresh baked cookies whenever you have a craving. The dough needs to be refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before baking. Refrigerating the dough stops it from spreading too much while baking which yields thicker cookies. You can either shape the cookies immediately, refrigerate them for half an hour and then bake. Or do it the way I did, shape the dough in two logs roughly 1 1/5" in diameter, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate the logs. Then when you want to bake, just unwrap the logs and cut cookies of equal thickness and bake. When doing it this way, ensure that there are not air pockets in the wrapped dough bundle, or the dough becomes dry and the cookies will be very brittle and dry. 

The original recipe is by Nigella Lawson, from here. I find Nigella's recipes a bit rich for my taste and I tend to tweak them a little to get results of my liking. But I haven't tweaked this recipe except for adding some vanilla extract. There was this one time when I even replaced some of the flour with equal weight of ragi flour. The results were equally great. The original recipe calls for a chocolate glaze. I found the cookies scrumptious on their own so I omitted the glaze.

Chocolate is the prominent flavour in this cookie which we get from the cocoa powder, so use the best quality cocoa powder you can get. I used Nilgiri's cocoa powder. 

I have baked these cookies numerous times since last Christmas; they don't last longer than 2-3 days. That is how good they are. I even earned a thumbs up from my kiddo. I hope you will try it out.

Here's the recipe.

Chocolate cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup + 2 Tbsp, 250g butter, room temperature
1 cup, 150g powdered sugar, not icing sugar
1/3 cup, 40 g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups + 2 Tbsp, 300g all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line a cookie baking sheet/tray with parchment paper or baking paper. It helps if you have two sheets so that one sheet can cool while the other is in the oven. If you have only one baking sheet, just let it cool down to room temperature before you bake the subsequent batch.

Cream the butter and sugar till the mixture is fluffy and light in color. Add the vanilla extract and mix.

Sift the cocoa powder. Add to the butter mixture and mix till evenly combined.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and a pinch of salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 2-3 batches. Mix till combined. The dough will be a bit sticky.

Apply some butter or ghee to your palms and roll the dough into 1 to 1.5" round balls, flatten them slightly and place on the baking tray. Try to get all the balls of same size. This ensures that all cookies in a batch are evenly baked. These cookies spread so do not crowd the baking tray. Keep 1" gaps. Place baking sheet in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Place the baking sheet in oven and bake for 10 - 12 minutes. The time will vary by 2-3 minutes based on the size and thickness of the cookie. The cookies will be soft when you take them out of the oven, but they will harden once cooled. Baking a small batch of 2-3 cookies to find the baking time is always better.

Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, them keep them on a cooling rack, a flat sieve (channi/chaalni) works too. Once the cookies are completely cool, keep them in an airtight container.


Happy Baking!
Shwe

"Best of Luck" Brownies

This post is like one of those movies that gets released before other movies which are much ahead of it in the release-date pipeline.

That happened because I was in a hurry; in a hurry to bake a brownie, a fudgy brownie mind you and in a hurry to try out ragi flour in brownies and most importantly to bake these for a cousin who loves chocolate anything and is appearing for her board exams this year. So, many reasons for this film post to be released published before another one which is waiting for it's final edit.

'Why ragi?' you may ask. Ragi or finger millet or nachani is a rich source of calcium, amino acids and fibre. In some regions of southern India, it is used to prepare many dishes like dosa, mudde(steamed balls), porridge etc. Its flour is brownish in color and that tempted me to use it in chocolate flavoured baked goodies. I have tried ragi earlier in chocolate cookies and cakes and the results were great. So, I thought why not try it in a fudgy brownie.

I am not a big fan of 'healthy' desserts, wherein the original flavour or texture of the dessert gets marred by the healthy ingredient. But if the dessert is able to retain its expected form, texture and taste, I am all for it. And, I think brownies don't care about what flour you use in the batter. And who would when there's so much of chocolate in it? Loads of chocolate!

Apart from substituting some ragi flour for all purpose flour, I changed the amount of sugar too. I have reduced the amount of sugar since the chocolate I used was semi-sweet. Amul dark chocolate would fit perfectly here. Also I added small amount of baking powder.
The square pan I used was 8"x8" and it yielded 1.5" thick brownies. I feel that a 9"x9" pan would yield slightly thinner brownies. And thinner is how I would prefer them because these are really rich brownies. The original recipe is here.

Oh rich they are! Rich, sinful and full of chocolatey goodness. Not for the faint-hearted I say. If you love chocolate, I suggest you try these.

Here's the recipe.

Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients: 

5 oz butter, room temperature 
3/4 cup (150 gm) sugar, powdered 
2 eggs 
7 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped 
2/3 cup (96 gm) all purpose flour (I used 80 gm All purpose flour and 16 gm ragi flour) 
1 Tbsp (6 gm) cocoa powder 
1/4 tsp baking powder 
1 pinch of salt 
1 tsp instant coffee powder 
2 tsp warm water 
2 tsp vanilla

Steps:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease, line a 8" square baking pan. Keep length of the paper such that some of it hangs over two opposite edges of the pan. This helps remove the brownie easily. For 8" square pan, cut paper of 8"x14".
In a small bowl mix together the warm water and coffee granules, set aside.

Put chocolate in a pan and keep it on a double boiler to melt it. Once melted, set aside.
You can do this step in a microwave too, just keep a close watch and do it in small bursts of 10-15 seconds, stirring after each time.

Whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, ragi flour (if using), baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and mix properly. Add vanilla and coffee mixture. Mix till combined.

Add the warm melted chocolate and mix. Add dry ingredients and mix just till combined.

Spread the batter in prepared pan and level the top using a spoon. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Check for doneness 32 minutes. The toothpick or skewer should come out will some moist crumbs sticking to it but not wet batter. Once baked, remove from oven and let cool in pan 10 minutes.

Remove from pan by lifting the over-hang of paper lining that we kept. Cut into bars and enjoy!
For cleaner cuts and easier handling, refrigerate the whole brownie slab for 1 hour and then cut into pieces.


Happy Baking! 
Shwe

Ringing in the new year....

Happy new year, dear readers!

This new year, I start by bringing to you this very special Christmas fruit cake recipe. I cannot boast of a favourite family Christmas cake recipe which has been passed on from previous generations. So, I thought, I get to choose/discover one of my own!

I love the Christmas fruit cake, or plum cake as it is called in southern India. I have been trying different recipes over past couple of years. And this time around I can proudly say that I nailed it. Well, I found what I was looking for. A fruit-rich, moist, dark and flavourful christmas cake. It is easy and quick too.

I watched couple of videos and read couple of recipes before finalising the recipe. The main inspiration for the recipe is the Easy Fruit Cake by Stephanie of Joy of Baking. This cake is also called 'Boiled fruit cake' because the fruits are cooked in a mixture of sugar, water and spices. It aids the fruits to soak in all the flavours. This is a good news for those who did not soak their fruits in advance, this recipe doesn't call for it!

The recipe does not contain too many spices. Just three of them, which can be easily found in any Indian kitchen. For dry fruits, I used a combination of raisins, cranberries, prunes, apricots. Prunes add a lot of moistness to the final cake. You can also add chopped nuts like almonds, cashews, pistachios. The last time I used walnuts, they tasted bitter in the final cake. So I skipped it this time. The amount of fruits is slightly less that the original recipe. For candied fruit, I used candied papaya (tutti-fruiti) and candied karvanda/karonda. I didn't have candied orange peel at hand so I used orange zest instead.

I added a small amount of cocoa powder to boost the dark color I was aiming for. But I think the major ingredient which lends to the color is dark brown sugar. I replaced some of the water with rum. You can also use other alcohol like brandy, grand mariner etc. Or you can skip it completely like the original recipe. And for those who do not use egg, I think ground flaxseed can be used to replace it.

Also, no special equipment is called for. Just few pots and a large spoon to stir. So, a lots of plus points. What are you waiting for? Bring out your dry fruits and spices and get going! Here is the recipe.

Christmas fruit cake

Ingredients:

2/3 cup (140 gm) demerara sugar or dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1/3 cup (70gm) white granulated sugar

1/6 cup (40ml) rum

5/6 cup (200ml) water

1/4 cup (57 grams) butter

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

2 pinches of salt

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

250 grams mixed dry fruits like raisins, cranberries, figs, prunes, apricot

Zest of one orange / kinnow / malta orange

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

slightly less than 1 cup (125 grams) candied raw papaya (tutti-frutti for those in India) and karvanda/karonda

Steps:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease, line and dust the baking pan(s). Makes a large loaf and a mini loaf or one 9" round cake. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour and baking soda, set aside.

In a large saucepan or a heavy bottomed pot, put the sugar, rum, water, butter, spices and dry fruits. Mixed candied fruit will be added later. Over medium heat, bring this mixture to boil. Stir occasionally. Let simmer for 5-8 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool till lukewarm.

Add slightly beaten eggs to this mixture and mix well.
Add vanilla and flour mixture and mix. Stir in the candied fruits/peel.

Pour the batter in prepared pan and level the top and place it in the oven for baking.
It will take 25-28 mins for a mini loaf, 35-40 mins for a regular 9"X5" loaf and 50-55 mins for a 9" round. Test using a toothpick around 5 mins prior to above mentioned baking time.

Once done, remove from the oven. Cool the cake in cake pan for 10 minutes. Turn it out onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Although this cake can be consumed immediately, I suggest to let it rest at least overnight for the flavours of mature. If storing for more than a week, wrap it in cling wrap and store in a cool and dry place.

Enjoy with a hot cup of coffee or a shot of rum!

Happy Baking!

Shwe

P.S. : Regarding the long absence of posts on this blog, well, "What are new year resolutions for?!" I say.

May you stick to your resolutions this new year.

Happy New Year, again!