Happy Ugadi & Vermicelli Halwa

My ugadi wishes to everyone and here is a simple and quick halwa for the occasion. This delicious vermicelli halwa also fits my theme of "Sweet prasadam dishes under 30 minutes" of BM#14.

Ingredients:

1 cup vermicelli

2 cups milk

1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cardamom powder

1 Tbsp ghee

1 Tbsp cashews

1 Tbsp raisins

Method:

* Toast the vermicelli on low flame until golden brown.

* Also toast the cashews and raisins in ghee and keep aside.

* Heat the milk and add the toasted vermicelli. Mix well so that no lumps are formed. Cook on low flame until the vermicelli is cooked.

* Add sugar and cardamom powder to the vermicelli. Cook until all the sugar melts and incorporates into the mixture.

* Add the toasted cashews and raisins to the cooked halwa and mix well.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 14.

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Strawberry Scones

My blogging marathon for this week under the theme "Eggless baking with fruits / nuts" ends today and on the final day, here are some yummy strawberry scones with bread like texture.

My posts so far this week have been
1. Banana - Chocolate Chip Bread
2. Eggless Apple Muffins
3. Mexican Wedding Cookies
4. Eggless Orange - Nut Cake
5. Chewy Granola Bars
6. Eggless Apricot Jam Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups flour (I substituted 1/4th quantity with wheat flour.)
1/4 cup sugar (They are subtly sweet and so the quantity can be increased by 1/4 cup more.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp milk, at room temperature
1 Tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup strawberries - washed and chopped

Method:
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
* Sift together dry ingredients. Add vinegar to milk in a separate bowl.
* Mix together wet and dry ingredients and the strawberries until mixture leaves bowl and is easy to handle.
* Form dough into a flat round; press by hand until about 3/4-inch thick. Divide into 6 - 8 wedges.
* Place on baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned.

Check out the page to see what other marathoners are cooking during this BM#14.

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Eggless Apricot Jam Biscuits

I was looking for a jam cookie recipe as we are great fans of strawberry shortbread cookies and landed here. However at the last minute, I substituted apricot preserves instead of strawberry jam. I had a bottle of apricot preserves lying in the refrigerator for months without anyone touching it and finally found a delicious way to use it. This recipe yields crispy, subtly sweet cookies.

Ingredients: (Yield about 20 - 22)
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup vanilla custard powder (I replaced some with flour.)
1/4 cup cornstarch / corn flour
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 cup butter (I used about 5-6 Tbsp)
3 Tbsp yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
* Cream butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy.
* Add the flours and mix well. Stir in the yogurt and form a smooth dough.
* Roll out the dough, into about 5 mm thickness. Cut them into desired shapes using a mould and make an impression in the centre to fill in the jam. (I used a round cookie cutter and made the impression in the center using a small bottle cap. If you don't have the mould, use your thumb to make the impression.)

* Place them on a greased baking tray. Fill the impressions with the jam. Bake for about 15 minutes or until done.

After baking

Check out the page to see what other marathoners are cooking during this BM#14.

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Chewy Granola Bars

These granola bars, inspired from here are easy to put together, taste delicious and can be versatile depending upon the ingredients you have on hand. Great for snacking or breakfast.

Ingredients:
1 & 2/3 cup quick rolled oats
1/3 cup oat flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 - 3 cups mixed nuts and dry fruits (I used almonds, dates, raisins, walnuts, coconut flakes and sesame seeds.)
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or corn syrup
1/4 cup melted butter / vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp of water if needed

Method:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.
* Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
* In a separate bowl, whisk together all the liquid ingredients.
* Mix together the dry and wet ingredients until the mixture is evenly crumbly.
* Spread the mixture evenly in the pan, patting down gently with the fingers.
* Bake the bars for 20 - 25 minutes, until they are golden brown around the edges.
* Remove them from the oven and slice them into bars when they are still slightly warm. Separate them when they completely cool down.

Check out the page to see what other marathoners are cooking during this BM#14.

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Eggless Orange - Nut Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups self rising flour

1/4 cup superfine sugar (can be increased up to 1/2 cup)

2/3 cup olive oil / butter / margarine

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup orange juice (I used 1/2 cup)

1 cup mixed dry fruits / nuts

Method:

* Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 7 inch cake pan.

* Combine the flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Pour in the milk and the orange juice. Stir the mixture, beating in the flour and sugar.

* Pour in the butter and stir so that all the ingredients are mixed well.

* Stir the mixed dry fruit - nuts into the mixture. Pour this batter into the prepared pan.

* Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes, until cake is golden and firm to touch. Cool and slice the cake.

Check out the page to see what other marathoners are cooking during this BM#14.

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Mexican Wedding Cookies

On the third day of BM#14, here are delicious Mexican wedding cookies which also go by the names butterballs or Russian tea cakes. According to Wiki, these appeared as tea cakes in Russia in the 18th century. By 20th century they were part of wedding and christmas traditions in  U.S.
The preparation is quite simple and cookies are usually made with almonds, flour and butter. The baked cookies are then rolled in powdered sugar. Although I still prefer these melt in mouth kind almond moon cookies, these wedding cookies are also good in their own way.  

Recipe Source: Here

Ingredients: (Yield 20 cookies)
1 cup + 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
6 Tbsp almond flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
for coating:
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Method:
* Preheat the oven to 325 deg F. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
* Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl.
* Beat in the almond flour and all purpose flour.
* Scoop tablespoon sized pieces of dough and roll them into balls. Place these balls on the greased baking sheet leaving space between them.
* Bake them for 15 - 20 minutes, until they feel set on top. They firm up after cooling and so don't be tempted to wait for the cookies to firm up while baking. If done so, the cookies would turn hard after cooling.
* In the meanwhile, put the 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl. Remove the cookies from the oven and roll them in the sugar to coat and allow them to cool. Store them in an airtight container.
The recipe mentioned to roll them again in the sugar after they are let cool which I didn't do.

Check out the page to see what other marathoners are cooking during this BM#14.

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Eggless Apple Muffins

I have tried this muffin recipe from King Arthur flour website a couple of times before. However I was contemplating whether to go with them during BM#14 as my version don't look like the typical sort of muffins. I don't know whether because of my choice of egg substitutes or for some other reason, the muffin tops don't raise as much as the other muffins I bake. The taste and texture of the muffin however is very perfect and so, here is the recipe. Maybe next time I will try baking it as a loaf.

Ingredients: (Yield about 8-10 medium sized muffins)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar

3/4 cup yogurt

1 apple - peeled, cored and grated

1/4 cup walnut / pecan pieces

Method:

* Preheat the oven to 375 deg F / 200 deg C. Grease the muffin tray or line with paper cups.

* Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and walnuts in a mixing bowl.

* Beat butter and sugar until fluffy in another bowl. Add the yogurt and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple.

* Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling up to 3/4th of each cup

* Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.

Check out the page to see what other marathoners are cooking during this BM#14.

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Banana - Chocolate Chip Bread

Another edition of blogging marathon starts from today and here is a delicious banana-chocolate chip-walnut bread as my first day entry under "Eggless Baking with Fruits / Nuts" theme.

Ingredients:
1 cup wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 medium sized bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sour milk (Or substitute 1/4 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar / lemon juice)
1/4 cup yogurt
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter/ margarine
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips and / or walnuts.

Method:
* Preheat oven to 350 deg F / 175 deg C.
* Combine the first five ingredients in a mixing bowl.
* Cream butter and sugar in another bowl until light. Add the mashed bananas. Stir in flour mixture alternately with milk and yogurt. Add chocolate chips / nuts.
* Bake for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.

Check out the page to see what other marathoners are cooking during this BM#14.

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Whole Wheat - Corn Muffins

Both my appetite for eating and blogging diminished considerably in the past couple of weeks and hence the hiatus. If not for the events I have signed up, I would still be on a break. :)

I prepared these subtly sweet muffins inspired from here for this month's Magic Mingle # 3 - Wholewheat & Corn.

Ingredients: (yield 6 - 8)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup honey (Can increase the quantity if a sweeter version is preferred.)
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup raisins and walnuts (optional)

Method:
* Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease or line a muffin pan.              
* Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add banana puree and stir in milk, oil, honey, raisins and walnuts.  Pour the mixture into the muffin pan filling up to 3/4th of each cup.               
* Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the crown of a muffin comes out clean, 20 - 25 minutes.    
           


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Eggless Coconut Cake

I am excited to be a part of the new event "Baking Eggless", started by Gayathri and hoping to explore the world of eggless baking. The rule is that she is going to come up with an egg based recipe each month and the participants need to convert it into an eggless version using their choice of egg substitutes. The first challenge was to convert this coconut cake into an eggless version and I used condensed milk as the egg substitute. This recipe yields a rich, delicious cake.
I did not use any icing since the cake itself was rich because of the addition of condensed milk. I baked a dozen cupcakes and a loaf with the following ingredients.

Ingredients:
* 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
* 1-1/3 cups sugar (I reduced the quantity as I used sweetened condensed milk.)
* 1 tsp vanilla  essence
* 1 cup whole milk
* Scant 3/4 cup condensed milk 
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt 
* 1-1/2 cups unsweetened dessicated  coconut

Method:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F / 175 deg C.
* Grease and dust a 10 inch round cake pan.
* Combine flour, salt and baking powder.
* Cream butter and sugar together.
* Add condensed milk and cream it together.
* Then add vanilla and milk, mix together.
* Next add the flour mixture and gently fold the batter.
* Add the coconut and mix well.
* Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean or about 45 - 50 minutes.

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