Chinese New Year Peanut Cookies

This is my first bake for this year's CNY. Peanut cookies is an all-time favourite for many Malaysians.....and that include AC and me. For me, they must be aromatic and melt-in-the-mouth and I think I've managed to achieve that with this batch!





I've tried making peanut cookies once 2 years ago....and it was pretty alright. I can't remember where I got that first recipe from, so I had to source for another new one. I found a simple recipe from Jo at Imperial Kitchen. Fellow forumers at IK have tried this recipe and was full of praise for it.


Peanut Cookies

Ingredients:
600g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
450g coarse and/or fine ground peanut (original recipe calls for 400g)
225g caster sugar
320ml corn oil
1 large egg, beaten

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 175C.
2. Sieve together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the peanuts and sugar together.
4. Add the peanut to the flour. Add oil gradually....mix well until it form a dough.
5. Divide the dough into small balls. I used a chopstick to make a hole on each of the cookies.
6. Brush some egg on the cookies so that it will have a golden coating on top.
7. Bake in the oven for 20 mins.

Note: I made my own peanut mixture by first baking the peanut in the oven at 200C for 15-20 mins, stirring once or twice. The peanut has to be spread out in a single layer. Then, using a rolling pin, the peanut is crushed...hence it's a mix of coarse and ground texture.


AC helped me in making this batch of cookies. It took us approximately 4.5 hours in total to bake the whole batch! We managed to make about 200 pieces of small sized cookies.

Verdict: I think the cookies are nice and they definitely melt-in-the-mouth. AC thought that there's not enough peanut in the cookies, hence making it a bit floury for his taste. But as he consumes more....he finds that they're actually pretty alright!

It's definitely one recipe to try....and it's very simple too!!

White Chocolate Chip and Macademia Nut Cookies

I've been craving for cookies for a few days now. I simply love white chocolate chip and macademia nut cookis from Subway! When I see a fellow forumer at Imperial Kitchen share this recipe....I knew I'd just have to try it!

These cookies of mine is crispy, not chewy like those in Subway. But it's still nice....!!! I'll try to make it chewier next time and see if it'll be more like Subway's.

This recipe was shared by cwl at Imperial Kitchen, who found the recipe at aspoonfulofsugar.net. I changed the recipe slightly to make do with what I have in my kitchen. I didn't have enough castor sugar for 3/4 cups, so I ended up by using granulated sugar to make up the rest. I also didn't have enough macademia nuts and chocoate chips as required originally. How I wish I had at least 50g more of each!!


White Chocolate Chips and Macademia Nut Cookies

Ingredients:
110g salted butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/8 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
170g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
100g macademia nuts, roughly chopped
100g white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 190C.
2. Cream butter and sugars together until well combined and slightly fluffy.
3. Stir in the egg and vanilla extract.
4. Sift the flour and bicarbonate sugar. Add into the creamed mixture and stir till a soft dough is formed.
5. Add in the chopped nuts and chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.
6. Using a small ice-cream scoop, drop the dough onto a lined baking sheet. As the cookies will spread, leave some gaps in between.
7. Bake for 8-10mins until slightly golden brown. Cool on the wire rack.

Very belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I know this very belated.......but it's better late than never!! Hehehee.....

Many apologies for not updating this blog! I would certainly love to update it more often, but I don't cook/bake often enough to write. Not that I don't cook for lunch or dinner, it's just that they are too simple to be blogged, or it has already been blogged before. Eating alone doesn't give me much inspiration/encouragement to cook something nicer. And BF tends to cook for me during the weekend.... Guess I must make more effort from now on!!!

I had organised a very last minute Christmas dinner at my place for four. I made roast turkey with sage and onion stuffing, boiled vegetables (brussel sprouts, carrot and sugar snaps), roast potatoes, roast parsnips and gravy. One of my friend brought over some finger food as well (far right plate).







I've also made a Christmas cake....this is the 3rd one that I've made in UK. I think I've achieved a pretty good standard :p I didn't iced it this year as none of us really like marzipan, so decided to keep it pretty plain.




I went to Nottingham for New Year, as usual. Due to horrible weather in the UK, we ended up staying at home. What a way to start the New Year. We were all pretty disappointed really.....but what to do? It still didn't stop us from having our drinks at home though. Hehehe....!!!

AC cooked our New Year's meal. We had (from clockwise) roast vegetables, stuffing, roast pork, roast potatoes and pig in the blanket. It's delicious....!!!!