Oats Cashew Cookies

I wanted to bake cookies but realized that I had run out of butter. So, I made these oats cashew cookies with honey and canola oil. The cookies turned out extremely wonderful. They were soft, tasty and most of all healthy too, since I did not use any all purpose flour, butter or refined sugar. To make vegan cookies, replace honey with corn syrup.

Ingredients:

Oats Flour - 2 cups

Finely Ground Cashews - 1 cups

Honey - 2/3 cup

Canola Oil/Any other oil - 1/2 cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Almond Halves - few (Optional)

Method of Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.

2. Combine the oats flour, finely ground cashews and salt in a medium bowl.

3. In a small bowl add honey and oil and whisk them together. If the honey is too thick and does not mix well, place the bowl over a bowl of warm water and whisk.

4. Now combine the wet ingredients with dry ingredients and form a smooth soft dough. In case the dough turns out very soft (Form a small ball and see if it retains its shape, if it doesn't the dough is too soft) add a little more oats flour and combine.

5. Form small bowls of the dough and place them on the lined baking sheet. If using almonds, place one half of the almond on each ball and press slightly. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes or until the cookies turn golden brown.

Note: You can even dry roast the oats flour and cashew powder separately for few minutes in order to avoid the raw smell.

Sending this to Champa's 'Bake-off'

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

My dearest hubby had a Halloween party in his office this week and wanted me to make him something for that. I baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for him and they turned out pretty good. The preparation was pretty easy and I added a few raisins to the cookie dough as well. The bake time for each batch was around 10-12 minutes.

Ingredients:(Makes about 25-30 cookies)
All purpose flour - 3/4 cup
Butter - 1 stick/8 tbsp, softened
Brown Sugar - 3/4 cup
Rolled Oats - 11/2 cups
Chocolate Chips - 1 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 tsp
Raisins - 1/2 cup(Optional)
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line the baking sheet with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl add butter and sugar and beat them till creamy.
2. Add the vanilla extract and egg and beat till a smooth mixture is formed. Stir in the flour, cinnamon powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Add the oatmeal and chocolate chips and raisins, if using to the mixture and mix well. Drop the cookie dough using a tablespoon onto the baking sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly using the back of a fork or a spatula.
4. If you prefer chewy cookies, then bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and still moist else bake for 12 minutes.
5. Cool the cookies and store them in air tight container. Enjoy the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with your friends and family.

Sending this to Champa's 'Bake-off' event and Akila's 'DNSW:C'

Bourbon Biscuits

Bourbon biscuits are loved by many and my hubby is one of those. He likes munching on these biscuits and enjoys them with his cup of coffee. Few days back I was going through a book on chocolate and found a very easy recipe for making the bourbon cookies. Finally today, I took time out to try the recipe and make the bourbon biscuits. The biscuits came out very well, the only thing missing was the sugar granules on top, next time I bake them, I will add the sugar granules on top before baking the biscuits. The original recipe did not have vanilla essence, however I feel that addition of a little vanilla extract will make them taste even better.

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Cocoa Powder - 3 tbsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Unsalted Butter - 4 tbsp, softened
Granulated Sugar - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp

For the Filling:
Hot water/Strong brewed coffee - 3 tbsp
Melted Semi sweet chocolate - 4 tbsp
Sugar - 1/2 cup

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Mix them well and sift the mixture using a sieve.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar and then beat in the egg and vanilla essence. Stir in the dry ingredients until the mixture turns into a dough.
4. Knead the dough a little and place it on a floured surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough and roll it to form a 10 inch square.
5. Cut the dough into strips 21/2 inch in width. Then cut each strip into 1 inch pieces. Approximately you should have 40 1 X 21/2 inch rectangles.
6. Arrange the cookies on the baking sheet and using a fork, pierce each biscuit/cookie about four times. Bake them for around 20 minutes or until they become crisp and dry
7. Cool the biscuits in the baking sheet.
8. For the filling, mix the coffee or water into the melted chocolate and add the sugar. Mix well. Turn half the cookies over so that the bottom side is facing up. Spread a little filling on them. Place a cookies on top of the ones with the filling. Leave the cookies until the filling sets and hardens a little bit.
9. Enjoy the bourbon biscuits/cookies with coffee or tea.

Note: Do not over bake the cookies, else you will end up with hard biscuits.

Sending this recipe to Champa's 'Bake-off' event.

Coconut Macaroons

Macaroons are light baked confections which are often described as meringue like cookies or small cakes depending on the consistency of macaroons. The coconut macaroons that I have prepared are based on the recipe provided by Nigella Lawson in her book 'How to be a domestic goddess'. It is better to use shredded coconut instead of the grated coconut for this recipe. Cream of tartar is easily available in the spice section/baking section at major grocery stores.

Ingredients:
Shredded coconut - 1 cup plus 2 tbsp
Large egg whites - 2
Cream of tartar - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Ground Almonds - 2 tbsp
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch

Method of Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Add the egg whites to a mixing bowl and beat till they become frothy.
2. Add cream of tartar and carry on beating until soft peaks are formed.
3. Add sugar a teaspoon at a time and whisk until the peaks hold their shape and the mixture becomes shiny.
4. Fold in the ground almonds, salt, vanilla essence and the shredded coconut.
5. At this stage, the mixture will still be sticky, but it should hold its shape when clumped together.
6. Line the baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper. Form small dome shaped cookies and place them on the baking sheet.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until the coconut macaroons just start turning golden.
8. Enjoy the coconut macaroons once they cool down.

Sending this recipe to Champa's 'Bake-off' event, 'DNSW:C' being hosted by Akhila and 'Anyone Can Cook- Series 4' being hosted by Ayeesha

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

In my quest for healthy snacks, this is the first step. Oatmeal replaces the low fiber refined flour and brown sugar is used as sweetener. The addition of whole wheat flour and low fat milk makes this a healthy yet tasty snack.

Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour - 1/4 cup
Old fashioned rolled oats - 3/4 cup
Low fat milk - 1/4 cup
Brown Sugar - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1 tbsp
Sliced Almonds - 1 tbsp

Method of Preparation:
1. In a mixing bowl add wheat flour, oats, sugar and mix well.
2. Add little milk at a time and gently mix the ingredients into a dough.
3. Add the oil and gently knead it into the dough.
4. Preheat the oven to 360F. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.
5. Make lemon sized balls of the dough, press them flat, place few sliced almonds on each cookie and press slightly and place them on the baking tray.
6. Bake the cookies in the oven for 20 minutes or until the cookies turn golden brown.
7. Place the cookies on a cooling rack and after they cool down, store in air tight container.
8. Enjoy the healthy oatmeal cookies, whenever you crave something sweet.

No Bake Choco-Oat Cookies

Do you have old fashioned oats, cocoa powder and 5 minutes at hand? If the answer is yes, then you can easily make these no bake choco-oat cookies.

Ingredients:
Old Fashioned Rolled Oats - 1 cup
Brown Sugar - 3 tbsp
Honey - 1 tbsp
Butter - 3 tbsp
Unsweetened Cocoa powder - 3 tbsp
Milk - 1/4 cup
Walnuts - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Raisins - 1 tbsp

Method of Preparation:
1. In a small vessel add brown sugar, honey, butter, cocoa powder, milk and mix well. Bring the mixture to boil on medium heat, stirring frequently. Boil for 3 minutes or until the mixture thickens a little.
2. Remove the vessel from heat and add the chopped walnuts, raisins and oats to it. Mix well and let the mixture cool a little bit before making small rounds of the mixture and place them on wax paper or aluminium foil.
3. Let the no bake choco-oat cookies cool down completely and become firm before storing them in a tightly covered box.

Sending this recipe to 'Anyone can cook - 3' being hosted by Ayeesha 

Eggless Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Coffee is the perfect pairing for my dearest husband... This is the first ever cookie I have baked. I was scared about the outcome... however, surprisingly, they turned out well and gained appreciation from my better half. Here is the recipe to make these yummy cookies.

Ingredients:

(makes around 7 to 8 cookies)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats or a 34g packet of Quaker instant oatmeal(Cinnamon & Spice flavor)

1/4 cup brown sugar(add a little more, if using rolled oats instead of the flavored one)

1/4 cup finely shredded coconut

1/8 cup Raisins

1/4 tsp salt(not required if using cinnamon & spice Quaker oatmeal)

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder(not required if using cinnamon & spice Quaker oatmeal)

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tablespoon boiling water

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preparation Method:

Combine the flour, coconut, raisins and oats in a bowl. In another small bowl, add the sugar, honey and butter. Place the bowl on low heat and stir until the butter melts. Once everything mixes into a smooth mixture, remove from heat and add it to the bowl containing the dry ingredients. Take a small bowl and combine the baking powder with the hot water. Mix them and add it to the flour mixture. Mix all the ingredients and knead into a soft dough. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Make small portions of the dough into balls and flatten them a little. Place the prepared cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 13 minutes or until golden brown.