EGGLESS CHOCOLATE NUT CAKE

Its eggless, but the same taste. Nuts and chocolate enhances the taste even more. I am presenting this recipe after I tried it a couple of times. No way you can go wrong if you follow my recipe as is.

INGREDIENTS

DRY INGREDIENTS

• Maida(All purpose flour)                  100grams
• Powdered sugar                                100grams
• Baking powder                                 1/4 tsp
• Baking soda                                      1/8 tsp
• Cocoa powder                                   1 Tsp
• Cashews                                            10
• Almonds                                            10
• Rasins                                                10
• Any Chocolate bar                             3 Tsp grated

WET INGREDIENTS

• Butter                                                 50grams
• Any aerated drink                              3 Tsp( coke, pepsi, soda water)
• Milk                                                   3Tsp
• Vegetable oil                                     3Tsp                                                                                                 

PROCEDURE
Grease the baking tray and dust it with flour.
Sieve the maida, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder, set aside.
Roast the nuts in a table spoon of butter and then roll them in some flour and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
In a large bowl add the sugar powder, butter, grated chocolate.
Mix well till a soft mixture is formed.
Now add the milk, oil.
The mixture curdles, but keep on mixing.
Now add the Flour mixture little by little and mix well. Add the nuts.
When every thing incorporates well add the aerated drink.
The cake batter should be something like the dosa batter. Don't mix too much after adding the aerated drink. Cake will not fluff if mixed heavily.
Quickly transfer the batter into the baking tin.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
Check the cake with a knife or toothpick.
Serve with coffee or tea.

FRUIT AND NUT CAKE

A healthy and delicious home made cake for your kids. Filled with whole lots of goodness of dry fruits, this cake is eggless. This can also be a tea time snack for you. Give it a try. I am sure you will want  to make it every time.
INGREDIENTS

• Maida                     2 cups
• Sugar powder       3/4 cup
• Butter                     1/2 cup 
• Vanilla essence      1 tsp.
• Baking powder      2 tsp.
• Baking soda            1/2 tsp.
• Any aerated cool drink  1/2 cup 
• Condensed  milk      1/2 cup
• Dry fruits                Raisins, dates, cherries 
• Nuts                         Cashews, walnuts, Almonds
• Chocolate chips      optional

PROCEDURE
Cut all the nuts and dry fruits into tiny pieces. Measure them to 1 cup approx.
Sieve the maida, baking powder and baking soda twice.
Take the room temperature butter, add the sugar powder to it. Run the hand mixer on a medium speed and mix well.
Now add the condensed milk and mix well.
Add the maida little by little and keep mixing for about 3-4 minutes. Add the cool drink(coke/ Pepsi/ sprite/ 7 up) and run the mixer on a medium speed in one direction for 1  minute and not more than that. Every thing should be well incorporated well with out lumps.
Finally add the fruits and nuts, vanilla essence, chocolate chips(optional). Slowly mix with a ladle. The consistency of the batter should be that of a thick dosa batter.
If needed add more of the cool drink.
Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease the cake mold with butter and dust it with flour. Pour the cake batter and bake it for 30 minutes. Check the cake if it is well cooked from the inside by piercing a tooth pick into it.
Cool it and serve it with hot coffee.
 

EGGLESS CHOCOLATE COFFEE CAKE

Cakes are everyone's favorite. Now a days eggless cakes became so popular and these can be had by strict vegetarians and even by those who are health conscious. When it comes to baking them at home many wonder how the cake becomes so fluffy without adding eggs. The cake is just eggless but not taste less. Here I come with an eggless cake recipe which has chocolate and coffee in it. This recipe is dedicated to all those who love coffee. Coffee and chocolate are a best combination and this ultimate combination in a cake……….the taste will be out of the world. I have tried very hard in making this eggless recipe, but I know, I need to have more practice to achieve perfection. For now enjoy this recipe. You can make a chocolate sauce and drizzle it on the top of the cake for extra taste.
INGREDIENTS

• Maida/all purpose flour            2 cups
• Powdered sugar                       1+1/2 cups
• Baking powder                         2 tsp
• Baking soda                              1/2 tsp
• Salt                                           a pinch
• Butter                                      3/4 cup
• Milk                                          1/2 cup
• Milk maid/evaporated milk       1/2 cup
• Instant coffee powder             1 Tsp
• Chocolate powder                    1/2 cup
• Vanilla essence                         1/4 tsp

PROCEDURE
Sift all the dry ingredients …………. maida, Powdered sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chocolate powder and instant coffee powder. Sift them 2 to 3 times.
Take the room temperature butter and add the evaporated milk, vanilla essence in it. Mix them well, so that they become very soft. Now add the dry ingredients mixture little by little into the butter mixture and mix well.
Now add the warm milk and mix till a soft poring consistency cake mix is formed. Adjust the milk accordingly.
When using a blender, first mix the whole mixture with hand in the same direction and then use the blender on a slow speed for 10 minutes.
Pour the cake mix into the greased  and flour dusted cake mould.
Pre heat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes till the cake is fluffy and soft and fully baked from the inside.
Check for every 15 minutes.
Insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake and it should come out clean.
This eggless cake wouldn't rise as much as the normal cake.  
TIPS

• If you do not have chocolate powder, use the melted plain chocolate.
• The came batter should be just like the thick dosa batter.
• You can replace butter with 1 cup of cooking oil.       

SUGAR COATED AND CHOCOLATE DIPPED COOKIES

These cookies are the twist to my normal cookie recipe. For children who enjoy varieties these form the best cookie snacks. You can even add any flavor to the sugar powder and coat the cookies with it. Chocolates and cookies, both are very delicious and both combined yield heavenly dessert. You can use plain chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate etc. 

INGREDIENTS

• Home made cookies             12-15
• Plain milk chocolate bars      2(large)
• Powdered sugar                   1 cup

PROCEDURE

Bake the plain cookies without adding any flavor. Add only the vanilla essence if you like. See my CARDAMOM COOKIES  recipe for making the cookies. Avoid cardamom in these cookie. Cool the cookies half way, not completely. The cookies should be still warm.

Now melt the chocolate in a large bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute or use a double boiler to melt the chocolate.

Quickly dip the cookies in the melted chocolate and coat the cookies all over with chocolate. Lay them on a wire mesh and let them cool. You can make impressions on the chocolate cookies with a fork or a knife when the chocolate coating is still warm.

Alternatively place a table spoon of warm chocolate on one cookie and place one more cookie on the chocolate. This way you can make the chocolate sandwich cookies. 

Take the remaining warm cookies and roll them in the sugar powder. Cool them completely and again dust some more sugar poeder on them. serve.

Rolling the warm cookies in the sugar powder helps the powder stick to them. This way you can enjoy perfect sugar coated  cookies.  

CARDAMOM COOKIES

Cardamom cookies are one such cookies which remind me my childhood. My Mom used to add a teaspoon of cardamom powder to the cookie dough and now the flavor of the baked cookies would sweep our home. As I grew up I came across many different cookies with different flavors, orange flavored, cinnamon flavored, lemon flavored etc, but cardamom cookies remain the best flavored-cookies. There are many different varieties in making these cookies, but I give my simple and easy recipe. Give it a try.
INGREDIENTS

• Maida(all purpose flour)            2 cups
• Powdered sugar                        1+1/2 cups
• Butter                                       1 cup
• Baking powder                          1/2 tsp
• Baking soda                               1/4 tsp
• Cardamom powder                    1/4 tsp
• Nuts  of your choice

PROCEDURE
Sieve the maida, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom powder.
Take the room temperature butter and add the powdered sugar to it.
Mix well to a fine paste. Add the flour mixture little by little to the sugar-butter mixture and form a dough.
If you feel the mixture is crumbly add little of oil or milk.
Now make a stiff dough and knead it for 10 minutes.
Refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.
Remove the dough and knead for another 5 minutes and make small rounds.
Do not flatten them. The cookies flatten while baking.
There should not be a single crack on the cookies.
Use any nuts of your choice to decorate the cookies.
Heat oven to 325 degree Fahrenheit. Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes.
The cookies should turn golden brown from the bottom and remain white on the top with a nice aroma.
Remove the cookies and cool them.
Just after removing from the oven the cookies are soft . They harden once cooled.     

ALMOND CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Almonds and chocolates are a perfect combination. The chocolate covered almonds are favorite for many. This combination when used in cookie is double delicious. Here I have used chopped almonds and solid milk chocolate in this recipe. The cookies turned awesome and they will be a perfect tea time snacks on a cool winter afternoon.
INGREDIENTS

• Maida                     2 cups
• Butter                    4 Tsp
• Milk chocolate        1/4 cup grated
• Sugar powder          3/4 cup
• Chopped Almonds   2 Tsp
• Milk                          2 Tsp
• Baking powder         3/4 tsp
• Baking soda              1/4 tsp

PROCEDURE
Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar powder. Mix in the room temperature butter and form a crumbling mix.
You can either use the grated chocolate or chocolate chips. Add  2 Tsp of milk in the chocolate and microwave for about 1minute(you can also use double boiler to melt them).
When the chocolate melts add the finely chopped almonds and the flour butter mixture. Mix well and form a dough.
Unlike the normal cookie dough, this dough will be a little bit crumbling but can be made into a dough.
Knead the dough for about 10 minutes.
Now take a small portion of the dough and make a small round. Don’t make it flat. Cookies flatten as they bake. Finish making all the cookies.
Refrigerate the cookies for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Now grease the cookie tray and dust it with maida. Place the refrigerated cookies on the try and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes.
The cookies will still be soft, let them cool before removing. The cookies harden once cooled.
These cookies will be so soft and will just melt away in your mouth. 
TIPS

• Measurements and ingredients used in baking should be very precise, to get the perfect output.
• Temperature of ovens vary so check the cookies after 15 minutes, if you smell the sweetness and see the cookies risen remove. Otherwise wait for another 5 minutes.
• Just after baking any cookies will be soft, once cooled they become hard.
• If the cookie dough is very crumbling and cannot be made into a round add a spoonful of milk and mix again.
• Use the roasted almonds for a crunch.
• See that there are no crakes on the cookies. Even a hairline crack can pop open once baked. You can see cracks in my cookies. So be careful while making the cookie rounds.

BASIC COOKIE RECIPE

Cookies are the all time favorites for every one. These soft mouth melting baked munchies can be had at any time. Cookies are no different to Biscuits. Biscuits are the more commercial form of cookies. Both are the same except the cookies, in general, are much more softer than biscuits and are freshly baked in homes. Of course there are crunchy and harder  cookies also. Biscuits are double baked cookies on commercial lines.
As a child I have always watched my Mom baking the cookies. Those were the days when we don’t have a oven in our house. My Mom used to heat sand in a pan and then place the cookie baking dish on it and baked them till golden brown. The same way she used to bake the cakes also. That was a tedious process. But now I have a oven, so it became very easy baking the cookies.
Cookies are generally made with the plain white flour, but now a days they are being made with a wide variety of different flours to make them healthy. Oats, oat flour, ragi flour, Wheat flour, chickpea flour etc are used in different ratios to bake different cookies. Different kinds of nuts, dry fruits, essences, chocolates, butters, spices are added in different proportions to make different cookies.
Here I give a simple basic cookie recipe. You can make variations to this recipe by adding nuts or chocolate chips. This recipe is very easy, give it a try.  
INGREDIENTS

• Maida                   2 cups
• Sugar powder       1+1/4 cups
• Butter                  3/4 cup
• Baking powder     1 tsp
• Baking soda          1/4 tsp

PROCEDURE
Sift the maida, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
Use the room temperature butter. Don’t substitute ghee for butter.
Mix in the sift mixture and butter to form a dough. Knead the dough to make it very soft. (The consistency should be that of the puri dough) If you are not able to make a dough add a tablespoon of milk.
After making the dough divide it into small portions and make small rounds. Do not flatten them( cookies flatten while baking). Refrigerate them for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit  and bake the cookies for about 20 to 25 minutes.
When you feel the sweet aroma and the edges of the cookies turn brown remove from the oven.
The cookies will be still soft, don’t panic. They harden once cooled.
Here I have used cashews on the top as a decoration. Press the nuts of your choice on the cookies before baking.

TIPS

• The cookies melt in your mouth if the  you knead the dough for 10 minutes.
• If you want the cookies to be crispy and dome shaped, try using less butter. This way you will have cookies which remain fluffy and not flat.  
• Remove the cookies immediately once the edges turn slightly brown.
• Refrigeration of the pre baked cookies is an important step. The cookies melt away in your mouth with this small step.
• Cookies are soft initially after removing from the oven, they harden once cooled.
• I normally refrigerate the round dough patties before baking. Alternatively you can refrigerate the whole dough, remove it and make the patties and bake them.
• Don’t use water in any situation. Use milk if you are to use.