Whole Wheat Almond Biscotti

Its been whole grains on my mind of late and I seem to be actually hoarding them! Amaranth flour thanks to Deeba, then some buckwheat flour, barley flour, sprouted finger millet flour, cornmeal and of course good old wheat flour. I made a stash of ragi malt with plenty more whole grains and nuts thrown in. Sweetened with jaggery or sugar, flavored with cardamom, I love sipping on some any time of the day! It goes to hubby's office in a flask for the late evening hunger pangs, the ever hungry pre-teen son manages to gulp down a glass now and then. The fussy daughter however still wrinkles her little nose, sigh! 

Whole wheat crepes, granola, granola bars, whole wheat almond biscotti and more have been appearing more often! I hope this isn't a passing phase and I stay inspired to include more of these grains in our meals. Its an acquired taste alright, but we should get there. Lots to experiment with, you will hopefully see more healthier baking here. Oh no, I never said I will forget all the sinful desserts and bakes, did I? 

Stumbled upon this recipe for biscotti made with whole wheat, almond meal and less sugar than usual. Without added fat, these are crunchy but not very hard. The log slices really well, making for thin biscotti. Slightly coarse textured, just about sweet (think Marie biscuits), these will be good cookies for the health conscious. If making these for kids, you may need to step up on the sugar by a tablespoon or more, add the mandatory chocolate chips or whatever catches their fancy. I have flavored the biscotti with Chai masala and orange zest, which is just a suggestion, cinnamon, cardamom or plain vanilla will be great too! 

Whole Wheat Almond Biscotti - Recipe from New York Times

Ingredients: To make about 15-18 thin biscotti .

Whole wheat flour - 125 grams

Almond meal - 30 grams

Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Chai masala - 1 1/4 teaspoon

Brown sugar - 62 grams / 1/3 cup packed

Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon

Eggs - 72 grams / 1 1/2 eggs

Orange zest, fresh from one orange. 

Almonds - 50 grams toasted and chopped ( I have used almond flakes)

• Method : Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees C / 300 F. Line a baking tray ( I used a 10x12) with parchment. 

• Sift together the flours, baking powder, salt and chai masala. Zest the orange. I love my Microplane Zester* for this!Take the eggs, sugar, orange zest and vanilla in a medium sized bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat for the mixture for about 2 minutes on speed 3. The mixture will be thick. 

• Fold in the flour mixture, stir in the almonds. The dough will be sticky, may be a little less sticky and a little more firmer than the normal biscotti dough. 

• Scrape the mixture in the middle of the lined pan. With wet hands shape the dough into a log. I made mine about 9'' x 2'', about an inch high. If doubling the recipe, make two logs side by side, with at least 2 inches space between them and two inches around the logs. 

• Bake for about 35-40 minutes or till firm to the touch. The logs will spread but not a lot. Cool for 20 minutes or more if it suits your convenience.

• Place the log on the kitchen counter or dry cutting board. Slice on the diagonal into thin slices. 

• Arrange them on the baking sheet cut side down. (These are too thin to stand them up). Bake 10-12 minutes on each side. Bake longer for extra crunchy biscotti.

• Cool and store in an airtight container. 
• Please note : Use unrefined sugar or organic brown sugar in you wish, I have not tried these yet. Omit the chopped almonds in the dough if you want to cut down the calories further. 

If you like having these twice baked cookies around, you may want to play around with this recipe! 

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Cinnamon Cornmeal Biscotti

Biscotti, the twice baked Italian cookies, are made with fat and without. For me, ones with less fat are the everyday kind and the more luxurious, considerably higher fat ones would make a lovely make ahead weekend indulgence. Biscotti with no added fat are loud, noisy and crunchy, great for dipping in wine I gather. The addition of butter or oil, makes them a little tender, less loud but still crunchy, crispy depending on the recipe.

After trying out a few recipes, realization dawns that I like biscotti with fat in them. These tender crisp kind are what I like to dunk in my tea/coffee when I feel like eating something light, but don't exactly know what. The kind of healthier cookies I like in my cookie jar for the kids to dip in their glass of milk. The bonus - these are really easy compared to the regular cookies, more substantial and keep well for days. You could  bake them at leisure and rest assured you have something not-too-sweet or fat loaded to nibble on over the next few days.

Looking for a new biscotti  recipe, I baked David Lebovitz's cornmeal biscotti . The gritty cornmeal in the biscotti , gives them a slightly different texture. Since the butter doesn't need to be creamed, you could get away making a really small batch easily. Made a couple of batches of these, one with cinnamon and some with citrus zest. Biscotti with cinnamon and butter taste great when really fresh, you must try these if cinnamon is your spice. Baked a batch with oil in place of the butter. Since using butter or oil did not make a great deal of difference, I think I shall stick to using oil.

I have made small batches (a fourth of the below recipe) just to play around. Have sneaked in a tiny bit of baking powder as well.

Ingredients:

• All purpose  flour -  210 grams / 1 1/2 cups

• Cornmeal, preferably stone-ground - 70 grams / 1/2 cup
• Sugar- 200 grams / 1 cup ( I have powdered after weighing)
• Baking soda- 1 teaspoon
• Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon (I have added this)
• Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
• Eggs- 2 large / 98 grams
• Butter (salted or unsalted), melted - 55 grams / 4 tablespoons (weigh and melt) OR 60 ml / 1/4 cup oil
• Ground Cinnamon - 1 heaping teaspoon 
• Vanilla - 1 teaspoon 

       OR

• zest of one lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Walnuts (or almonds) toasted and coarsely chopped - 1 cup (100g)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the beaten eggs. Add the butter, then mix until the dough is wet and crumbly. Add the nuts and stir to get them mixed well into the dough. The dough will feel dry but will come together. Its not as wet as the usual biscotti dough, the dough with oil felt a bit dry, but worked just fine.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead a few times until smooth. Divide the dough in two, and roll each portion into a 13-inch (33cm) long or according to the size of your batch and baking tray (these spread, so leave at least around 2'' space all around the log to be safe) , then transfer them to the baking sheet. Leave ample space between the two logs as the dough will spread a bit during baking.

5. Bake the logs for 20 minutes, or until they feel firm but springs back when you press the top. Remove them from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes. You could, at this point, leave the baked log covered and come back to it even the next day ! Reduce the heat of the oven to 150 degree / 300 F.  (250ºF /120ºC in the original recipe)

6. Using a sharp bread knife, slice the longs crosswise into individual cookies, each about 1/3-inch (1cm.) Place the biscotti on the baking sheet, standing them up on their back (imagine slicing the log and separating the slices) and bake for 20-25 minutes. The cookies will feel soft when hot, will crisp as they cool. Vary the baking time to your preference, baking longer dries them out further, making them crunchier.

Let cookies cool completely, then store in an airtight container. The biscotti will keep for at least two weeks.

Tender-crunchy, I liked these as a change from the normal textured biscotti. Do make yourself a small batch of these with cinnamon and butter. If eating immediately, brush the warm baked slices with a tiny bit of butter and cinnamon as the baker's treat. Storing biscotti brushed with butter is not a great idea, the butter kind of solidifies later. Just happen to know.

Pumpkin & Walnut Spiced Squares - Hiding Veggies With The Daring Bakers!

 Hidden veggies - a common conspiracy mommies often resort to in a bid to get the kids to eat some veggies and fruits which are otherwise considered 'YUCC..KKY' no less! These despised fruits and veggies haunt you from the aisles of the veggie store or cart and the mommy scheming mind starts contriving ways to camouflage these in goodies which will hopefully be seen as 'YUMMY!' The treat is served with a louder than usual 'tadaa!' which puts the kids' antennae on alert mode. Suspicious, hesitant little bites at first and then bigger bites, more helpings. And then its confession time. Treading on ice, dreading delayed rejection you tell them, 'Guess what, there is a surprise in this. The name starts with C/B/P.  Yes, carrots/bananas/pumpkins etc etc. Isn't it so good? Umm..think we can make this now and then? Yes?'' Grin, grin!

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

 Sneaking in veggies into food is something I often do, but not as often in sweet baked treats, so this was going to be a surprise for the mommy as well! Carrot cake did sound super tempting to bake, then zucchini cupcakes and bread and pumpkin pies! The Daring Bakers were turning really adventurous, some of them using spinach, avocados and peas too in their bakes! Being a not-so-daring Daring Baker, I thought sweet pumpkin should be a good start.  A very common vegetable used in baking, ever so often seen in pies, scones, doughnuts, muffins, cookies and breads. But then, not so common in our country in baked goods, canned pumpkin puree unheard of.

I made pumpkin puree for the first time, its really quick and easy. It stayed well in the refrigerator the next day (supposed to stay good for a week). But a part of it frozen turned out to be so much more watery when thawed than the fresh, thick, smooth one.

These light, tasty squares from All Recipes , spiced with cinnamon and cloves make a nice tea-time snack or a kiddie snack box treat. You could omit the spices and use vanilla and nuts or just vanilla and chocolate chips. My kids loved them! And I see myself experimenting with the vegetable puree more often!

The reviews mention cakey squares, but I did not want them very cakey, so I have reduced the amount of baking powder. Also have replaced part of the oil with yogurt. Below is the original recipe halved.

Ingredients:
Eggs - 2 large
Oil - 1/4 cup / 60 ml
Yogurt - 1/4 cup
Pumpkin puree - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon ( use 1 teaspoon if omitting spices)
Sugar, fine - 200 grams / 1 cup ( Will reduce next time by a tablespoon or so, even less if using chocolate chips)
All purpose flour - 125 grams
Ground cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon
Ground cloves - 1/4 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Toasted chopped walnuts - 1/3 cup

Procedure: Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F. Grease, line and flour a 9'' square tin. Keep aside.

• Sift together the flour, spices, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Take the eggs, oil, yogurt, sugar, vanilla and pumpkin puree in a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine thoroughly. 

• Stir in the flour mixture with a spatula. Stir in the walnuts or the chocolate chips. The batter will be the consistency of brownie batter. Spread in the baking tin, smooth the top.
• Bake for about 22-25 minutes or till the top is light golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the tin for about 10 minutes on a rack. Remove from the tin, cool completely and then cut into squares.

To make the pumpkin puree. I have followed the general procedure of making this in the pressure cooker, after reading several common methods. About 1/2 kilo of pumpkin with skin made about 1 1/4 cup of puree.

Remove the skin and the fibrous, seedy part of the pumpkin. Cut into cubes. Place the cubes in a vessel in the pressure cooker. Do not put water in the container. Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. Switch off .Let the pressure drop. Allow to cool. Drain any liquid left with the cubes in a mesh colander. Mash thoroughly and process in the mixer till completely smooth. Use just enough water (2-3 teaspoons) to facilitate the motor.

Measure the needed quantity of puree and use.

I liked this basic recipe and hope to experiment and play around with different purees and amounts of leavening for varying textures.

Thanks Ruth, enjoyed the hidden veggies!

Granola Bars (Eggless) - With Video

Sweet and nutty being just our kind of thing, granola  is always a welcome snack. The sweeter version of granola, granola bars can only be more welcome as a delicious, on-the-go snack .But of course, I must be vain and tell you that I don't care much for the ready sugar-loaded 'health' bars with a dis-proportionate amount of rice krispies, almost no nuts, sometimes slathered with milk chocolate.

There are imported brands which are good but burn a hole in the pocket? Honestly, I haven't cared enough to search or splurge on these. Like a lot of us, I would rather make my own. Even if just the nuts burn a small hole in my pocket. We love nuts, so please don't even tell me you have a recipe for granola bars without nuts, I would not enjoy that as much. But I do wish baking 16 bars of nutritious bars don't feel like  luxury! Oh yes! just when you thought you have heard all my pet-peeves - power cuts, small ovens, elusive baking ingredients and impish kids, I am now cribbing about how expensive baking nut-loaded goodies I find. Specially when the goodies are easy to bake and don't last very long!

 I have baked these chewy granola bars from Deeba's PAB a couple of times, once with less nuts, more of oats. Once by mistake added double the amount of oatmeal specified in the recipe. And once almost the same recipe proportions. And each time, the texture was different, but they were always tasty! The bars with more of oatmeal gave me slightly crunchy bars, the bars with the original amount of oatmeal were soft and chewy, think the texture of coconut fudge ( traditionally made on the stove-top).

Lending itself to a lot of variations, these bars are great to play around with. I have used more of nuts, less of dried fruit (chopped dates) and some unsweetened coconut flakes. I prefer less of dried fruit as I wanted the bars just about sweet without tweaking the amount of other sweeteners. I had once used raisins in my granola and granola bars, but did not like the way they tasted after they were baked.  I shall be trying the bars with chocolate chips on popular demand (from  the kids of course!). But I shall then leave out any dried fruit to maintain the same level of sweetness.

Chewy Granola Bars, adapted from PAB , recipe from SK original recipe from KAF .Whew, but three of my fav sites in one post!

I have halved the original recipe as I wanted thinner bars, used less of dried fruit. The rest of the recipe proportions are the same as Deeba's, except for the omission of peanut butter. The texture and taste again being a matter of personal taste and preference, you may need to experiment a bit to find out what you like best.

Ingredients:

Oats ( I have used Quaker quick cooking oats, read note) - (1/2 + 1/3 cup)  70 grams
Ground oats - 15 grams (aprox 2 tablespoons)
Chopped nuts - 90 grams
Chopped dates - 50 grams
Unsweetened coconut flakes - 40 grams / 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar -  50 grams
Honey - 2 tablespoons
Corn syrup - 1 tablespoon (or use 1 tbsp more honey, skip the corn syrup)
Vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons
Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
Water - 1/2 tablespoon

Procedure: Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and line a 8'' square tin with baking parchment leaving an overhang. Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Whisk together all the wet ingredients in another. (Measure the oil first, then honey and corn syrup for ease) Combine the two, mix with a spatula. The mixture may appear to be dry when you begin to mix, but will gradually come together. It will be wet but still crumbly (If you use peanut butter, it may be less crumbly).

Transfer the mixture to the baking tin, move the mixture to cover the pan, press down firmly with the spatula. Bake for about 20 minutes, till the edges turn golden brown and the top slightly golden. The center and a bit of area around the center will feel soft and you may think its undercooked, but the bars will set as they cool. If using PB, and if using butter in place in place of oil the baking time could be more. Goes without saying, if doubling the recipe and baking in an 8'' square pan, your baking time will be more (30-35 mins) and the bars thicker.

Cool the bars in the pan on a rack for about 5 minutes. Cut the bars when they are still warm as they will be difficult to cut when they cool, set and harden slightly. Use a dough scraper to help cut easily. Cool the bars completely on the rack, store. You could store them wrapped individually or in a single layer in a box. If storing in layers, use parchment in between. The bars are best stored in the fridge in humid weather, these freeze very well.

My notes:
Nuts: I have used different combinations of cashew, pistachios, walnuts and almonds (I just put them all in a a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin) sunflower seeds, melon seeds. More suggestions as given in the original recipe are chopped dried apricots, chopped pecans, sunflower seeds, walnuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries or apples, or even chocolate chips.
  
Oats: I like to put the oats in a colander and shake off the almost floury part and then weigh/measure.

Corn syrup - I have used light corn syrup, you could try getting this at Nilgiris, the Brigade Road outlet had this. Or try substituting with liquid glucose (available at GFA) . The recipe on the KAF site uses sticky bun sugar, the suggested close substitute is a mixture of sugar, corn syrup and melted butter, Deeba has changed the recipe accordingly.

Thanks Deeba for this recipe, my oats-disliking daughter loves these bars, son keeps hinting that he can eat something  'healthy, quick and delicious' before he goes to plays cricket! My mother loved these as they remind her of Antina Unde (Gaund Ke Laddoo) .. may be the combination of coconut, nuts and dates at work?

Chocolate Coffee Cookies - SRC Time Again!

Softish chocolate cookies with a mild coffee kick. Actually sort of brownies masquerading as cookies. Low fat and easy. Well, if you look at it, when it comes to baking a lot of things like chocolate cookies or even brownies, though simliar ingredient wise, they invariably find their way into the baking list again and again, thanks to the lure of different textures and techniques or varying flavors. Gooey centers, whole grain, soft, flaky, low fat, super easy, just cocoa, loads of dark chocolate and barely there flour, eggless - too much temptation and just another reason to bake - again!! This time around, I had another reason to add, the Secret Recipe Club! A yummy new blog, lots more yummy recipes, tick-tac-toe, tick-tac-toe  which one which one do I choose? Jocelyn at Bru Crew Life sounds just like  me when she says that her sweet tooth always manages to get the better of her! Well, Jocelyn, I have my weight-woes (wail!!!), can somehow keep up with a bit of exercise, but starving the sweet-tooth, IMHO is cruel ;-) and nearly impossible! Its a constant battle between my sweet-tooth, weight issues and the compulsive desire to bake all the time, sigh!

Low fat cookies with my two of my favorite ingredients - chocolate and coffee, seemed to be just the thing to bake when I wanted to humor my sweet-tooth, with the problem of shrinking clothes on my mind. What better than baking to drive away the blues? :)). To minimize the danger of over-eating and to feel slightly virtuous about using only 2 tablespoons of butter, I made half the recipe on Jocelyn's blog.

The recipe calls for espresso and since I have not come across a good brand of instant espresso powder, I have used instant coffee. Good, soft brown sugar (not demerara sugar, which for me is good as a crunchy topping, but surely not for use in cake batter or cookie dough as it just doesn't dissolve!) is expensive. I had once got some brown sugar from Hypercity, a brand called Waitrose if I remember right, but it was quite expensive, I do remember that! Soft, moist, quick-dissolving fine grained sugar, which can be packed into the measuring cup. How I wish molasses was available for sale here. Otherwise, making brown sugar at home is as simple as stirring together molasses and fine grained sugar! The amount of molasses could be varied to make it either light or dark brown sugar. I have used a brand called Trust which is not as soft or moist or as fine grained but works.

 
Chocolate Coffee Cookies ( By the name Chocolate Espresso Smores on Jocelyn's blog  )

Ingredients (to make 20 small cookies)

Semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped - 112 grams / 4 oz
Unsalted butter - 2 tablespoons / 30 grams
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (74 grams approx, read note)
Egg - 1, large
All-purpose flour - 3/4 cup / 98 grams
Instant coffee powder - 1 tablespoon
Baking powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - a tiny pinch
Semisweet chocolate chips - 1/4 cup

Procedure: Mise en place. Sift the flour, baking powder, instant coffee powder and salt. Next time I bake these, I will stir in the coffee into the warm chocolate for a more intense coffee flavor. Keep aside. Place chopped chocolate and butter in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until almost melted in spurts of 30 seconds on HIGH power. Make sure you melt the chocolate smooth and liquid or the cookie texture may differ. Set aside to cool slightly.
Beat brown sugar and chocolate on high speed of an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. The sugar will not dissolve completely and remain a bit gritty. Add the egg, beat for about 30 seconds on low speed till it is well combined.

With the mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to chocolate mixture. Beat until smooth, this will take about 30 seconds. Stir in chocolate chips. The dough will be soft and sticky, but will firm up as it stands. Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate about 4 hours. The dough will now be very firm.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C /350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners. Pinch out (about 20 balls) and roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place two inches apart on baking sheets, they will not spread a lot. Bake 12-13 minutes (recipe says 9-10 minutes) or until browned around the edges (but this is tough to make out!). Do not over-bake or the cookies will be dry. Cool cookies on wire racks. The cookies will puff up and feel soft in the center when pressed lightly when they come out of the oven. But they will harden as they cool. So please do bake a test batch, allow the cookie to cool completely before you taste and decide the baking time for the rest of the cookies.

Please note: As with most cookies, these taste best warm. I liked them most, texture and taste-wise when I baked the cookies after 4 hours of refrigeration. The batter left in the fridge over-night gave me cookies which were great out of the oven, but slightly dry later. The cookies do not taste too sweet warm, but they did taste a bit sweet later. May be more coffee or less sugar next time?  I would not store these for more than a day though. But you could try microwaving any let over cookies.

If you are looking for buttery tasting cookies, these may not be the cookies for you. Very chocolate, warm cookies with less fat - yes!! If you love chocolate and coffee both, you must give these a try!