Oatmeal Loaf

How to make an Oatmeal Loaf.

20g bread flour
100ml water
100ml milk
30g sugar
240g bread flour
30g wholemeal flour
10g milk powder
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp salt
20g butter or margarine

In a saucepan, whisk together 20g bread flour and water over low heat till it thickens.

Remove from heat, add milk and sugar and stir till well incorporated.

Combine the rest of the ingredients, then pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and stir till a dough forms.

Knead till dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and allow to rise for about half hour.

Punch down dough. Let it rest for about 5 min. Shape into a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan.

Let dough rise for about half hour.
Bake at 170*C for 25-30 min.
Cool completely before slicing.

Peanut Flower Cookies (eggless)

So much for "no more cookies till next Christmas"!
It seems I can't run away from baking cookies for Chinese New Year too.  And instead of the usual rolled-up cookie balls, I decided that I'd make good use of my cookie press and make some pretty flower cookies instead. 


I'm submitting this to show my support for Aspiring Bakers #3: My Favourite CNY Cookie (Jan 2011) hosted by j3ss kitch3n.

EGGLESS PEANUT FLOWER COOKIES
Makes about 70-80 spritz cookies.
180g unsalted butter, softened
90g sugar (add more if you have a sweet tooth)
1 tbs vanilla
230g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
100g peanuts, shelled and preferably roasted for a nuttier flavour

- Combine flour, salt and peanuts, and blitz till peanuts are finely ground.  (If you blitz the peanuts without the flour, you'll get peanut butter!)
- In your mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy.
- Gradually add peanut flour and mix till you get a smooth dough.
- Fill up your cookie press, leaving as little air pockets as possible.  Then insert your favourite design plate into your cookie press and press out the cookies onto a baking tray.
- Bake 190*C for 10-13 min until the edges become firm and golden.
- Remove from the oven and let cool on wire rack.

Mini Birthday Cupcakes

Cupcakes for a very special little boy...

This batch of mini cuppies were requested by a friend for her son's 3rd birthday.
"Oh, no eggs, cos he's allergic to eggs."


Cupcakes and frosting without eggs?  Out goes my favourite cupcake and swiss meringue buttercream frosting. It was time to google "eggless cake recipe". But first, I made marshmallow fondant, and stamped out the letters. Then let it air dry for several days so it would firm up.

After experimenting with a couple of egg-free recipes, I settled on this one:

EGGLESS CUPPIES  ::  makes about 16 minis

220g plain flour (for choc: 200g flour, 20g cocoa powder)
160g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup (80ml) oil or melted butter
1 cup (240 ml) warm water
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Whisk together all the dry ingredients.  (For vanilla choc chip, add 100g choc chips.)
Separately, combine all the wet ingredients.
Pour wet into dry. Stir till just combined. Scoop into muffin cups.
Bake at 160*C for about 18-20 min or till done.

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING  :: makes enough for 16 minis

100g butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g icing sugar, sifted

Cream butter and vanilla extract till light and fluffy.
Gradually add icing sugar and blend till smooth.

Looks rather plain, you say?

We saved a little fun for the birthday boy...  We got him 2 boxes of dinosaur candles for him to decorate the 'spare' cuppies.  Aren't they cute?

Happy Birthday, Ethan Sam!

Eggless Scones

Many scone recipes call for an egg, and that usually means a large batch of scones. Plus, it makes the dough kinda gooey. So I experimented with a batch, omitting the egg and upping the amount of milk till I got the consistency required. And it works! Taste wise, just as good :)

Recipe for about 10 mini scones or 6 regular scones:
35g butter, very cold
110g cake flour (or 90g flour + 20g cornflour)
20-30g sugar (according to preference)
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
about 50ml milk

Making the scones:
1 - Throw all ingredients except milk into a food processor and blitz till it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Alternatively, cut butter into dry ingredients manually with a pastry blender or two knives.

2 - Add milk and mix till dough just comes together.

3 - Knead gently a few times. If dough is not firm enough, press into a disc and chill for a while.

4 - Flatten or roll out the dough till about 1/2-inch thick. Cut into shape using a knife or cookie cutter.

5 - Place on a lightly greased baking tray and brush the tops with milk or eggwash.

6 - Bake at 190*C for 10-12 min till the tops are golden brown.

7 - Best served warm with jam or cream.

These scones can be frozen for up to a month. Just warm them up in the oven/toaster or microwave before serving and they'll taste just as good.

For a more indulgent treat, add raisins or cranberries, chocolate, nuts, whatever you fancy.

For savoury scones (or biscuits), use just a touch of sugar and add a little more salt. Savoury scones go very well with clam chowder ;)

Cocoberry Muffins (Eggless)

Here's another batch of eggless muffins, adapted from my Eggless Double Choc Chip recipe.

Why is it called Cocoberry? Because I threw in coconut and cranberries into the batter. 

I'm beginning to really like this eggless recipe. It's so so so so so quick and easy, and the fact that it's cholesterol-free is a real plus!

Alright, enough 'talking'. Here's the recipe:


The Wet Stuff:
125ml milk
50ml oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond essence (optional)


The Dry Stuff:
110g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
50g white sugar
20g brown sugar
2 tbs desiccated coconut (or to preference)
30-40g dried cranberries (or raisins)
30g nuts (I used sliced almonds)


1 - Combine wet stuff.
2 - Combine dry stuff.
3 - Pour wet stuff into dry stuff, and mix till just combined. Batter will be lumpy. Do not overmix. 
4 - Pour into muffin cups or liners.
5 - Bake for 190 degC for 13-15 min till done. 


Tip: 
If you like your muffins with soft tops, cool them on a wire rack with a tea towel over them. Cooling them the usual way in the open will give you firmer, crusty tops. 

Looks are deceiving...

Remember my Eggless Double Choc Chip Cupcakes?

I revisited this recipe today 'cos I had such a crappy day at work, I felt I needed a treat to cheer myself up.

Using my new silicone moulds in various shapes - round, heart, triangle, star - I quickly whipped up this batter and gleefully poured them in the moulds. After 15 minutes in the oven, and what seemed like the longest 20 minutes waiting for them to cool down, I finally sank my teeth into a soft, fluffy, chocolatey star shaped piece.  

Okay, feeling a little better now :)

And in all honesty, they really do taste better than they look. 

Damn, I really need a new camera.

Eggless Double Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Many muffin recipes require one egg and a huge amount of flour, enough to make 12 mega size muffins.  Well, huge to me anyway.  And since there are only two of us at home, halving the recipe is tricky because... how do you halve an egg? And what do I do with the other half?

So I decided I would attempt the recipe without the egg, reduce the flour a little, add a bit more liquid, and see what happens.

The results were a pleasant surprise ~ moist, fluffy muffins; almost like cupcakes. Best of all, it's cholesterol free!