Crispy Ginger Snaps | 香脆薑餅

Christmas can't be without ginger snaps!  Can you imagine sitting around the table, nibbling on a plate of these gingery cookies with a cup of hot tea.  It is awesome!

You may find the dough is a bit soft after mixing.  Some people prefer refrigerating it for a while until it is firm enough to cut out a perfect shape with a cookie cutter.  If you are like me and prefer the rustic look, you can work on the dough directly.

Crispy Ginger Snaps | 香脆薑餅

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup Butter, room temperature

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg, large

1/2 cup Dark Molasses

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1.5 tablespoons Ground Ginger (adjust the amount according to your preference)

1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg, freshly ground 

Pinch of Black Pepper, freshly ground

Pinch of Sea Salt

DIRECTION:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine butter and brown sugar.  Whisk it with a folk until it is fluffy and the colour turns pale.

2. Add egg and molasses.  Whisk until it is well incorporated.

3. Add flour, baking powder, nutmeg, ground ginger, black pepper, salt.  Gently mix it together and form it into dough with a hand. 

4. The dough should be very soft at this point.

5. Spoon out a portion of dough and roll it into a ball.  Press it down on a piece of parchment paper into a 1/2 cm piece.  Keep about 1 cm distance between each piece.

6. Decorate the cookies by sprinkling a pinch of sugar on each cookie dough if desire.

7. Bake them in the pre-heat oven at 360 F for 12 minutes.  Allow them to cool on the rack before transferring them into an air-tight container.

If you want the cookies to be firmer and harder, increase the baking time to 15 minutes instead of 12 minutes.  Keep in mind that the cookies will harden a lot more as they cool.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Jack O' Lantern Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chips | 萬聖肉桂蕃薯薯片

Jack O' Lantern Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chips

萬聖肉桂蕃薯薯片  

Ingredients:

1 Yellow Sweet Potato

1 Purple Sweet Potato (it's usually available in Chinese supermarket)

1.5 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/3 cup Sugar

DIRECTION:

Doraemon Sweet Red Bean Bun | 多啦A夢豆沙餅

Doraemon Sweet Red Bean Bun

多啦A夢豆沙餅

Ingredients:

155 gram Plain Flour

90 ml Whole Milk

1 Egg

60 gram Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Honey

70 gram Red Bean Paste

Vegetable Oil

DIRECTION:

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti Recipe

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti Recipe

Ingredients:

320 gram All Purpose Flour

2 Eggs

1/2 cup Hazelnut

1/2 cup Dark Chocolate Chips

30 gram Flaxseed Meal

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1.5 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

DIRECTION:

Sweet Potato Cake Roll | 甘薯蛋卷

I sometimes wonder if other people cannot resist to buy sweet potatoes just like me.  Most of the time I really don't have any plan for them when I buy them.  They are just adorable.  This recipe is one of the best ways to turn this humble root vegetable into some beautiful looking dessert, while still keeping its rustic flavour.

Sweet Potato Cake Roll | 甘薯蛋卷

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Filling:

300 gram Sweet Potato, thinly sliced

1/4 cup Brown Sugar (Add more if you have a sweet tooth)

2 gram Agar Agar Powder (Usually available in big Asian supermarkets)

100 ml Hot Water

Ingredients for Cake Wrap:

70 gram All Purpose Flour

2 Eggs

60 gram Icing Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

甘著餡材料：

300 克   黃蕃薯，切薄片

1/4 杯   黃糖 (嚐甜者可加多一些)

2 克   寒天粉 (一般在大型亞洲超市可找到)

100 毫升   熱水

蛋糕外皮材料:

70 克   麵粉

2 隻   雞蛋

60 克   糖霜

1/2 茶匙   泡打粉

DIRECTION:

Cinnamon Bread Sticks | 肉桂麵包脆條

Cinnamon Bread Sticks | 肉桂麵包脆條

Ingredients:

4-5 pieces Light Rye Bread

1/3 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature

1/3 cup Sugar

1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon

材料：

4-5 塊   裸麥麵包

1/3 杯   無鹽牛油，室溫放軟

1/3 杯   糖

1 湯匙   肉桂粉

DIRECTION:

Santa prep + No bake Cornflake Cookies Recipe | 粟米片曲奇

These chewy cornflake bites are one of the best recipes I recommend to anyone, who wants to make her own cookies for Santa with her kids.  They are very easy to make and only call for four basic ingredients.  The only reminder is that the syrup turns hard pretty quickly after it's removed from the heat.

Enjoy the amusing spirit in the kitchen with your family.

Merry Christmas!

No bake Cornflake Cookies Recipe

粟米片曲奇

Ingredients: (yield about 15-20 pieces)

1.5 cups Unsweet Cornflakes

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Corn Syrup

3/4 cup Peanut Butter

材料：(做約15﹣20個)

1.5 杯   無糖粟米片

1/2 杯   糖

1/2 杯   玉米糖漿

3/4 杯   花生醬

DIRECTION:

Yogurt Banana Muffins | 乳酪香蕉杯子蛋糕

Yogurt Banana Muffins | 乳酪香蕉杯子蛋糕

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

2 cup All Purpose Flour/ Plain Flour

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

Wet Ingredients:

2 Ripe Bananas

1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt

2 Eggs

1/3 cup Coconut Oil

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

DIRECTION:

Bacon Wrapped Bananas | 煙肉焗香蕉

Bacon with banana? Yup.  It may sound a bit exotic to many people.  It did to me too the first time I heard of it from my housemate, who was from Malaysia.  She told me that it was a popular food people would grill on a barbecue or bake in the oven.  

Lady finger banana is the perfect kind of banana for this dish because it has a relatively firmer body that can go under a high heat of baking without breaking down to mush.  Also, this type of banana is much sweeter than the big ones.

My husband and my son certainly like this exotic flavour and they both are looking forward to the next time when I make it. 

Bacon Wrapped Bananas | 煙肉焗香蕉  

Ingredients:

6 Lady finger bananas

6 pieces of Bacon

1 extra Lady finger banana (for garnish)

材料：

6 條 皇帝蕉

6 片   煙肉

1 條   皇帝蕉 (裝飾用)

DIRECTION:

Egg Wrap Mozzarella Cheese Sticks + Fresh Tomato Dipping Sauce | 白乾酪芝士脆條 + 鮮茄沾汁

These cheese sticks are as good as the ones coated with breadcrumbs or panko, but we don't need to lay out three dishes for the flour, egg, and the seasoned crumbs.  All we need is just to lay out the sheets of egg wraps and roll out some "mozzarella mummies".  For the sauce, you can add some tabasco if you like heat.

Egg Wrap Mozzarella Cheese Sticks + 

Fresh Tomato Dipping Sauce

白乾酪芝士脆條 + 鮮茄沾汁  

Ingredients:

200 gram Mozzarella Cheese, cut into 7 sticks

7 Egg Wraps

Water

2.5 tablespoons Light Cooking Olive Oil (for frying)

Tomato Sauce: (about 1/2 cup)

3 Tomatoes, diced

3 cloves Garlic Gloves, crushed

2.5 tablespoons Light Cooking Olive Oil

1/3 teaspoon Dried Rosemary

1 tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar

1 teaspoon Paprika

1 tablespoon Brown Sugar

Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

材料：

200克  白乾酪芝士, 切成7條

7 塊   蛋春卷皮

水

2.5 湯匙   淡味煎煮用橄欖油 (煎春卷用)

蕃茄沾汁: (約1/2 杯)

3 個   蕃茄， 切粒

3 瓣   蒜頭，壓扁

2.5 湯匙   淡味煎煮用橄欖油

1/3 茶匙   乾迷迭香

1 湯匙   紅酒醋

1 茶匙   紅甜椒粉

1 湯匙   黑糖

DIRECTION:

Vegan Apple Muffins | 素食蘋果小蛋糕

Telling our son "we are going to buy apples" is the compromise to get him to a grocery store on a fussy day of his, so there are always one or two apples sitting around on our kitchen table.   Since my son started going to a preschool and people there offer him apple for snack almost everyday, he doesn't really ask for the apples at home.  Those two apples on the ingredients list below were obviously the "orphans", and I am glad they turned into some uplifting sweet to highlight our vegan diet in this cold week.  These muffins taste better after stored overnight.

Vegan Apple Muffins

素食蘋果小蛋糕  

Ingredients: (yield about 12-15 muffins)

(Dry Ingredients):

2 cups All Purpose Flour / Plain Flour

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

(Wet Ingredients):

* 1.5 cups Apples (I used delicious here), peeled, cored, and cubed

* 1/2 cup Soy Milk

1/3 cup Odourless Coconut Oil

1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

1/3 cup Soy Milk (it's added depends on the dryness of the dough)

*  These two ingredients should produce approximately 400 ml apple Puree.

材料：(約12-15個)

(乾材料):

2 杯   麵粉

3/4 杯   黑糖

1 湯匙   泡打粉

1 茶匙   肉桂粉

1/4 茶匙   荳蔻粉

1/4 茶匙   海鹽

(濕材料):

＊ 1.5 杯   蘋果，去皮和芯，切粒 (我這兒選用蛇果)

＊ 1/2 杯   豆奶

1/3 杯   椰油 (無味)

1 湯匙   雲呢拿香油

1/3 杯   豆奶 (視乎麵漿的乾度而加入)

＊這兩份材料應該做約400毫升蘋果蓉

DIRECTION:

Avocado Yogurt Dip | 牛油果乳酪醬

It is an easy and healthy dip I love to serve when some little guess come over for a play day.  I guess no one will complain greek yogurt and avocado.  Also, the refreshing green colour and the lemony flavour gives a perfect snack for spring.

Avocado Yogurt Dip | 牛油果乳酪醬  

Ingredients:

1 Ripe Avocado

1/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt

2 tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice

1/4 teaspoon Black Ground Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

Corn Tortilla Chips (to serve) 

材料：

1 個   熟牛油果

1/4 杯   原味希臘乳酪

2 湯匙   鮮檸檬汁

1/4 茶匙   海鹽

1/4 茶匙   黑胡椒碎

墨西哥粟米片 (伴食)

DIRECTION:

Almond Cuddle Bear Cookies ｜ 抱抱熊果仁曲奇

People who have tried these almond cookies love them, just as they love buttery or chocolate chip cookies.  When I was little, my dad often bought these cookies on his payday.  Whenever I received one, I would nibble it as slowly as I could to enjoy every bit of the sweet and nutty flavour.  These cookies lived through my childhood.

  I made these cookies into some cute bears today for Ethan and his friends.  They each held a piece of cookie, and thought about where they should set their teeth in first before munching the bears from head to toe.  Although they were still too little to tell me how much they enjoyed the cookies, their smiles and the crumbs on their faces already told me.

Almond Cuddle Bear Cookies

抱抱熊果仁曲奇

Ingredients for cookie dough: (make about 32 cookies)

1/2 cup Almond

2.5 cups All Purpose Flour

1 cup Brown Sugar, packed

1/4 cup Soy Oil

2 Eggs

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

 4 tablespoons Disaronno Originale Amaretto

*Disaronno is a sweet liqueur that has intense almond flavour that it can drastically enhance the fragrant in this recipe.  I also tried to bake another batch of cookies that without the liqueur and they also turned out delicious.  So it's totally fine if you choose to give this liqueur a pass.

Ingredients for decoration:

Almond

Mini Pretzels

Chocolate Rocks

Coco Powder

DIRECTION:

1. Finely chop the almond; set it aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the liqueur and soy oil until it's totally corporate.

3. Add rest of the cookie dough ingredients and the chopped almond.  Mix well and form it into a dough.  The dough should not be sticky.  Add more flour if it's needed.

4. Place the dough on a big piece of parchment, and then place another piece of parchment on top.  Roll the dough into a 1/2 cm piece.

5. With a bear shape cookie cutter, carefully cut out the dough.  The dough is very easy to break, so you will need a spatula to help transfer the bears to a baking tray.

6. Make the eyes, noses, and mouths with any utensils or tools available in your kitchen.  I used two different sizes of chopsticks to make the eyes, and a teaspoon to make the mouths.

7. With a finger, dab some coco powder on the bear ears. 

8. Decorate the bears with the pretzels, almonds, or chocolate rocks.  Bake the cookies at 360 degree F for 12 minutes.  Allow the cookies to cool on a rack before bagging them.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy this recipe.

I also upload the video that I made a few years ago when I was baking these cookies.  You may find there are a few ingredients are different than the one above, but the technique is the same.

Mango Orange Popsicle | 芒果鮮橙雪條

This style of popsicle can have endless variations, and this time I chose to use mango and orange.  Because the fruits weren't in season, I added a tablespoon of agave syrup to balance the taste.  If you have some good quality fruits in hand, you can probably omit the syrup.

Mango Orange Popsicle | 芒果鮮橙雪條  

Ingredients: (2 servings)

1/2 cup Fresh Mango

1/3 cup Orange Pulp

1 tablespoon Agave Syrup

材料：(2人份)

1/2 杯   芒果

1/3 杯   橙肉

1 湯匙   龍舌蘭蜜

DIRECTION:

Strawberry White Chocolate Scones | 草莓白朱古力鬆餅

Strawberry White Chocolate Scones | 草莓白朱古力鬆餅 

Ingredients: (yields 8-10 scones)

3 cups Self Raising Flour

110 gram Cold Unsalted Butter, cubed

1 cup Strawberry Milk (Blend together 100 ml Whole Milk + 1/2 cup Strawberries)

1/3 cup White Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup Sugar

1 Egg

材料：(做約8-10 個鬆餅)

3 杯   自發粉

110 克 凍無鹽牛油，切小粒

1 杯 草莓奶 (攪打100 毫升全脂奶 + 1/2 杯 草莓)

1/3 杯   白朱古力粒

1/4 杯   糖

1 隻   雞蛋

DIRECTION:

Olive Oil Lemon Poppy Seeds Muffins | 橄欖油檸檬罌粟籽小蛋糕

Olive Oil Lemon Poppy Seeds Muffins

橄欖油檸檬罌粟籽小蛋糕  

Ingredients: (yields a dozen)

2/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

4 Eggs

1.5 tablespoons Poppy Seeds

1 Lemon of Zest

1/2 Lemon of Juice

1.5 teaspoons Vanilla Extra

1.5 cups Flour

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1/3 teaspoon Salt

材料：(做約12 個)

2/3 杯   初榨橄欖油

3/4 杯  黑糖

4 隻   雞蛋

1.5 湯匙   罌粟籽

1 個 檸檬皮

1/2 個   檸檬汁

1.5 茶匙   雲呢拿香油

1.5 杯   麵粉

1湯匙   泡打粉

1/3 茶匙   鹽

DIRECTION:

Acorn Cookies | 橡實曲奇

Acorn Cookies | 橡實曲奇

Ingredients:

200 gram All Purpose Flour

200 gram Acorn Meal, LINK

150 gram Unsalted Butter, cold and cubed

1/4 cup Brown Sugar *(I forgot to mention it in the video.  Combine it with the flour and acorn meal)*

4 tablespoon Maple Syrup
4 tablespoons Milk

1/3 teaspoon Salt

DIRECTION:

1. In a mixing bowl, add flour, cold butter.  Rub it with finger tips until the butter resembles a fine meal.  Add acorn flour, brown sugar, and salt; mix again.

2. Add maple syrup and milk.  Mix until it just forms into a dough. The dough should be slightly sticky.

3. Divide the dough into equal portions and roll each into a ball.  Press down the balls onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

4. Bake it in the pre-heated oven at 360F for 15-18 minutes.  Allow them to cool before transferring them into an air-tight container.  The cookies will turn harder once cooled.

VIDEO:

Baked Whole Wheat Tortilla Chip ｜ 焗全麥墨西哥玉米脆片

This snack needs only 15 minutes from prepare to finish.  I used whole wheat tortilla because it is healthier than the plain version.  You can use the same recipe with pita bread and it will come out just as nice and crispy.  I hope you will enjoy it.

My son was taking the tortilla out of the bowl for his afternoon snack.

Baked Whole Wheat Tortilla Chip

Ingredients:

8 pcs Tortilla, whole wheat

1 tablespoon Ground Cinnamon

5 tablespoons Agave Syrup (honey is also fine)

1 tablespoon vegetable Oil

pinch of sea salt

How to make it:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 F.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together agave syrup, oil, cinnamon, and salt; set it aside.

3. Stack a few tortillas together.  Cut them into eight wedges with scissors.  Add them into the agave mixture.  Gently rub the mixture with fingers.

4. Place the tortilla pieces on parchment paper without overlapping them.  Bake them for 12-15 minutes, or until they are crispy and the syrup dries up.  Store them in an air-tight container and they can keep up to 1 week.

My son and my husband gave this snack a thumb up.