Eggless Almond Cookies Recipe | Badam Biscuit Recipe [Video]

Eggless Almond Cookies or Badam Biscuits. Crisp buttery cookies made with almonds. 

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These Almond Cookies guys.... are the best cookies EVER!!

I've baked several cookies over the years, but it is to these almond beauties that I keep going back. These were the first cookies I ever baked and posted. Today I'm just reposting the exact same recipe, nothing to fault there, with new photos and a video to make it easier for you to bake these almond cookies. Now you have absolute no reason not to. Right?

I would have never got around to baking anything if it weren't for a quarter packet of unsalted butter staring at me every time I opened the fridge. Frankly, I can't even remember why I bought that butter and when I used parts of it. I've been racking my brain but got nothing so far. So because I was actually bored of seeing that butter in the fridge, I decided I need to bake something. I had excess almonds available, so I got around to baking these oldies again.

Making these cookies is very very easy. All you need is 7-8 ingredients at room temperature. I use a mix of maida or all purpose flour and atta or whole wheat flour, just because I stay a little far from all purpose flour when I can. If you like you can use only all purpose flour or only whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour here adds to the nuttiness of the cookie and is pretty much unnoticeable. I coarsely ground the almonds, you can also chop the almonds or add extra chopped almonds to give it a more almond-y taste. I plan to add the chopped almonds next time.

The important thing while baking cookies is to not over-mix the mixture. Over-mixing will give you harder cookies, so mix everything until just combined. Also, don't overdo the creaming of the butter, it is a cookie not a cake, so don't incorporate a lot of air in there. I made one batch with the full 100 gms of sugar and found it a tad too sweet. Hence, here in this recipe, I added only 3/4th of the sugar first and then added more as required.

It is recommended to chill the cookie dough before baking as it prevents the cookie from spreading too much. If you are short for time, freeze it for 15 minutes. This cookie dough did not slice well for me as it had almond pieces, so I rolled them instead of just slicing the dough. Once all that is done, just bake the cookie until it is slightly browned on the sides. When you remove the cookies out, they will feel soft, allow them to cool and they will firm up.

These Almond Cookies are crisp and not chewy. They taste great when dunked into a hot cup of chai. Don't you just love dunking your biscuits or cookies in chai? So I'm off to eat my cookies with chai.

Happy Weekend!

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Eggless Almond Cookies Recipe | Badam Biscuit Recipe

Eggless Almond Cookies or Badam Biscuits. Crisp buttery cookies made with almonds.

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     40 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Total time:     60 minutes
Yield:                35 cookies

Ingredients:

0.75 cup or 125 gms Unsalted Butter
0.5 cup or 50 gms Flour (Maida)
1 cup or 100 gms Whole Wheat Flour (Atta)
0.5 cup or 100 gms Sugar
0.75 cup or 100 gms Almonds
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
2 Tbsp Milk

Method:

1. Powder the sugar until fine.
2. Coarsely powder the almonds.
3. Take unsalted butter that is at room temperature into a large bowl.
4. Add in 3/4th of the powdered sugar and whisk until the sugar has mixed well and the butter is creamy.
5. Sift in the flour, whole wheat flour and baking powder.
6. Add the powdered almonds and vanilla essence and knead until combined. If it is too dry, add a little milk.
7. Taste the dough and add in more powdered sugar if required and knead again until combined.
8. Wrap in a plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
9. After 30 minutes, divide the cookie dough into 35 equal parts.
10. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
11. Shape the cookies and place on a greased baking sheet.
12. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until the edges are slightly browned.
13. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
14. Store in an air tight box once completely cooled.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Masala Bread Toast

Eggless Almond Chocolate Brownie

Cornflake Chocolate Cookie

Read more ...

Vegan Date and Walnut Cake Recipe [Video]

Vegan cake made with dates and walnuts!

A few weeks before my birthday, Gee asked me to help her bake a cake. She's only ever baked two cakes in her whole life - Banana Bread and one plain Vanilla, but both a long time ago. And both of those in my house. This time, she wanted to bake one in her house to test out her oven. I was all confident telling her what to buy and how much to buy, until I landed up in her house and realized, that the last cake I baked, not muffins or cheesecakes, but a loaf cake was actually 2 years ago!!! 

As a cook, it is never good to forget your skills, and here I was all lost and upset. So I decided I need to start baking more often. Lo and behold, this Date and Walnut Cake. I made it multiple times since I first did to just brush up my baking skills and dust out my recipes. And I can say with conviction, that I have loved it each time that I baked it. It has been a little difficult however, to stop sneaking in a piece - for me and for Raj. He'll even wipe out the crumbs (so will I !!). This cake is uber moist and slightly dense. It is rich and gooey to eat and when you find those little bits of walnuts and dates, it makes the bite, that much more special. I love the walnuts in the cake!!

If you like light airy cakes, then this may not fit the bill. 

The lucky recipients of my trials have been our friends. Lots of free cake going around from this household. 

Date and Walnut has always been a family favorite, only this time, I made it Vegan. It wasn't that I was looking for a vegan recipe, but this one just worked so perfect that I don't think I'll ever want to add dairy and change it. The cake uses Coconut Oil as the fat component, and I tell you, it tastes delicious. It imparts a slightly coconutty taste to the cake, that makes it so much more exotic in flavor. If you aren't such a coconut fan, use any neutral flavored oil like canola or sunflower. To enhance the coconut flavor (cause I'm a big coconut lover), I used coconut milk. Feel free to use almond or soy milk. If you have none, use water, however it may make the cake feel less rich in taste.

There are three sweeteners in here - Dates, Jaggery and Sugar. 

• Dates - Use the best quality you can. The flavor does come through and you want it to be good. I usually buy dates with seed and deseed them while using. The dates are cooked along with jaggery and water until soft and then blended to a puree. This adds sweetness as well as flavor to the cake.
• Jaggery - Jaggery is unrefined cane sugar.  With refined sugar off the list for many of us these day, jaggery is the perfect replacement. You can use palm sugar or coconut sugar or brown sugar if you cannot find jaggery. If you do have access to jaggery, buy the darkest, that is the least refined and has the best flavor profile. Sometimes, it even tastes like chocolate. 
• Sugar - I used half a cup of jaggery, and later added refined sugar, because the cake wasn't sweet enough. To avoid using refined sugar, just increase the quantity of jaggery to 1 cup or use powdered sifted jaggery powder later if the sweetness is less. You could also replace all of the jaggery with powdered sugar.

I have used all purpose flour or maida in the cake. I generally opt for whole wheat, however, I did not want this cake to be any heavier than it already was with all the vegan liquid ingredients. I suggest, if you are looking to use whole wheat, keep it at 50% and the remaining 50%, use all purpose flour.

The best part of the cake is the walnuts. Be generous. However, let me warn you that the cake gets a little difficult to slice when those walnut bits come in the way and you may not get the perfect slice. But don't let that stop you from baking the cake. Your family won't mind the large chunky slices, I assure you.cThe cake is soft and moist, so only slice it once it has cooled completely. Slicing it when hot will lead to it breaking into chunks around the walnuts.

Serve it warm with tea/coffee. 

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Vegan Date and Walnut Cake Recipe

Vegan loaf cake made with dates and walnuts. Eggless and dairy free cake.

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     20 minutes
Cook time:     50 minutes
Total time:     70 minutes
Yield:                Makes one 9 inch loaf

Ingredients:

30 Dates
10 Walnuts
2 cups Flour
200 ml Coconut Milk
0.5 Coconut Oil
0.5 cup powdered Jaggery
4 Tbsp powdered Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
0.5 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Vanilla Extract or Essence
Pinch of salt
0.5 cup Water

Method:

1. Boil together 20 chopped dates, water and the jaggery until the dates are soft or 5-6 minutes. If you want to make a refined sugar free cake, increase the quantity of jaggery to 1 cup.
2. Allow the mixture to cool, and then blend to a smooth puree. Add water if required.
3. Mix together the coconut oil and half the coconut milk until combined.
4. Add in the date puree and mix well.
5. Add the vanilla extract and mix well.
6. Sift in the flour, baking powder and baking soda. You can add a pinch of salt if you want.
7. Mix until combined. Use the remaining coconut milk to loosen the batter if it is very dry.
8. If the cake batter isn't sweet enough, add the powdered sugar until you get the desired sweetness.
9. Mix in chopped walnuts and the remaining dates.
10. Grease a cake tin (9") and line with parchment paper or butter paper.
11. Pour in the batter.
12. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 200 degree C or until done. An inserted toothpick or knife should come out clean.
13. Demould after 4-5 minutes.
14. Allow to cool before slicing.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Eggless Blueberry Muffins

Honey Cake

Persian Love Cake

Read more ...

Eggless Blueberry Muffin Recipe [Video Recipe]

This is the ONLY recipe you will ever need for Eggless Blueberry Muffins! Moist, dense and basically just perfect, these Blueberry muffins will win over your loved ones.

These Blueberry Muffins got voted Number 1!!! Seriously!! By my biggest food critic, my sister.

I've got a perfect sister. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling her perfect (after all only one of us can be perfect, and I'm the "one"), but that she plays her part of being the older sister perfectly. When we were younger, the 5 year age gap between us seemed so wide. I annoyed her incessantly -  I followed her around, I copied her all the time. I had to have the exact same dress she bought. I loved using her stuff. I basically just wanted to be her. Then we moved to a phase where I think neither could stand the other very long - we had millions of wars, some could pass off as world wars. And then overnight, we became the best of friends. Just like that. We knew what the other was thinking, we did not even have to finish our sentences. The age gap seems non existent now. 

Back to the perfect sister bit - she smothers me with love, she's always been protective but she's also annoyingly critical. So when she ate these Blueberry Muffins and she ranked number 1 on her list of favorite baked desserts, I was super excited. And I knew I had to share it with you guys. Wouldn't you want to try my number ONE Blueberry Muffins?

And it is the perfect season for these muffins. Spring is in the air, the freshest and plumpest of the berries are making their way to the markets.

This isn't really a new recipe. I actually made these muffins for the first time 5 years ago and then for some reason, never made it again. I've had it on the blog for the past 5 years with sad little photos that did not make justice to the deliciousness of these Blueberry Muffins. Back then I had used canned blueberries as I could not find fresh ones. But this time it was all fresh fruit in my muffins. I have to say, the fresh ones triumph over the canned ones any day. I got these wonderful berries for a steal at Namdhari's Fresh. They were on sale for almost half the price. So if you are based in Bangalore, check out your closest outlet and they may still be available at that price. 

These muffins are vegetarian and are baked without using egg or egg replacer, yet they were moist and perfectly dense, just as muffins are meant to be. I topped these muffins with a simple streusel made from butter, vanilla, white and brown sugar which is totally optional but definitely recommended. 

Also, in the video recipe, you will see a small difference in color in the wet ingredient mix, this is because I made these muffins twice, once with melted butter and once with oil. And I kinda messed up a part of my video when I made them with butter, so I had to re-shoot that part of the video when I remade the muffins with oil. You can use either butter or oil, but I highly recommend butter, as it adds more richness to the muffins.

Psst... Want to know what else made it to Gee's list? This Persian Love Cake and then the Almond brownies.

One of my pics from 5 years ago

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

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Blueberry Muffin

Eggless Blueberry muffins made using fresh blueberries and wholewheat flour. Streusel topped Blueberry muffins.

Recipe Type:  Dessert / Breakfast
Cuisine:          International
Prep Time:     20 minutes
Cook time:     25 minutes
Yield:              12

Ingredients:

0.75 cup Blueberries (about 80 gms)
0.75 cup All Purpose Flour (about 100 gms)
0.75 cup Whole wheat flour (about 100 gms)
0.75 cup Milk powder or Dairy whitener (about 80 gms)
0.75 cup Powdered sugar (about 100 gms)
75 gms Butter
1.25 cups Milk (about 125-150 ml)
2 tsp Baking powder (about 8 gms)
0.5 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
0.25 tsp Salt 
3-4 tbsp Streusal topping

To make Streusal Topping:

2 tbsp Cold Butter
1.5 tbsp All purpose Flour
2 tsp Jaggery powder or Brown Sugar
1 tsp Powdered Sugar

Method:

1. Mix together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, milk powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda until combined. You can sift these too.
2. Whisk together melted butter, vanilla extract and 0.5 cups milk until combined. Add the apple cider vinegar and mix well.
3. Add in half the dry ingredients and whisk until combined without any lumps.
4. Add in the remaining flour and milk and mix until you have a smooth batter.
5. Fold in the blueberries.
6. Line a muffin tray with paper liners.
7. Spoon the batter into the liners until they are 3/4th full.
8. If making the streusal, mix together cold butter, flour, brown sugar and powdered sugar with your fingers until it forms a coarse mixture like powdered cookies.
9. Sprinkle the muffins with about 0.5 tsp each.
10. Bake for 22-25 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degree C
11. Serve warm.

P.S: This is a winner everywhere. It is a top post on IndiBlogger :)

If you liked this, you may also like:

Persian Love Cake

Almond Chocolate Brownies

Honey Cake

Read more ...

Valentine's Day Persian Love Cake Recipe | Almond Semolina Cake (Eggless) [Video]

Rose and Cardamom flavored cake made to celebrate LOVE!!
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Happy Valentine's Day people!!!

Okay, I know it isn't Valentine's Day yet, but I'm sure you have already started planning something special for your special someone. Right?

A lot of people shrug away Valentine's day thinking it is only for those newly crazily in love who can't keep their hands of each other types.

But with 10 years of relationship under my belt, I  can tell you it does matter even for those who have quietly slipped away into a routine. And maybe more than the newfound lovers.

When Raj and I started out, we had so much to talk to each other about, we did special things for each other, we strived to remember each other likes and dislikes. Roses were given, chocolates too. Gifts and cards and plushy toys. Now 10 years later, the conversation usually revolves around what happened in the day or what is happening around the world. We already know so much about each other, nothing is new. In a strange way that is comforting, but there is a lack of surprise. We don't strive to remember the likes and dislikes, because it is now etched away in the subconscious mind. Gifts have less whimsy and more practicality. A lot of people call it the boring married life, I too sometimes. But there is comfort in this "boredom", in knowing there is someone who cares for you. Someone who will be there for you when you need it.

But comfort tends to make one complacent and we miss out appreciating each other as often as we probably should. Hence, days like Valentine's day are required along with anniversaries and birthdays, just to celebrate the love you have for each other.

So, I made this Persian Love Cake, a while ago just to celebrate love. I thought it was perfect to share right around this time. It is a delicious cake made with almond flour and flavored with middle eastern flavors like cardamom and rose. This is then topped with citrus syrup and nuts. You can use nuts like pistachios or almonds. Hazelnuts or cashews may be delicious too. I also added saffron to the citrus syrup to give a more orange hue.

This cake is one of the simplest I have ever made. No whipping, no creaming. Just mix all the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Allow it to rest. Then bake it. Prepare the syrup while the cake bakes. Brush brush brush and top with nuts. It is a simple yet flavorful cake. My family loved it, and I hope yours does too.

I substituted half the almonds with semolina considering the cost of almonds. To get a richer and gluten-free cake, just use almonds.

You can serve this cake with whipped cream or Greek yogurt or your favorite vanilla ice cream. Or just plain, like I did.

P.S. Not all our gifts are practical. The man got me this little fella from Thailand cause I always wanted a tiger cub!! Isn't he adorable?

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updates via Email

Video Recipe

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Persian Love Cake | Almond Semolina Cake

Persian love cake is an eggless rose and cardamom flavored cake made with almond flour and semolina. Brushed with orange syrup and topped with chopped nuts. Persian love cake is an eggless rose and cardamom flavored cake made with almond flour and semolina. Brushed with orange syrup and topped with chopped nuts. 

Recipe Type:  Dessert

Cuisine:            Middle Eastern

Prep Time:     40 minutes

Cook time:     40 minutes

Yield:                Serves 4-5  

Ingredients:

0.75 cup Yogurt (thick Curd)

4 Tbsp Oil

3 Tbsp Rose Water

1 tsp Cardamom Powder

0.75 cups Fine semolina (Chiroti Rava)

0.5 cups Whole Almonds or 0.75 cups Almond Flour

0.75 cup Powdered Sugar

0.25 tsp Baking Soda

0.75 tsp Baking Powder

0.75 tsp Baking Powder

1-2 Tbsp granulated Sugar

1-2 Tbsp Water

Few Saffron strands

Oil to grease the cake tin

Flour to dust the cake tin

Chopped pistachios for decoration

Dried rose petals for decoration

Method:

1. In a large bowl, whisk oil, yogurt and rose water until combined.
2. Add in the cardamom powder, semolina and powdered almonds.
3. Add 3-4 Tbsp of the powdered sugar and mix well until combined. Add more sugar if required.
4. Mix well. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celcius.
6. Add the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
7. Spray the cake tin with oil or rub oil in it using paper towel or your fingers.
8. Dust it with flour.
9. Pour in the cake batter and bake for 30-40 minutes.
10. Remove from the tin after 2-3 minutes and keep aside to cool.
11. Juice the orange.
12. Add sugar and 1-2 Tbsp water to a pan on stove and cook until the sugar dissolves.
13. Add the orange juice and saffron.
14. Boil for 3-5 minutes until the syrup thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
15. Brush the cake with the syrup.
16. Decorate with chopped pistachios or almonds and serve.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Vegan Date Walnut Cake

Honey Cake

Read more ...

Pineapple Cake with Whipped Cream Frosting (Eggless)

Eggless Vanilla cake with fresh pineapple pieces and a light whipped cream frosting!!

Happy Birthday to the most important people in my life - My husband and my sister!!

Coincidence? Divine plan? No idea, but the two most important people in my life share their birthday with each other. It was last week and they demanded this Pineapple Cake. Normally, I'd bake a chocolate since that's everyone's favorite, but a birthday girl/boy's wish has to be fulfilled.

So Pineapple Cake it was!!

The last time I made this cake was four years ago on my birthday and I almost swore I'd never make it again. I was a novice at frosting cakes back then and I messed it up real bad. First I tried to make the whipped cream frosting with low fat cream by adding butter to increase its fat content. I've heard it works, but in my case I ended up with a gloopy buttery mess. Then I found that there are lots of local dairies around that sell fresh full fat cream and I went in search of that. We had to check out several stores to find the freshest of the fresh lot. And to my back luck, I over whipped it and ended up with lots of vanilla flavored sweet butter. So you understand my trauma when the pair asked for Pineapple while I was trying to steer them towards anything that needed a ganache or a buttercream.

So this time I bought back up packets of cream and guess what? All my back ups are safe in the fridge. I've finally learnt when to stop whipping the cream. My suggestion would be to use cream with at least 40% fat content and not fret about making this cake low calorie. Lets get real, this cake is a treat, and not a low cal diet eat, so close your eyes for once at the calorie count and just enjoy a slice of the delicious Pineapple Cake. 

The first time I made this cake, was also the first time I ever bought a pineapple. It is much simpler to use canned pineapple here, but I'm all about using fresh fruit when I can. So I learnt how to peel and slice a pineapple. While I'd have loved to use the fresh pineapple straight away, it ends up getting bitter after a while, hence, stewing it in sugar syrup. You will need to stew the pineapple a few days in advance, at least one day. I made the pineapple in syrup 4 days in advance and it turned out beautifully sweet and soft. The leftover syrup can be used in smoothies or juices to add a subtle pineapple flavor. 

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Honey Cake - Bangalore Iyengar Bakery style honey and orange cake. Video Recipe.
• Banana Bread - Delicious dense banana bread/cake.
• Fresh Fruit Tart with Mango Cream - Tart filled with a fresh mango cream and fresh fruits
• No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake - Strawberry cheesecake made without egg or gelatin.

Pineapple Cake (Eggless)

Eggless pineapple cake with pineapple pieces and a whipped cream frosting.

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:          International
Prep Time:     1 Hour
Cook time:     40 Minutes
Yield:              One 6" cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

1.5 cups All Purpose Flour (Maida)
300 gms Condensed Milk
1 cup Milk
0.5 cups Oil
2-3 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
1.5 Tbsp Cornstarch (Cornflour)
1 tsp Baking powder
0.5 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Pinch of salt

For the Whipped Cream Frosting:

200 ml Fresh medium fat cream(40% milk fat)(Chilled)
4-5 Tbsp Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Cornstarch
0.25 tsp Vanilla Essence

Other ingredients:

2-3 slices of canned Pineapple or 2-3 fresh Pineapple slices
1 cup Water (not required if using canned pineapple)
0.75 cups Sugar(not required if using canned pineapple)

Method:

To prepare the Pineapple:

Skip these steps if you are using canned pineapple.
Add the sugar to the water and heat until it dissolves.
Lower the heat and add the fresh pineapple slices.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
Pour the pineapple and the syrup into a glass jar.
Allow it to cool before closing the jar and refrigerating.
Preferably, do this at least 1 day in advance to assembling the cake. I made these 4 days in advance.

To make the Cake:

Sift together maida, baking powder, baking soda and cornstarch at least twice to ensure even mixing
In a large mixing bowl, take the condensed milk, vanilla essence and oil. Whisk until combined.
Add the powdered sugar and salt, mix until combined.
Add the flour by the spoonfuls and whisk until combined. When it gets harder to whisk, add in a little milk. Continue until all the flour and milk has been combined. Do not over mix, the cake will end up hard.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Grease two 6" round pans and line the bottom of the pan with butter paper or dust the pan with flour.
Divide the batter equally between the two pans.
Bake for 30-40 mins until done.
Cool on a wire rack until completely cool before frosting.
The cake can be made a day in advance and frosted later.

To make the Whipped Cream Frosting:

Before making the whipped cream, place the whisk and a steel bowl (in which you will be whisking) in the fridge for 30 mins.
Alternatively, place the steel bowl in an ice bath while whisking.
Pour the cream to the cold bowl and whisk until you have soft peaks.
Now add in the cornstarch, sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk until you get stiff peaks. Be careful not to over whip the cream, else it will turn to butter.

Assembling the cake:

Allow the vanilla sponge cake to cool completely.
Level the cake as required.
Spoon the pineapple syrup on both the halves.
Spread a part of the whipped cream on the lower half of the cake.
Cut the pineapple into small pieces and spread on the whipped cream.
Place the upper half on the cake on top.
Spread the whipped cream all over the cake.
Decorate with the remaining pineapple slice.
Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Read more ...

Cornflake Chocolate Cookie

Dessert for breakfast or breakfast for dessert? Enjoy both with these Cornflake Chocolate Cookies!!

There is no joy like dunking a homemade warm buttery cookie into a cup of tea or a glass of milk. Especially when you bake those few times. Don't get me wrong, I love baking, seeing the fruits of your efforts bloom and rise in the oven and fill the entire house with those heavenly aromas is something I simply cannot get enough of. But, I just fail to make the time to bake very often. So whenever I do, I celebrate the finished product. And what a celebration this was - rich chewy cookie with bits of crunchy cornflakes and soft blocks of my favorite dark chocolate. Try resisting that!!

There is only one thing to blame for this Cornflake Chocolate Cookie goodness - the idiot box!! As every other person obsessed with food, I too binge watch food channels on TV. And one of them repeatedly played these "quickies" or "shorties" of a cornflake chocolate chip cookie recipe. As far as I was the only person watching it, it was okay, I've learnt to contain my excitement now, but this video was watched by Raj and Gee and had them all excited. Their excitement rubbed off on me, and these cookies made it into this world from my tiny little oven. When I say tiny, I mean it, I had to bake them in 3 batches. Also, another reason I bake less. The first thing I buy when I buy my first house, will be a BIG bad oven!!

I'm usually a fan of crunchy biscuits or cookies, and this was the first of my chewy lot. I LOVED loved loved every little crumb of it. It tasted of butter, dark Bournville chocolate and Corn Flakes. Raj, true to his self, grabbed one each time he entered the kitchen and Gee, true to her self, found the cookies too rich (pure butter is so wasted on some people), yet managed to down a few.

Making these cookies was actually a breeze. Just cream together the butter and sugar until well mixed, then add everything else to it and mix until combined. No chilling or shaping, just spoon them onto the baking sheet and bake them until slightly brown. The cookies will be soft when just out of the oven, they will crisp up on the outside as they cool. Keep enough space between the cookies while baking as the butter in the dough will melt causing the cookie to spread. If you want to bake later, just wrap in cling wrap or plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Remove from fridge and slice and bake it when ready. 

Use flavored cornflakes and different types of chocolate to get more variety from the same recipe.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

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If you liked this, you may also like:

• Almond Cookies - Easy to make eggless almond cookies / biscuits.
• Butter Cookies - Beautiful swirly eggless butter cookies.
• Fruit Biscuits - Karachi Bakery inspired rose flavored fruit biscuits.

Cornflake Chocolate Cookie

Cornflake Chocolate Cookies are chewy biscuits made with flour, plain cornflakes and dark chocolate.

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     20 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Yield:                22 Cookies

Ingredients:

100 gms unsalted Butter
1 cup Flour (maida)
1 cup powdered Sugar
1.25 cups Corn flakes
80 gms Dark Chocolate bar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
0.5 tsp Baking Powder
1-2 Tbsp Milk

Method:

Cream room temperature butter and 3/4 cup of powdered sugar until combined.
Add the flour, baking powder and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
Cut the cholocate bar into small chunks and add to the dough.
Add the cornflakes into the dough and mix until combined.
If the dough is crumbly, add the milk.
If the dough needs sugar, add the remaining powdered sugar.
If you do not plan to bake immediately, wrap the dough in cling or plastic wrap and store in fridge until ready to bake.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree C.
Grease a baking tray and roll the dough into little balls and place on the sheet.
Leave at least 2 inch space between two cookies as they tend to flatten and expand.
Bake until slightly browned on the edges or for 12-15 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.
Store in an airtight container once completely cool.

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