Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies with Dried Cranberry & Pistachio

Another great recipe from Daniel Tay. Hope you can make it in time for Chinese New Year, I love the saltiness, chewiness, crunchiness and sweetness of these golden morsels ; )) Not forgeting the auspicious red and green tinge too!!!

Recipe adapted from 'Just Desserts and other baked treats' by Daniel Tay

What you need:
255g All purpose flour
5g salt
5g baking soda
150g unsalted butter
100g brown sugar
55g sugar
31/4 tbsp corn syrup (I used maple syrup)
1 tbsp milk
3/4 tbsp Vanilla essence (I used LorAnn Oil vanilla butternut essence)
100g bittersweet choco chips (I used 70g)
100g Pistachio nuts, chopped
85g dried cranberries, chopped

What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
2. Sift flour, salt and baking soda
3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add syrup, milk & essence
4. Add flour mixture and mix on low speed
5. Add choco chips, nuts and cranberries
6. Place dough in fridge for 30mins
7. Roll dough to bite size and bake for 15mins

Pineapple Tarts

Did not plan to make pineapple tarts at all this year as I wasn't sure if I can eat them, now that I am pregnant. Bought a tub of Hub's favourite pineapple tarts which I intend to bring it into States for him but in the end I gave it to my FIL as my hand carry was too heavy....So have been feeling guilty as Hub did not manage to eat his favourite pineapple tarts from Le Cafe.

I must say I am very very happy with this recipe (which I will not disclose), it's very buttery and melts in your mouth.....Ahhhh just the kind Hub likes. Made everything from scratch, the jam and all but it's all worth it ; )

Nostalgic Cookies

Lurrve, Luurrve Luuurrvve these cookies to death......Saw these Nestle Toll House Cookies at Walmart last week and it immediately brought back memories of my Uni days. I used to eat this almost every other day : )

Do try them if you see them in the chiller section of your supermarket : ) It's really easy to bake these delicious cookies; just break the dough and bake them at 325F for 19mins...My favourite, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut.....These cookies are going into my 'road trip survival bag' for my trip to Charlotte tomorrow ; P

NOTE: This is not a sponsored post.

Canned Pineapple Tarts

Tried making these pineapple tarts a few weeks back, can you guess I actually made the jam from canned pineapples!! Came across this recipe from Fresh from the Oven and decided to give it a try. As usual, I modified the recipe by adding cinnamon sticks and a bit of cloves. And I use pastry recipe from elsewhere….

I wanted to make ‘open-top pineapple tarts’ but ended up with pineapple balls instead as my dough was a bit to wet and it kept sticking to the cutter. It is easier to roll the jam into small balls and wrap it up with the dough.

Can’t say I like these pineapple tarts, I mean it’s buttery but somehow something’s lacking…..Maybe it’s the sourish bite that you can only get from fresh pineapples or it's just because I dislike 'cover-up' pineapple tarts.....

Actually, it tasted like the Taiwanese pineapple tarts instead of the traditional Nyonya pineapple tarts you eat during Chinese New Year. So if you like the Taiwanese "Feng Li Su" you can give this a try ; )

Look at my Feet!!!

Shermay Cooking School will be conducting their Macaron classes in May again!….I am so thrilled and tempted to attend since I have waited for almost half a year for them to bring the class back after all the festive seasons but the $138 fee is really making me think twice especially now that I am not working anymore….

So I planned to make some macaron based on my Japanese macaron book; “ I love Macarons”. If I can make some decent macarons today then I will not attend the class…*Grin*

I made a big mess while piping the mixture onto the baking tray and I ended up using spoon instead. Not bad since I can form circles without pipng...

As my plan was to master my macaron shells so I did not make any fillings at all plus Happy Belly does not like buttercream....My solution?......Nutella....*Evil Grin*

I made some with Nutella and some with Apricot & Strawberry preserves. The fruit preserves tasted really well as the sourness of the jam reduces the sweetness of the macaron shells.

This is the best looking one so far. And it tasted just like the ones from Canele. I managed to do the macaronnage step sucessfully too plus there's 'feet'! (the rough edges: the trademark of macarons)... : )

Verdict: I decided not to sign up for the class, I reckon I just need more practice to master the asthetic aspect of my macarons ; )

Chocolatey Chips Cookies

Baked some chocolate chip cookies for Hub yesterday, he came home after spending a work week in UK. Hub loves chocolate chip cookies…..like me ; P

Adapted this recipe from The Lazy Chef, I just love using Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips for my cookies! They are just so rich….

I am not a discipline chef at all, Hub says it’s the stubborn streak in me and yes I don’t like to follow strictly to any recipes. That explain why I can’t bake nice cakes and I do not have the patience to bake them as well…. I like to modify recipes to my liking even when I have not even tried out the recipes….; D

You can refer to the original recipe from The Lazy Chef or follow my modified recipe:

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips Cookies

Ingredients:
¾ cup butter, softened (around 180g)
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used 1/2 whole vanilla bean)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup quickcook oats (Quaker)
¼ cup ground almond or chopped hazelnut
2 tsp cornstarch
½ tsp baking soda
¼ salt
1 ½ cup chocolate chips
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius
2. Cream butter and sugar until smooth
3. Add egg and vanilla
4. Mix in the rest of the dry ingredients
5. Stir in chocolate chips
6. Chill the cookie dough for about 20 mins in the fridge
7. Form dough into small balls around a teaspoon and leave about 2 inches apart
8. Bake for about 10-12 mins (depending on the size of the cookies) or until golden brown