LOW FAT BANANA CAKE (EGGLESS)

Banana cake is so popular and needs no introduction. Each of you have a favorite recipe of this cake. I too had tried various recipe of this treat with added chocolate, oat or chopped nuts.

The recipe below is a low fat and very light. It uses only 2 tablespoons of oil and water to moisten the batter. The best part is you don't  even  need to take out your mixer or food processor to bake one. It is so easy for anyone  to make.  If your banana is already sweet, do adjust the sugar to your preference. For natural sweetness and strong banana flavor, use ripen banana. This recipe can easily be doubled.

This fantastic cake is sheer indulgent with very little saturated fat, you can enjoy without guilt. Most importantly so fluffy and delicious!

SOUR CREAM PIZZA

One of my family favorite food is pizza. With endless topping to choose from, you never feel bored to have pizza even on daily basis.

Today I'm sharing with you an easy and fantastic  Sour Cream Pizza using sour cream, topped with onion and tomato. Though this is made without cheese, tomato sauce or meat, it turned out to be our top choice and regular on our dinner table.

The crust is a straight forward recipe and easy to make. Sour Cream Pizza  was  so much easier if you use  your bread maker. Make your own healthy pizza using fresh produce from your garden or market minimizing the oil and cheese used. Go ahead and create your own healthy pizza customized to your taste.

BANANA BUTTER COOKIES (EGGLESS) RECIPE

If you have some over ripened bananas and you are going to throw them out, you don't need to do it. Why not turn those banana into yummy cookies.

The recipe below is so easy to prepare within a short span of time. These  Banana Butter Cookies (Eggless)  uses mashed banana, butter, flour and toasted sesame seeds for added crunch to the cookies. You can also add chopped walnut, almond or peanut if you want. The sugar is much reduced since the natural sugar in the banana makes it sweet enough.

These  Banana Butter Cookies (Eggless)  turned out so moist and tender on the inside but slightly crisp on the outside. They are palatable to everyone with real taste of banana.

BANANA BUTTER COOKIES (EGGLESS) RECIPE
Yield      :    30 cookies

INGREDIENTS

• 1+ 1/2 self rising  flour
• 1/4 C  melted butter
• 1/4 C  mashed banana
• 1/2 C  brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 C  toasted sesame seeds/chopped nuts

DIRECTION

1. Place melted butter in a bowl, stir in sugar, vanilla extract  and banana.
2. Add in flour and sesame seeds, combine and forms into soft dough.
3. Roll into small balls and flatten slightly with a fork and place onto baking sheet. Preheat oven @ 160 C.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, allow cookies to cool on the tray for 5 minutes.
5. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
6. Store in an airtight container.

SAVORY BREAD PUDDING

Savory bread pudding is a perfect comfort food. Not only it is versatile but it happens to be quite filling too.

Made with cubed sandwich bread or other type of crusty bread, soaked in milk to soften and adding fresh or cooked vegetables of your choice to the batter. Addition of green chili or black pepper gives this a distinctive taste to rather bland pudding.

This is a wonderful meal to share with your family and friend.

SAVORY BREAD PUDDING
Servings     :    6

250g bread 1-in cubed with crust
2  cup  milk
2 Tablespoon  cornflour
2 Tablespoon  oil
2 medium onion thinly sliced
1 tomato chopped
1/2  cup  carrot grated
2 green chili chopped
2 Tablespoon chopped cilantro
salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTION

Combine 2 tablespoons of milk with cornflour, keep aside.

Heat the oil, add the onion, fry until soft but not brown,  remove from heat.

Place cubed bread into mixing bowl, pour in the remaining milk and let soak for  5 minutes.

Preheat oven @ 180C and grease  a shallow  6 x 10 in baking dish.

Add in salt and cornflour to the bread, stir well.

Reserve some of the onion, tomato and cilantro for topping, add the rest together with carrot, black pepper and  green chili. to the bread mixture. Combine well.

Pour the batter into prepared pan, bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Linking to  Yeastspotting 12-23-11

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5 CUP FRUIT CAKE (EGGLESS)

There are substantial collection of  recipes out there for  fruit cake. Some are heavily loaded with dried fruit,
butter and eggs.  Even  alcohol is being used for soaking the fruit overnight. If it is done in a traditional way, it takes time to bake this perennial favorite.

This is an express version without spending a long hours to bake one.  Though the  ingredients used are mixed dried fruit, self rising flour, milk, brown sugar and desiccated coconut, it turned out as good as the richer  fruit cake.

If time is  your constraint, consider baking this easy cake with great result.

5 CUPS FRUIT CAKE (EGGLESS)
Yield     : One 8 in loaf
Adapted from GregsKitchen

1   C   self rising flour
1   C    milk
1   C     dried fruit
1   C     desiccated coconut
1/2  C   brown sugar

DIRECTION
Preheat oven @ 175C and grease 8 in cake pan.

Place flour, sugar, coconut and dried fruit in a mixing bowl.

Pour in milk and stir to combine.

Pour batter into prepared pan, bake for 35-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Cool in the pan 10 minutes, transfer onto rack to cool.

CHOCOLATE LOAF

If you're a fan of homemade  chocolate bread, this recipe is for you to try. This is a delicious yeasted chocolate loaf, that is not too sweet and has a deep chocolate flavor.

A generous amount of good quality unsweetened cocoa powder and chocolate chips makes this loaf beautifully rich. The fantastic loaf does not need anything to taste delicious, just eat on its own. Not only that, this is a great recipe for beginner bread bakers, no complicated step to follow.

I had used chocolate rice (sprinkles) instead of chocolate chip and it turned out just beautiful. This recipe below makes a small loaf but it can easily doubled if needed. Also garnished it with silvered almonds for a nice touch.

PECAN BALLS

These buttery  melt in the the mouth cookies are so scrumptious and not too sweet. At times other nuts such as almond, walnut and the like are added to the dough.

It takes a bit of your time for rolling this treat. I had rolled them into tiny balls. They are often served during Christmas, wedding or festive celebrations.

If you have a time,  dry roast or bake the pecan before grinding. This step is not neccesary but that really enhance the flavor of these balls.

FRIED VEGETARIAN RICE

Fried rice is an easy one pot meal by stir frying the main ingredient, cooked rice.  It is so versatile that you can add almost any vegetables and meat or seafood to it, either vegetarian or non vegetarian style. It tastes great as a meal on its own. .

For best result, make sure the rice is cooked and cooled beforehand so the grain will separate when frying.  Fried Vegetarian Rice  instantly create a delicious and satisfying  meal with amazing flavor and texture.

STUFFED BUNS

This is my son's favorite bread. He used to buy them from nearby bakery  during his school days. They are so fluffy with spicy filling, the way he likes it.

As his request, I had baked his favorite buns using the recipe below. They're exceptionally fluffy and so tasty even after the next day. The secret is addition of butter and dry milk to the dough.

This recipe is a keeper, you can vary the filling according to your choice either sweet or savory and make these amazing rolls for your family.

For perfect buns, make sure the stuffing is almost dry and be careful to seal the dough properly so as to avoid leakage during baking.

SESAME & NUT TRUFFLES

These truffles with chopped nuts and sesame seeds are amazingly simple to make involving very few ingredients from your pantry.  This is perfect to satisfy your sweet craving almost instantly.

It is so delightful  to bite into these truffles.  You can vary what is going into making this quick dessert such as adding coconut, white chocolate, dark chocolate, coffee, raisin  or candy bars. The variation are endless.

Here, my combination are toasted nuts and toasted sesame seeds,  they are definitely a favorite for you and your family, so addicting and melt in your mouth. Serve these during the holidays or New Years for a special treat.

SESAME & NUT  TRUFFLES

2 C   crushed semi sweet biscuits
1 C   condensed milk
1/2 C  toasted chopped almond/peanut/walnut
1/2 C  toasted black sesame seed
1 TB  unsweetened cocoa
extra white sesame seed for rolling

DIRECTION

Place crushed biscuits, chopped nuts, sesame seed and cocoa in a mixing bowl. Combine well.

Now add the condensed milk, mix well to form into soft dough..

Roll into 1 in ball and coat with or without white sesame seeds.

Place in a refrigerator until ready to serve.

PAN FRIED HONEY SOY CHICKEN

This is an easy and tasty way to prepare chicken minus the spices.  Goes equally well with hot vegetables or a crisp salad. They are also best served as a finger food at parties or picnics.

It is important to use medium heat to ensure that they don't burn and for fuss free method, bake them at  180 C for 45 minutes, basting once or twice during baking.

This is my family favorite - finger licking good!

HODDEOK (KOREAN SWEET PANCAKE)

Hoddeok is a popular street food of South Korea. I came to know this after watching a television show about Korean food.

They are made with  wheat  flour,  sugar,  water, milk and dry yeast. Though the original recipe calls for sweet rice flour but this was omitted by me.  Allow the dough to  stand in a warm place  for 3 hours. If using active dry yeast, whisk the water, sugar and dry yeast in a small bowl, let  the yeast to activate for about 10 minutes before adding the rest  the ingredients.

After  fermentation, it is shape into ball then stuff with brown sugar and nut filling. Shallow fry these balls then flatten them using spatula until golden brown. They  are best eaten hot.

HODDEOK (KOREAN SWEET PANCAKE)
Yield    :    5
Adapted from here

1 + 1/4  C  all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C + 1 TB warm milk
3 TB warm water
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1/4 tsp sugar
cooking oil for frying

FILLING
1/3  C  brown sugar
2 TB chopped peanut/pecan/pine nuts
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

DIRECTION

Sift  flour into mixing bowl.

Combine warm water, milk, sugar and yeast.

Pour the yeast mixture onto the flour, sprinkle the salt. Combine until it forms into soft dough.

Place the dough into greased and covered bowl. Let rise for 3 hours.

Divide dough into 5 balls.  Mix together the filling ingredients in a small bowl.

Flatten each ball, place a tablespoonful of filling, seal the edges and shape into a ball again.

Heat little oil in a cast iron pan, place 2 balls on the hot pan, seams side down and fry then flip after the bottom is slightly browned,  flatten the ball using the spatula.  Cook until  golden brown. Complete the rest of the dough.

Serve hot.

Linking to  Yeastspotting -12-2-11 

PENNE ARRABIATA

When our guest from Sydney visited us last week, they have made a special request that they can't tolerate spicy food. In this case, I had chosen Penne Arrabiata to grace our dining table.

They totally love this dish and even ask for the recipe. You can also add chicken or seafood if you prefer. The star ingredient of this dish is the tomato.  Penne Arrabiata  lands a tangy yet slightly sweet flavor to this pasta.

YEASTED CHOCOLATE BROWNIES (EGGLESS)

I have made quite a few egg free brownies and these are some of the best. Surprising they were chocolaty and so moist despite using rapid rise yeast. This is the result of my latest project for chocolate yeasted brownies found on the net.

The original recipe did not turned out as expected. After adjustment made, we were amazed that this  Yeasted Chocolate Brownies Eggless happens to be one of our favorites. They are absolutely everyone that ate these loved them so much!

KADAI VEGETABLES

Vegetables are a great source of nutrition in our diet. Not to mention, pulses and lentils are absolutely needed to compensate your protein if you are on vegetarian diet. This simple and delicious recipe of  colorful vegetables cooked in spicy gravy makes a flavorful meal and easily made ahead. It is also low fat and on the table in less than half an hour.

Since I needed extra gravy, have added a bit more water than the usual quantity but this is entirely up to you.

KADAI VEGETABLES
Serves   4

1 medium carrot cubed
1 medium potato cube
2 C  cauliflower cut into floret
2 tomato chopped
2 onion chopped
1 green chili sliced
1 TB ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 TB  chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
5 garlic chopped
1/2 in ginger chopped
1 tsp garam masala
2 TB cooking oil
salt to taste
cilantro for garnish

DIRECTION

Heat the oil, fry the onion until translucent. Add in ginger and garlic, fry until fragrant.

Now add the tomato, cook until soft. Mix in chili powder, green chili, coriander, cumin, 1-2 tablespoons water and salt. fry until raw smell goes.

Add in carrot, potato and little water, cover the pot.

Once they are half cooked, add in the cauliflower, stir and cover the pot again.

When the vegetables turn soft, add in the garam masala and check for salt. Stir for 1 minute remove from heat.

Garnish with cilantro  leaves at the time of serving.

BANANA SWIRL BREAD

After successful attempt on Red Bean Swirl Bread, my son was begging me to bake again the same bread but this time I had a little twist to the classic swirl bread then this Banana Swirl Bread is born, using condensed milk and banana. Really easy in your bread machine or you can bake it the conventional way.

This works well as breakfast meal or as dessert. Banana adds an elegant and tasty swirl to this gorgeous Banana Swirl Bread.  My family just loves them!.

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COFFEE & CHOCOLATE PUDDING (EGGLESS)

I'd seen this Coffee & Chocolate Pudding  in various blogs and really tempted to try. Have turned the recipe into eggless version by replacing an egg with yogurt.

Also baking it in a deep  1.5 liter oven proof  pudding dish  instead of ramekin. This pudding is a breeze to make and really yummy.  It was dark and so moist, they never last long in my house.  Never imagined  that with this simple ingredients can become such  a delicious treat!

RENDANG AYAM

This chicken rendang is slow cooked in spicy coconut milk until the chicken is tender and almost dry.

It is popular during festive occasions or wedding in South East Asian countries.  To avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan, stir constantly and make use of your  non stick utensil if you have. Adjust the dry chili used according to your tolerance, normally this is quite spicy with a hint of sweetness.

Best eaten with rice cake (lontong), flavored rice or flat bread. In fact this chicken rendang compliments well with  the pumpkin pulao.

PUMPKIN PULAO

You  might have eaten  pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread or pumpkin pancake but have you tried Pumpkin Pulao?  It  is an easy and irresistible recipe with  pumpkin and basmati rice. This nourishing pulao has a lot of flavors and very satisfying meal. It goes very well with raita and meat dishes but far simpler and quicker to prepare..

This wonder vegetable is loaded with Vitamin A and anti-oxidant, good source of Vitamin C. K. E and lots of minerals including magnesium, potassium and iron.

ULTIMATE OATMEAL COOKIES

Looking for a healthier version of oatmeal cookies?  This recipe for Oatmeal Cookies is just what you need. It is made with rolled oat and less sugar. I have added mixed peel and raisin which is easily replaced with dried cranberries, dried peaches or cherries. If you dough is sweeten by raisin, just add only a quarter cup of sugar but this is entirely up to you.

This cookies makes a great lunch box treat and  is perfect for cooking with your kids.

ULTIMATE OATMEAL COOKIES
Yield     :    40 cookies

1  C all purpose flour
1+1/2 C  rolled oat
1/2 C  vegan butter melted/oil
1/4 - 1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C  mixed peel
1/2 C  raisin
1/2 tsp baking powder
1-2 TB water

DIRECTION

Preheat oven @ 160 C.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together butter and sugar.

Now add butter mixture to the flour, stir to combine.

Add in mixed peel and raisin, forms into soft dough, if too crumbly, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.

Pinch dough into small ball and flatten slightly. Place balls onto baking sheet.

Bake for 15-20 minutes (cookies will seem underdone but do not overbake). Remove from oven and let sit in the pan for 5 minutes.

Transfer onto rack to cool. When completely cool, store in an airtight container.

RED BEAN SWIRL BREAD

My boy is a great fan of red bean, anything stuff with this, he happily devoured them. Oh gosh, he can easily eat a loaf of this red bean swirl bread at one sitting!

This recipe yields a decent loaf, it is stuffed with red bean (use store bought) but you are free to substitute the filling with savory or others according to your taste. Since it is such a hit at my home, I thought I would share this recipe so you could also enjoy this incredible bread as much as we did.

CORN & POTATO PARATHA

Paratha or unleavened flat bread is usually pan fried on griddle, stuffed with potato, leaf vegetables, cauliflower, lentil or paneer. It is so light yet filling. They  can be served during breakfast, lunch or at dinner time with chutney, pickle, yogurt, meat or any  vegetable curries.

For this recipe, had combined whole kernel corn with mashed potato. Green chili is added to improve the flavor of this nutritious paratha. They turned out so soft and best eaten hot immediately after you have cooked them.

PUMPKIN BANANA MUFFIN

I did a little baking for our breakfast. Since I had pumpkin and banana in hand so the best thing to do is to incorporate them in this experiment.

Pumpkin Banana Muffin  turned out incredibly moist and delicious. Really happy with the result, yet you can creatively think of other tweaks. Perhaps adding chopped nut or chocolate chip to the batter.  They're a perfect way to start the day!

APAM PISANG BAKAR (BUTTERLESS YEASTED BANANA CAKE)

This is a common recipe from our household using fully ripe banana. It is normally steamed but my recipe below is baked. Have also added instant yeast to rise.

For sugar,  either increase or decrease according to the sweetness of the banana you had used. After mixing all the ingredients together, pour onto greased pan and let rise until doubled. Make sure your pan is deep enough to accommodate the increase, mine rose to the rim of the pan or use muffin pan but filled only half full..

APAM PISANG BAKAR (BUTTERLESS YEASTED BANANA CAKE)
Yield     :    One loaf

1+1/4 C  all purpose flour
1 C  mashed banana
1/2 C  castor sugar
3/4 C + 1 TB  warm evaporated milk
1/2 tsp salt
1+1/2 tsp instant yeast

DIRECTION

Grease 8 in deep cake pan. Whisk together milk, yeast and sugar in a small bowl.

In a mixing bowl, put in flour, banana and salt. Stir well.

Now add the milk mixture to the flour, stir to combine.

Pour mixture into greased  pan and let sit for 1 hour. Towards the end of rising time, preheat oven @  170C.

Bake for 40-45  minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Let sit in the pan for 10 minutes, transfer onto rack to cool.

Linking to  Yeastspotting 10-28-11  

2C PULAO

Instead of plain white rice, try adding colorful vegetables to them, not only it improves the flavor but colorful and healthy as well.

Corn  is rich in fiber, contains Vitamin B1. B5, Vitamin C and helpful for detoxifying your colon while carrots are an excellent source of  beta-carotene.

If using basmati rice, soak it for 30 minutes then drain. Add in the rice after the water has reached boiling point.  2C Pulao  is best eaten with spicy gravy of your choice..

JEMPUT2 PISANG/ BANANA FRITTERS (BAKED)

Undisputedly our traditional kuih serve for generation. It is served during breakfast or as teatime snack. There are many variations to prepare Jemput2 Pisang/Banana Fritters (Baked),  some added sugar and coconut. But I prefer to omit those since banana is already sweet and opt for healthier version by baking them.

Jemput2 Pisang/Banana Fritters (Baked) Recipe  tasted as good as you have fried them but the only missing is the golden color you get when deep frying.

JAM FILLED BUNS

This recipe is taken from  here but I have converted them into Jam Filled Bun since a certain ingredient is not available at my pantry.

It is semi rich dough,  won't rise much and you can bake them using lightly greased silicone mold or muffin pan.  The easiest way to fill the bun is by flattening the dough then place the jam in the middle, close the edges, shape back to a ball.  I shaped the dough into a coil about 10 inches long.  Choose one that you are comfortable with, either way they turned out fabulous though.

JAM FILLED BUNS
Yield      :    9 buns

2 C  all purpose flour
1/2 C  evaporated milk
4  TB  soft butter
3 TB  sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp  instant yeast
1/4 C  fruit preserve/jam

DIRECTION

In a small bowl, combine milk, sugar and butter. Heat the mixture in a microwavable bowl until warm to touch.

Place flour and instant yeast in a mixing bowl, stir to combine.

Now add the milk mixture and salt, forms into soft dough.

Transfer onto floured work space and knead by hand for 6-8 minutes. If too sticky at a tablespoon of flour.

Place the dough into greased and covered bowl for 1-11/2 hour until puffy, may not double in bulk.

Divide dough into 9 balls. Flatten each ball and stuff with a teaspoon of jam, roll back into a round again. Or. make coil by rolling the ball between your hand about 10 in long.  Coil dough strip with the folded side down onto baking sheet. Make a deep indentation in the middle and fill with jam.. Let sit for 1 1/2 hours. Towards the end of rising time, preheat oven @ 180 C.

Bake the buns for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Linking to  Yeastspotting 10-21-11

STRAWBERRY BREAD

Easy bread to be enjoyed at any time of the day. Fresh strawberries are added to the batter  This makes a nice treat with your coffee or a great addition to brunch..

The final product yielded an incredible results. The bread was studded with a little moist chunk of fruity goodness. All  members of my family liked it.