HEALTHY OATMEAL BANANA COOKIES

Quiet some time, I have baked cookies for my family.   I love easy and delicious recipes and this Healthy Oatmeal Banana Cookies fall into this category. These are egg free and use a minimal amount of melted butter.

In fact, it uses one bowl so you save time washing up and the best part, just throw in all ingredients in a mixing bowl then mix until well incorporated.

Easily shape the mixture into 1 in ball then flatten slightly.  Besides raisin, opt for cranberries, apricot or mix in sesame / sunflower seeds or almond/walnut.   The possibilities are endless.  If you're not keen to roll the cookies, you can spoon the dough into a greased baking sheet.  Press with a metal spoon to smooth top.  After baking, cut it into bars.

Healthy Oatmeal Banana Cookies turned  fantastic, soft center and not so sweet which I love. If you need it sweeter, add more sugar.  Bake them longer  for crunchier cookies.

Other cookies recipe you should check out:

Milk Cookies
Crunchy Sesame Cookies
Fruity Cookies

MINI SUGAR BUNS RECIPE

This week trying my hand making Mini Sugar Buns that I have eaten during my school days.  This is a typical bread recipe that requires kneading, shaping and proofing the dough.

I usually make my bread by hand and in small quantity, just enough to feed a small family.  Double or triple the recipe  to feed a crowd.

Used instant yeast that can be added straight to the flour.  If using active dry yeast, activate it by adding sugar and warm water, let the mixture  sits until it becomes frothy.

You need to melt the butter then add in the milk.  Make sure this mixture should be warm to touch before adding to dry ingredients.

Divide the dough into 9 equal balls but easily turns it into one big loaf if your like.  You'll be glad to put in your time making these delicious rolls.  There's something about freshly baked Mini Sugar Buns that are perfect for any time.

BLUEBERRY MILK CAKE RECIPE

My husband recently purchased some fresh blueberries along with his favorites fruits during his visit to supermarket.  Frankly am not familiar using this fruit in baking,  it tastes slightly tart but that was fine with me.

Being a adventurous person, I decided to use this blueberries in baking this time. This  Blueberry Milk  Cake is quick and the simplest to make.  I believe you need to try  and learn new  things regardless whether you would succeed or not.

Did little tweaking by reducing the sugar a bit.   Didn't bother with icing,  as I didn't think it needed it.

You need to toss the fresh blueberries with flour so it doesn't sink at the bottom of the cake.  I was short on lemon zest so did not add it but still this Blueberry Milk Cake comes out really good. I wanted to devour the whole cake even my hubby who hate sweets could't resist to have a bite.

It was very tasty, moist  and dangerously moreish!

HOKKAIDO MILK ROLLS RECIPE

Had been eyeing this tangzhong bread for quite some time.  Today I have a chance to bake them in my kitchen.

Hokkaido Milk Rolls use a "roux" starter  known as tangzhong  in the dough.  You have to prepare it before proceeding to mix the dough. This tangzhong is made by whisking  water, whole milk and flour until no lumps  then cook over  low heat, stirring constantly until it thicken. The cooled roux is added to the rest of the ingredients to combine and kneaded,  forms into a soft pliable dough.

After the dough has doubled in size. you can easily shape this  into a big loaf but I shaped them into rolls.  I get 12 rolls out of this recipe.

From this basic recipe, it can be used to make cinnamon rolls, monkey bread, pull apart or stuffed bread either sweet or savory.  The options are endless.  When you have a base, you can add all type of variations.  So glad the dough  turned out perfect and  I don't even need to flour my work space.

Hokkaido Milk Rolls  stay soft  and fluffy even after a few days.  We really enjoy the roll as it is, feel free to slather it with you favorite spreads.

Other bread recipes you might want to try:

Back of the Bag Oatmeal Rolls

Monkey Bread From Scratch

Butterhorn Rolls

NO SUGAR BANANA CAKE RECIPE

Am curious to know how a cake without refined sugar taste like.  Some cake with sugar free recipe may contain alternative sweeteners, maple syrup or agave.  But this No Sugar Banana Cake is completely free from those.   Don't believe? .

So this week I tried my hand at sugar free cake for the very first time. Baked this in a small quantity since not sure whether my family would like the cake..

No Sugar Banana Cake uses only 7 ingredients like banana, oil and egg.  You can even omit the egg if you have allergies by replacing it with yogurt.

Surprisingly, this turned out moist and tasted  really  nice. . All that due to ripened banana that makes the cake super moist and pleasantly sweet to bite into.

Why not give it a go yourselves with this recipe that is from from refined sugar? Just because it is healthier than the average butter cake doesn't mean they are less tasty. If you like sugar free dessert, you can try this How to bake NO SUGAR Date Oatmeal Bars  or  Date Tart  as well.

HONEY CORNFLAKES CUPS RECIPE

Had never baked Honey Cornflakes  Cups in ages.  Used to bake them during special occasions, this recipe evokes a fond memories I had when my kids were small.

Only 4 ingredients needed to whip up this sweet treats and super easy to make.  Melt the butter together with honey and sugar (adjust the amount to your liking) until sugar dissolved and bubbly. Add the mixture to the cornflakes and coat them well.

Spoon the cornflakes into cake cases (I used mini and regular one) or small patty tin.  Honey Cornflakes Cups would clump together and harden after cooling these are where the crunchiness come.

Baking Honey Cornflakes Cups is a chance for children to get involved in the kitchen  so have fun and share special moments that will be treasured forever.

Other most requested cookies  during festivals  are:

Black Sesame Seeds Cornflakes Cookies

Suji Cookies

Milk Cookies

PRATA TUNA ROLLS RECIPE

My boy used to like frozen prata for a quick meal but now that has changed.   He doesn't like it anymore.    Other  snack of his favorites  are  Roti John (Asian French Toast),  Peas Kachori and Potato Cups

Since I have bought a pack of frozen prata from our nearby supermarket so need to clear them for good use before it passes its expiry date.

The best choice is turn the prata into baked Tuna Rolls and serve it during breakfast or tea time snack.

Prata Tuna Rolls  are pretty simple  to put together,  you just combined the  drained tuna with mayonnaise, onion, black pepper or chili flakes before stuffing. Added extra chili powder  since my boy like them extra spicy.

If you don't like savory ones, you can turn the prata  as dessert by filling it with fruit then drizzle with chocolate sauce.   In fact there are endless option, just use your imagination.

Most importantly, do not leave the prata too long at room temperature, it becomes sticky and hard to handle.  You can start cutting and  shaping  immediately after you've removed them from a freezer.

Before baking you can brush these Prata Tuna Rolls with egg wash but  done without it.  Frozen prata is a great substitute for puff pastry too.

RITZ BANANA CAKE RECIPE

Recently, a supplier of milk products launched a special offer drive for their brand of fresh milk  that provides a customer with a pack of Ritz cracker for purchase of their product.  Because of this exercise, I had few packs of Ritz lying on my cupboard.

To make use of those. I incorporated the crackers for making Ritz Banana Cake that was a favorite for everyone at home.

First crushed the crackers with rolling pin (this is what I use)  or use your food processor to do the job.  These  crushed cookies replace the flour for making the cake.

Intentionally reduce the sugar to half a cup instead of 1 cup because those bananas are enough to sweeten this Ritz Banana Cake.

This is perfect for someone who wants to  venture into baking with a little twist from a classic recipe that you would never dreamed to have put together.

Easiest recipe and most delicious cake!  So moist and everyone who has tried it, loves it. My aunt was amazed how easy and quick the recipe is.

EASY APPLE COBBLER RECIPE

After making Cake Fruit Yogurt Parfait,  Mini Pumpkin Tarts and Fruity Jello , am looking for a new dessert to try.  I stumbled upon a fruit cobbler recipe that is much easier to put together  since you don't need any rolling pin to shape the dough.  The dough can be flatten by hand about the size of your palm to cover the fruit.

Fruit cobbler is a very versatile dessert,  as you can vary the fruit used,  based on the availability of seasonal fruits or any fruit you have in hand.  You can use frozen fruits  as well. That's the beauty thing about cobbler.

I have never made an apple cobbler before, this was a simplest recipe to make.  Easy Apple Cobbler consists of 2 parts, the fruit and the topping.  Peel, core and slice the apple before adding lemon juice, sugar and cornstarch.

Prepare the topping by adding the flour, sugar with melted butter.  In no time, your buttery ball of dough is ready to use.

Made a mistake by closing the gaps after overlapping the dough so my  Easy Apple Cobbler turns out almost smooth  anyway the end result was divine!

SPICY CHICKEN PIZZA RECIPE

Pizza is the most popular food in the world, wherever you go you can find it.  You can even order them from your home. It  was a favorite for everyone since the topping it is easily adaptable to suit your personal preference but it vegetarian or non vegetarian type.

Last weekend, we have a guest visiting my place so  I thought why not making this SPICY CHICKEN PIZZA for them.  Play around with this basic pizza recipe and make your own selection of toppings. In case you don't  eat  chicken, you can check my Homemade Tuna Pizza, Potato Pizza or Sour Cream Pizza. 

The first step in the process is making the dough since it requires time to rise. Add some additional flavor to the crust like oregano, basil. garlic, black pepper if you like before mixing  the dough. While waiting for pizza, you can prepare the chicken by sauteing the garlic,  add in chicken, chili powder and cilantro.  You can omit the chili powder altogether if cooking for young children or adjust to suit your heat tolerance.

I used ready made tomato sauce but if you have time, you can make an awesome sauce at home. You can even use leftover spaghetti sauce , add little basil and garlic to spice it up or bbq  sauce as well.

This  SPICY CHICKEN PIZZA  recipe  is what  my family uses  and frequently modifies.   They easily fit 2  pan of 15 x 10 in. You can bake  it using a round  pizza pan if you have one.

TOP 10 RECIPES OF 2015

First of all,  a big  thank you  to all my visitors and followers for your continued support.  I can't tell you how inspiring it is when I receive comments from readers who have tried my recipes and love it.

At the end  of the year,  it's time for the annual round up of  most popular recipes on Treat and Trick As we look back at 2015, they are a lot of lessons  learned and so many ways I have grown in my journey of blogging.   It is so fun to see what everyone loved and I am so glad creating and photographing all of them although some photos do need an update.

There was no surprise that  my  Eggless Marble Banana Cake was  voted the most popular  recipe  for 3  consecutive years. Despite being the easiest and no fuss recipe, it has attracted some of my readers to try it out.

Another recipe that was most tried and get positive feedback   was Spiral Apple Bread. and Healthy Breakfast Bars.  My Spiral Apple Apple has been tried and featured in  few popular blogs also my Healthy Breakfast Bars get re-pinned ever since I shared the recipe in 2012.


Below is the list that make up my Top 10 Most Popular Post of 2015.  Click on the title of each post to view full recipe.

10.  EGGLESS APPLE CAKE

09.   LOW FAT BANANA CAKE EGGLESS

08.  SPIRAL APPLE BREAD

07.  MONKEY BREAD FROM SCRATCH

06.  SOTONG MASAK HITAM (SQUID IN BLACK INK)

CORNFLAKES CHIVDA I SAVORY SNACK MIX

I had a box of cornflakes that is  sitting in my cupboard.   Normally we had  our breakfast with cornflakes  or adding this cereal for making cookies or coating the batter.

So I need to  do something  to save the cornflakes  before  it  passes its expiry date.   What I have in mind were turning them into dessert or a snack.

For  long long  time. I have prepared a crunchy and savory snack so this is the perfect time  to make my favorite Cornflakes Chivda that is  made from roasted nuts, roasted gram, curry leaves and spices. You can vary the selection  from among peanut, cashew, walnut, pistachio, pumpkin seeds  or sunflower seeds.

Turn this chivda into a healthier  version thus cutting out the oil used. Did not fried the peanut and roasted gram in oil but dry roasted them.  The only time I used oil when frying the curry leaves along with chili powder and turmeric.

Adjust the chili used according to your heat tolerance and  add sugar if you like but love without it.

Cornflakes Chivda  to  be enjoyed any time and would last for good 1 week if kept in airtight container.

EASY ROCKY ROAD CAKE

Am always attracted to rocky road desserts for their luscious topping of crunchy nuts, chunks of biscuits  and fluffy marshmallow coated in melted chocolate. ,   The topping varies from country to country,  you could learn more about this through Google.

This week, I try to include "rocky road" elements in my cake by adding chocolate chips, almonds and crushed biscuit in the batter.

What I love about this recipe was super easy to make, no creaming of butter or beating of egg required.  You need only one bowl to incorporate all the ingredients except the almond slices.  It uses as a garnish.  Most importantly, it was lighter when compared with other rocky road cake.  Easy Rocky Road Cake uses oil instead of butter  Added peanut oil but other vegetable oil works too.

Easy Rocky Road Cake  is great fun to make with all the family and the best part is you can  personalize your cake by mix and matching the ingredients with your favorite sweets and biscuits.

Made as a surprise for our guest and  it was a total hit!  Everyone loved it so much and going to try this again with different variations soon.

CORNFLAKES CRISP BARS

It is always fun to bake each and every week. While scratching my head as what to make this week, I stumbled upon a box of cornflakes that was sitting in my cupboard.

Used my  M & M Cookie Slices  as a guide and little tweaking. I made this Cornflakes Crisp Bars for the kid to nibble,

It is super easy to bake and most of the ingredients are mostly available in your  kitchen.  For smooth cutting, you can blend the cornflakes but not too fine,  Just crushed mine with rolling pin and you'll find some still in a bigger piece.  This is what give these bars a crunch when you bite into it.

For final touch, you could dress them up however you like by adding  chocolate chips or even  mini M & M  but this is optional. Added a bit of grated chocolate since that is the only one I have.

These Cornflakes Crisp Bars are truly delicious,  a satisfying crunch  with simple ingredients make these a wonderful snack.

BRAIDED MASALA BREAD

Most of the time, I baked sweet bread with filling but this week trying a savory ones  made with  my trusted bread recipe. .  .

This Braided Masala Bread is a small buttery bread, braided and stuffed with onion, green chili  and cilantro.   The filling compliments this lovely loaf perfectly. It is braided from three strand of dough, a similar fashion how you braid your hair.

If you have a mixer or bread machine, the process is even easier because these gadget knead the bread for you.  But if you don't have them, no worries, kneading with your hands is perfect and a good workout too.

Since I opt for buttery dough and stuffing  it  with onion, it becomes more sticky and hard to handle, Adding more flour is required  in order to make it easier to shape.   Actually you can shape into any shape you like but I want my bread in different shape.  Despite it turns out not so pretty ( poor braiding)   but  the taste was *so* good.  .

Braided Masala Bread  is an awesome bread!  It takes a bit of extra time to assemble but the  bread itself is very soft and baked beautifully. .

GINGER COFFEE CAKE

Nowadays a cake is a must for any occasion, such as for birthday, wedding or parties. This Ginger Coffee Cake is good for small gathering or just to satisfy your sweet tooth.   It is a typical cake recipe whereby you beat sugar and butter until light and thick.   In this recipe I have used only half a cup of butter,  additional coffee and  yogurt to moisten the batter.  In case you don't like coffee, you can add very strong tea instead.

We love the kick of heat the ginger brings to this Ginger Coffee Cake.  If ground ginger is not available  you can substitute it  with  3/4 in of  grated fresh ginger that would work too. In future, would  double up the ground ginger since the  ginger flavor was still quite subtle.   Love a fierce gingerly flavor in my cake so am not adding any spice, anything else is a mere distraction

Drizzle over your favorite icing on top of the cake  but I like to keep it simple.  Embrace the ginger. It can only make you feel better. And what are your other favorite ginger recipes at this time of the year?

PIZZA DOUGH APPLE HAND PIES

These  Pizza  Dough Apple Hand Pies  are  made from yeast free pizza dough.  I follow this  recipe with slight changes.  Omitted dry milk and use evaporated milk instead.

The crust is less buttery since we are using 5 tablespoon of melted butter/oil when compared with regular pie crust.   This suits for those looking for lightened up pie crust that was flavorful,  easy to handle and bake beautifully.

Cut  the apple into a half inch  cubes then coat  with the rest of the ingredients for the filling. You will get some liquid after some time, only scoop the apple but leave behind the liquid  when stuffing the hand pies.

Any variety of apple such as red delicious,  gala or  macintosh  can be used instead of granny smith. Another tip is to bake these Pizza Dough Apple Hand Pies on the lowest rack of the oven for 10 minutes,  This trick  ensures a nicely cooked, never soggy bottom.

PUMPKIN BARS

When my friend gifted me with pumpkin, am thinking what to do with it.  So far I have baked Pumpkin Galette,  Mini Pumpkin Tarts. and  Pumpkin Banana Bread, all made with pumpkin.  So decided to bake Pumpkin Bars this time.

The main ingredient for this recipe is pumpkin puree, to get this I steam the pumpkin until it turns soft. Mash the pumpkin while it  is still hot.  Now it is ready to be used.

Used  only ground cinnamon but you can add nutmeg and ground ginger as well.   Making these Pumpkin Bars are incredibly easy, no  mixer needed.

It turns out fabulous, super moist and beautifully sliced.   Feel free to add frosting of your choice to dress it up a bit.

VANILLA CAKE IN A JAR I HOW TO

A simple and easy way to make individual  servings of dessert that are perfectly portable  is baking in a jar,  These are super cute  and a great  way to put up my canning jars for a good use. Baking in jars give you an opportunity to present packaged baked  goods to your friends and family.   Wrap  pretty ribbon around the sealed jars complete with a special card.

You can use any basic cake recipe but I  prefer  this simple and quick ones.  There are  so many recipes that can be baked in jars.  Vanilla Cake In a Jar is baked with melted butter instead of oil and added just half a cup of sugar, this suits my taste.

This  Vanilla Cake In a Jar recipe  filled  3 jars of  18-oz, this  is  the size I had at the moment.   By using a 12-oz jar, you could get more than 3 definitely.  It is important to use wide mouth canning jars for filling the batter with ease and would slide out easily.  Make sure the use a proper jars that can withstand the heat and safe for baking..

PEAS & POTATO SAMOSA

After a long gap, I haven't eaten samosa and the last time I made was this  Mini Samosa .   Samosa  is made by two parts, the crust and the filling.  Traditionally shaped into triangle and deep fried,

I came across other interesting filling such as cheese, chocolate, fruit and nuts  instead of potato or meat.  Some make it  healthier by baking them. .

There are  ton of recipes for samosa with varied spice combo, some without onion, coriander, cumin or garam masala either way you choose it still turned out tasty, Done without mango powder but added  some lemon juice for this Peas & Potato Samosa.

The secret to perfect samosa was the way you fried them.  It needs time to get that golden brown and crisp exterior by using medium heat only so be patience.

You would like to pair these Peas & Potato Samosa with green chutney or ketchup but we enjoyed them without those.

EGGLESS LIGHT BANANA CAKE

This Eggless Light Banana cake is incredibly easy to make, egg free and very flexible. If you're using self rising flour, you could avoid the baking soda and baking powder in the recipe.

Added  only half a cup of sugar since bananas are already sweet but add 3/4 cup if you want it sweeter. Also used canola oil and water to moisten the cake.  For richer taste substitute water with milk or  if you are a coffee lover, feel free to include coffee for making this Eggless Light Banana Cake. 

If you don't have time to bake this when your banana are fully ripened, stuff those bananas in a plastic bag and freeze them until  ready to make it (thaw them first before using).

So pleased with the outcome, the cake turns out gorgeous, extremely moist and no cracks on top. You won't be able to  tell this cake is  egg free and low in fat.  This can be baked in any size pan or muffin tins, just adjust the baking time.

EGGLESS LIGHT BANANA CAKE
Yield  :..10-12 servings   :

1.5 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
5 banana mashed
4 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD

Preheat oven @ 170 C. Grease your 7 in cake pan.

Sift flour together with baking powder and baking soda.

Mix in salt and sugar.

Combine banana, oil, vanilla essence  and water in a bowl.

Stir in banana mixture onto the flour,  combine well.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for  50-60 minutes  or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

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

Other  Eggless recipes:

Eggless Peach Cake
Rock Cakes
Carrot Apple Muffins

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HAWAIIAN SWEET ROLLS

Am looking for a new bread to try out and saw this Hawaiian Sweet Rolls over the net.  The important ingredient for making this roll was  crushed pineapple.

So confused to go through the recipe, some added milk and some without,  can you tell me which  is the authentic recipe?   Not only that the quantity of butter, eggs and yeast differ from one another.

After browsing so many recipes, decided to try out mine  using the recipe below.   Be careful, the dough turned out quite sticky and hard to handle.  Add 1-2 tablespoon of flour when kneading.  Also the dough takes longer time to rise, mine took 2 hours.  After shaping, let sit for another 1 hour  more before baking.

Baked these rolls for 15 minutes @ 180 C but this depends on individual oven so adjust accordingly.

We are very pleased with the result, these Hawaiian Sweet Rolls turned out soft and  fluffy  with  just the right touch of sweetness.

HONEYCOMB CAKE / KEK SARANG SEMUT

Have been eyeing this cake for quite sometime and today I have a chance to try out Honeycomb Cake Kek Sarang Semut from my own kitchen. This cake got its name because it had a hole resembling that bee hive.

The method involves 2 parts.  First you need to caramelize the sugar until it turned  golden , honey like color. Do not attempt to cook beyond this otherwise your syrup would turn bitter.  Once you get this color, even sugar  did not dissolve at this point, you can add the water gradually and bring to boil until you get smooth syrup.   Be careful when adding hot water because this syrup would splutter.  At this point, you can add the butter.   Remove from heat and cool completely.

Second is combining  the rest of the ingredients to form a cake batter together with sugar syrup.  Let this sit for 2-3  hours before baking.  Next time I want to try other method that uses only  the  bottom heat.

Preheat the oven before baking and put the pan on the lowest rack , bake for 15 minutes then  place pan at middle rack and continue baking until it is done.

After the cake has cooled, invert the cake and trim the surface  as thin as possible.  Now you could see the hole resembling that honeycomb.

Am pleased the cake turned out soft, moist and insanely delicious.. . .

CHICKEN BIRYANI

Festive season is incomplete without gathering to enjoy good food. This is the time to meet and mingle with our immediate family members as well as our close relatives.

One of the most popular choice to serve during special occasion was Chicken Biryani.  An aromatic dish combining rice and chicken in one single pot.

There are so many variety of biryani made with chicken, meat and poultry.  They differ from one another due to special spices used and the way it was made.

This Chicken Biryani requires marinating the chicken with yogurt, ginger, garlic and spices.  It is best if you can marinate it longer so this allows chicken  to absorb all the flavor.

As for chili powder and green chili, adjust to your preference.    Do fry the onion until it turns golden brown, this will take some time so be patient. .

HOW TO MAKE RAISIN BREAD

Am so addicted to bread baking as you can see from my bread recipes collection I have posted.

Love to try out a new bread recipe or improvise  my old recipes by adding different fillings in the bread every time I bake them.

You can also check the following bread recipes that have been successfully tried  by my readers:
Spiral Apple Bread
Apple Kolaches
Homemade Bun

This week I make Raisin Bread for my family.  From what left on the plate, I know they liked it so much.

Baked this Raisin Bread in the afternoon so that they can enjoy with their cuppa.  The bread has incredibly soft crusty exterior and well sweetened with raisin.   By using water from soaked raisin, it has natural beautiful color.  My family eaten them as it is without slathering anything on top.

We can't wait for the bread to cool, my son is pestering me to cut it up.  Without wasting more time, I take this opportunity to shoot the photos before it was gone!