EASY BROWNIES FROM SCRATCH

These Easy Brownies From Scratch are made with cocoa powder, plain flour, butter and sugar. They come  together in minutes.

I found most brownies recipes  are made of almost the same ingredients  but  vary on the  quantity of butter, sugar, flour and cocoa powder used.  Previously baked  Banana Brownies Eggless  and Yeasted Chocolate Brownies Eggless  that uses more flour  and  turned out almost like a cake.

Recently  discovered that there is a brownies that use loads of  chocolate with least amount  of flour.  Am yet to try this.

Easy Brownies From Scratch does not require mixing the batter until fluffy, just combine until well blended and don't even use baking powder or baking soda.

These brownies come together in minutes.  For best result, do not over bake,  check them after 30 minutes.  You may want to add toasted nuts like walnut, pecan or cashew before baking.  Easy Brownies From Scratch  were chewy, chocolatey and simply wonderful.  By the next day, a pan of brownies was gone.

CLASSIC BREAD PUDDING

This Classic Bread Pudding is an easy dessert using a stale bread soaked in a milky egg mixture.

I used to make it using my white sandwich  bread, crust removed then cubed, but today I made this Classic Bread Pudding with multi grain bread, cut the slice into half length wise.

Also baked this pudding in my  9 x 11 in  baking pan instead of the heavy glass dish.  It does not matter what utensil you choose, it still turns out great.  The advantage of using a glass dish is that it can go from oven straight to dining table.

It can be customize to your liking by adding cinnamon, nutmeg or lemon zest.  If you are a chocolate lover, add a cup of  chopped bittersweet chocolate or add in fruits like banana (2),  blueberry, strawberry, raspberry (2 cup) or dried fruit (1 cup) just before baking.

This simple  Classic Bread Pudding came out beautiful and and  taste exactly the same  I enjoyed as a child.

Other recipes using bread:

Microwave Bread Pudding
Egg Free French Toast
Roti John (Asian French Toast)
Bread Paratha

FRESH STRAWBERRY CROSTATA

This  Fresh Strawberry Crostata is a free form tart recipe featuring fresh strawberries wrapped in buttery pie crust.

It has been  2 years since I  baked  Pumpkin Galette.  I have recently managed to purchase fresh strawberries and now it is a time to bake a crostata again. These strawberries are vibrant and absolutely gorgeous,  they stay firm when ripe.  If you need tips of making a perfect crust,  kindly check my Apple Crostata  post.

This Fresh Strawberry Crostata requires a buttery crust and a filling.   Prepare the crust first before proceeding to make the filling.

Wash the strawberries and drain well. the strawberry is like a sponge that absorbs water  so do not let it soak in water.  If the strawberries are big, slice into 3 or 4 lengthwise.

Made mine into 2 x 6.5 in circles instead of one  big one,   The size and shape are  entirely up to you, whether you choose a square, round or rectangle.

FLAT TOP BANANA BREAD RECIPE

This classic Flat Top Banana Bread is always a favorite, whenever I have over ripen banana,  this is the bread I used to make.

It uses one and half cup of mashed banana, yogurt and butter to produce a moist and divine banana bread.  It took 50 minutes to bake it at 180 C.

Easily turned this basic banana bread to the next level by adding chocolate chips, peanut butter, coconut or blueberry.  So, if you're craving for a sweet, warm and super easy treat,  this Flat Top Banana Bread is the best option.

As this bread was extremely moist, place the bread  in an airtight plastic container then store in a refrigerator after 24 hours

VEGAN HOMEMADE DOUGHNUTS

A vegan and yeast free doughnuts for our tea time treat this week.   Found this recipe on Facebook.  It looks easy and quick to make.

These Vegan Homemade Doughnuts use vegan margarine and soy milk without yeast.   If you're not a vegan, you can use butter and fresh milk.

Original recipe calls for deep frying but I opt for baking instead.  Also did not coat them with sugar as we wanted a savory version.

The dough of these  Vegan Homemade Doughnuts are really sticky,  I added a tablespoon of flour to make it easier to shape by forming the dough into a ball, flatten it and make a hole with your floured finger or else roll the dough and use a doughnut cutter.

The doughnuts turned out very tasty despite they don't rise much as compared with  deep fried ones.  I think we need to add another teaspoon of baking powder if it is baked (original uses 1 teaspoon).

VARIATIONS

Liquid can be replaced for fruit juice, you can even add chopped dried fruit.

For savory bread, add tomato juice instead of soy milk,  sun dried tomato may be added to the dough

Brush the dough with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt  and oregano for foccacia flavor.

RED VELVET BANANA CAKE RECIPE

My Red Velvet Banana Cake was slightly different from the regular red velvet as I have added mashed banana  in the batter.    Am attracted to its color and curious to know how the combination  of chocolate  and red color turns out plus a little twist by adding banana.

This Red Velvet Banana Cake  uses yogurt and banana to moisten the cake  In case you're not keen to use banana, you may add 2 more eggs plus 1/4 cup of yogurt.

Sadly my cake did not turn out deep red in color but overall, it was amazing cake.  You're hooked after the first bite!   Used liquid red food coloring for this recipe.

The ideal pan to use is a 12 cup bundt pan as I don't have it,   bake them into  a small bundt and another 8 in cake pan.

Red Velvet Banana Cake turned out wonderful.   Extremely pleased with moist and tenderness of the cake.   Will bake again as my family enjoyed it.   Even my boy can't wait to devour it  after I removed it from the oven.

Other cake recipes you should try:

Banana Upside Down Cake

Marble Cake

Eggless Chocolate Cake Diary Free

MUTTON BIRYANI RECIPE

Eid-ul-Fitr  is a day of forgiveness and joyous occasion  by strengthen  ties with people around you.   This is not complete without visiting and feasting.

It is a must for every household to offer a feast to their visitors.  The feast offered can be anything either main dish, sweets, flat bread or  even noodles.   It does not need to be elaborate,  any simple meal is most encouraged.   Always think about others who had nothing and avoid wastage.

This year I try this Mutton Biryani for my close relatives.   It involves a lot of work but I managed to do it all by myself.

The step require you to marinade the mutton with spices, yogurt, cilantro and fried onion for at least 12 hours.  The longer the better to allow all the flavor absorbed by the meat.

I have chosen slightly different method by cooking the meat until tender before layering the rice.   The mutton sold here is really tough hence this method is the best option.

Since the meat is already cooked and the rice is  1/2   cooked, need not to cook it much longer.  So glad my visitors enjoyed this Mutton Biryani  and some even asked for the recipe. .

FANTASTIC APRICOT BREAD

Always love quick bread for breakfast or in between snack.   This week  tried my hand baking this Fantastic Apricot Bread.

This bread can be baked with yeast but am not in the mood to knead or spend time  waiting for it to rise.   So chosen this fruit laden quick bread.

Before you start, chopped dry apricot into small pieces but fairly visible.  Soak them in water for good 30 minutes. Squeeze out the water. keep aside.

This Fantastic Apricot Bread was really sweet so it doesn't need any glaze at all.  Have seen a few recipes with less sugar but uses  glaze after it has been baked.  Which one do you prefer, less sugar with glaze or without?

This bread received  high marks from my family, we are expecting some guest for  couple of days, have planned to bake it again.

EGG CURRY PUFFS FROM SCRATCH

It was a long time, I have make these curry puffs.  Presently, the store bought puffs are sky rocketing in price,  So it is time to make your own.

These Egg Curry Puffs from scratch are time consuming but worth to make.  They consist of two parts, the pastry and the filling.

Most popular filling was potato but I want to try something different that won't take much time to prepare.  I chose these Egg Curry Puffs, made with eggs, onion and spices,

Managed to shorten prep time for filling but important task are rolling, filing and frying them.  If you think this method was too much of hassle,  opt for a special mould that seal and crimp the edges well. But I still did it manually.

Be careful when adding ice water,   add little by little until it forms into a dough.  Find the pastry crispier than my earlier attempt where I did not add rice flour.

When frying these Egg Curry Puffs from scratch. make sure to use medium heat or else  they browned fast but inside still uncooked.  Do not crowd the pan, once it turns golden brown on both sides, remove and place on kitchen towel to drain.

AMAZING YOGURT CAKE

Thinking hard what to bake this week,  am torn between baking  a cake or bread.  At the moment, I only have few cups of natural yogurt in the refrigerator.

Decided to bake this Amazing Yogurt Cake that was ultra moist and a snap to make.   The yogurt not only cut down the fat used but also moisten the cake.

In case  you don't have a  plain yogurt,  a flavored ones work just fine.   This Amazing Yogurt Cake can be customized in many ways like adding a cup of diced blueberries, raspberries, strawberries or other fruits as well.

I use canola oil for this recipe.  You can use almond oil, peanut oil or any vegetable oil or even replace oil with melted butter.

Why it is called "amazing"?  Simply because it uses staple ingredients from the kitchen and  made without a mixer but using a whisk yet it  produces a moist, tender and scrumptious treat!

BUTTERY LIGHT FRUIT CAKE

No festive season is complete without fruit cake.  There were so many different ways to make one. But I always prefer the one with less fruit like this  Light Fruit Cake.  This Buttery Light Fruit Cake will cut down the time you soak the dry fruit.  Soak the fruit in orange juice, microwave for a minute to plump them then leave to cool.

If you mix your own dry fruits, you need to add  candied red and green cherries to the batter.   It would look prettier with those.  I used store bought mixed fruit that include both cherries.

The sweetness was just right,  adding more sugar isn't necessary.   We get natural sugar from the dry fruits.

This Buttery Light Fruit Cake is so simple to make yet tastes awesome.  I used this recipe successfully to get a quick festive treat. If desired, decorate with additional candied fruits and nuts.

BEST EVER EGGLESS COCOA BROWNIES

This Best Ever  Eggless Cocoa Brownies is a quick and easy recipe to satisfy those sweet craving. Made with cocoa powder, vegetable oil, condensed milk and water.

Purposely reduce the sugar since am adding half a cup of condensed milk but you could add more if you want.  Have added the coconut oil but other vegetable oil works too.  For a richer taste, opt for melted butter instead of oil.

The process is about as easy as you can get.  Combine dry ingredients with  oil, condensed milk, water and mix.  Add  in chocolate chips, stir and spoon batter into muffin pan.

Besides baking in muffin pan, a square pan of 8 x 8 in is a great alternative but adjust the baking time accordingly.

These Best Ever Eggless Cocoa Brownies were  fantastic!  They are so good, am planning to bake another batch tomorrow.

EASY DINNER ROLLS

These homemade yeast rolls are well worth the effort.   Easy Dinner Rolls  go perfectly with any meal.  I like to dunk it in a cup of coffee or dip in a bowl of spicy gravy or soup.

I still remember, how my first time making bread,  It turned out miserably.  After years of playing with yeast and successfully baked them, I think everyone can bake a better bread, just  keep practicing!  In fact baking bread isn't that hard if your follow these basic rules.

!.  Yeast
Should be fresh and active..  To check, sprinkle  yeast in lukewarm water with little sugar and wait for 10 minutes until bubbly, if not discard the yeast,

2.  Water
Must be warm to touch and not very hot otherwise you killed the yeast. More water you get in the dough,  the bigger air bubbles you'll get, it makes fluffier bread

3.  Texture
It should be soft like baby's cheek  to get soft and fluffy bread.  Adding too much flour , makes a dense and dry loaf.   Add flour gradually and only the minimum

Today. I will show you how to make these Easy Dinner Rolls that was easy.   Made  by hand but you can use a mixer or bread machine too.  It involves mixing the dry and wet ingredients, knead it then leave to rise until doubled, it may takes shorter or longer time,   don't rush this  final step.  Shape into desired shape then again let sit to rise for  another 60= 90 minutes.

Add variety to your bread by forming the rolls into different shapes or fill these rolls with your favorite filling like chocolate, custard, red bean etc.   Even the plain Easy Dinner Rolls  tasted so good.

Other bread recipes you should check:

Red Bean Swirl Bread

Fruited Pull Apart Bread

Eggless Custard Buns

QUICK BLUEBERRY OATMEAL CUPS

Do you miss your breakfast due to lack of time?  These Quick Blueberry Oatmeal Cups  are the solution. You  make these night before,  pack in your lunch box or eat it while travelling to your work place.

This grab and go meal not only a snap to make but healthy too.   Made with rolled oat, no flour and no butter with endless choice of topping,  choose either  fruits, nuts even chocolate chip.

We  love to have  Healthy Oatmeal Banana Cookies , Cornflakes Crisp Bars, and Mango Oatmeal Bread   alternately for breakfast.  They are great for tea time treat or in between snack..

Am using a standard muffin cup and filled them  3/4 full, it yields only 10.  But you  will get more if using a smaller ones.

I did not mix in the blueberry in the batter but put them in between.  Quick Blueberry Oatmeal Cups are mildly sweeten with brown sugar but this is okay for me,  if necessary  adjust  accordingly to your liking.  more.

MOIST MARBLE BANANA CAKE

Am obsessed with marble cake  or bread.  So far I have baked  Eggless Marble Banana Cake, Banana Chocolate Bread Marbled and   Marble Cake  but that does't stop me from trying another recipe.

Most  of the recipes  call for melted butter but this  Moist Marble Banana Cake uses  vegetable oil.  It has a right amount of sweetness and stay moist even after the next day.

After experiencing and baking with banana.  I must admit that using a right banana is the key to perfect cake.  The banana should be ripe but  firm and not too soft because soft banana contains more water, it tends to make your cake slightly wet.

Another point was about cocoa powder.   Adding more cocoa means you have to add more sugar to sweeten the cake.   Just add a tablespoon or two  of cocoa in the batter is more than sufficient, you still get beautiful marble effect.  So glad Moist Marble Banana Cake turned out incredible!

BLUEBERRY SCONES RECIPE

I can never get tired of quick and  yummy food for breakfast or tea time treat. It has been some time, I baked scones for my family. They are so versatile since you can customize  the add-ins.

Blueberry Scones  prep is similar as making a pie where you cut in butter, using your fingertips  until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  You can make scones using a food processor but made by hand is much lighter. The secret to  good scones are not to handle them too much before baking.

Divided them into 2,  patted one portion onto baking sheet into a round shape and cut into 8 wedges while the balance  I cut  rounds with 2 in cutter. .

These buttery Blueberry Scones are tender, fluffy  and sweet enough to eat on its own, no jam required, but this is entirely up to you..

Other breakfast recipes you should check :

Apple Raisin Scones

Pomegranate Mango Baked Oatmeal

Dry Fruit Scones

PERFECT CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE

I have tried various recipes of  chocolate cake and still looking for a perfect ones.  Stumbled upon this recipe on Facebook and decided to try it out one day.

At first glance, it looks complicated with a lot of ingredients, but actually another reason I love this recipe that it  uses a whisk to mix, combine both  wet and dry ingredients then you're ready to bake it.

This Perfect Chocolate Cake can be steamed but I chose to bake it.  Made slight changes by reducing the cocoa powder to 3/4 cup and increase the amount of flour to 1 1/2 cups.  Also reduce baking soda to 1/2 teaspoon.

Despite the changes I  made,  this Perfect Chocolate Cake turns out wonderful!  Perfect chocolate flavor with right amount of sweetness.When completely cool,  glaze as desired.  I don't do this since my family prefer plain good cake without any frosting.

Other cake recipes you should try:

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Eggless Peach Cake

Eggless Chocolate Cake Diary Free

KUIH DADAR LABU / PUMPKIN CREPES

Most South East Asian  kuih or bite sized dessert uses natural products such as coconut, banana or tapioca.  One of my favorite kuih is Kuih Dadar or kuih ketayap, a rolled crepe stuffed with sweeten grated coconut.   It was made by 2 parts, outer cover and the filling normally made  with coconut.

Kuih Dadar  uses natural food coloring by blending  pandan leaves with liquid then strain.  Pandan juice is added back to the batter. These leaves not only gives a beautiful color but also a nice fragrance.   You can simply omit pandan leaves if it is not available at your area, just add green food coloring or a tablespoon of pandan paste.

Made a substitution for the filling using mashed pumpkin instead of grated coconut.  Also prepared it using milk and not coconut milk.   This filling will keep well in a refrigerator if you cook it longer. Adjust the sweetness to your liking  by adding more sugar.

Other kuih/dessert you should check out:

Kuih Dadar with coconut filling

Bingka Pisang

Wajik (Palm Sugar Glutinous Rice Pudding)

CORNFLAKES CAKE RECIPE

Having cornflakes with milk  are a regular affair  for morning breakfast.  This time I intend to transform this favorite cereal into a quick and  yummy treat for the whole family.

It's a simple mix and bake recipe.   This Cornflakes Cake uses  cornflakes that can be crushed by hand or use your  rolling pin to do the job, either way you choose is fine.

You probably want to serve this as a grab and go breakfast for your kids.  Simply bake this in a muffin pan for 15-20 minutes and get their favorite cereal  turns into a muffin.

In case you're running out of buttermilk use yogurt instead.

This Cornflakes Cake  is sweet, easy to grab and tasty,  sure to start your day off on a right foot.

Other breakfast recipes you should try:

Healthy Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Cornflakes Crisp Bars

Apple & Raisin Scones

KUIH BINGKA NANGKA RECIPE

A traditional recipe that doesn't use any leavening agent at all and butter free. Traditional kuih  or bite size dessert/snack normally are  baked, steamed or deep fried. These are made from rice flour, glutinous rice four, tapioca flour, mung bean or plain flour.

Another important ingredient was coconut.   Most old school recipes use coconut milk since we grow our own coconut near our house those days.

Kuih Bingka Nangka or Baked Jack Fruit Cake was quick and simple to make.   You can even throw everything in a blender and it is ready to be baked.

Used evaporated milk instead of coconut milk because am running short of coconut milk.  Some recipes require you to dilute the milk with water, but prefer to add undiluted in order to get creamier  taste. .

You must leave Kuih Bingka Nangka to cool for 1-2 hours before slicing to get that perfect finish. My family enjoyed it with a cup of  ginger tea.

Other traditional kuih you should try:

Abok Abok Sago

Kuih Bakar Kentang

Kuih Sago

CRANBERRY YEAST BREAD RECIPE

I always love to bake my own bread, trying out classic recipes and sometimes adding my little twist to the original  creations.

So far I haven't tried cranberry in my baking  and this is going to be my venture this week.  If you have a bread maker, it will cut down all the manual work but I made my bread by hand from start to finish.  This gives a great satisfaction and learning process,  you can tell by mixing the dough whether it has a perfect balance of water, butter and flour.

This Cranberry Yeast Bread makes one big loaf but I  turned mine into 3 strand braided loaf.  The method varies slightly from regular yeast bread  by  spreading  some butter and sprinkle with brown sugar before final shaping.  Am surprise to see the bread still not very sweet, the way I like it.

Everyone in my family  loved this Cranberry Yeast Bread,  It was a complete success!  This recipe is definitely a keeper and will be used often.

BLUEBERRY OATMEAL BREAD

Most of us like to have oatmeal for breakfast but sometimes you feel bored eating the same thing again and again.  So I incorporated rolled oat and adding fresh blueberries for making this Blueberry Oatmeal Bread.

Oatmeal is a healthier choice but tasteless to eat on its own.   The benefits of  rolled oat can be enjoyed in  yeast/quick bread, muffins, breakfast bars, granola, biscuit, pancake, oatmeal burger and crumble.   Include  this natural power food regularly that contains minerals, vitamins, fiber,  lipid and numerous health benefits in your diet.  The fiber in oatmeal makes you feel full through out the day.   Fiber also eases constipation and control blood sugar.

Some packets of instant oatmeal, loaded with sugar  as much as 8 tsp per serving and high in sodium. Always check the label  to see what you are getting.

For healthier choice, replace half of plain flour with wholemeal flour and easily turns it into dairy free by using oil in place of  butter also milk with soy milk, almond or rice milk.

This Blueberry Oatmeal Bread were delicious.  Very filling with the oatmeal in them.  came out super moist too.

Other fabulous recipes made with oatmeal.   Click on the title to view full recipe.

Apple Oatmeal Bars

Pomegranate Mango Baked Oatmeal

Dairy Free Oatmeal Banana Squares

BEST COCOA BROWNIES

My family loves brownies and have make several batches of  Eggless Coffee Brownies  and   Banana Brownies Eggless before. Both of them are cake like type.

Some brownies used dark chocolate  but I have no chocolate at the moment.   In this case, I  opt for cocoa powder instead.   The recipe below is super easy to put together and with the option to add nuts or chocolate chip for more intensified chocolate flavor.   Also added only 3/4 cup of sugar.

Best Cocoa Brownies only need a whisk to mix melted butter together with sugar and cocoa powder. Then mix in the rest of the ingredients and stir until smooth.   It is now ready to be baked.

Baked in my 8 in round pan instead of 8 x 8 and it took 20 minutes flat to bake but this depends on individual  oven.  When completely cool, slice into 12 or 16 squares if you're using 8 x 8 in pan.

This Best Cocoa Brownies is  a soft and chewy on the inside and chocolatey.  It is also the easiest one bowl brownies you could ever hope for.   As requested,  I have planned to bake this again tomorrow.

BROCCOLI & TOMATO PASTA RECIPE

We love pasta but I seldom cook it.   My son requested  to have pasta this week,   first thing I  check what I have in my pantry and fridge.

Since we have broccoli, macaroni and fresh tomato, decided to whip up my Broccoli & Tomato Pasta for our meal today.

Wonder why I don't make this often since this is the easiest and importantly tasty.   When boiling the pasta, cook until aldente as stated on the package.   Use the water from boiling pasta to cook broccoli and retain some of the water to be added to the pasta if it is too dry.

Prefer spicier pasta, added more chili paste than stated.   In case you don't have chili paste, opt for chili powder.  I know some of you may not have  chili powder so add black pepper instead.

This Broccoli & Tomato Pasta is so versatile, you can add other vegetables, meat or cheese to your liking  Even without any add on, it tastes awesome!

My family also love the following pasta.  Check the recipe by clicking on the title.

Stir Fried Pasta

Penne Arrabiata

Spaghetti In Ccurry Sauce