Almond Butter Cookies

I like the colorful design of these cookies with M&M and decided to give it a try. It was indeed very pretty and the kids love it. However, I felt the cookies crunch was not what I expected. They were not crunchy as compared to chocolate chips cookies and kind of like sugee cookies to me but it had a strong buttery aroma. Really depends on individual preference but for sure the kids will love it with the M&M on it!

Ingredients

120g SCS butter
50g castor sugar
1/2 vanilla essence
30g almond meal
120g plain flour (sifted)
some chocolate chips and M&M for decorations

Directions

1.Prepared baking tray and line with parchment paper. Preheat oven at 170 deg C.
2.Beat egg & sugar until pale, add in vanilla essence and mix well.
3.Add in sifted flour and almond meal and mix well.
4.Spoon batter into piping bag and pipe out in clockwise direction. Decorate with chocolate chips or M&M.
5.Bake at 170 deg C for 20mins until lightly brown on the edges.
6.Store in airtight container when cookies are completely cool. 

Shortbread Squares

I was so happy that I spotted this recipe as I could finish up all my leftover cherries. I am a lover of shortbread and I really like this recipe. It has strong buttery taste and aroma. 

I have reduced the sugar from 170g to 160g but felt it could be further reduced to 150g. I have ran out of plain flour, so I used self-raising flour instead. The next time, I will try with plain flour to find out if there is any difference to the texture.

P.S. This shortbread is crumbly with soft texture, not crunchy like cookies.

Ingredients

150g corn flour
250g SCS butter
150g castor sugar
50g rice flour
200g plain flour/self raising flour
Red cherries
Green cherries

Directions

1.Sift together cornflour, rice flour and plain flour.
2.Cream butter and sugar till well combined and add in sifted flour and mix into a dough.
3.Grease a shallow biscuit tray and press dough evenly onto tray. Cut dough lightly into 3cm squares.
4.Decorate each square with red and green cherries.
5.Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 20-25mins.
6.Leave to cool before cutting into squares.

Fish Fillet with Seaweed

Thanks to Rachel, I am able to bake these snacks in time for CNY. Very well received by all my relatives and will definitely make these again for next year CNY.

Ingredients

1pkt dried fish fillet (comes in whole piece or smaller rectangular sizes)
1pkt seaweed
1 egg white

Directions

1.Cut seaweed into the sizes that can fit the fish fillet.

2.Brush the fish fillet with egg white.

3.Paste the seaweed onto the fish fillet.

4.Bake at 150 deg C for 10 mins and turn over for another 5mins.

5.Keep in airtight container. 

CNY Orders (2013)

Managed to complete these orders before CNY!

Pineapple Tarts

 

Last year, I didn't have the chance to bake pineapple tarts, so I decided to make these a must for this year CNY. I was quite surprised that my recorded recipe indicated I could make 40pcs but this time it could yield 165pcs instead! 

I have made a few modifications to my previous recipe :  

1. increase the quantity of dough (in order to finish a pack of 1kg pineapple filling)

2. made the base thinner 

3. weigh 6g of Pineapple filing for each tart (to get consistency of pineapple fillings)

4. egg wash - 1 egg yolk with 2 tbsp of water instead of 3 tbsp of water (to have a much nicer golden color after baking)

5. bake for 20mins instead of 15mins (until golden brown)

I also learnt a new technique to make the flower on top of tarts by using a fondant flower punch instead of rolling into small balls previously (it was so fast and easy). They really made the pineapple tarts so much prettier.

Very happy and satisfied with the improvised pineapple tarts this year and will definitely make them for next year CNY. Might consider to include this for ordering next year!

P.S. This recipe was from "Make Your Own Pastry" by Michelle Lim.

I am also submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 #12 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.

Ingredients

Pastry: 

375g Butter

150g Sugar

675g Flour

30g Milk powder

1.5 Egg

1 egg yolk (for egg wash)

Filing:

1 pkt Pineapple paste (1kg)

160ml Organic Pineapple juice (no sugar added)-buy from supermarket (NTUC finest)

Directions

1. Sift flour and milk powder together.

2. Put butter, sugar and egg in mixer and beat until sugar is just dissolved. Add in flour and milk powder. Mix until dough holds together.

3. Preheat oven to 180 Degree Celsius. Prepare egg wash - egg yolk and 2 tbsp of water in bowl.

4. Roll out dough. Press out dough with pineapple tart cutter. Put 6g of pineapple filing in centre and decorate top with a small flower with fondant punch. Arrange on lined baking tray and brush with egg wash. Bake for 20 mins at 180°C.

Cranberry Cookies

I have some dried cranberries left in my fridge and have no idea what to do with them. So while talking to my colleagues about making cranberry cookies, I have this idea to use Chocolate chips cookies recipe and replaced chocolate chips with cranberries. Thinking of how to soften the cranberries, I decided to give it a try to soak it with hot water and surprisingly, it really works! The cranberries in the cookies were not dry and it blend so well with the cookie crunch. An excellent cookie recipe indeed!

P.S. This recipe was shared by my friend, Josephine Ng.

I saw the posting from Nasi Lemak and I am so keen to share this good recipe with everyone. So I am submitting this post to Chinese New Year Delights 2013 #12 hosted by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover.

Ingredients

Special CNY Gifts for my friends

190g butter (SCS salted)
70g white sugar
80g brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
270g self raising flour
1 egg
100g dried cranberry

Directions

1. Cut the dried cranberry into smaller pieces and soaked in hot water for 30 mins. Drain and leave to dry.
2. Pre-heat oven at 180 deg C.

2. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence together.

3. Add lightly beaten egg gradually, beating well after each addition.

4. Mix in sifted flour.

5. Add in cranberry and mix well.

6. Shape teaspoon of mixture on lined baking tray.

7. Bake at 180 deg C for 20-25 mins.