Brookies (Brownie Cookies)

Brookies (Brownie Cookies)

Few weeks ago I went to a dessert fest with my friend K, & we tasted an amazing cookies with brownie taste. From that day I was looking for a recipe for those. Stumbled upon a recipe from Ghayathri Kumar after few days & gave it a try. Believe me they came out better than the one we tasted. K gave it a thumbs up too :)

Ingredients

350 gm Dark Chocolate (I took 70% cocoa)

45 gm Butter 

200 gm Brown Sugar 

250 to 300 gm All Purpose Flour / Maida or Whole wheat flour

1 tsp Baking Powder 

1/2 cup Milk 

1 tsp Vanilla 

100 gm Chocolate Chips 

Method 

In a bowl melt chocolate and butter. Allow it to cool completely.

To the same bowl add flour, baking powder, sugar, milk and vanilla.

Mix to form a soft dough.

Preheat oven to 175°C.

Take a small portion of the dough and press it into a cookie.

Top the dough with some choco chips.

Arrange them in a greased tray. Refrigerate the remaining dough while the batch is baking.

Bake for 12 - 13 minutes and remove from oven.

Let it cool in tray for 10 minutes until the cookies are firm to touch.

Remove them and cool completely on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight jar in fridge. (They remain fine outside too for few days if the weather is not too hot).

Tips

*I used salted butter, I think you can use unsalted one & add a pinch of salt.

*I used just 250 gm of maida but if you find the dough too soft to handle, you can add little extra.

*Using whole wheat flour will not change the taste at all.

*Cookies will look undone or soft after 12-13 minutes, but don't bake them more. They will firm up after cooling.

*Baking them for more than required time will make them hard.

*Taste and color will depend on the quality of chocolate used (I used Lindt 70% dark chocolate).

Oats Cookies with Almonds & Chocolate Chunks

                                              

 A friend brought some cookies for me & kids just loved them. So I started searching for a perfect recipe to bake some cookies myself. After trying with one batch with not so perfect result, I finally got this one which everyone liked :)

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp milk

1 cup oats

1/2 cup whole wheat 

1/2 cup plain flour

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup chocolate chunks

1/2 cup roasted almonds

 

Method

In a large bowl put in the butter, sugar, vanilla & milk.

Beat until smooth and creamy.

In another bowl, assemble all the dry ingredients, the oats, flour, cinnamon powder & baking powder and mix well.

Add chocolate chunks & roasted almonds.

Mix in the dry ingredients into the butter mixture & knead until the cookie dough comes together.

Add little more milk if you feel the need.

Preheat the oven at 175 C.

Divide the mixture into 20 equal parts & form into round balls & press to give cookie shape.

Place on a greased or non stick cookie tray at a little distance from each other.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes for a chewy cookie and 25 to 30 minutes for crisp cookies (Till slightly golden).

Tips

* Flip cookies after half time to avoid over browning of cookies from bottom.

* I used salted butter, if you are using unsalted butter then add a pinch of salt with flour.

* You can use 1 cup whole wheat & omit plain flour, but the cookies will be denser.

* Can make these without nuts & chocolate or you can replace almonds with cashew or walnuts or raisins.

* You can use 1/2 tsp baking soda in place of baking powder.

* Do not take less butter as it is needed for binding the flour.

* Do not over bake as it will alter the taste.

Cheddar & Jalapeño Biscuits

                             

These tender biscuits with a cheesy richness will be hit with everyone. Just forget about calories for this one & indulge ;) (do workout later on :D)

This recipe Yields about 20 biscuits, depending on the size.

Ingredients 

1 1/3 cups maida

1/4 cup polenta or fine milled corn meal (makai flour)

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red chilli powder (more or less to taste)

1 1/4 + 1/4 cup packed  shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 tbsp diced fresh jalapeños (more or less to taste)

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp heavy cream (200ml), plus extra for brushing

2 tsp mixed dried herbs to sprinkle

Method

Preheat oven to 220°C. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, corn meal, salt, sugar, red chilli powder & baking powder. 

Stir in 1 1/4 cups of the grated cheddar cheese & the diced jalapeños.

Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture & pour the cream.

Gently bring together the ingredients with your hands.

If you need to add a bit more cream then do so a tiny trickle at a time. 

You just want everything to get wet enough so that the dough will be sticky and clumpy.

Turn the dough out onto a surface lightly dusted with flour. 

Knead the dough just a few times - maybe only three or four pushes. You just want it to come together. (Over-kneading will result in firmer, denser biscuits.)

Form the dough into a disc about 3/4-inch to an inch thick. 

Use a biscuit cutter (or a small cup or bowl) to cut round biscuit shapes out of the disk. 

Combine the leftover dough & keep forming small round biscuit shapes until the dough is used up.

Place biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet, with at least an inch or two between the biscuits. 

Brush the tops of the biscuits with a little more cream. 

Top the biscuits with a sprinkle of the remaining cheese & mixed herbs.

Bake at 220°C  for 11-12 minutes or until golden & the cheese is nicely melted.

Serve with any dip or as a side dish with your soups or enjoy just like that.

Tips

* If jalapeño is too mild, include the seeds, if hot, use just the flesh.

* Sieve cornmeal along with maida to get fine consistency.

* You can add chopped chives along with jalapeño.

* I found the salt & sugar little towards higher side in original recipe so reduced a little, as cheese too contains salt. You can adjust according to taste.

* Keep the biscuits in airtight box after they cool down completely or they will loose their crispness. (It happened with mine, but I baked them again for 5 minutes & they got their crispness back).

Cinnamon Cookies

They were really easy, ready in no time & everyone just loved them

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract/essence
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour/maida

To Roll
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 180 C & grease cookie sheets or line a baking tray with foil & grease it.
In a bowl, cream together powdered sugar & butter until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
Combine flour, salt, & cinnamon and add to creamed mixture.
Combine remaining powdered sugar & cinnamon & keep aside.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls with hands and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture.
One batch makes 20-25 cookies.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool on wire racks.

Tips
* Do not decrease the amount of butter, it is needed to bind the dough.
* You can use brown sugar in place of white.
* I used maida instead of all purpose flour.
* Either use white butter without salt or if using salted butter, avoid adding salt. I used salted butter so omitted salt in the recipe.

Naan Khatai

Nan khatai is an Indian version of western cookies & are loved by one and all.These light and crispy biscuit are perfect to serve with tea or coffee.

Ingredients (makes about 24)
3/4 cup plain flour or maida
1/4 cup wheat flour
2 tbsp fine sooji or semolina
2 tbsp gram flour or besan
1/4 tsp baking soda
5 green cardamom seed coarsely powder (elaichi)
3/4 cup pure ghee (can take 2 tbsp less)
3/4 cup sugar powder (can take up-to 1 cup according to taste)
1 tbsp crushed or sliced almond
1 tbsp crushed or sliced pistachio

Method
Pre heat the oven to 180 C
In a bowl, mix the plain flour, gram flour, sooji, baking soda, cardamom powder & sugar.
Add the melted (not hot) ghee & knead them together to make smooth dough.
Divide the dough into about 24 equal parts & make them into balls.
Press each ball between your palms lightly; every piece should be about 3/4″ in thickness.
With a sharp knife softly draw a cross design on the top & put few pieces of almonds & pistachios and press them into the dough gently.
Put Nan khatai on a lightly greased cookie sheet bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until Nan khatai are lightly gold brown.
Let the Nan Khatais cool down for two to three minutes before taking them off the cookie sheet.
Cool completely & store in air tight container.

Tips
* Original recipe had only plain flour, you can make it with half plain flour & half wheat flour.
* Softened Butter can be used instead of melted ghee.
* Amount of sugar depends upon individual taste.
* Cardamom seeds can be powdered along with sugar.