Eggless Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

I am back with one more banana recipe.  It is eggless, butterless and made with whole wheat.  But please do not think that I am gonna share the recipe of some tasteless n blunt kindda muffins... no no no.. these are so delicious.  I made these muffins with ripe banana and as banana is a good substitute of egg for many baked goodies, I didn't add any egg in these muffins.  They came out perfectly fluffy and soft.  I always try to make something new with ripe bananas and these muffins are a part of those experiments.  Just after preparing the batter I decided to give a twist to these cutie muffins.  I put a piece of chocolate in the center of all the muffins and when V tasted it, melted chocolate came as a sweet surprise to him :D  

I was very happy with the results.  My toddler too relished these muffins.  These are perfect for breakfast and kids lunch box.  No need of icing.  I just love the flavour of banana in it.  Here, to help you, I have added some pics I took while making these muffins.

So lets start making these perfect, healthy and yummy muffins.  Do try and enjoy.  Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour	¾ cup
Banana	1 (Ripe)
Baking powder	½ tsp
Baking soda	1/8 tsp
Brown sugar	6 tbsp
Bar one / 5 star chocolate	1 bar (optional)
Oil	¼ cup
Milk	1 tbsp
Curd	2 tbsp
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
Mixed raisins	2 tbsp  (optional

Method:

• Sieve together wheat flour, baking soda and baking powder.  Set aside.
• Take mixed raisins and add 1/2 tsp flour to it.  Mix well and set aside.
• Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
• Preheat oven at 180 degree.
• In a mixing bowl, take sugar and oil.  Mix both till sugar melts.  Add curd and mix well.  Add milk and vanilla essence and mix again.
• Take banana in a separate bowl and mash it with the help of a fork.  Add it to the oil mix and whisk everything well.
• Add flour mix little by little to the oil banana mix.  Whisk well to make a lump-free batter.  The batter should not be too thick or too watery.  If you find that the batter is too thick add one more tbsp milk.  
• Finally add raisins to the batter and give it a stir.  
• Take the chocolate bar and cut it into six equal pieces.
• Take the prepared batter and fill the muffin cups till 1/4.  Put a piece of chocolate in the center and top it up with some more batter.  Do not fill the cups more than half.  Likewise, fill all the muffin cups with a piece of chocolate in the center. (pics below).

                                 

Bake the muffins for 20 minutes or till a knife inserted comes out clean.  Take out the tray from the oven and let the muffins rest for 3-4 minutes.

Out of oven 

Remove the muffins from the tray.  Let them cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm.

Notes:

1. Instead of brown sugar you can add white powdered sugar or castor sugar.
2. Brown sugar gave a nice brown color to these muffins.
3. You can skip the raisins and add your choice of dried fruits or even tutty fruitty.
4. Keep checking the muffins in the oven to avoid burning as temperature varies from oven to oven.  After baking the muffins for 15 minutes, keep checking.
5. Do not over bake.
6. Use of chocolate is also optional.

Bakery style cake rusk

Cake rusks have always been my favourite since childhood.  When I was little, my papa used to bring these rusks for us.  Having them was a real treat at that time :)

After finishing the school, I was like forgotten these rusks and after my marriage I accidentally found them in a bakery and couldn't resist my temptation.. the mere fragrance of these rusks made me nostalgic.  Having them after such a long time was simply wonderful.  It was heaven when I took the first bite..  (I know it sounds insane :D )

Here in Zambia, I searched but couldn't find these rusks anywhere.  Then one fine day I came across this recipe :)  I made these rusks on the very next day.. and OMG they were just like the bakery ones.. Now I can make my favourite cake rusks in my very own kitchen.. yippyyyyy. 

Unlike me, I didn't make any change in the original recipe except addition of yellow food color and a little more vanilla essence.  Its a must try recipe.  Try it atleast once and share your feedback here. Happy Cooking :)

Recipe source: divyascookbook.com

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/Maida	1 ½ cup
Baking powder	¾ tsp
Eggs	2
Butter	½ cup
Powdered sugar	¾ cup
Milk	1/3 cup
Vanilla essence	1 ½ tsp
Tutti fruity	¼ cup
Yellow food color	¼ tsp

Method:

• Take all purpose flour and baking powder.  Mix well.  Set aside.
• Add 1/2 tsp all purpose flour to tutty fruitty and mix.  Set aside.
• Preheat the oven at 180 degree.  Grease an 8 inch square pan and line with butter paper.  Set aside. 
• In a mixing bowl, take butter and sugar.  Beat till fluffy.  Add in eggs and beat well.  Add vanilla essence and food color.  Beat again. 
• Add half of the milk in the egg batter, then add half of the flour to it.  Mix thoroughly to avoid formation of lumps.  Add the remaining milk and stir again, add remaining flour and mix well again.  
• Fold in tutty fruitty and give a quick stir.
• Pour the batter in the greased square pan and bake for 40 minutes or until it becomes golden brown on the top.
• Remove from oven and let cool.
• Remove the butter paper and cut the cake into two and then cut it vertically in slices of desired thickness.  Arrange in a greased baking tray and bake for 15 minutes or till they become light brown and crunchy.
• Once cool, store them in an airtight container.

Notes:

1. Keep an eye on the cake while baking, once it is brown and firm on top, remove it from the oven.
2. Do not avoid using butter paper.
3. My sliced rusks got baked in just 15 minutes.  As baking time differs from oven to oven, you need to check carefully to avoid burning.  
4. You can bake according to your desired browning.
5. You can adjust the quantity of tutty fruitty as per your wish.
6. Use of food color is optional.

Strawberry Oats Bars

I love oats and experimenting with it to make different foods. Today's recipe is also made with oats and is a healthy one.  I got this recipe here and bookmarked it instantly as I found it very easy and ingredients used were also very simple and I must confess that I wanted to finish my strawberry jam too :D  

This recipe was in my TO TRY list and last weekend I finally made it and OMG it came out so yummy.  Trust me guys its seriously addictive.  You can't stop having just one. We finished up the whole batch on the same day and I myself had 70% of it :D  I loved these bars so much that I made a fresh batch again. This is the simplest recipe I ever came across.  Just mix up all the ingredients in one bowl, layer it in the baking pan and bake.  Super duper simple.

I made a few changes in the original recipe like I used thinly granulated brown sugar and castor sugar, reduced the quantity of butter, used vanilla essence in the base mixture and before baking topped the dish with chopped walnuts and I am glad I made those changes :)  Addition of walnuts and vanilla gave it a nice crunch and flavour. I also substituted strawberry preserve with strawberry jam. The final product was surprisingly divine.  (That is the beauty of experiments).

While layering the dish in the baking tray I didn't put a thick layer of strawberry jam as I wanted to have both outer crust and jam flavour equally.  You are free to use as much jam as you like.  After cutting and cooling the bars I shifted them to an airtight container and kept in the fridge.  I loved these bars even more on the following day as they became more firm and crunchy due to cooling.  I strongly recommend to store these bars in the fridge.

Its a delicious and healthy anytime snack for kids as well as adults.  Even you can have it as breakfast too with a glass of milk.  I can bet you would love to make it again and again because of its simplicity and taste.  The biggest proof of its deliciousness is that I have bought a fresh bottle of strawberry jam again ... just to make these bars :D

I am so happy with this recipe and so here sharing the recipe.  Do try and enjoy.  Happy Cooking :)

Recipe adapted from thepioneerwoman.com

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	¾ cup
Quick cooking oats/Rolled oats	¾ cup
Salted Butter (cold)	6 tbsp
Brown sugar	¼ cup
Castor sugar	¼ cup
Baking powder	½ tsp
Vanilla essence (optional)	¼ tsp
Chopped walnuts	2 tbsp
Strawberry jam	As required (I used 4 tbsp)

Method:

• Preheat the oven at 175 degree.  Grease a square pan with butter and keep aside.  
• In a mixing bowl, take all purpose flour, oats, baking powder, brown sugar, castor sugar and mix everything well.  Add butter and mix with your hand until the mixture becomes crumbly.  Add vanilla essence and mix again.
• Take half of the mixture and spread in the greased pan.  Cover the bottom of the pan with the mixture equally and press to make it firm.
• Layer the strawberry jam evenly on the prepared base of oats mix.  Cover it with remaining oats mix and lightly press the layer.  Sprinkle chopped walnuts and press them lightly.
• Bake it for 35 minutes or till it gets golden brown on the top.
• Remove from oven and let it cool down.
• Cut into squares and serve.
• Store the remaining bars in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

Notes:

1. You can top it with any nuts of your choice.
2. Instead of walnuts you can use chopped cashews or almonds.
3. White sugar can be used in place of brown sugar and castor sugar.  If using big granulated sugar, grind it slightly.
4. Layer as much jam as you want.
5. Do not over bake.

Fruity Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemony Hung Curd Icing

My toddler is getting fussy day by day.  One day she likes homemade food and the other day just junk food.  I try to combine different things to make something healthy that could also make her taste buds happy.  These cupcakes are the result of my one more experiment for my little one.

She likes fruit flavoured muffins and corn puffs of a local brand here.  I must say her choice is excellent :) I too relish her favourite junk foods.  Those muffins and corn puffs are really delicious.  In the muffins, vanilla and fruit flavours comes out very nicely and I love it.  

Last week, before throwing the empty packet of muffin, I read the ingredients on the pack and decided to make it at home.  I had no idea how the fruit flavours came in the muffins as no essence or fruits were there in the ingredient used.  So I added orange, pineapple and vanilla essence.  I didn't add any fresh fruit.  

I was very apprehensive about the results as I had no measurements and moreover I was using some additional ingredients too.  But finally, when I tasted them, I was on cloud nine :D  They came out so well.  The sweetness, the flavour and the texture was just perfect.  I loved them and so did my baby.  

After having few cupcakes, I thought to have them with some icing.  Instead of cream, I decided to make the icing with the thick hung curd.  It was a healthy option too.  One lemon was also sitting in my fridge so I used up that too and made a lemony icing.  The final result was yummy, creamy, lemony curd icing that took my cupcakes to another level.  The combination of both (cupcakes and icing) was just mind blowing.  Now there is a guilt free icing that we can relish anytime..  isn't it awesome.?  

So my dear readers, here is the recipe of my yummy cupcakes and delicious icing.  Do try and see your kids jumping with joy... Don't forget to read the notes first.  Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients
(Makes 6 medium and 6 small size cupcakes)

All purpose flour/Maida	1 cup
Cornflour	1 tbsp
Milk powder	2 tbsp
Egg	1
Baking powder	½ tsp
Baking soda	2 big pinch
Castor sugar/powdered sugar	½ cup
Oil	¼ cup
Mixed fruit juice	1/8 cup
Soda water	1/8 cup +1 tbsp
Orange essence	1/8 tsp
Pineapple essence	¼ tsp
Vanilla essence	1/8 tsp

Lemony curd icing
Ingredients:
(For icing 4 cupcakes)

Thick hung curd**	½ cup
Lemon zest	½ tsp
Fresh lemon juice	½ tsp
Vanilla essence	1/8 tsp
Icing sugar	5 tsp

Decoration:

(For 4 cupcakes)

Thinly sliced lemon peel	8 strings
Glazed cherry	1
Colored sprinkles	1 tbsp

Method:

• In a bowl, take all purpose flour, corn flour, milk powder, baking powder and baking soda.  Mix well with a spatula.  Set aside.
• Preheat oven at 180 degree.  Line a muffin tray with paper cupcake liners.
• In a mixing bowl, take sugar and egg.  Whisk well till fluffy. Add in oil and whisk again.  Add vanilla essence, pineapple essence and orange essence and mix well.  
• In a cup, take soda water and fruit juice and give a stir.  Pour a little of it in egg sugar batter, mix it and add a little flour mix.  Mix well to avoid formation of lumps.  Add some more soda fruit juice mix and little more flour.  Mix well again.  Finally, add remaining soda juice mix and remaining flour and mix again.  The batter should be smooth and not too thick.  If you find that the batter is a bit thick add 1 tbsp milk
• Fill the moulds/paper cupcake liners with the prepared batter till half and bake for 20 minutes or till the cupcakes gets golden brown on the top.
• Remove from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.

Icing 

• Take the hung curd in a mixing bowl, add in icing sugar and whisk well.  Add in vanilla essence, lemon juice and lemon zest and whisk again.  Don't over mix.
• Icing ready.

Icing the cupcakes:

• Take one cupcake and put 2 tbsp icing on the top of it.  Spread the icing all over it with the help of a small spoon.
• Decorate with lemon peel strands and sprinkles.  Top it up with glazed cherry.

Notes:

1. Any dried fruits or fruit mix can be added to the cupcake batter.
2. You can use your choice of fruit essence in the cupcake batter.
3. Do not leave the cake batter for long.  Bake it as soon as you make it.
4. Let the cupcakes cool down completely before icing them.
5. The curd should be very thick.  Hang it overnight to get the required thickness.
6. You can adjust the level of sugar in the icing.
7. Icing can be made of any flavour of your choice. 
8. You can decorate the cupcakes with your choice of stuff.
9. Baking time varies from oven to oven so keep checking the cupcakes after 15 minutes. If you find them getting over brown, remove from the oven.  If you find that even after 20 minutes the cupcakes are white on the top, bake them for another 5 to 10 minutes or till they get the desired browning.

** To make hung curd you can use a simple method. Take a big tea strainer and arrange it over a deep bowl.  Pour the curd in the strainer and put it (with the bowl under it) in the fridge for overnight.  Next day you would get the thick curd.

Eggless whole wheat cumin walnut cookies

Today's recipe is specially for kids.  I made these cookies for my 16 months old toddler.  She is a fussy eater so I always try to make something new for her.  I experiment with healthy ingredients and different flavours to make her take the food.  Sometimes it goes well and sometimes she doesn't even take it to her tiny mouth.. :D

This week I thought to try out some soft and healthy cookies for her to take as snacks and I made these cookies.  Yippy!! she loved them.  Mission Successful :D

These cookies came out very tasty and the texture (as I wanted it to be) was a bit cakey and soft.  I used whole wheat flour with all purpose flour to make it healthy.  My baby loved them so much and so did I.  Its a healthy snack for adults too for that odd time hunger pangs.

So sharing this recipe here.  Enjoy.  Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour	¼ cup
All purpose flour / maida	¼ cup
Cornflour	1 tbsp
Salted Butter	¼ cup
Brown sugar or white sugar	¼ cup + 1 tbsp
Baking soda	1 pinch
Milk	1 tbsp
Vanilla essence (optional)	3-4 drops
Chopped walnuts	½ tbsp
Cumin seeds/Jeera	½ tsp

Method:

• Take all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cornflour and baking soda.  Mix well.  Sift them twice.  Keep aside.
• Preheat oven at 180 degree.  Take a baking tray and line it with aluminium foil.  Grease the aluminium sheet with oil.  Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, add butter and sugar.  Mix well and add milk.  Mix till fluffy. 
• Add flour mix to the butter mix little by little. (If you find the mixture a bit dry, add one more tablespoon milk).
• Add cumin seeds and mix again.
• Cover the dough with cling film or put in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Take the dough out and pinch a little portion from it.  Make a ball with it and press a little with your palms.  Make all the cookies in the same manner and arrange in the greased baking tray.  Press chopped walnuts on the top of the cookies.
• Bake for around 18 minutes.
• Take out the cookies from oven and shift to a wire rack.  Let them cool for about 10-15 minutes.
• Enjoy.  
• Keep the remaining cookies in an airtight container.

Notes:

1. My cookies got brown color as I used brown sugar.
2. If using white sugar, powder it first.
3. If using unsalted butter add 1/8 tsp salt to the flour mix.
4. You can use cookie cutter to shape the cookies.
5. Cookies would be very soft in texture while hot.  Don't bake them again.  Let them completely cool down, they would become a bit firm.  
6. Cookies would be soft and cakey in the final texture.