Chewy Chocolate Meringues

This chewy chocolate meringues recipe is inspired by Bakerella.com.

The sinfully chocolaty meringues taste like heaven. This recipe is a keeper.

My recipe is a bit different from Bakerella for I am making full use of the egg whites I have left in the fridge. Plus I use chocolate powder and not cocoa powder. Since I don’t have cocoa nibs, I use chocolate chips instead.

This is a super easy recipe.

Chewy Chocolate Meringues 

150 g large egg whites – about 4
250 g sugar
15 g chocolate powder
70 g finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
70 g chocolate chips

1. First thing to do is preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Then, line the baking sheets with parchment paper. Since I use 2 inches scoop, I bake the whole 28 meringues on 2 baking sheets.
3. Whisk together the egg whites and sugar in a clean, dry heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water in - double boiling method. (I use my cake mixer stainless steel bowl). Whisk until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat.
4. With an electric mixer fitter with the whisk attachment on high speed, beat the eggs until stiff and glossy.
5. Fold together the sifted the chocolate powder, the chopped chocolate and the chocolate chips, and the meringue with a spatula until combined. Scoop the batter onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for about 18 to 20 minutes rotating the pans half-way through (around 8-9 minutes) until the cookies are fluffy and full of cracks. 
7. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool, leaving them on the parchment paper. 
8. Enjoy!

Toasted Coconut and Raisins Cookies.

Remember the basic cookie recipe? Well, I baked another variation of it yesterday. This time I added toasted coconut (since I have plenty of it) and some raisins. These cookies turned out fabulously delicious..

Imagine having  crispy and buttery cookies that melt in your mouth... Mmmmpphh.. heaven.

Toasted Coconut and Raisins Cookies

Ingredients:
250g unsalted butter
140g brown sugar                                                                                                                                                                       

1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

A pinch of salt
300g medium protein flour  

100g toasted coconut
70g raisins 


Method:

1. Beat butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.
3. Fold in the sifted flour and a pinch of salt into the mixture.
4. Add the toasted coconut and raisins   and stir until well combined. 

5. Using your hands, gather the dough and roll into a sausage shape or a long block about 5 cm thick.
6. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour or until firm.
7. Line 2 baking sheets with greaseproof paper or Silpat mat. Preheat oven to 190 degree C/ 360 degree F.
8. Slice the dough into 5 mm and place on the baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until pale golden.
9. Leave on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Pecan Oatmeal Chocolate Chips Cookies

I read Muna's entry on basic cookie dough. The process looks easy and all the ingredients are within reach. So, I embarked on the project yesterday afternoon. It took me about 20 minutes to whip all the ingredients and wrap the dough for the chilling process.The result is Mr. Hubby and my girl get to bring fresh homemade cookies, for snack, to work and school respectively today.

Thanks Muna for sharing the recipe of very light and crunchy cookies. However, I'd improvised the recipe by adding pecan, chocolate chips and oatmeal. I also used medium protein flour.

Ingredients:

250g butter (I used Anchor's unsalted butter)
140g sugar (I used brown sugar)
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of salt
300g plain flour (I used medium protein flour) 
75g instant oats (you can use rolled oats, porridge oats or other substances like coconut)
100g chocolate chips
100g chopped pecans 

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.

2. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.

3. Fold in the sifted flour and a pinch of salt into the mixture.

4. Add the instant oats, chocolate chips and chopped pecans and stir until well combined. 

5. Using your hands, gather the dough and roll into a sausage shape or a long block about 5 cm thick.

6. Wrap in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour or until fim.

7. Line 2 baking sheets with greaseproof paper or Silpat mat. Preheat oven to 190 degree C/ 360 degree F.

8. Slice the dough into 5 mm and plce on the baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until pale golden.

9. Leave on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Muna Fadaaq

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies and Cream Cheese Frosting

We love carrot cake. So, when I stumbled upon this Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies recipe at Martha Stewart, I knew that it would be worth a try. True..  It's simply irresistable especially when the cookies (which dough has the same ingredients as a carrot cake batter) are sandwiched with rich cream-cheese frosting in the middle. So now we can have "carrot cake" whenever we want..

Since the dough has to be chilled in the refrigerator, it makes life easier... I never bake the whole batch at once. I keep the dough in the fridge and only bake the cookies when I wanted. So, sometimes we have the cookies during the morning breakfast, afternoon tea, as travelling snack, or when I was busy with my reading or writing and we had guests at home and I could not perform miracles - this would be my saviour... and so as other chilled cookie doughs. We'll get freshly baked cookies most of the time.

The best thing about this carrot cake sandwich cookies is that you can have them with or without the frosting. They are also wonderful with vanilla icecream. You can play with the ingredients by adding nut meats, candied fruit, coconut and other varieties to suit your preferance.

The size of the cookies baked and also the way you drop the dough on the pan will determine the cookies texture - crispy or soft and chewy. I love the cookies soft and chewy, therefore I would not flatten the mound of the dough dropped on the baking sheet.  The baking time varies depending on the size of the cookies and so as the temperature of the oven.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies 

Ingredients:

A

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar (sometimes I used only brown sugar)

1/2 pound (2 sticks or 227 grams)  unsalted butter, room temperature (I used Anchor's)

B

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

C Sieve together:

2 cups all-purpose flour (there were times that I ommitted part of the flour and substituted it with wholemeal flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

D

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (you can use instant oats too)

1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)

1 cup raisins

Directions:

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or depending on your oven and the size of the cookies. Line the baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.

2.     In an electric mixer bowl, beat A: sugars and butter till light and fluffy (approximately 3 to 4 minutes).

3.     Add C: eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well incorporated.

4.      Gradually add C: (sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger) to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended.

5.    Mix in D: oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.

6.     Using a small ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches space between cookies. Bake until browned and crisped 12 to 15 minutes depending on the size of the cookies - rotate pan halfway through baking to ensure even color.

7.    Let them cool on the pan for a while before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, pipe about 2 teaspoons of cream-cheese filling onto a cookie (you can use an offset spatula for this process too). Sandwich together with a second cookie.  Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Source: Martha Stewart 

Cream Cheese Frosting

This Cream Cheese frosting recipe makes about 2 cups. It can be used for other purposes like frosting cupcakes, filling for red velvet cake. and

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese room temperature

8 tablespoons (1 stick or 113.5 gram) unsalted butter cut into pieces, room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract OR 2 teaspoons lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:

1.  In a mixing bowl, soften cream cheese using a spatula.

2.  Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended.

3.  Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth.

4.  Add vanilla extract or lemon juice and lemon zest, and stir to combine.

Source: Martha Stewart