"Sweet Treats"- Thumbprint Cookies

Aren't they gorgeous? So pretty....... but yet so simple to make!

Couple weeks ago, 'N' made these for the tea party.They looked cute as a button and I couldn't wait to try them out.'N' had used Ina Garten's recipe, but I made mine with a twist....
I made mine along with Flax seed meal and Wheat germ(that's why you see those brown specks in the cookies) and made two toppings- Strawberry jam and the other Peanut butter with Honey and a dark chocolate chip tucked in.

Here goes the recipe:
Ingredients:
1.5 cup All purpose flour
1/8 cup Wheat germ(you can skip this and add all purpose flour instead or Almond powder)
1/8 cup Flax seed meal(you can skip this and add all purpose flour instead or Almond Powder)
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4tsp salt
1tsp Vanilla essence
1 egg
1tbsp orange juice/ Water

Topping:
Strawberry jam
OR
Peanut butter mixed with honey + chocolate chips

Method:
1) Bring butter to room temperature. Cream sugar and butter with hand mixer.
2) Add the egg and mix again.
3)Add all the other ingredients and mix till blended.

4) Wrap in plastic wrap and chill the dough in refrigerator for 1 hour
5) Preheat the oven to 350F

6)Make small rounds of equal size.Press in the center with your thumb/pointer finger/ melon baller

 

7) Bake the cookies at 350F for 10 mins.

8) Place a little Strawberry jam/ Peanut butter+honey+ chocolate chip in the center of the cookies

9) Bake again at 350F for 8 mins.Take cookies out.Then turn the oven to OFF.After about 10 mins of the oven cooling,place the cookies back in for 8 mins(Oven is off)This 'low heat' baking helps the cookies to crisp up.Do not let them brown. Cool before storing.

"Nutritious and Delicious" Homemade Cereal Bars with Oats, Wheat puffs, Pistachios and Cranberries

With the success of the first homemade cereal bars made with Oats, Rice crispies, nuts and dark chocolate chips (http://www.my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/2012/04/nutritious-and-delicious-homemade.html) ...I dared to try this new combination of cereals for the bar.
In the breakfast isle of the grocery store, I found this new 'super' food..Wheat germ. It is supposed to be full of vitamins and nutrients.Since it seems like everyone is eating this either in their cereals or baked goods....I thought I should add this to the cereal bars.( I am even adding it to the Chapati dough now!!!)

Super cereal Bar:
So these cereal bars have - Oats, Wheat Puffs, Wheat germ, Flax seed meal, Pistachios, Cranberries....what else do you need..to fill you up in the morning???? It's all in there and all good for you!
The texture of this bar came pretty close to the  Kashi  'Go lean crunch' .
So go ahead and Crunnnch Crunnch and Munnch!!

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cup Quick Cooking oats
1 and 1/2 cups Wheat puffs cereal (unsweetened)
1/4 cup untoasted Wheat germ
1/8 cup Flax seed meal
1/4 cup Light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup Honey
1/4 cup toasted Pistachios
1/8 cup dried cranberries
1/8 cup peanut butter chocolate chips
1 egg
1tbsp oil
1 tbsp All purpose flour
1/4tsp cinnamon powder
1tsp Vanilla extract
1/4tsp Salt

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 350F. Spread the oats and nuts on a cookie sheet and warm in the oven for 8-10 mins...until slightly toasted. reduce temperature to 325F. Coat a 8*11 inch pan or 9* 9 inch pan with aluminum foil.Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2) Beat the egg.Mix oil, sugar and all of the above ingredients, stir well.
3) Press the mixture in the coated pan.
4) Bake at 325F for 12 mins ....till slightly golden brown

5)  Let them cool.Cut into bars.
6) Crunchy bars:
Place them on cookie sheet again and bake again for 15 mins at 300 F. The bars will be crunchy after cooling.
If not..bake again for 10 mins at 300 F and cool. The slow baking and cooling process gives that crunch.
7) Store in airtight container after cooling.

Feel good about starting the day with a nutritious bar straight from your own oven!

"Sweet Treats"- White Chocolate Bark with Pistachios,Almonds and Cranberries

I had seen Ina Garten ( Food Network) make this a long time ago. It looked so pretty and yet so easy to make..I had decided to try it out! It was my friend 'A's b'day and I was looking for some 'sweets' to carry along with the gift. This was a perfect thing to carry along ...looked so pretty,tasted delicious with those nuts and cranberries and was 'homemade' after all!

Chocolate Bark--
 According to 'baking bites'  a chocolate bark is- Chocolate bark is actually a sheet of chocolate that is usually covered with nuts, dried fruits, candies or even additional pieces of chocolate. Its is rustic looking in the sense that it is just thrown together, not laid out with a specific pattern to how the ingredients are placed, and it is broken into shards of various sizes to serve. The name “bark” starts to seem much less unusual when you see a box full of chocolate shards that actually do bear a slight resemblance to rough pieces of tree bark – albeit tasty tree bark.

 Recipe-
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/white-chocolate-bark-recipe/index.html
1) I followed Ina Garten's recipe but used toasted Pistachios and almonds and dried cranberries as the additions to the white chocolate.
2) I toasted the nuts in microwave safe plate in the microwave
3) I used vanilla flavored white chocolate waffers as my white chocolate.

Recipe Verdict:
Loved the crunchy toasted nuts with the luscious white chocolate
Pretty easy to make...looks good too!
Will I make it again: Yes for sure!