Watermelon Dessert Pizza

It's summer and is sizzling hot in here! This kind of weather calls for cool and light desserts which won't leave you feeling heavy after eating them! Fruits, especially watery fruits like watermelon and berries are perfect for these kind of desserts. And best of all.....NO COOKING!!
Just cut and assemble and chill...fabulous looking dessert is done!

Here is how to make this Watermelon Dessert pizza:

Cut out a circular slice from central portion of a watermelon. 

Top with cut up berries/ fruits, chocolate chips and drizzle some frosting/ melted chocolate.

 Chill in refrigerator for 15 mins.Cut up like pizza wedge and enjoy!!

"Whole Wheat" Almond and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I agree to Lisa Leake, from "100 Days of Real Food" : There is "Traditional Junk Food" Versus "Artificial Factory made Junk Food". At home, even if you bake with things like butter, all purpose flour, sugar...which most don't consider 'healthy'....you still are doing much better than eating a cookie from a store with 20 ingredients/ additives/ chemicals...you can't spell and don't know what they do to your body.

 And then there is that 'concept' that processed foods have built into us. For eg: a store bought bread...is extra fluffy ..soft ...looks 'picture perfect'. But a bread baked at home...may not come out as "picture perfect' and fluffy and soft. Well...at the factory they added all those conditioners and other chemical additives to make your bread that way. At home...you are eating "pure"....a bread..like bread should be!! But in our minds..the texture and 'look' of bread is "like the store bought"...

So....Spring break started and we needed some 'activity' to keep the Lil' ones busy!

We managed to bake a 'Healthier Version" of  Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

Ingredients:(Makes 24 cookies)
 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Almond powder
1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1 Stick unsalted butter (slightly cold)
2eggs
1/3 cup Chocolate chips
1/3 cup Peanut butter chips(optional- you can double the chocolate chips and leave out peanut butter chips)
1/2tsp Baking soda
1/2tsp vanilla extract
1/4tsp salt

Method:
1)  Sieve together whole wheat flour,all purpose flour, salt and baking soda.
2) Beat the butter with electric beater for 3-4 mins until creamy.This is important!!Add sugar and eggs and beat for another minute or so.Add the vanilla extract and mix.
3) Add the sieved flours,almond powder and beat till blended.
4) Add the chocolate and peanut chips and mix

5) Chill the batter in refrigerator for 15-20 mins. Pre- heat the oven to 375F.
6) Place spoonfuls of batter onto a ungreased cookie sheet. For 'better looking' cookie..make the batter into rounds and press.I just leaved the batter as is.

7) Bake for 8-10 mins till golden. Do not let them burn on bottom.Let them cool.

 The cookies will puff up, are crisp on the bottom, little soft in center and delicioussss ....as cookies should be:))

'Fat Free- Whole wheat -Triple Chocolate-Almond' Muffins

As I was writing a 'name' for these muffins....I realized they have the longest name ever!! LOL! But couldn't help putting all the 'good stuff' they have, in their good name and hence the name- "Fat Free"- Whole wheat -Triple Chocolate-Almond Muffins!!
They are made with Whole Wheat flour and Almond powder, have 'Applesauce' in them to act as moistener and binder and NO added fat i.e butter/oil!! The triple chocolate is- Cocoa powder,mini semi sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips.The biggest 'hurray factor' for me.....E loved them...and had them with breakfast 2 days in a row:))
 By the way...did you know?? A store bought food, labeled 'fat free' is not necessarily fat free? It can have upto 0.5 gms of fat per serving! So if you eat more servings, the fat can add up. Also, if you are just looking at 'Number of calories' on the food label....KNOW this--
According to FDA regulations, calorie information on packages must be accurate with a margin of error of 20%. Which means you could be off by as much as 100 calories on a 500 calorie entree !!

Actually,last year, I tried a similar recipe-

"Fat free" and "Good for you" Chocolate-Banana-Walnut Muffins

http://www.my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/2012/04/nutritious-and-delicious-healthy-and.html
But since,'M' hates bananas, I had to improvise the recipe and 'minus' the bananas in the recipe. But let me tell you, the bananas make the muffins really moist and yummy.So for all those who don't mind either the bananas or the egg in the recipe...go ahead and try out the above recipe!

**For a 'Banana less' and 'Eggless' version use this::
The biggest 'hurrray factor ' for me.....E loved them...and had them with breakfast 2 days in a row:))

Ingredients: Makes 12 muffins
1 Cup Whole Wheat flour
8 oz Applesauce( I used store bought- but homemade would be excellent!)
3/4th cup sugar
1/2 cup Powdered almonds
1/2 cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4cup milk
2tsp Flax seed powder (Optional! It's just to give 'boost' in nutrition and a little more 'nutty' flavor)
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1tsp Vanilla essence
2-3 tsp water
few White chocolate chips
1/4tsp salt

Muffin liners(aluminum)
Non stick cooking spray

Method:
1) Pre heat the oven to 375F
2) Place muffin liners in muffin pan.Spray with non stick cooking spray.Since the muffins have no added fat,they will stick to the liner,therefore spray with non stick cooking spray and use aluminum liners.
3) Sieve together- whole wheat flour, baking powder,soda, cocoa powder,salt.
4) In a mixing bowl, mix apple sauce,vanilla and sugar.
5) Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.Add the almond and flax seed powder.Add the milk and 2-3tsp water as needed to make batter.
6) Fold in the mini chocolate chips and mix gently.DO NOT OVERMIX!! Otherwise the muffins will be tough and chewy.
7) Pour into muffin liners till 3/4th full. Add few white chocolate chips

8) Bake at 375 for 17-20 mins.Till a toothpick inserted will come out clean.

Indulge into a Chocolaty and Nutty goodness with less guilt!!

Dark Chocolate Mocha Granita

A refreshing cold ..Icy...Chocolaty....Dessert ...Just for both of you:)
( It has Coffee and hence 'adults only' dessert!!)

"Granita" is a Semi frozen, icy dessert made with Sugar, water and various flavorings. It looks like shaved ice/ crushed Popsicles!

I was watching "Melissa De'Arabian" on Food Network that day in the afternoon.In her $10 meals ...was this easy breezy icy dessert called "Mocha Granita". I just couldn't wait to try it out..and gave it my version by additions of Dark chocolate and chocolate chips.....and our very favorite ...Bru Instant Coffee :)
I thought the dark chocolate makes it more richer tasting and the mini chocolate chips give a pleasant surprise when you bite into the icy granita.

Ingredients:
2 Cups Water
1/2 cup milk
3 tsp Bru Instant Coffee
4tsp sugar ( add more for sweeter granita)
3tsp Hersheys Dark Chocolate cocoa powder( unsweetened)
1/2tsp Vanilla essence
1 tbsp 'mini' chocolate chips

(You can use Whipped cream to garnish the Granita)

Method:
1) Boil water and add the coffee. Let it boil for 2-3 mins
2) Add sugar, cocoa powder, milk and mix. Let it cool completely
3) Add the Vanilla essence and stir
4) Pour in freezer safe glass dish( I used 8x8 glass container)
5) Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips and stir.
6) Freeze for total 4-5 hrs.Stir every 45 mins or so.
7) When serving defrost on counter top for 5-10 mins. Scrape with a fork

 8) Scoop out with ice cream scoop. You can garnish with a dollop of Whipped Cream ( I didn't have any in the refrigerator) and more mini chocolate chips.

"Nutritious and Delicious"- "Fat free" and "Good for you" Chocolate-Banana-Walnut Muffins

Wow...I am really doing this...totally into "Nutritious and Delicious" mode!!! "Fat free" muffins?? Seriously???

Yeah..I had couple bananas sitting in the fruit rack and a trip planned to Chicago for the long weekend. I had to use up the bananas and also make some snack for the kids for the trip.I found this amazing recipe which fell into "Nutritious and Delicious" category of my blog.
http://www.handletheheat.com/2011/04/chocolate-banana-muffins.html
Totally went for it with some modifications...and let me tell ya...you are not going to miss that butter/ oil in those yummyliciously nutritious muffins!
They are so moist with the bananas and apple sauce....And the whole wheat flour,the flax seed meal and the walnuts make them 'good for you'!! The Feel good Indulgence!!

Ingredients:
2 ripe Bananas
4 oz Applesauce
1/2 cup Whole Wheat flour
1/2 cup All purpose flour
1tbsp Flax seed meal
1 Egg
1/2 cup Unsweetened Cocoa
1/4 cup Dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup Sugar
1tsp Baking powder
1tsp Baking soda
1/4tsp Salt
Few Walnuts chopped

Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 375F. Line the muffin pan with cupcake liners
2) Mash the banana with fork and potato masher.Mix applesauce, egg and sugar with the bananas.
3) Sift all the dry ingredients together.
4) Mix the wet and dry ingredients just till well combined.DO NOT OVERMIX!
5) Fold in the chocolate chips and stir twice.
6) Pour in the muffin pans till 3/4th full. Add few chopped walnuts on top. Makes 12 muffins

7) Bake at 375F for 20 mins.Check with toothpick if properly baked. The toothpick should come out clean.

8) Cool on a rack. Store in airtight container at room temperature for upto 3 days or store in refrigerator.

 You will love indulging yourself into the chocolaty goodness that is so good for you ...they truly are Yummylicously Nutritious!!!

"Pat a Cake"- Zebra Cake

Zebra Cake- A 'semi' successful attempt

Lately, some of my friends have been baking 'eggless' and 'vegan' cakes. 'S' is making these amazingly professional looking 'Vegan Chocolate Cakes' and the other day 'R' baked 'Eggless Pineapple Pastries' which all loved at the Potluck. Since I am a non-vegetarian and a 'nervous' baker....I haven't tried my hand on eggless baking.After all the hard work of baking the cake, if it 'fails'....I get really disappointed.
Couple days ago I had seen this 'Zebra Cake' online and really wanted to try the 'technique' myself and I had this recipe for 'Eggless cake with Condensed milk' that I had to try out. I decided to do ' ek teer me do nishane' and bake the zebra cake with the eggless recipe.
The pattern came out really well, but the texture failed miserably:(

So I won't write the recipe here.I am going to try a different cake recipe soon.
But in short all you need is:

1) Cake batter made from 2-3 cups all purpose flour
2) Dark cocoa powder to mix in half the batter.

Divide the batter into 2 parts. Keep one 'white' and add dark cocoa powder to the other (dark cocoa is necessary to get good distinct patterns)

Assemble the cake with your favorite 'cake batter' recipe as follows-
1) 1 scoop white batter in center of the pan

2) Add one scoop 'chocolate' batter on top , in the center

3) Again 1 scoop white batter in the center

4) Repeat the process 'patiently' till all the batter is used up.

5) Bake at 350 F for 40 mins.Let it cool for 20 mins before cutting

6) Sprinkle with powdered sugar

"Sweet Treats"- Eggless Scones with Dark Chocolate and Nuts

"Scones" are sort of a quick bread....with crumbly texture ....can be sweet /savory....and can be made with various flavors and additions like cranberries, chocolate chips, poppy seeds ,lemon, chives, cheese, rosemary etc. They are mostly a 'breakfast food' and had with Jam, jelly, fruits etc.But.....
 I like scones with my afternoon tea!!! I think they go very well with the 'Indian style tea'.
The other day, my friend 'A', who is vegetarian asked me about baking 'eggless cakes'. Now, I usually do not bake 'Eggless'....but last week I wanted to bake... and had no eggs.So, I thought of giving eggless scones a try.I read through number of recipes and came up with this one, with all the flavors I like and ingredients I had on hand. The scones came out really well and did not feel 'eggless' or 'compromised' in any way at all.

Ingredients

2 cups All purpose flour

3/4 to 1 cup sugar (use less for less sweet scones)
½ cup Roasted Almond+ Walnut (powdered coarse)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/3cup dark chocolate chips/ chopped dark chocolate
6 tbsp Cold unsalted butter
1 and ½ cup + 2 tsp whipped topping (Cool whip frozen whipped topping) or Use whipping cream
1/2tsp salt
1tsp baking powder
1tsp Vanilla extract

Method:
1) Pre heat the oven to 325F


2) Grind together roasted almonds and walnuts to make coarse powder

3) Mix together flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, powdered nuts, sliced almonds

4) Cut the cold butter into small pieces. Mix together with both hands into the flour. Rub the butter onto the flour to make ‘coarse’ mixture. Small pieces of butter will still remain.

5) Add the whipped topping (keep 2tsp aside for brushing later), vanilla, chocolate and combine everything together. Do not overmix. The mixture should still look ‘Coarse’ and hold together only when pressed between both hands.

6) Take 2 hand fulls of the mixture, press to make a flat ball (For detailed instructions-http://my-kitchens-aroma.blogspot.com/2010/01/sweet-treats-scones-with-dark-chocolate.html)

7) Roll the ball on a flat surface to about 1-2 inches thick.

8) Cut into wedges like a pizza with sharp knife and place on buttered cookie sheet

9) Brush the scones with cream/whipped topping.

10) Bake at 325F for about 20-25 mins. The bottom of the scones should turn slight golden, but the top remains cream colored.

11) Serve as breakfast, snack with tea/ coffee, jam, marmalade, fruits etc.

"Sweet Treats"- Chocolate-Walnut Fudge

'Fudge' was a rare treat for us in India. Most of the Fudge I have eaten in India, came from 'Lonavala'.This is hill station and picnic spot in Maharashtra. My school picninc went twice to Lonavala and that's when, one friend of mine, introduced me to 'Chocolate Fudge'.It was an instant addiction...loved the chocolaty-chewy fudge with occasional crunch of walnuts! Since then, everytime I went to Lonavala....I had to stop by for the Fudge!
Since coming to USA, fudge hasn't been a rare treat at all! You find it everywhere....and in so many different flavors...you can't imagine! This time..I thought instead of buying..I am going to give it a try....and make it myself!
I made it in two layers....Chocolate-Walnut layer topped with 'burfi' like white layer....
Need I say.....it looks pretty and tastes yummlicious??

Ingredients:
1 -14Oz can Sweet condensed Milk
1- 12 Oz semi-sweet/dark chocolate morsels
5tbsp  butter
1/2cup Milk powder
1tsp Vanilla essence
3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1 tsp sugar

Method:
1) Toast the walnuts in oven at 350F for 7 mins.Let them cool
2) Line a square pan with aluminum foil. Leave excess foil on all four sides, to make it easier for removing the fudge.
3) Make a double boiler- Heat a big pot of water.On top place a little smaller glass/metal vessel which will fit snugly on the big pot.The steam from the big pot should heat this small vessel.
4) For 'Burfi' like white layer-In the double boiler, add 1/4 can condensed milk, 1/2 cup milk powder, 2 tbsp butter,1tsp sugar. Let it cook on the boiler and stir continously. Cook for 3-4 mins till everthing comes together and becomes sticky.Take off the boiler.Add few drops of vanilla essence.
5) Spread this mixture on the pan lined with aluminum foil.Spread into thin layer and let it cool.
6)For Chocolate-Walnut layer- Place another glass/ metal vessel on double boiler.Add almost all the chocolate morsels(keep handfull aside for decoration later), the remaining condensed milk and 3 tbsp butter.Let the mixture melt gently on double boiler and stir continously.Make sure it doesn't burn.
7) The chocolate morsels will melt and the mixture turns 'shiny' .Cook for 3-4 mins.Add walnuts, vanilla essence.Mix.
8) Layer this hot mixture on top of the 'white burfi' layer. Smooth the top side.Let it sit at room temp till it cools down.
9) Refrigerate 1-2 hrs.
10) Carefully remove the hardened fudge from the pan.Peel off the aluminum foil carefully.Turn the fudge up-side-down so that the white layer is on top now.

11) Cut into squares with a  sharp long knife.Wipe the knife with wet paper towel, in between the lines.
12) Press the left over chocolate morsels onto the white layer for decoration.

13) Store the fudge in refrigerator.

Indulge into ultimate 'chewy chocolaty' fudge with occasional 'walnuty' crunch!

"Sweet Treats"- Almond-Chocolate Chip Biscotti

My real introduction to 'international' cuisine,after coming to USA, happened not only due to 'Food Network' and 'eating out' for dinner,but because I started working at 'Cornell'. As in any University, we had so much diverse population in the department,that it was obvious for the cultures to be shared and intermingle. There were 'Coffee Breaks', 'Lunches at Haustorium' (Dining room of Plant Path Dept) and bringing in 'Left overs'...that exposed me to various cuisines and dishes. One of our older Custodians loved to bake.But her husband was diabetic and she did not want him to eat all that sugar..so she always brought those goodies to the Dept for 'homesick' students and us research assistants. It was amazing to see that smile on her face,when we complimented her about her baking!

I had my first 'Homemade' Biscotti in my lab at Cornell."Biscotti" is a type of Italian Cookie/Biscuit and it literally means 'twice baked' because of the way it is baked.

 One of my colleagues liked to bake and she would bring her baked goods to the lab the next day for everyone to munch.I was always fond of 'dunking' something in my tea or coffee and especially something this crunchy!So got the recipe from her to try out myself. I still have the hand written paper with the recipe she gave me. She had drawn illustrations of 'biscotti making' for me to follow. That was really nice of her! Till now, I always made Biscotti from that recipe...changing a little here and there....adding chocolate chips/cranberries/walnuts etc etc. Not that the Biscottis came out 'the best' or extraordinary but somehow I just stuck to that recipe. Today I thought of trying this new recipe from "GoodHouseKeeping".I used 'Almonds' instead of Walnuts as I did not have enough of those and reduced the amount of chocolate chips and almonds to 1/2 cup each.Other than that the recipe was pretty straight forward.

The recipe can be found here  on "GoodHouseKeeping"

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/chocolate-chip-biscotti-739

Dunk the Biscottis in your favorite Tea/Coffee and enjoy the Sweet Crunch!