Healthy Cooking for your kids: Apricot and Sunflower Seed Cookies

     Sorry, I know I've promised to share some recipes on cookies, so here it is! Apricot and sunflower Seed Cookies will make your day! And Parents, you can pack these as lunches for your kids, or serve it as a snack.

Apricot and Sunflower Seed Cookies

Ingredients:

100g unsalted butter, softened

50g demerara sugar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon honey, plus extra for brushing

1 large egg, beaten

100g white plain flour, plus extra for dusting

150g whole meal plain flour

1 tablespoon oat bran

50g ground ground almonds

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

75g ready to eat dried apricots, chopped

25g sunflower seeds

How to Bake

Beat the softened butter with the sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the maple syrup and honey, then the egg. Add the flours and oat bran, then the almonds and mix well. Add the cinnamon apricots and seeds, and with floured hands, mix to a firm dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/2 inch thick. Using a 2&1/2 inch thick cookie cutter. Cut out 20 rounds, re-rolling the trimmings when possible, and place on a baking sheet. Brush with a little extra honey and bake for 15 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Bakes 20.

 Think what a better world it would be if we all,

the whole world, had cookies and milk

about three o'clock every afternoon

and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.
~ Barbara Jordan

 

      I'm dying to have a taste of one of those. They look so good! Just think... Apricot...Sunflower seeds... Cookies! Try it yourself and let me know okay? And if you're looking for more, go check out this amazing cookbook for yourself!

Healthy Cooking for Your Kids ~ Almond and Sultana Pancakes with Raspberries

      Here's a super simple way to start your day. (Hey, it rhymes.) Pancakes! One of the most common foods served for breakfast. There's chocolate chip, blueberry, and probably some others I've never heard of. But, this one's going to be extra good. Why? Because its from Healthy Cooking for Your Kids of course!

Almond and Sultana Pancakes with Raspberries

Ingredients:

25g unsalted butter

1 large egg

300ml butter milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

75g white plain flour

50g wholemeal plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

25g ground almonds

75g sultans

2 tsp vegetable oil

150g fresh raspberries

50g toasted flaked almonds

How to Make

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Whisk the egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract together in a bowl, add the melted butter and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, mix the flours, bicarbonate of soda and ground almonds together and then stir in the egg mixture and sultans. Heat half the oil in a large, non-stick frying and drop in 3-4 separate tablespoons of the batter-each will make a 4-inch pancake, so don't overcrowd the pan. Cook for two minutes on each side, then remove from the pan and keep warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining pancakes. Use the remaining oil to do this. Serve warm with the raspberries, scattered with the toasted almonds.

I think children are like pancakes.

You sort of ruin the first one,

and you get better at it the second time around.

~ Kelly Ripa

      Soak it in some super-sweet maple syrup, top it with a load of whip-cream, and your all set! Don't hesitate in having a second serving. Look forward to more recipes from Healthy Cooking for Your Kids.

Healthy Cooking for Your Kids ~ Orange and Banana Scones

      YAY! Another recipe for scones! But these are not just any scones, these are Orange and Banana Scones, totally different. I'm sure they taste better too. So, how exactly do you make them? Let's find out. ; D

Orange and Banana Scones

Ingredients:

sunflower oil, for oiling

150g white self-raising flour

(plus extra for dusting and rolling)

150g light brown self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

75g unsalted butter, diced and chilled

50g demerara sugar

150 ml full-fat milk, extra for brushing

1 ripe banana, peeled and mashed

finely grated rine of 1 orange

150g fresh raspberries, lightly mashe

How to Bake

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheets. Mix the flours, baking powder and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk, add the banana and orange rind and mix to a soft dough. The dough will be quite wet. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and, adding a little more flour if needed, roll out to cut 2cm/3/4 inch thick. Using a 6-cm/21/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 12 scones, re-rolling the trimmings where possible, and place them on a prepared baking sheet. Brush with milk and bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly, then halve the scones and fill with raspberries. Bakes 12.

 We pride ourselves on using whole

ingredients, and I think it's the fat factor

that elevates a scone beyond a biscuit.

That and the little bit of love we put into each one.

~ Dan Einstein

       Now, I couldn't get the right picture for these scones, but picture it like this: Two scones stacked on top of each other with raspberry filling in the center, sort of like a sandwich. So sweet, so cute.

Healthy Cooking for Your Kids ~ Sarah Banberry

      Now, today is the start of something new! I'm sharing recipes from this recipe book: Healthy Cooking for Your Kids by Sarah Banberry. I know its not exactly a baking book, but I found some really awesome recipes in here that I'd like to share with you guys. Now, note that I'm not sharing all of them, which would be ridiculous considering the number of recipes in here, but I've picked out some of my favourites. So, if you want to know more of them, then you should purchase it. Totally worth the money. Now here's a simple recipe of breakfast and desert rolled into one.

Mini Cheese and Herb Muffins

Ingredients:

100g baby spinach leaves

75g butter

35g Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs

(chives, parsley or tarragon)

100g white plain flour

100g light brown self-rising flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

2 teaspoon baking powder

1 large egg

200 ml butter 

How To Bake
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/ Gas Mark 6. Line two 12-hole mini muffin tins with mini muffin paper cases. Put the spinach in a colander and pour boiling water from a kettle over the leaves to wilt them. Leave to cool, then squeeze all the liquid  out until the spinach is very dry. Chop finely. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat, then leave to cool. Mix the cheese, herbs, flours and bicarbonate of soda, salt and baking powder together in a bowl, then stir in the spinach. Melt the butter with the egg and buttermilk in a jug , pour into the dry ingredients and stir briefly to combine. Don't over mix, the mixture should still be a little lumpy. Spoon a teaspoon of the mixture into each of the paper cases and bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin, Serve warm or cold. Makes 24.

I believe the world to be a muffin pan,

and there certainly are a lot of muffins here.

 ~ Aaron Funk

      Really, I think I'd prefer it served warm. Now I'm not sure many people love spinach, but if its in a muffin, it ought to be good.

Homemade Blackberry Jam

       Everyone of us has those times when we're too lazy to get up ourbutts to go buy a jar of jam for our PB&J sandwiches. Well, now you don't have to even step out of your house! Here's a super simple recipe for Blackberry jam, taken from Fairyopolis, A Flower Fairies Journal. By Cicely Mary Barker,Glen Bird and Liz Catchpole, if I'm not wrong. Its a book about fairies, but I still managed to find this recipe in it. Great book though.

Homemade Blackberry Jam

Ingredients

4 lb ripe blackberries

a quarter of a pint of water

6 lb granulated sugar
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
a knob of salted butter

How to Make

Place the blackberries in a large saucepan with the water. Heat until boiling, then simmer gently until the fruit is soft. If necessary, pour in more water to avoid burning. Add the rosemary and the sugar to the blackberry pulp, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the knob of butter. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir continuously for ten minutes. Do not overcook the jam as this will destroy the flavor. Test the jam for signs of setting. When the consistency is right, remove the pan from the heat and skim the surface. When the jam has cooled, use a freshly cleaned jug to pour into sterile jars. Place lids on top and leave them in a cool larder.



      I hoped you liked that, there'll be more recipes later on, I'm seriously too tired to do anything else really, so you're just gonna have to bear with me a while. Okay, well, bye!

What's bakin'? #2

      Welcome to  What's Bakin'?#2! Today we're featuring CHOCOLATE!!! Or, chocolate brownies and cupcakes anyway. They're both baked by one of my parents' friend. She always brings stuff every time she comes over. She's an awesome baker with an awesome house and kitchen, which is awesome to bake awesome cakes and stuff... It's just AWESOME...



      Here we have the chocolate brownie she baked  as my dad's birthday cake topped with creamy chocolate frosting. I brought the leftovers to school for my friends and interviewed them over Facebook. Here's are some of they're words: "I like the chocolate cream thing" Which meant she liked the frosting, and also: "Very nice  YUmYUMYUM" Yeah,  others said they were very nice, really nice and Super nice. So they were nice, you get the picture.




      And these cupcakes, if you can see are, yes, half eaten. But that adds to the effect of yummy-ness. They're also topped with chocolate frosting and a chocolate truffle on top. Those were my favourite parts. The truffles were creamy, so was the frosting, and they sorta melt when you put them in your mouth. That's my opinion. Fortunately, my dad was more helpful this time, he claimed it was: "Moist, wasn't dry, the chocolate on top was very rich which made the whole [cup]cake very... scrumptious."



      So that's all for now, I'm wondering if this What's Bakin'? thing is a good idea... Maybe I'll set up a poll to hear from you guys. Oh, hey, check out this blog/website. There are really cool recipes for cakes and stuff here, Check it out: http://www.designcrushblog.com/category/recipes/

Tea and Cakes

 

Tea Beauty Tip!

Make a facial scrubbing mask with

cornmeal, milk and chamomile tea.

      So, check this out. This is a dainty little box and cup of Crabtree and Evelyn Afternoon Tea (Black, to be exact) posing nicely for a snapshot. I found it in tucked away in the little pantry in my office and decided to give it a try. Not bad I must say.



      Quite a few pictures will be shown in this post today, that's because I've come across so many cute baked goods and stuff lately. The world is full of these little delicacies! And while we're on the subject of tea, I found this nice tea set including a tea pot, a slightly huge teacup (both stack-able) and a tea strainer!


      And, a while ago I went to my parent's friend's house (the one who bakes all the chocolate cupcakes and cakes) and snapped a few shots of the nicely displayed chocolate truffle cakes. I could have sworn it was calling me, "An Lyn, hurry take my picture!" I couldn't resist so maybe I just took one - or three - shots. Okay fine I took several shots, but I had to get it just right. Look at the little pedestal its placed on. I could really use that for my future teashop. More details on that later.

      Well, I went back to the library but couldn't find any more books with recipes. Its really too bad, I guess that was just luck the other time. But I have a few recipes on cookies that will be coming up. So keep reading!

Bring me a cup of tea and the times. 
~ Queen Victoria's first command upon her ascension to the throne

The Teashop Girls: Cucumber Sandwiches

Sipping thoughts of peace, hope floats my way.

~ Moonlight Spice Tea Bag

      Oh my goodness this is so sad... Its the last recipe from The Teashop girls.  Anyway, please enjoy the last recipe, cucumber is good for making the eyes less puffy and it's also great for making tea time mini sandwiches! Here's how:

Tea Beauty Tip!

If you have a sunburn, put about six black tea bags

in your bath tub. Steep in there along with your tea

for about ten minutes. It really helps!

Cucumber Sandwiches

Ingredients:

One cucumber thinly sliced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon fresh garlic, finely minced

10 slices brown bread, lightly toasted

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup sour cream

How to Make

Combine cucumber slices, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic in a bowl. Butter each toasted side of the brown bread and arrange the cucumber mixture on top of each in layers. Cut sandwiches in half. Add a small dollop of sour cream on top and garnish with a thin cucumber sliver. Serves 5.

Sipping thoughts of peace, hope floats my way.

~ Moonlight Spice Tea Bag

      So, farewell The Teashop Girls, you have been an honor to share recipes from! I hope I can find another book with recipes in them. Otherwise I can share some recipes from a kids cook book I have at home.

      Ooh, wait there's more! You know how I love cupcakes, and I think you should know that I love Katy Perry too. She's just awesome. Check out this pic of her sporting a cupcake dress. It was too cute, I had to share it. The blue hair goes perfectly with the dress. She was probably performing California Girls.

The Teashop Girls: Tea Pops

Find yourself a cup of tea; the teapot is behind you.

Now tell me about hundreds of things.

~ Saki

     Looking for something even cooler than tea? On a hot summer day, these are most useful...and most wanted. And get this: there are only 3 ingredients! Check it out guys. ; D Oh and by the way, I've replaced the Baked Goods poll with a slideshow on cupcakes. You can check that out too. And I hear from most of you that cookies are the most wanted to be featured on my blog. That'll be coming up soon. I got a real sweet treat for ya!

Tea Beauty Tip!

Drink green Tea. Its good for you!

Healthy people are gorgeous!

Tea Pops

Ingredients:

2 cups herbal tea, brewed double strength

(approx. 1 small pot)

1 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons sugar

How to Make
Brew hot tea using double the amount of leaves you usually would. Let steep for 4 minutes, then allow time to cool. Stir the orange juice and sugar into the cooled tea, then pour the mixture into Ice pop molds or ice cube trays, leaving some room at the top. Place in freezer and wait three hours or until solid. Then, take out pops and chill out! Don't forget to insert Ice cream sticks!

 Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea.

~ Henry Fielding, Love in Several Masques

      If you liked that, check out more exotic popsicle recipes from Design Crush: http://www.designcrushblog.com/2011/06/29/popsicles/   And just so you know, now you can follow My Not-So-Secret-Recipes via email! YAY! Just scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your email address. But the bad thing is, there's no more The Teashop Girls! After the next post anyway. Noooo, this is too sad...

The Teashop Girls: Tea Smoothie

 If this is coffee, please bring me some tea;

but if this is tea, please bring me coffee.

~ Abraham Lincoln

      Feeling lazy? Need something refreshing to power up? Like maybe... a TEA SMOOTHIE!? Yep! That's exactly what you need! This simple little recipe is a cup of tea and a smoothie rolled into one! And its really easy and quick to make too.

Tea Beauty Tip!

Use cold used tea bags as eye compresses.

Very spa-ish and relaxing.

Tea Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup black tea brewed extra strong

(use two tea bags)

1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen

1 banana

1&1/2 cups plain nonfat yogurt

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

2 tablespoons sugar.

How to Make

Place strong tea in a blender with all the other ingredients. Blend until smooth. My suggestion: Put a little cherry or strawberry on top and add a fancy straw for a little extra flair.

Where there's tea there's hope.

~ Arthur W. Pinero

     Really its that simple. Try it at home! Just a reminder, all these recipes, quotes and Tea Beauty Tips are from the book, so look out for more recipes from The Teashop Girls.

The Teashop Girls: Spiced Blueberry Scones

Coffee is not my cup of tea.

~ Samuel Goldwyn

      Finally! The recipe we've all been waiting for! SPICED BLUEBERRY SCONES!!! Yay!!! I love scones but there's only one recipe of those in this book, so if you want to know more scone recipes, then look for the very first recipe post in June: The Secret Ingredient ~ Laura Schaefer.

Tea Beauty Tip!

If you get a zit, put a used White Tea bag

right on it and hold for a while. Don't rinse off the Tea.

Spiced Blueberry Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups organic whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1/2 cup half-and-half

3/4 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed

1/2 cup clotted cream

How to Bake
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease baking sheet. Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and ginger) in a large bowl and mix well. In a different bowl, combine the butter (room temperature), vanilla, egg, and half-and-half and mix well. Stir into dry ingredients. Gently fold in the blueberries. Place the dough on a floured surface and roll out to 1-inch thick. Cut into 2-inch triangles and put them on greased baking sheet. Bake for twenty minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with clotted cream. Makes 18 scones.

Tea Drinkers are never bored

~ Unknown

      Okay, that's one of the little things you can serve for afternoon tea. There will be more coming up from this awesome book: The Teashop Girls. : D

The Teashop Girls: Gingerbread Cupcake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Tea Beauty Tip!
After you wash your face,
put some cool White Tea onto a cotton ball
and smooth over skin like an astringent to prevent zits.

      Well what do you know? I've found a cupcake recipe in this book! Awesome, another great recipe! Also, please look out for tea beauty tips from The Teashop Girls!

You can't get a cup of tea large enough or

a book long enough to suit me.

~ C. S. Lewis

Gingerbread Cupcake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients: 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon all-spice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup milk
8-ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup half-and-half
1&1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely grated
2 cups powdered sugar

How to Bake
Preheat the oven to 352 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl combine the butter with white sugar, Add the molasses and egg to the creamed mixture. In another bowl stir the flour, two kinds of ginger, cinnamon, all-spice, nutmeg, and salt together. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add in the milk mixture. Pour in the batter evenly into the lined tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes allow to cool.  
To make frosting: Combine cream Cheese, half-and-half, lemon zest and powdered sugar. Frost cupcakes once they are cool. Makes 10-12 cupcakes.

Remember the tea kettle-

it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings.

~  Unknown

       Hoped you liked that! Its great especially for Christmas time! Next up, guess what?! SCONES!!! BLUEBERRY SCONES!!!

The Teashop Girls: From Cupcakes to Tea

I found these super-cute cupcakes at Crystal Jade~My Bread outlet at Toa Payoh Central and just had to take a few shots.
They are SO cute!!!

      Alright, it has come to the end of the Cupcake Age and we are now moving into the Tea Age. The book from which I will be sharing with you tea recipes is: The Teashop Girls. See? You can tell by the title it's all about tea. And there will be Tea Beauty Tips of the day, from the book too, like this one:

Tea Beauty Tip!

To add shiny-ness to dark hair,

wash with Black Tea once a week.
To make highlights dazzle-y,
Rinse light hair with Chamomile Tea.

      Now, lets kick it off with a some tips on how to make The Perfect Cup of Tea. Even my cousin in Taiwan says a cup of sweet Black Tea really calms you down. The photo below was taken from her Facebook page.

Tea gives you courage.
~ Unknown

The Perfect Cup of Tea

Bring fresh cold water to a rolling boil, but don't let it boil for too long.
Let it come off the boil and settle down for a moment.
Pour water into teapot containing a heaping tablespoon of your favourite loose tea leaves.
Let the leaves bloom and steep for at least three minutes.
Pour the tea into your favourite preheated cup.
Serve with sugar and cream, sip and smile.

 

If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are heated,
it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you.
If you are excited, it will calm you.
~ William Gladstone, 1865

      And while we're on the subject of tea, check out these cute little Chinese porcelain teapots and jars. I purchased them at a pottery for $1 each. Look, there's even a little pedestal for tiny cakes. So cute! I've tried drinking tea from the two pots, but I guess its only meant for display. Its way too small to drink from. Ahh... I love tea, don't get me wrong, I love cupcakes too. That's why I'm going to hunt down the next book of Confectionately Yours: Taking the Cake! for more recipes to share with you.

What's Bakin'? #1

      Here's a change! Every once in a while, I'll be featuring some baked goods (if possible). Which include interviews on how it tastes like. Of course there will be pictures too. No fun without them! But the down side is: No recipes. But you can have plenty more of that here! Oh, and by the way, every Wednesday will be the day when I change the videos on the side bar. So please take a look at them.




      So first, we shall take a look at the Banana Walnut Muffin, which my family and I had at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Resorts World, Sentosa, Singapore. To be precise. I'd interviewed my brother and Dad about how it tasted. When asked how it tasted, my Brother replied: "[It was] crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Yep, [it tastes like banana]. [I would eat it with] jam." My dad said he would only be interviewed about Democracy and Freedom. When asked he said "The Muffin has to be a Freedom Muffin." and nothing else. So that wasn't much help.







      Next up, we have the Raisin Scone! Looks delish, doesn't it? My apologies, I took the photographs with my phone, so the lighting's not so good. This is also from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, at the same location as the muffin. Same thing, I interviewed Dad and Shaw Hur about it: "[I would eat it with] Butter." said my brother. My dad basically said the same thing except for a few minor changes: "The Scone has to be a Scone of democracy." Again, not much help. (I'll be sure to interview more "interview-worthy people in future")




      So, please look forward to the next post of What's Bakin'?, which will be after The Teashop Girls phase. I hope you've enjoyed this new... thing. But frankly, I still like the recipes better. : D Toodles!