#18 - Green Tea Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have never been a great fan of green tea items (other than sweetened green tea which really isn't much of a green product anyway) so when bff suggested baking some green tea muffins, I was actually glad to give it a try. I know that if she hadn't suggested it, I would probably not try out much green tea recipe due to my lack of interest in this ingredient. Thanks for the suggestion! 

For the muffins, I must say that they turned out tasting better than I thought they would. It was soft and sweet and the green tea flavour was rather subtle, which really cater to my liking. Not to mentioned, the  yummy chocolate chips brought the taste up a level! 

Note:
(1) For green tea lover, you should increase the amount of green tea to 2 or 3 tbsp instead, depending on your preference.
(2) To prevent the muffins from sticking to the paper liners, you may either omit the use of paper liners or substitute 95ml of vegetable oil with 50g of butter and 45ml of vegetable oil instead.

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Servings

Make approximately 10

Ingredients

250g All Purpose Flour

1 tbsp Green Tea Powder

2 and 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

60g Chocolate Chips

1 Egg

80g Fine Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

95ml Vegetables Oil

3tbsp Yogurt

190ml Milk

Toppings (optional)

Additional chocolate chips

Green Tea Powder / Green Tea Whipped Cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C and line muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside for later use. 

2. Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, green tea powder, baking powder and salt) together and set aside. 

3. Using a small bowl, toss the chocolate chips with 3 tbsp of flour. Once all the chocolate chips are coated in flour, set aside. This will ensure that the chocolate chips will not sink to the bottom of the batter and will be able to spread well across the muffins.

4. In a mixing bowl, beat in an egg until it is pale. Add in sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk these ingredients together using a whisk until the mixture is light-coloured. 

5. Add in vegetable oil, yogurt and milk and whisk them together until they are well combined and a thick mixture is obtained. 

6. Combined the wet ingredients in Step (5) to the dry ingredients in Step (2). Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the wet ingredients into the well. Fold in the flour mixture slowly using a spatula until the combined mixture is well-mixed, with no trace of flour. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

7. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips into the mixture using a spatula. 

8. Using an ice-cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into 10 muffins cups. Each muffin cup should be filled up to 2/3 of the way. 

9. Tap muffin tray on tabletop and shake it gently to ensure that the batter is level and evenly spread out. This also help to make sure that any excess air is removed from the batter. You may then sprinkle some chocolate chips on each muffin cups before baking them in the oven (optional).

10. Bake for 20 minutes (turn the muffin tray front-to-back after 10 minutes) or until the top of the muffins become golden brown and toothpick when inserted comes out clean. Remove muffins from oven and cool in muffin tins for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to allow them to cool completely. 

11. You may want to dust the muffins with green tea powder or frost the muffins with green tea whipped cream before serving (optional). 

#17 - Oreo Cookies and Cream Popsicles

Yeah! Another popsicle recipe! This is like the fourth popsicle recipes which I have tried in the last 2 months or so. (Note to self - That reminds me of something. I have yet to put up the recipe on my Nutella Banana Fudgesicles.) How can any one say no to a yummy creamy popsicle like this. It is the Oreo Cookies and Cream Popsicles! I kind of fancy the addition of the milk & whipping cream to the recipe as it really enhanced the taste of the creaminess in these popsicles. 

While these popsicles were freezing in the freezer, I was sitting impatiently in front of my television. Can't wait! I could hardly wait for them to be ready so that I can have a taste of this creamy delightfulness. I am sure you understand what I mean, don't you?

If you are not a great fan of dairy products, you may find this popsicle a little too milky on your first few bites. But, hold on to that thought! Wait till you bite into the soft and chocolatey Oreo Biscuits! It is so soft, creamy and sweet! Unbelievable! Once you have tasted that, you will understand how the milky cream part comes into play. It is totally a match made in popsicles heaven! 

Look at me! I was enjoying my yummy Oreo Popsicle while playing my favourite game, Hay Day, on my iPad. This is total enjoyment, I tell you. 

For those friends of mine who have been infected with my recent craze with Popsicles, go try this recipe out! You will not be disappointed, that I am sure! 

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Servings

Make 6-8 Popsicles (depending on size of the mould)

Ingredients

150ml Whipping Cream

150ml Milk

3 tbsp Yogurt

1tbsp Native Honey

14 Oreo Cookies, quartered

Directions

1. Combine the whipping cream, milk, yogurt and honey in a liquid measuring cup. Whisk the mixture well to ensure that the honey is fully dissolved into the cream. 

2. Slice each Oreo cookies into 4 pieces (quarters) and distribute the cookies among the popsicles moulds (8 quarters in each mould). 

3.Pour the cream mixture in Step (1) into the popsicles moulds. Freeze for at least 3-6 hours until the popsicles are firm. (I freezed mine overnight to ensure firm popsicles)

4. When removing popsicles from moulds, place the moulds under running water. This will ensure that the popsicles come out smoothly from the moulds. 

#16 - Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins

I bet you have had days when you are yearning to have something sweet and satisfying and yet, you don't have the whole afternoon to come up with fancy recipes to satisfy that craving. So, what do you do then? For me, when I was something quick, yummy and easy to fix up, I will always go to this recipe of mine. Simple Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins. The whole preparation and baking time takes less than 30 minutes. Incredibly easy! 

For me, I wanted the muffins to be kind of bite-sized to prevent myself from overeating, so I only filled up the muffins cups to slightly above the half-mark. If you want to a pretty muffin-looking one, you'll have to fill up those cups to at least three quarter of the way. Look at the batter before they go into the oven. Creamy, thick and with those polka dotty chocolate chips. Cant wait! Oh yah, I also added yogurt in my version of these Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins (different from original recipe) just because I wanted them to be more fluffy and richer in their taste. It actually paid off! 

See how much chocolate chips I have put in the batter? The whole muffin was filled with addictive chocolate chips. Not to mentioned, the sweet smell of bananas.  The best bananas to use for this recipe are those that are over-riped. They may not look pretty on the outside, but when used in such baking recipes, they taste SO sweet and so heavenly! Yum Yum!

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Make approximately 12

Ingredients

213g All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

152g Chocolate Chips

3 Bananas (medium size)

1/4 cup Vegetables Oil

2 Eggs

50g Fine Sugar

1/4 cup Yogurt

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200C and line muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside for later use. 

2. Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon) together and set aside. 

3. Using a small bowl, toss the chocolate chips with 3 tbsp of flour. Once all the chocolate chips are coated in flour, set aside. This will ensure that the chocolate chips will not sink to the bottom of the batter and will be able to spread well across the muffins.

4. In a separate bowl, mashed the bananas using a fork until you get a thick mash with small chunk of bananas in it. 

5. To the mashed banana, add in the oil, eggs, sugar, yogurt and vanilla extract. Whisk these ingredients together using a whisk until they are well combined and a thick mixture is obtained. 

6. Using a whisk, add in the flour mixture in Step (2) (1/3 portion at a time) into the wet mixture in Step (5). Switch to a spatula to help with mixing. Make sure that the combined mixture is well-mixed, with no trace of flour. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

7. Fold in the chocolate chips into the mixture using a spatula. 

8. Using an ice-cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into 12 muffins cups. Each muffin cup should be filled up to 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. 

9. Tap muffin tray on tabletop and shake it gently to ensure that the batter is level and evenly spread out. This also help to make sure that any excess air is removed from the batter.

10. Bake for 18 minutes (turn the muffin tray front-to-back after 9 minutes) or until the top of the muffins become golden brown and toothpick when inserted comes out clean. Remove muffins from oven and cool in muffin tins for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to allow them to cool completely. 

#15 - Cheese Top Brownies

Ta-dah! My version of Cheese Top Brownie! They look a little small in this paper liner, but trust me, they are just simply the most delicious small-bits devils! This has been my go-to recipe whenever I feel like pampering my family/friends with some sweet treats to thank them for everything and anything. So far, feedback on this little devils has been really positive! And I am getting more and more familar with this recipe, I can now better predict what my little devils' mood swings are. Haha!

If you have read my last entry, you would be aware that I have received (and just completed) my very first order of these Cheese Top Brownie. The order came from my student and it was for a Children Day Party! Though it was just a small order of 25 of them, there were so much pride and happiness in me!

 

I made a totally of 4 batches of 12 brownie each. Batch 1 was a test batch, which I wasn't very happy with because of the proportion of the brownie to the cheese topping. It was a little off. Too much brownie base, too little cheese. Batch 2 was much better (after changing to a slightly smaller muffin tray) and Batch 3 & 4 were excellent!

With these delicious brownie, not only was I able to meet the order from my student, I also have some brownies reserved for my hubby, in-laws, friends as well as Ting & Lian (& Katie & Kelly) who I met up with on Sunday for a wonderful brunch + chit chatting session! I was so happy! Remember, sharing is happiness! 

Note: Icing the brownie after cooling them overnight really helps to ensure that the icing stays for a long period of time. And also, only fill paper liners to half so as to allow a good proportion between the batter and the cream cheese. This will also helps to make sure that the cream cheese are not 'burnt' and they will look really pretty!

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Make approximately 12

Ingredients

Brownie Base

130g Chocolate Chips, melted

57g Butter

85g Flour

1 tbsp Cocoa Powder

1/8 tsp Salt

125g Sugar

2 Eggs

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Cream Cheese Top

88g Cream Cheese 

1 Egg Yolk

1 tbsp Sugar

Icing Sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 175C and line muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside for later. 

2. Melt chocolate chips & butter in microwave oven and stir together. 

3. Sieve the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt) and set aside. 

4. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and egg together using a whisk for about 1 minute until the mixture is light and fluffy. 

5. Add in the melted chocolate & butter mixture together with the vanilla extract and mix well to get a smooth mixture.

6. Using a whisk, add in the flour mixture in Step (3) (1/3 portion at a time) into the wet mixture in Step (5). Switch to a spatula to help with mixing. Make sure that the combined mixture is well-mixed, with no trace of flour. Be careful not to over mix the batter.

7. Using an ice-cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into 12 muffins cups. Each muffin cup should be filled up to 1/2 to 2/3 of the way. 

8. Tap muffin tray on tabletop and shake it gently to ensure that the batter is level and evenly spread out. This also help to make sure that excess air is removed from the batter.

9. To make the cream cheese top, cream together cream cheese with egg yolk and sugar using an electric mixer. Make sure that everything is well-mixed. 

10. Add a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture to the top of each muffin cup. 

11. Bake for 20 minutes (turn the muffin tray front-to-back after 10 minutes) and cool completely. If you would like to, you may add icing sugar to the top of the brownie after they are completely cooled (after at least 4 hours) before serving. 

Cheese Top Brownies for a Children Day Party

I am so excited and I can't wait for tomorrow morning to come. Will be making some Cheese Top Brownies for a Children Day Party. Oh my god! Please pray for me that all the brownies must come out perfect and delicious! Really hope the kids will love it!

Please be pretty and yummy like these!

I shall be updating the site with the recipe and the pictures after I accomplished my task of baking at least 3 to 4 dozen of these darlings tomorrow. Will be making a couple more for my girlfriends with whom i am meeting for brunch on Sunday. Please let this be a wonderful weekend of baking!

#14 - Smoked Duck Wrap

I woke up early this morning, really wanting to do something special and yummy for my hubby to bring to his office as his breakfast. I have this urge in me that I must make something really tasty (yet simple! Haha) today, no matter what. This is so as to compensate for his lousy breakfast yesterday. Haha! Why is that so, you asked?

Alright, the background of the story is that yesterday, I happily packed some moon cakes and my Peanut Butter Cookies for my hubby as his breakfast, thinking that it was such a quick fix and I didn't even have to heat up anything. Great idea isn't it? Convenient and perfect for a lazy wife like me. Haha!

But guess what? At the end of the day, I realised that Hubby only finished the Peanut Butter Cookies I made and left the moon cakes totally untouched! Tsk tsk tsk. That was the result I get of me being lazy in my breakfast preparation. After knowing this, I felt kind of guilty because I understand how important it is for him to have a hearty breakfast (with his usual morning coffee, of course) due to his heavy work nature. Oh gosh, how disappointed he must be when he saw those cold and hard moon cakes in his 'breakfast-box'. I'm sorry hubby. Redemption it shall be!

Today's breakfast menu: Smoked Duck Wrap & Iced Coffee

Just look at how inviting these thick pieces of smoked duck were. The slightly pink meat, the crispy skin, and yes, even the oil that is oozing out of the meat. Yummy! If you are a fan of savoury food (like me!), then you will definitely love this! The duck was well-smoked and after some time in the oven, the duck skin was crispy yet flavourful at the same time! The only negative thing about this will probably be the fact that I did not cook the duck from the basic. Yes, it was from a box but what the hell? If anything from a box can be this delicious after just a couple of minutes in the oven, I am fine with that. Anyway, we are not having this sinful treat everyday so please spare me the health talk. Every now and then, we need something that is just heavenly tasty, don't we?

This is how the completed Smoked Duck Wrap looks like. Yum! With some sautéed mushrooms and a couple of cherry tomatoes, it is completed! If you do not like mushrooms, a good alternative to that can be thin slices of cucumber or even some lettuce to give you the light and crunchy texture which I feel will go perfectly well with the saltiness of the meat. Since I run out of both cucumber and lettuce, I had to substitute them with cheery tomatoes and sautéed mushrooms. 

Did I mention that I am such a big fan for savoury dishes? Oh yah, I did! Haha. For someone like me, this Smoked Duck Wrap is like one of the best savoury breakfast dish I can wish for. My photos probably do not do justice to how good it looks in reality but I'm only using the camera from my Galaxy Note mobile phone, so I will just have to make do with it. But trust me, this wrap is really good! 

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Servings

Serves 2

Ingredients

200g original smoked duck breast (boneless), defrosted 

2 Onion & Chive Wraps

3 Cheery Tomatoes

1 Tsp Ketchup

1 Tsp Chilli Sauce

Sautéed Mushrooms

3 White Button Mushrooms

Olive Oil 

Mixed Herb

Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 200C and line a baking tray with aluminium foil.

2. Place defrosted duck on baking tray and cover with aluminium foil. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

3. Warm up the Onion & Chive Wrap using a saucepan over medium heat. Allow warming for 1 minute on each side of the wrap. Set aside for later use.

4. Wash and cut the cheery tomatoes into half. Set aside. 

5. Wash and slice the white button mushrooms. Using a saucepan, add olive oil to the heated pan. Sautéed the mushroom and add in mixed herb and a pinch of salt for seasoning. 

6. After 20 minutes of baking, check on the duck. The outer skin should starts to turn golden brown. Remove foil and bake for a further 20 minutes.

7. After the duck is done, allow it to rest for 5 minutes before slicing it thinly. (As you can see from the picture, my slices are a little too thick. I'm too greedy I will say)

8. Spread the warm wrap with ketchup and chilli sauce evenly as the base over the entire wrap. Arrange the sautéed mushroom in the centre of the wrap. Place the sliced smoked duck (about 3-4 slices) over the mushrooms. Also add in the cherry tomatoes. 

9. Roll up the wrap from the bottom and slice the wrap in half before serving it warm. 

#13 - Orange Buttermilk Popsicles

Do you ever have the craving for something sweet during late in the night? For me, it is usually when Hubby and I are relaxing and watching our cable television after dinner that I will have this sudden urge to have something tangy yet sweet. If it is just that, a quick assorted fruits salad would probably do the trick. But, just sometime, I would wish for it to be more perfect by being icy cold. Something like an ice-cream but not as creamy. This Orange Buttermilk Popsicle is a perfect solution for me! 

These popsicles are sweet and tangy in taste and there is really no simpler recipe for these goodies. If you know me, you would know that my cooking style is pretty much, simple, simple, simple. I truly believe in doing more with less and believe me, this simple frozen treat here get you smiling in the recent hot weather.

The original recipe was meant for lemon popsicles but since I have some buttermilk and plenty of oranges sitting in the refrigerator, I thought why not change it out a little. And the result is , SWEET! If you like something healthier and not-as-sweet, you should probably be looking at my Mango Yogurt Popsicles instead. But if you are ready to give yourself a sweet treat over the weekend, try this recipe out! It will not disappoint you. 

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from here

Servings

Make 6-8 Popsicles (depending on size of the mould)

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Fine Sugar

1/2 Cup Water

2 Oranges, juiced and zested

1 Cup Buttermilk

Directions

1. In a saucepan, heat the sugar and water under medium-high heat. Stir well until all the sugar has dissolved. Set aside for syrup to cool. 

2. Add the juice and zest from 2 medium-size oranges into the syrup and stir. If you do not like to have the orange zest in your popsicles, you may omit the orange zest portion and at the same time, strain the orange juice before adding it to the sugar syrup in Step (1). 

3. Add in the buttermilk to the syrup mixture and mix well. 

4. Once the mixture is well mixed, pour it into the popsicle moulds. Freeze for at least 3-6 hours until the popsicles are firm. (I freezed mine overnight to ensure firm popsicles)

6. When removing popsicles from moulds, place the moulds under running water. This will ensure that the popsicles come out smoothly from the moulds. 

#12 - Classic Peanut Butter Cookies

For a peanuts lover like my hubby, it is strange to me that his special liking for creamy peanut butter is not extended to its chunky counterpart. Hmmm.. So, I began thinking about what can I do with the bottle of chunky peanut butter in the cupboard which Hubby hates? 

Not only so, last week I also met up with my BFF, Cynthia. Knowing that she must be totally stressed up over her work in school (with the marking of coursework & preparation of End of Year Exams), I wanted to bake her something to cheer her up. So Classic Peanut Butter Cookies it shall be! 

Personally, I really like the combination of a couple of Peanut Butter Cookies with a glass of iced cold milk. Perfect! This version of Classic Peanut Butter Cookies I had made is not the chewy kind. But instead, expect the crispiness of a cookie combined with a thick creamy taste of peanut butter. If you are a lover for peanuts, I see no reasons why you wouldn't like this. Cynthia seemed happy with the cookies, so am i!

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from here.

Servings

Make approximately 36-40 cookies

Ingredients

1 and 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/4 Tsp Salt

113g Unsalted Butter

1/2 Cup Fine Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

3/4 Cup Peanut Butter (Chunky / Creamy)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Prepare 2 large baking trays and line them with baking paper. Set aside for later use.

3. Combined the flour, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Sift the flour mixture and set it aside. 

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter with the fine sugar and brown sugar with the electric mixer. Do this for at least 3 to 4 minutes to ensure a good mix.

5. Add egg, vanilla extract and peanut butter into the mixture and mix until smooth. 

6. Add the dry ingredient (flour mixture) slowly, spoonful by spoonful, and mix well to ensure that all the ingredients are well-incorporated.

7. Cover the dough in the bowl with clear cling wrap and place in the fridge for it to set for at least 1 hours 

8. When the dough has set well, use a small ice-cream scoop to divide the dough into small portions (ball-shaped) and place them on the baking trays. Ensure that they are at least 3 to 5cm apart from one another. Also flatten each of them with the back of a fork to obtain a crisscross pattern on each small cookie dough. 

9. Bake for 12-15minutes, until the edges of the cookies start to turn golden brown. Allows the cookies to cool on the baking trays for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving.