#49 - Baileys' Chocolate Cookies with Macadamia Nuts

Off days are days when I can stay in the kitchen, tweaking recipes and trying ways to improve on their taste, texture and how they look. Project of the day - Baileys' Chocolate Cookies with Macadamia Nuts. 

Take a look at the recipe below and you will notice that I have done a huge reduction in the amount of sugar to include in the cookie dough. This is due to the reason that this particular bottle of Baileys' that I have with me happens to include a tint of caramel flavour to it. As such, the Baileys' itself was already kind of too sweet to me. To avoid having overly sweet cookies, I reduce the amount of sugar from 300g to 170g. 

These Baileys' Cookies has a slight crunch on the outside but definitely soft and chewy in the centre. You may even think that it kind of resembles a chewy, fudgy brownie. Not only so, it comes with a nutty twist with all the wonderful chopped macadamia nuts in it! 

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Recipe: Adapted and modified from Gimme Some Oven

Servings

Make approximately 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour (370g)

Cocoa Powder (40g)

Instant Coffee Powder (1tsp)

Baking Soda (1 1/4 tsp)

Salt (1/4 tsp)

Unsalted Butter, softened (230g)

Brown Sugar (170g) (Original recipe calls for 300g sugar)

Eggs (2 nos)

Vanilla Extract (1 tsp)

Baileys' Irish Cream (10 tbsp)

Macadamia Nuts, chopped (150g)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Prepare 2 baking sheets, lined with baking paper. Set aside for later use.

3. In a large bowl, sift and combine all the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder, baking soda and salt). 

4. In a mixer bowl, cream together butter and sugar until mixture is creamy and fluffy.

5. Add in eggs and vanilla extract gradually and beat the mixture until it is smooth. 

6. Add in Baileys' Irish Cream to the mixture.

7. Fold in dry ingredients in Step (3) to the mixture in Step (6), one third portion at a time and mix well. Make sure mixture is well combined until all dry ingredients are well incorporated. but take note not to over mix.

8. Add in macadamia nuts to the batter. Combined well.

9. Wrap dough in cling wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

10. Using a small ice-cream scoop, scope and divide the dough into small portions (ball-shaped). Place them on the baking sheets. Ensure they are slightly apart from one another.

11. Bake for 15-18 minutes. After removing cookies from oven, allows the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once the cookies are completely cooled, store them in an airtight container. 

#48 - Chicken with Mushroom Sandwich

It has been a long weekend for me. I was actually sick over this last weekend and as a result, I had to cancel/postpone all my work commitments so that I could get some rest at home and focus on recovering soon. 

But as always, whenever I have the full day to myself at home (and this time it was 2 full days), I just could not stay out of the kitchen. I know I am such a contradicting person but it seems like baking/cooking has a healing effect on me. 

This was a really well-spent weekend for me. Not only did I get some rest (away from work), I also managed to accomplish trying out many food items on my To Bake/Cook List. I am so excited to share these recipes with all of you on MMC. I promise, you will soon see the following recipes coming up on MMC. 

1. Peanut Butter Bread
2. Stir Fry Celery with Pork
3. Lemon Butter Chicken & Rice (One-Pot)
4. Pineapple-Berry Lemonade Popsicles
5. Bailey's Ice Cream
6. Tuna Salad Burritos
7. Laksa Fried Rice

Another good thing about a well-spent weekend is that you will wake up on a Monday morning, feeling great about the start of the week ahead. This was exactly how I felt this morning! 

To kick start the week ahead, I decided to put in a little more work into this morning's breakfast and this was what I came up with - Chicken with Mushroom Sandwich. Mind you, I added a little bit of wine into this recipe and the result was EXCELLENT. The splash of wine really built up the flavour and its fruity taste goes really well with my favourite, mushrooms! 

I feel so satisfied now(and ready for the rest of the day) after such a hearty and tasty sandwich! I totally see myself making more of such sandwiches very soon and in my next try, I am already decided that I shall be adding some cheese to go along with this recipe. Imagine the cheesy goodness together with the mushroom and chicken. Wow! 

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from Pass the Sushi

Servings

2 Sandwiches (4 slices)

Ingredients

Chicken Thighs (2 pieces)
Garlic Salt (to taste)
Black Pepper (to taste)
Butter (1tbsp)
Corn Oil (1tbsp)
Onion, chopped (50g)
Garlic, chopped (35g)
Mushroom, sliced (90g)
Cherry Tomatoes (5 nos)
Wine, of your choice (2 tbsp)
Chicken Stock (2 tbsp)

Directions

1. Season chicken thighs with garlic salt and black pepper to taste.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, add in butter. Sear chicken (on both sides), skin-side down until golden brown. Transfer to a plate.

3. Once chicken has cooled down, shred it into pieces. Set aside. 

4. Add corn oil to the saucepan and lower heat to medium. Cook onion and garlic until they are fragrant. Stir well.

5. Add in mushroom and cherry tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until they soften.

6. Add in wine and chicken stock before seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Set aside.

7. Lightly butter the bread. Using air fryer, toast the bread at 160C for 2 to 3 minutes until it is lightly browned. 

8. Remove bread from air fryer and start assembling the sandwich with the shredded chicken (Step 3) and mushroom mixture (Step 6).

9. Serve warm. 

#47 - Air Fried Crab Sticks

1 INGREDIENT RECIPE - AIR FRIED CRAB STICKS!

For the last couple of years, deep fried crab sticks has managed to make its way up the list of Chinese New Year goodies. In my opinion, this is such an easy item that we can all make in our home kitchen. It is totally not worth it to pay $15 for a bottle of such goodies. I rather spend that money on a bottle of pineapple tart or some extra bak kwa. Don't you agree with me? What's more, when you make it at home, you have the choice to either deep fry them or opt for a healthier version (which was what I did) by air-frying them.

These are super easy to make and although Chinese New Year is almost over, I have been making more batches of these over the last few weeks to give away to friends, for them to have it as snacks. These are totally addictive and I shall be replenishing the stock I have at home again so that I can enjoy them anytime of the year, not only Chinese New Year. I may be wrong, but somehow, I am under the impression that consuming these goodies should be better than those high sodium chips or high sugary stuff. Isn't it?

Another reason why I prefer the homemade version of these crab sticks is how they are crunchier and less oily when we make it at home. If you are like me, opt for air-frying the crab sticks instead of deep frying them. That really save me a lot of trouble. Easier preparation, easier cleaning up, equally crispy and fragrant treats at the end of the day. If you would like to, you may even sprinkle the crab sticks (before air-frying) with some sesame oil, paprika powder, curry powder or any other seasoning of your choice. I however, prefer the original version. Try it!

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Recipe: Adapted & modified from Noob Cook Easy Recipes.

Servings
Enough to fill up 1 large, 1 medium, 1 small container (as shown below)

Ingredients

DoDo Crab Flavoured Stick (4 packets - 1000g, 64 crab sticks)

Method

1. Preheat air fryer to 160C for 5 minutes.

2. Prepare the crab sticks by removing the plastic sheet and unrolling the crab sticks.

3. Separate the crab sticks into 1.5cm width each (try to keep to the same width if possible to ensure even frying) and set aside.

4. When air fryer is ready, place the crab sticks ( I do half a packet, 8 sticks, at a time) in the air fryer. You do not have to arrange the crab sticks neatly because you want them to be spread out randomly so that they will not stick together.

5. Air fry them at 160C for 15 to 18 minutes until they are golden brown. During the frying, it is important to pull out the basket of crab sticks in the air fryer and toss them using a pair of tongs (or shake the content in the basket) to ensure the crab sticks do not stick together and they may be evenly cooked.

6. Cool completely before storing them in air tight containers.