Morning Glory Muffins

Morning Glory Muffins is a healthy and easy breakfast on busy mornings.Begin your day with this tasty and chewy muffins,which is packed with carrots,apples and other vitamin and mineral rich ingredients.This low fat muffin recipe is from "Morning Glory Cafe" in Nantucket Island.I love to have these with morning coffee aahhhh!!!!..... They didn't rise as much as muffins with regular flour. But they were OUT OF THIS WORLD good! Crunchy on the edges and soft in the middle. All the "goodies" were delicious.Yesterday i made these for my friends for our weekened dinner party.This was a real hit among them.

Ingredients...
All purpose flour 1cup
Whole wheat flour 1cup
Sugar 1 cup
Egg 1
Eggs whites 2
Baking powder 2tsp
Vanilla extract 2tsp
Cinnamon powder 2tsp
Salt 1/2tsp
Grated carrots 2cups
Apple 1 (peeled,cored and grated)
Raisins 1/2cup
Nuts 1/2cup
Coconut 1/2cup (optional)
Canola Oil 1cup

Method
Preheat oven to 300F.In a medium bowl, beat eggs, egg whites, oil, and vanilla for 2 mins.In a large bowl, stir together flours, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Combine carrots, apples, nuts and raisins ,mix well. Add these fruits and nuts to wet ingredients.Now add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in two halves.The pitfall with all muffin batters is in over mixing the batter and ending up with a tough muffin. So make sure you only mix the batter until the ingredients are combined and moistened. Pour two tbsp of batter in each lined muffin cups.For standard sized muffins, only fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. However, if you like your muffins with a crown, fill the cups to the top. Just make sure to grease the top of the muffin pan so that as the batter overflows it does not stick to the top of the pan. And don't forget to fill any unfilled muffin cups with a little water to ensure even baking as well as preventing the pan from warping. Bake 15-20 mins or until the inserted toothpick comes out clean.you can double the batches and store them in ziploc ,freeze it .Microwave them for a min on busy mornings .....Healthy breakfast ready!!!! Sending this muffins to suganya for her WBB: Healthy eats

Lemon Dry fruits nuts Biscotti

I love Foodnetwork,one among my fav is "Giada De Laurentiis's Everyday Italian".Once i saw her Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti.Inspired by her biscotti,i decided to make a try with the ingredients with me.
In Italian, the word "biscotto" means "biscuit" or "cookie." More specifically, biscotti are named according to their original method of baking. The root words "bis" and "cotto" literally mean "twice" and "baked." Biscotti are first baked in a loaf, then sliced and toasted. This second trip to the oven draws off moisture, and results in a crisp, dry texture, and a long shelf life. There are many different varieties of biscotti, with some being cake-like in texture, while some are very crisp and dry. Traditionally, Biscotti were almond-flavored because almonds were plentiful. Biscotti are available in a myriad of different flavors like chocolate, hazelnut , dried red cherries, raisins, cinnamon, fennel or poppy seeds, allspice, mace, citrus zest, ground toasted nuts, mini dark or white chocolate chips. Popular today is to dip one side in melted chocolate.Their unique texture makes them perfect to dunk in your coffee or tea, or wine after dinner.Because of the baking process, Biscotti have a very long life may be 6 months.No need to refrigerate biscotti , store them in an airtight container.if they lose their crispness, simply toast them in a low oven (250 degrees) for a few minutes until they’re crunchy again. If they’re too hard or dry, place them on low power setting in the microwave for about 30 seconds to soften them up.Here's My style of Biscotti..
Lemon Dryfruits Nuts Biscotti


Ingredients...
All purpose flour 1.5cup
Whole wheat flour 1.5cup
Softened butter 3tbsp
(for healthier version,add olive oil)
Baking powder 1tsp
Finely grated zest of 2 medium lemons
Sugar 3/4cup
Vanilla extract 1/2tsp
Lemon juice 2tsp
Eggs 2
(for healthier version,add eggs whites only)
salt 1/4tsp
Cashew,pistachio,pecans 1/2cup
Dates ,deseeded and chopped 8 nos
Tuuti frutti 1/4tsp
Dried apricots 1/4cup

Method..
Preheat oven to 350F.In a bowl seive flours , baking powder and salt,Add nuts and dried fruits and stir well to mix.In a large bowl,beat sugar,butter ,vanilla,lemon zest and lemon juice still creamy and fluffy.Pour dry ingredients into wet and mix well.Scoop the dough into a lightly floured surface.Divide into two parts,shape it into a log about 9" long - transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment and flatten until it is about 1/2" to 3/4" thick.Place the logs of dough on the baking sheet, making sure they are not too close to each other or to the sides of the pan. With the palm of your hand, press down gently to flatten the logs. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the logs are well risen and have spread to about double their size. The logs are done when, pressed with a fingertip, they feel firm. Place the pan on a rack to cool the logs completely. cut the log into 1/2" to 3/4" thick diagonal slices.Arrange the biscotti on the prepared pans, cut side down. It isn't necessary to leave space between them. Bake the biscotti for about 15 or 20 minutes or until they are dry and lightly golden.Remember, they will continue to crisp up as they cool. Cool on the pan on a rack.
Store the cooled biscotti between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a air tight container. Sending this Biscotti Jhiva for ingredients : Lime/Lemon

Banana Pudding

Thick and creamy vanilla flavoured pudding layered with vanilla wafers and banana slices.....what else can we think about a comfort dessert than this "Traditional Southern Style Banana Pudding".This unique pudding comes from Southern part of US,an ultimate comfort food, easy to make just with few ingredients and taste fabulous. One interesting thing I found was that in North Carolina band called 'Southern Culture on Skids' actually performs a song during some of their concerts called Banana Pudding accompanied by throwing banana pudding on their audience, sounds crazy isn't....

Banana Pudding

Yields 10 - 12 servings

Ingredients

Whole milk 4cups
Sugar 2cups
Softened Butter 4tbs
Egg yolks 4
All purpose flour 1/2cup
Banana 5-6
Vanilla wafers 1box
Salt 1/8tsp
Vanilla extract 2tsp

Method..

For making Custard...Combine the sugar, flour and salt in a bowl, and stir well to mix. Mash out any flour lumps with the back of your spoon and Set aside.In a bowl ,beat the egg yolks with fork or whisk .Just beat them well ,don't use hand beater.In a heavy bottomed pan,add butter ,then combined sugar,flour and salt mixture,egg yolks and milk , Cook, stirring constantly to avoid lumps and until the mixture thickens to the consistency of pudding on medium heat for about 5 - 10 Min's.Peel the bananas,slice into 3inch rounds .In a casserole or pudding tray,arrange vanilla wafers from edge to edge in row.Place the round sliced bananas now.Don't stint and put one slice of banana per wafer. Line those banana slices up edge-to-edge. Pour, spreading as necessary, half of the custard over the banana layer. Put down another layer of vanilla wafers, another layer of banana slices, and cover with the remaining custard. Ready to serve...Just serve right away or place in refrigerator for several hours ,press plastic wrap onto the surface of the warm puddings to prevent a skin from forming .Just before serving garnish with whipped cream,tutti fruiti ,cherries or grated chocolate as u wish...

For addition...

Beat the egg whites at high speed until they form soft peaks. Add the cream of tartar. At high speed, gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold the vanilla into the meringue, and spread the meringue over the pudding, sealing it at the sides of the dish. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven until meringue browns, 12 to 15 minutes.

French Style Orange -Yogurt Cake

Hi friends,Wishing u all a Happy n prosperous New year!!!! Hope all had wonderful New year celebrations.A bit late to wish coz we were on a long vacation.Had a real blast at Christmas and New year at San Francisco,Los Angeles and Las Vegas.A memorable and jolly trip with friends,ofcourse food was the main enjoyment,Got a chance to try different types of cuisines.Now after coming back,i put weight and feeling lazy to cook oops!!! back to routine....I was planning to make Kerala christmas cake . Due to lack of time,i couldt do it.I made a simple cake not to dissapoint 'S'.This is an old classic French Style grandmother's cake.Firstly its simple and healthy cake coz no butter is used only canola oil or veg oil can be used.Cake was sooo moist,tender and very flavourful coz of syrup added for glaze.This cake platter and spoon is a new year gift from my friend in SFO.

Ingredients for the cake

All purpose flour - 1.5 cups
Plain yogurt - 1/2cup
Large eggs - 3
Granulated sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder 2tsp
Orange zest - 2tsp
Canola oil 1/2cup

For Glaze

Freshly squeezed orange juice 1/4cup
Powdered sugar 1/2cup

Method

Preheat the Oven for 350F.In a bowl mix sugar,yogurt and eggs,stir still well blended or mix with hand beater for 2 min.In another bowl,combine the flour ,orange zestand baking powder.Now add flour to the wat ingredients in two portions,mix to just combine.Add oil and mix for 2 mins.Firstly it looks mess,keep mixing till it comes to a smooth batter.Pour the batter into a buttered round shape or square shape pan.Bake for 25- 30 mins or until the cake feels springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not overbake.Allow it to cool on the rack for 15 mins.Gently remove cake from the pan and set on a rack to cool completely.Now combine the orange juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl and spoon it gently over the cake.The glaze will be thin and will soak in like a syrup.

Notes:

Many variation can be made in this cake.For lemon version,try lemon juice with poppy seeds .For almonds version,try 1/2cup flour and 1/2 cup powdered almonds.

Nankatai - Vanilla Butter cookies

Nankatai is a usual biscuit available in all bakeries in India,also known as Benne Biscuits in different places.These rich and cute shortbreads cookies are in two variations like sugar or savory ones with salt and cumin seeds,comes in different flavours like almonds,kesar,cardamom,vanilla and also spicy ones.After coming here in US,found many types of cookies like chocolate,ginger,intalian biscotti and more.But i love the simple n elegent tea cookies in India. Small crispy cookies dipped in tea taste awesome!!!isn't....I searched a lot in Indian stores,couldnt find.Finally made myself.This is the first cookie in tried,i gotta a problem whenever i try it,my cookies always burn at the bottom,while the top part remains uncooked and white.Adding butter is also important,My first set of cookies was a flop coz of more butter,while baking, the cookies started to spread and became flat.I made the second set of dough carefully with little butter,it was nice.They look so good,here goes the second set of cookies toSusan for the Eat Christmas Cookies event in Food Blogga.

Ingredients..
Maida/All purpose flour - 1 cup
Granulated Sugar - 1/2 cup
Softened Butter - 5-6 tbsps (approx)
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence 1tsp
Almonds spitted (for garnishing)
Method:
1.Mix all purpose flour,baking powder,sugar and vanilla essence.
2. Add butter a little at a time and knead the dough into a nice soft ball.
3.Keepthe dough for a couple of hours.
4.Preheat the oven to 180 degree F
5. Divide the dough into small round balls and flatten them on the top with your fingers,place half splitted almonds on top of cookies.
6. Bake for 15 mins or until the bottom starts to turn slightly brownish.
7. Let cool and store in a air tight container.