Baked Apples

 
Oh god. I can't even begin, can't believe my last post was two whole months ago! Thank you for all your concerned mails, they're the push I needed to come back and post. Nothing really happened for me to stop posting, but a lot has happened. I began working on the very day of my last post, and I'd been getting used to not having all the free time in the world. I was also getting over a bad breakup, so I went from having way too much time, to having absolutely none.

I've also been working hard to lose the almost 10 kgs I gained in the past year, with all the staying away from home and long traveling. So baking has been a complete can't do. But craving did strike the other day, one I couldn't ignore. Spent hours online looking up cheesecakes and chocolate cakes and pies and whatnot. Realised that none of those could be made without completely ruining the diet. Looked up some healthy stuff. Long story short, these baked apples were on the table within the hour
.


And they were quite amazing, surprisingly. I love apples baked into anything, but didn't expect to like a plain apple with some stuffing so much. This has saved me from jumping off a cliff in desperation because of the diet. It's made life quite bearable, each time craving hits, I just pop a few apples into the oven, it really is quite simple. The apples get perfectly soft, just a hair's breadth away from mushy, and the nuts provide a much needed textural complement. If you aren't on a diet, you could eat this hot, with some cold, melting ice cream scooped on top. HEAVEN♥

 



Baked Apples
Recipe from Simply Recipes


4 large good baking apples
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon - If you love cinnamon as much as I do, up this to 2 or 2.5 tsp
1/4 cup chopped pecans - I had walnuts on hand, used those, no biggie
1/4 cup currants or chopped raisins
1 tbsp butter
3/4 cup boiling water

 Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Wash the apples well. Remove the cores, leaving about 1/2 inch on the bottoms. If you don't have an apple corer, a paring knife will do just fine. Make sure to have about an inch wide hole, so that there's enough space for the stuffing. Use a spoon to clear it out. Place the apples in a 8x8 baking pan
2. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans/walnuts and currants/raisins. Divide this mixture evenly between all the apples. Top each apples with a dot of butter (1/4 tbsp each).
3. Pour the boiling water into the pan, around the apples. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until soft and tender, making sure to stop before it gets mushy. The skin slightly releasing from the rest of the apple is a good sign of when it's done. Test with a knife, the knife should meet no resistance. Remove from oven and baste several times with the pan juices.
4. Serve, along with some ice cream if you can afford to indulge :)

Granola Bars

Hello hello hello! I am very excited today, I'm travelling through Europe for a month in a few hours of this post. My course is almost over, so I'll be heading back home after that, to do my dissertation. So I've been super busy packing up my room, feeling all crummy about leaving this place, and excited about travelling. My life has been all about bags and boxes since so long.

Even in the midst of this, though I was dreading removing some time to bake these, once I began baking, I felt absolutely relieved. Being in the kitchen (surprise surprise, even to cook!) really relaxes me.

This month's assignment was a real toughie, Thrifty Veggie Mama has mostly super healthy recipes, with tofu and stuff as ingredients in baked stuff too. It was a great challenge, and I finally found these granola bars that were super easy and amazing. I've never made granola bars before, but these were amazing. Perfectly chewy, not too sweet, and the chocolate on top is heaven.

Granola Bars

Adapted from Thrifty Veggie Mama

3 cups oats {I used regular old fashioned not quick}
1/2 cup crispy rice cereal {Optional. You could just add more oats}
1/2 cup liquid sweetener {I used half butterscotch syrup and half maple syrup}
2 T peanut butter
1 banana, mashed
1/2 c oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/4-1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Line a 8x8 pan with parchment.
2. Mix together all ingredients except the chocolate chips. (Tip - measure out the oil first, and then the liquid sweeteners, it will flow out much better out of the measuring cup).
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, and then sprinkle on the chocolate chips. Leave for a few minutes, then spread to form a layer. Allow to set for an hour in the fridge. Cut into bars and serve. 

Raspberry Strawberry Muffins

I'm still getting used to having stuff like raspberries and blueberries available to me right at the store, whenever I want. It's so much fun, each time I buy some to use for baking, I end up eating them plain, or with breakfast or something. And then I have to wait till I visit the store again before baking, and the cycle repeats. I finally managed to keep some away, since I had my eyes on these muffins since forever.

The muffins are so good! They're more of the healthy kind, especially since I used half whole wheat flour, than say these muffins, that were just sinful. These are perfect to go with your morning coffee [or are you a tea drinker?], they aren't too sweet, and perfectly soft, with busrts of flavor with the ample berries in it :)

Raspberry Strawberry Muffins

Adapted from Gingerbread Bagels via The Keenan Cookbook
Yield : A round dozen, if you don't make them teeny tiny like me

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups [240 g] all purpose flour  - I used half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup mix of raspberries and chopped strawberries
About 2 tbsp of turbinado or any other coarse sugar, to sprinkle on top [optional]

Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 375 F [190 C]. Line a cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the sugars, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Fold this mixture into the above mixture, until just combined.
4. Now fold in the sour cream till incorporated. Add in the berries, fold and pour into prepared pan.
5. Sprinkle sugar on top, if using. Bake for about 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean, and the tops feel springy. Enjoy xx

Cinnamon Raisin Muffins... I am a graduate, baby!!

That's right! I've graduated. Woohoo.. This calls for a celebration, doesn't it. I shall soon bake something to celebrate, considering exams have finished just yesterday, haven't really had the time yet!!

It was 3 LONG years, but I've finally got through it all!! Now I'm free.. atleast until I decide what to do next.. I might do a Masters course, or maybe go my dream way and go to culinary school. I've been spending my time researching into the various options, and the pros and cons! Help would be much appreciated!

A few days before my exams began, I was experiencing an Intense craving to bake something, it's one of my best stress-busters!! I wanted to make something quick, easy, and something I could happily munch on without feeling too guilty, since I've quit working out for so long.

I didn't want to come online, I knew I would stay here for hours and hours. So I opened my most trusted book, Leith's Baking Bible and settled on these hearty muffins. They were healthy, oaty, and perfect breakfast food, but the most important thing was, they did not taste healthy, I hate those anyway. And these muffins were gobbled up like nobody's business. I was surprised to see a whole panful of them be eaten up, in less than a day. It may seem normal to you, but everyone's watching their weights in my home, so control is the mantra!



Cinnamon Raisin Muffins
Adapted from Leith's Baking Bible
Makes 12


For the muffins -

1 stick [113 g, 4 oz] butter, melted
150 ml [5 fl. oz, 2/3 cup] milk
2 eggs
115 g [4 oz, 1/2 cup] light brown sugar
2 tbsp caster sugar
125 g [4 1/2 oz, 1 cup] self raising flour - I used the usual substitute of 1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp baking soda
125 g [4 1/2 oz, 1 cup] wholemeal plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
30 g [1 oz, 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp] rolled oats
170 g [6 oz, 1 cup] raisins

For the topping -

4 tbsp oats
1 1/2 tbsp flour
30 g butter, melted
1 tbsp brown sugar

Instructions-

1. Preheat oven to 190 C [375 F]. Grease and line a muffin tin.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, milk, eggs and sugars. Be sure to let the butter come down to room temperature, you don't want to cook the eggs!
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Stir in the oats.
4. Add the wet ingredients, making sure not to overmix. This is the single most important secret to baking soft fluffy muffins.
5. Fold in the raisins, gently, and pour into the pans.
6. Now for the topping, mix together the melted butter, oats, flour, and sugar. Sprinkle evenly over the muffins.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

These were the perfect guilt-free, delicious breakfast muffins. I also turned them into a dessert by eating them with ice-cream. Yumm!!

Healthy Banana Oat Bread for Mother's Day

First off, happy mother's day to all the mothers out there. I have been blessed in that I have not one, but two mothers, i.e. my grandmother. She's the sweetest soul there is, and yesterday I thought of baking something they would both like. My mom is tired of all the rich, decadent, fattening things I keep baking. My grandmom, on the other hand, loves them [actually anything I make], but the has the tiniest appetite EVER! If I were to give her something of the sort I usually bake, it would stay in her home for weeks!
So as a kind of balance, I chose a healthy banana bread. My favorite chocolate chip cookies use a minuscule amount of oats as an ingredient, so as a result I always have a LOT of it at home, going to waste. Since this recipe used oats, that was a big plus, and it would satisfy my mom, who's always nagging me to use them up.

Healthy Banana Oat Bread
Adapted from All recipes.
Makes 2 mini-loaf tins

1 cup sugar
7 tbsp oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup bananas [about 2 large]
1 cup oats
1/2 c milk [can use skim]
2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat well at medium speed of a mixer. Combine banana, oats, and milk; add to sugar mixture, beating well. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray.



Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

The bread was yummy, it didn't taste healthy at all :). It had a nice texture, soft, but nor crumbly, and would be a perfect accompaniment with tea/coffee. Or you can eat it in my favourite way, slightly toasted, and then used as a sandwich with nutella and more bananas :) Yumm.. Try it, you'll love it too.

Update : This is best eaten after a day. Right after baking, it seemed a little dry, something that I couldn't eat without something to go along with it. The bread moistens, I think that's because of the oats, but I can't be sure. It tasted sooo good the next day, even I could eat it plain, and I usually keep away from things that aren't rich, buttery or chocolatey :)