Sunday, April 24, 2011

Yummy Drop Cookies


I was feeling a little bit down as my football team won't mathematically be able to be No. 1 on the Premier League table, so I decided to whip up a batch of cookies. I had originally intended to just eat the cookie dough raw... but then thought that this was probably just a depression induced thought of stupidity that I'd later regret. So, I completed the baking process by throwing the dough into the oven and voila! I ended up with a lovely batch of cookies that I could share with my colleagues at work... yes, sharing the love is much better than wallowing in the sadness and scraping dough out of a mixing bowl.

Easy Drop Cookies


Ingredients:
- 1 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp cream cheese
- Mix-ins of your choice: I used 1/3 cup desiccated coconut, 1/4 cup flax seeds and 1/3 cup rolled oats

Method:
1. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla and cream cheese.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.
4. Throw in the mix-ins, stir until distributed thoroughly and then placed rounded tablespoons of dough onto a prepared baking sheet. Flatten dough mounds slightly with the back of floured fork.
5. Bake at a 350degree oven for 15-20minutes.

These turned out light and airy, not too dense and chewy. Next time I make them I'll probably throw in some chocolate or butterscotch chips or crushed whoppers... mmmmm. Well, now I don't feel so down ^____^

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Yogurt Berry Bread

Whipped up this delightfully fruity bread for sharing with my co-workers on a night shift. Seriously, night shifts will be the end of me... don't get me wrong, I love them. But for some reason I always end up working with people who seriously love to order take-aways to gnosh on through the 12 hour shift. I tried to be all healthy by bringing this yogurt berry loaf, but then we all ended up pitching in for pizza, someone brought chips, another person brought brownies and someone else brought pop... o_O But anyways, here's the recipe for my somewhat "healthy" contribution to the food fair.

Yogurt Berry Bread

Yields 1 loaf

Ingredients:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 100g of your favorite yogurt
- 1/3 cup margarine
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup berries

Method:
1. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, cream the sugar and margarine until fluffy. Add in the egg, mixing until well combined; then, add in the yogurt.
3. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well. Now alternate with 1/2 of the milk.
4. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, alternate again with the milk and finish off with the remaining dry ingredients. Add in the berries and continue mixing thoroughly.
5. Pour into a prepared rectangular loaf pan and bake at 350degrees for 45-60minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.