Slutty Brownies - Happy Birthday Devs

Someone once said "You can kid the world, but not your sister"

Wish you a very happy birthday Devina.......miss you EVERYDAY....

No.....I did not come up with that name, I was wondering why it is called slutty brownies.....I would actually name them 'Threesome Brownies"......and before you guys start thinking ...."Gosh!!!this Cherie has one dirty mind"....NO....you are wrong....when I say "Threesome".....I mean....Oreo biscuits sandwiched between Brownie and Chocolate chip cookies.... doesn't that make it awesome THREESOME.....and also a perfect name for us three sisters....Devina is the soft heart Brownie......Neetu who seems hard from outside but is actually soft like a cookie inside......and Iam the poor Oreo biscuit in the middle who has been sandwiched by these girls and I have nowhere to go......but together we make an awesome threesome combination.

Recipe source : Whats Gaby Cooking
Ingredients
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for the brownie

• 140 grams unsalted Butter (10 tbsp)
• 1 1/4 cup Sugar
• 3/4 cup Cocoa powder
• 2 large Eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup All purpose flour

for Oreo layer

• 25 Oreo cream biscuits

for chocolate chip cookies layer

• 113 grams unsalted Butter ,softened (1/2 cup)
• 1/4 cup Brown sugar
• 3/4 cup White sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup All purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup semi sweet Chocolate chips

Method

• Line a 9 inch square baking tray  with aluminium foil with 3 inch foil sticking out from either sides (this helps in lifting out the brownies from the tray. Set aside.
• Prepare brownie batter : Take melted butter in a bowl and toss in sugar and cocoa powder ,mix well till combined with a whisk, now add the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk well. Now add flour and salt and whisk till you have a smooth thick batter.Set aside.
• Pre heat the oven at 180 degree c
• Prepare the cookie dough:  Take the softened butter in a bowl and add in the brown and white sugar, using an electric beater ,beat this till soft and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and beat till well combined and scrape down the sides and beat again.
• In a bowl sift together flour,salt,baking powder and baking soda and add this to the butter mixture and beat on low speed till all the ingredients are well combine and you are left with a soft dough.Now toss in the chocolate chips and mix with a spatula.
• Assemble : Place the cookie dough on the prepared tray and spread out evenly.Place the oreo biscuits on the cookie dough closely.Now pour the brownie batter on the oreo biscuits and spread evenly.
• Bake in pre heated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or till the brownie is done.
• Let the brownie cool down completely before cutting into squares.
• Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Sprinkle Thumbprint Cookies - Eggless

 Enjoy these cute super simple cookies.....which will drive any kid insane.....have you noticed....kids always love the simple stuff......

Recipe Source: Brown Eyed Baker
Ingredients
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• 2 1/2 cups Flour (maida)
• 226g unsalted Butter, room temperature (1 cup)
• 125g Icing Sugar (1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or essence
• pinch Salt
• Chocolate sprinkles

Chocolate Sauce

• 56g Semi Sweet Chocolate chips 
• 3/4 tsp Corn syrup (I used pan cake syrup)
• 2 tbsp butter

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 170 Degree C. Line baking sheet with baking paper and keep aside.
2. Beat together butter ,icing sugar, vanilla and salt for 2 minutes on high speed with a hand electric mixer or a whisk till light and fluffy.
3. Add the flour and beat on low speed and then increase to medium high.
4. Using a small cookie scoop or in my case 1 tsp measure , heap the cookie dough in the spoon and roll the dough into balls,roll the ball in chocolate sprinkles and place 1 inch apart on a baking tray.
5. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, remove from the oven and make indentation in middle of the cookie. I used back of a small rounded measuring tsp to make the indentation. 
6. Pop the cookies back into the oven and  bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges turn light brown.
7. Remove from the oven and let it cool for few minutes in the tray .Transfer the cookies onto a wire rack and let them cool completely.Meanwhile make the chocolate sauce to fill the cookies.
8. Fill the cooled cookies indentation with chocolate sauce and let it set for few minutes before storing in an airtight container.

Chocolate sauce

1. Combine chocolate, 2 tbsp butter and corn syrup or pancake syrup in a small heat proof dish. Place over a pot of simmering water, stir until melted and smooth (or melt in the microwave). Allow to cool slightly. 

Cookies for Kooky - Happy belated Birthday

We cousins are a crazy bunch.....if one zones out....the other one just loves to dance and eat ........one loves to cook and eat.........and our cousin Kooky is one of a kind......apart from her unique feature....her big beautiful ears she is also known to go mad after 11pm and is just crazy about chocolates....what better way to celebrate her birthday by sending her virtual 'Totally Chocolate - Chocolate chip cookies'........and the best part .....'Cookies for Kooky' sounds cool :).....Wish you a very Happy Birthday Kooks....I have wonderful memories with you.....I love your after 11 madness....throwing your leg up in the air and singing ....Yeh jho mohabbat hai.......you are special.........waiting to see you soon.

This post was long due....Neetu, Devs and me wanted to make these cookies for Kooks for long time...Well here it is


"Kooksu.....
My chaddi buddy....only cousin who tolerated me as a child....as described by my sister....Kooksu is our MAD CRAZY ONE....this one may look all quiet and docile from the outside.....but do not go by her looks...she is a mad wild  cat!!!!!(Literally.....she uses her long sharp nails to scratch your eyes out)....So here is a little dedication to our Chocoholic Kooksu ....HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!....hope you have a great year ahead"
Love Devs

        

"Kooky Akka
Growing up I always knew that Kooky Akka,most of the time,was in her own little world! Little did I know that I would one day end up to be a zoner out like her! Sounds shady but I mean zoning out in the most innocent way! People think we are big thinkers but honestly we are probably just wondering if we can sleep standing up! Happy birthday Kooky akkaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!! I hope you had an amzing birthday and have an awesome year ahead....Keep zoning out :) "
Love Neetu

Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies - Nigella Lawson
Ingredients
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• 125 g Dark Chocolate
• 150g All purpose flour (Maida)
• 30g Cocoa
• 1tsp Soda bi carbonate
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 125g Butter, softened
• 75g Light brown sugar
• 50g White Sugar
• 1tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 Cold Egg
• 200g Semi Sweet Chocolate chips(we mixed white chocolate chips and semi sweet chocolate chips)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degree C.Line baking sheet with parchment paper.Set aside.
2. Melt 125g dark chocolate over double boiler or in a microwave.
3. Sift flour,soda bi carbonate, cocoa powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
4. In another bowl cream butter,brown sugar and white sugar till light,smooth and fluffy.
5. Add melted chocolate and mix together.
6. Now add vanilla extract and cold egg and beat till well combine.
7. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. 
8. Add the chocolate chip and stir.
9. Using an ice cream scoop,scoop out the cookie dough and place on the prepared baking sheet 6 cms apart,don't flatten the dough.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes,test by inserting a toothpick and it should come out semi clean and not wet batter.
11. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring on to a wire rack to cool completely.
12. Store in cookie jar or air tight container. 

Chewy Chocolate Caramel Cookies

                                                          Just super simple Caramel Cookies

Like seriously......I don't have a story behind every dish.......I just baked these for my girl and she loved it.....

                                                                   Recipe Source:Australian Women's Weekly- Easy baking

Ingredients

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• 125 g Butter, softened
• 1/2 cup(110g) Caster sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1 cup(150g) Plain flour
• 2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 120g Caramel Chocolate (I used 5 star crunchy with rice crisps), chopped finely
• 
  

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180 Degree C.
2. Line oven tray with baking paper and set aside.
3. In a bowl beat butter, sugar and egg using an electric beater till smooth, do not over beat.
4. Stir in sifted flour and and cocoa powder,mix till well combined.Now add the chopped caramel chocolate.
5. Using a cookie scoop drop the cookie dough 5 cm apart on the prepared baking tray and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Cool the cookies on the trays and transfer on to a wire rack and let it cool completely.
7. Store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Chip Cookies for Devs

This one is for Devina ....my sister.....who got married last week.....she is my inspiration to cook good food .I can say a lot of things about her...but I won't ...I will settle with.....

                                                              Girl...........I miss you crazzzzzzzzyyy

Recipe Source:-Williams and Sonoma
Ingredients
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• 1 1/3cups (220g) All purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/2 cup (125g) Butter (softened)
• 1/2cup (125g) Castor sugar or granulated sugar
• 1/2cup (105g) Firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 large Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
• 1cup (185g) Semi sweet chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180 degree C. Grease baking sheet or line with baking paper or silicon sheet.Keep aside.
2. Sift flour,baking powder, baking soda and salt together on a paper and set aside.
3. In a bowl using an electric whisk cream butter on high speed till fluffy and pale yellow.Add sugar and brown sugar and beat again till the mixture is no longer gritty.
4. Add egg and beat on low speed till well blended.
5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat on low speed till well blended or use a wooden spoon to mix.Add chocolate chips and mix well.
6. Take a tablespoon of cookie dough and roll to a ball with damp hands and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.(you can also place few choco chips on the cookie dough before transferring into the oven)
7. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack and bake for 12 to 15minutes or till the golden brown around the edges..
8. Let the cookies cool in the baking sheet for few minutes before transferring onto a wire rack and let cool completely.Place the cooled cookies in an airtight container.

Linzer Cookies for Saunna

Today is my sister in law Saunna's birthday, she gave birth to my beautiful niece Alana few weeks back.

All I gotta say is - Saunna these cookies are for you....its my way of saying that you are a Rock-STAR......and you are gonna be one hell of a mom.

Love you and wish you a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

Do check out Saunna's Blog, she is an amazing writer .

Recipe Source:Willaims- Sonoma

Ingredients

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• 1 cup Almonds(blanched,skinned and toasted-refer notes)
• 1/2 cup (125g) unsalted Butter,at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (125g) Castor sugar
• 1 large Egg yolk
• 1 tsp Orange or Lemon zest (optional)
• 3/4 tsp Vanilla essence
• 1 cup (155g) All purpose flour
• 1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4tsp Salt
• 1/4cup Jam
• Icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Finely grind toasted almonds in a blender using short pulse (processing the nuts for no longer than 5 to 10 seconds at a time).Set this aside.
2. In a large bowl cream butter on high speed until pale yellow and fluffy.Add castor sugar and continue beating until well combined. Now add vanilla essence, egg yolk, orange zest and beat on low speed until well combined.
3. Sift flour, cinnamon and salt in another bowl. Add ground almonds and mix well. Add to the butter mixture and mix on low speed or stir with a spatula until well combined.the dough should be soft. Divide the dough to 4 equal parts ,wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or in the freezer for 15 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 180 degree, line baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove one portion of the dough from the refrigerator ,place it between two sheets of baking paper , and roll out to 1/4 inch thick.Using a cookie cutter,cut out the cookies.Cut a hole (or any desired shape) in the center of half of the cookies using a smaller cookie cutter.Repeat to roll out all the dough.if the dough becomes sticky.wrap it and chill in freezer for 10 minutes.
5. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to the baking tray.Bake until firm to touch, about 12 minutes.Transfer the baking tray onto a wire rack.Loosen the cookies from the pan,let it remain in place until it cools down completely.
6. To assemble, spread the complete solid cookies with a thin layer of 1 tsp jam. Dust the cutout cookies with icing sugar.Top the solid cookies with the cutout cookies.

How to blanch and toast almonds.

Place the almonds in a bowl and pour hot boiling water on them.Let it stand for a minute. Drain the water,remove the skin and wipe extra moisture using a paper towel. Place the almonds on a baking sheet  and toast the almonds in a preheated oven at 160 degree C for 10 minutes. Keep moving the almonds around the baking tray every two minutes to avoid burning.Do not let the almonds brown. 

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

No sane kid can refuse these cookies...its super simple and looks so cute.

I am not a big fan of jam.....decided to fill the cookies with chocolate...it was a big hit with my daughter and her gang...it disappeared in minutes....by the way my dad was part of my daughters gang.

There is a reason these are called thumbprint cookies..the indentation is supposed to be made with thumb.....but please don't try that or you will end up with 'BURNT THUMB' print cookies.

Ingredients

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Recipe source :-Brown Eyed Baker

• 8 tbsp Butter (113 grams) softened
• 1//2 cup Icing Sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• 1 1/4 cup All purpose flour
• 2 ounce Semi Sweet Chocolate chips (56 grams)
• 3/4 tsp Corn syrup (I used pan cake syrup)
• 2 tbsp butter

Method

1. Pre heat oven to 170 Degree C. Line baking sheet with baking paper and keep aside.
2. Beat together 8 tbsp butter ,icing sugar, vanilla and salt for 2 minutes on high speed with a hand electric mixer or a whisk.
3. Add the flour and beat on low speed and then increase to medium high.
4. Using a small cookie scoop or in my case 1 tsp measure , heap the cookie dough in the spoon and roll the dough into balls, and place 1 inch apart on a baking tray.
5. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, remove from the oven and make indentation in middle of the cookie. I used back of a small rounded measuring tsp to make the indentation. 
6. Pop the cookies back into the oven and  bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until the edges turn light brown.
7. Combine chocolate, 2 tbsp butter and corn syrup or pancake syrup in a small heat proof dish. Place over a pot of simmering water, stir until melted and smooth (or melt in the microwave). Allow to cool slightly. Fill the indentation with the chocolate mixture or jam.

Mocha Choco Chip Cookies

These egg-less cookies are just amazing......My daughter just loves them.. ...they are much better than store bought cookies....and I know exactly what went into it.

Recipe source : Laura In The Kitchen (Laura Vitale)

Ingredients
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• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/4 cup (283 grms) softened unsalted butter
• 1 cup Semisweet Chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 3/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1cup Icing Sugar
• 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
• 2 tbsp Coffee Powder or Espresso powder
• 1/4 Cup Castor Sugar for dipping

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 Degree C.
2. In a large bowl cream together butter, coffee powder, brown sugar, icing sugar and vanilla, until well combined.
3. Add  sieved all purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon powder and salt and mix until fluffy and well combined.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Using a small ice cream scoop or 1 tbsp measuring spoon, form round cookie dough balls, dip one side of the cookie dough in castor/granulated sugar. Place on baking sheet with baking paper, sugar side up. Press slightly on top to flatten them out. Keep the dough couple of inches apart.
6. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the center rack of the oven till the sides of the cookies brown slightly . Rotate the tray half way through for even cooking.
7. Cool for 5 minutes on the tray and transfer onto  a wire rack to cool completely.

choco-vanilla spiral cookies

Choco vanilla spiral cookies -also known as Pinwheel cookies.
Recently I purchased a book - Australian Women's weekly- Easy baking, when I took the book home,sat down and went through the whole book I realised there is nothing 'Easy' about this book. Not that the recipes are difficult to follow,its just that 80% of the ingredeints are hard to find here in Bangalore.This was the only recipe I found simple enough,and I just loved the spirals in the cookies,and I knew my daughter would just love it.

 Ingredients
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• 200grms butter (softened)
• 2/3 cup, 150 grms caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract/essence
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 cups(375 grms) plain flour
• 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa butter

Method
1.In a small bowl combine butter, egg,caster sugar and vanilla essence. Beat with electric beater till light and fluffy.
2.Mix in flour(sieved), mix to form a firm dough.

 3. Divide the dough to two equal parts,to one part dough add cocoa powder and mix well,until well combined.Knead each piece of dough separately on a floured surface until smooth.

 4. Cover both the doughs with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 5.Roll the vanilla dough between sheets of baking paper into a rectangle shape(if possible),according to the original recipe into 25x 35 cm rectangle.Repeat the same with the chocolate dough.

 6.Remove the top sheets of baking paper from both the dough.Turn the chocolate dough onto the vanilla dough,you get only one chance to do this,once the chocolate dough is on the vanilla dough ,you cannot move it later,so be quick in flipping and try to put exactly on the vanilla dough.Remove the top sheet of paper.
7. Trim the sides to make a perfect rectangle with a scissor or knife.(do not through away the dough that has been trimmed ,you can used it later to make marbled cookies)

 8.using bottom sheet of paper as guide,roll dough stack tightly from the longest side.

 9. Cover the roll with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 10.Pre heat the oven to 180 degree C, grease oven tray and line with baking paper.
11. Remove plastic from roll and cut the roll into 1 cm slices
12. Place the slices about 2 cm apart and bake for 15 minutes.

 13, Let the cookies stand in the tray for 5 minutes before transfering into a wire rack to cool

 The dough that was trimmed off before can be used to make marbled cookies,I have rolled out the dough and refrigerated it for 15 minutes  and used cookie cutter to get nice shapes,my daughter just loves the heart shaped cookies -she is a Valentine baby after all :)

oreo ice cream cake

This a very simple cookie and cream recipe,if you have vanilla ice cream at home you can just be innovative and add few things that are available at home and make plain vanilla ice cream 'interesting' 

ingredients

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• 1litre vanilla ice cream
• 1/2 chocolate sauce
• 1/2 cup caramel sauce
• 3 packets oreo cookies
• butterscotch granules (optional)

method

1. put cling wrap to a 9" cake tin, place the cookies along the sides of the cake tin (shown below),separate the cookies and place it on the base of the cake tin.

2. keep the vanilla ice cream in room temperature for few minutes. Put the ice cream in a bowl,it would have become soft and you will be able to work with it.

3. put 2 packets of oreo cookies into a zip loc bag and crush using a rolling pin or any pan.

4.put 3/4 amount of the crushed cookies into the vanilla ice cream,add chocolate sauce,caramel sauce and butterscotch granules into the vanilla ice cream. mix well

5. pour the ice cream and cookie mixture into the cake tin and keep it in the freezer.

6.when the ice cream is half set sprinkle the leftover crushed cookies on the ice cream and let it freeze for few hours

7. Once completely frozen ,lift the ice cream cake with the cling wrap and slide it onto a serving dish.

8.cut into wedges and serve.