Eggless Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe

I love chocolate chip cookies. But you know what's better than chocolate chip cookies? Chocolate Chunk Cookies. The chunks melt while baking and stay gooey while you bite into the cookies - yum!

If you are a chocolate addict and love cookies, nothing should stop you from having what you like. That's why these eggless chocolate chunk cookies work really well, they can be eaten by anyone, especially those who don't eat eggs even in the "hidden" form.

Eggless Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies
Adapted from: A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp flax seed powdered (to replace 2 eggs)
2 cups + 4 tbsp all purpose flour or maida
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 to 1.5 cups chocolate chunks (I used Nestle chocolate chunks and love them! You can also use choc chips, but chunks are infinitely better)

How I Made It:

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line baking trays with parchment paper and baking sheets.

2. In a bowl, either by hand or mixer, cream butter and both sugars well together until very smooth (about 3-5 mins). Add vanilla and flax seed powder and mix until well blended. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to this mixture. Fold well until all ingredients are combined well (you don't need to mix or sift dry ingredients before adding to the wet mixture but you can if you want to).

3. Fold in the chocolate chunks finally. Scoop out using a tablespoon (adding 2 to 3 tbsp per cookie) or small ice cream scoop and place the cookies atleast 2 inches apart on the baking tray.

4. Bake for 12-15 mins until the cookies have flattened out and the edges brown nicely.

The warm cookies are heavenly. Chocolate chunks, unlike chips, melt in the cookies and remain gooey and yummy for as long as the cookies last.

Store in an air-tight container for up to 4 days. 

Chocolate Macarons: Notes from a first-time-macaron-baker

Let's be honest here. During the time there was a huge macaron craze going on in the food blog world, I was all "whatevs". Major reason for that is that it just seemed too complicated and I am more of a simple bakes type person. My motto is and always has been to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible but still make it seem awesome.

Then I actually tasted a macaron. That cost me 2.5 SGD a piece. And I said to myself, ok this is a challenge I need to take up. It can't be that hard, right? The idea went round and round in my mind for many months and finally, when I couldn't even grant myself the no-Kitchenaid excuse, I caved in and bought some almond meal. Before I knew it, egg whites were aging in the fridge and I was getting emotional support from some awesome people all over Facebook. There was no turning back.

There are tons of resources online for making macarons. Like experts would tell you, its not only about the recipe (although that definitely matters too), its more about the technique and the science behind it. My notes below combine the wisdom of all the sites and videos I referred. Hopefully you find it useful.

Chocolate Macarons Recipe
Adapted from David Lebovitz
Makes about 15-18 filled macarons

For Macaron Batter
1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces, 50gm)
3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

For Filling:
I used store-bought hazelnut spread to fill my chocolate macarons because I didn't want to stress over making the filling too, but go ahead and Google up some macaron filling recipes, I am sure there are tons out there, some interesting flavour combinations too.

Tools and Equipment:
- Piping bag with 1/2" or 2cm plain tip (I used a large ziplock bag and cut out a small corner). I was a piping virgin and this was my first attempt at it, although I must say that I have done a lot of henna designing and fabric painting back in the day.
- Egg separator (slightly optional, read notes below)
- Electric beater
- Silicon or wooden spatula
- Large, dry steel mixing bowl
- Baking sheet/parchment paper

A few notes on the ingredients:

- almost all websites I saw recommend aging the egg whites. If you live in a cold place, leave it out on your kitchen counter for a day or two. If you live in a warm place, let them age in the refrigerator, just remember to take them out and bring them to room temperature before proceeding. Some sites said microwaving the egg whites for 20 seconds in medium-high will do the trick but that idea freaked me out so I took the safe way out and aged them the old-fashioned way.

- use an egg separator to separate the yolks and whites. I know some people are experts at using their fingertips to do a juggling act with the egg to remove the whites from yolks, but this will add moisture to the egg whites and we don't want that. Make sure that all equipment you use is completely dry and this includes the egg separator, the bowl you are transferring the whites to, and even your hands.

- although many seem to prefer blanching their almonds and powdering it to make their own almond meal, I would highly recommend beginners to buy almond meal. Buy the finest you can find or atleast slivers if you can't find ground ones. That makes the process much easier and less prone to failure.

- although coloured macarons are definitely more fun, there are recommendations around what sort of food colour you should buy (powdered or gel colours vs oil-based or water-based ones, etc). I found the entire decision on what colour and what type too stressful so I took the easy way out and made chocolate macarons. I would recommend this highly for beginners.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 300º F (150º C). This was the optimum temperature for my oven but I suspect the actuals were much higher. Don't take it up beyond 180 C though.

2. Line a baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat and have a pastry bag with a plain tip about 1/2-inch, 2 cm ready. (Or take the ziplock route I took)

3. Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps.  You can use your blender, food processor or mixie, just make sure that you don't grind the almonds to a pulp. Its important that you process these three together and not just the almonds.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to foam. At this stage, add the granulated sugar and continue beating until very stiff and firm. When you invert the bowl, the egg whites to stay put. That's how you know when to stop. It took me about 2-3 mins to get there.

5. Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in 5 batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula (ideally). When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding (it helps to set a limit, like no more than 50 strokes to incorporate the dry mixture into the egg whites) and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).

6. Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart.

7. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then leave them alone for atleast an hour and up to a maximum of 3 hours. This is so that the top dries up and you get a smooth surface for the macarons but leaving them out too much will give you crunchy macarons and you don't want that. This step is important and if you skip it, you get non-macarons like in the picture below. Bake for 15-18 mins and let cool completely before removing from baking sheet.

Above: I didn't let the piped macarons rest before baking.

Below: I let them rest for an hour and they turned out perfect.

Some more notes and resources:


0. This is probably the best resource you will refer to, over at MisoHungry. She has a table on outcomes and possible reasons. When my macarons cracked on top the first time, I did a frantic Google search and found her site. She said two possible reasons for this - first is, the batter is too runny in which case I can do nothing except start again. Second is, the tops are not dried out enough. I crossed my fingers and let the macarons sit out before baking and that did the trick.

1. This video is super useful to observe the technique of folding the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites. Its short and sweet too.

2. If you are interested in the science behind macarons, check this site out.

3. This is the first website I visited when I decided to try my hand at macarons. The pictures are quite detailed although I would hold my piping bag at 90 degrees while piping, as a general rule.

4. Confession: I had never piped anything before I baked these macarons. Actually, my very first attempt can be seen on these cupcakes and it looked so dreadful that I stopped after one cupcake

Go ahead, take the plunge. It will be worth it :)

Macarons are my entry to this month's A Sweet Punch. The group completed a year and we could bake anything for this month's challenge. I am bringing macarons to the table!

Eggless Chocolate Banana Pound Cake Recipe

I love banana cakes. I love chocolate. So this eggless banana chocolate pound cake is love squared.

I am sorry if you are a banana-hater and can't stand the thought of it but really, you don't know what you are missing. And God help you if you are a chocolate-hater. You really shouldn't be here at all, right? But wait, I need to tell you about a new project I am on with 8 other amazing food bloggers. We are the Free Spirit Bloggers. Read on!

Mads of Cook-Curry Nook came up with this idea. Of course she did! She is super creative, that's no secret. So check out her blog to learn more about Free Spirit Bloggers and who we are. I am glad to be one of them.

This month, we were experiment in our baking labs. The idea was to use the same basic chocolate pound cake recipe and use different egg substitutes. We each worked with 2 and decided to post the one that worked better.

I chose to work with banana. To substitute one egg in the recipe, you need 1/4 cup ripe banana puree + 1/2  tsp baking powder. This is in addition to baking powder already mentioned in the recipe.

Eggless Chocolate Banana Pound Cake Recipe
Makes 36 small pieces

Ingredients:
All purpose flour or Maida – 250 gms (2 ½ cups)
Sugar – 250 gms (1 1/4 cups)
Butter – 250 gms
Cocoa powder – 50 gms (~4 tbsp or 1/4 cup)
To replace 4 eggs - 1 cup pureed ripe banana + 2 tsp baking powder
Baking Soda – 1 tsp
Baking Powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Milk – as required, to adjust batter to dropping consistency - max ½ cup (I used about 1/4 cup)

How I Made It:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg C (350 deg F).

2. Line the base of a square pan (8″x8″) with butter paper, or grease the base with butter and dust with
flour till well coated and set aside.

3. Beat the pureed banana with the baking powder and set aside.

4. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Do this thrice for best results, and set aside.

5. Cream the butter and sugar well together for about 3-4 mins. Add the vanilla essence and beat well.

6. Add the beaten banana mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and beat well till it has been incorporated.

7. Now, add the sifted flour mixture to the butter-sugar-egg mixture little by little and beat well till
blended smoothly.

8. Add adequate milk to achieve a batter of dropping consistency.

9. Pour batter into the readied pan, and bake at 180 deg C for 45-50 minutes or till done.

My cake formed a nice crust and was super soft and spongy. It was a bit hard to get clean pieces because it was that soft. Throughly enjoyed making the eggless version but if you want to avoid the banana flavour, just use eggs and follow the rest of the recipe as mentioned. Do let me know if you try it!

So, what's your favourite egg replacement?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

This is so easy I don't know why I didn't think of it before. Thanks to Isa for the cookie dough recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
- 1 recipe vanilla ice cream
- 1/2 recipe chocolate chip cookie dough (I omitted the tapioca, and went a little more generous on the flour. I also used mini chocolate chips).

METHOD
1. Make the cookie dough. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. With floured hands, divide the dough into 6 pieces and roll each into a rope/snake, about 1/2" in diameter. Cut off pieces (about 1/2") and place on the prepared sheet. Cover, and place in the freezer for an hour to harden.
2. Make the ice cream as per the recipe. When the ice cream is almost done in the ice cream maker, start dropping in frozen chunks of cookie dough. You can add all of them (not at the same time, though) or as many as you see fit. Save the leftovers in the freezer for next time.
3. Thoroughly freeze before serving.

Chocolate and Strawberry Napoleons

So this is a take on the classic French dessert and is perfect for when you are throwing a dinner party and want to impress your guests with the amazing world of vegan pastry. It also helps if your guests are not worried about their daily caloric intake. In this version I make a strawberry gel with agar, but you could use some quality jam instead. Fresh berries would also be awesome, too, but since it is the dead of winter I don't have access to any (save the ones from California in the un-recycleable plastic clamshell). On the other hand, the gel helps give it a nice layered look and keeps the final dessert from getting too messy. The trick here is not to go overboard on the creme, and to make sure that all the components have cooled so the creme does not melt. You will have some left over (and some gel) but there are worse things that could happen to you.

INGREDIENTS
Makes 9
-1/4 block of puff pastry (i.e. make this recipe and cut it into 4 blocks)

Ganache
- scant 3 tbsp soy milk
- 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp maple syrup

Creme Filling
- 1/2 can coconut milk, refrigerated (not low fat)
- 1.5 tsp brandy
- 2 tbsp icing sugar

Strawberry Gel
- 2 cup frozen strawberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp water, divided
- 1 tbsp agar flakes

- icing sugar for dusting

METHOD
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
1. Roll out the well-chilled dough on a lightly floured surface into a 6x6 inch square. Roll the sides with the folds in them slightly longer, then trim to 6" with a sharp knife (this will help the pastry bake up straight). With a sharp knife, cut the dough into nine 2" squares (i.e. make a # pattern). Transfer to the baking sheet, leaving some space in between them, cover the another piece of parchment, and refrigerate for 30 mins.
2. While the pastry is cooling, make the creme filling. It is essential that the coconut milk be very cold, so make sure it has been in the fridge at least overnight. Drain off the water and place 1/2 the remaining fat in a bowl. Whisk until smooth (this will take a little elbow grease). Add the brandy and icing sugar and whisk well. Place back in the fridge to keep cold.
3. Meanwhile, heat oven to 400 degrees. When dough is done chilling, gently poke through the layers with a fork 2 times, then bake for 22-25 mins, or until nicely golden.
4. Transfer to a cooling rack. As soon as the pastry can be handled, separate each square into three (it should easily divide along the fold lines). Let completely cool.
5. While the pastry is baking, make the strawberry gel. Combine frozen berries with sugar and 1 tbsp of water. In a separate bowl, sprinkle agar over the remaining 3 tbsp of water. Place berries over med-hi heat and bring to bubbling. When berries have softened, mash them with a fork or potato masher. You don't want to completely pulverize them: small chunks is the way to go. Add agar and water and let bubble away for 5 mins over medium heat. The mixture will get a bit thicker. Pour into a 9x13" pan and place into the fridge to cool down.
6. Make the ganache. Heat the soy milk to bubbling, then take off the heat and mix in the chocolate chips. When melted and smooth, mix in syrup until smooth.
7. To assemble:

• dip the top of the bottom layer of pastry in the ganache, as well as the bottom of the top layer. Place in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up.
• Cut the strawberry gel into 2" squares
• Start with your dipped bottom piece, then place a square of strawberry gel on top, then a dollop of creme filling. Top that with your middle piece, then another dollop of creme. Top that with another square of strawberry gel, then your top piece.
• Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately (with a fork).

Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe

Sometimes, you just want a chocolate cake that's dense and rich. Maybe because you want to warm it up a bit and serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Or chocolate ice cream if you are evil!



Sometimes you want to bake up something in your small ring cake mould that can only hold 1.5 cups of batter, so that you get cute pieces like these. And sometimes you want to pack them up for guests when they leave - an extra treat for taking the trouble to visit you.

This cake has lesser amount of flour and more of chocolate goodness, so it bakes up rich and dense and fudgy. You can also bake the batter into cute little gooey chocolate hearts for Valentines Day.

Chocolate Fudge Cake
Makes 15 small pieces

Ingredients:
All purpose flour / maida - 1/2 cup
Bittersweet chocolate, chopped - 125 gms / 4.5 oz
Cocoa powder - 1 heaping tbsp
Powdered sugar - 75 gms or 6 tbsp
Unsalted butter - 135 gms / 1/2 cup and a bit more
Eggs - 4 large ( I used 3 eggs and 2 tbsp yogurt)
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
A pinch of salt
Butter - to grease
Icing sugar - to dust


How I Made It:

1. Sieve together cocoa powder, flour, salt and the baking powder. I did it about thrice so that the three are blended well. You can also add them to a bowl and mix well with a fork, if are feeling lazy.

2. Preheat oven to 180C.

3. Place the chopped chocolate and butter in a bowl. Get another bowl that's about double the size of the first one, fill 1/4 of the way with water and bring to boil. Once the water boils, lower fire, set the first bowl in the water without touching the sides and keep stirring the choc-butter mixture until it melts.

If all of that was just too much, place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-able bowl and give it 30 second turns in the microwave, stirring well after each 30 seconds. Set aside.

4. Beat the eggs lightly with the yogurt (if you are opting for 3 eggs + yogurt) and then add the powdered sugar. Mix well until well incorporated. I used my wooden spoon for this.

5. Next, add the cooled chocolate-butter mixture and stir well to incorporate. Again, no need to beat, just mix in well.

6. Bring out the flour mixture now. Gently fold into the above mixture and mix in just enough to remove to any lumps and until you get a smooth batter.

7. Grease your cake tin or the pan that you intend to use. I used a small ring mould.

8. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 20 mins. Do the skewer test to see if the cake is done, mine took about 20-22 minutes.



Dust with some icing sugar to make it look pretty! Serve warm with ice cream if you are into that sort of thing.

Chocolate Banana Hazelnut Crumble with Vanilla Custard Sauce

The chosen recipe for this month's Sweet Punch was Pear and Chocolate Crumble with Almonds. I wasn't too keen on trying baked pears so I decided to use bananas instead. Then I realised I didn't have almonds at home so used hazelnuts. Finally, the recipe got adapted quite a bit but the end result was amazingly delicious. Its quite light since they are individual portions and with the vanilla custard sauce that I usually serve with my apple crumble, this was was a sure winner. What's more, this is a super simple eggless dessert for those of you who don't eat eggs in any form!

With each spoonful, I kept asking TH, "isn't this delicious?" as if I wasn't responsible for the deliciousness. It really was that good. Its super easy to make and there are no exotic, hard to find ingredients either.

Chocolate Banana Hazelnut Crumble
Adapted from here
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup brown sugar (white should work too)
1/2 cup hazelnuts (or almonds)
A generous pinch of powdered cinnamon (optional)
100gm chopped bittersweet chocolate (you can also use milk chocolate or semi sweet - choc chips not recommended since they are designed not to melt)

For the crumble:
100gm / 3/4 cup plain four (or, try atta)
55gm  / 1/4 cup chilled butter
10gm chopped bittersweet chocolate (I omitted this)
A pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter

How I Made It:

1. Toast the hazelnuts in a dry pan until browned on few sides. Cool and chop into small pieces.



2. Chop up the chocolate.  I used these gorgeous Lindt bittersweet discs I got from Sydney and they were so delicious, all melted and gooey in the crumble.



3. Cut the banana into small pieces and mix in a bowl with cinnamon, chocolate, sugar and the hazelnuts. Spoon equal portions into 6 ramekins (no need to grease) or one pie-dish, if you wish. Make sure you spoon in any juices and liquids too.



4. Add diced, chilled butter to the flour (+salt) and use fingertips to mix together, until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the chocolate (if using), and mix well. Lay over the banana mixture and press gently.

5. Bake in a 180C preheated oven for about 35-40 mins until the top turns brown and the mixture is all bubbly.



Serve with vanilla ice-cream or vanilla custard sauce, recipe below.

Vanilla Custard Sauce (with egg)

Beat with a fork, 1 egg yolk with 1 teaspoon cornflour and add 2 tablespoon sugar with that. Add one cup warm milk and beat well again. Cook on a low fire stirring constantly until pouring custard consistency. Add 1/2 tsp vanila essence, cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

Vanilla Custard Sauce (eggless)

Blend vanilla flavoured custard powder with 1.5 cups of milk and 4 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste). Cook on a low fire until pouring consistency. Cool, chill and serve with warm apple crumble.

Twix Candy Bar Triple Chocolate Brownies Recipe

Have you ever tasted brownies from Brownie Cottage in Hyderabad? They have an outlet in GVK mall in the movie theaters there. I tasted their After 8 Mint Brownies and fell in love with them. They also had various other candie bar brownies so here's my attempt at recreating one of them.



The caramel in the twix bars becomes more chewy and the biscuit retains in crunch. Its heavenly!



One of my favourite chocolates - Twix!

Twix Candy Bar Brownies
Adapted from: Recipe Girl
Makes 12 large pieces


Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 oz  / 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate
6 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 tsp instant coffee powder
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar (regular white sugar)
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
2 twix bars (singles) chopped into 1/2" pieces (chill before cutting)

How I Made It:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F / 180C. Grease an 8" brownie / cake pan and set aside.

2. In a pan set over another pan of boiling water, melt both the chocolates and butter together until smooth and glossy. Let cool slightly.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, coffee powder, vanilla and sugar. Stir the egg mixture into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture. Cool to room temperature.

4. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; add to batter. Stir chopped Twix bars into chocolate mixture. Then pour into prepared baking pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. You can reserve some slices and place on top too.



5. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean with a few crumbs attached; do not overbake! Let cool completely, then cover tightly and chill overnight. Chilled brownies are easier to cut and they actually taste better the next day.



These makes great gifts for a kid's birthday party or generally just bake them for friends and bask in their chocolate-y gratitude :)

Easy Eggless Chocolate Mousse - Nigella Lawson Recipe

I barely had time to do this month's Sweet Punch - Easy Eggless Chocolate Mousse - a Nigella Lawson recipe. We are packing to go off on our big vacation of the year, the house hunt just got over and we are shifting first week of December, having moved to a new role, work is also not that laid back anymore - so a lot of stuff happening all at the same time!

Still, I couldn't pass over this easy chocolate mousse recipe because even before this month's challenge was shared, I had bookmarked to try this, along with the Chocolate Pistachio Fudge which I managed to make sometime back. 

The secret to this recipe is marshmallows. The gelatine in this eliminates the need to use eggs and also the lengthy setting time that's common for classic mousse recipes.

Eggless Easy Chocolate Mousse Recipe
Source: How to be a Domestic Goddess
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
Mini marshamallows - 150 g (I used regular ones)
Butter - 50 g, softened
Chocolate - 250 g (I used 60% dark chocolate, and it was super intense), roughly broken into pieces
Hot water - 60 ml
Cream - 250 ml
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

How I Made It:

1. In a heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water together, stirring every now and then. Note that the marshmallows take a while to meld down so I cut each further into 4 pieces. I'd recommend you do the same if using regular marshmallows.

2. Meanwhile, whip the cream with vanilla until thick.

3. Fold it into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth mixture.

4. Pour into individual ramekins / small serving bowls and let it set in the fridge for about 1 hour.

I halved the recipe and got exactly 2 portions of intense, chocolate-y mousse that was silky and had a wonderful texture. Using semi-sweet chocolate is more advisable since the flavour is intense otherwise.

Easy Basic Chocolate Brownie Recipe

I love using chocolate bars while baking and definitely feel like the taste and texture is significantly better when I do. The only thing that I don't look forward to is the melting of the chocolate, especially if it involves a double-boiler set up.

That's why these brownies are so ideal when you want a fuss-free, easy and yummy snack. The ingredients are most probably lurking in your pantry already and you need less than 20 mins to whip them up before sticking it into the oven.

Basic Chocolate Brownie Recipe with Cocoa Powder
Makes about 12 large squares
Adapted from here

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (doesn't have to be room temp, isn't that awesome?)
1 cup regular white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt

How I Made It:

1. Preheat oven to 350F / 180. Grease a 9" square (or round, who will know) pan.

2. Heat the butter on low flame until just melted (use the microwave or stovetop works just fine too). Stir in the sugar and vanilla.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the cocoa; beat well until well blended.

4. Finally, add the flour, baking powder and salt; beat well.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the pan sides.

There are a dozen different ways you can customize this brownie, that's why this is the basic brownie recipe. Add orange zest, white chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, let your imagination go wild!

This basic brownie recipe is heading to The Chocolate Fest over at Cook Curry Nook.

I also want to congratulate Divya, one of my fave bloggers, on her 3rd blogging anniversary. Sending these basic brownies to her e-party!

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On an unrelated note, a good friend who introduced me to the world of Yoga is now celebrating 10k hits to her blog - Back to Basics. She has some cool things to giveaway so go ahead and check them out before time runs out!

Chocolate Cinnamon Babka

In order to pump myself up for veganizing this week's Top Chef: Just Desserts winning dish, I am posting this veganized version of Peter Reinhart's babka recipe. The dish is a real crowd pleaser (at least at the party I went to) and the fancy presentation will make everyone think you are some kind of baking superstar.

INGREDIENTS
Dough
- 2 tbsp instant yeast
- 3/4 cup lukewarm plain soy milk
- 6 tbsp non-hydrogenated margarine
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 oz soy yogurt
- 15 oz all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp salt

METHOD
1. Whisk yeast into soy milk and set aside to get foamy.
2. Cream margarine and sugar together in a large bowl, then add vanilla and soy yogurt. Beat vigorously with a whisk for a few minutes until fluffy and able to form peaks.
3. Add flour, salt, and yeast mixture and work into a soft dough. Add flour or soy milk as needed and knead until smooth. Shape into a ball, then let rise in a lightly oiled bowl, covered, until almost doubled in size.

Chocolate Cinnamon Filling
INGREDIENTS
- 9 oz semisweet vegan chocolate chips
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine

METHOD
1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly brush paper with oil.
2. Place all ingredients in a small pot and place over low heat. Stir until just melted, then spread as thin as possible over the prepared parchment paper with a pastry scraper. You want about a 10" x 15" rectangle. Place in the fridge to cool down and firm up.

Final Loaf:
1. When the dough is risen, roll out into a 10 x 15 rectangle. Remove chocolate from the fridge, peel off parchment paper, and place on top. Roll tightly lengthwise (let the chocolate warm up a bit to make it easier), then seal.
2. Cut the roll down the middle lengthwise with a pastry scraper, then cross the two pieces over one another to form an X, cut side up. Continue to criss cross in both directions and seal the ends. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spray with oil, and cover.
3. Let the loaf rise until almost doubled in size (1.5 hours or so), then preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 20-25 mins, or until a deep golden brown. Don't overbake or it will dry out. Reinhart suggests an internal temp of 185 degrees.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes Recipe

I know, that's a lot of chocolate discussion on this site over this week but when it comes to chocolate, there's never too much of it. Agreed? There you go!

This is our Sweet Punch challenge for October, so don't be surprised if you see a lot of chocolate lava cakes cropping up on blogs around you.

I baked this decadence over the weekend. It rose beautifully and the crust was cracked and heavenly. Be very careful not to burn your tongue on this. I speak from experience, like I almost always do. Learn from my mistakes, ok?

Since neither TH nor I like very runny centres for our molten chocolate cakes, I increased baking time but made sure that the centre is still gooey and fudgy.



Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
Fills 4 medium-sized ramekins
Recipe source - showmethecurry.com

Ingredients:
Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate – 4 oz (113g)
Butter – 1/2 cup + to grease ramekins
Eggs – 2
Sugar – 1/3 cup (75 g)
All-purpose Flour – 1/4 cup (40g)

How I Made It:
1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate. Once melted and shiny, remove pan from heat and add in butter. Mix until the butter melts fully. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 mins by electric mixer, 5 mins by hand)
3. Add chocolate-butter mixture into the eggs, add all-purpose flour and mix until well incorporated.
4. Butter bottom and sides of ramekins (small glass/porcelain bowls) and pour in mixture until 3/4 way full.
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 C) for 10 – 15 minutes. Shorter for gooey (molten) inside, longer for stiff inside. I baked for about 13-15 mins.
6. Serve warm with ice-cream, fruits or whipped cream.



Yep, I had to push out some of the centre with my spoon to demo that ;) Now, one thing to remember is, you have to serve this with some fruits, whipped cream, or ice cream to balance out the dense chocolate flavour - its really overpowering. True death by chocolate!

Let's talk about Chocolates!

Isn't it crazy how some of your favourite stores have already started selling Christmas Gifts? I mean, what's with that?

I am only excusing these folks right here because they are selling Chocolate.

And something called Advent Calendars, which I know nothing about, except that they are cute. And I wouldn't mind one for Christmas either, if it comes with a box of their chocolate.

But a bit more about how I fell into the trap that's Hotel Chocolat. A colleague brought back a box of their chocolates from London. I took one. I was speechless. I went back and took another. Then I hovered around till no one was looking and took a third. I may have taken 2 more after that but let's leave it at that.

Its a Wednesday, I am too lazy busy lazy to upload pics and post a recipe so I am leaving it at a review. If you love chocolates or have loved ones who do, do yourself or them a favour and grab a box. Life is too short (my standard line when I defy my no-chocolate-everyday diet!

Disclaimer: I received a box of chocolates as a gift from the company but I would never recommend something unless I have tried it myself and genuinely feel the way I write. 

Black Forest Cookies Recipe

I have quite a few recipes bookmarked from The Purple Foodie but these Black Forest Cookies have been on top of the list for ages. I had trouble finding dried cherries and then gave up looking for them and substituted with dried blueberries instead. Who is to know, right?



What I absolutely LOVED about these cookies is that they turned out almost exactly like the Double Chocolate Chip cookies from Subway. Raise your hands if you love those. Yep, me too!! So this is a total win in that sense.

Dried Bluberries

But, it was sweet. It was very sweet. It was so sweet that even my sweet tooth were nudging me and asking what the heck I was thinking eating three of these in one shot. So I had to have half at a time.



 Not really. Do I look like someone who can eat just half a cookie and stop at that? Nope. I am not that someone.



Anyway, these were very easy to bake up, the only catch being, you need to refrigerate the batter for a few hours for it to firm up.

A side story here is, I was baking these cookies when my old oven just refused to turn on. There was a loose contact and the current batch in the oven were turning all gooey and running over each other, and that batter went to waste. That's when I decided this is the last straw, took a cab to the nearest kitchenware store and bought myself a new oven! I came home and baked the rest of the batter after that. That reminds me, I am yet to share pics and details of my new oven. Stay tuned to MMKT for that!



Even then, mine got super runny before I baked them and so the cookies were super flat. Didn't stop me from eating them though, they were really good!

Black Forest Cookies
Adapted from: The Purple Foodie
Makes 12 large cookies

Ingredients:
40gm / 1/3 cup all purpose flour or maida
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
8 oz / 225gm baking chocolate bar (semi sweet or bitter sweet will do)
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried blueberries
5 tbsp/75gm butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
A pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)

How I Made It:

1. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate bar (broken into pieces) and the butter until smooth and shiny. Set aside.

2. Whisk flour, salt and baking powder together. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and both sugars for about 5 mins (if using electric beater) or 10-12 mins if doing by hand. The mixture should be pale and thick.

4. Add the cooled butter-chocolate mixture and the vanilla to this and mix until just combined. Don't overbeat. Add the flour mixture to this and mix until all the flour disappears into the batter. Again, don't overbeat, just combine gently.

5. Next, mix in both the chocolate chips and the dried blueberries. The batter will be a bit runny.

6. Refrigerate this for 6 hours or overnight.

7. Preheat oven to 375F / 190C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use an ice-cream scoop to scoop out the batter and place on the baking sheet at a distance of 2". If baking in multiple batches, return the batter to the fridge immediately after filling up one sheet.

8. Bake for about 12-15 mins until the top looks crackly. Cool and store in air-tight jars for upto 3 days.

Note: I have given the adjusted amounts of sugar since I found my cookies way too sweet. Adapt according to your taste.