Mini Maple-Walnut Biscotti

Here is a simple recipe adapted from King Arthur's website for Maple-Walnut Biscotti. I was inspired try a couple different biscotti recipe this winter since my neighborhood grocery store has been selling these cute store-baked mini biscotti's for $11.99lb. They looked good but not good enough for $11.99 a pound. So let me introduce to you one of the two biscotti I made last week. 

I made a couple modifications to the recipe but you can find the original here. I omitted the white sugar, replaced maple flavoring with vanilla extract, and replaced white flour with White Whole Wheat flour. I also didn't make the topping. I let my husband made it. When I asked him how he made it, he couldn't give me a recipe since he just experimented by cooking maple syrup with butter and a couple other ingredients which he couldn't recall. Sorry! The maple coating for the biscotti was messy to make but it was tasty. From cooking down the syrup, it turned dark brown and harden easily. We made letters, funny shapes and designs with it which you can see in the photos below. 

Taste & Texture: The biscotti itself was mildly sweet since I omitted the white sugar. They were tasty,  especially with the maple-walnut coating. I omitted the white sugar since I knew that the maple coating will add enough flavor and sweetness to the biscotti. The biscotti was a bit crunchy but firm. It was too hard to consume without tea after a few days. I made these last week and enjoyed a couple with hot tea today since I am snowed in. 

Ingredients
2 cups Walnut (coarsely chopped & toasted)
2 large Eggs
¼ cup Brown Sugar
¼ cup Maple Syrup
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
⅓ cup Butter (melted)
2½ cup Whole Wheat Flour (any type and kind)
½ teaspoon Salt

Optional Topping
2 tablespoon maple Sugar
Chopped Walnuts

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare baking sheet by lightly greasing it or lining it with parchment paper. 
2. Toast walnuts in oven at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes, till they're light golden brown. 
3. Beat eggs, sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract together. Add melted butter and beat until smooth. 
4. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and nuts together. Then add it to the wet mixture. Mix together. 
5. Divide dough into four equal parts on a lightly floured surface.  Shape each dough into a rough rectangle to your desired side. For smaller sized biscotti, roll dough out into a more narrow log. 
6. Using wet fingers, smooth top and sides of rectangles. Sprinkle maple sugar on top of each rectangle if desired. 
7. Bake biscotti for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on cooling rack for 10 minutes. 
8. Use a serrated knife and cut biscotti on a cutting board. Cut biscotti into ½" thick slices. Place slices onto a prepared baking sheet. It is okay to place them closely together.
9. Bake for 10 minute on each side. They should be slightly golden. Cool on baking sheet.

Rugelach (cane sugar-free and parve)

To continue to celebrate the Christmas Season, I'm on a roll to make delicious cookies that contains no sugar or much less sugar compared to store-bought cookies and pre-made cookie mixes. Rugelach is a top pick on my cookie list this year because it is fun to make, a traditional Holiday favorite, and can be easily personalized to any taste. I made some with two different fillings, a cocoa-date filling and a raisin-walnut filling. You can fill yours with whatever you like, from raspberry jam to a chocolate ganache. 

Most versions of Ruglach contains cream cheese. I found this recipe on a Hebrew recipe website that excluded cream cheese, making it pareve it can be eaten after a meal containing meat. I liked omission of cream cheese since lowers the calories and fat content in this treat. This cookie is also great for those who are diabetic. After reading many reviews of recipes similar to this one, I learned that many diabetic are big fans of this cookie because of the low sugar context from the dried fruit. 

I was a bit nervous when making the dough for this cookie because it requires yeast (I've just started to learn how to bake with yeast) and I used Whole Wheat Flour instead of white flour (aka all purpose flour).  Since my house tends to be cool, I let my dough rise in a bread machine. The dough raised well and I was quite pleased with it. I only had enough time to use half of it, so I placed the other half in the fridge. Don't do what I did since the dough that was stored in the fridge had a fermented smell the next day. It was not pleasant. I think the fermented smell arise because of having too much yeast in the dough. 

Taste & Texture: I was pleased with the cookies when fresh but these are not a favorite. They are pretty, but in my opinion  they are too bread like to be called a cookie. I also made mine very small so they came out a bit crunchy. The filling was great because the cookie didn't have any sweetness to it. If I make this again, I will include honey into the dough. The cookie had a prominent wheat flavor and it would be more enjoyable if another flavor like honey was included. 

I didn't store them in an airtight container so they were a bit hard the next day. If I did store them correctly, I don't think I would have enjoyed anyways since I made a couple mistakes. I was eager to bake these cookies since it was late in the evening. My house was cold so I should have let my dough poof for a longer period of time to allow it to rise again for a softer texture. I also baked them for a shorter period of time because I made my cookies smaller. 

Ingredients for 30 Rugelach

3 cups (13.5oz) Flour

½ teaspoon Salt¼ cup sugar
2 eggs¼ cup Water (lukewarm)
½ cup Milk (lukewarm)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ cup Butter
1 tablespoon Yeast

1 egg beaten to brush tops of cookies for a shine (I omitted this step)

Ingredients for Filling

Cocoa-Date filling- soak a cup of dates in water for at least 30 minutes to soften the dried fruit. Drain the fruit and chop and mash it into a paste. Add cocoa powder to it to make it chocolaty. Add one teaspoon at a time to adjust taste to your preference.

Raisin-nut Filling: Soak desired amount of raisins in water for at least 30 minutes so they will become plump. Drain water well. Mash them and mix some chopped walnuts into them. 

Fruit Preserve Filling- Choose any type of fruit preserve, jam or curd you'll like in your cookie. Apricot  Raspberry and Strawberry preserves are popular flavors.

Optional fillers: Dried fruits and chopped or sliced nuts such as walnuts, almonds, pecans, can be included in the filling for added flavor and texture. 

Method

1. Put all the dough ingredients in a bowl and combine together to make dough. Knead for about 5 minutes until dough is soft and elastic. Place dough in a clean bowl and cover the bowl with saran wrap. Let dough rise for about an hour and a half, until it doubles in volume. If using a bread machine, place ingredients into machine according to your bread machine manual. Let the machine knead the dough and allow it to rise in it. Stop the machine when completed. 
2. Preheat the oven to 340F. Line parchment paper on baking sheet or use nonstick baking sheets. 
3. Lightly flour a work surface to make the cookies. Lightly flour a rolling pin too. Divide the dough into two equal portions. For both doughs, roll it out into a rectangle that is about half and inch to one fourth of an inch thick, and follow the steps below. 
4. Spread filling generously over the dough as you would. Leave edge of the dough to be free of  fillings. Your dough should look like a rectangular pizza, having an even layer of filling everywhere except for the "crust," edge. 
5. With a pizza cutter or knife, cut the rectangle for triangular wedges. View diagram below to see how to cut triangular wedges. 
6. Start with the wide side (the pizza "crust" side) and roll it up tightly. You should end rolling the point of the wedge last. 
7. Do this for all wedges. and transfer them to a prepared baking sheet. Place the tip of the wedge on the bottom. I wasn't able to place the tip of my wedge on the bottom since I made my cookies too small.
8. Let rugelach sit at room temperature to proof for at least 30 minutes. Lightly brush each cookie with egg wash. Be sure to not press too hard to deflate it. 
9. Bake rugelach for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cooling rack. 

Yellow rectangle indicates shape of rolled dough. Solid lines indicate vertical and horizontal cuts through the dough. Dotted lines indicate vertical lines cut through the dough to create triangular wedges. Feel free to ask me for help if you run into trouble or is confused. 

Gingerbread Cookies ( Cane Sugar-Free)

Every holiday, I crave for gingerbread cookies even though I was never fond of them. My craving lead me to make these crunchy gingerbread man. I used the same batter to make a simple gingerbread house too! I decided not to decorate it since I want to eat the gingerbread without any artificial food coloring found in decorative candies. This recipe is chosen from Weelicious because it contains less sugar but much flavor compared to other recipes.

Taste & Texture: This gingerbread cookie is sweet with a kick from the ginger. The sweetness is flavorful from maple syrup and molasses. It is super crunchy which made it very addictive to eat for both my husband and myself. Softer and chewier textured cookies can be made with this batch by baking it for a shorter amount of time, but we didn't enjoy them. 

Ingredients:

3½ cup of Whole Wheat Flour (any type)

¾ teaspoon Baking Soda

½ teaspoon Salt

½ cup Maple Syrup

⅔ cup Molasses

1 Egg

½ teaspoon Vanilla

½ cup Butter (room temperature)

2 teaspoon Ginger

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

¼ teaspoon Clove & Nutmeg

Method: 

1. 1. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.
2. 2. In a separate bowl, cream butter with maple syrup until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla, molasses and mix until well combined. You can do this by hand or with a padded stand mixture or standard handmixer.
3. 3. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until well combined. 
4. 4. Divide dough in half and form into 2 disks. Refrigerate in plastic wrap or parchment paper for 2 hours or overnight.
5. 5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
6. 6. On a lightly floured surface OR between two pieces of parchment paper, roll out one of the disks until it’s 1/4 thick all around.
7. 7. Cut out cookies with different shapes (gingerbread men, stars, christmas tree, etc). Use a spatula to gently transfer cookies to a baking sheet. 
8. 8. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes.
9. 9. Remove to a cooling rack. If you wish, decorate cookies after they are cooled.
10. 10. Decorating Ideas: Use raisins, raw sugar as sprinkles, chocolate chips to decorate gingerbread. 

A Great Cane Sugar-Free Muffin For A Healthy You

These muffins are made with my Guiltless Soft Cookie recipe. When making the cookies, I thought that they would make delicious muffins. I tried it and prefer using the batter to make muffins. They are filling, flavorful, and packed with protein, dietary fiber, Vitamin A and other minerals. Natural sugar found in dried fruit is used to give us that extra boost we need for the morning.  Let's start our morning with one healthy meal at a time!

Taste: 
Muffin A contains no cane or other types of sugar. This muffin is sweet from dates and raisins. The nutty flavor from whole wheat flour compliments the sweet and flavorful dates and raisins. Pumpkin flavor is very mild, almost unnoticeable.

Muffin B contains small amounts of cane sugar. This version is sweeter but has much less sugar compared to other recipes and store bought muffins. Sweetness in the muffin also comes from juicy raisins. The wheat flavor is less prominent and pumpkin flavor is very mild.

Texture: Like the cookies, these muffins are very soft, moist and tender. They have good structure and has soft but firm muffin top. The walnuts gives the cookie a nice crunch that creates contrast from the plump juicey raisins and soft tender cookie.

Ingredients 

Organic Whole Wheat Flour (for milder wheat taste, sub half or all for whole wheat pastry flour)	1 cup (130g)
Baking Powder	1½ + ⅛ teaspoon
Baking Soda	½ teaspoon
Salt	¼ teaspoon
Cinnamon	½ teaspoon
Nutmeg	⅛ teaspoon
Cloves	⅛ teaspoon
Eggs (room temperature)	1
Pumpkin Puree	½ cup (120 grams)
Oil	¼ cup
Vanilla Extract	1 teaspoon
Pure Cane Sugar OR Dates	¼ tsp + 2 tbs + 1 tsp (70g) sugar OR 90g mashed dates
Raisins (Soak in water for at least 30 minutes)*	3/4 cup
Chopped Walnuts	3/4 cup

*Raisins: by soaking the raisins, they will be even more plump and juicy. This will prevent a concentration of raisins at the bottom of the muffin or loaf. The longer you soak them, the more moist and plump they will be. Drain water after soaking period is completed.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners or lightly grease pan.
2. Mix dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices) in bowl. Set aside.
3. Mix pumpkin puree, oil, vanilla extract, sugar or dates together. If using dates, mash them well and use a blender to mix all the wet ingredients for a smoother consistency.
4. Mix dry and wet ingredients together until just incorporated. Then mix in walnuts and raisins.
5. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop batter into cupcake pan for equal sized muffins.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes or when toothpick comes out clean when inserted into center of muffin.
7. Take muffins out of pan and cool on a cooling rack before enjoying.

Better than Cinnabon's Cinnamon Rolls!

I never like the heavy frosting and greasy cinnamon rolls from Cinnabon, although they smell quite good. After trying cinnamon rolls from local bakeries and feeling heavy and uneasy from the high content of sugar, I simply decided that cinnamon rolls were not for me until I stubbled upon this recipe. I had a nice reason to bake these sweet treat for breakfast since a good friend came to visit me and Eric. ^_^ Thank you Daiji for visiting us!

This recipe was adapted from Pioneer Women. This recipe caught my eye because the reviews for it were amazing. After reading the recipe, I wanted to give cinnamon rolls another chance and I am glad I did. I did make modifications to the original recipe because of the high sugar and fat content and because of the great yield. After cutting the recipe in half to make 12-15 rolls, the sugar and oil was reduced further. 

If you've had difficulty making breads or baked goods with yeast, don't be discouraged. I've always had trouble making breads with yeast so I was a bit nervous when making these. I'm glad I didn't let past discouragement keep me from making these because they came out beautifully and delicious. Here is my review for these rolls. 

Taste: It is simply sweet from the brown sugar and flavorful because of the cinnamon and butter. The dough is lightly sweet and nutty so the bold flavors from the filling isn't overwhelming.  

Texture: Frosting for these nice rolls is totally unnecessary because they are moist and tender. It is super easy to unravel each later to enjoy them slowly. 

Ingredients for dough:

1 cup of milk (any kind)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup of vegetable oil (I used sunflower)

1 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast

2 ¼ cup of Whole White Wheat Flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for filling:

1 tablespoon cinnamon 

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup of unsalted butter (soften)

Method 

1. Set your bread machine for the dough cycle since we will let the dough rise in the machine.
2. Heat milk on stovetop or in microwave until warm. Melt butter and sugar into milk and mix. Mixture should be warm. Pour it into your bread machine. 
3. Mix flour, yeast, salt, baking powder, baking soda together. Then put it into the bread machine and start the dough cycle. The machine will knead it then let it rest. This took my machine an hour. 
4. Once the cycle is completed, the dough should have risen. With a spatula, knead the dough to deflate it. I was lazy and didn't want to take the dough out because it was already 2am in the morning. Once the dough has deflated, the dough is ready to be used but I placed it back into my bread machine and went to bed. 
5. When I was ready to make fresh rolls in the morning, I took the dough out. It has doubled in sized again. I lightly flour a working surface and place the semi-sticky dough on it. I then lightly floured the dough so I could roll it out into a rectangular shape with a rolling pin. 
6. I rolled the dough as thinly as I could. It was about 1/4 inch thick and the size of the dough was about 10"x15"
7. Instead of melting the butter, I creamed it with the cinnamon and sugar. I then used a large spoon and spread it thinly onto my dough until it was covered. 
8. I chose to roll the dough with the long side of the dough to make a log that was about 15" long. I rolled the dough as tightly as I could. 
9. Cut one inch thick slices with a knife and set it on a baking pan. 
10. Arrange the slices onto a baking pan and space them about one inch apart. I used a nonstick light colored baking pan. You can use parchment paper to line your pan or grease it lightly if you wish to do so. I then covered my dough with syran wrap let it rest since I flatten them out to shape them. I waited an hour before baking them. After an hour, the gap between each slice has disappeared because they have risen. 
11. Preheat your oven to 330F. Then bake the rolls for 20minutes until golden brown.