~~Carrot Muffins~~

I've always liked carrot cake.. The sweet taste of those orange creatures along with the perfect aroma of cinnamon.. Tastes just like heaven, don't you think?

I've been promising myself for a while that I would make some carroty muffins as a treat... So now's the time.. Whee~~ *jumps for joy*



The muffins came out lacking a bit of carrot taste, so I guess next time, I'd put in more carrots. But no complains from the friends I fed. They all loved it.. (or they were too hungry to care, I wasn't too sure which.)



Ingredients

50 g pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped ** I didn't have any nuts handy, so I went without, it turned out just fine.**

270 g grated raw carrot (about 2-3 peeled carrots)

1 large apple, peeled and grated

260 g all-purpose flour

250 g granulated white sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (180 ml) safflower, corn, or canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Place paper liners in 18 muffin cups.
2. Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop coarsely. **Skip this if you have omitted the nuts.**
3. Peel and finely grate the carrots and apple. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Stir in the nuts. Set aside.
5. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla extract. Fold the wet ingredients, along with the grated carrot and apple, into the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 10 minutes remove the muffins from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Makes 18 standard-sized muffins.

Yummeh~~

~~Chocolate cookies~~

This is an all-time favourite among the people around me. It's nice and simple and you can even pre-make the dough and freeze them so you'd have fresh cookies any time.



Ingredients

110g Butter
100g Light brown sugar
40g Castor Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
140 g all purpose flour
30 g unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
A pinch of Salt
200g Chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 180 °C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
   
2. Using electric whisk, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.x
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
   
4. Add the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract.
   
5. Add the flour mix in stages, mixing until incorporated.
   
6. Fold in the the chocolate chips.
   
7. Using two spoons place about 1 1/2 tbsp of batter onto the baking sheet, leaving 2inch of a gap between them. Flatten each one slightly. (This is the stage where you can stuff them into freezer bags and into the freezer for later use.)
8. Bake the cookies for about 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
   
9. Makes about 24 cookies.

~~Crumble and Crunch Bars~~

This is a recipe adapted from some newspaper cuttings saved from years ago. It's an all time favourite in the household, and best of all, it's very easy to make!


Ingredients
100g Butter
45g Castor Sugar
1 Egg Yolk150g Plain Flour
5tbsp Strawberry Jam

Toppings
100g Butter
150g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder50g Soft Brown Sugar
40g Chopped Mixed Nuts

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 8in sqr baking tin with butter.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually add in the egg yolk and flour alternatively. Mix till a soft dough is formed.
   
3. Press the mixture into the bottom of the tin.
4. Bake the biscuit base for 15 minutes. While it is in the oven, we can make the topping
5. Mix together the flour and baking powder, and rub in the butter.
6. Stir in the sugar and nuts.
   
7. Take the biscuit base out of the oven and spread the jam while it's still warm.
8. Sprinkle the topping on top of the jam and bake for another 35minutes.
   
9. Cool completely before cutting into 14bars.

Baker's Note:

• If your strawberry jam was like mine and has a knack of staying together and refused to spread, put the jam into a bowl and stir it around a bit, so the jam.. erm...loosens up; trust me, it helps.
• The original recipe says to 'sprinkle the toppings'; what I normally do is to take little bits of dough and flattening it in my hands before laying it on top of the jam. I only 'sprinkle when I have the jam is mostly covered.
  
• I normally cut mine into 16 squares. So go ahead and figure out what works for you.

My sister's colleagues seem to have taken a liking to these gorgeous-jammied-crunchy-crumbly treats and have been placing orders for them:

*Drools*

~~Introduction~~

First thing first, a brief introduction of myself is called for. I'm just an ordinary 19 yr old undergraduate student currently studying in Malaysia, and awaiting to transfer to the US of A for a major in Molecular Biology. After which, if opportunity arises, will either go on the path to get a Masters and PhD in Oncology Research, or go into Medicine, specializing in Pediatric Oncology.

I play the guitar and piano; I love to read; music is a must in my life (fav male artists include Show Luo and JJ Lin, if you don't know who they are, please do yourself justice and google them!) AND oh! I absolutely love to bake!

So why the blog? Well, I have to say, after watching Julie and Julia, I was inspired. And adding to the fact that I love to stalk read other bakers' blogs, I thought I'll start one myself.

A few of the recipes I will put up are my own, most are other people's (and I will do my best to always list down my sources), and for some weird and wonderful reason, I can never resist not tweaking with a recipe, so do forgive me. =)

So let the journey begin! Ikimashou!!