EGGLESS MUFFINS

Hi all, this is my latest experiment of egg less muffins. My son's friend who is allergic to eggs, inspired me to make these muffins. They turned out very nice and you will never know the difference from ordinary muffins. Hope you like them. Below makes 12 muffins.

YOU NEED

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tbsp coco powder
• 1 cup of nuts, dried fruit and chocolate drops mixture
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 -7 tbsp melted butter or oil ( I prefer to use less butter )
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• Brown sugar and sunflower seeds for sprinkling

1) Sieve the flour with baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and coco powder. Add the nut and dried fruit mixture, mix.

2) In a separate bowl, whisk sugar, butter, milk and vanilla essence.

3) Pour the wet mixture slowly to the dry mixture and mix. Fold with a wooden spoon and drop 2 tbsp of the mixture to each muffin case.

4) Sprinkle the tops with brown sugar and sunflower seeds and bake at preheated oven 180 C, 160 fan setting for 20 minutes.

5) Cool them on wire rack before serving.

CHOCOLATE AND ORANGE CAKE

It was my daughter's birthday and enjoyed making this cake with chocolate drops, orange zest and orange juice. The cake was nice and moist and had a  good texture with a fresh orange flavour. Cake covering was rich with double cream and chocolate but we all enjoyed it as a special treat. I decorated the cake with apple blossoms but decorate as how you like with chocolate or butter icing.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 1/4 cups of fresh orange juice
• grated rind of 1 orange
• 100 g chocolate drops

For the cake covering

• 200 ml double cream
•  200 g dark chocolate

METHOD

Sift flour with salt and baking powder. Set aside.

Separate the eggs.

Grate the orange .

Grease and flour a 25 cm kugelhopf  ring tin

Preheat the oven to 180 C, 160 Fan setting.

1) Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy with a hand held mixer. Add egg yolks one at a time whisking after each addition.

2) Fold the sifted flour with salt and baking powder into the creamed mixture. Add the orange juice mixing with a metal spoon. Stir in the orange rind and chocolate drops.

3) Whisk the egg whites  in a separate bowl until it is at soft peak stage and fold them into the mixture.

4) Pour into the prepared mould and bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. 

5) Rewove the cake from oven and cool for 10 minutes in the tin. Then invert the cake onto a wire rack to cool for further 15- 20 minutes or until it is completely cool.

MAKE THE CHOCOLATE COVERING

1 )Bring cream to boil in a pan. Break chocolate into small pieces. Place the chocolate pieces into a heatproof  bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Place the bowl with  cream and chocolate mixture over a pan with hot water. Bring water to boil and melt the chocolate gently, stirring all the time. When chocolate is completely melted, take of the heat.

2) Let it cool until just runny enough to pour the chocolate sauce over the cake.

3) Let the chocolate set before decorating the cake.

CHILI CHOCOLATE BISCUITS-COOKIES ( aci biber ve cukulota biskuvisi )

I have heard people talking about chili cookies and instantly thought that I would love  to make my own. I used my basic cookie dough recipe with little changes made because of the chili used. When I made the first batch I was so excited to see how they turned out. I made myself a nice cup of coffee and sat down to enjoy chili and chocolate cookie. I like chili and use it almost everyday with my cooking. As I finished my cookie I realized I used extra hot chili which I use making curry.It tasted rather hot and over powering.

So I was back in  the kitchen and by second and third try I perfected it and eventually got it right. As you can imagine, I ended up with lots of cookies in my tin which I have to give away to  friends and also enjoy them with family. Hope you enjoy...

CHILI CHOCOLATE BISCUITS

• 100 g butter, melted,( 9-10 tbsp melted )
• 150 g caster sugar ( 1 cup )
• 1 egg, beaten
• 200g plain flour ( 2 cups )
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 level  tsp cayenne pepper
• 100 g fruit and nut chocolate bar
• 2 tsp runny honey

1) Lightly grease 2 baking trays. Preheat the oven to 190C, 170 C fan setting.

2) In a dip mixing bowl mix butter and sugar and beat well. Add the beaten egg little at time, mixing and beating after each addition.

3) Sieve the flour together with baking powder and chili powder. Add the flour into the bowl. 

4) Place broken chocolate pieces in a freezer bag and roll it with a rolling pin. We should have roughly chopped pieces.

5) Add chocolate pieces and  and honey to the bowl of flour mixture.  Mix all the ingredients together to form a soft dough. Wrap and let it rest 15-20 if you have time.

6) Form the dough into round  pieces and press them lightly. Place them onto the baking tray. (use floured hands if sticky ).Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly  golden brown. Transfer the cookies onto wire rack and leave to cool. Makes 20 cookies.

CHILI AND MIXED DRIED FRUIT COOKIES

While I was in the mood for baking I thought I experiment a little and make another batch. This time I replaced the chocolate with 100 g of dried mix fruit and instead of butter I used  9-10 tb spoons of flavorless oil . I also used 2 tb spoon of sesame seeds for sprinkling.

All the other ingredients and method of making these is the same as chili and chocolate cookie method.. They were lovely and softer in texture.  This also makes 20.

NOT : If you just want a hint of chili taste, only use half a teaspoon of the cayenne pepper.

FRUIT & NUT CHOCOLATE COOKIES WITH SESAME SEEDS (cukulota ve susam biskuvi,kuki ))

Yesterday it was snowing outside and I thought what better than to put the kettle on,  for a nice cup of coffee  and make some cookies while watching the snow falling. I was in a creative mood and  created this recipe. It took couple of attempts  to get the recipe right but the result was very good and the cookies were lovely. Makes 30- 32 cookies.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 5 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 egg and plus 1 egg white, beaten
• 2  full cups of self raising wholemeal flour ( 250 g )
• pinch of salt
• 1 level tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 100 g fruit and nut chocolate, chopped
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 yolk of an egg for glazing
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds for sprinkling.

METHOD

Preheat the oven and grease the baking tray. Place chocolate in a plastic bag and break them with the rolling pin until you have small pieces. Set aside. Separate one of the eggs to use the yolk for glazing and white for the dough mixture.

1) In a large  mixing bowl, cream the butter, olive oil and sugar until light and fluffy. I used electric hand blender. 

2) Add the beaten egg and egg white gradually. Sieve the flour, cinnamon and salt together. Mix the sesame seeds and chocolate pieces with the flour. Then add flour and nut mixture into the  creamed mixture, mix well with a wooden spoon. Add milk and mix thoroughly.

3) Divide the dough in to 30 walnut size pieces and shape them with floured hands,  into rounds. 

4) Place them into the baking tray and press them gently to make 5 cm round cookies. Brush them with egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

5) Bake in preheated oven 190 C, 170 Fan setting for 12- 15 minutes. Cool them on wire rack before serving.

BANANA,CHOCOLATE CHIP AND HAZELNUT MUFFINS

This  is my friend Lisa's recipe from Canada. They are ready in no time and are  simply delicious.

INGREDIENTS

• 230 g whole wheat flour
• 230 g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100 g chocolate chips
• 100 g chopped hazelnuts
• 100 g fresh or frozen bananas
• 125 ml milk
• 2 tsp white vinegar
• 50 ml olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla or rum extract
• 230 g brown sugar
• 2 large eggs

METHOD

Pre heat the oven to 350F, 180C, 160 Fan.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and mix well. Add the hazelnuts and chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a blender, add chopped bananas, eggs, milk, oil, vinegar, vanilla and rum extract. Blend until smooth. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture. Mix well until all combined together. Spoon the muffin mixture into the paper cases, bake in the middle shelf for 20-30 minutes.

NOT: I didn't have enough chocolate chips, so used sultanas to make up the amount. I also sprinkled the muffins with sugar and cinnamon mixture just before they went into the oven. I hope you don't mind Lisa, LOL !!!

LISA'S BLOG: www.lisaopolis.wordpress.com