I am back...with Eggless Snow Capped Cookies

Hello Everybody, hope everyone are enjoying and having great time in this summer. I know, I took a long break from blogging, but I am back now and hopefully will not take such long breaks again.

The reason for such a long break is that, we bought a new house last month and all the process of packing and unpacking all the stuff took this long. Still there are few more boxes to unpack, will do that slowly. When we moved last month we just did pooja and milk boiling. Then later that week on a Poornima day we did Satyanarayana Pooja. We missed our family during this celebration.

While packing all the stuff, I was getting frustrated, as it was never ending. At that point, I realized that I had accumulated so many things. It has been a month since we have moved, I am still excited to unpack things, don't know why...

The first thing that I unpacked was the kitchen stuff. Although I prepared sweet on the first day, with all the excitement forgot to click any photos. So, I baked these cookies in my new kitchen. I often make these cookies for my daughter, as it has chocolate and also it is very soft and nutty. This is a recipe given to me by one of our family friend few years back. I have been making them ever since. It is very simple with less sugar, light and delicious. It is nice to have these snow cookies in this summer.

Ingredients:

Plain Flour - 1 3/4 cups

Pecans (chopped) - 1 cup

Butter (softened) - 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup)

Powdered sugar - 1/2 cup

Water - 2 tsp

Vanilla - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Bakers Semi-sweet chocolate - 3 squares

Bakers White chocolate (coarsely grated) - 2 squares

Method:

• Heat oven to 350 deg.
• Combine flour and pecans and set aside.
• Mix butter and sugar until well blended.
• Add water, vanilla, salt and mix well.
• Gradually add flour mixture, stirring until well blended after each addition.
• Shape into 1" balls; place on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
• Cool on wire racks.
• Melt semi- sweet chocolate in a bowl kept on boiling hot water.(see directions on package)
• Dip each cookie halfway into melted chocolate, then sprinkle or press top lightly into grated white chocolate to create snowy appearance.
• Let stand until set.

PS:

• You can use wheat flour instead of plain flour.
• I have added less sugar, you can add more according to your sweetness.
• Walnuts can also be used instead of pecans.
• Grate white chocolate and refrigerate immediately, until ready to use.
• This proportion gave me 36 cookies.
• In this heat to avoid melting of chocolate you have to refrigerate them, otherwise you can store them outside.

Oatmeal, Date and Pecan Squares.

First of all, I am very exited and honoured to receive this beautiful Mammoth Pecans as a gift from the Pecan Company. Last month, when I had posted my Egg less Sweet and Savory Pecan cookies, Jessica dropped by and mentioned about a contest in her company and asked me to send this recipe over. I just sent it over and they told that they will prepare, taste and then select recipes that will be published on their website. The recipes which got selected received this beautiful 1 Lb packet of Pecans. All thanks goes to Jessica who mentioned about this contest. I am really very honoured and also exited on receiving this, as I have not won anything before. It really makes you happy and also motivates you, when you receive such gifts. Hurray!!

So, coming to the recipe, this is a easy and healthy bars. Very soft and has crunchy bite to it while eating.

Ingredients: Pitted dates(coarsely Chopped) – 8 oz or 1 cup Orange juice – 1 ½ cup All purpose flour – 2 ½ cups Brown sugar ( firmly packed) – 1 ½ cup Salt – ½ tsp (optional) Margarine or butter – ¾ pound (3 sticks cut into pieces) Quaker Oats (Quick or Old fashioned, uncooked) – 2 cups Unsweetened shredded coconut – 1 ½ cup Pecans – 1 cup Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 deg.
• In a medium saucepan, combine dates and orange juice, bring to boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt.
• Mix the butter pieces to this and combine till they are crumbly.
• Stir in oats, 1 cup coconut and nuts.
• Remove 4 cups oat mixture for topping.
• Press remaining oat mixture evenly onto bottom of an ungreased 13 by 9 inch baking pan.
• Spread date mixture over crust to within1/4 inch of edges.
• Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture. Then sprinkle with remaining ½ cup coconut, patting gently.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes or until light golden brown.
• Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
• Cut into squares.

My Oatmeal, Date Pecan Squares are off to "Sunday Snacks - Grab n Go" hosted by Pallavi.

Eggless Pecan Cookies - Sweet and Savory

Seeing all the egg less cookies, drove to bake some cookies too. I came across this egg less cookie with less sugar and pecans. I had to give it a try...

Pecans has got so many nutritional values such as adding just a handful of pecans to your diet each day may help inhibit unwanted oxidation of blood lipids, thus helping prevent coronary heart disease. It also plays a role in lowering cholesterol, aids in weight loss and maintenance. The review cited studies indicating that nut consumption may increase metabolic rates and enhance satiety Nearly 60 percent of the fats in pecans are monounsaturated and another 30 percent are polyunsaturated, leaving very little saturated fat in pecans. In addition, pecans contain no trans fat. Pecans contain more than 19 vitamins and minerals – including vitamin A, vitamin E, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, several B vitamins and zinc.

Ingredients:

Softened Butter – 1 cup Sugar – ½ - ¾ cup Vanilla Extract – 1tsp All Purpose flour – 2 cups Pecans (Finely chopped) – 1 cup Confectionery sugar Method:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
• Gradually add flour and then stir in pecans.
• Shape rounded teaspoonful of dough into 2 ½ inch logs and shape into crescents.
• Place one inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

• Bake at 325 deg for 20 – 25 minutes or until set and bottoms are lightly browned.

• Let stand for 2-3 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
• Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving

Savory Pecan Cookies:

When I baked the sweet cookies, my husband started pestering me to make something savory to munch..So, in the evening, I made this cookie and added the nutrient pecans too to it. This recipe is something similar to the khara biscuits (Savory) you get in the bakery in India.

Ingredients:

Softened Butter – ¼ cup All Purpose flour – 1 cup Pecans (Finely chopped) – ¼ cup Onion (Finely chopped) – 1 medium Chilies (Chopped) – 5 – 6 Cumin / Jeera / - 2 tsp Chilli powder (optional) – 1/2 tsp (according to your spice) Salt Soda (optional) – 2 pinch Coriander leaves - 2 Tb spoon(finely chopped)

Method:

• Fry chopped onions till light brown.
• Mix all the above ingredients till it forms nice smooth dough.
• If it is too dry, add a little water while mixing.
• Shape rounded teaspoonful of dough into 2 ½ inch log and shape into crescents.
• Place one inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

• Bake at 325 deg for 20 – 25 minutes or until brown in color.
• Let it cool on a wire rack.

My Eggless Pecan Cookies - Sweet and Savory goes to Aqua Daze of "Served with Love" blog's event "Let's go Nuts: Walnuts or Pecans" with my choice of Pecans.

PS:

• You can use also use walnuts to it.
• You can increase the sugar quantity for the sweet cookies according to your taste buds.
• If you cant make the crescent shape, you can make your own shape.
• You can store both in an air tight container.
• For the savory cookies, you can add chillies according to your taste. You can use either only chillies or chilli powder or both according to your spice.
• You can adjust the butter to according to your taste.

Lemon - Coconut Burfi

This was a long awaiting sweet to make. I had this recipe written down a while ago and at last today the time came to try it out.. There is one more reason to make this sweet.. I was passed on a Lemonade Award by LG from Taste of Mysore.. Thank You Lakshmi for passing me this award. I am very humbled and exited by the award as it is my first award. Thought it would be a perfect sweet made with lemon..:-) It turned out yummy, both my husband and my daughter loved it.

I would like to pass this award to Vanamala, Maya and Ujwal. Ingredients: For the Crust: All-purpose flour - 1 cup Granulated Sugar - 1/4 cup Salt - 1/4 tsp Butter Chilled -6 Tb spoon Coconut Flakes - 3/4 cup (toasted) For the Filling: Granulated Sugar - 3/4 cup Eggs - 2 Fresh Lemon Juice - 3 Tb spoon Lemon zest - 1 Tb spoon Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - pinch Confectioner sugar for dusting Method: To make the crust:

• In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Process briefly until well mixed.
• Add the butter and coconut and process until the mixture resembles a fine Meal.
• Transfer to the prepared pan and press into the bottom to form a crust.
• Bake until light brown around the edges, about 25 min.

For the filling:

• Combine the sugar, eggs, lemon juice and zest, baking powder and salt in a blender or in a food processor.
• Process until smooth.
• When the crust is ready, pout the filling into the hot crust.
• Continue to bake until the filling begins to brown around the edges and is just springy to touch, about 30 minutes.
• Let it cool in the pan on a wire rack.
• Cut into squares, dust the confectioners evenly.
• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

This Lemon - Coconut Burfi is off to FIC - Yellow hosted by Harini's ToungueTicklers.