There are hundreds, if not thousands of different recipes for oatmeal cookies…I cannot for sure tell you where I came up with this recipe. Of course by mixing, matching and trying different proportions from many recipes…and this is the recipe that I like to use when it comes to oatmeal cookies. I like my cookies chewy and my husband like them crunchy, so I bake the ones for him for a couple of minutes longer.

In spite of a big list of different ingredients required for this recipe, most of them, if not all, are ingredients that we all have available, so here it is…

Ingredients:

½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup oat
2/3 cup raisin
2/3 cup chopped walnut

Method:

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together, except the oatmeal. Set aside.

In a bowl, beat the butter and the sugar, until creamy and light, add the egg and continue to beat until light and fluffy.

Fold in the flour mix, mix gently, add the oat and then the raisin and walnut.

Spoon the dough in a cookie sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven for 12 minutes at 350F.

I hope you enjoy this simple recipe for oatmeal cookies. If you like this cookie recipe, you might want to check the Peanut Butter Cookies and Chocolate Chips Cookies out.

Did you know that oat contain a lot of soluble fiber? Therefore, it helps to lower cholesterol. The sticky and viscous texture of oat when cooked is due to its soluble fiber referred as beta-glucan.

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Don’t you always have bananas on your counter that are screaming to be used? Well, somehow I always find them looking at me and begging to be used…as a matter of fact we are not buying them at Costco anymore because it is too many for us, so we just buy by units at Trader Joe’s. Once in a while I find myself stuck with a couple of them…

This time I decided to make banana jam, sort of, with some cinnamon and fill the crescent rolls with it…and if you have left over, these are delicious over vanilla ice cream, on a toast, pancake…almost like banana foster.

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tube of crescent rolls

Method:

Cut the banana into approximately ½ inch size.

In a small pan place all the ingredients except for the crescent and turn the stove to medium low heat. Stir occasionally until the banana mix is slightly thick, cook for about 6 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let it cool.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 350F.

Remove the crescent dough from the tube and gently separate the triangles.

Place about 2 to 3 tablespoon of the banana jam on the crescent roll, spreading evenly.

Roll from the wider side of the triangle tip.

Place the rolls on a silicon mat and bake for approximately 14 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

Serve warm or cold.

I hope you give a try to this simple and delicious recipe for banana jam. If you have lots of ripe banana, you might want to try Light Banana Loaf or Banana Muffins with Walnuts.

Did you know that banana contains dietary fibers? And it is a good source of vitamin C, potassium and manganese, but the majority of the calories are derived from sugars.

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This is very typical Asian sweet, it can be served as dessert or as snack. It is soupy and contain mainly green beans, barley and little balls of glutinous flour know as mochi.

This is one of the food that I love and amazes me that my husband enjoys it… very much…I say that because this is so “Asian”…even many Asian people do not care for it, let alone people that was never exposed to it…

I must admit that the concept of sweet bean soup with mochi. Mochi? Yes, this gooey sticky little balls floating in a not so appealing murky, brownish, greenish color soup…and served iced, cold or warm? Yes, it might be troublesome for some people to accept hehehe! That is why I was so surprised that my husband embraced this dessert/snack so fast and often asks me to make it.

I have been cooking this for a while and it is perfect at any season of the year…I serve it cold/iced during summer and warm during winter. I often have the little mochi balls in the freezer…so when need I boiled them for a few minutes and it is ready to go.

In this particular recipe I added barley and use coconut sugar to sweeten the green bean soup, but you are free to use whatever kind of grains and sugar.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup dry green beans (mung beans)
1/3 cup barley
Coconut sugar to taste

Fresh made or frozen mochi balls.

Method:

Wash the green beans and soak in water overnight. Do the same with the barley.

Place the bean and the barley in a thermo cooker and follow the instruction, making sure that the beans are fully cooked and soft. In case you do not have a thermo cooker please do the following:

In a big pot add the green bean and barley with water, about 1 ½ in above the bean. Cook until the beans have soften.

Add more water and coconut sugar to your taste. You can adjust the thickness of the soup according to your taste.

Cook the mochi balls accordingly, drain and put in the bean soup, or if you want to serve them cold, rinse the mocha balls with cold water and then add to the bean soup.

I hope you are dare enough to try this simple recipe for Green Bean Soup with Mochi…and hey, you might find out that you like this.

If you enjoy this recipe using glutinous flour you might want to try this Asian inspired Brazilian snack, Mochi Cheese Balls.

Did you know that the bean sprouts that you often see in Asian groceries are germinated from mung beans? Moreover, the starch extracted from these beans is used to make the bean thread or glass noodles, which are popular in Asian cuisine

Thank you for stopping by Color Your Recipes…have a colorful day!

These cookies are great, they are crusty on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside. You will need only 4 ingredients, it is dairy and gluten free…and so simple to make. The ingredients are the same as for marzipan or almond paste, only in different ratio.

I love these cookies at any time with coffee, tea or just as a little snack. They make awesome little gifts, especially during this time of the year.

Ingredients:

14 oz blanched almond
1 ½ cup powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar
1 egg white
2 teaspoon almond extract

1 egg yolk from the egg white used above (store in the refrigerator)

Method:

To blanch the almonds, place almonds in a bowl and pour boiling water to cover the almonds. Let the almond sit for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the water and rinse under cold water. Drain the almonds and slip the skin off. Let them dry completely using.

Place the almond in the bowl of the food processor and pulse a few times until fine ground. Add the sugar and continuo to pulse until finely ground. Add the egg white and the almond extract, pulse again until a ball forms (sort of).

Remove the ball from the food processor bowl and make a ball. Split the ball into two pieces and wrap the one and set aside.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mat. Set aside.
With the other one, make a ball and roll with a roller pin into about ½ in thickness. Cut out the dough with the cutter of your choice, make it small, and set them o the baking sheet, just a little apart of each other. Repeat with the second ball of dough. Once all the dough is cut out, uncovered 6 to 7 hours or overnight.

After the cookies have set and dried out, preheat the oven to 400F.

Gently mix the egg yolk and brush the cookies with it. Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes until the top slightly golden.

Let them cool on the wire rack and store in an airtight container.

If you enjoy this simple recipe for Almond Cookies you might want to check on the Roasted Cinnamon Almond from Color Your Recipes.

Did you know that almonds are rich in vitamins and minerals? Almonds are cholesterol free and contain unsaturated fat, which can help reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

For the longest time I wanted to bake using browned butter…and did not know what to bake until I thought…why not use the brown of the butter for the chocolate chips cookie? And it was exactly what I did.

I just could not believe the aroma that came from browning the butter…I felt like drinking the melted butter…of course I did not, but the smell was very inviting. It is a very simple recipes, very similar to the recipe of my chocolate chips cookies (well, I did not have enough brown sugar, so completer with what I had with regular sugar) and added an extra step for browning the butter, but let me tell you, well worth  the extra pan that I had to wash.

Before I forget, I just added a new page, TRAVEL. There you can find pictures from our recent travels, if you are interested in seeing it…be warned,  it is kind of long, so get some popcorn and a drink 

Now back to the recipe…

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped walnut

Method:

Place the butter in a small pan on medium heat. Let the butter melt by stirring frequently, once the butter melts and begins to foam, continue to cook until brown specks start to form. Be careful so you do not burn it. The butter will have a wonderful nutty aroma. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.

Preheat oven to 3500F degrees.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer cream together the browned butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.

Combine dry ingredients to the creamed butter. Stir in the chocolate chips and the walnut.

With the help of two spoons, spoon the dough on to a wax paper, cover cookie sheet or a silicone mate, 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or just until edges are slightly brown.

Makes two dozen cookies.

Did you know that browned butter is “beurre noisette” in French? It means hazelnut butter and it is often used in French pastry production. The process of browning the butter starts with placing the butter in heat until the butter melts and begins to foam. The color will be from a yellow to golden tan to a toasty brown. Brown butter is very versatile and can be used wherever butter is used.

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When I bought the can of pumpkin from Trader Joe’s, I had no idea what I wanted to use the can for…I just knew that I wanted to make something using pumpkin…after all, it is Fall and Halloween is around the corner.
After many thoughts…why not pumpkin buns using the water roux method? But what do to with the remaining of the pumpkin? Why not fill the buns with it? So this was the end of my quest…pumpkin buns filled with pumpkin. In the middle of the baking, I decided to try and make some rolls as well, like the cinnamon rolls, using the pumpkin filling…

The buns and rolls came out delicious, the combination of the soft and pillowy bread with the creamy pumpkin filling was just perfect.

Ingredients:

Water roux or Tangzhong
15 g bread flour
75 ml water

Dough
1 ½ cup bread flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons dry milk
1 ½ tablespoons butter
1 ½ teaspoons yeast
1 egg
½ cup mashed pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
Water as needed

Pumpkin filling
1 can of pumpkin minus the ½ cup (used in the dough)
3 to 4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkins spice
2 tablespoons fresh milk

Egg wash
Poppy seeds

Method:

Water roux

In a small pan, mix all the ingredients of water roux, place in  low heat and stir constantly until the temperature reaches 65oC (150F), or if you do not have a thermometer, cook until ripples form. Set aside to cool by covering with a plastic film.

Dough

In the bread machine bucket, add the water roux, and all the other ingredients listed under “dough”, except for the butter.

Turn the machine to knead mode until it forms soft dough, add more water if needed. Add the butter and let it knead until the butter incorporates to the dough.

Remove the dough and place in a bowl by covering with a plastic film.

Let both dough proof until the dough doubles to its original size. In the meantime prepare the pumpkin filling by mixing all the ingredients in a medium bowl.

Knock back the dough and split into 2 balls and let it rest for 5 minutes on the counter.

Flatten one of the balls and shape like a Swiss roll, place half of the filling and roll it like a Swiss roll. Cut in 8 equal size and place in a pan, cover the pan with a plastic film until it sizes double.

With the other half ball, split into 8 small portions. Flatten the dough with the roller pin and with your fingers until a disk. Place some filling in the middle of the disk and seal it with all the filling in it. Place the filled buns on the tray, cover with a plastic film and let them rest until their sizes double.

When ready to bake, with a sharp scissor make cuts on the side of the buns and brush the top of the buns with the egg wash and sprinkle some poppy seeds on it.

In a preheated oven of 350 bake the buns and rolls for approximately 25 minutes or until golden brown
Remove from the oven and cool the buns/rolls on a wire rack.

If you enjoy this pumpkin buns using water roux method, you might want to check on Simple Pumpkin Cupcakes or Pumpkin Cookies for recipe using pumpkin.

Did you know that pumpkin is very rich in dietary fiber? Moreover, due to its high content in antioxidants, minerals and vitamins is one of the food item that is recommended by dieticians for cholesterol and weight controlling program.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!