Crunchy cashew pistachio good day cookies...

Hello friends.. Hope you had a wonderful christmas... Christmas kept me busy too.. So I could not write down recipes in my blog.. But now that I have got some time, I am so excited to write down the beautiful cookie recipe that I did for my friends... It has a bit of twist from my earlier wheat cashew cookies' recipe.. This time I didn't restrict myself on using only particular ingredients... I added half and half wheat and all purpose flour, cashew-nuts and pistachios, semolina, oats and used butter instead of oil..  A pinch of vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger added the required flavours..

My friends loved these cookies.. They said "These are crunchy and taste similar to the 'good day' cookies we get in the market.."  My husband loves having these cookies with tea... 

I found these beautiful, crunchy and delicious. I think a little amount of semolina, cashew and pistachio adds to the crunchiness of the cookies.. Butter gives its own flavour..

I am sure you would like it too.. Check out the recipe and make it at home..

Here’s the recipe. 

Ingredients: 

(Note: The proportion of ingredients below yields around 20 small sized cookies.)

Dry ingredients:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour  
1/2 cup all purpose flour (I used unbleached flour, normal all purpose flour is OK too)

1/4 cup semolina (sooji in hindi)  

1 cup coarsely ground cashew nut and pistachio flour  (Blend total 1 cup of cashew nuts and pistachios in a mixer to form a coarse flour)

1/2 cup granulated white sugar (Can add more if you like sweeter cookies)

2 tsp light brown sugar 

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup white chocolate morsels (optional)

Wet ingredients:

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk for kneading the dough (might need little more depending on the flour quality)

1/4 cup butter (melted) (can reduce the quantity based on personal preference)

less than 1/4 cup flour (either all purpose or wheat for dusting the surface while rolling out cookies).

Spices:

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon powder 

1/4 tsp ground ginger powder(optional)

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Pictures below depict few ingredients...

Melted butter

pistachio and cashewnuts

Coarsely ground cashew and pistachio mixture

Semolina 

White granulated sugar

Baking soda

Light brown sugar

Salt

Cinnamon powder

Ginger powder

Milk for kneading the dough

Procedure:

Add all the dry ingredients along with spices, in a large bowl. (Leave chocolate morsels for now). Mix well.

Add butter, vanilla extract and mix well with hands to form a crumbly mixture.

Add milk little by little and knead a smooth dough. I did it with hands. The consistency should be such that you can roll it out with a rolling pin. Now add chocolate morsels if you wish to. I added few and gently folded them in the kneaded dough. 

Kneaded dough

Adding chocolate morsels to the dough

Dough Ready 

 Let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes. (That’s not necessary though).

Bring the dough on a clean platform surface.  Divide in into two halves and shape each half in form of a ball.. 
Sprinkle some flour on the surface and start rolling out the dough with a rolling pin. Let it be of medium thickness.  I rolled out both the dough balls. 

Rolled out cookie dough balls 

Now using a cookie cutter, cut out cookies of your choices. I cut it in small round and heart shapes. Using the blunt side of  knife or a cookie decorator roller, make vertical stripes to give a fancy look. That’s completely optional and depends on you :-)

Using a spatula, gently lift up the cookies and transfer it on the baking tray.

Before baking

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degree F. Bake the cookies for around 20-25 minutes or until you see beautiful golden brown color on the crust. Be careful and keep an eye as these will get baked in no time. If they stay in oven for more time, they will get burnt at the bottom. So remove it from oven immediately and let it cool down. 

These cookies might feel little soft when you remove them from oven, but will gain crispiness as they cool down. Once the cookies have cooled down,  store them in an air tight container and enjoy it anytime.

Cashew Pistachio good day cookies ready 

Have a wonderful time cooking these beautiful cookies and don't forget to have one for yourself, as these will get over in no time. Everyone including kids will love it. See you again with some new recipe…

Till then.. Happy cooking…

Cheers,

Shweta

Pizza in a new Avatar - Swirly paneer pizza bites..

I know Pizzas are supposed to be circular and served in pie shapes. Ever wondered why?  May be the way pizza is suits itself.. But sometimes just like human beings, food needs a bit of change in its look, so that it feels refreshing, even more beautiful…. This is what I said.. 

"My dear Pizza, relax.. I have heard your call for makeover and will give you a beautiful look today".

A thought of making pizza swirls was going on in my mind… Believe me, the idea turned out awesome.. I also gave it a bit of Indian flavor.. So I call these Paneer Tikka Pizza Swirls…

How do they look?? I am sure you would love these. These are perfect for starters too. Compact and beautiful. These are soft, and taste as cheesy and amazing as regular pizzas..

So, what’s the recipe? It’s simple. Same pizza base, same pizza sauce, a layer of crushed paneer tikka,  finely chopped veggies and a bed of cheese.. Roll it in a log and carve out beautiful swirls…

So why wait?  Let’s get to work..

Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients: 

For the pizza base:

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour (+ little for dusting and kneading)

1 packet (1/4 oz) active dry yeast (2 and 1/4 tsp)

1 tsp salt 

1 tbsp granulated white sugar

2 tbsp olive oil (+ little for covering the kneaded dough)

Dried herbs: 1 tbsp rosemary, 1 tsp thyme  (Note: it’s optional to add herbs..it does add to the taste of the base. You can add dry basil and oregano too.)

1 and 1/3 cups of lukewarm water  (Could need more based on the flour quality)

For pizza sauce:

5 medium sized juicy red tomatoes.

2 garlic cloves chopped finely

1 tsp dried red chilli flakes (can add more based on your preference)

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (red chili powder) (optional)

1 and 1/2 tsp dried oregano ( if you have fresh oregano, add a tsp of it along with dried oregano). I added dried ones as I didn't have fresh oregano available.

1 and 1/2 tsp dried basil 

5-6 fresh basil leaves roughly chopped.. ( Note: if you do not have fresh basil skip it. However it adds a beautiful taste to the sauce.)

Salt as per taste

Sugar 2 tsp, or more as per taste

1 tsp of corn starch

For paneer tikka topping:

Crushed paneer 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups (I blended paneer in a mixer to form a soft crumbly mixture).

1/2 onion finely chopped

1/2 tomato finely chopped

1 tsp finely chopped ginger

1 green chilly finely chopped

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp dry mango powder

1/4 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp olive oil

For additional veggie topping:

1/2 green bell pepper chopped finely

1/2 onion chopped finely

1/2 tomato chopped finely.. 

(Note: You can add any veggies of your choice. However make sure you chop these fine. This helps the veggies to stay intact in the roll.)

Most important ingredient:

Fresh mozzarella cheese (1 cup or more based on personal preference)

Procedure:

Lets make the pizza base dough  first.

Dough:

Heat water and bring it to lukewarm state. (Note: Make sure it is just lukewarm and not hot). Now pour it in a container and transfer yeast in the same container. Just stir it once and let it rest aside for 10 minutes. It will turn bubbly by this time. (Please note: some yeast like instant yeast does not require resting in lukewarm water. 

In the meanwhile in a separate container, transfer the flour. Add salt and sugar. Mix it well with a whisk. Now make a well in the center and pour the oil, warm yeast water and herbs. Now mix everything well. 

Basic Ingredients to make pizza dough

Dry herbs 

Use a hand blender with a dough attachment to knead a soft dough or knead it with your hands on a flat floured platform. Add flour if the dough is too sticky. Knead the dough for about 5-7 minutes. 

Drop some olive oil in the container and cover the dough with oil thoroughly. Form it into a ball. Now cover the container with a plastic wrap and place it in a warm place or switched off oven for about two hours.

Pizza dough ready

You will see that the dough rises to double by this time.

Risen pizza dough

(Note: For this recipe we will use only one half of the pizza dough. You can follow the same procedure on the other half of dough too.)

Pizza sauce:

Blend the tomatoes in a blender and make a puree. 

Heat a pan and add about 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add garlic. Saute it for a minute and then add tomato puree. Stir it well. Let it simmer for about five minutes until the moisture oozes out. 

Now add salt, cayenne, red chilli flakes, sugar, oregano and basil. Add fresh basil too. Stir well. Let it simmer for 5 minutes. Now add cornstarch and stir well. Let it simmer until the sauce is of thick consistency. Switch off the flame and let it cool down.  (Note: Let the sauce not contain moisture. If so, it will make the pizza sauce soggy.)

Pizza sauce in making. Almost ready.

Paneer tikka topping:

Heat a pan. Add oil. Add chopped ginger and chilli. Stir well. Add onions. Saute it well. 

Lower the flame. Add turmeric, dry mango powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder and little lemon juice.  Stir it. Now add the chopped tomato. Sauce it for 1-2 minutes.

Add crushed paneer. Mix it well. Add salt as per taste.

Crushed paneer mixture 

Ingredients for Paneer Tikka

Saute for 1-2 minutes. Switch off the flame. Let it cool down.

Paneer tikka topping

Additional veggie topping:

Keep the finely chopped veggies ready. 

Keep shredded mozzarella cheese ready too.

Rolling out the pizza base dough:

Using a knife, cut out the pizza dough into two halves. We will use one half today. You can use rest half too and repeat the same procedure. The procedure below with one half of dough yield around 10-12 pizza swirls. 

Halved dough

Transfer the dough ball on light floured platform surface. Roll it out into medium thick rectangular sheet. (Like you would do for a medium crust pizza).

Rolled out dough

Lightly brush the surface with olive oil.

Brushing dough surface with oil

Spread out pizza sauce evenly.

Pizza sauce applied

Now spread out panner tikka mixture evenly with a spoon.

Panner tikka layer applied

Sprinkle veggies and gently push them in the surface so that they stay intact while rolling up the pizza base.

Sprinkle some salt and black pepper evenly. 

Sprinkle some dried red chilli flakes and oregano if you want.

Veggies applied

Spread out fresh mozzarella cheese evenly to cover the toppings.

Cheese applied

Now start rolling the pizza base gently. Make sure you it is a tight roll. This will help everything sticking well when the swirls are cut. Pizza log is ready..

Pizza log ready to be cut into swirls

Now cut out around 1/2 inch sized swirls and gently transfer these to pizza baking tray.  Align these keeping some distance between each.  Gently fresh out outer ends of each swirl.

Swirls being cut

Paneer tikka pizza swirls ready to be baked

Baking the pizza swirls:

Pre-heat your oven on 300 degree F. Let the oven be heated properly.

Bake the pizza swirls for 7-9 minutes. These get baked very quickly.

So, the wait is over. The beautiful paneer pizza swirls are ready. Serve it hot. 

Baked paneer tikka pizza swirls 

Just relax and enjoy the delicious pizza swirls.. Do you agree change is good with food too??

I am sure you and your family would the idea of make-overed  pizza. Let me know about it. 
Add your comments in the comments section. I would love to hear your feedback. 

Happy cooking. See you soon with another recipe.

Cheers,

Shweta

The beautiful apple flower blossoms - Apple pies in a cuter version

Hello friends. It’s time for some happy days.. Christmas is nearing and all of us want to be creative in celebrating it. Isn't it?  

In the quest of doing something creative and at the same time gorgeous, I made these sweet little red apple blossoms.  It has a base of apple pie crust, and in the middle there is beautiful swirl of cinnamon-ginger spiced and sweet apple slices. And then these happy appy blossoms are baked to perfection… 

Can you guess how would these look like? Check the pictures below. Don't these look beautiful? I found it too pretty to eat.. I even had a thought to save it for a cake icing. 

But when you finally make up your mind to have these, you find them perfect for Christmas.. Yes, red invokes a festive feeling. Each little beauty is a combination of crusty base petals and a soft, sweet and spiced apple swirl filling.. It just melts in mouth… 

My husband said "These little hand made beauties are something exotic and a must-do for our friends in the upcoming parties".. 
So why wait? Make it... Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients: 

For the crust:

Now: I used clarified butter to make the crust.. You can use chilled butter in its place. 

All purpose flour (Maida) (2 cups)

Clarified butter (ghee) (3 tbsp) at room temperature. (You can also use 3/4 cup cold butter cut into smaller pieces)

Salt(1 tsp)

White granulated sugar 2 tsp in dough (some additional for garnishing)

Chilled water (around 1-2 cups for kneading the dough)

For the apple swirls:

2-3 medium sized red apples

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1/4 tsp ground ginger powder(optional)

1/4 cup white granulated sugar

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp Almond flour (for garnishing) (optional)

6-7 Blanched almonds (for garnishing)(optional)

Procedure:

Lets make the base crust dough  first.

Base Dough:

Transfer flour, sugar and salt in a large container. Mix well.

Sugar

Salt

Add butter and mix well with hands to form a crumbly mixture.

Adding ghee/clarified butter

Crumbly mixture

Add cold water little by little and knead medium soft smooth dough. I did it with hands. Kneading takes about 5-7 minutes. You can use blender/processor with a dough hook to knead the dough. 

Dough Ready

Wrap it with a plastic and let it rest in refrigerator for sometime. This will help the butter(ghee) stay solid and help you get a flaky crispy crust. Remove it 5 minutes before you want to start rolling it. 

While the dough is resting, we can start prep-work on the filling i.e apple swirls..

Filling Prep Work:

I took around 3 medium sized apples.  Cut each apple into halves and discard the seeds… Now cut each half into two and cut out thin D-shaped slices.. I did it with knife.. (Note:You can use food processor to get out thin slices.)

Apple thinly sliced in D-shape

Repeat the process for rest of the apples. 

Once you have all the thin slices ready, transfer them into a  a pan. Let the flame be on low. 

Add cinnamon powder, ginger(optional)powder, sugar and lemon juice.  (Add more sugar if you like more sweet filling.)

Cinnamon

Sugar

Ginger

Stir it well so that the apple slices are coated well with the spices. Cover the pan and let it cook for around 10-15 minutes or until the slices become soft and could be bent easily. Let it rest until we roll out and set our base crust.

Making Base Flower Crust:

Transfer the dough on a flat surface. Sprinkle some flour on it. Using a rolling pin, roll it out like you do for a paratha. Let it be of medium thickness.

Rolled out dough

Cut out as many medium sized heart shapes as you can using a cookie cutter.

Cutting heart shaped petals

Heart shaped petals

Now brush your cupcake baking tray with cooking spray/butter. Arrange 3-4 heart pieces by overlapping each in a cup cake stand. (I used 3 in each). Keep the heart shapes on top, and narrow bottom in centre. Press overlapping ends and middle base so that the shape is intact.  (Note: I used silicon baking cups.. But I think metal cupcake baking tray would be a better option.)

Flower base crust 

Repeat the same for rest of the flower bases. Once the flower bases are ready, keep them in refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.

Ready flower base crusts

Making Apple swirls:

Now starts our creative work to make beautiful apple roses.

Arrange around 12-15 slices overlapping each other in a linear fashion as shown in picture.

Apple slices arranged in linear fashion

Repeat the same for rest of the apple slices. You may be able to form around 6 such columns of apple slices. 

Now start rolling a line of such apple slices from left to right. Use thumb and fingers to do this, so that the flower doesn't deform. Once you have it ready arrange it in middle of the base flower crust that we prepared earlier.

Rolling out apple slices

Placed apple swirls in flower base crust

Repeat the same to form other apple flower swirls. Arrange each in flower base crusts. 

Apple flower blossoms ready to be baked

Baking the beautiful apple flower blossoms.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degree F. 

Sprinkle some granulated sugar over each flower. Sprinkle some ground almond flour too. I inserted a blanched almond in the middle of each flower to enhance its look. But this is completely optional.

Sprinkled sugar, almond flour and placed almond in the center

Bake these for around 30-35 minutes or until you see a beautiful golden crust. 

Let it cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Ready apple flower blossoms..

I assure you these would turn out beautiful and taste as amazing as they look. Beauty with taste :-). Best for festive season. Enjoy the gorgeous apple flower blossoms with your loved ones.. 
Add your comments in the comments section. I would love to hear your feedback.

See you again with some new recipe…

Till then.. Happy cooking…

Cheers,

Shweta