Lemon Crinkle Melts

A melt in your mouth lemon cookies.. Ooh, how I love thee. I craved them one afternoon so bad that I had to bake them PRONTO! I LOVE lemon even more than chocolate. Please don’t hate me! If there is a choice between chocolate and fruit, I most certainly always choose the latter (umm..yess.. mostly!). Chocolate vs lemon tart? Absolutely lemon tart! Chocolate donuts or strawberry filled donuts? Undoubtedly strawberry! Are we still friends? Okay, great! 🙂

These cookies were SOOO GOOD that I might have tried eating 4 in a go. Don’t try to picture that! I found this fantastic recipe on White On Rice Couple blog and they looked so gorgeous that I had to make them. I slightly reduced the quantity of butter and sugar mentioned in the recipe to suit our taste and they were perfect for us.

This recipe does not use any lemon extract and if you are worried about the lemon quotient then worry not, my friends. They are plenty lemony. I was blown away by the flavor and texture would be an understatement! If you love lemon cookies and love snickerdoodles like I do, you will find yourself stuffing yourself silly with these lovely cookies. Soft interior with slightly crisp exterior achieved by rolling the dough in confectioners sugar before baking. Delicate and bright! What’s not to love?!

Can you tell I’m obsessed? Yeah, this recipe will be definitely made again & again & again.
Enjoy!

Lemon Crinkle Melts

Recipe slightly adapted from White On Rice Couple

Yields: Around 24 cookies or more depending on size

Prep time: 10 minutes | Chill time: 30 minutes | Bake time: 9-11 minutes | Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg (make it eggfree & use 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line a couple cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda for at least 20 seconds. Set aside.
3. In a bowl of your mixer, add lemon zest, brown sugar, white sugar and mix together with hand. Add butter to the bowl and beat butter and zesty sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract, egg and lemon juice until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again to make sure everything is incorporated.
4. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to get all of the flour. Cover the bowl with cling film and let the dough chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
5. Sift the confectioners sugar onto a large plate. Form the dough into 1 inch sized balls. Roll the balls in the confectioners sugar then place 2 inches apart on the lined cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies just begin to turn light golden and the tops of the cookies look matte (no longer shiny or wet looking). Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: To make these cookies vegan, replace butter with vegan margarine.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ Eggfree & Vegan

 

A classic chocolate chip cookies with a glass of milk! Match indeed made in heaven!

Imagine to be able to have a healthier version of the buttery classic. After receiving rave reviews about Inside Out Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies(Thank you all!), I decided to recreate them into a classic chocolate chip version. I used olive oil instead of butter this time around and skipped milk completely. The result was amazing. I am not claiming these cookies to be skinny or low-fat. They are still 120 calorie each(assuming you get exactly 30 cookies) but you won’t miss the evil fat here, trust me! (Come on, olive oil is a good fat!)

 

 

 

If you’re crispy cookie person then flatten the cookie dough thin as per your liking and let them bake for an extra minute or so. When baked thick and puffy, these cookies are soft and equally chocolicious. You won’t be able to stop at just one, I know you guys too well! 😉

Enjoy & have a gorgeous weekend!
Eeeep… I am off to a road trip and shall share more once I am back! 🙂

Whole wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ Eggfree & Vegan

Yields: Around 30 cookies | Prep time: 15 minutes | Chill time: 30-60 minutes | Bake time: 14-15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp flaxseed powder + 9 Tbsp water
• 1/2 cup olive oil (unsalted butter can be substituted)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup date syrup
• 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 + 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 + 1/4 cup mix of dark & milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together flax seed powder and water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk olive oil and sugar together til completely incorporated. Whisk in date syrup, vanilla extract and flax seed mixture.
4. Stir in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients to form a dough. Fold in chocolate chips. Chill the dough in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Take about 2 Tbsp of dough, form it into a ball between your palms and flatten them with fingers or a fork. The cookies won’t spread much while baking so flatten how much ever thickness you like. Bake them for 14-15 minutes. Let them cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them on cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will stay fresh for 1 week at room temperature stored in an airtight container.

Inside-Out Double Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies ~ Whole Wheat & Eggfree!

 

Hope the new year started on a wonderful note for you all! I am still trying to recover from the indulgent last week we had. But don’t worry, I am not here to talk about my new year resolutions or boring stuff like that 😉 I love how each new year allows us to have a clean, fresh slate giving us time to reflect upon the past and visualize the future.

I simply don’t believe in dieting. Too much of good things can’t ever be bad now, can it! Plus, I always feel that being fit is certainly not about following a restrictive diet but making a lifestyle choice. And I certainly believe in eating healthy which goes without saying as my blog-post titles almost always include healthy, skinny or light, more than you would like to see may be!

So this year is going to be all about being happy! (You can track my progress on my Instagram) Taking each day as it comes. You all know I am not much of a planner so this is all I am looking forward to this year. Umm, may be a bit more of travelling! 😉

 

 

These cookies were developed in 2013 and I never got a chance to share them at that time. I knooow it’s a crime and hence I don’t want to keep this fabulous recipe from you anymore. So I am choosing to showcase these unbelievably soft and chewy chocolate cookies laced with chocolate chips and M&Ms as a first recipe post of 2014! They are perfectly thick and so puffy. With a pop of color too!

I have kept those of you in mind who are resolute to eat healthy this year. These cookies use whole wheat flour, brown sugar and date syrup. Of course, without compromising on taste. Oh, they are eggfree too! To make them vegan, you may replace butter with olive oil and replace regular milk with soy/almond milk. Best of all world indeed! You may use any or combination of your favorite chocolate chips. I would love to use white chocolate chips the next time around because of the brilliant visual effect it will create!

 

 

Inside-Out Double Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies ~ Whole Wheat & Eggfree

Yields: Around 30 cookies | Prep time: 15 minutes | Chill time: 30-60 minutes | Bake time: 13 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp flax seed powder + 4 Tbsp water + 5 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup date syrup
• 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• lots n lots of M&Ms

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together flax seed powder, water and milk. Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, with the help of your electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy on a medium speed for about 1-2 minute. Beat in date syrup, vanilla extract and flax seed mixture.
4. Fold in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Add 3 Tbsp of milk to form the dough. Fold in chocolate chips. Chill the dough in refrigerator for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/325ºF. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Take about 2 Tbsp of dough, form it into a ball between your palms and flatten them. The cookies won’t spread much while baking so flatten how much ever thickness you like. Press M&Ms on the cookie dough. Bake them for 13 minutes. Let them cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them on cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will stay fresh for 1 week at room temperature in an airtight container.

*For vegan version : Replace butter with olive oil and replace regular milk with soy/almond milk.

#fbcookieswap : Maple Snickerdoodles

Third & final recipe of the cookie swap! My third match was Himanshu of The White Ramekins. He has such an amazing blog. Scrumptious recipes accompanies beautiful photography. His blog is a delight to see and read!

This recipe is unbelievably simple, made with simple ingredients which I always have handy. I am sure you will too. I love everything cinnamon and these cookies fit the bill perfectly for all the cinnamon lovers! Perfect for the holiday season!

These cookies are soft, thick and pillowy with a subtle hint from maple. I like my cookies soft so I baked them for just about 10 minutes but if you don’t then extend the baking time to 13 minutes.

To be honest, they are too good to be shared. Really, they turned out so awesome that I was tempted to eat the whole batch myself and not ship them at all! Best cookies ever!! You have to have to have to make these! Believe me & add it to your holiday baking list 🙂

Happy Christmas baking all of you!

Enjoy!

Maple Snickerdoodles

Recipe inspired from Recipe Girl

Makes: 12 cookies | Prep time: 10 minutes | Chilling time: 30-60 minutes | Baking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp real maple syrup
• 1 egg, large

Topping:

• 4 Tbsp maple/vanilla sugar
• 1/2 heaping tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In a bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy on a medium speed for about 1-2 minute. Beat in maple syrup and egg.
3. Gradually add dry ingredients to the bowl and beat at slow speed until no flour pockets remain. Let the dough chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Do not skip this step as the dough is unmanageable at the room temperature.
4. Preheat the oven at 180ºC / 350ºF. Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper.
   In a small dish, mix together the topping ingredients. Take about 2 Tbsp of dough and form it into a ball between your palms. Roll the ball in the topping mixture making sure they get coated thick and even.
5. Arrange the dough balls on cookie sheet 2-inch apart from each other and bake for 10-11 minutes. Do not overbake. The sides should be golden and center may seem soft but it will set once cooled. Let the cookies cool on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack. Once cooled completely, transfer it to an airtight container. Cookies keep fresh for about 7 days at room temperature.

#fbcookieswap : Zesty Whole Wheat Pumpkin Seeds Oatmeal Cookies

 

This is the second recipe that was made for cookie swap and these were shipped to Deeba of Passionate about baking. When I received her as my match I was ecstatic. It was a pure fan-girl moment! She and her blog is truly an inspiration for me. She captures mouthwatering food-pics and if you haven’t already, you must subscribe to her blog NOW. It was a difficult task deciding what to bake for her and I finally came up with these simple cookies. I hope she enjoyed them as much as I did 🙂

 

 

These oatmeal cookies are made with whole wheat flour. Magic ingredient involved – Cornstarch! It has been added to the cookies which keeps them thick and puffed after baking. Each bite is orange-y and filled with pumpkin seeds. Do not skip the dough chilling step. It is absolutely mandatory for the ease of handling dough. Another important tip is to not over-crowd the cookie sheet. Arrange only 9 dough-balls for each batch.

Happy Baking!

Zesty Whole Wheat Pumpkin Seeds Oatmeal Cookies

Makes: 20 cookies | Prep time: 10 minutes | Chill time: 30-60 minutes | Bake time: 8-9 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp oats
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 Tbsp freshly grated orange zest
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp orange extract (optional)
• 3/4 cup pumpkin seeds, roasted
• 2 Tbsp milk

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In a bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy on a medium speed for about 1-2 minute. Whisk in orange zest. Add egg and continue to beat for another minute. Whisk in vanilla and orange extract.
3. Carefully add dry ingredients to the bowl and beat at slow speed until no flour pockets remain. Add 2 Tbsp milk to bring the dough together.
4. Fold in the pumpkin seeds to the dough. Let the dough chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Do not skip this step as the dough is unmanageable at the room temperature.
5. Preheat the oven at 180ºC / 350ºF. Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Take 1 Tbsp of dough and form it into a ball between your palms. Arrange the dough balls on cookie sheet 2-inch apart from each other and bake for 8-9 minutes. Do not overbake. The sides should be golden and center may seem soft but it will set once cooled. Let the cookies cool on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer it to a cooling rack. Once cooled completely, transfer it to an airtight container. Cookies keep fresh for about 7 days at room temperature.

#fbcookieswap : Oatmeal-Apricots White Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am sure you all remember this amazing cookie swap I told you about few blog-posts earlier. This was my first year participating and I was over-enthusiastic! I mean why not? I get to experiment with new cookie recipes this holiday season and get to support a great cause as well.

I baked 3 different cookies in 1-dozen batches and shipped them on the same day way before the deadline. Yes, I did make 3 different recipes and not 1. (Yes, I’m crazy like that!) To my amazement, all the cookies reached withing 48 hrs of shipping them. Now it was time for me to wait for my 3 cookie packages. I waited waited waited.. Unfortunately out of 3, I received only 1 cookie package from Sangeeta of healthfood desivideshi 2 days before today which was shipped to me almost 2 weeks back 😦 Crazy courier guys! Thank you Sangeeta for sending some awesome tasting Gluten Free cookies my way and saving me from complete disappointment. 🙂

Well, today I am going to post recipes for all those cookies so bear with me as there will be three recipes for you to enjoy as opposed to one.

This particular cookies were sent to my dear friend Rosh from The Vanilla Bean. Remember I guest posted once on her blog? Yes, the very same and talented blogger. I was so happy to get her as my match as she was the reason behind my participation in the swap. She received my package very next day and I was over the moon as the cookies reached her in one piece! 🙂

Let’s talk about these cookies. They are deliciously chewy, these oatmeal cookies. Each bite is bursting with the goodness apricots and white chocolates. I added them in abundance. Apricots and white chocolate pair beautifully together but feel free to experiment with other dried fruit of your choice. I can’t wait to make these with dried cranberries soon! Enjoy!

Chilling the dough prebaking for 30-60 minutes is a MUST.

Oatmeal-Apricots White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: 16-18 cookies | Prep time: 10 minutes | Chilling time: 30-60 minutes | Bake time: 9-11 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 Tbsp milk

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In a bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add both sugars and beat until light and fluffy on a medium speed for about 1-2 minute. Add egg and continue to beat for another minute. Whisk in vanilla extract.
3. Carefully add dry ingredients to the bowl and beat at slow speed until no flour pockets remain. Add 2 Tbsp milk to bring the dough together.
4. Fold chopped apricots and white chocolate chips in the dough. Let the dough chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This step is a must as the dough is too sticky to handle at room temperature.
5. Preheat the oven at 180ºC / 350ºF. Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. Take 1 Tbsp of dough and roll it into a ball between your palms. Arrange the dough balls on cookie sheet 2-inch apart from each other and bake for 9-11 minutes. Do not overbake. The sides should be golden and center may seem soft but it will set once cooled. Let the cookies cool on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer it to a cooling rack. Once cooled completely, transfer it to an airtight container. Cookies keep fresh for about 7 days at room temperature.

Pina~Colada Cake-Mix Cookies

I have been known for my love of eating my drink! You must have seen this and this! (< These are must try! They are simply loved by friends and family and most viewed recipe on my blog till date!!)

So now I want to take a plunge and start drinking my cookies! 😉 Who is with me on this?

When you incorporate a drink in baked goods, the flavor gets enhanced and intensifies. In my opinion cupcakes/cakes are more forgiving in a way you can play with liquid as the consistency of batter is not much of a concern. While it is trickier to be able to incorporate a drink in cookie-dough as it has to be just right, not overly runny or sticky else it goes straight in to the trash.

I am a very guarded person.. I hate disasters in the kitchen more than any other person. Just can not handle them. I know it is part-and-parcel of the game but non-salvageable disasters just make me crazy! Yup.. still dealing with my failed attempt at Mountain Dew cookies.. But I have not lost on them yet! I am sure I’ll come up with a winner recipe 🙂

Hence for this second drink-cookies expedition, being an overly-cautious person that I am, I decided to use cake-mix. They are just convenient and I could focus on the liquid~cake-mix ratio completely rather than focusing on flour-sugar ratio first. These were success at first attempt so I will be more confident while baking my next Pina-colada cookies from scratch. I will definitely update the recipe when it happens in future but till then enjoy these cake-mix cookies as they were the best cake-mix cookies I have baked so far and I have baked many!!

The batter comes together easily. In one bowl. With a spoon. No mixer required.

We are using cake-mix which virtually guarantees a success! They are soft, fluffy and yet chewy.

These are studded with the bits of dried pineapple and glazed cherries. And when we are talking Pina-colada how can we miss coconut so in goes shredded desiccated coconut. Feel free to add rum and adjust the liquid ratio accordingly if you are in cocktail-cookie mode!

These are perfect holiday cookies. I haven’t been able to take vacation this summer but drinking these cookies definitely felt like sipping a drink on a beach. So go ahead and bake these golden nuggets of sunshine to brighten up you day!

Before going to the oven

Pina~Colada Cake-Mix Cookies

Yields: 2-dozen regular-sized cookies or 1-dozen large cookies (Needless to say I baked mine large)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 3 and 1/2 Tbsp Pina-colada squash/cocktail-mix
• 250 gm Vanilla cake-mix (I used Pillsbury)
• 3-4 Tbsp all-purpose flour (or less)
• 1/2 heaping cup grated desiccated coconut
• 1/4 cup finely chopped dried pineapple
• 1/4 cup finely chopped glazed cherries (dried cherries or cranberries would work too)

*If want boozy cookies, add 1 Tbsp rum and reduce Pina-colada squash/cocktail-mix ratio to 2 and 1/2 Tbsp.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC / 350ºF. Line baking sheet with a parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine butter and Pina-colada squash/cocktail mix and stir by hand or with an electric mixer till combined.
2. Add the cake-mix and stir until the batter is smooth. Add the flour one spoon at a time, as needed to solidify the dough. Add as little as possible to get chewy cookies. Adding more flour will make it cakey so add little-by-little.
3. Fold in the coconut, pineapple and cherries and put the mixing bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes. Do not skip this step as chilled dough spreads less during baking.
4. Using a Tablespoon or ice-cream scoop, drop 1-inch dough-balls on prepared cookie-sheet, allowing for adequate spacing. These cookies do not spread much and retain its puffier shape. Bake for 10 minutes or until cookies are barely browned on the bottom. The tops will look undone but they will continue to set on the cookie-sheet even after out of the oven. They will firm up as they cool so do not over-bake. Allow the cookies to cool on cookie sheet before attempting to move them. Store them in an air-tight container for up to a week at room-temperature.

Breakfast just got better! ~ Banana Almond Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Oh yes! Your breakfast just got a whole lot better with these cookies in your life! Made with the goodness of almonds, oats and whole wheat. So gooey because of the melted butterscotch chips! Deee-vine!

Banana √ Almonds √ oats √

Cookies taste best with a glass of Milk so √ 😉

What more you need for breakfast!

They are so soft and tender because of bananas, you will hardly notice the cookies are egg-free! Hence  perfect for non-egg-eaters too! √ that!

So simple to make that it will be ready in 25 minutes flat! Yes, no need to chill the dough in refrigerator. We are going to use chilled mashed banana for cookie-dough. Just mash the banana nicely with the help of fork and refrigerate for half an hour before using… That’s it! No waiting before baking! It rhymes.. LOL… I know I’m such a crack-pot! 😛

So not that these require any coaxing but promise me you’ll make them!

Banana Almond Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Prep time : 15 mins | Baking time: 10 mins

Yields: 15-16 cookies

Ingredients:

• ½ cup almonds, ground
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ cup plus 1 Tbsp soft-rolled oats
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
• 4 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 banana, mashed and chilled (1/3 cup approx)
• ½ tsp almond extract
• ¼ cup butterscotch chips, plus more for topping (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together ground almond, wheat flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add banana puree and almond extract to it and whisk.
4. Slowly fold in dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix till flour pockets have disappeared. Fold in butterscotch chips.
5. Drop 1 Tbsp of cookie-dough onto a baking sheet at 1-2 inches apart. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Mine were ready in 10 minutes. Let it cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then transfer on a cooling rack to cool completely. At first, the cookies will be soft in center but will firm up once cool.

*Store them in an air-tight container for 3-4 days at room temperature.
*You can replace butterscotch chips with any other nuts or chocolate chips too!

 

Skinny Devil’s Food Cake Mix Cookies – Funfetti Friday!

Hey fellas, I have been ranting singing about my birthday from the beginning of this week but today is the real deal!

Happy 28th Birthday to Me! 🙂

And Happy Funfetti Friday to you all!

I didn’t want to bake a cake for my own birthday so instead I baked these cookies a day before to commemorate the celebration! I was feeling super lazy yet wanted a chocolate cookie and sprinkle on my birthday eve so decided to settle for these!

I kept them skinny by omitting butter with fat free yogurt. They were not crunchy but instead soft and moist but that is how I like my cookies so no complains! They almost tasted like fudgy brownies so bake them as brownies if you like and adjust the baking time accordingly.

It is a one-bowl treat so less dishes! The dough requires quite a bit of elbow grease to whip up so use sturdy spoon for mixing, preferably wooden spoon. The dough is quite sticky so put it in refrigerator for half an hour if you’re making cookies.

Use ice-cream scoop to form cookie balls and top them with sprinkles or M&Ms or candied cherries.. I used all 3 of them and loved how candied cherry tasted almost sinful with rich chocolate!

Dough chilled in refrigerator for half an hour & then scooped on to cookie sheet

You must be able to palpate the haste in my writing as you are reading down the post but that is exactly how this was typed. In a hurry!

So let’s not waste more time and get to the recipe!

Skinny Devil’s food Cake Mix Cookies

Yields: Around 12 large cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 box (500 gm) chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Devil’s Food Cake Mix)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
• sprinkles, M&Ms or candies cherries for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/170 C. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix all the ingredients in one large bowl and chill in refrigerator for half an hour.
3. Using ice-cream scoop, drop cookie balls on parchment paper. Decorate them with the topping of your choice.
4. Bake for 11-12 minutes or till sides have firmed up. the center will still be gooey but will firm up once cookies cool down. Do not over-bake. Let rest on cookie sheet for 3-4 minutes before transferring on a wire rack to cool completely.

*If using plain yogurt then add 1 tsp vanilla extract to the dough.

Enjoy!!

Fresh-Peach Lemony Cookies

Pardon my blog absence since 2 weeks.

I know I AWOLed but all I can say in my defence is that it was a testing time for us and my family needed me. Let’s not get into WhatHappened&How-HopeYou’reFine-AwwwSorryToHearThat etc stuff of it as the time has passed now and we are trying to move on.

I returned home only yesterday and was completely sloshed after all the hoopla that surrounded my life for past 15 days. I needed a break. I needed wanted peace.

But I also knew that my blog required my attention right away. I didn’t want people to think that my blog was dead. Not right now. That’s the last thing I need.

So to attain this much needed peace, I head to my cozy kitchen and start my meditation. I bake… I bake cookies… I bake fresh-peach lemony cookies!

Oh yes! And what a meditation it turned out to be.. Peach is one of my favorite summer fruit(of course, no comparison with my fav mangoes.. which reminds me I need to make something outta mango RIGHT NOW!!!). And the aroma of peaches mixed with the lemony zing was divine!

To this combination I added a touch of cinnamon and AHEM!! As a result my whole house was filled with wonderful scents pampering me with soothing and mind-numbing aromatherapy. Finally, I felt at peace. 🙂

Ripe stone fruit and apricot preserve lend a double dose of flavor to these summary cookies.

These cookies are moist and have quite a tender texture hence tastes best on the day it is baked. Therefore, I decided to bake a small batch of 6 cookies. If you wish to bake in a larger quantity, it can be stored at room temperature for 2-3 days. Cookies will soften a bit on next day but it will still taste delicious.

Fresh-Peach Lemony Cookies

Yields: 6 regular sized cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• pinch of salt
• pinch of baking soda
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon powder
• Lemon zest from 1 large lemon
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp of egg (whip an egg and use 2 Tbsp of it)
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 large ripe peach, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 Tbsp sugarless apricot jam/preserve (peach preserve can also be used)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F/180 C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon powder and lemon zest.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with a electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy for about a minute. Reduce speed to low. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture, and beat until just combined. Add peaches and preserve, and beat until just combined.
4. Drop cookie dough onto baking sheet with an ice-cream scoop, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake until just golden brown, for 13-15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring on a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat the heat with Peach! 😉