After trying my hands on the delicious, airy and scrumptious British scones, my kids had always been after making them. I have already made them numerous times, I felt it was time to experiment with something new. One of the main reason behind trying out the Chocolate chip scones was Mr. Parveez. When I made the plain scones, he mentioned that he loved the chocolate chip scones at a Book store cafe which he visited on some weekends before we got married and he loved them.
Therefore, I felt my second trials have to Chocolate chip scones. these scones are pretty rich, chocolaty , slightly sweet and just melt in the mouth. They are pretty easy, simple and fast to make, crunchy exterior and soft interior make them extremely satisfying. I make scones in a traditional scone way where I patted the dough around an inch thick and then cut them with the help of a biscuit cutter. But you can also roll the dough into a circle, around 8 inches and cut them in triangle shape, like a pizza. You can cut them into as many as you like, as long as the width is around an inch.
The butter you use should be cold because if it melts too soon, your dough wouldn’t be crumbly. If the dough gets super soft for any reason, because the butter you used was on room temperature or melted, then place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour, till the dough is good enough for you to handle. The heavy cream used in the recipe is an approximate measure. It honestly depends on the flour that you are using. If the dough doesn’t come together easily and if you feel its still dry, add a little more cream, little at a time. Similarly, if the dough is too sticky and gets hard to handle, you can always add a little more flour, one tablespoon at a time. Avoid overworking the dough, because scones do not need too much mixing. Less mixing makes softer scones. The dough should be soft, not sticky.
Scones are best when you serve them fresh out of the oven. If you have extra, its always better to freeze the dough and bale it when you are ready to eat. You can freeze them up to 2 months in an airtight container. When you want to use it, just thaw the dough and use it.
Chocolate Chip Cookies, the name makes my mouth water. My undying love for
chocolate chip cookies never goes away and there is no time when I don’t crave
them. Warm cookies straight out of the oven and a hot cup of coffee is enough
to rejuvenate anyone from their super tired day.
Have you ever noticed all the cookies in the cookie aisle at your favorite
supermarket. Its a huge variety. Sometimes, when you think of trying something
new, a picture on a pack or the beautiful explanation of the scrumptious
cookies or a popular brand name or company introducing something new, by
modifying a little something in their older version is enough to lure you into
trying something. I never paid attention to the details of the ingredients
until my older one started developing a taste for them. That’s when I realized
that I was feeding my son things that I not only did not know, but found them
had to pronounce. Ingredients that sounded better in a chemistry lab than on
food.
This is when I decided that I should try and bake my own cookies, I mean how
hard can it be…LOLzzz. But, let me tell you, its tough. Baking, not so much,
but baking in the right temperature, making sure the heat is just right, is
difficult. Plus, the proportion of ingredients has to be proper. A little more
butter than required won’t make the cookies softer, but break them apart. A
little more sugar won’t make them sweeter, but too sweet for your taste buds.
Therefore, the first rule, measure everything.
This recipe is plain chocolate chip cookies, craved by all, loved by all and eaten by all. The website has a recipe for Chocolate chip cinnamon cookies too, but please do try these ones as well. Once you try these you will never buy your cookies from the store or any bakery ever, that’s a promise. Each bite is chunky and heavenly. Enjoy!!!
As a kid, I just loved French toast. I had a Master for Arabic and religious studies who would come every evening for an hour, but on Sundays, it was every morning and as much as it would never excite a 7 year old, it still had to be done and now I realize how important it was then. Anyways, my teacher or Maulana was always served a good breakfast every Sunday morning. My mom would mostly make the awesome French toast, or omelette or sunny fried egg with parantha for my teacher. My teacher was very found of his Sunday breakfast at our house, I could always make that out with the way he ate and I mom also made sure that the teacher was well fed… Something that we all have lost with time. Today’s time is so busy that feeling that way for a teacher or even the guests.
Now comes the fun part, my mom had a clear breakfast designed for us daily. It was a done deal and my mother wasn’t those who would cater our demands on daily basis. My Sunday class would be at 7 AM and I would usually have my breakfast after the class. the funny thing was that every time my mom would make French toast, I would ask my teacher to excuse me and run to the kitchen to ask my mom to make the same thing for me, because I always felt that if she can make it for him, she will gladly make it for me too, and she did. But now that I am all grown up, my mom laughs at the fact that she always knew that she will find me in the kitchen 5 minutes after the breakfast was served to my teacher. I guess some memories from childhood might be a little embarrassing to share, but almost all childhood memories are sweet and always bring a smile to your face.
French Toasts are easy to make with bread slices dipped in egg, milk and brown sugar mixed together. If you are a little more experimental like me, add a little cinnamon powder and cardamom powder to it and sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar to it. My boys like me serving the French toast with maple syrup and chocolate chips. You can always make a little change to it to suit your taste.
Pancake makes one of the best breakfasts ever made, specially when it comes to kids. The name is enough for them to drool and look forward to an amazing morning meal. My boys love pancakes, any given day. They will take it and be super happy taking Pancakes than anything else.
When the days are special, the regular pancakes need to look a little more fancy and this pancake is for those super special days. This isn’t taking too much of your time, almost the same time as a regular pancake and the fancy decorations are basically just whipped cream, sprinkle and some candies.
Its amazing how something as simple as a Pancake can be made so fancy and the delight that it brings to the hearts, which makes these little addition look so special.
