Chocolate chip cookies made healthier ~ Egg free, butter free chocolate chip cookies.......and an announcement !!

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First let me share my big news. Ever since I made some jewelry for the first time a few years back, I have been hooked onto it.  Before I knew it, making jewelry became a very important part of my life and turned into a passion. Since last year I have been wanting to make this big part of my life even bigger. After months of planning, agonizing over small details and working on so many unexpected angles that were necessary, I've finally made it official.......my jewelry store Anukriti Designs is now online. If you are interested in this kind of thing and would like to take a peek, here is the link to the store. You will also see a small widget in the sidebar that will take you into the store and displays some of the items that are currently in the store. 

The day I went live with the store I decided to celebrate with a sweet treat. I've had this idea in my head for a while to try a healthier version of chocolate chip cookies and this seemed like the perfect occasion to finally try it. I used almond meal (powdered almonds) and coconut oil to make it healthier. I've used almond meal in cookies before and know it works well but this was the first time I've used coconut oil in a cookie. I was a tad worried that I might be able to taste the oil, but I needn't have worried at all. The cookies turned out delicious, crunchy and sweet with just the right amount of chocolate chips..... a perfect treat.  I've already made this a couple more times and it tastes amazing every time. If you are looking for a delicious treat for your family that is secretly healthy too, give this one a try :)

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Ingredients and method to make egg free chocolate chip cookies 

1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour ( maida)

1/2 cup almond meal ( powdered almonds / badam) (see notes)

1/3 cup cane sugar 

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

2 Tbsp cold milk (use dairy free milk for a vegan version)

1/3 cup semi sweet choco chips (use dairy free choco chips for a vegan version)

Pre heat oven @ 350 deg F (approx 180 deg C). Line a tray with parchment paper and keep aside. 

Powder almonds using short bursts of power in a spice grinder/ processor/ mixer and measure as needed for the recipe after powdering the almonds. Do not over grind as the nut butter will cause clumping.

In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients ie apf, almond meal, sugar, salt , baking powder and mix well.

Add  melted coconut oil and mix slowly. Add 2 tbsp of cold milk and mix again. Finally add semi sweet choco chips and mix .  Spoon this mixture onto the parchment lined tray making sure to keep at least an inch between each cookie. I usually make each cookie with 1 heaped Tbsp of cookie mixture. Place in oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lower side is golden brown and the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Remove from oven and cool. Do not handle these cookies while they are fresh from the oven as it crumbles at that stage, once cool though these cookies are deliciously crunchy and easy to handle. Once cool store in an air tight container and enjoy anytime with a glass of milk or tea/ coffee.

Yielded 12 to 15 medium sized cookies, yield will depend on the size of cookies.

Notes:

To get this amount of almond meal, I just powdered about 1/3 cup of almonds using my spice / chutney attachment in my mixer/ processor. You can also use store bought almond meal for this recipe.

If you have coarse sugar with large crystals like the Indian variety or  turbinado,  powder the sugar before proceeding with the recipe.

If you are looking for other egg free / eggless bakes with chocolate, here are few more,

Oat Banana Brownie ~ Egg Free

Chocolate Cupcake with  Ganache

No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Bar

2 Min Egg Free Brownie in a mug

Egg Free Avocado Brownies

Low fat Egg Free Black Bean Brownie

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Sprouted Mung Bhel ~ Moong Bhel Puri ~ Sprouted Mung bean salad

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Bhel puri is a popular fast food / street food in India. Every eatery, from the smallest snack shack to the largest restaurant offer this item on their menu. It is made with puffed rice, some veggies, a combination of sweet and spicy chutneys and some crunchy sev.  The description of this chaat definitely does not do justice to this yummy snack. No wonder than that bhel puri easily ranks among my most favorite chaat items.

Like most food, I find bhel puri too tastes much better when made at home. So from time to time whenever the mood for chaat strikes us, I make the conventional version of bhel puri at home,  but more often I make this sprouted mung beans version that is much more healthier. This is like a cross between aloo chana chaat and the traditional bhel puri, only with mung bean sprouts. This is a great way to enjoy bhel puri without the guilt. Once all the ingredients have been assembled, it can be rustled up real quick, making it perfect for weekends or other times when you are looking for something fun and healthy without wanting to spend too much time in the kitchen :) 

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Ingredients and Method to make moong bhel puri

1 and 1/2 cup sprouted and cooked mung beans (moong/ payaru ) ( see notes) to learn how to make sprouts, check out this post

1 small potato cooked, peeled and cut into small pieces (aloo)

2 Tbsp finely chopped onions (pyaaz)

2 Tbsp finely chopped tomatoes (tamatar)

1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro (coriander leaves/ hara dhania)

This Green chutney to taste

This Dates chutney to taste

Salt to taste (namak)

Sev to taste (crunchy fried chickpea flour fritters) (available in most Indian groceries, see notes for sub)

Assemble all the ingredients. In a large bowl, add sprouted and cooked mung beans, then add onions, tomatoes, potatoes, cilantro, the two types of chutney, salt to taste and mix well. Add sev and mix again. Serve immediately.

This quantity makes enough for 1 to 2. This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled as required.

Notes:
If you like crunchy raw sprouts you can add them raw to this bhel too. I do that sometimes, but most times I like to cook the sprouts with very little water until it is slightly soft yet firm, then I cool it thoroughly and use in this recipe.

If you want to cut the calories from the sev, you can use baked potato sticks, or baked fries that are now available instead, just crush the fries/ sticks a little and sprinkle over the beans and you are set :)

If you are looking for other chaat/ snacks, here are few more,

Aloo Chana Chaat

Sev Puri

Masala Chana ~ Baked Crunchy chickpeas

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Corn Cheese Toasts ~Open-Faced Sandwich with sweet corn and cheese ~ With Stepwise pictures

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Weekend mornings have a typical pattern to them. Getting up a tad bit later than week days, hot tea with some news, long calls with family members and some kind of interesting breakfast :) The breakfast part varies largely on our mood, sometimes, it is something like dosa or poha or sabudana khichdi.  And sometimes when I am in the mood for something with bread, I usually end up making either this bread besan toast or this chili cheese toast or have some baked beans with toast.

Recently I came across an idea in a Nita Mehta book for corn toasts that looked interesting. I thought R would love it since he likes sweet corn in pretty much everything :) So the following weekend I gave it a try and it turned out very well. Since then I have made this a few times and tweaked the recipe a bit more and this one turns out consistently well. If you are in the mood for something different this weekend, give this one a try and let me know what you think about it :)




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Ingredients and Method to make Corn Toasts
1 can cream style corn (1 and 1/2 cups of cream style corn)

2 Thai or Indian style green chilies cut very fine (or to taste)

1 tbsp oil

Salt to taste (I used approx 1/2 tsp salt)

1/4 tsp black pepper powder (opt or to taste)

1/4 tsp red chili powder (opt or to taste)

3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro (coriander leaves/ hara dhania/kothamalli)

8 slices of bread (I used wheat bread but any kind would work)  (see notes)

Shredded / grated cheese of choice as required ( see notes)

A small bit of butter

Heat oil in a medium sized heavy bottomed pan. Add green chilies and stir a few times. Then add cream style corn, salt to taste, pepper powder if using, chili powder if using and simmer for a few minutes until the cream style corn thickens a little. Add cilantro and mix well. Remove this mixture from heat. 

Toast bread with a dot of butter on a flat pan/ tawa/ skillet until it turns slightly golden brown. You can also use a regular toaster for this, but I prefer the stove top method to make these toasts. 

Pre heat oven to 425 deg F ( approx 220 Deg C) if you do not have an oven don't worry. I have described the stove top method below. 

Pre line a tray with parchment paper or with aluminum foil. Place the toasted bread slices on the tray.

Place a little of the sweet corn mixture on each slice of bread and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of the bread. Sprinkle a little bit of shredded/ grated cheese on each slice. Proceed for all the slices. Place tray in the oven and bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until the cheese melts. 

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Remove and serve hot with some ketchup. 

If you do not have an oven........
Instead of placing each coated bread on a tray, heat a tawa/ flat pan/ skillet on medium low heat. Place one slice of bread with the corn cheese mixture side up on the tawa. Cover with a lid and cook on lowest setting for a few minutes or until the cheese melts. Remove gently with a spatula and serve hot. Proceed with all the bread slices in this manner.

Notes:

I've used shredded cheddar and shredded mozzarella cheeses while making this toast and liked both versions. Use whichever kind of cheese you prefer for this toast.

With this quantity of sweet corn mixture I was able to make 8 standard sized toasts. If the bread slices are very large or a very large amount of mixture is applied on each slice then you may get less number if toasts with this quantity of mixture. 

You can easily double this recipe.

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Apple Wheat Muffins (Egg Free)

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Throughout the hottest days of summer, I always look forward to fall. It is my most favorite season of all the seasons. After the long, hot and sometimes tiring days of summer, the cool, crisp air of fall feels invigorating:) Well, fall has finally made its presence felt in our neck of the woods. The leaves are turning color, the air is crisp and cool, and the days are already beginning to feel much shorter. I am looking forward to taking some really long walks so that I can enjoy this cool air before the weather begins to get really cold :)  



One other thing I really look forward to in fall season is baking :) Yes, I bake occasionally in summer, but with high temperatures I am not tempted to bake too often. Baking in fall is definitely way more fun than in summer :)

This year I haven't baked as much, but I made a start on my fall baking with these apple wheat muffins. These egg free, butter free muffins are something I whipped up on a whim in order to use up some of the apples in my fruit basket :)  And I am glad I did, these turned out so well. The muffins were soft, moist and delicious. Everyone in my family definitely loved them :)  If you are in the mood to bake, why not give these easy muffins a try and as usual, let me know what you think about it :)



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Ingredients and Method to make Egg Free Apple Wheat Muffins
Dry Ingredients
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (atta/ godumai maavu)
1/2 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1 tbsp ground cinnamon (cinnamon powder)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar (see notes)
1 tbsp turbinado brown sugar (optional) (to sprinkle on top of muffins)

Wet ingredients
1 tbsp corn starch (called corn flour in India) + 3 tbsp water in lieu of 1 egg
1 and 1/2 packed cups grated apple. ( I used 3 medium sized apples )
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup plain yogurt (curds/ dahi/ thayir)
1/2 cup milk (doodh/ paal)

Pre heat oven to 375 deg F (190 deg C). Line a muffin tray with paper or grease the muffin tray and keep aside.

In a large bowl, add both flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar and mix well. Keep this mixture aside.

Peel and core apples,grate apples and keep aside. Whisk together corn starch and water and keep aside.
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Add corn starch + water, yogurt and milk one at a time and gently mix into the flour. Add oil and mix again. Finally add grated apple to the flour mixture and mix well. Spoon mixture into the pre lined muffin tray until 2/3 full. Place in oven and bake for 22 to 26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove, cool a little and enjoy.

Yielded 12 standard size muffins.

Notes:
If you like a more pronounced sweetness in your sweets you may want to increase the quantity of sugar to 1 cup, with this quantity this muffin is mildly sweet. 

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Bread Besan Toast- Vegan Savory French Toast

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Trying to come up with healthy snacks that are tasty and inviting and can be rustled up in a few minutes can be somewhat of a tall order. But here is a snack that fits the bill perfectly. I think of bread besan toast as an Indian cousin to the savory French toast, only this one is eggfree and vegan to boot and as a bonus is mostly low fat and healthy too, of course only if you use wheat bread or multi grain bread to make it as I do :) This is one of those snacks that seems to have universal appeal,  and regardless of age everyone seems to enjoy this snack quite a lot. 



I love how quickly and effortlessly this snack can be put together and with regular pantry items too,  meaning it does not require much time to plan ahead for it, or a run to the grocery store to stock up on specific items to make it. If you are looking for an easy peasy, quick snack that's kid friendly too, give this toast a try and as always do let me know what you think about it, or better yet, do send in your pictures, I would love to see how it worked out for all of you :)



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Ingredients and Method to make Bread Besan Toast
3/4 cup chick pea flour (gram flour/ besan/ kadalai maavu)
1/4 cup rice flour (chawal ka atta/ arisi maavu)
salt to taste ( I used approx 1 and 1/4 tsp salt)
1/2 tsp red chili powder (or to taste)
1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder (optional or to taste)
handful cilantro (coriander leaves/ kothamalli ) cut very fine
1/2 of a large onion or 1 small onion cut very fine
1 small bell pepper (capsicum/ simla mirch/ koda molagai) de seeded and cut very fine
8 to 9 slices of bread (see notes)
a few drops of oil to shallow fry the toast

In a large shallow bowl/ dish, add all the dry ingredients (the two kinds of flours + the spices) and mix well.

Add water, a little at a time and mix to create a batter making sure there are no lumps formed. The batter should be thin/ runny, a tad bit like butter milk consistency. Add onions, bell pepper and chopped cilantro and mix well.
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Heat a non stick flat pan/ griddle/ tawa on medium heat. Dip one slice of bread in the batter and flip it so that both sides are nicely coated with the batter. Remove gently and place on the tawa/ griddle and add a few drops of oil around the bread. Cook until the lower side turns a nice golden, then flip over and cook the other side until it has a few golden brown spots.

Remove from heat and serve hot with some ketchup on the side, or some cilantro chutney or even just by itself. Great as a snack/ tiffin/ breakfast.

Notes:
I use wheat bread to make this snack, but I have also used multi grain bread and it tastes good that way too. Basically any bread that you have should work for this snack. Also the number of slices of bread required for this quantity of gravy would vary slightly depending on the size and thickness of slices used :)

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Microwave Masala peanuts revisited....

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When I run out of snacks at home and the mood for munchies strikes me, one of my favorite snacks is this version of microwave masala peanuts. This is really a simple, quick and tasty treat that makes a great tv time/ movie time snack.



The very first post on this blog, I had posted another version of these masala peanuts. This version just uses chickpea flour (besan) and rice flour (chawal ka atta) Traditionally these snacks are deep fried, but I have been making this in the microwave for a long time now and find that it tastes just as good and is just as crunchy as the deep fried ones without the guilt associated with frying and the calories of course :-)



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Ingredients and Method to make Masala peanuts

1 3/4 cup Raw peanuts (mungphali/kadalai/verkadalai)

1/4 cup rice flour (chawal ka atta/ arisi maavu)

1/4 cup chick pea flour (besan/kadalai maavu)

1 1/4 tsp salt (or according to taste)

1/2 tsp red chili powder (or according to taste)

1/8 tsp asafoetida (hing) (optional)

1/2 tsp garam masala (can be substituted with any other kind of curry powder) or to taste

To know how to make your own garam masala check out this post

3 tbsp oil (any flavorless oil is fine)

scant 1/4 cup water


In a large wide glass dish or any other microwave safe dish, mix together all the dry ingredients.

 

 
Add oil to this and mix well.

Add water one tbsp at a time and mix well.

 
Place the dish in the microwave and heat for 2 mins initially.
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Remove, break lumps and stir the peanuts and place back in microwave and repeat this process in 1 minute increments until done.

The time in the microwave will depend on the wattage of the microwave, it took me approximately about 7 minutes.

When the peanuts turn darker, into a deep rosy/red color it means it is done, it may still seem soft when you taste it while hot,but when it cools, the peanuts are crunchy.

Suggested Variation:
Skip the garam masala and add 1 tsp of fennel seeds (saunf/sombu) for a different taste and flavor

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