I made mine with walnuts and mixed-fruit jam. You can use any other jam or fruit preserves of your choice. Chocolate or Nutella are other great variations. I think I’ll be making these again with hazelnut and chocolate next time. These bite-sized cookies are a perfect snack for parties or picnics too!

Ingredients
Makes about 25 cookies

• 4 oz butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup ground walnuts
• 1/3 cup mixed-fruit jam (or any other of your choice)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a bowl, cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about 7-8 mins.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour and ground walnuts and add to the creamed butter mixture. Mix until well combined to form a soft dough. Do not knead a lot as this can get pretty sticky. Use some all-purpose flour for dusting.

Now refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. This makes is easier to shape the cookies.

Take a teaspoonful of dough in your hand, form a small ball, and press lightly in the center with your finger to make a shallow hole (use light pressure with your thumb or index finger).

Arrange the cookies on the baking trays, 2 inches apart. (Leave enough space, as they will spread a bit as they bake.) Bake for 15 minutes, until the edges are slightly colored and the cookies look firm.

Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack, then fill the holes with your favorite jam.

These Thumbprint Cookies filled with jam are pretty to look at, easy to make, and delicious to eat, and eggless, too! The semi-hard texture with nuts is nicely balanced with the smooth sweetness of the jam, making this recipe a sure-shot winner. I’m so glad I tried them and will definitely be baking more of these! (Img source: Fun and Food)

Similar Recipes:
Eggless Almond Cookies (Nankhatai)
Peppermint-Vanilla Butter Cookies
Chewy Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Juicy and sweet, with a soft, buttery yet somewhat grainy texture, the whitish-green as well as the red pears were once referred to as “the gift of the gods.” I combined my pears with almonds and whole-wheat flour to make an almost fat-free and healthy yogurt cake that can be used as a snack any time of the day!

After binging on my Sour-cream Raspberry Brownies and Chewy Chocolate-Chip Cookies, I needed to bake something healthier, and these cakes are just the perfect alternative! This cake is essentially low-fat, hence I did not use any butter. The all-purpose flour was replaced by the whole-grain one; the recipe uses only 1 egg and some oil; the yogurt provides texture to the cake, but as there is no butter, this cake will not be as soft and moist as the others. If you are not looking for a healthy version, feel free to modify the ingredients to use 3/4 cup butter instead of yogurt and add 2 eggs instead of one with all-purpose flour.

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups whole-grain pastry flour
1 1/2 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
3/4 tspn ground nutmeg (optional)
1/2 tspn salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3/4 cup fat-free plain yogurt
2 tspn vanilla extract
2 ripe medium pears -peeled and cut into 1/2″ chunks
2-3 tbsp slivered almonds

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9″ x 9″ baking pan with cooking spray. Instead, you can also use individual ramekins like I did.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, egg, and oil until smooth. Whisk in the yogurt and the vanilla essence. Finally, stir in the cubed pears.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until blended. Scrape into the prepared pan or the ramekins. Sprinkle the slivered almonds on the top.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes (about 25 mins if you are using the ramekins), until the cake is springy to the touch, shrinks from the sides, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. This cake will not be too dark on the top, so if you like more color, change oven setting to BROIL and bake for another 40 seconds, not more. Let cool for 20-30 minutes on a wire rack, then slice and serve!

Tip: Roasting the almonds a little can add more flavor to the cake. If your pears are not too sweet, increase the sugar in the recipe as this cake tends to be a little less sweet compared to others.

Original Recipe and Photo published at Fun and Food

I am very fond of entertaining, and hosting parties or gatherings is one of my favorite hobbies. An appealing feature is that I get to try different food, especially appetizers and hors d’oeuvres that we don’t usually cook in our day-to-day lives.

Though I’m not a great cook, I believe that presentation is as important as the taste of the dish; if what you see looks inviting, only then would you be tempted to put it in your mouth, right?!

I recently came across a cookbook that showcased only party-food recipes, and it really inspired me. All food does not need to be exotic, but just adding a different look in cooking or presentation can surely turn eyes, and impress your guests. Like these very simple Vegetable Bread Baskets filled with onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, and cheese. Quick and easy, these work great as appetizers or a snack with tea!

Vegetable Bread Baskets

• 6 wheat or white bread slices
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1/2 cup green or red bell-peppers- chopped finely
• 1/2 cup onions - chopped finely
• 4 tbsp black olives- chopped finely
• 1/2 cup mushrooms - chopped finely
• Salt - to taste
• Black pepper - to taste
• 3 tbsp dried basil flakes
• 1/2 cup green chutney or pesto sauce*
• 1/2 cup tomato ketchup
• 1 cup mixed yellow and white cheese, shredded
• 4 tbsp margarine - melted

Method
Take the bread slices, cut off their edges and keep aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F, spray cooking spray on a muffin pan, then place each bread slice in the muffin cups. Shape them to form like a basket. You can even flatten them a bit using a rolling pin. Bake for 10-15 mins, making sure to check they they do not burn. They should just become hard and take the shape of a basket.

Heat olive or cooking oil in a pan, and saute the bell peppers and onions until a bit tender. Add the chopped olives and mushrooms, season with some salt, pepper, and dry basil flakes, and cook a little more.

Now take each bread basket, spread some green chutney with a knife, then add a spoonful of the mixture to it. Drizzle with some ketchup as desired, then spread mixed cheese on the top. Lightly brush the 4 corners of the basket with melted margarine so they don’t get burnt.

Transfer the cups back to the muffin pan, then bake at 200 degrees for about 7-8 minutes, just until the cheese melts. Now change the oven setting to Broil, and bake the baskets for another 1 minute.

Remove from the oven, let them cool a bit, and serve immediately. Don’t they look simply inviting?! These cute vegetable baskets are healthy, tasty, and definitely the perfect finger food at a party.

*I would strongly recommend using Green Chutney (Sauce) rather than pesto because it goes very well with the chosen vegetables. If you choose to use pesto, I’d say replace ketchup with something else or skip it altogether!

NOTE: Original Recipe and Image Copyright of Fun and Food

Liquer-Infused Chocolate and Strawberry Hearts

The recipe below makes 5-6 mini cakes. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cakes.

Ingredients
1 cup Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake mix
1/2 tspn baking soda
1 tspn baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tspn vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp Bourbon Liquer (or any other flavored liquer)
1 cup brown sugar
1 extra-large egg
1 tspn orange zest (optional for flavor)
Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce - for garnish
Strawberry Sauce - for garnish
Fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice-cream (optional)

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Spray a 9″x9″ baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.

Sift the cake mix, baking powder and baking soda together into a bowl. Stir in the oil, milk and pure vanilla extract.

Combine the sugar and egg in a medium bowl and whisk together by hand. Slowly whisk into the flour mixture. Fold in the orange zest and the Bourbon Liquer and beat everything together to form a smooth cake batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 mins, or until toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let it cool completely on a wire rack. Lightly grease a heart-shaped cookie cutter and use to cut the cake into individual servings. With a toothpick, gently outline a smaller heart-shape in the center of each cake and fill it with strawberry sauce. Drizzle Hershey’s chocolate syrup on the cake’s outline and serve by itself, or with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream! 

Original Recipe published via Fun and Food

The second month of this New Year has kicked in, and we all know that February is the month to celebrate love, as people all around the world have begun to plan for the Valentine’s Day. Love and chocolate go hand in hand, so its natural that I decided to practise my hand at some chocolate art to prepare for my valentine. I always wanted to make Molten Cupcakes, those sweet delights with a gooey chocalatey center that melts in your mouth! But as I was ready to go all out, I went for combining some raspberry sauce alongwith the traditional chocolate sauce, and also try a hand at making some patterns with white chocolate. The result was this decadent dessert where the sweet chocolate was balanced perfectly by the tartness of the raspberries, giving a spoonful of heaven in every bite!

Molten Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling

Ingredients
3/4 cup semisweet dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp oil
3 eggs
1 cup chocolate cake or brownie mix
8-10 tbsp raspberry sauce

Method
Preheat oven to 400 °F. Grease 12 nonstick muffin cups and set aside. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine dark chocolate chips and half of the butter. Microwave on high power for 45 to 60 seconds, stirring twice during cooking, or until chocolate and butter are melted and mixture is smooth. Cool for 5 minutes. Repeat the same with the white chocolate chips to melt it.

In a large bowl, combine eggs and beat with a mixer at high speed for 4 to 6 minutes until foamy and doubled in size. Gradually add cake mix to the beaten egg mixture, stirring until well blended. Fold in melted dark chocolate sauce. Carefully pour batter into prepared muffin cups, filling them upto half level in each cup. Then add 1 tbsp of raspberry sauce in each cup, and layer it with molten white chocolate. I used a cone made of plastic bag to form star-shaped designs with my white chocolate, as you can see in the picture.

Bake at 400 °F for 10 to 15 minutes or just until edges are set. The centers of the little cakes will still be soft. Cool on wire rack for 2 minutes. The design on the top didn’t turn out as pretty as I imagined, but I’m happy that it did create a contrasting pattern of white on brown background:) I promise I’ll do better next time!

Serve these delicious molten chocolate and raspberry cupcakes while they are still warm. You can drizzle with more chocolate syrup, or top it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!! Scoop it up and enjoy it with the love of your life.
Original Recipe published here

For more Valentine Day Recipes, check out these:

Warm Chocolate Muffins with Strawberries

Marbled Cream-Cheese Brownies

Layered Coffee CheeseCake

This weekend, I decided to realize one of my whims - I’m a huge fan of muffins, and so I thought why not make a Savoury Muffin?  When Indians think of comfort food, 9 people out of 10 zero in on “Paneer,” or Cottage-cheese (Ricotta Cheese). So I, too, chose paneer as my main ingredient, then started adding other stuff, some inspired by my sense of taste and smell, some purely by instinct, and some simply because they are favorites!

So what things finally made it into my muffins?? Well, it was mainly sun-dried tomatoes, cottage-cheese, garlic, spring onions, herbs and some more Italian cheese. Does that sound inviting enough? Just wait until you actually bite into one of these; there’s no going back!! Perfect for your mornings, or as appetizers or mid-day snacks, these savoury muffins are sure to make a mark of their own.

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1 cup cottage cheese - crumbled or shredded (same as paneer or ricotta cheese)
1/2 cup mozzarella and parmesan - shredded (optional)
1 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (oiled ones, finely chopped)
1/2 cup spring onions - chopped (white and greens separate)
8-10 cloves of garlic - minced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs - beaten
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
salt and black pepper - to taste
4 tbsp basil flakes (adjust amount to suit your taste)
2 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes

Method
Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda through a sieve. Add the salt, black pepper, herbs, and red pepper flakes. In a pan, add the olive oil, then saute the white prt of the onions and garlic till it starts giving out an aroma. Allow to cool a bit.

In another bowl, beat the eggs to make them fluffy, then add to the sauteed onions/garlic mixture. Combine this with the flour mixture. Slowly add the cottage cheese, mozarella and parmesan, then keep mixing/folding gently as you add milk little by little. Do not overbeat, just mix to combine the ingredients.

Grease 12-muffin pans with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 350 °F, then fill the mixture in the muffin pans up to the brim. Bake for 20-25 mins, and not more. Insert a toothpick in the center to make sure they are cooked. If the muffin tops look white, tun to broil setting and bake for 15 seconds, not more, or the muffins will get browned (the mistake I did!!)

Once done, allow them to cool on the wire rack. Gently remove from the pan and serve immediately with ketchup or a dipping sauce. Just add a dollop of fresh butter and you can enjoy these cute savoury muffins with your coffee or tea too!!

This recipe is originally published here.