Harveen's Baking Affair

It has been quite a while since I shared a cookie recipe with you guys. May be it is the weather thing. The cooler it is, the more we crave them or maybe it is just the holiday spirit that inspires  us to bake and exchange them with our loved ones.. Anyways, I was thinking along similar lines and decided to try a new cookie recipe for my blog even though the sweltering heat was doing it's best to make me stay away from the oven. By "new" I really meant something unique not the usual run of the mill chocolate or peanut butter cookies.  My quest for the same took me to the local library where while searching through the  aisles of cookbooks, I was fortunate enough to come across the "Gourmet Cookie Book" covering best recipes from 1941 to 2009. I quickly grabbed it before another poor soul on a similar quest like mine could claim  for their own. I literally rushed back home and  started flipping through the various recipe pages . The one recipe that real...

I have to admit that I am very carroty person ..nope I am not a red head though my penchant for red dresses and lip color is well known . It is just that I love carrots and anything derived from them especially in sweet form. Yep, Gajrela or gajar ka halwa as it is called in some parts is my all time favorite dessert . Come to think of it , it's kind of strange that I haven't incorporated this Vitamin A and dietary fibre rich food in my bakes yet.Well , now seemed as good time as any , so when I came across this carrot oatmeal cookie recipe from KitchenAid , I knew I had to give it a try. If you have been following my blog , you must be familiar how I try to put a healthy twist to my bakes, This recipe was no different ..it was simply begging for some healthy makeover. For starters, I knew the all purpose flour was a definite no no . So, replaced it merrily with 100% whole wheat flour.Also, took the liberty of replacing the butter with equivalent amount of olive oi...

We are having some snow days..actually three in a row now. The poor condition of the secondary roads means this figure might still extend.Though I appreciate the break from the normal routine but poor weather also means that  we all are stuck at home and the kids are suffering from cabin fever. How do I treat that ? Well , baking of course ! Nothing like a colorful and chocolaty bake to pique the kids interest and  keep them engrossed . With that in mind, set about to bake some chocolate cookies . Nothing like good ole comfort food to cheer you up especially when the weather is gloomy . And , when the comfort food has a pop of color as well , the end result is simply divine.  Rainbow Sprinkles did indeed brighten the bake and the kids spent some merry time rolling the dough balls and then sprinkling them on top. Ingredients - 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup butter 12 oz semisweet baking chocolate 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup caster sugar 1 t...

It's that time of the year when love is in the air and hearts are everywhere.Not to be left behind ,here are mine...cookie hearts or more precisey eggless heart shaped dipped cookies . In this season of love , wanted to spread some cookie cheer especially the egg less kind. So, all of you who are always on the look out for eggless baking recipes can rejoice ! For once , you can follow the recipe without having to worry about substituting the egg it with apple sauce or banana. You guys are in for a treat..a sweet treat no less that a dipped heart one . let's get on with it - Ingredients -  For cookies - 2 1/4 cup flour 1 cup butter ( 2 sticks) 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice  For  Dipping - 1/2  cup red candy wafers (for dipping) /* use normal baking chocolate to skip the red color*/ 2 tbsp shortening like Crisco Method - Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl , with the help of a hand m...

Life throws a curve ball sometimes....encountered one recently . Without going into much details , let's just say that it has not been a great year ..and when you are facing tough times or as I like to say have dark clouds hanging overhead..you try to cling to mundane ordinary things that make you happy and restore some normalcy ...baking is one such "thing".....it keeps me sane and focused when things get chaotic ! Enough of a rant ...on to cheery things like baking pinwheels and getting  the Christmas cookie platter ready ... December is a great month for baking colorful cookies , so comes as no surprise  that my first addition to the Christmas platter are these pinwheel cookies. You may  also call them as "spin cookies " or "swirl cookies"...the possibilities are endless ! Wanted to bake them in the traditional holiday colors but hey ..what can you do if you simply run out of red and don't want to run out to buy it in gloomy weather ?...

There are some tastes from your childhood that have such a firm grip on you that try as you might to resist, once you get the craving/urge ..it has be to be satiated . The above picture might have given you a clue that these cumin seed biscuits ( or cookies as we call them in the US ) have me fully entrapped in their power. Back in New York , whenever we went to our favorite desi area for the groceries (just a paltry 45 minutes drive ) , my feet used to drag me automatically to the aisle where they were neatly stacked for me to pick . But here , in the Carolinas , having being bitten by the baking bug and the lack of the 45 minute drive, prompted me to bake these desi delights for myself . The fact that it was raining might have been a contributing factor too. So, after having dropped my daughter headed straight to then kitchen. After all, I wanted them Mr,Roy to have a sampling of them fresh from the oven when we both sat down for our first cup of tea for the day . M...