Fudgy Brownies (chocolate cherry)

(Mobile)

As-Salaamu Alaykum,

Baking in recent months has taken a bit of a back seat but that doesn't mean I've lost my passion for it, no siree!

These chewy crusted, rich fudgy Brownies engrained in me that yes you can be pushed for time, with children pulling at your apron strings (metaphorically speaking) and still make a really tasty treat in less than an hour.

I used a naturally flavoured cherry cocoa powder I bought from sugarandcrumbs they stock a variety of flavoured cocoas and icing sugars all a bit pricey but a little goes a long way as they are strongly flavoured.

The kids and I lapped these brownies up and although yes the cherry flavour was pleasant it was the texture that made these brownies irresistible.

I'm not a black sour cherry fan, which begs the question I ask myself, why go out of your flavour comfort zone? Well I did get inspired when I saw the hairy bikers make a B.F.G. (Black Forest Gateau) a while ago on TV and thought yes I'm onto a winner so when I was umming and arrring (Yorkshire talk for pondering) over which flavour to choose from the array of flavoured cocoa and icing sugars over at sugar and crumbs, cherry came in at no.1 I have to say I can't wait to try their coffee and caramel flavoured icing sugars next, insha'Allah

For the original recipe click here but as I used wholemeal flour and I reduced the sugar a little due to the flavoured cocoa containing dextrose here is my recipe.

Fudgy Chocolate Cherry Brownies

Ingredients

65grams chocolate cherry naturally flavoured cocoa 

2grams baking soda

80ml sunflower oil

150ml boiling water

380grams white sugar

2 medium eggs

80ml sunflower oil

165grams wholemeal plain flour (allinsons brand I prefer)

2grams fine sea salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the cocoa and baking soda. Add 80ml sunflower oil and boiling water. Mix until well blended and thickened. Stir in the sugar, eggs, and remaining 80ml oil. Finally, add the flour and salt; mix just until all of the flour is absorbed. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting into desired portions.

Tahini & Chocolate Chip Cookies [vegan]

As-Salamu Alaikum,

These cookies are the best 'vegan' recipe I’ve ever tried, you do not miss the butter or eggs at all.

Made using Tahini; a paste made from ground hulled sesame seeds and popularly used in middle eastern dishes such as hummus, tahini has 10 main health benefits:

1.       It’s rich in minerals such as phosphorus, lecithin, magnesium, potassium and iron. 

2.       It's a good source of Methionine, which aids in liver detoxification. 

3.       It’s one of the best sources of calcium out there. 

4.       It’s high in vitamin E and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5 and B15. 

5.       Helps to promote healthy cell growth. 

6.       Prevent anemia. 

7.       Helps to maintain healthy skin and muscle tone. 

8.       It has 20% complete protein, making it a higher protein source than most nuts. 

9.       It's easy for your body to digest because of its high alkaline mineral content, which is great for assisting in weight loss. 

10.   It is high in unsaturated fat (good fat!)

Source http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6997/10-Reasons-to-Eat-Tahini.html

Tahini is an acquired taste but throw in sugar and you can pretty much get everyone loving it, hence why Turkish halwa/halva is so popular but wow throw in chocolate chips and you have something your taste buds won’t be able to resist hence, I advise you make a double batch and share them with your friends/family immediately.

To give these cookies a true taste of north Africa I added a tablespoon of orange blossom water which worked well with the bitter dark chocolate and offset the sweet caramel taste from the unrefined brown sugar but if you want to sure you can leave it out, you can use some vanilla as per the original recipe or even rose water would still work but just remember with flavoured waters a little goes a long way by no means do you have to use a tablespoon it’s all down to personal preference and as most flavourings out there they are of different strengths so experiment.

You will adore these soft, dense and satisfyingly chewy cookies, they can even be slightly crisp on the edges if you bake them long enough.

I don’t know about you but I prefer cookies just a tad under baked (cookie= scant 1/4 cup bake 8-9 minutes) and with no egg in the recipe no worries of giving anyone food poisoning, big +

As I bake to inshaAllah please all, husband gets his with golden edges (cookie = scant 1/4 cup bake 10 minutes)

 I even made slightly smaller ones for the kids ( cookie = 2 tbsp bake 7-8minutes) not that they are happier having smaller ones...

I used 53% dark chocolate chips  in my cookies which I purchased from Chocolate Trading Company, it’s a great site for everyone with lots of details and ingredients list you are bound to find a chocolate or 2 to suit you. Of course, being Muslim I advise you choose those containing no alcohol.

What is your favourite type of cookie/biscuit?

Tahini & Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted slightly from here

Makes around 12-18 (depending on size, see below)

1cup =250ml (British Standard)

 Ingredients

¼  c caster sugar

¾ c unrefined light brown sugar (I used muscovado), packed.

⅔ c tahini (stir well before measuring)

¼ c vegan margarine 

¼ c made up of 1 tbsp orange blossom water and water.

1½ c plain flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¾ c chocolate chips

Method

Preheat oven to 375F/190C/170C Fan
Line a cookie sheet with foil.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugars, tahini, margarine.
Beat in water and any flavourings you wish to add.
In a small mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
Add dry mixture to wet; beat to combine. Dough will be stiff but not dry.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Using an ice cream scoop (about a scant ¼ cup), place 6 balls of dough on a cookie sheet or using 2 tablespoons  of dough per cookie, place 8-10 balls of dough on a cookie sheet.
Flatten balls to desired cookie thickness, mine were about 1/4-1/2cm thick.
Bake between 7-10 minutes (see post for more details)
Let cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Store in sealed container or cookie jar. Best eaten within 3days.

*Disclosure: I wasn’t asked or paid to advertise any company in this post, all opinions are my own.

Please note, after a friend tried this recipe using butter (instead of margarine) she found the cookies to be too dry. this might be due to a number of things i.e. the tahini being too thick, measuring inaccurately etc, therefore if you want to make this recipe non vegan please by all means go ahead use butter but if you find the mixture too dry you can add/beat in 1 egg or add more water to get the consistency right.

Homemade Almond Butter Cookies (Dairy, Egg & Gluten Free)

As-Salamu Alaikum,

I used to follow recipes 100% through fear of messing up, I admit I got good results 95% of the time. I don't know what came over me really but now I just can't stick to a recipe, no matter how good it looks!
I either can't wait to get all the ingredients in stock to make said recipe so I substitute ingredients with others I do have in stock or from the get go I am like OK that's nice but why don't I try adding this or replacing this with this and I admit I don't always get it right (70/30) but I sure get a buzz from getting creative in the kitchen and let's face it us stay at home mothers have to get our kicks from somewhere right?

 

These Almond cookies are an example of when I get it right in my experimental kitchen, using light brown muscovado sugar and pure set honey instead of regular granulated sugar makes all the difference to the taste and texture. If you like soft and chewy toffee like cookies then these are for you!  not forgetting to mention they are dairy, egg and gluten free too.

Now I don't know about you but the two things my food processor gets used for the most are chopping onions or puréeing tinned tomatoes (without the tin, obviously) needless to say I need to make better use of it, which is one reason why I decided to make homemade almond butter
Don't get me wrong, it takes time and patience to achieve the almond butter but it is worth it and a lot more economical than buying it from a health food shop or at least I hope it is.....

If or should I say when, in sha Allah (God willing) I make these cookies again I plan to throw in a pinch of cinnamon and some orange zest but by all means feel free to give those additions a try first but remember to come back and let me know how they work out!

Almond Butter Cookies (Dairy, Egg & Gluten Free)

Recipe adapted from veganinthefreezer's Almond Butter Cookies
Makes 12-14

Ingredients

1 cup homemade almond butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 tablespoon pure set honey
1 egg replacer (prepared according to package instructions)
1/4 cup roughly ground (using pestle and mortar) almonds

Method

Pre-Heat oven to 350F/180C/160C(Fan). Line a baking sheet with non stick baking paper and set aside.

Cream almond butter, brown sugar and honey together.

Stir in your egg replacer and roughly ground almonds.

Divide mixture (I used 1 tablespoon of mixture and for 14 cookies) and using wet hands roll into ball, place on lined baking sheet.

Dip a fork in water and then slightly flatten each ball, not too much as they will spread.

Bake for 15-20minutes. Remove from oven and leave to cool on trays for 5-10minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool, store cookies in a airtight container.

Notes
By all means use store bought almond butter, ground almonds if time is an issue.
You can grind almonds finely in a food processor or leave a bit of texture in them like I did by using a pestle and mortar.

Algerian Ramadan Dessert - Qalb El Louz / Kalb Ellouze / H'rissa / Chamia

Qalb El Louz (translates to Heart of Almonds) is a rich, semolina dessert filled with almonds, baked, drenched in sugar syrup and is considered a must have in all Algerian homes this Ramadan.

The bitterness of the orange blossom water permeates the semolina / almond layers cutting through just some of the sickly sweetness, leaving behind a beautiful aroma in your kitchen once baked.

Qalb El Louz  also known as  Kalb Ellouze / H'rissa / Chamia depending on which region of Algeria you are in is an equal in my book to basbousa, try it and see for yourself.

Recipe slighlty adapted from radotouille

Qalb El Louz - Heart of Almonds

Servings: 10-12

Ingredients

For the semolina layers you will need:

500g coarse or extra coarse semolina

250g caster sugar or vanilla sugar

125g unsalted butter, melted

125ml liquid: 65ml orange blossom water and 60ml water

For the heart of almonds you will need:

250g almonds
60g sugar
2tbsp unsalted butter

1-2tsp ground cinnamon 

1tbsp orange blossom water

For assembly:

100g melted unsalted butter

almonds to decorate(optional)

 

For the syrup you will need:

1 litre water

500 grams sugar (i used granulated)

1 vanilla pod

1/4 lemon, juice only

to finish:-

1/2 cap of orange blossom water

Method

The Day / Night before:

<><><><><><> </>

Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat, set aside. Measure orange blossom water and water - mix and set aside. Weigh semolina and sugar.

By hand, mix semolina and sugar together. If you want you can toast the semolina in a hot dry frying pan over medium-high heat before mixing it with the sugar, this adds a nutty flavour to the semolina and also i found improves absorption quality of the semolina.

Add slightly cooled melted butter and again using your hand mix like this:

 Like when you are making pastry, rub the butter into the semolina/sugar grains.

Add HALF the mix of waters and continue with the same motion, it will feel like damp sand.

Cover semolina and leftover water and refrigerate over night, now make your syrup.

Add all the ingredients minus the orange blossom water, stir on a medium heat until the sugar dissolves, then HANDS OFF NO MORE STIRRING bring to boil, then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Turn off heat, add orange blossom water, leave uncovered to cool to room temperature. Cover and leave until the next day, no need for this to be refrigerated.

 

The Next Day:

 

Remove bowl of semolina from the fridge and leave it to get upto room temperature, about 30minutes on a warm day.

 

 

Make Filling - Whiz all ingredients in food processer until finely ground, set aside.

 

Break up the clumps of semolina in the same manner as you did the day before, rubbing the grains between your thumb and fingers then add the remaining mix of waters and continue to mix, now it's assembly time! Pre-Heat Oven to 200C / 180C Fan.

Sprinkle around a third of the semolina onto the base your bake ware, I'm using 21cm round silicone but  Radotouille uses a rectangular tin 33cm x 23cm EDIT *** after baking this again it actually does work better according to hubby in the correct size dish. which means a thinner, longer version of qalb el louz, choice is yours. Pat down lightly the semolina into an even(ish) layer.

Add the layer of almonds, smoothing out gently.

Sprinkle the remaining two thirds of the semolina over the almond layer

lightly smooth out, don't compact!

Score with a knife, yes i know my portions aren't even lol you could get fancy i suppose and do diamonds?! Pour and brush another 100g of butter over the top of your qalb el louz. You could use vegetable ghee but you will need to reduce the amount to 90g, this would help the overall appearance i.e. even browness but the flavour/richness could be lacking. Decorate each slice with an almond or nut of your choice, i won't tell anyone!

Bake for upto an hour, if you find the outer rim is blackening, your oven could be running too hot, besides investing in an oven thermometer you should reduce the temperature until the center is cooked, don't worry a little browner on the outer rim is normal but do not let it burn!

Turn off oven and remove your Qalb el louz. Immediately pour over some* of the room temperature sugar syrup until it is swimming, return to turned off oven for 10minutes. Take out and if all the syrup has been soaked up, test it with a knife that the syrup has penetrated all the layer or using your finger touch the top it should be just a litte firm, if you think it needs more syrup add more and return to oven. Leave to cool, best served the day after baking! (gives the semolina chance to soak up all the syrup or some of the water to evaporate from the syrup so the qalb el louz becomes a little firmer which helps when slicing and visually when serving to your guests, family)

**As a rough guide, i used approximately 3/4 of the syrup

Free From Friday - Date & Cinnamon Cake (Egg Free)

Salam Alaikum sisters & Hi to all my readers,

This delicious date and cinnamon cake is anything but dry, which is what most of us associate with egg free cakes/biscuits.

The dates are the secret in this cake as they add sticky sweetness, which also means the cake remains moist and rest assured it won't be around long enough to dry out. 

The pink fondant was purely to give it a bit of umph! even the best tasting cake can look unappealing being one shade of brown! Next time i make this tasty treat i won't be adding the fondant unless a request comes from dh or son for blue or green fondant lol because seriously the flavour speaks for itself.

Recipe adapted from Treat & Trick
Makes: 1 x 20cm round cake
which is around 6-10 servings depending on how you ration sweet goods in your household

Ingredients
1.5 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup water
1 cap full of rose water (optional)
60g  butter
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup chopped dry dates
1 tsp cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven 180C/160C (Fan)/350F/Gas Mark 4, grease and flour a 20cm spring form baking pan.
2. Sieve flour, baking powder and cinnamon together in a medium size bowl
3. Place water, butter and dates in a saucepan. Heat the mixture on medium heat until butter has melted. Turn off heat then add rose water, if using.
4. Stir in brown sugar, stir well until it dissolves, while still warm mix in the rest of your dry ingredients from step 2, combine until well incorporated.
5. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
6. Let sit in the pan for 10-20 minutes, transfer onto rack to cool

If you want to go ahead and decorate your cake as i did, you will need

250-300grams fondant icing sugar
10-15ml cold water
X amount of food colouring OPTIONAL (depends what shade you want to achieve and type of colouring your using, i used a colour paste so a little bit went a loooong bright way!)
Handful of flaked almond (can toast these but i forgot) to scatter on top of the fondant

1. Place fondat icing sugar in a pan with 10ml water along with food colouring (go steady, remember you can always add more but you can't take away!)
2. Turn on heat to low and stir together until the icing is a thick consistency that still runs off the spoon.
3. Pour onto the center of your cake and watch as the icing glides over and sometimes down the sides of your cake.
4. Whilst the fondant hasn't set scatter flaked almonds on top.

Enjoy!

Free From Friday - Gluten Free Black Seed & Honey Oat Bars

Salam Alaikum Sisters & Hello to all my other readers,

This cereal/breakfast bar not only contains oats  , almonds, sesame seeds but also black/blessed seed/Arabic حبه البركة ḥabbat al-barakah & honey which are significant in Islam, both are highlighted in the Quran and/or the Sunnah of our last & final prophet, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم‎ ṣall Allāhu ʿalay-hi wa-sallam

Evidence

"And thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees and in (men's) habitations.... there emerges from their bellies a drink, varying in colors, in which there is a healing for people. Verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought".

           Translation of the meaning of Quran Soorah Nahl: 68-69

Also, the Messenger (Sallallaahu alayhi Wasallam) said,

"There is a cure in three substances, a drink of honey..."  

[Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (5356)].

Aisha radi Allahu anha, (may Allah be pleased with her) said that she heard the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم‎ ṣall Allāhu ʿalay-hi wa-sallam (praise(of Allah to the angels) and peace be upon him) say,

"This black seed is a cure for every disease except death. "

            [Saheeh al-Bukharee (5687)].

Here is the ingredient list

• 100g vegetable fat
• 125ml runny honey
• 75g light brown sugar
• 250g Gluten Free rolled oats
• 25g Almonds
• 15g black seeds
• 10g white sesame seeds

The method from yesterday's post can be found here

Free From Friday - Vegan & Gluten Free Courgette/Zucchini Fritters

Asalamu Alaikum / Hi everyone,

Courgette or Zucchini? Well here are a few interesting foody facts:

• The term Zucchini has an Italian origin while courgette is relatively French.
• Zucchini is used by those people who speak North American and Australian English whereas courgette is used by those who speak French, British, New Zealand and South African English.
• Zucchini and courgette are the same plant veggies but are used to refer to that same plant, which is growing across its different stages of plant development. The courgette is smaller and estimated to be about 14 x 4 cm long whereas the zucchini is bigger, which is estimated to grow as big as 15-20 cm.                                                     Source

So now we are all aware of the difference, let me say either can be used in this recipe and you will still achieve the same tasty results, inshAllah.

Adapted from smittenkitchen

Makes: About 7 fritters

Ingredients

450g/1 pound courgette/zucchini
1 teaspoon salt, plus extra to taste
1 small white onion, finely diced
1 tsp no egg (natural egg replacer) mixed with 2 tbsp water
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 teaspoon wheat free baking powder
Olive or another oil of your choice, for frying

Essential Equipment
Baking sheet
Food processor fitted with grater attachment / Grater
Sieve
Ice cream scoop

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C Fan/200C/325F, place baking sheet in oven until it's needed. Stir together rice flour and baking powder in a small bowl, In a small cup mix egg replacer with water, set aside.
2. Weigh Courhinni lol see what i did there, Cut ends off and Grate them using a food processor fitted with the grater attachment, please be careful of your fingers!!!. In a large bowl, toss courgette/zucchini with 1 teaspoon salt and then transfer to a sieve set over a bowl and leave for minimum of 10 minutes. Squeeze out the remaining water from the courgette/zhuccini by pressing it with a spoon against the holes of the sieve.
3. Place the dehydrated mass back into your large bowl. Taste and if you think it could benefit from more salt add 1/4 teaspoon or to taste, stir in onion, egg replacer and black pepper, at this stage you could also add a few spices or herbs such as dill/parsley. Stir the flour mix into the batter.
4. In a large frying pan(i really need a skillet as they are much better) heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Using an ice cream scoop as your measure, drop dollops of your batter onto the frying pan, only a few at a time so they don't merge together,  flatten as much or little as you prefer with the back of your spatula. Cook the fritters over medium heat until the edges at the base of the fritter are golden, about 3 to 4 minutes. Turnover the fritters and fry them on the other side until browned underneath, about 2 minutes more. Pat briefly on paper towels then transfer to your hot baking sheet and then into the warm oven until needed. Repeat proces with remaining batter ensuring pan is well oiled each time. Make sure that the fritters have at least 10 minutes in the oven to finish setting and getting extra crisp. 

If your not afraid of the extra calories, deep fry  scoops of batter at 180C the scoops of batter for a minute or until the edges start turning golden. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil, place on a baking sheet, flatten as desired, bake for 15-20mins or until needed.

Enjoy as a side dish or snack.

Free From Friday - Gluten, Dairy & Egg Free Gingerbread Biscuits

Salam Alaikum / Hi Everyone,


Today and for at least 1 Friday every month i plan to post a free from recipe.
The motivation behind this is my 1 year old daughter that has food allergies (Dairy, Eggs, Wheat) so my recipes will mainly be focused around the removal of those food products, although they may include more e,g, soya free.


Ginger is great in tea, curries, not to mention the famous gingerbread men, parkin the list could go on.


Wiki says

The traditional medical form of ginger historically was called Jamaica ginger; it was classified as a stimulant and carminative and used frequently for dyspepsia, gastroparesis, slow motility symptoms, constipation, and colic. It was also frequently employed to disguise the taste of medicines.

& 

Some studies indicate ginger may provide short-term relief of pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting. 

 

 Recipe Adapted from How to Make Gluten Free Vegan Cookies


Ingredients

• 1 cup Doves gluten free brown bread flour
• 1 cup Doves gluten free white bread flour
• 2 tsp baking powder (wheat free)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 cup light muscovado/brown sugar
• 1/2 cup golden caster sugar
• 1/2 cup vegan spread or shortening (i used soya), room temperature
• 1 egg equivalent of  Orgran gluten free 'no-egg' natural egg replacer combined with 2 tbsp water
• 1/4 cup coconut milk (again any vegan alternative should work), at room temperature
• Some granulated sugar for sprinkling on top of biscuits

Method

1. Oil a large baking sheet and preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC/160ºC(fan)
2. Mix the flours,baking powder, salt, and ground ginger together in a large bowl
3. In a separate bowl or in your stand mixer, cream the vegan spread or shortening and sugars until it's slightly paler in colour.
4. Mix the coconut milk and egg replacer into sugar mixture
5. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ones. At this stage you could add the zest of 1 lemon/orange. DO NOT OVER MIX.
6. Take a tablespoon of  the dough and roll into a ball, place on a baking sheet, repeat until you have about 17 biscuits or no dough left!
7. Flatten with the back of a spoon or fork and sprinkle the tops with sugar.
8. Bake them for 5 minutes, rotate the pan, and then bake another 4 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and allow to cool a minute on the sheet before placing on a rack to cool completely.