Category: ICook

Chocolate Brownies

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I am not a fan of chocolate anything – chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate brownies.  But I was going to visit a friend with two kids so I figured I would bake chocolate brownies since kids normally like anything chocolate.

I got my recipe from my favorite food blogger RecipeTin Eats.

She had an instruction on the timing if I want my brownies to be moist.  I followed it but something did not turn out right.  Maybe it’s because I really don’t like chocolate so whatever recipe I would follow, I might not like it, too.

The good thing though is that the son of my friend loved it.  He ate 3 slices one after the other.  So I guess it is still a success.

Here are some changes I made:

  1.  I used Ghirardelli’s Bittersweet Chocolate instead of dark chocolate chips.  I don’t know if there is a difference when it comes to taste.
  2. I added semi-sweet chocolates on top of the brownies.
  3. I did not have parchment paper so I put butter without dusting it with flour.  Maybe this is why my brownies turned out crumbly.  I should really buy parchment paper.
Expectation from Recipe Tin Eats
Reality, my own version

 

Highly Recommended (1)

Double Chocolate Crinkles

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What a difficult cookie to make!

Seriously.  I don’t even like crinkles but my friend R requested that I make one so I tried.  The first batch that I made was not successful because the icing sugar melted into the cookie making it damp.  The second batch I made was a little bit better but it still is not that good.

I did not taste it but my taste testers said the following:  (1) It tastes bitter and (2) It tasted like crinkles.  I wish I tasted it but as I have said, I don’t like crinkles that much.

I don’t know if I my failure at baking this cookie stemmed from me not choosing the right recipe to follow or it is a really difficult cookie to make for an amateur like me.

Expectation
Reality

You can find the recipe here.  Let me know if you are able to successfully bake one.

Some of the changes I made are:

  1.  I used Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Cocoa instead of Dutch cocoa.
  2. I rolled the cookie balls in white sugar before coating them in confectioner’s sugar so that it will not come out damp.

Highly Recommended (1)

Coconut Mango Cookies with Chocolate Chips

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The reason why I was not able to bake last week is because I was so ambitious that I tried to make sponge cake.  The sponge cake turned out to be like sponge – but not the one you eat but the one you use to scrub your dishes.  I was so devastated with all of the waste I made that I had the “failed cake” sit on top of the table for 2 days just because I wanted it to have a purpose.  The purpose was to teach me to take things slow.  That I still need lots and lots of practice before I can finally make my dream cakes – butter icing cake like Mama used to make,  Brazo De Mercedes like Mama used to make, and Sans Rival like what my sister makes.

Slowly, I think I will get there.  So now it’s back to baking cookies for me.

This recipe is wonderful.  I am so lucky that I found this site because it gives me a lot of ideas.  When choosing which recipe to follow, I just use my gut feel.  I read the site, look at the ingredients, and if it sounds good to me, then I decide to follow it.

Baked by an Introvert is probably one of my favorite dessert recipe site now.  Head on over to that site to check all the delicious desserts the owner, Jen, have been making.

EXPECTATION – From Baked by an Introvert
REALITY – My cookies

I promised myself that I will only eat 2 cookies every time I cook because otherwise, I would have to run what I will gain off and I never liked running.  So yes,  I finished two cookies already but I am still craving for more.  The simple solution to the problem is to just give all these off and dream about its sweet, textured goodness.

By the way, I used dried mangoes from the Philippines because hello, they’re the best.  And I used See’s chunky chocolate chips that my friend got me from San Francisco.

Highly Recommended

Instant Pot Indian Black Eyed Peas Curry

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When I visited this website, I frankly stared at the website owner’s photo for 5 minutes.  She’s so pretty.  Yes, prettier than her recipes.  Way, way prettier.

But other than her beauty, that I can’t seem to get enough of, I also love how healthy the food she cooks is.

I have this goal of finishing all beans and lentils we have at home before they expire so my recipe review will be full of this kind of meal.

My Heart Beets is probably one of the best recipe website I have ever been to.  The layout is clean, the photos are impeccable, and the author just writes interesting tidbits along with the recipe.  I know I would keep going back to this website for more recipes to try.

Reality (from me, the clumsy cook)
Expectation (from MyHeartBeets)

I didn’t change anything in the recipe except that the fat I used is ghee.  I love ghee.  I can put it on every thing I cook but I have to stop myself because it does not work on every recipe.

And can I just say that if you still don’t have an Instant Pot, buy one now.  Or make that your birthday gift to yourself.  Or tell your husband that food will taste better with Instant Pot.  Whatever reason you have to make, make it and get one.  It really saved me a lot of time.  I will write a different entry about how it became one of my favorite kitchen gadgets.

Highly Recommended

Orange Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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My first cookie experiment, yay!

I waited for my Silpat mat to start baking cookies but I think I did not do it right.

This is the recipe that I used.

The way I decide what I cook is this:  what ingredients I have in the house and what fruits should be saved before they go to waste.

I have oranges and the rest of the ingredients in this recipe.  Yes, I even have the Lindt chocolate that I mysteriously was not able to devour.  Maybe because all the Haagen Dazs ice cream sticks in the fridge is always my priority (and we never run out of it!).

This cookie recipe comes from Life Made Simple Bakes website.

Here are some changes I made:

  1.  I used only half of the recipe since I did not want to waste ingredients in case they do not turn out right.
  2. I don’t have kosher salt so I used regular salt.

Here’s the result.

Orange-Dark-Chocolate-Chunk-Cookies-1

Expectation

IMG_4627

Reality

 

Highly Recommended (1)

I followed the recipe religiously (other than halving it) but I still ended up with a bitter aftertaste after I ate the cookie.  Must it be because of the zest?  I am not familiar with “zests” because we never use that in the Philippines so I must have grated the orange in the wrong way.  If you have any idea how I can take off the bitter taste, let me know.  Or maybe, it really should taste that way?  Want to try?