Pandan Almond Cookies

Adapted & modified from Kenneth Goh's recipe.

Ingredients

*makes about 50 cookies

250g plain flour

100g chopped almonds 

75g butter (I used salted)

100g castor sugar

1 egg

1/2tsp pandan extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150C.
2. Grease and line baking tray.
3. Sieved flour, set aside.
4. Cream butter and sugar until light & fluffy.
5. Add egg & pandan extract and mix until well-combined, then add in sieved flour and mix to a dough.
6. Roll out the dough and cut them out with cookies cutter.
7. Send to bake for 15min, then flip them over and bake for another 15min.
8. Leave to cool completely on cooling rack.

This is the plunger that I used.

And I thought they looked like jade before baking!

Almond & Melon Seeds Crisp

Recipe adapted from Evangeline Diana Lee.
A great recipe to clear the egg whites after making the Pineapple Tarts!

Ingredients
100g almond flakes
50g melon seeds
3 egg whites
2tbsp vegetable oil
70g castor sugar
40g plain flour
Black & white sesame seeds to sprinkle


Method

1. Lined baking tray and preheat oven at 180C.
2. Mix egg whites, sugar, oil & flour until well-combined.
3. Add in almond flakes & melon seeds and mix well.
4. Transfer mixture into baking tray and spread them thinly & evenly over the tray. 
5. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the mixture.
6. Send to bake for 18mins.
7. Once baked, quickly lift the baking paper to a heat-resistance surface (eg: silpat or wooden choping board) and cut them into squares or rectangular shapes. Note:  they will turn hard once cooled.
8. Then transfer to cooling rack and leave to cool completely before storing them in air-tight containers. 

Original recipe.

Before baking.

Fresh out from oven!

Baked, cut & packed!

Pineapple Tarts (melt-in-the-mouth)

Tart recipe adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover.

Ingredients
*Makes about 100 tarts

350g butter (I used salted)
100g condensed milk
510g plain flour
2 egg yolks

700g Pineapple filling (I used store-bought types, but if you prefer to make them yourself, you can take a look at this Kenneth Goh's recipe that just required 30mins to make!)

Eggwash: 2 egg yolks + 1tsp water + 1tsp oil

Optional (depending on design): Sesame seeds & green coloring


Method

1. Roll pineapple jam into balls of 8g each (Tip: wet your hands while rolling, it'll prevent the jam from sticking to your hand) I did this the night before baking the tarts, and store them in an airtight container and left it in the fridge.
   
2. Cream butter and condensed milk with mixer, until light & well-combined.
   
3. Add in egg yolks, one at a time.
   
4. Then mix in sieved flour (half by mixer, and the other half manually).
   
5. When the mixture comes to a soft dough, roll each dough into balls of 10g.
   
6. Shaping into balls:
   (1) Flatten a piece of dough on your palm, then place a piece of the roll pineapple filling in the middle. Seal the edges of the dough and roll it into a round ball shape.
   (2) Apply egg wash and sprinkle some sesame seeds in the center.
   
7. Shaping into pineapples:
   (1) You need to color a small portion of the dough with green coloring.
   (2) Flatten a piece of dough (original) on your palm, then place a piece of the roll pineapple filling in the middle. Seal the edges of the dough and roll it into a round ball shape.
   (3)  Press a skewer lightly across the ball to create the lines.
   (4) Using a small flower plunger, cut out 3 small flowers from the green dough.
   (5) Stick them on the sides of the ball to create the leaf.
   (6) Apply egg wash.
   
8. Shaping into nastar:  Transfer dough to the nastar plunger and pipe out a strips of dough, add a piece of pineapple jam, roll up and cut off extra dough.
   
9. Send to bake at 160C for 20mins.
   
10. Once baked, leave to cool completely then store in airtight container.

The jams I used.

Roll them into balls of 8g each.

Pineapple Balls: before baking.

Pineapple Balls: baked!

Pineapple shapes: before baking.

Pineapple shapes: baked!

This is the flower plunger that I used to make the leaf on the pineapple shape tarts.

Nastar: before bake

Nastar: baked!  For this shape, I did it without eggwash.

This is the plunger that I used for the nastar shapes.

Illustrations on the nastar shaping.
Photo credits to Food4Tots.

All baked & packed!

Almond Cookies

This recipe was originally shared by Daniel Leong, and is also a variation from the Peanut Cookies  I made last week.

Ingredients
*yields 70 cookies

150g SR flour
60g icing sugar - sieved
80g chopped almonds
80g ground almond powder
100g corn oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Eggwash: 1 egg yolk + 1/2tsp water + 1/2 tsp oil
Some sesame seeds to sprinkle


Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C and lined baking tray.
2. Mix flour, sugar, chopped almond & almond powder together.
3. Add in oil & vanilla, and mix together.  The mixture will appear crumbly.
4. Using a round teaspoon, press the dough into the spoon, then push on the edge of the dough, and it will glide out from the other end (see illustrations here).
5. Apply eggwash and sprinkle some sesame seeds in the enter of each cookie.
6. Sent to bake for 15mins.
7. Leave to cool completely on cooling rack.

After shaping.

Apply eggwash and sprinkle sesame seeds in the center.

Baked and packed!

Peanut Cookies

Another CNY bake.

Modified from the recipe shared by Daniel Leong.

Ingredients
*yields 70 cookies

150g SR flour
60g icing sugar - sieved
80g chopped roasted peanuts
80g ground peanut powder
100g corn oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence


Method

1. Preheat oven to 170C and lined baking tray.
2. Mix flour, sugar, chopped peanut & peanut powder together.
3. Add in oil & vanilla, and mix together.  The mixture will appear crumbly.
4. Using a round teaspoon (see below picture), press the dough into the spoon, then push on the edge of the dough, and it will glide out from the other end.
5. Sent to bake for 15mins.
6. Leave to cool completely on cooling rack.

Original recipe shared by Daniel Leong.

The mixture will appear crumbly, it's fine.

I used this spoon to shape the cookies.  I bought it from Daiso, it came as a set of measuring spoons.

Press the mixture into the spoon.

Press the edge of it, and it will glide out.

Before baking.

Baked & packed!

Peanut Butter Cookies

A great option to bake as CNY goodies. 

Ingredients

150g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

100g butter

80g icing sugar - sieved

1 egg

1tsp vanilla essence

50g of ground peanut powder

some cashew nuts

Method

1. Lined baking tray and preheat oven to 180C.
2. Sieved plain flour & baking powder together.  Set aside. 
3. Beat butter & sugar until light & creamy.
4. Add in egg.
5. Fold in sieved flour mixture.
6. Shape into roll balls, then press down a cashew nut in the center.
7. Sent to bake for around 20mins, or until turn light brown.
   *Optional: apply eggwash for shiny top

This is the type of peanut powder I used.

Before baking.

Baked.

Separate batch that I applied with eggwash.

Cornflakes Cookies

Recipe adapted from Munch Ministry.

Ingredients
*Makes about 35 cookies
100g butter (I used salted types)
100g castor sugar
1 egg
175g self raising flour
½ tsp vanilla essence
Cornflakes – crushed

Method

1. Lined baking tray and preheat oven to 170C.
2. Cream butter & sugar until well-combined
3. Add in egg and mix well
4. Scoop ½ tsp of the dough and roll into a ball, then roll the ball of dough over the crushed cornflakes, transfer to baking tray and flatten lightly with the back of the spoon.
5. Send to bake for  15-20min or until the cookies turned golden brown.
   

Original recipe. ( I changed the baking temp on my version)

Nestum Chocolate-chips Cookies

Recipe adapted from a BC member, Soo See Hong.

For a second, I thought my cookies looked like meatballs! :P

Ingredients

*yields about 50+ cookies

100g salted butter
110g caster sugar
100g plain flour
50g corn flour
50g milk powder (I used nestle creamer)
1 egg
80g nestum
Some chocolate chips (amount up to your own personal preference)
Some nestum for rolling


Method

1. Lined baking tray and preheat oven to 170C.
   
2. Sieve plain flour, cornflour & milk powder together.  Set aside.
   
3. Cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy, then add in egg and mix until well-combined.
   
4. Add in sieved flours, nestum & chocolate chips and mix to a dough.
   
5. Using a teaspoon, scoop a full spoonful amount of the dough and roll them into balls.
   
6. Roll the balls of dough over the nestum, then transfer to baking tray.
   
7. Send the cookies to bake for 20-25min.

Original recipe

All ready to send to the oven!

This is the Nestum I used.

Copycat Jenny's Bakery Cookies - Version 2

This is another version of the Copycat Jenny's Bakery Cookies, created by Cynthia Neo!  The first version holds the shape much better, but I feel this one taste better, more buttery & much easier to pipe!  And melt in the mouth, YES!

Ingredients

100g butter - I used Golden Churn block butter

25g icing sugar

45g plain flour

30g bread flour

25g rice flour

Method

*preheat oven at 160C

1.  When the butter is semi-soft, using hand whisk, whisk together with sugar until fluffy.

2.  Fold in sieved flours until well combined.

3.  Transfer to piping bag and pipe out desired shapes onto lined baking tray.

4.  Bake at 160C for 20mins.

 The nozzles I used.  These are not wilton's but can be bought at Phoon Huat.

End-products!

A short video that shows how I piped the cookies.  The first one is the rosette and the last one is dahlia :)

And these are the ones I piped for X'mas :)