Pecans Brownies

First thing first, wish all the Malaysian Happy Merdeka Day and Happy 57th Birthday to my national Malaysia. I have been busy with my final year project and assignments, and I have promised myself to be productive in this holidays. I did it! =D

Come back to the main topic today. Brownies finally here! Yay! This version of the brownies is the most I have made at home whenever I'm free or fancy to bake, and the important point is, it is super duper easy to make and extremely delicious, no joking! 

The texture of this brownie is more like cakey feeling rather than the fudgy one. Sometimes I like to additional add some chocolate chips or drizzle some chocolate sauce on top, it will be wonderful too. But this time, I just simply present it with snowy icing sugar, just like the classic one. ;)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup   Butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup   Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup   Castor Sugar
1 tbsp   Golden Syrup
2 Eggs
2 tsp   Vanilla Extract
3 tbsp Milk
1/2 cup   Self-raising Flour
1/4 tsp   Baking Powder
2 tbsp   Cocoa Powder, unsweetened
1/4 tsp   Salt
1/2 cup   Toasted Pecans, roughly chopped

材料：
1/4 杯   牛油，室温
1/2 杯   苦甜巧克力粒
3/4 杯   细砂糖
1 大匙      金黄糖浆
2 颗   蛋
2 小匙   香草精
3 大匙   牛奶
1/2 杯   自发面粉
1/4 小匙   发酵粉
2 大匙   可可粉，不甜的
1/4 小匙   盐
1/2 杯   烤山核桃，随意切碎

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C / 350˚F.
2. Place the chocolate chips in a double boiler, cook it until melted. Set aside to cool.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar and syrup until creamy.
5. Add in the eggs and combine well.
6. Mix in the vanilla and milk together well.
7. Add the melted chocolate and whisk until the mixture is thick and creamy.
8. Add the dry ingredients and mix them in until they are well blended.
9. After that, add in the chopped pecans and mix them until well combined.
10. Prepare an 8x8 inch baking pan and lay with parchment paper, leave some extra paper out, so later can remove it easily.
11. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake it for about 30 minutes or until set.
12. Once its baked, let it cool completely before cutting.

做法：
1. 预热烤箱180˚C / 350˚F。
2. 将巧克力粒隔水煮溶，备用。
3. 将自发面粉，发酵粉，可可粉及盐混合均匀，备用。
4. 在另一个大容器，将奶油，糖及糖浆搅拌至均匀及顺滑。
5. 加入鸡蛋打发均匀。
6. 加入香草精和牛奶混合均匀。
7. 将煮溶的巧克力加入，搅拌均匀至浓稠。
8. 随后加入分类，均匀搅拌至完全混合。
9. 把山核桃倒入轻手混合均匀。
10. 准备一个8x8寸的烤盘铺上烘焙纸，预留多出的纸，随后可以轻易地拿出。
11. 刮出面糊倒入预备好的烤盘，烤约30分钟或熟透。
12. 烤好后拿出烤箱，置放至冷却后才切。

Chocolate-Chips & Nuts Cookie

Recently I'm so fancy about cookie, something like Famous Amos, the strong flavor and the crunchiness.
Oh! It is just so gorgeous!
I want to make something similar with FA.
So I came out my own version of the FA chocolate-chips and nuts cookie.
The taste is really good, and I can't stop myself to eat it.
I'm kind of proud of myself can bake such a great cookie. =D

Here is the recipe, and lets start bake it......

Ingredients:
230g All-Purpose Flour
2 tbsp Good Quality Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1 Large Egg
1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt
145g Salted Butter, cubed
130g Dark Brown Sugar
100g Castor Sugar
1 cup Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Nuts (Walnuts/Hazelnuts/Almond/Chestnuts), chopped

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350°f / 180°c, and line a baking sheet with a parchment paper.

2.In a medium bowl, mix up flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon powder, baking soda, and baking powder, shift together. Set aside.

3. Place egg, vanilla and salt in another bowl, beat until the egg are uniform color and can't see any more whites in the mixture. Set aside.

4. Place the cubed butter and sugars in a mixing bowl, mix them on medium speed until fluffy and light, about 3 to 4 minutes.

 

 5. Add egg mixture and beat to incorporate.

6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix on low speed to incorporate, and then add the rest of the flour mixture until well combined. (I'm using dough hook, but I think the balloon whisk will work better)

7.Add the chocolate chips and chopped nuts, stir it to distribute evenly throughout the dough.

8. Spoon a small ball of the dough on the prepared baking sheet, keep some gap between each of it.

9. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the edge of the cookie are dry but the cookie is still soft. Do not over bake. Leave on the sheets for about 10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool.

 *Tips*
You can store the dough in the fridge for at least 36 hours, or up to 3 or 4 days. The longer you store, the more time for the flour to hydrate and the cookies to develop a richer deeper caramel taste.

Banana-Walnut Crumb Muffin

I love banana cake, and I love the crunchy crumbs on the top of the muffin.

So this time I combined both of my favorites together - Banana Walnut Crumb Muffin!

It is really simple, and even don't need an electric mixer to make it.

I had one recipe of the crumb topping from Crumb Boss before, but unfortunately I lost it. 

That is very crispy and crunchy crumb that I ever had.

But I rarely can remember the ingredients she used, and I came out the similar version from her recipe,

and the texture and taste are so close.

So here we go for the ingredients and steps, and lets get started......

INGREDIENTS:

For The Crumb:

1/3 cup Packed Brown Sugar

2 tbsp All-Purpose Flour

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder

1 tbsp Butter

For The Muffin:

1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

65g Walnuts

3 Large Bananas

1/2 cup Castor Sugar

1/4 cup Packed Brown Sugar

1 Large Egg

1/3 cup Vegetable Oil / Melted Butter

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tbsp Milk

METHODS:

For The Crumb:

1. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients with a fork until evenly distributed and crumbly in texture. Set it in fridge for prepared use.

For The Muffin:

1. Preheat oven to 375°f / 190°c. Line the muffin papers on 12 muffin cups.

2. Toast the walnuts in the oven about 4-6 minutes, each 2 minutes slightly shake the tray or use a spoon to stir around to prevent burns.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

4. In another bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.

5. Beat in the egg, sugars, melted butter, milk, and vanilla into the mashed banana. Stir until well combined.

6. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture, combine it with a spatula or wooden spoon just until moistened. Add in the toasted walnut and combine together. Don't over mix.

  

7. Evenly scoop the batter into prepared muffin cups, and sprinkle the crumbs on the top. Bake it about 18-20 minutes, or until it set.