Thursday, December 18, 2008

Eggless Oats & Dates Cookies-A light tea time snack



These are almost fat free, not so heavy healthy cookies perfect to munch with a cup of tea. I followed Mrs.Chithra's recipe without making any changes. I used only 1 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp of milk to make the dough. For tastier cookies, you can add 1/4 cup of melted butter instead of oil and milk. I did not add any sugar because of health reasons. Instead I added more dates.

Ingredients:
Wheat flour-1/4 cup
Instant oats-3/4 cup
Dates(minced)-1/4 cup
Brown Sugar-1/4 cup
Oil-1 tbsp
Milk-2 tbsp
or substitute milk and oil with 1/4 cup melted butter

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 F
Mix all the ingredients and make a dough.
Make small balls and place them in a baking tray lined with aluminum foil(grease the foil with oil). Flatten the balls slightly(1/4 inch thick) with a spoon.
Bake for 20 minutes(turn over in between after 10 minutes). Let it cool and store in an air tight container.

Obviously the cookies will taste yummy if butter is used.

I am sending this recipe to the following events:
Sangeeth's Eat Healthy during Pregnancy
Purva's Christmas Festivities
JZ's Santa's holiday challenge
Sharmi’s Cookie Baking Event
Vandana’s Baking for Beginners

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Baked Methi Muthiya(Savory Fenugreek Crackers)



Finally I got to bake something(after moving to this apartment) in the oven which does not have any feature except the knob to set the temperature :) It doesn't have these features-timer, light, preheating facility, display screen, clock, sound indicator, touch keypad and so on. It basically has nothing. I really wonder if it is an oven or some storage space. But I dared to bake something today. My husband is out of town and he has taken the car. It's raining cats and dogs! What else can you expect me to do at home? So I went ahead and baked Methi Muthiyas. I took the recipe from Ashwini's blog and modified it a little bit.

Ingredients:
Besan Flour(gram flour)-1/2 cup
Wheat flour-1/2 cup
Salt
Pepper
Red Chilli powder-1/4 tsp
Hing(Asafoetida)-a pinch(optional)
Kasuri Methi(dried Fenugreek leaves)-1/2 tsp
Oil-2 tbsp

Method:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix all the ingredients except oil with little water to form a dough. Add oil to the dough and knead well. Divide the dough into small balls and place them on a greased baking pan. Flatten them into thin disks(less than 1/4 inch). Bake for 10 minutes. Take the pan out and turn over the muthiyas. Bake until crisp and golden brown(10 minutes approximately).

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Dates and Nuts Fudge(cake)-Sugar free & Natural



Remember Divya's Nutty Energy Power Balls? It is packed with protein, iron and fiber. Thanks Divya for sharing this healthy recipe. I modified the recipe and prepared it today as it marks the beginning of Margazhi(Tamil month from Dec 16th-Jan 14). Rendering of Thiruppavai(holy rhymes) to Goddess Andal is the main significance of Margazhi. Thiruppavai consists of 30 verses and 1 verse is sung every day for 30 days. To understand the meaning of all the verses visit Wiki. I love listening to Thiruppavai early in the morning. If you would like to hear the same, click Hummaa. Pongal is prepared everyday and offered to Goddess Andal during this month.
Also, it is Christmas time. One more occasion to indulge in a dessert!

Ingredients:
Raw Mixed nuts(cashews, walnuts, almonds)-3/4 cup
Instant oats(dry roasted for a minute and ground to a fine powder)-3/4 cup
Dates-roughly 12(adjust according to your taste)
Ghee-1 tbsp
Cardamom-a pinch

Method:
Powder the nuts and oats separately. Grind the dates to a smooth paste.
Mix all the ingredients together to form a dough(like chapathi dough). Add ghee little by little while kneading the dough.
Flatten the dough(see the picture below) and cut into pieces or roll them into balls.





I am sending this recipe to the following events:
Sangeeth's Eat Healthy during Pregnancy
Purva's Christmas Festivities
Happy Cook's Homemade Christmas Gifts
JZ's Santa's holiday challenge