Cook with Priyanka

Sunday, 18 May 2014

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons are closer to a cookie than its meringue cousin, and is equally sweet. They have a nice crust and chewy inside. I heard a lot about Coconut Macaroons and always thought that they are very fancy and can only be bought from a bakery. Never ever thought to prepare them at home.

Once I was going through a recipe of Ina Garten and found it to be not so difficult and quick to make. The original recipe contains Condensed Milk + Coconut + Egg whites, but making some changes I totally omitted the Condensed milk part and made them with sugar. Few recipes also add almond meal to it. There are many methods to prepare them. Few beat the egg whites to the stiff peaks and then fold in the coconut and sugar and many more. But I got a very easy and simple way to prepare it for you guys. There are various varieties of coconut macaroons these days - like chocolate, nuts etc.
So lets quickly see the ingredients followed by the method.

Ingredients :

Castor Sugar - 1 cup
Dessicated Coconut - 2 + 1/2 cups
Egg whites - 4 egg whites (large eggs, if medium then 5)

Method :

In a big bowl whisk sugar & egg whites just to mix well.
Now add in the coconut and again mix.
Transfer the mixture to a pan on medium to low flame and continuously stir it. (Make sure to stir continuously as if not then the egg might cook to a scrambled egg and we don't want that)
After sometime you will observe that the moisture has dried out a bit. Just close the flame and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes. (make sure that the mixture is not too runny, if yes then cook it for some more time)
Now take a plastic sheet piping bag or make your own, fill it with the mixture, cut a little big hole.
Pipe on to a baking tray lined with butter paper.
Bake it in a preheated oven at 160 ° C for 20-25 minutes or unless they get a nice golden brown color.
Once done, take them out and let them sit in the baking tray for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.

Once cooled, store them into an air tight container and enjoy !!!!!

Note :

They are very easy to prepare, but few things have to be kept in mind -

While cooking the mixture, stirring continuously is very important

While baking, once they start changing color keep an eye, as they might get a very dark color soon.

Do share your experiences and feedback with me in the below section of comments or on my Facebook page. I too have a You Tube channel please do visit for all the video recipes. All the links mentioned below :)

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/user/cookwithpriyanka

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/cookwithpriyanka

Thanks & Happy Baking

Priyanka :)

Friday, 16 May 2014

Oatmeal, raisins & choco chips cookies (Eggless & with eggs both version)

Oatmeal cookies are not new in our home as its liked by everyone hence an all time favourite snack for our family. Secondly its healthy too :). I have prepared them with & without eggs and frankly speaking didn't find much difference. They are crunchy outside and chewy inside. Have a nice buttery flavour with a sweetness of raisins & chocolate. I also add cinnamon powder to it as its my one of the favourite flavours, its totally optional but I must admit that it takes cookies to the next level :))))

Tomorrow I am planning to meet one of my foodie friend, so just thought to bake something for him. Made few goodies and will upload soon. The one thing which I thought to prepare first were these, as I am pretty sure it will be loved :). Presenting a food goodie to a foodie friend is quite tough na........But making my fingers crossed, I have packed them.

They are very easy to prepare and have a longer shelflife. These can be stored in an airtight containers for a longer time. Having one cookie with a cup of milk is very healthy and believe me kids just love it. Once I prepared it for my niece and she became crazy for them, used to have them in her breakfast without any fuss, she is just 4 :))))). So lets quickly run through the ingredients following the method :)

I am also posting here a video for an eggless version, so all my vegetarian friends can see it. I didn't add chocolate chips in this version, if you like you can add 1/4 cup of chocolate chips too.

Ingredients :

Rolled oats - 1 + 1/2 cup (Old fashioned or quick any can be used)
All purpose flour/Maida/ Plain flour - 3/4 cup
Light Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup packed
Castor sugar - 1/4 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup (at room temperature)
Egg - 1 nos
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon Powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)
Raisins - 1/2 cup
Choco chips - 1/4 cup