Chocolate Nugget-Orange Flax Cake

For this edition of the Home Bakers hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, the chosen cake is the Chocolate Nugget-Orange Flax Cake, picked by me. I have never baked a cake with flaxseed meal (I usually bake it in bread) and because I love orange and chocolate which are both ingredients for this cake, this was my cake of choice. 

This cake is definitely a healthier choice as only some oil is used and the cake is largely moistened by yoghurt and honey. The use of wholemeal flour and flaxseed meal adds a good amount of fiber to this cake as well. 

The combination of chocolate, orange and nuts add a flavourful punch. My family enjoyed this cake very much. 

Chocolate Nugget  Orange Flaxseed Cake
By Lou Seibert Pappas

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry or whole-meal flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1.5 cups low fat plain yoghurt or buttermilk
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 tbsp thawed frozen orange juice concentrate (I substituted with orange juice)
• 2 tbsp grated orange zest
• 1.5 cups flax cereal (I used flaxseed meal)
• 3/4 cups dried currants or golden raisins
• 3/4 cups chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.
• In a large bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and granulated sugar. Stir to blend.
• In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and stir in the oil, buttermilk or yoghurt, honey, orange juice concentrate and orange zest.
• Add to dry ingredients and mix until just blended.
• Mix in the flax cereal and currants or raisins.
• Turn into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
• Toss the nuts and chocolate chips together and sprinkle evenly over the top.
• Bake for 25 to 35 mins or until the cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Serve warm, cut into squares or strips.

Chocolate Muffins

On somedays I just want a simple muffin with a good cup of tea...

Good chocolate muffin recipes are not easy to come by. I've tried quite a few. They are either too dry, or not chocolatey enough or too fattening. Here's one that is just about right. Rich and moist but healthier if you use low fat plain yoghurt.

The combination of a good quality chocolate powder and chocolate chips which oozes when you bite into it is what makes this muffin stand out. This is definitely one of my favourite chocolate muffin recipes.

Moist Chocolate Muffins (12 large or 18 small muffins)
From All Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Method

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
• Combine flour, sugar, 3/4 cup chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.
• Whisk egg, yogurt, milk, and vegetable oil in another bowl until smooth; pour into chocolate mixture and stir until batter is just blended. 
• Fill prepared muffin cups 3/4 full and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.
• Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

White Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Ganache

White chocolate brownies? I thought it sounded strange as brownies are supposed to be brown, aren't they?

I have an entire bag of white chocolate chips sitting around. In an attempt to use those up, I tried out this White Chocolate Brownie recipe.

It wasn't the fudgy type of brownie but this cake-like brownie was very delicious and moist. The additional white chocolate chips added a crunch to the brownie. 

I topped it with a chocolate ganache sauce which added some colour to an otherwise plain looking bake and made it even more delicious!

White Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Ganache (24 servings)
Recipe from here

Ingredients for Brownie

• 225 g butter
• 84 g white chocolate, chopped
•  4 eggs
• 400 g white sugar (reduced to 300 g)
•  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 250 g all-purpose flour
•  1 teaspoon salt
•  180 g cup white chocolate chips (reduced to 150 g)

Ingredients for Chocolate Ganache

• 100 g dark chocolate, chopped
• 100 ml of whipping cream

 Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.
• Melt the butter and white chocolate together over low heat in a saucepan. Remove from heat, and let cool slightly. Meanwhile beat eggs with sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl; mix in the butter mixture, and stir in the flour and salt until thoroughly combined. Scoop the batter into the prepared baking pan; sprinkle with white chocolate chips.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for about 10 minutes before cutting into bars.
• Heat the chopped dark chocolate and whipping cream over a low heat and stir till melted and smooth. Let it cool for about 15 minutes. Place inside piping bag and pipe over the white brownies.

Nutella Chocolate Cake

Just realised I've been away from the blog for over a month. Apologies to all my blogging friends that I haven't been to your blog lately, will catch up on visiting soon.

I've always wanted to make this cake but I certainly wasn't going to eat this all up by myself - one jar of nutella and 6 eggs, imagine the calories! 

The opportunity to make cake came over Easter as I was a hosting a cell group party at my place. There are few words to describe this cake - moist and nutty doesn't seem to do justice to this absolutely delicious cake. 

Every bite is rich and almost pudding like, with the ground hazelnut adding the most flavours aside from the nutella. It goes perfectly with the chocolate ganache and toasted hazelnuts. 

Three quarter of the cake was gone in no time and I gave the last quarter to my neighbour to prevent myself from stealing anymore slices. 

Nutella Chocolate Cake (9 inch)
Nigella Lawson Recipe

Ingredients

for the cake

• 6 large eggs (separated)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 125 grams soft unsalted butter
• 400 grams nutella (1 large jar)
• 1 tablespoon frangelico (or rum or water)
• 100 grams ground hazelnuts
• 100 grams dark chocolate (melted)

for the icing

• 100 grams hazelnuts (peeled weight) (I used 20 grams coarsely grounded hazelnuts)
• 125 ml double cream
• 1 tablespoon frangelico (or rum or water)
• 125 grams dark chocolate

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4/350ºF. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and Nutella together, and then add the Frangelico (or whatever you're using), egg yolks and ground hazelnuts.
• Fold in the cooled, melted chocolate, then lighten the mixture with a large dollop of egg white, which you can beat in as roughly as you want, before gently folding the rest of them in a third at a time.
• Pour into a 23cm/9 inch round greased and lined springform tin and cook for 40 minutes or until the cake's beginning to come away at the sides, then let cool on a rack.
• Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until the aroma wafts upwards and the nuts are golden-brown in parts: keep shaking the pan so that they don't burn on one side and stay too pallid on others. Transfer to a plate and let cool. This is imperative: if they go on the ganache while hot, it'll turn oily. (Believe me, I speak from experience.) If your hazelnuts have skins on then after toasting in the frying pan transfer them to a slightly dampened tea towel and rub them while they are still warm to remove the skins.
• In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the cream, liqueur or water and chopped chocolate, and heat gently. Once the chocolate's melted, take the pan off the heat and whisk until it reaches the right consistency to ice the top of the cake. Unmould the cooled cake carefully, leaving it on the base as it will be too difficult to get such a damp cake off in one piece.
• Ice the top with the chocolate icing, and dot thickly with the whole, toasted hazelnuts. If you have used Frangelico, put shot glasses on the table and serve it with the cake.

This post is linked to the event Little Thumbs Up (June 2014 Event: Butter) organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Jozelyn Ng (Spice Up My Kitchen).

Orange Chocolate Cake

After seeing Zoe and many other bloggers rave about this cake, it went straight to my do it now list. I am so glad I made this. This is certainly one of the easiest and most delicious chocolate cakes I've made. 

I love anything orange flavoured so the refreshing zesty flavours that accentuate the chocolate-y goodness of this cake is a large plus point. I'd have to say that chocolate and orange is a match made in heaven, that is where baked goods are concerned. 

Since then, I've made it three times and everyone loved it... this recipe has gone on my to bake list for picnics or pot luck. 

Orange Chocolate Cake (1 Loaf)
A Nigella Lawson Recipe from Bake for Happy Kids

Ingredients

• 160 g soft unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• A dab flavorless vegetable oil, for greasing syrup spoon 
• 2 tbsp golden syrup or dark corn syrup (I used maple syrup) 
• 1 cup dark brown sugar 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 3 tbsp best-quality unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted 
• 2 eggs 
• zest of 2 regular orange and juice of 1 (1/3 cup) 
• 80 g chopped dark chocolate or chocolate droplets

Method

• Preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C) and line your loaf pan with parchment paper and grease the sides, or line with a paper loaf-pan liner.
• Beat the already soft butter with the syrup - if you dab a little oil on your tablespoon measure with a sheet of paper towel, the syrup shouldn't stick to the spoon - and the sugar until you have a fairly smooth caffe Americano cream, though the sugar will have a bit of grit about it. 
• Mix the flour, baking soda (or baking powder), and cocoa powder together, and beat into the syrup mixture 1 tbsp of these dry ingredients before beating in 1 egg. Then add another couple of spoonfuls of the dry ingredients before beating in the second egg. 
• Carry on beating in the remaining dry ingredients and then add, still beating, the orange zest and finally, gradually, the juice. At this stage, the batter may suddenly look dimpled, as if slightly curdled. No need to panic! Stir in chopped chocolate if you wish. 
• Pour and scrape into the prepared pan and bake for 45 mins (or 20 mins for smaller loaves), though check 5 mins before and be prepared to keep it in the oven 5 mins longer if need be. A cake tester won't come out entirely clean, as the point of this cake, light though it may be, is to have just a hint of inner stickiness. Let cool a little in its pan on a wire rack, then turn out with care and leave on the rack to cool. 

This post is linked to the Bake Along #60 organised by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids

Chocolate Pudding Cake

I was having one of those "I need chocolate cake" days when I came across this Chocolate Pudding Cake recipe. As I had the ingredients for the cake, I set about making it immediately. 

The cake is easy to put together - the only slightly more challenging part is to whish the egg whites till stiff and fold it into the chocolate mixture gently. 

The result was a melt-in-the-mouth chocolate pudding that shooed away the afternoon blues!

Chocolate Pudding Cake (Serves 8)

Recipe by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• Butter, room temperature, for baking dish
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for baking dish
• 6 large eggs, room temperature, separated
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees (175 degrees C), and set a kettle of water to boil. Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish; coat with granulated sugar, tapping out excess. (I baked mine in ramekins)
• In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks with granulated sugar until lightened in color. Whisk in melted chocolate; set aside.
• In a large, clean bowl, using an electric mixer on high, beat egg whites with salt until soft peaks form. Whisk 1/3 of whites into chocolate mixture. Add remaining whites, and gently fold with a rubber spatula just until combined (do not overmix).
• Transfer batter to prepared baking dish. Set dish in a roasting pan, and pour enough boiling water into pan to come about 1 inch up side of dish. Bake until puffed and just set (center of cake should barely move when jiggled), 25 to 35 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

This is for Cook Like A Star hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Mich of Piece of Cake.

Marble Butter Cake

There are days when the going gets tough (with housework and kids!) that I simply must have a slice of cake! A good piece of cake is such comfort food. This marble cake which I found on The Little Teochew's website was one of those - one bite made everything better. 

This marble cake is quite unlike those crumbly and airy butter cake - the texture of this cake is extremely fine, moist and tender. Instead of the usual whole eggs method (where the whole egg is added to the creamed butter), this cake uses the egg separation method. Egg whites are beaten separately then gently folded into the butter mixture. 

There is no doubt that this method gives the cake an extraordinarily fine and moist texture. This is definitely the marble cake recipe for me from now. 

Marble Butter Cake (8 inch)
Recipe from The Little Teochew

Ingredients

• 8 large eggs, separated
• 9 ozs (255g) castor sugar (Reduced to 220g)
• 12 ozs (340g) unsalted butter, softened
• 9 ozs (255g) all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsps baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsps pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsps good quality cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method

1. Preheat oven at 160°C (convection fan on) with a wire rack in the middle. Line an 8-inch round cake tin with parchment, butter and flour. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment till light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar till light. Gradually add this into the butter and beat on medium speed till just incorporated. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites till stiff peaks form. With a spatula, fold in the meringue into the egg yolk mixture in 3-4 batches*. Add in the dry ingredients gradually until just incorporated.
* The first time I added the egg whites, it was impossible to fold. What I did was just mix it up with the thick yolk batter and "loosen up" the batter. The subsequent batches were much easier. I folded the whites in 3 batches.

3. Scoop out 1/4* of the batter in a separate bowl. Sieve cocoa powder over it and fold to mix well. Pour batters into tin, alternating between the two mixtures. Start with the yellow batter and end with the cocoa mixture. Rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. With a long skewer, swirl (sparingly) around the batter to create the marble effect. Bake for 40-55 minutes or until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
* This is somewhat arbitrary. A little more won't hurt, especially if you want a bit more chocolate in your cake! :)

4. Cool on wire rack completely before serving. Cake keeps at room temperature up to 3 days and can be frozen up to 3 months.

This is for Bake Along hosted by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Lena of Frozen Wings and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours. 

Chocolate Chip and Hazelnut Cookies

When I was in Malaysia for a holiday last December, I brought home several kilograms of different types of nuts as they were cheaper than in Singapore. Now I have a stash of walnuts, cashews and hazelnut stored in the refrigerator for baking! When I saw this Chocolate Chip and Hazelnut Cookie recipe, I immediately bookmarked it as I have never made hazelnut cookies and was eager to use the nuts I have. 

Hazelnuts add a distinctive flavour to bakes and it's not exception for this cookie. It's rich, smooth nutty flavour goes perfectly with the chocolate bits to make these one of the best cookies I've made. And the best part is it is so crispy and stayed that way even after days (stored in an air-tight container). This is definitely on my make-again list. 

Chocolate Chip and Hazelnut Cookies 
(Makes about 30 small cookies depending on size)
Recipe by Donna Hay

Ingredients

• 125 g butter, chopped
• 1½ cups (225 g) self-raising (self-rising) flour
• ¾ cup (135 g) brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup (105 g) chopped hazelnuts
• ⅔ cups (100 g) milk chocolate chunks

Method

• Preheat oven to 180ºC (390ºF). Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly. 
• Place the flour and sugar in a bowl and mix to combine. 
• Add the butter, egg and vanilla and mix to combine. Stir through the hazelnuts and chocolate. 
• Using your hands, mould 2 tablespoons of cookie mixture into a flat round and place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper, leaving room to spread. Repeat with remaining mixture. Bake for 10–12 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on trays. 

* To check if the cookies are done, look at the bottom not the top. If you wait until the top looks right you risk overcooking them. To check, lift a cookie with a spatula so you can see underneath. The bottom should be deep golden. Cool on trays as the cookies will continue to cook after you’ve removed them from the oven.

This is for Cook Like A Star hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Mich of Piece of Cake. 

Cream Cheese Brownies

Biting into a moist, rich and grue-y brownie is such a comforting thing. There are days I simply need brownies to shoo away stress of housework!

These rich and moist cream cheese brownies did just that for me... I only made half the recipe and immediately regretted it as it was demolished in no time. The brownie layer was really good, though I thought there was too much cream cheese. 

The next time I do this, I'll halve the cream cheese so that I have more of a chocolate-y later. It would also be better to bake this in a smaller tray so that I'll have a thicker brownie to bite into. 

Cream Cheese Brownies (9 inch square tray)
Recipe by Nigella from here

Ingredients

 125 g dark chocolate

• 125 g unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 200 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 75 g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 200 g cold Philadelphia cream cheese

Method

•  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
• Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat in a heavy based pan.
• Beat the eggs with sugar and vanilla.
• Measure the flour into another bowl and add salt.
• When the chocolate has all but completely melted, take the pan off the heat – the residual heat in the mixture will finish it off.
• Leave for a bit to cool slightly before beating in the eggs and sugar.
• Finally add the flour, and beat till smooth.
• Pour half the mixture into the greased 9 inch square tin, slice the Philly as thinly as you can and put it on the mixture in the tin, pour the remaining mixture over the top.
• Smooth the mix so that all the cream cheese is covered.
• Bake for about 20 minutes – the top should be slightly paled and dry, but a skewer should reveal a slightly sticky centre. Cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into little squares.

Note: If I were to make this again, I would bake this in a 8 inch square tray (increase baking time by about extra 5 minutes) with half the amount of cream cheese as I prefer a thicker brownie with more chocolate part than cream cheese. 

This is for Cook Like A Star hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours, Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids and Mich of Piece of Cake. 

This post is for Bake Along #58, an event organised by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you prefer chewy cookies or crunchy cookies? I normally like the crunchy type but occasionally I'd find a soft chewy type which I really like such as this Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie from well known bloggers Two Peas and their Pod. 

I was thrilled to find all my favourite ingredients rolled into one cookie - oatmeal, bananas and chocolate chips! Use really ripened bananas and that really adds to the sweetness of the cookies so I reduced the sugar a little and find that its still sweet enough. 

The oatmeal adds extra fiber and the chocolate chips add extra that extra something special. My kids really liked these cookies. 

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies (About 40 small cookies)
Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod

Note: The texture of this cookie is not crispy - it is soft and chewy.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 large banana, mashed
• 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars, mix until smooth. Add in vanilla extract and egg. Next, add the banana. Beat well.
• Slowly add in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
• Drop cookie dough by heaping tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets that have been lined with parchment paper or Silcone baking mats.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until golden. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Steamed Egg White Zebra Cake

After making Kue Lapis Surabaya, there were 30 egg whites sitting in my refrigerator. I had to use them up fast and came across this steamed cake recipe which uses 450 ml of egg whites. 

When the cake first came out of the steamer, I wasn't too impressed with the texture as I thought it was rather dense. However, after leaving it overnight, the texture became more fluffy and reminded me of the traditional steamed egg cake (鸡蛋糕).

My kids liked it very much (maybe because of the chocolate layers) and finished the cake in a couple of days, fighting over the last piece!

Steamed Egg White Zebra Cake (8 inch)

Recipe from My Home Diary in Turkey

Materials needed:

• 450 ml egg whites
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1.5 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tsp powdered vanilla
• 1.5 tablespoons cocoa powder (I used 1.5 tbsp chocolate paste)
• 3/4 cup olive oil (or other vegetable oil)

Method

• Heat water in your steamed pan. Grease a 8" cake mold with butter. Set aside
• Sift and mix flour and baking powder. Set aside
• Whisk egg white, mix in sugar bit by bit while still whipped until fluffy, add the salt. Mix in lemon juice and continue beating until stiff and thick.
• Fold in flour mixture, fold until blended . mix in olive oil, folding until well blended. Take half the dough and mix with cocoa powder elsewhere.
• Pour batter into molds,alternating between white and brown batter to make "zebra" form a pattern. Steam for 15-20 minutes or until inserted skewer comes out clean.

Milk Chocolate Pecan Cake

The Milk Chocolate Pecan Cake from the book Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet and Savory by Lou Seibert Pappas is the next bake for the members of The Home Bakers. The Home Bakers  is hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours. If you are keen to join us, please contact Joyce.

I don't normally buy pecans as they are fairly expensive locally. Coincidentally, my mum brought me a whole bag of pecans from the USA, just in time for me to bake this cake. The taste which pecans adds to this cake is really unique, a special taste which other nuts doesn't have. It goes so well with the chocolate chips and the cinnamon to create a lovely top crust for the cake. 

The inside of this soft and moist buttery cake is also studded with the chocolate-pecan-cinnamon mixture. This cake is so addictive and it is certainly one of my favourites cakes from this book. 

Eileen of Hundred and Eighty Degrees is the host of this bake. Please see this page for the full recipe. 

Chocolate Granola Bars

There's nothing in this world that beats a chocolate granola bar! Okay, that sounds like an exaggeration but biting into a really good chocolate granola bar is highly satisfying.  

And nothing beats home made ones - loving mixed and baked in the oven with the best ingredients...

 ... and coated with a thick layer of good quality chocolate. 

The final product!

It's typically gets eaten up by the family in a matter of days!

Chocolate Granola Bars 

Pioneer Woman's recipe

Ingredients

• 6 cups Rolled Oats (not Quick Oats)
• 4 tbsp Butter, Melted, Plus More For Greasing (I substituted with 4 tbsp olive oil)
• ¼ cups Vegetable Or Canola Oil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• ½ cups Honey
• ¼ cups Apple Juice
• ¼ cups Molasses (I substituted with 1/4 cup maple syrup)
• 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1-½ cup Rice Krispies (I substituted with 1-1/2 cup Buckwheat Puffs)
• 1 cup Wheat Germ (I substituted with 1 cup grounded flax seeds)
• ½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
• ¼ cups Roughly Chopped Almonds
• 8 ounces, weight Milk Chocolate Or Chocolate Almond Bark, Melted (optional) 

Method 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a bowl, toss the oats with the canola oil, melted butter and salt. Spread the mixture out on 2 baking sheets and toast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, shaking the pan twice and making sure they don’t burn. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C).
• In a medium saucepan, combine the brown sugar, honey, apple juice and molasses. Heat the mixture slowly, stirring until all combined. Stir in the vanilla.
• Toss together the toasted oats, rice cereal, wheat germ, pecans and almonds. Pour in the sugar mixture, stirring as you pour. Toss to combine; it will be sticky!
• Press into 1 baking sheet (thoroughly greased with butter, or line pan with foil and grease foil) and bake until golden, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut pieces with a sharp knife and remove from the pan.
• Dip the cooled granola bars straight into the melted chocolate so that the top is plain and the bottom is chocolate-covered. Set on parchment until set, sticking in the fridge to hasten this along if necessary.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Vivian of Vivian Pang’s Kitchen.

Marble Butter Cake

Once in a while I would develop cravings for some old fashioned marble cake - the type that I used to eat from the neighbourhood bakeries when I was a little girl.

When my daughter asked me to bake her a butter cake, I went in search of a good marble cake recipe - the moist and crumbly type that melts in your mouth. 

This Rasa Malaysia recipe for Marble Butter Cake did not disappoint at all - it was just exactly like I imagined Marble Butter Cake to be - a light chocolate cake interspersed with plain butter cake with fine moist crumbs. 

It was gone in a day!

Marble Cake Recipe (1 large loaf)Recipe from Rasa Malaysia
Ingredients:

• 174 g butter, softened at room temperature
• 1 cups sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1.5 cups bleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt, full fat preferred
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 50 g (3.5oz) semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp Grand Marnier (optional)

Method

• Preheat oven to 325 F (165 C).
• Put chocolate in a dry, clean bowl and melt in microwave oven in 30-second intervals, stirring till you get a smooth paste. Remove and let cool
• In a stand mixer, or a hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar till mixture is fluffy and sugar has been cut in well.
• Add eggs, one at a time. Beat on med-high speed for about 20 seconds after each egg, and scrape down before adding the next one.
• Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
• Add dry ingredients in three portions, interspersing with the yogurt and milk and stir gently. So basically, this means 1/3 dry ingredients, yogurt, 1/3 dry ingredients, milk, final third dry ingredient. Stir till all traces of flour is gone.
• Take out half of the vanilla cake batter and drop it into the baking pan. Add the melted chocolate and cocoa powder and Grand Marnier (if using) to the remaining batter and stir it.
• Interspersing globs of vanilla batter with chocolate batter, drop batter into pan.
• Using your spatula, twirl the batter together using a figure-eight motion to mix the batter up to get that nice pretty marble design. Don’t overmix.
• Smooth out the top of your pan and put cake in oven to bake. If you’re using loaf pans, start to test the cake after about 40 minutes. If using your bundt, it will need about 1 hour (test after 55 minutes). Cake tester should come out clean when it’s done.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Kids love cookies and there's no better place to hide healthy ingredients such as oats in cookies. 

This cookie is a perfect mix of chewiness (due to the oatmeal) and yet crispy on the outside. Coupled with the melted chocolate chip cookies, it was no wonder my kids gobbled these up within three days!

This is another one of Bill Granger's easy to do yet amazingly delicious recipe. I'm sure it'll be a hit at home. 

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

A Bill Granger Recipe

Ingredients

• 150 g unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup soft brown sugar (the recipe calls for 1 cup, but I cut the sugar down)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• 2 1/3 (235 g) cups rolled oats
• 1 (175 g) cup choc chips

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees, line three large baking trays with baking paper.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy and smooth.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat till smooth.  Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and mix lightly.  Add the oats and choc chips and stir to combine.
• Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on the baking trays.  Flatten the balls with a fork dipped in flour.  Bake the cookies for 10 minutes, or until pale golden if you like them to be soft and chewy and longer if you like them with a bit of crunch.  Remove from the oven and cool on trays for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

This is for Cook Like A Star hosted by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out and Mich of Piece of Cake. 

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and Doreen from My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Vivian of Vivian Pang’s Kitchen.