RECIPE: Calamansi Crumb Muffin

Yes, I am a true blue chocolate lover but I'm always on the lookout for something different like this...

*from Sabrina Cristobal Go of Glam-o-mamas

Yield: 24 muffins

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
½ + 1/8 tsp baking soda
½ + 1/8 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp. Calamansi zest
1 Tbsp. Calamansi juice

TOPPING:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cold butter, cubed
Directions:
Preheat oven at 350°.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, butter, Calamansi peel and juice. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter.
Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Return of the comeback!

SOON!

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Melt-in-your-mouth buttery cookies topped with your favorite fruit preserves or walnuts.

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RECIPE: Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies

*from Mrs. Fields Cookie Book

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp. grated orange peel
1 cup white sugar
1/2 light brown sugar, packed
1 cup salted butter softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure orange extract
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

In a medium bowl combine flour, soda, salt and orange peel. Mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl, blend sugars with electric mixer at a medium speed. Add butter and beat to form a grainy paste, scraping the sides of the bowl if needed. Add eggs and orange extract,and beat at medium speed until fully combined.

Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips. Blend at low speed just until combined. if the batter gets too stiff for your mixer, finish mixing by hand. Do not overmix.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookies sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes until cookies are slightly brown on the edges. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool surface with a spatula.

> Tip: Use ingredients at room temperature.

RECIPE: Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

*from Mrs. Fields Cookie Book

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup salted butter, softened

2 large eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C

In a medium bowl, combing flour, soda and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer blend sugars at medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at medium speed until just blended. Do not overmix.

Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, and blend at low speed until fully combined. Do not overmix.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies to immediately to a cool surface with a spatula.

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen

>>> Tip: I usually don't pack the brown sugar to lessen the sweetness.

Baking Tips Part 1

I won't bake what I won't eat.

Unpopular to most, baking is considered a science. You have to be precise in your measurements, temperature, technique and all that jazz. When I was younger, my mom would always push me to help her bake and it annoys me. I'm lazy to wait for the cake to bake, lazy to get the exact measurement of the flour, everything spills on the table- it's mayhem. But as I grow older, I came to appreciate it and find joy in it. In my case, I got used to it and I'm achin' to bake since. Since I do everything by myself (shopping for ingredients, mixing and of course washing the utenstils and storing them away after and all other nitty gritty details) I see to it that I use the finest and freshest ingredients available. Let me share with you some of the baking practices/ tips that I do and for this post, it'll be about EGGS.

1. Use extra large fresh eggs, leave the tiny ones for your omellete
-In my case, I buy from the market. (palenke) They're cheaper, fresher and of course bigger.

2. Never crack the eggs directly to your dry ingredients mixture, you'll never know what'll hatch -Crack the eggs in a separate bowl (cereal or a soup bowl) instead and if the yolk breaks, it's omellete time, it's not fresh. Yes, the bowl will be an additional washable but you don't want to mess up with the rest of your dry mixture.

3. For cakes, whisk the egg first before adding them to the rest of the ingredients
-Helps the cake to be fluffier :P

4. Separate the egg white from the yolk with your hand.
-This is how I began separating them. I'll catch the yolk in my hand and let the white drip to the bowl. Feels different at first, but it's alright. Then, you can move on to using the egg shells to separate them just like the pros. :P

5. Prepare a bowl with water to dump your eggshells on.
-Use this to water your plants. The remaining eggwhite on the shells gives additional boost to the nourishment the water gives to the plants.

So there are some things that I do with eggs when baking. I'll post some more next time!

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