Month: July 2017

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buttermilk Waffles

Weekends to me are for leisurely breakfast with a pot of coffee. English breakfast and pancakes are my absolute favourites, followed by waffles. To be honest, I love waffles equally but finding a decent place in the neighbourhood which serves healthy and low-calorie waffles is far more challenging than I thought. On top of all the calories you seem to pile on and money you spend, hardly any place seem to get the texture even remotely right so there goes my weekend mojo and moolah. Ha! So one fine day, husband decided to surprise me with a waffle maker. Ta-da! Problem solved (We own this model but it’s out-of-stock on Amazon at the moment, for other options see ‘shop the recipe’ section below the recipe section). 

Bazillion waffle combinations here I come! Breakfast, meal or dessert; using whole wheat, oats or sorghum flour; topped with fried/pached eggs, cheese, mango, berries, Nutella, maple syrup or ice cream; well you get the idea. ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES! It’s truly such a versatile piece of equipment you could invest into, to up the delicious quotient of your weekend brunch situation.

Just like all the recipes on this blog, this recipe could not have been simpler. Definitely groggy eyes and child friendly. Addition of brown butter is an extra step but lends such a great depth of flavour and your kitchen will smell fantastic. And if you don’t want to do the extra step to brown the butter (if that’s even possible!), replace it with a healthier substitute – extra virgin coconut oil. All other ingredients are usual pantry staples. These waffles have crispy exterior and soft interior, just how perfect waffles should be. So what are you waiting for?

Go on and have a lovely weekend. ✨

Print Recipe
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buttermilk Waffles
A simple recipe using pantry staples. These waffles have crispy exterior and soft interior, just how perfect waffles should be!
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
waffles
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
waffles
Instructions
  1. Do this step if you're using brown butter - Heat a pan on a medium-low heat and add butter. Let the butter melt, once the water from it evaporates it will begin to brown. Keep an eye on it as it browns quickly. The butter will begin to smell nutty. Remove from the heat and immediately transfer the browned butter to a small bowl. Let cool for 5 minutes.
  2. In one bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
  3. In a liquid measuring jar, whisk in egg, cane sugar, brown butter/olive oil, buttermilk and vanilla, in this same order.
  4. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and add liquid ingredients to it. Stir together using silicon spatula until well combined. Do not overmix.
  5. Make waffles as per the manufacturer's instructions of your waffle maker. Serve immediately topped with seasonal fruits and a drizzle of maple syrup.

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Here are some items I used to make today’s recipe.

                   

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Cook By Book.

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Orange Cherry Baked Donuts ~ Eggfree, Low-fat

Oh hello donuts! How I missed thee. I baked these lovely orange cherry donuts couple weeks ago and because it’s been way too long since I baked any donuts, you can imagine my excitement.

Life here has been a bit of mumbo jumbo lately and I am falling short of words on how to describe my current disposition so instead let’s talk about the awesomeness that these donuts are. Summer (or any season for that matter) makes me crave citrus desserts and if you know me you know I prefer lemony desserts over chocolate almost every single time. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love chocolate and there are times when nothing else will do. But on most days, I crave lemon and orange comes close second.

The combination of orange and fresh cherries is just sublime. A delicate cake bursting with orange zest and citrusy notes, soft and pillowy, with a piece of cherry in each bite to make you swoon. The ingredient list is short with no funky stuff and the method no fuss. The recipe doesn’t even call for any oil or butter, isn’t that awesome? Yogurt and orange juice lends soft and fluffy interiors to these donuts. You can have them ready under 30 minutes flat, totally foolproof! You could totally make the recipe vegan by using vegan yogurt. Win-win for all!

So don’t wait until weekend to bake these. Get on them now! ?

Print Recipe
Orange Cherry Baked Donuts ~ Eggfree, Low-fat
The combination of orange and fresh cherries is just sublime. A delicate cake bursting with orange zest and citrusy notes, soft and pillowy, with a piece of cherry in each bite to make you swoon.
Course Desserts, Donuts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
donuts
Ingredients
Course Desserts, Donuts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Servings
donuts
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven at 180ºC / 350ºF. Grease 12-count donut pan with oil. Set aside.
  2. In one bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a mixing bowl, add orange zest and sugar and rub together with finger to release oils from the zest. Whisk in yogurt, orange juice and vanilla extract until the mixture formed is completely smooth.
  4. Slowly fold in dry ingredients into wet ingredients using rubber spatula until just combined. Do not overmix.
  5. Arrange 3 pitted, fresh cherries in each mould of the donut pan. Do this for 9 moulds. Divide the batter among 9 donut moulds (let 3 moulds empty). Be careful not to overfill the moulds, 3/4th would be just fine.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a center comes out clean. Let cool in the baking pan over a cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then carefully turn out doughnuts onto the rack to cool completely. Tastes best the next day, chilled in the refrigerator. Keeps well 3-5 days stored in an airtight container in refrigerator.
Recipe Notes

Don't own a cherry pitter? No problem, a chopstick will do the job! ?

Shop the recipe:

Here are some items I used to make today’s recipe.

                    

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting Cook By Book.

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Mango Red Paprika Hummus {Healthy & Low-fat}

I love dips dearly, hummus and salsa being my absolute favourite. Mango season means making mango salsa every other day in this household and chips are always welcome but I don’t really even need any accompaniments with it. I eat dips by spoonfuls tbh! But I had never thought of adding mango to hummus so I was very skeptical before attempting mango hummus the first time. Also, I know I am quite behind in blogging all the mango recipes I made this Summer as the mango season is almost over in most parts of our country. But if, like me, you keep stash of mango cubes in the freezer for rest of the year then you are in luck and can still make this delicious hummus in any season for that matter (read recipe notes)!

This hummus is full of healthy ingredients and contains good fat from mango and olive oil. The hummus doesn’t require using Tahini which means you already have all the basic ingredients in your pantry. I use dry roasted sesame seeds instead of Tahini. The dry roasted cumin and red paprika lends a great depth of flavour to the hummus. I love serving it with multigrain lavash or as a spread on toasted whole wheat bread.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend (while I sulk because I work Saturdays ?) with a bowl of this luscious mango hummus in one hand and a book in the other. Enjoy!

Print Recipe
Mango Red Paprika Hummus
Course Appetizers
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Course Appetizers
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Prep Time 10 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a fry-pan heated on a medium high heat, add sesame seeds and cumin seeds. Reduce the heat and let it dry roast until they slightly change their colour (about 5-7 minutes) to pale brown.
  2. In a blender or food processor jar add all the ingredients and blend on high speed until smooth. If needed, add a bit more olive oil to bring everything together.
  3. Transfer the hummus to a serving bowl and sprinkle a pinch of red paprika on top. Serve with nachos, lavash, toasted bread or veggie crudités. Keeps well stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Recipe Notes

For this recipe, frozen mango could be used as well. Just thaw the mango until it reaches room temperature and it's ready for hummus.

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Chocolate {Whole} Pear Orange Loaf Cake

Happy ‘world chocolate day’ guys! Hope you are celebrating by eating your weight in {dark} chocolate. I also hope you are able to watch chocolatier Willy Wonka in his delicious chocolate kingdom or see Bruce gobble up THE chocolate cake and eating or drinking some chocolate alongside them!

The weather around here has been so pleasant and downright gorgeous past few days. It hasn’t been raining as much as I would like but it’s been cool and breezy. So on one such lovely Sunday evening, I was craving something chocolatey and wanted to bake this delicious Life By Chocolate Cake from the blog archives which is embellished on top with red pear halves and cinnamon but instead decided to bake something new for the blog. I had ripe red pears which were begging to be used so this time I used them pears whole and added orange zest and juice to the mix! It’s a straight forward recipe using simple pantry ingredients except for red pears which are by the way in season right now so go find them before they disappear.

Have a lovely Friday guys!

 

Print Recipe
Chocolate {Whole} Pear Orange Loaf Cake
Course Cake, Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Servings
slices
Ingredients
Course Cake, Desserts
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Servings
slices
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven at 170°C/350°F. Grease the 8×4-inch loaf pan with oil and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together orange zest and cane sugar. One by one, whisk in oil, egg, yogurt and vanilla until completely incorporated. Peel the pears at this stage.
  4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with orange juice, mixing gently with rubber spatula. Start and end with dry ingredients. Do not overmix. The batter will be thick but if the consistency is too thick to even stir add a splash of orange juice.
  5. Pour the batter in your prepared loaf pan and arrange the four whole pears at the equidistance, pushed in to the batter (as seen in the picture below). Bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with few moist crumbs. Do not overbake as it may make the final product dry. Let the cake rest in the loaf pan for about 10 minutes before inverting it on a cooling rack. Let cool a bit before slicing. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or a spoon of plain greek yogurt. The cake stays fresh for 3-4 days in refrigerator when stored in an airtight container.
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No Bake Mango Coconut White Chocolate Cheesecake

On a lookout for a can’t-believe-you-could-pull-this-off Sunday brunch dessert? I have this stunner of a cheesecake for you guys!

Mango season is sadly at its end and this might be the last weekend you’ll be able to enjoy these ambrosial fruits (three cheers for frozen mangoes!). This cheesecake would make the most perfect Sunday brunch dessert as it truly lets mango shine. So easy to put together, it requires no baking or cooking, hence comes together in about 20 minutes. This cheesecake is also egg-free and does not require gelatin or agar agar for it to set. It doesn’t get easier than this people, truly a fool-proof recipe!

The cheesecake has a ginger biscuit base which pairs so well with mangoes, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. The cheesecake filling is made up of white chocolate, coconut cream, lime and mascarpone cheese. These four ingredients combined with mango are truly a match made in heaven. Simple yet so elegant looking and packs a punch. This one is surely going to be a favourite among your friends and family, trust me!

Don’t have fresh mangoes? Fret not. I have tons of customisation options for you to try. Read the recipe notes below.

Have a fabulous Sunday! ?

Print Recipe
No Bake Mango Coconut White Chocolate Cheesecake
Course Desserts
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 0
Passive Time 4-8 hours
Servings
slices
Ingredients
For base
For cheesecake
Course Desserts
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 0
Passive Time 4-8 hours
Servings
slices
Ingredients
For base
For cheesecake
Instructions
For base
  1. Blend ginger biscuits and coconut oil in a food processor till fine crumbs form. In a 9-inch loose-bottom tart pan, place the crumb and press towards the sides and down firmly. Press down with flat bottomed glass for a uniform base. Let chill in the freezer till you prepare the filling.
For cheesecake
  1. Without tipping, take out overnight chilled pack/can of coconut milk from the refrigerator. Gently scoop out the thick coconut cream from the top and put it into a large mixing bowl. Store this bowl in the refrigerator till you finish the next step.
  2. Place the reserved liquid from the coconut milk pack/can to a medium-sized, microwave safe glass bowl. Add roughly chopped white chocolate to this bowl and microwave on low-power in the burst of 30-seconds 3-4 times, whisking in between, until the chocolate completely melts. You could also do this step on a double boiler. Whisk in vanilla extract at the end. Let the mix cool on counter and proceed with the following steps in the meantime.
  3. Take out the bowl with coconut cream from the refrigerator. Add mascarpone cheese, zest and juice of a lime, confectioners sugar and salt to it. Whisk on medium-high speed using the beater of the electric mixer until soft peaks form and the mixture is firm for about 2-3 minutes.
  4. Decrease the speed to low and slowly whisk in melted chocolate mix to it, until just combined. Do not overmix.
  5. Take out the tart pan from the freezer, top the ginger base with the cheesecake filling and refrigerate covered with cling film overnight for 4-8 hours.
  6. An hour or so before serving, peel and thinly slice 2 chilled mangoes. Arrange the mango slices in a circular, overlapping fashion (as seen in picture) on top of the cheesecake and return to refrigerator to rest until serving time.
  7. The cheesecake will keep in the refrigerator, stored in an airtight container, for about 3-4 days but tastes best on first day.
Recipe Notes

*You could a create number of variations using this recipe as a guide.
*Ginger biscuits could be replaced with digestive biscuits for a more subtle flavour profile.
*You can easily swap white chocolate with the good quality dark chocolate + some cocoa powder (sans the lime).
*Mango could be replaced with any other seasonal fruit of your choice. Fresh strawberries (or any other berry!), peaches, cherries and kiwi would be especially lovely or combination of fruits to create a beautiful fruit medley!

So many possibilities guys!

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