Apple Crumble Bars and a Charity Bake Sale

Apple Crumble Bars | DelicaciousJust last week, I participated in my very first Charity Bake Sale. My office was raising funds for the President’s Star Charity through an annual charity bazaar and my branch decided to sell homemade goodies. I have never participated in such bazaars and had no idea what to bake or sell. I figured that the goodies needed to 1) be able to withstand the heat (there was no air-condition at the bazaar) 2) be able to be packaged individually and 3) simple to make. Cupcakes with delicious frosting would probably wither in the heat so those were out.

Three days before the bake sale, I decided on bars. But what bars? Apples were relatively cheap and easy to obtain, so I thought, why not make apple crumble bars? And that night, I saw a post on G+ on Apple Pie Crumble Bars. Definitely an answered prayer.

Apple Crumble Bars

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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Honey Muffins

chocolate chip zucchini muffins

I recently discovered that zucchini can be used in sweet baked goods.  Even though many have been doing that for ages, I never knew that zucchini could be used in breads, muffins, cakes or cookies! When I saw a couple of blog posts on such recipes, I did a little research and found that zucchini, when used in sweet baked goods, increases the moistness of the product while its taste remains pretty concealed. Sounds great isn’t it?

So I bought a couple of zucchini and decided to try baking something. My husband was less than thrilled at the thought of a zucchini muffin. “Zucchini muffin?! That’s so weird!!” was his reaction. Maybe yours too…. but hang on there. He changed his mind after tasting the muffin and I believe you would too.

chocolate chip zucchini muffins

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Red Wine Berry Snow Skin Mooncakes

red wine snow skin mooncakes | Delicacious

The Mid Autumn Festival was yesterday. Did you celebrate? I did not really celebrate as my little one was down with gastric flu but we had some of these yummy mooncakes at home. Earlier I posted about Walnut Mooncakes and now I’d like to introduce you to one of my personal favourites – Red Wine Berry Snow Skin Mooncakes. The filling comprises of an outer layer of red wine berry paste with a white lotus paste center.

The red wine berry paste is a winner. I first tried making this mooncake two years ago and it was instantly a hit. I have to say however, that I did not make the paste. It is available during the Mid Autumn Festival season at Kwong Cheong Thye. I buy my Kou Fen (cooked glutinous rice flour) from them too. I think they sell one of the better quality ones.

red wine snow skin mooncakes | Delicacious

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Baked Walnut Mooncakes

Walnut mooncakes | Delicacious

It’s the Mid Autumn festival again! The festive season where shopping centres start to display stalls selling a variety of mooncakes. Mooncakes used to be pretty traditional but lately, they have evolved so much that I cannot even recognise them as mooncakes anymore. Now mooncakes come in a large variety of shapes, sizes and flavours; lately, there has been some rage here over “butt-shaped” mooncakes. Yes! I’m not kidding. They are made by Hong Kong’s Goods of Desire (G.O.D) and are shaped like butts because butts look like full moons. Hmm…

For all the hype, I still prefer traditional mooncakes or snowskin ones. I’ve tried some of these exotic flavours (e.g. lychee martini, truffles, jackfruit, etc) and I have yet to find one that I really like. Except durian mooncakes. I can live with those.

Walnut mooncakes | Delicacious

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Healthy Whole Wheat Honey Berry Muffins

whole wheat honey berry muffins | Delicacious

I opened one of my kitchen cabinets about a week ago and found a hidden stash of honey tucked away in a corner. I didn’t even remember that I had put honey there! Or maybe someone rearranged the things inside the cabinet and… oh well, have you ever found things in the kitchen that you never knew were there? Finding honey was a good problem though. It meant that I could add honey instead of sugar to some of my baked goods, starting from these muffins.

These are healthy muffins, make no mistake about it. They are made with 100% whole wheat flour and contain no sugar and butter. They are wholesome and full of fruity goodness. Perfect for breakfast, and perhaps, an afternoon snack. Who says whole wheat baked stuff can’t taste delicious? I made these with a mix of blueberries and strawberries, and I really liked the result. They taste more complex and flavourful compared to my usual blueberry muffins; the strawberries add texture and moistness to the muffins. If you don’t like/have strawberries, you can replace the strawberries with more blueberries.Continue Reading

Salted Coffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Salted coffee and choco chip cookies | Delicacious

A couple of years ago, I picked up the sweet and salty bug. The bug that made me love all things that were a combination of sweet and salty – salted caramel, world peace cookies and even McDonald’s McGriddle Sausage and Egg muffins. Yes I am not kidding, even that. It is a really persistent bug because years later, I still love things sweet and salty.

About a week ago I was thinking of baking cookies and was combing through a couple of recipes, thinking of what to bake. I came across Amanda’s Brown Butter Salted Caramel Mocha Cookies and thought they were perfect. I wanted a cookie that was less sweet however, so I decided to omit the caramel this time round, increase the chocolate chips and add in cornstarch to make the cookies chewy. Yes – did you know that adding cornstarch to your cookie batter makes your cookies chewy in the middle? Try it. It works.

salted coffee and chocolate chip cookies 2

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Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Wholewheat blueberry muffins

I have not been blogging very judiciously since starting a new job and my toddler starting a new school. The poor girl has been sick for more than a week and now my poor husband has gotten the flu bug too. Oh flu bug shoo! Don’t you hate it when the flu bug passes from one family member to another? Time to dose up on Vitamin C.Continue Reading