Allergen Free Sugar Cookies!

February 16, 2011 at 2:41 pm (Allergy related, cow milk allergy, Indian Mom, Parenting, recipe kids, Recipes, Shameless promotions of Little A's antics)

 Hope all of you had a good Valentine’s Day or just a good day if you do not fall for the hype surrounding this day. I personally like it. I don’t expect much but I like the thought of it. This year was special- Yupa donated a dozen blankets, just because I love blankets to Operation smile. I thought that was just so thoughtful and probably one of the best gifts ever!!!

As usual Avy’s daycare had a party yesterday, so weekend was mainly spent on getting things ready for the party; Handmade cards for all his classmates and teachers, cookies and cupcakes. As I was going through the list and writing the names on the cards , Avy wanted to make one for two of his classmates, who have moved up to another class. He remembers!!!! So had to make more than planned. He was also partial towards his ‘best’ friend, filling his card with extra stickers than the rest…Oh how soon they start!!!

Then my favorite part- COOKIES. I had signed up to bring cookies, though I had plans to make them, a sudden unscheduled root canal almost made me pick up a box from Kroger. But I survived pain or not, I wanted to make them from scratch. So with the help of my little helper, I present Milk-Egg-Soy Free absolutely delicious cookies. Enjoy!!

Spread the Love!!

For the cookie dough:

All purpose Flour (I use the organic one): 1.5 cups

Applesauce :  4 ounce pack

Oil (Canola): ¼ cup

Coconut oil: ¼ cup

Sugar: 1.5 cups

Salt: ½ tsp

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Vanilla extract: 1 tsp

Nutmeg, Cinnamon (I skipped this as Avy is allergic) and Cardamom: A pinch of each

For the icing:

Confectioner’s sugar: 2 cups

Rice Milk: 4 teaspoons

Agave Nectar: 5 teaspoons

Vanilla extract: ½ tsp

Food coloring-optional

Preparation method:

1)      Mix the sugar, canola oil and coconut oil in a separate bowl. Beat until very smooth, about 6 to 7 minutes. Then add the applesauce and beat for another 2 or 3 minutes.

2)      In a separate bowl mix the rest of the dry ingredients.

3)      Combine the wet and dry and form a smooth dough

4)      Refrigerate for about 2 hours.

5)      After 2 hours take the dough out and knead it well and roll it out on a cookie sheet or piece of foil.  I did this in parts, small balls two or three times, made it easier to roll it out.  Also, I used a chapatti roller (tortilla roller) covered with a plastic wrap, helped it to be non sticky.

6)      Use the desired cookie cutter for the shapes.

7)      Preheat oven to 350 and bake for about 15 minutes. Keep checking often; to make sure it does not char.

Preparation of the icing:

1)      Mix all of the ingredients listed and beat till smooth. If it is too runny, as was my problem, add some flour.

2)      I used a spoon (Avy’s little spoon) to spread the icing, a brush will work too.

3)      Once all are iced, it has to be left overnight or 6-7 hours for icing to harden.

The recipe is sweet enough for adults to enjoy without the icing, for kids they would love the icing. Enjoy!!

8 Comments

Baked goodness…

August 2, 2010 at 9:04 am (Allergy related, Indian Mom, recipe kids, Recipes)

I think this is going to be my favorite recipe, so simple yet so YUMMMMMM!!. So drum roll….please….introducing the soopertastic BAKED SAMOSAS’!!!

Here is the story behind this, I am an avid watcher of the Tv show , The Next Food Network Star. This season there is an Indian among them by the name Aarti. So it makes it even more special because I can relate to the flavors and spice combinations she comes up with. Anyway she has her own blog and I loved browsing through its history to find this http://www.aartipaarti.com/2009/11/04/aarti-paarti-ep-30-baked-samosas/.

Been meaning to try this out for a while, last Sunday was perfect. I felt like having some chaat, so I made Channa-Samosa but with the baked samosa and it was a great hit. I also made the filling different from hers, and used more veggies, potato, cauliflower, green beans and carrots. So here it goes:

For the channa: http://avymom.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/the-batura-weekend/. You could skip the whole grinding part and just  saute the items and leave it like a chunky channa, that is what I did this time.

Now for the samosas, you need to prepare the dough first.

You will need;

All-purpose flour (Maida)- 2 cups. Now next time I am thinking of adding some whole wheat flour or quinoa or spelt to make it more nutritious.

Oil- 1/4 cup

Water- As required, I would say about 1/2-3-4 cup.

Ajwain seeds- 1 Tsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Now add everything and keep kneading the dough.I skipped the buttermilk ,of course, that she uses! obviously the longer you knead the fluffier it will be. Then let it sit for about 15-20 minutes.

For the filling:

Potatoes- 2 medium, boiled and peeled.

Cauliflower- about 20 florets

Beans- about 5

Carrot 1, chopped into small pieces

Onion- 1 finely chopped

Garlic- 2 cloves

Green chilli- 2 numbers

Cilantro- a handful chopped

Salt- To taste

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Coriander powder, cumin powder- 3/4 tsp each

A little bit of caradmon, cloves and 1 bay leaf.

Oil-2 Tbsp

Here is how:

-Put the cauliflower, beans and carrots in a microwave container and pop it in the microwave for about 7 minutes, till they become tender, but not too squishy

- Add oil in the skillet and let it heat up, now add the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon sticks and bay leaf. Let is saute for about 2 minutes.

- Now add the garlic and green chilli and about a minute later add the onions. Let is all nicely brown. Now add the potato and other vegetables.

- After a minute, add the remaining spices-salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder and cumin powder and mix well. It should all come together like a mass, if not just press them with your spoon.

- Finally add the cilantro right on top and mix everything well.

So back to the dough. I did it exactly how it is on her video for the actual making of the samosas and baking part.

Once the samosas were ready, I added a little store bought tamarind and mint sauce and a little bit of chaat masala to each plate before serving!

So enjoy…

-

3 Comments

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