Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate Chip Muffins Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine
- 1/4 cup caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons soft dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 cups plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup chocolate chips

Prepare Mixture:
1. Cream the unsalted butter, caster sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the egg, a little at a time, add in small amount flour it mixture show sign of curdling.
3. Sift in the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl.
4. Fold into the creamed mixture in stages, alternately with milk.

Bake Mixture:
1. Divide half the mixture in 10 muffin cups.
2. Sprinkle chocolate chip over and cover with remaining mixture.
3. Bake for 20 minutes or till muffin risen well.
4. Top of muffin should spring back when lightly touch.
5. Cool the muffin for 5 minutes and serve warm.

Learn How to Store Bake Cookies

Storing Unbaked Cookies
Refrigerating Unbaked Cookies dough
Store unbaked cookie dough tightly covered in refrigerator up to 24 hours.
Freezing Unbaked Cookies dough
Dough can be form in shapes or individual drop cookies before freezing. Wrap the shaped dough or drops with plastic wrap, aluminum foil or freezer container. Label and freeze up to 6 months. Before baking, thaw frozen dough in refrigerator at least 8 hours.
Unbaked dough Cannot be Frozen
meringue, macaroon mixture or dough using whipped egg white cannot be frozen.

Storing Baked Cookies
Store Crisp Cookies
Allow frosted or decorate cookies to harden than re-heat to re-crisp. Store in loosely covered container like cookies jar or screw-on lid. Store different cookies to different container to prevent flavor other cookies. To keep longer, freeze cookies tightly wrapped and labeled up to 6 months but not meringue, custard or cream-filled cookies.
Store Chewy and Soft Cookies
Allow frosted or decorate cookies to harden. Store them tightly covered like resealable plastic bags, food container metal tin or cookies jar with screw-on lid. Store different cookies to different container to prevent flavor other cookies. To keep longer, freeze cookies tightly wrapped and labeled up to 6 months but not meringue, custard or cream-filled cookies.

Fat & Oil Facts

Add tenderness and flavor to cookies.
Butter 奶油
Cookie spread more during baking, more crisp and buttery flavor.
Soften Butter (or Margarine) /人造黄油
Allow butter to soften at room temperature for 30-45 minutes. Butter that are too soft cause cookies to spread too much.
Butter-Margarine Blends
60% margarine and 40% butter and interchangeable with butter or margarine. Cookies spread more during baking, more crisp and less buttery than all-butter cookies.
Margarine 人造黄油
Flavored with dairy products and interchangeably with butter. Cookies spread more, less crisp than cookies from butter and less buttery than all-butter cookies.
Low-Fat Butter or Margarine
Cookies have softer dough, spread much less or not at all, brown less, cake-like rather than crisp, tougher than tender, stick to cookie sheet easily, less buttery than all-butter cookies and hard and dry more quickly.
Vegetable-Oil Spread
Cookies have softer dough, spread much less or not at all, brown less, cake-like rather than crisp, tougher than tender, stick to cookie sheet easily, less buttery than all-butter cookies and hard and dry more quickly.
Vegetable Oil 植物油
Cannot be substituted for solid fat. Cookies make from part vegetable oil and part butter, margarine or shortening have no buttery taste, chewier and crisper and crackly or crinkled tops. Cookies make from vegetable oil are crisper, soft and moist and crackly or crinkled top.
Shortening 油酥
Butter-flavor shortening and regular shortening are interchangeably. Shortening interchangeably with butter or margarine. Cookie have no buttery flavor, spread less, cake-like and soft and crumbly and more dry.

Chocolate in Baking

Baking Cocoa 烘烤可可粉
Do not use instant cocoa mix, use unsweetened. Non-alkalize(regular) and alkalize("Dutched"). Alkalize is darker cocoa with more mellow chocolate flavor than regular which produce darker color and milder in flavor cookies. Both of these are interchangeably but there will be change in color and flavor.
Bittersweet Chocolate 苦甜巧克力
Similar to semi-sweet chocolate but has more chocolate flavor and less sweet. Interchangeably with semi-sweet chocolate.
Chocolate-Flavored Syrup 巧克力糖浆
Mixture of cocoa or chocolate liquor, sugar, water, salt and flavoring like vanilla.
Chocolate Fudge Topping 巧克力乳脂軟糖
Similar to chocolate syrup but with addition milk, cream or butter.
Compound Chocolate 複合巧克力
In dark, white or pastel color. Never used in baked cookies and bars but used in unbaked candy-like mixtures.
Milk Chocolate 牛奶巧克力
Combination of chocolate liquor, additional cocoa butter, sugar and milk or cream.Commonly available in candy bars.
Pre-melted Unsweetened Chocolate 烘烤前熔化不甜的巧克力
Used in place of melted unsweetened chocolate square.
Semi-Sweet Chocolate 苦甜巧克力
Usually in form of chip or square.
Sweet Chocolate 甜巧克力
Contain more sugar than semi-sweet chocolate.
Unsweetened Chocolate 苦澀巧克力
Referred as baking, cooking or bitter chocolate which does not contain sugar.
White Chocolate 白色巧克力
Contain cocoa butter which is ivory or cream color. Term of it include white baking bar, vanilla milk chip and deluxe white baking pieces. It can be scorch or burn easily while melting.

Sweeteners Facts

Add sweetness, browning and affect the texture of cookies.
Brown Sugar 黃砂糖
Mixture of granulated white sugar and molasses. Brown sugar add moistness, flavor and color to cookies. Light brown and dark brown sugar can be used interchangeably.
Corn Syrup 玉米糖漿
Add moisture and make cookie look brown more quickly. Thick liquid form of sugar comes in light and dark varieties. Dark syrup are richer, brown-sugary flavor.
Granulated White Sugar 白砂糖／粗砂糖
Add sweetness, tenderness, moisture, browning and contributes to spreading. Cookies with more sugar than flour would be more tender and crisp.
Honey
Attracts moisture from air, so cookies and bars will be soft after baking and get softer during storage.
Molasses 黑蔗糖漿／糖蜜／甘蔗糖蜜
Thick and sweet by-product of making granulated white sugar. Light and dark molasses can be used interchangeably. Black-strap has strong, bitter flavor and not for baking.
Powdered Sugar (Confectioners' Sugar) 糖粉
Finely ground granulated white sugar with little cornstarch added to prevent clumping. Used in frosting and glazes, also in cookies and bars. It will produces fine, compact-texture and tender cookies.

Flour Facts

Flours
All-Purpose Flour, Bleached 漂白麵粉
A blend of select hard and soft wheats, making it suitable for all types of baking. Mostly used in cookies and bars.
All-Purpose Flour, Unbleached 未漂白麵粉
Not as white as all bleached flour, so light color cookies and bars may have creamy color. Commonly used in cookies and bars.
Bread Flour 高筋粉
Unbleached flour made from special blend of wheat higher in protein than in all-purpose flour. Suitable for cookies and bars but result in slightly tougher cookies and bars.
Cake Flour 蛋糕麵粉
Milled from select soft wheat and best suited for fine texture cakes, biscuits and pastries. Cookies and bar make from this result in fragile and fall apart easily.
Quick Mixing Flour
A convenient all purpose flout that mix instantly in liquid. Result will be same as normal all purpose flour.
Self-Rising Flour 自發粉 / 上升的麵粉
All purpose flour with baking powder and salt added. For best result, use recipe develop for this flour.
Wheat Blend Flour
100% hard-wheat flour and wheat bran. Wheat bran give cookies slightly coarse texture and mild nutty flavor.
Whole Wheat Flour 全麥麵粉
Milled from entire kernel of wheat which include bran, germ and endosperm. Produce satisfactory cookies.
Cornstarch 玉米淀粉
Use as part of flour, result in tender cookies that have fine and compact texture. But not interchange in cup for cup with flour.

Leaving
Baking Soda 蘇打粉
Is a alkaline, it needs to react with acidic ingredients such as buttermilk, brown sugar, chocolate or lemon juice, to create leaving power. Added to a dough for neutralizing dough acidity and create good browning than leaving.
Baking Powder 發粉
Contains baking soda and just the right amount of acid to produce its leaving power. Dough with baking powder spread less, bake quickly and do not brown well.

Classic Fruit Tart

Classic Fruit Tart Ingredients:
1 basic tart dough

For Pastry Cream Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch(cornflour)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

For Fruit Topping Ingredients:
- 1 mango, peeled
- 2 cups strawberries, hulled
- 1 cup raspberries
- 2 or 3 kiwifruits, peeled
- 1/2 cup berries
- 1/3 cup apricot jam

Steps for Crust Tart:
1. Firm the dough on the tart pan, and trim off excess.
2. Freeze or refrigerate tart shell for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven 375f.
4. Line tart pan with aluminum foil and put pie weight(or rice or beans) on the middle of tart.
5. Bake till dough is set and dry for 25 minutes.
6. Remove weight and foil and continue to bake until crust golden. Let cool.

Steps for Pastry Cream:
1. Heat milk over medium heat until tiny bubbles appear. Remove from heat.
2. Whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow.
3. Add cornstarch and salt, then whisk well.
4. Pour in half hot milk into yolk mixture while whisking constantly.
5. Whisk in remaining milk.
6. Return mixture to medium heat and continue whisking till mixture thicken to pudding-like.
7. Scrape into a bowl and whisk in vanilla.
8. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, 2 to 3 hours.

Steps for Assemble:
1. Assemble tart, stir the chilled pastry until smooth.
2. Spoon pastry cream onto the tart.
3. Decorate with the fruits given.

Steps for Sauces:
1. Heat apricot jam over low heat until liquefies.
2. Strain into small bowl.
3. Brush the assemble fruit tarts with thin coating of jam.
4. Serve at room temperature.

credit to Fruit Dessert

Basic Tart Dough

Basic Tart Dough Ingredients:
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons very cold water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 1/4 cups all purposed plain flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter

Steps to follow:
1. Stir in egg yolk, water and vanilla in small bowl.
2. To make dough by hand, stir flour, sugar and salt in big bowl.
3. Cut butter into the flour mixture until texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter not larger than peas.
4. Add in egg mixture and mix with fork until dough pull together.
5. Pat the dough into a ball, and flatten into disk.
6. Dough can be used immediately or wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated until chill about 30 minutes.
7. Flatten the dough on lightly flour board with 6 to 8 gentle rolling.
8. Lightly dust(flour) the dough and roll out about 3 mm thick.
9. Cut out the 5 cm greater than your tart pan.

credit to Fruit Dessert

Malted Milk Frosting

Malted Milk Frosting Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 4 to 5 tablespoons milk or half-and-half
- 3 3/4 powered sugar
- 1/3 cup natural malted milk power
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Steps to follow:
1. Heat brown sugar, butter and milk over medium heat until butter melted, remove from heat.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients until smooth.

credit to Betty Crocker's ultimate cookie book

Yogurt Frosting

Yogurt Frosting
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon soften butter
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients until smooth.

credit to Betty Crocker's ultimate cookie book

Lemon-Lime Frosting

Lemon-Lime Frosting
- 2 cups powered sugar
- 2 tablespoons soften butter
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lime peel
- 2 to 3 teaspoons water

Mix all the ingredients until smooth and of spreading consistency.

credit to Betty Crocker's ultimate cookie book

Browned Butter Frosting

Browned Butter Frosting Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2 cups powered sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons hot water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Steps to follow:
1. Heat butter over low heat until golden brown, remove from heat.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients until smooth and spreading consistency.

credit to Betty Crocker's ultimate cookie book

Mocha Frosting

Mocha Frosting Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon freeze-dried instant coffee
- 3 tablespoons hot water
- 1/4 cups unsweetened chocolate
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups powered sugar
- 2 teaspoons water

Steps to follow:
1. Dissolve instant coffee in 3 tablespoons hot water, reserve.
2. Heat chocolate and butter over low heat, stirring frequently until melted, than remove from heat.
3. Stir in powered sugar, reserved coffee mixture and 2 teaspoon water until smooth and spreading consistency.

credit to Betty Crocker's ultimate cookie book

Chocolate Frosting

Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:
- 1/4 unsweetened chocolate
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups powered sugar
- 3 tablespoons hot water

Steps to follow:
1. Heat chocolate and butter in saucepan over low heat until melted, than remove from heat.
2. Stir in powered sugar and water until smooth.*

*If frosting is too thick, add more water.
*If frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar.

credit to Betty Crocker's ultimate cookie book

Vanilla Frosting

Vanilla Frosting Ingredients:
- 3 cups powered sugar
- 1/3 cups soften butter
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix all ingredients until smooth and of desired consistency.

credit to Betty Crocker's ultimate cookie book

Raisin Cookies Covered with Chocolate

Raisin Cookies Covered with Chocolate Ingredient:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick soften butter
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup melted chocolate

Prepare Mixture:
1. Mix sugar, brown sugar, flour with baking powder and baking soda together as mixture.
2. Beat butter, egg and vanilla together.
3. Add in the mixture.
4. Finish the mixing with your hand.

Bake Mixture:
1. Spray a bit of butter or vegetable oil.
2. Shape the mixture into walnut size ball.
3. Place 2" apart on the cookie sheet.
3. Bake the cookies mixture for 5 to 10 minutes.

Coat with Melted Chocolate:
1. When cookies is cooled coated with melted chocolate.
2. Place in the fridge till it harden.
3. Take out the cookies and place on room temperature for 10 minutes.
4. Stored in the container.

M&M Chocolate Cookies

M&M Chocolate Cookies Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup / 2 stick butter [soften]
- 3/4 granulated sugar
- 3/4 brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 or 2 packet of M&M

Prepare Mixture:
1. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt.
2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy.
3. Add eggs than beat well.
4. Add flour mixture, beating well.
5. Stir in M&M chocolate.

Bake Mixture:
1. Spray a bit of butter or vegetable oil.
2. Drop by rounded teaspoons tray.
3. Bake the cookies mixture for 5 to 10 minutes. Depend on the drop size.
4. Cool completely before storing.