Hokkaido Milk Bread

Hokkaido Milk Bread

The Hokkaido milk bread is a type of Japanese bread that is much softer and smoother in texture than other breads. It's similar to the way Chinese pastries are made, where a starter is made separately and later added to the dough. The starter makes the bread more soft and pillow-y. It doesn't have the crumby and grainy texture like other breads. Personally, I much prefer milk breads over regular breads, but they're difficult to find unless you live near an Asian grocery store. An even then, a fresh piece is quite rare. If you love milk breads, I recommend making your own batch for the freshest quality! I was very happy with the results. It came out perfect!

This recipe was adapted from Food52's recipe. I switched up a few ingredients, but still found good results with what I used. I also tried another recipe from the New York Times, but I found better results for Food52. 

Serving: 1 9x4 inch loaf pan

Ingredients:

• Starter:
• water, 6 tbsp
• all-purpose flour, 2 tbsp
  
• The Dough:
• whole milk, 1/4 cup
• active dry yeast, 1 & 1/2 tsp
• all-purpose flour, 2 & 3/4 cup
• salt, pinch
• powdered sugar, 1/4 cup
• evaporated milk, 1/4 cup
• eggs, 2
• softened butter, 2 tbsp

Directions:

1. For the starter, simmer water and flour in a small pot until it becomes thick.
2. Add warm milk and yeast. Stir and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
3. For the dough, sift flour, salt, and sugar together and mix.
4. Add 1 egg and evaporated milk into the starter. Mix. Then add milk and mix.
5. In the dry ingredients bowl, make a hole in the center and add the wet ingredients. Mix all. 
6. Knead for 5 minutes. 
7. Add 1 tbsp butter and mix.
8. Repeat #7.
9. Knead for 5-10 minutes while adding 1 tbsp of flour.
10. Cover and let the dough rise for 2 hours.
11. Punch the dough and cut the dough into 3 pieces. Roll up the pieces at let it rise for one hour.
12. Roll the pieces and put it into a 9x4 loaf pan.
13. Use an egg wash over the dough.
14. Bake for 350F for 25 minutes.
15. Cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Enjoy!

Links:

Food52: 

http://food52.com/recipes/30962-hokkaido-milk-bread

New York Times recipe (alternate recipe): 

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016275-japanese-milk-bread

Crescent Dinner Rolls

Crescent Dinner Rolls (aka Butterhorn Rolls, Sweet Dinner Rolls)

Crescent dinner rolls are a staple to an evening meal. The perfect appetizer and accompaniment to a meal, it is both sweet and light yet buttery and filling. I love making any type of pastry or bread from scratch, but it is definitely one of the more challenging types of food to make. Nevertheless, I love bread and decided to take on the task. It's similar to croissants except it does not have the flaky texture, which takes a lot longer to achieve. These dinner rolls are the next best thing to the Vienna-style pastry. You can eat them alone or dunk them in butter, which I highly recommend the latter. :)

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Crescent Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup warm almond milk
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2.5 tsp active dry yeast
• extra melted butter for brushing

Directions:

1. Combine water and almond milk and microwave for 1 minute.
2. Add sugar and yeast to the liquid mixture above.
3. Add salt, butter, and egg.
4. Slowly add in flour.
5. Knead for 20 minutes. 
6. Let it rise for one hour. After one hour has passed, punch the dough for 3-5 minutes, and let it rise again for another hour.
7. Use the dough the divide them into a crescent shape. Brush the top with butter.
8. Let it rise for one hour.
9. Bake for 350F for 12 minutes, or until the top is brown.

Done!

Hong Kong Pineapple Buns

Hong Kong Pineapple Buns

Pineapple buns, or bo lo bau, are one of my favorite Chinese pastries and may be the most well known bun in Chinese pastry cuisine. Characterized by a flaky, crunchy, yet sweet crust topping over a soft bread, it's a perfect snack that combines two delicious delights. Literally, a bun and a cookie combined!

Fun fact: It's called a pineapple bun because it resembles a pineapple, but there's actually no pineapple fruit or flavorings inside! 

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Hong Kong Pineapple Buns Recipe

Serving: 8 buns

Prep: 4 hours

Cook: 11 minutes

Total: 5 hours

Ingredients:

Dough:

• all-purpose flour, 240g
• butter, melted, 20g
• egg yolk, .67
• milk, warm, 100ml
• salt, 1/5 tsp
• sugar, 2.33 tsp (separated in 1.33 tsp and 1 tsp)
• honey, 2 tsp
• active dry yeast, 2/3 tsp

Crust Topping:

• sugar, 53.4g
• butter, room temp, 33.3g
• egg yolk, 1.33
• honey, 2 tsp
• all-purpose flour, 93.4g
• baking powder, 1.33 tsp
• milk, 1.33 tsp

Egg Wash:

• egg yolk, 1.33
• milk, 3.33 tsp

Directions:

Crust:

1. In a small bowl (#1), combine flour and baking powder.
2. In another bowl (#2), cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks, milk, and honey.
3. Add bowl #1 to bowl #2.
4. Put dough in a plastic wrap in a "cigar-like shape" and refrigerate for 1-1.5 hour.
5. Cut into discs and apply the egg wash.
6. Make vertical and horizontal markings with a pastry scraper or a knife.

Dough:

1. Combine yeast, 1.33 tsp sugar, and milk in a small cup or bowl. Wait 15 minutes.
2. Add egg yolk and butter.
3. In another bowl, add flour, salt, and 1 tsp sugar. Mix. Add honey.
4. Knead for 20 minutes.
5. Let it rise for 1.5 hour in a butter-greased bowl.
6. After it has risen, punch out the air, knead, and let it rise for another 30 minutes.
7. Divide the dough in 8 balls on a cookie sheet.
8. Add crust and let it rise for 45 minutes.

After you apply the crust on top of the dough, bake for 350F for 11 minutes.

Done!

Strawberry Vanilla Pudding Pie

Strawberry Vanilla Pudding Pie

Walked down the baking aisle and decided to make pie! Who would've thought you could make quick and easy pie with instant vanilla pudding mix? It's actually pretty good and I couldn't help but go back for seconds and thirds. ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 packet of instant vanilla pudding & pie filling mix
• 2 1/2 cup 2% reduced fat milk (chilled)
• 9-inch rounded baking pan
• grounded graham crackers
• butter (melted)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven at 375F.
2. Combine graham crackers and melted butter. Press them onto a pie pan.
3. Bake the graham cracker crust pan at 375F for 7 minutes.
4. In a large mixing bowl, pour 2 1/2 cup milk and the pudding mix. Beat for 1 minute with a wire whisk.
5. Immediately pour into pie dish. 
6. Store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Enjoy!

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

Everyone loves banana bread. It's the staple homemade bread found in many kitchens. It's quite easy to make compared to other types of bread because it has no leavening. All you need are a few bananas in addition to the ingredients for a simple quick-bread recipe. To make the most of this recipe, I recommend three or four bananas that are very ripe. The more ripe, the better. You want them to be almost completely black and mushy when touched (but not runny). This helps your bread have a strong banana flavor and a moist texture. Also, I used shortening in this recipe because I didn't have any butter, but I recommend butter for a richer taste. If you are aiming for extra moistness, read my tips section below. Enjoy. :)


Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 2 ripe bananas (aged for at least 2 weeks) (using 3-4 bananas is recommended for added moistness!)
• 1/4 cup shortening, with 1/2 tbsp water (or 1/4 cup butter)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk

Directions:

1. Combine wet ingredients (eggs, shortening, water, bananas, vanilla extract).
2. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon).
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
4. Bake for 350F for 20 minutes.
5. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and lower the temperature to 300F. Continue to bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Done!

Tips:

• For extra moistness, add more ripe bananas, sour cream, yogurt, or olive oil. Also, lower the temperature, increase the baking time, and put aluminum foil in early.
• Don't over-mix the batter or it'll become dry.
• Age the bananas longer for extra banana-y flavor! :)

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Lately, I've been turning my attention towards dough making! I want to learn how to make more bread and pastries, and being able to master the dough is crucial. The bread of any pastry can make or break it. I found a cinnamon roll recipe from silk.com, which this recipe is based upon. I did change a few things from the original recipe, by replacing the butter with shortening and water, and lowering the amount of white sugar. Also, the portions here are much smaller because I made mini cinnamon rolls. They might not look very small in the photo, but they're literally bite-sized! In the past 2 weeks, I've made 5 batches of cinnamon rolls. These turned out super moist and tasty!

Serving Size: 12 mini cinnamon rolls

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 12 min

Total Time: 2-2.5 hours

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 2 tbsp shortening
• .75 tsp water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tbsp white ultra fine sugar
• .75 tsp active dry yeast
• .125 tsp baking powder
• .125 tsp baking soda
• .125 tsp salt
• cinnamon
• brown sugar
• confectioner's sugar (optional, for the icing)
• milk (optional, for the icing)

Directions:

1. Microwave shortening, water, and almond milk for 1:30 minutes.
2. While it is microwaving, combine flour, sugar, and yeast in a medium sized mixing bowl. 
3. Once the wet ingredients are heated, slowly pour it in the dry ingredients while stirring.
4. Mix the ingredients until it forms a circular dough.
5. Knead for 8 minutes.
6. Grease the bowl and cover. Wait an hour to let it rise.
7. Add baking soda, baking powder, and salt to the mixture and mix well.
8. Roll out the dough in a rectangular shape and rub shortening, cinnamon, and brown sugar on top of it.
9. Roll dough to a cigar shape.
10. Cut into pieces with a knife or pastry cutter. (For mini cinnamon rolls, cut into 12 mini pieces.)
11. Let the rolls rise for 30 minutes.
12. Bake for 300F for 12 minutes. 
13. To prepare the (optional) icing glaze, combine confectioner's sugar and milk until it forms a thick liquid paste. Pour over the rolls.

Done!

Tips & Tricks:

• Make sure the shortening, water, and milk mixture isn't too hot! 
• Slowly pour the wet to the dry ingredients. If it's too hot and you pour it all at once, it will start to curdle and will take more time to form your dough.
• If it's hard to cut the rolls, freeze the rolled dough for 30 minutes before trying again.
• Also, it's much easier to cut the rolls if there are more layers within the cinnamon rolls.

Green Tea Macarons

Green Tea Macarons

Macarons are known to be one of the most difficult cookies to make. Not only are the ingredients difficult (and quite pricey) to find, but they are extremely finicky to bake. I recommend reading and watching as many how-to-make-macaron videos and articles you can find. One of the most helpful youtube videos are from chef Byron Talbott's, where this recipe is derived from.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-large egg (room temp)
• 55g flaxmeal (or almond meal)
• 65g powdered sugar
• 20g baker's ultrafine white sugar
• matcha green tea powder
  
  
  

Directions:

1. Combine flaxmeal and powdered sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl through a sifter.
2. Mix the above with a wooden spoon.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, add egg whites and mix well for about 4 minutes. 
4. Add baker's sugar gradually and continue to mix for an additional 4 minutes. 
5. After the meringue forms stiff peaks, combine it with the previous bowl and mix well. 
6. Add matcha green tea powder.
7. Mix for 50-60 strokes with a rubber spatula.
8. Using a pastry bag, put the batter inside and make 1.5 inch shaped macarons on a baking tray. 
9. Tap tray and leave out for 30 minutes.
10. Bake for 10-11 minutes at a 300F degrees oven.

Done!

Tips:

-Do not substitute all-purpose flour into this recipe. If you must substitute, like I have, use a nutty grounded flour. Using all-purpose flour will result in regular sugar cookies, both in taste and texture. They won't have the macaron feet and will be completely flat. Another example besides flaxmeal is pistachio flour.

Hershey's Chocolate and Marshmallow Cupcakes

Hershey's Chocolate and Marshmallow Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 12 paper baking cups
• 1 box of Hershey's Chocolate Premium Cupcake Mix
• 1 bag of mini marshmallows
• 1 box of grounded graham crackers

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 
2. Line cupcake baking tray with paper baking cups. 
3. In a medium size mixing bowl, mix in the cupcake mix, eggs, and oil.
4. Place the bottom of the cups with graham crackers, Make sure they are packed in tightly! 
5. Fill the cups 1/3 full, making sure to cover the bottom completely.
6. Fill in the middle with chocolate filling and add marshmallows! If you want it extra sweet and gooey, feel free to add more!
7. Fill the cups with the rest of your batter. 
8. Bake for 24-29 minutes.

Branded cupcake mixes tend to have stronger flavors. These cupcakes had a heavier coffee/cocoa taste. We did some mix and match, with some cupcakes having only marshmallows and others only chocolate. The marshmallows makes the chocolate filling thicker and a lot sweeter! Definitely add more marshmallows if the recipient has a sweet tooth. The graham cracker crust is partly inspired by the s'mores cupcakes from Kara's (aka my favorite cupcake shop). :)

Ghiradelli's Caramel Turtle Brownies with Walnuts

Ghiradelli's Caramel Turtle Brownies with Walnuts

Lately, I've been craving brownies. Lots of them, as you can see from my recent posts. Their easy to make and require very little ingredients. All you need is some brownie mix, water, oil, and an egg! 

Ingredients:

• Ghiradelli's Caramel Turtle Brownies with Walnuts Mix
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Layer a 10x15 glass baking pan with aluminum foil.
3. With a mixing bowl, combine the egg, oil, and water and mix completely.
4. Add the brownie mix and mix well.
5. Pour brownie batter in in the pan.
6. Cut the corner of the caramel pouch and squeeze it over the brownie batter.
7. Bake for 40 minutes.
8. Once done, remove from oven and cool completely. After it's cooled down, use a plastic knife or a rubber spatula to cut the brownies.

Done!

These brownies are great for those late-night munchies and you can carry them with you anywhere without worrying about refrigeration! I love how Ghiradelli's brownies are super moist and rich! One of my favorite brownies I've made so far. Highly recommended. You can find this mix at your local supermarket! 

New York Style Cheesecake

New York Style Cheesecake 

from AllRecipes.com 

I used Chantal's New York Cheesecake from All Recipes. I changed up the recipe, but I advise sticking to the original!

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ready In: 6-7 hours

Ingredients:

• Graham Cracker crumbs 
• 2 tablespoon melted butter
• 8 ounce cream cheese 
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, mix graham crackers and butter. Spread evenly on a greased 9 inch circular pan.
3. In another mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, white sugar, milk, eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract, and flour. Pour on top of the previous mixture on the pan.
4. Bake for 1 hour. 
5. After an hour, turn off oven and leave the cake inside for 5-6 hours. Store in the refrigerator until serving.

Enjoy!

Notes:

• There's a reason why the original recipe asks for 1.5 cup white sugar! Although it may seem excessive, too little sugar makes the resulting cheesecake bland and tasteless.
• Make sure you have the correct cream cheese to sour cream ratio (8 oz:1 cup)! Too much cream cheese in this ratio will give a more chewy, pudding-like texture. The sour cream gives a more soft and delicate texture.
• Leaving the cheesecake inside the oven after baking for 5-6 hours to prevent it from cracking.
• Overcooking causes the cheesecake to crack.
• Overbeating causes air bubbles and a less creamy texture.
• Remember to grease the side of the pan to prevent the cake from cracking.
• Room temperature ingredients prevents lumpy batter.

Cookie Brownie Bars with Sweet Chocolate Chips

The cookie brownie bars

Betty Crocker's Supreme Bar Mix: Cookie Brownie

Instructions on how to make it.

The final product! 

Cookie Brownie Bars with Sweet Chocolate Chips

Saw these on the shelf at the supermarket and had to try them. I've only heard of the brownie-cookie, where a part of the cookie is made of a brownie, but I've never seen a cookie-brownie before. I love unique and interesting foods that combine some of my favorite foods together, and this was definitely one of my favorite creations! It's as crispy as a cookie, and as chewy as a brownie. Perfect! 

Ingredients:

• For Brownie Batter:
• 2 tablespoon water
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter (melted)
• 1 egg
• For Cookie Dough:
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter (softened)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325F and line a 15x10 pan with foil.
2. Using a medium mixing bowl, combine the Brownie Mix, water, butter, and egg and mix well. Pour the batter in the pan.
3. Using another medium mixing bowl, combine the Cookie Mix, water, and butter and mix well. Pour drops of cookie dough in the pan.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. 

Enjoy!

Tips:

• Use a plastic knife and use short sawing motions to cut the bars if they are still hot.
• They don't need to be refrigerated, but you should store them in a tightly sealed container.
• They retain freshness for days!
• A larger pan is recommended for flatter bars.

Eggless White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Eggless White Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the recipe for egg-free cookies! I ran out of eggs so I attempted to make some cookies without using any. I also saw a recipe for egg-free muffins, which I was about to make also, but didn't have enough time, so I will attempt to make them next time!

Eggs tend to make cookies chewier. So since these didn't have any, they were more crumbly. Nonetheless, feel free to work around the recipe to suit them to your liking!

Makes 24 small cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 5 tbsp almond milk
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• white chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut a piece of parchment paper and line it on the cookie sheet.
3. Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, sugar) and whisk in a bowl.
4. Add in wet ingredients (milk, vanilla extract, melted butter) and chocolate chips.
5. Put a drop of cookie dough on the lined tray (about 1 tbsp), with 8 drops per tray.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Done!

Red, White, Blue American Flag Strawberry Shortcake

Red, White, Blue American Flag Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients:

• 16 oz (1 lb) 454 g Vanilla Cake Mix (made with Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Flavor)
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Cool Whip
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Stick Melted Butter
• 1 Cup Cold Almond Milk (regular milk is fine)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Remove Cool Whip from freezer and place in refrigerator to thaw (the recommended time to thaw is 4 hours before using).
3. Slice stick butter in half (=1/2 cup). Place in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.
4. Combine eggs, butter, and milk in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer. 
5. Add in the vanilla cake mix and continue to mix until the batter is no longer lumpy.
6. Pour batter into a butter-greased 9x13 nonstick pan and tap on table to level it out and to decrease bubbles.
7. Put pan in oven and leave for 25 minutes, or until toothpick in the center comes out clean.
8. Once done, leave cake on the table to allow for cooling (for faster cooling, add frozen packages underneath the pan to speed up cooling).
9. When cake is completely cooled (20-30min later), remove Cool Whip from the fridge and use a rubber spatula to spread whip cream topping on the cake. Cover it completely with a thick layer.
10. Put blueberries on the top left corner to form a rectangle.
11. Grab your strawberries and remove the leaves and stem. Then slice it in half and put them on the cake in rows (to resemble the red stripes in the American flag).
12. Slice cake in pieces, making sure that each piece of cake has at least one fruit.
    
    Done!

Tips:

• Choose Cool Whip over regular whip cream from a spray can.
• Slice cake before adding fruits on top if you don't want the whip cream to get all over the fruit (looks better visually).
• You can use different pans also, but a 9x13 rectangular pan resembles an American flag the best.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake

When I was in college, I would crave sweetness and desserts in the middle of the night (yes, I have an insane sweet tooth). When I didn't have anything in the fridge that I could munch on that would satisfy my sugar-loving taste buds, I looked up recipes on how to make a simple and easy cake. Yes, it had to be simple enough that I didn't have to run out to buy groceries at 12AM and easy enough that I wouldn't be spending the entire night slaving away in the kitchen.

And lo' and behold, I found the mug cake. It's a phenomenon that's been all over Pinterest, baking blogs, and recipe websites. Basically, the main attraction is that it's very simple and easy. No eggs. No oven. No worries whether it'll be fully cooked or not. Not (very) messy. Not many ingredients. What results is a mini cake that fits into your mug that you can easily transport with. No slicing the cake and all that mess! Saves so much work and satisfies your cake cravings without overindulging! How great does that sound?

Although I started experimenting with this a year ago, I'm still working on perfecting the recipe. So far, here's what I've come up with:

• 3 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp oil
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp baking powder
• 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of salt (1/8 tsp)
• Optional: a spoonful of peanut butter or a handful of chocolate chips

Add all ingredients in a mug and microwave for 2 minutes. Allow to cool.

Tips:

• Mix the dry ingredients first! Then add all the wet ingredients in.
• Too much baking powder will make the cake explode and leave an extremely bitter taste. Too little will result in a flat cake. Disappointing either way. 
• Adding too much salt also makes the cake very bitter. I tried this once and had to throw out the entire cake. 
• Too much oil/liquids make it soggy and makes it look undone. Too little will make it dry (you want a moist cake!)

Coconut Pumpkin Bread

Coconut Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 & 2/3 Cup Pumpkin Puree Sauce
• 1 Egg
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
• 3 tbsp & 1-3/4 tsp water
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Cup & 3 tbsp Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Flour
• 3/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• Shredded Coconut Flakes. 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix the pumpkin sauce, egg, oil, and water together.
3. Mix the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.
4. Combine both and then pour into a loaf pan.
5. Bake for ~50 minutes.
6. Top with coconut flakes.

Tips:

• Use a toothpick to check if the bread is done. If it comes out clean, then it's ready to be taken out of the oven.