Za'atar Fantail

Za'atar Fantail

Ingredients

Milk - 1/2 cup luke warm
active dry yeast -2 tsp
sugar - 1 tsp
Flour - 2.5 cups
Salt - 1tsp
Olive oil - 1/3 cup
Milk - 2/3 cup

za'atar -as required ( This can be replaced with any herb/cheese. If using dry herbs, then mix the herbs with olive oil and brush it over the dough where applicable)

Za'atar Fantail

• Mix the sugar into the 1/2 cup luke warm milk and sprinkle the active dry yeast over it. Let it stand for about 10 minutes, or until frothy. In case there is no froth, you can try warming the milk a little, and still if no luck, then start over

• Sift the flour and salt together and add half this mixture to the yeast mixture slowly

• Add the olive oil and then continue adding the rest of the flour mixture. Now, add the milk slowly to obtain a smooth elastic dough. Continue to knead the dough for about 15 minutes more

• Now coat the dough with olive oil and let it rise in a warm place for 1.5 - 2 hours. Keep the bowl covered with a towel or cloth

• Get a muffin tin ready , oiled or sprayed as preferred

• Punch the dough down, and roll it out into a rectangle of about 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle the za'atar over the rectangular rolled out dough. Cut the dough into long strips and pile the strips one over the other to form a single pile

• Now cut the pile through ever 5-6 cmd, to obtain smaller piles. Place each small pile vertically into each muffin cup and let rise for another 30 mins

• During this time, preheat the oven at 180 C

• Once the dough has risen again in the muffin tray, brush with egg white/ milk and bake at 180 C for 15 - 18 mins

Wholewheat Mango Muffins

Sunday Breakfast is Muffin breakfast.....

Today it shall be...

Wholewheat Mango muffins

Ingredients
Granulated sugar - 2/8 cup
Oil - 1/8 cup
Mango - 1; 1/4 diced and the rest pureed
Egg - 1, beaten lightly
Vanilla - 1/4 tsp
Multigrain flour/ Wholewheat flour - 3/4 cup
Baking Powder - 3/4 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon - 1/4 tsp
Walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175 C. Spray the muffin moulds and keep ready.
2. Mix the sugar and oil. Now add the pureed mangoes, vanilla and half of the egg.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.
4. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined. Now fold in the diced mangoes and walnuts.
5. Spoon into prepared moulds and bake for 20 mins.
6. Toothpick test would show whether its cooked and a little brown on the top looks real pretty too !

Enjoy!

Double Chocolate muffins

A sunday morning is complete only with some warm, fresh out of the oven stuff to dig into. And today we had as the title suggests, some double chocolate muffins. This recipe is inspired from the Double chocolate chunk muffins over at Crepes of Wrath.

 The muffins are oh-so-soft and fluffy which is something I loved about this recipe. I did a minor change to it though, and did not have any chunks, I added all the chocolate to my mixture itself in the melted form.

Here is the recipe which I followed for 12 regular sized muffins.


Ingredients

Unsalted butter - 3 tbsp
Unsweetened chocolate - 2 ounces
Sugar - 1/2 cup & 1/3 cup
Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1/6 cup
Baking Powder - 1/2 tbsp
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Butter milk - 3/4 cup
Egg - 1 regular /small egg
Vanilla Extract - 1/2 tsp
Demerara Sugar - for sprinkling

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190 C and prepare 12 moulds for the muffins.

2. Chop the unsweetened chocolate and put it in a bowl alongside the butter. Now, microwave the chocolate and butter for 1 min in two 30 sec stretches. After 30 seconds, stir the content once. After the contents are melted, add 1/2 cup sugar to the mixture and stir well. Keep aside.

3. In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg and vanilla essence. Following this, add the butter-chocolate mixture into this bowl whisking continuously to incorporate.

5. Now, slowly fold in the flour mixture into the wet mixture. Do not over mix.

6. Now spoon this mixture into the mould, so that the moulds are half filled and sprinkle sugar on the top of each.

7. Bake for 20 mins and check whether a toothpick comes out clean at the end of the time.

Note: In case you are not using liners, then once slightly cooled, remove the muffins from the mould to prevent bottom burning.

Oatmeal Mango Muffins

It might seem that I am on a rage of baking. But, the truth is, I try to make something at home so that I am not tempted to head out and get something from the closest bakery. Its fresh alright, but also more fattening! I want to make warm fresh stuff for breakfast, and for small eats, as these are the usual culprits which I pick up during my routine grocery shopping.

Today I tried a Oatmeal Mango Muffin. We being in the mango season, and mango slush being very simple to create, why not in a muffin. I found an Oatmeal applesauce muffin recipe with a very simple method to follow. Also, I did not have many ingredients which were asked for in other recipes. There are many recipes out there, but I chose this solely on the basis of available ingredients. I also made only 6 muffins, just enough for us for Sunday breakfast.

Oatmeal Mango Muffins ( makes 6 regular muffins)
Adapted from : Oatmeal Applesauce muffins

Ingredients

Instant Oatmeal - 1/2 cup
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
Cinnamon Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla Essence - 1/4 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Mango slush - 1/4 cup
Egg white - 1

Method

1. Chop half a medium sized mango into rough pieces and blend it well. Add a little water if you think the contents are too thick, else skip the water. Measure 1/4 cup of this slush and keep aside.

2. Preheat oven to 200 C and line 6 muffin cups.

3. Mix together all the dry ingredients except Oatmeal in a bowl and keep aside.

4. Mix Oatmeal, milk, egg white, vanilla essence and the mango slush together.

5. Now slowly fold in the wet ingredients into the dry mixture kept aside.

6. Pour 1 tablespoon full of the mixture into each mould and let it stand for 3-4 minutes.

7.  Bake for 12-14 minutes and check with a toothpick.