Kuih Bangkit 2012 (Light Coconut Cookies)

Very light, melt-in-the-mouth cookie (a much better version than the one I posted earlier here) usually made for Chinese New Year in Malaysia & Singapore. If not done properly, it is ghastly & sticks in the mouth like plaster.  Mine are a little brown cos I like the whiff of toastiness.  They are supposed to be pure white - guess have to lower the heat and bake them longer like meringue. (Recipe adapted from: http://belachan2.blogspot.com/2006/01/kuih-bangkit.html. I used the same proportions, but added pandan leaves and did things a little differently.)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Makes approximately 32 cookies.

White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies (Crisp)

Best Choc Chip Cookie (Crispy)

This is Dierdre's Extraordinary Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe - and it's also my Number 1 favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I cut it from Woman's Own magazine in Dec 2001 and have kept it to this day!

Hallelujah PTL - My Macarons Have FEET!!

Update:

This video shows how it's done:

Post by 大马美食~like 一 like~.

A few days ago, I attended a 2-hour Macaron workshop, where we made ganache and decorated ready-made macarons with lolly sticks, food pens, sprays and ribbons. We were also given recipes & lots of tips, and warned that macarons are tricky to make. Anyhow, I gave it a shot. Check this out - my macarons have FEET, yippee yay!!

I was really happy to see "feet" developing in the oven :-)

Less Mess Kueh Bangkit

My preferred brand of santan (coconut cream) is "Kara".
Kueh Bangkit baking in my Healsio oven (using "Oven" function)

Kueh Bangkit is one of my favourite traditional Chinese New Year cookies. A good KB is fragrant, light, crisp, and melts delightfully in the mouth. But if not done properly, it is hard and sticks in the mouth! Getting it right is a little tricky, not to mention the preparation can get messy.

Traditionally, the tapioca flour is dry-fried in a wok till light. In the process, the whole kitchen gets coated in a light dusting of flour! I hate getting messy, so I've adapted by using microwave to dry the flour. The other "innovation" is to knead the dough in a plastic bag rather than in a bowl (& getting my hands all sticky). The plastic bag not only keeps all the mess in, but also keeps the dough from drying out. And as I prefer my KB to be slightly "toasty", I make them small and bake them a little longer than necessary. I must stress that I'm not a great stickler for authenticity or traditional methods, but IMHO, the resulting cookies are really rather nice.

Ingredients
2C + 3T (~ 240g) tapioca flour / tapioca starch
1 - 2 pandan leaves, cleaned & cut into 1" sections (optional)
2/3C (~ 80g) icing sugar, sifted
1T margarine (or Crisco)
1 egg yolk
1/3C thick santan (~ 85ml)

Method:
Put tapioca flour (and pandan, if available) on baking paper in a large microwave bowl. Zap 1min on HI, stir, repeat 5 - 6 times. Cool (preferrably overnight, but I waited ~ 2 hrs).

In a large clean sandwich bag, put icing sugar, margarine & yolk. Squeeze bag to mix. Add 1/3C (~ 85ml) santan & squeeze till well mixed.

Sift cooled flour, discarding pandan. Reserve 3T for dusting KB molds and add the rest to bag.

Squeeze bag & knead well to a smooth, pliable dough, neither crumbly or sticky at all(add a little extra flour or santan if necessary). Rest dough in bag for 30 mins.

Dust KB molds with reserved flour, press in dough & tap sharply out onto paper-lined tray. Alternatively, roll to ~ 1/4” thick, cut shapes & pinch with KB pincher.

Bake at 150 deg C for 15-20 mins (till light, dry & very faintly tinged).
Cool & store in air-tight tin. Makes 100+ 1” cookies.