Baking Archives ⋆ Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby

Activity with Kids: No Mixer Chocolate Lava Cookies

Chris-budgetpantry — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 03:45:49 +0000

When rain rain doesn’t go away, how can you keep yourself (yes, yourself) sane at home?

KEEP THOSE KIDS OCCUPIED, THAT’S HOW.

Yesterday we did so many things. I entertained them with a buffet breakfast, changed them into their swimsuits and let them play with water at the balcony (one bath tub of water = 2 hours of fun. Quite worth it if you ask me) and ended the day BAKING these easy-to-make chocolate lava cookies which CBB absolutely adored.

The best part is NO mixer is needed – nobody got time to wash up! Look at these kids. Ask them to decorate with chocolate chips and see what they doing. They had fun in the process!

The cookies turned out pretty well – these are chunky, crumbly cookies, not crispy. Just the way they should be. The kids had fun decorating them:

Here’s how to make them.

Chocolate Lava Cookies – No Mixer Needed (budgetpantry.com)
Makes 10 pieces

What you need:

135g plain flour
30g cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 medium egg
70g butter, melted (salted or unsalted)
120g brown sugar (you can use castor sugar)
Half teaspoon vanilla essence (optional)
Chocolate chips
10 pcs milk chocolate squares (I used cadbury)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 180C. Line pan with baking paper.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together. Set aside.

Crack egg into mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, sugar and vanilla essence and briefly whisk manually. Fold in the sifted flour etc. to combine into a cookie dough. It should have a consistency that you can handle (not wet).

Using your hands, take some cookie dough and place a chocolate square in the middle. Gather the cookie dough sides and wrap the chocolate square in the centre. This will be your lava filing.

Place each cookie on the baking tray and decorate with chocolate chips.

Bake for 15 mins at 180C in your preheated oven. Cool the cookies for 15 mins before eating. Be careful! The filling will be super hot.

I hope you enjoy this activity with the kids!

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[Review] Nature One Dairy milk formula + three no-mixer-needed kids recipes

Chris-budgetpantry — Sat, 26 Dec 2020 15:04:50 +0000

Many of my mummy readers ask me if I’m still breastfeeding Cdd. Hmm, breastfeeding no, but latching yes, at night! Does that count? Since Cbb days, I’ve always needed to top up breast milk with formula, until I stopped breastfeeding her completely at 6 months. It’s almost the same story with Cdd. The only difference is I managed to mix feed him till he was 10 months, and it’s quite an achievement for me! Being super low supply (don’t come questioning why I assume I’m low supply. I don’t assume. I am. Read my story), I’ve never frozen a pack of breastmilk in my life and apart from the initial 2-3 weeks, I’ve always had to mix breast milk and formula for both my kids.

Breastmilk is best for babies but since I had insufficient supply and am not inclined towards donor milk, I did the next best thing and topped up with formula. And to me, that’s perfectly fine!

Now that Cdd is 15 months and Cbb almost 5 years old, I have switched them completely to formula milk. Both of them have tried a few brands of formula milk and now Nature One Dairy is our staple. To be honest, when Nature One Dairy approached me for this review, I was concerned that being VERY PICKY, Cdd would reject this. Cbb don’t say la, she drinks everything but even so, her FIRST reaction to trying out the Premium Junior Step 4 milk was, ‘MmmMMM! This milk tastes really good. Is it new, mama?”

Cdd has been taking the Organic Toddler Step 3 formula for more than two months and I’m only sharing this article now because I wanted to make sure this is a fair review. And I’m happy to report that he’s taking well to it! As his mummy, I like Nature One Dairy too and here are the main reasons:

My kids love the taste

I mean, this is a real consideration! I can buy the most expensive and supposedly best formula (not really though, as the nutritional values of milk formulas are actually similar!) but it doesn’t matter if my kids won’t drink it. Cbb took to the Premium Junior Step 4 immediately and even said her pancakes taste better (yes I make pancakes and snacks with it!). Cdd guzzles his Organic Toddler Step 3 without complaints and welcomes his bottle every time.

Does not contain sucrose, maltodextrin and sweeteners

If you read the ingredient labels of formula milk, you may notice some ingredients that surprise you, like sucrose. Although sucrose in this case isn’t quite the same as the added sugar you find in cakes (it serves more like a source of carbohydrates), it’s the sweetest simple carb and I avoid it when choosing formula milk for my babies. Lactose is the only source of carbs in Nature One Dairy’s milk products.

Australian made

All Nature One Dairy formula milk are held to strict quality and safety standards, and are manufactured in their wholly owned pharmaceutical grade facility in Australia. Australia is always known for its clean and green environment, and being a facility specialising in manufacturing infant products, Nature One Dairy is bound by frequent strict inspection and testing which put my mind at ease for the products they produce. The Organic Toddler Nutritious Milk Drink Step 3 is certified by ACO (Australian Certified Organic), one of the most respected and rigorous standards in the world for organic production. Certified Organic products are grown and processed without the use of synthetic chemicals, fertilisers or GMOs. You can read more about the criteria here.

It’s friendly on my pocket

With Cdd going through one tin of formula milk per week, cost is a concern for me! The Step 3 milk drinks start from $25.50 to $37.50 (the organic version) for a 900g tin, and the price is more than reasonable compared to some brands that cost double. Contrary to popular belief, the nutritional levels of the expensive milk are similar to the cheaper brands – just compare the info across various brands at supermarkets! Plus, if an organic formula costs about the same or even lower than a non-organic formula, then I will choose organic for sure.

And now for the recipes!

Since both my kids like the taste of the milk powder so much, I was motivated to come up with some kids recipes using Nature One Dairy milk! I made some Little Milk Bites, One-Bowl Brazilian Cheese Puffs and a Creamy Salmon, Corn and Spinach Rice in the rice cooker. The milk bites and cheese puffs can both be prepared manually in a large mixing bowl – no cake mixer needed. Cbb had a fun time helping me in the kitchen. I hope you try them!

Little Milk Bites (budgetpantry.com)
Makes about 120 bites

Note: These are commonly shared as Baby Balls, aka Xiao Man Tou. But this recipe (and many other homemade ones) don’t melt in the mouth *immediately* like commercially sold ones. For safety reasons, I recommend giving this to kids 4yo and up if shaping into little balls. I shaped this flat for my 15-month-old (see second pic).

What you need:
1 medium egg
20g icing sugar
20g oil (you can use any cooking oil)
20g cake flour
25g milk powder (I used 3 scoops of Nature One Dairy Organic Toddler milk powder)
120g corn flour
2g baking powder (you can omit this for kids but it gives a fluffier texture)

Steps:
Preheat your oven to 170C. Line your pan with baking paper (no need to oil).

In a large bowl, sift the cake flour, milk powder, corn starch and baking powder (if using) together.

In a separate mixing bowl, crack the egg add the icing sugar and oil. Whisk well with a handheld whisk.

Add in the powder mix in step 2. Using a pair of chopsticks (it’s difficult to do this with a spatula), combine all the ingredients together until a dough starts to form.

Using your hands, knead the dough together till everything is combined.

Now we start shaping. Pinch a small portion and roll it into a small ball. Flatten this ball with your thumb if baking for babies or toddlers below 4yo. Continue with the rest of the dough and shape it as consistently as possible. Leave appropriate spacing between each bite on the baking pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. The colour will still be white but it is done. Do not increase the baking time if not it will be too hard! Leave to cool, then store in an airtight container.

One-Bowl Brazilian Cheese Puffs (budgetpantry.com)
Makes 36-48 puffs
What you need:
250g tapioca starch
25g milk powder (I used 3 scoops of Nature One Dairy Organic Toddler milk powder)
60g shredded cheddar cheese
60g shredded mozzarella cheese
1 large egg
180ml water
25ml olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Steps:
Preheat oven to 200C and oil your mini muffin tray.

Whisk the egg and milk powder together till bubbly. Add the water and whisk to mix well.

Add tapioca starch and cheese. Whisk everything together until well incorporated Add the oil and salt. Stir to combine. Rest this mixture for 10 minutes.

Scoop batter to muffin tray and fill till about ¾ full.

Bake for 20 minutes until golden.

Creamy Salmon, Corn and Spinach Rice (budgetpantry.com)
Serves three kidsWhat you need:
1 cup uncooked rice (use the rice cooker measuring cup)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock (use the same measuring cup)
100g salmon, sliced
Handful of corn
Handful of chopped spinach
1 teaspoon minced garlic
8.5g milk powder (I used 1 scoop of Nature One Dairy Organic Toddler milk powder)
30g shredded cheddar cheese (you can use parmesan but we’re not fans!)

Steps:

Rinse the rice and add the chicken stock. Stir in the garlic.

Arrange salmon, corn and spinach on top. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.

When time is up, stir in the milk powder and shredded cheese and it’s done. If you prefer a smoother consistency, you can add some more stock or hot water.

Where to find?
Nature One Dairy® products are available in all major supermarket chains and e-commerce platforms.
Click to redeem samples for trial.

This is a collaboration post with Nature One Dairy, but my kids are REALLY taking and enjoying the milk!

The post [Review] Nature One Dairy milk formula + three no-mixer-needed kids recipes appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Activity with Kids: One-bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chris-budgetpantry — Sun, 19 Apr 2020 05:53:34 +0000

Baking is an activity we would ALL love to do with our kids (and they too, with us), but God, I *hate* the washing up. I know you’re like me, so here comes a recipe that only uses ONE bowl, a couple of spoons and a whisk/fork. No mixer required. No kidding!! Have fun with it!

Click here for more easy kids/baby food ideas: https://budgetpantry.com/category/baby-food/

One-bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies (budgetpantry.com)
Makes 16-18 pieces

What you need:
60g butter
50g brown sugar
50g castor sugar
135g plain flour, sifted
Half teaspoon baking powder
Half teaspoon salt
Half teaspoon vanilla essence
1 medium egg, beaten
2-3 tablespoons chocolate chips (we use semi-sweet dark chocolate but you can use any – even chocolate rice)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 190C. Line baking pan with baking paper.

In a large glass bowl, microwave butter until melted. Add the brown and white sugar, then mix together with a whisk. Add the egg and vanilla essence, then whisk together.

Add half the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well and then add the other half of the flour. Combine until dough comes together (not drippy when you scoop/drop from a spoon). Add the chocolate chips. Chill mixture for half an hour.

Drop teaspoonsful of batter onto your baking pan. Leave about 2cm space in between each cookie. Bake for 15 minutes. When the time is up, the cookie will still seem soft if you nudge it with a fork, but it will firm up.

Keep the oven door ajar for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Cool for 30 minutes (we already ate 2 pieces in this 30 minutes. LOL) , then transfer to airtight container.

The post Activity with Kids: One-bowl Chocolate Chip Cookies appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Steamed Brown Sugar Banana Cake

Chris-budgetpantry — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 02:54:56 +0000

This cake came about because of two bananas. Two overriped, speckled bananas which were too mushy to eat on its own but perfect for cakes. Cbb has also developed a new obsession for steamed cakes, so this naturally was our after-school adventure!

My little girl helped me with sifting the flour and spooning the brown sugar, and she also decided she wanted blueberries in there. You could totally add chocolate chips if you want, or leave them out all together. This cake is super easy to make and quite fail proof I would say. It’s a perfect activity to do with your little one!

I steamed this in my Panasonic steam oven (the one with a lot of functions), but you could do it over the stove too. If steaming over the stove, be sure to wrap the wok/pan lid with a piece of cloth during steaming, to prevent condensation from dripping all over the cake when you lift the cover.

I used brown sugar in this recipe, but you could use regular caster sugar as well. Enjoy!

Steamed Brown Sugar Banana Cake (budgetpantry.com)
Makes one 7″ round cake

What you need:

2 large eggs (60-65g)
100g brown sugar
130g self raising flour, sifted
2 medium ripe bananas
Handful of blueberries (optional)
2 tablespoons neutral flavoured oil (I use rice bran oil)

Steps:

Preheat your steamer or steamer oven.

With a handheld or stand mixer, beat eggs on medium speed till foamy, then add sugar in two batches. Continue beating till eggs and sugar turn pale, then turn up speed to medium-high and beat till soft peaks form (about 5 minutes).

Add the mashed bananas and blueberries (if using) into the egg mixture and mix lightly. Fold in the flour with a spatula in three batches, taking care as much as possible not to deflate the egg whites.

Lastly, add in the oil and give it a quick fold to incorporate.

Steam on high heat for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre runs clear.

The post Steamed Brown Sugar Banana Cake appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Panasonic Cubie Oven: Pandan Madeleine with Coconut Cream

Chris-budgetpantry — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 06:46:21 +0000

I have a new love affair – with the Panasonic Cubie Oven! I made Pandan Madeleines in it – look out for my easy recipe below, which is perfect as quick bites for the holiday season and Chinese New Year too. I often bake a big batch for festive snacking/house visiting during the CNY period and everybody loves these over kuih bahulu – little sponge cakes also known as ‘Asian Madeleines’.

The Panasonic Cubie Oven (NU-SC100W) is an all-rounder Convection Steam Oven that lets you steam, roast, bake, healthy fry and even disinfect baby bottles and tableware in it.

Some amazing features of the Cubie Oven:
1. Prepare quick and healthy meals in no time at all
2. Multi-cooking functionality
3. Super easy to use!

Cooking styles
Steam
In the ‘Steam’ mode, hot steam is generated in just 20 seconds and the entire oven is filled with 100 °C steam in under three minutes. This translates to much faster cooking time as compared to traditional steaming methods. What I love most about this feature is there are no multiple items to wash – wok, steamer rack and what-have-yous. Just fill the water compartment at the top, place your dish inside the oven, turn the knob, press ‘Start’ and that’s it! A healthy and delicious meal is ready in minutes.

Hot air convection

The hot air convection function (healthy fry!) give you amazing results every time. With hot air convection, you can cook fried food with minimal oil and do away with the guilt of deep frying.

Steam + hot air convection

This is my favourite mode! Today’s recipe of Pandan Madeleine with Coconut Cream is made using this mode. With steam + hot air convection, the madeleines are first steamed to maintain moisture, and then baked to perfection. I love the crisp outer layer that you can achieve with this mode. You can use this function to roast vegetables too for kids and adults alike by first steaming the vegetables till cooked, then roasting or caramalising them. Yum!

So with the Panasonic Cubie Oven, you get these three super modes to ensure that your food turns out perfectly every time: Steam, Steam + Convection, and Convection only. You can even ferment bread dough in it! The 16 auto menus let you prepare delicious dishes in a jiffy. Some examples are steamed fish, steamed egg, steam frozen food (like mantou or buns!), steamed chicken, homemade yogurt, pizza, cheese cake, fried fish, chicken chop, breaded prawns, korean chicken wings and more.

Compact size

The Panasonic Cubie Oven is so compact, it’s unreal. Measuring only 355mm wide, it takes up just a small corner in my space-constraint kitchen. Yes, I do have three pull-out work tops for my small kitchen for prepping food (seriously the best decision made during renovation!), but the kitchen countertop is still so small. With the Cubie Oven, I can do away with multiple kitchen appliances as it fulfils so many functions in one. The multiple tray levels let you cook more than one dish at the same time. Like you can steam vegetables and make chawanmushi all at once. And don’t be fooled by the compact size. A whole fish of 28cm fits inside with no problems.

Verdict

The Panasonic Cubie Oven is compact, but powerful and versatile. A worthy addition to any kitchen! And yes, you can even disinfect baby bottles in it. Is this amazing or what?

Recipe

And now for my recipe of Pandan Madeleine with Coconut Cream made using the Steam + Convection mode. Everything is ready in less than 30 minutes including prep time. I hope you enjoy the recipe!

Pandan Madeleine with Coconut Cream (budgetpantry.com)
Makes two dozens

What you need:
160g plain flour, sifted
Half teaspoon baking powder
115g unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
100g granulated sugar
Half teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pandan juice
Coconut cream to serve
Desiccated coconut, optional

For the pandan juice:
10 pandan leaves, rinsed
150ml water

Steps:

1. Make the pandan juice: Blend pandan leaves with water in a blender or food processor for 2 minutes. Put through a sieve, discard the pulp and reserve liquid. You need two tablespoons for this recipe.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar and salt and whisk till creamy. You can use a stand mixer, hand mixer or even with a manual whisk. Add the pandan juice and mix well to combine.

3. Fold in the flour and baking power with a wooden spoon, followed by the melted butter.

4. Place batter in the refrigerator for 45 minutes and up to an hour.

5. Preheat the Cubie Oven to 175C. Prepare the pan by lightly greasing the madeleine molds with butter using kitchen paper or pastry brush.

6. Remove batter from refrigerator and fill each madeleine mold with approximately one tablespoon of batter (three-quarters full).

7. Using the Steam Convection mode, bake for 10-12 minutes or until puffed up (with the hump!) and golden.

8. Sprinkle with desiccated coconut and dip in coconut cream before serving.

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