December 19, 2007

NUTS!!! 100th POST WITH BROWNIE COOKIES!!

Hurray!! This is my 100th post here at Aroma which I started on January 2006 just to cook and post for events! It reached 100th post a tad bit faster that Foodies Hope which took exactly a whole year to reach that century! It has been a wonderful journey so far and will plan to keep it up in 2008 as well.

My thanks to all my readers/friends who come here to comment and to LOT of readers who don't comment as well!! Enjoy, cook, blog and EAT!! :))

Now, back to business...

Alrighty Ms.Bee and Mr.Jai, here are your Nuts!! Oops, my Nuts!!;D
There are loads and loads of all kinds of nuts on display for Christmas now, thought instead of cooking with these, why not click them in all their glory!
Here is my entry to JaiBee of "Jugalbandi" blog's "Click" event with a theme of "Nuts" this month. Enjoy and thanks for hosting Bee and Jai or Jai and Bee!

Cornucopia of nuts!!

Christmas!!

Camera used: Canon PowerShot SD600

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Bindiya of "in love with food" blog started a new event called "These are a few of my favorite things" this month with a theme of "Chocolate". Although I am not very fond of Chocolates, I do like to have a few dark Belgian Chocolates with 60% Cocoa occasionally. I definitely enjoyed baking these cookies. Thanks for hosting Bindiya!:))



I am also sending these to "JFI-Chocolate" this month since I am running out of time to enter my dishes for events. This month's host is Deepa from "LETZ COOK" blog. Thanks for hosting Deepa!:)


Story behind these Brownies!
My daughter's friend Jessica had her birthday at her high school and she sent a message to me thru' Trisha asking me to bake some cookies for her. She didn't want any store bought cookies or anything else as gift!
Trisha wanted me to bake chocolate cookies for all her 22 friends/members in her Anime(Japanese art) club (which Trisha leads as president) for Christmas party and some for her friend Jessica too while I was at it.
I looked around the internet and found the recipe for Brownie cookies which sounded great. Since some kids are allergic to nuts, I skipped nuts and mint flavor from the recipe to keep it simple.I also doubled the recipe and made about 84 mini cookies by using smaller scoops, so the kids can have 2 to 3 cookies each and rest goes to Jessica to take home. I baked the cookies just until soft, not crisp and they tasted like Brownies but looked like cookies! I was not going to blog these, but then I saw Bindiya's and Deepa's theme which fitted these cookies perfectly, I said Hurray and here they are!! Enjoy!

Recipe for these delicious brownie cookies came from here with my own little changes. I skipped the mint extract, nuts and used dark brown sugar and a tsp of molasses to keep them purely dark and chocolatey!!:)

Brownie drop cookies!!


To make about 88 mini brownie cookies you need:
(Make sure you cut the recipe into half or 1/4th of this amount if you need less cookies!)
3 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate bits, divide these into half to melt, keep half aside as whole bits to mix.
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup good quality Cocoa powder,
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or Margarine(for chewy cookies), softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp dark molasses (optional)
4 large eggs

To bake:

Preheat the oven at 350F.
1. Melt half of the morsels in small, heavy saucepan over low heat. When they begin to melt, remove from heat, stir until smooth. (You can melt in the microwave too, but be very careful not to burn the chocolate bits.) Cool to room temperature.
2. Now mix flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl, keep aside. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large blender bowl until creamy.
3. Add eggs one by one, beating well after each egg. Add in melted and cooled chocolate, mix well.
4. Slowly add in flour mix. When well mixed, stir in remaining chocolate bits. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto 2 ungreased baking sheets, 2" apart.
5. You may have to use more sheets if you are making the above quantity.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes. I bake for 8 mins and then keep checking the sides, since I like softer cookies. About 9 mins works for me perfectly. Take the sheet out, let it stand for 2 mins and then take the cookies out onto the cooling rack. Cool completely before storing.

Enjoy!:))

60 comments:

Altoid said...

Asha :)

Welcome back! Hope you had a fulfilling break :). Season's greetings to you and yours.

Finla said...

Welcome back Asha. Missed you for three weeks.
You really have patience of a saint to make more than 80 cookies.
Looks delicious.

Finla said...

Oh forgot to say congragulation with your 100 post.

Lakshmi said...

Welcome Back Ashakka. Missed you so much. Btw those brownie cookies are looking excellent, thinking of altering to make a vegan version!! Any suggestions??:)

Bharathy said...

Congrats for the 100th post,Asha!..
Nice to see you back after the break!..
Woderful recipe,Asha!
Seasons greetings to you and your family :)

Rahin said...

hey that was a long break Asha ...we missed u ....Congratulations on ur 100th...the cookies look cute n so do the nuts ...

FH said...

Hello A, good to be back!:))
Merry Christmas and happy New year to you too.

Hi F, great to be back girl!:))
What can I do but please my the kids, not just my own but their buddies too!:D
I used a Ice cream scoop to drop them on the sheet,so it was quick. Baking takes a while!:)
Don't miss the FH post, more cookies!:)

FH said...

Lakshmi, thanks. I have never baked eggless cookies or cakes but I have read that you can add Apple sauce instead of eggs. 1 egg=2 tbsp sauce. try it with small amount first! Good luck!:))

Thanks Bharathy. Break did me lot of good!:))
Happy holidays. Enjoy the week.

Thanks Rahin. Did lot of reading when on break!It was great, intend to take breaks often from now on!:D
Enjy the holidays.

sra said...

Hey, you're back! And congrats on your 100th

lakshmi said...

the whole world is blogging chocolate - maarrrrrmeeeeeeeee - why can't the pick directly out of the screen?

FH said...

Yes I am sra, great to be back! Thanks, another 100 posts are coming up!:D

Lakshmi, I know you LOVE chocolate. Except me, everybody loves Chocolate at home too!:D
These are really moist, almost like mini brownies, try it with with small amount!:)

TBC said...

Congrats on completing a 100 posts.
Welcome back! :-)

FH said...

Thanks TBC.It wasn't hard to reach 100th post here at Aroma! Hahaha!!:))
Enjoy the weekend.

Sagari said...

welcome back asha ji those browni drop cookies look awesome

Sagari said...

missed to write CLICK entry looks beautifulll and bright

Sig said...

Congratulations on the century Asha... Hope you had a great vacation... I read somewhere that it was your wedding anniversary? If that was the case, congrats on that too... :) . Merry Christmas!

Pravs said...

Congrats on the 100th post! Hope you had a good break. Love brownies..brownie cookies..hmm..have to try :)
Merry Christmas!

FH said...

Thanks Sagari, hope you try!:))
Yeah, this time I thought just Nuts will do instead of recipe with those!:D

Thank you Sig, good to see you back from Spain!:))
Go to FH for anniversary details and yes, we had fun but kept it lot quieter than last year!:D
Will check your Europe posts later,lots to catch up.

FH said...

Thank you Pravs, good to be back!:)
Had a great break girl, lots of rest for my hands too except baking of course!:D
Happy holidays. Enjoy.

Bindiya said...

Asha dear...
Thanks a ton for the most amazingly lovely entry, these brownies are adorable!!!
Love and hugs :)

FH said...

Thank you for hosting Bindiya. Enjoy your first event, glad I could make it!Hugs:))

bee said...

thanks, ash, for your lovely nu... i mean, entry. :D

FH said...

LOL! It IS funny to say that word, ain't it? I know my mind is in gutter!!:P
Enjoy the holidays!!

Vanamala Hebbar said...

Asha

Lovely photography..Congrats for 100th post:)

sunita said...

Congrats on your hundredth..looking forward to many more to come...enjoyed the post :-)

AnuSriram said...

That looks so colourful.... Gr8 pics....

FH said...

Thanks Mala, enjoy the holidays. We all get atleast 4 days of mini vacation next week!:))

Thanks Sunita. Can't believe it's been a year already! Time flies!!:))

Hi Anu, thanks. I like that little bowl, so festive!:))

Suganya said...

You have sent 100 event entries so far? And as far as i could remember, none of them were single recipe entries. Phew! And Congrats :).

FH said...

Most of them are single entries from here Suganya. Sometimes I send two of them for one event or single entry in one post to two events!!Confused? :D
It has been fun, love it. Thanks girl, happy holidays!:))

Richa said...

congrats on the century! i thot u would hv reached the no. long back with ur mega posts...lol

amna said...

lovely! i think i will try this with my leftover chocolate bars!

and thats a nice pic :)

EC said...

Congratulations on the 100th post and yummy cookies..agree with happy cook that u really have a lot of patience.

Ramya's Mane Adige said...

Congratulations, Ashakka!!! cookies look wonderful

Padmaja said...

Asha!!! Congrats dear!!! 80 cookies u really an amazing person dear!!!
I love reading your posts so keep them flowing everyday sweetie

Jayashree said...

Yay!!! U r back......
Congrats on the 100th post.
Thx for updating my pic at FH round-up.

FH said...

Nope!!Richa, I just started this blog last Jan and took almost a year to reach 100th post.Miracle!!:D

Thanks Nags. Try it and let me know. Cut down the recipe to half, don't want 88 cookies, do you?:)

Thanks EC. Got to do it when you have kids demanding fresh baked cookies!!:D

FH said...

Thank you Ramya. These cookies ate almost like soft brownies!:))

Hi Padmaja, thanks girl. Everyday posting would be some work for me but there are so many events now, you won't be surprised!:D

FH said...

Hi Jaya, I accidentally found out that you have updated the photo when I was looking for something else and undated immediately!:D
Thank you, happy holidays to you.

Raks said...

I like your entry for the click event!Superb!Very neat photography!
Congrats for your 100th post!
I found you commenting on few blogs when you were in break?! I grew very jealous:D
Why,Why,Why this partiality?
Jus kidding, but you hav to answer this Question!

FH said...

HI Raks, thank you. Had to enter for nuts event even though I was on break!:D
I comment only when a new blogger comments in my blog for courtesy.Other than that, I don't comment except for first few days when I am going thru' withdrawal symptoms!!:P

Kajal said...

Wow great my dear 100 post not easy.......Congragulation!!!

Wow....great combination of cookies with nuts and dark chocolate my dear. I love the flavor of chocolate. Looks Delicious my dear.:)

Seema said...

Welcome back! Hope u had a good vacation. Congrats on the 100th post... hurray!!!!

Already into your cooking spree.. those cookies look yum yum.. sure all the girls enjoyed it!

FH said...

Thank you Kajal.Hope you try these cookies, tastes great. Happy holidays!:))

Hi Seema, the kids ate them all in 5 mins, my daughter tells me! Imagine 22 16yr old boys and girls with these!!:D
Thanks, have a great weekend, see you later.

david santos said...

Hello, Ssha,
good food, thank you.

I wish you a good end of 2007 and a good year of 2008.

FH said...

Hi David, good to see you. Thanks. Wish you a very merry Christmas and happy new year to you and your family too. Enjoy!:))

USHA said...

Hi Ashaji,
Congratulations!!!!its really gr8 achievement.....Becoz being a blogger i know littlebit how hard to reach the goal unless you are fully involved in it...Happy Holiday....

FH said...

It's true! It's like a milestone when you reach 100!:D
Blogging is hard, but worth it because you make so many friends.
Thank you for visiting Usha, hope you are doing well. Have a great weekend. Hugs to you!:))

Daily Meals said...

Hi Asha! Congrats for your 100th post in Aroma. The picture of nuts is very nice.

FH said...

Thank you Vijaya. 100th post is special, glad I made it!:))

Pooja Na(i)rayan said...

The drop cookies look Drop dead gorgeous. Congrats on ur 100th post. Coming back from hiatus and ur blog was one of the blogs I wanted to visit. have a nice holiday season ahead

FH said...

So sweet of you Mocha. Glad you are back, I was and am again on break until the 1st of Jan. Busy time but exciting time for all of us!:))
Hugs to you, thanks. See you next week. Enjoy the holidays.

Linda said...

Hi Asha honey, you know I wouldn't miss your posts here but I have had too much company to barely look at my own blog, so forgive me being late ;)

Brownie cookies look so good and no wonder the kids are all after these! I love your pic of nuts, too, in the festive holly dish.

Congrats on your 100th Aroma post, and look forward to lots more in 2008!

BTW even though not leaving a comment at the gnocchi post (short on time since I am taking meg to camp tmo then off on my own vacation!), they look yum! And don't blame you wanting to take a break from commenting -- most couldn't keep up with your pace! :)

Happy New Year dear, hugs! Glad to have you back :)

FH said...

Linda, I absolutely understand, don't worry about it at all. I am on break again too, will be taking frequent breaks from next year!:))
Enjoy your daughter and come back whenever you can. Family is imp. more than anything. Besides it's holiday season, we are all busy.
Thanks for everything sweetie, hugs to you. I will see you again in 2008. Have fun and take it easy! See you later!:)

Srivalli said...

Not sure how I missed this post! Congrats on 100th and wishing for many more to come. Those chocolates look yum!

FH said...

We all have been busy, that's okay. Thank you Sri, I appreciate it. Have a great week, see you later!:)

Grihini said...

Asha.. how do u always manage to do so many things? You are indeed a super woman!

FH said...

Hi G, I love cooking,so most of the time I do enjoy entering these events.Sometimes ,I don't feel like cooking anything but cook for friends events!:D
That will stop now though, I take it easy. Enjoy!:))

Pelicano said...

Those cookies look moist and delicious, and that was so kind of you to do all of that for your daughter's club.
Happy 100th post!

FH said...

Thank you Pelicano!:)
My daughter told me that she gave the box full of cookies to kids in the club and went out of the class for a minute. When she came back, all 88 cookies were gone!:D

Kalai said...

Ashakka, I make a version of these, too. I have to say that I've had the same problem as your daughter in terms of cookies disappearing! Soooo addictive!