No-Bake creamy cookies and super fast Microwave Brownies

No-bake creamy cookies go to Priyanka of "Asan Khana" blog who is asking us to "Cook and Create with Luv for Luv" for Valentine's day with this event. Made a heart with full of sweet sugar for you, enjoy!

Happy Valentine's day in advance to all you! :))

Super fast Microwave Brownies go to Srilekha of "Me and my kitchen" blog, whose theme for this month is "EFM-Microwave dishes". Here are my yummy Brownies, microwaved ( in regular Microwave baking method,) for you!

Thanks girls, enjoy these sweet dishes. Enough sugar for me to last a life time, let me tell ya but kids loved them all! ;D

No-bake Cookies first!
Really! Absolutely no baking or cooking at all to make these cookies!! If you like eating sweet...I mean sweeeet..desserts and love Ice cream, these are for you. It's creamy and melt in the mouth cookies with loads of sugar. So go easy on them but wonderful to eat a small amount after dinner. Must keep them in the fridge.
PS: Since we use only cream cheese and powdered sugar to make the cookies, they do get warm, sticky and soft when kept on the counter top for too long. It's best to store in the fridge at all times, take out few as you need. When chilled, it tastes like little balls of Vanilla Ice Cream!

Creamy no-bake cookies:
I made a very small quantity just to show you and made heart shaped pink ones for Valentine's day but traditionally made of small Key Lime sized balls and pressed the top with fork tines to make designs or you can press the top with any design too.
Variation: Add mint extract and green color to make mints!!

Here is how; You need:
2 oz or 1/4 cup or 4 tbsp Cream cheese, low-fat will do too,
1/4 tsp Vanilla essence,
2 drops of red food color to make it pink,
3 cups (keep 1/2 cup extra sugar if you need it) powdered sugar.

Now;
1. Take a bowl, add the cream cheese, food color and essence and beat well with hand held electric beater until well mixed for a minute.
2. On low speed, gradually add 3 cups of powdered sugar, keep mixing until you get a firm dough. Add more sugar if you need to. It took me a bit less than 3 cups, so it's up to you.
3. Spread some powdered sugar on the counter, add a key lime size dough and make a ball quickly and press the top with fork to make ridges. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
4. Place them in a covered dish and refrigerate immediately. Take them out as you need them. They must be kept chilled or they will soften and loose shape. They freeze well too!

I rolled a ball of dough and cut out a heart shape just for this event, you don't need to do that. If you find it hard to roll the dough to make balls, chill the dough for 30 mins and it will be very easy shape them.

Enjoy! :))

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Yummy and super fast within 8 mins Brownies!!
What more could you want, right? It's really easy and delicious although they might not taste like the best Brownies you ever had which are baked in the oven! But not bad at all for a quick chocolate fix when you are craving for something sweet to eat, for unexpected guests or for kids' after school snack, can be done from start to finish within 7-8 mins!!
Here it is, hope you give it a try and eat quickly within a day or two and keep them in the airtight Ziplock bags when you are eating them! :D

Check out this Microwaved Orange cake!!

Microwaved Brownies:

You need: 1/4 cup each butter and oil, Canola is what I use,
1 cup sugar, brown or white sugar,
2 eggs (replace with 4 tbsp Apple sauce for vegetarians),
1 tsp Vanilla,
3/4 cup plain flour,
1/2 cup good quality Cocoa powder (I used Ghirardelli cocoa, Hershey will do too)
1/2 tsp salt,
1/2 cup (less or more) chopped nuts or white or dark chocolate chips.

First, mix flour, cocoa powder, salt together in a plate or bowl with a fork and keep aside.

To bake:
1. Add sugar, oil and butter in a big bowl, heat in the MW for a minute. Mix well with hand held electric mixer for a minute until mix is creamish and let it cool before you add the eggs or sauce.
2. Once cooled a bit, add eggs and vanilla to the mix, beat again to a smooth batter.
3. Add the flour mixture gradually to this and mix well. Do not beat too much, just until everything looks like a smooth thick batter. It's almost done!
4. Add nuts or chips now, mix well with a spatula gently or sprinkle on top just before you bake. I didn't add nuts, kids don't like them but sprinkled the white chocolate chips on top of the batter.
5. Now, spray a round or square 8" microwavable dish with non-stick oil or brush some butter, pour the above batter into it. Smoothen the top and spread evenly with the back of a wet spoon.
6. Put it in the microwave and bake for 3 mins on 100% power. Turn the bowl once halfway and MW again for another 2 mins. Check the center, if it looks a bit shiny but not soggy, it's done.
7. If not, MW one more minute. Never over bake it, it will be hard like a rock and crumbly. It's okay to leave little damp in the middle. As it cools, it will cook and get firm. Cool and cut into pieces. keep it covered to store, do not leave it in the fridge.

Every Microwave has different power capacity, so use your judgment when baking.
You can sprinkle some milk on top to moisten if you bake too much but I do recommend to bake less mins than repairing it later.

Have a fun Monday, see you all later! :))

PEAR TOMATOES & MW ORANGE STREUSEL CAKE

Pear Tomatoes in all it's natural glory is my entry to "Click-Au Naturel" which Jai and Bee of "Jugalbandi" blog are hosting this month. Thanks to you both and all the judges too!:)




First, let me say that it feels great to be back after 5 weeks' long hiatus. I still have lots of work to do, so I will be blogging and visiting you all just 3 days a week from now on (Mon., Wed., Fri.) and will be participating in very few events if I can, as there are so many events going on these days. Right now, I am glad I have managed to post these, my last minute entries! :)

Pear Tomatoes:
I grew few Pear Tomato plants last Summer, loved and enjoyed each and every fruit of these beautiful tomatoes.They were not only gorgeous to look at, very sweet and juicy to eat too, excellent to make Summer salads. Hopefully, they are few seeds still scattered in my garden patch waiting to sprout up for this Summer's bounty, keeping my fingers crossed! :)



Camera I used: Sony Cyber-Shot 8.1 Mega Pixels

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Microwaved Orange Streusel cake is my entry to "Microwave Easy cooking", which is hosted by Srivalli of "Cooking 4 all seasons" with a theme of "cakes" this month. Thanks for hosting Sri!:)


I am giving you a fabulous tasting and a very fragrant Orange cake with Streusel topping, baked in a microwave!! Can you believe it? Of course, microwave cakes will never be as soft and fluffy as the oven baked cakes but look like quick breads, not bad at all for a cake made within 10 mins, instead of 1 1/2 hrs for a cake baked in the oven when the craving hits you!! :D
This recipe came from an old yellowing microwave cookbook I bought long time ago. Orange cake is really delcious and quick to make in 6-7 mins after the initial prep of the batter. It will taste like a quick bread but lot more delcious than a bread. Read the whole recipe before you start on the cake please, hope you try!:)

Microwave Orange Streusel cake:



A slice for you! :)



Step by step photos, click to enlarge:

Bowl: Prepare the microwavable ceramic bowl about 8" in diameter. Spray no-stick oil or butter inside. Cut a round wax paper to fit into the bottom of the bowl inside and spray again on it to make the cake come out of the bowl easily after cooking.

For Streusel topping, you need:
1/4 cup plain flour,
1 tsp Cinnamon powder,
1 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa pd,
(I used Ghirardelli Cocoa,Hershey Cocoa will do too)
1/4 cup chilled Butter,cut into pieces,
1/4 cup fine brown sugar,
Mix all these with your fingers until it has a texture like coarse bread crumbs,chill in the fridge until needed.
Or you can use the commercial chocolate frosting on top instead of Streusel for topping.

For Microwaving the cake, you need:
To cream:
1/4 cup Butter, softened,
2/3 cup fine textured white sugar,
1 large Egg.
Liquid mix:
5 tbsps Orange Juice,
6 tbsps whole/2%Milk or half and half,
1 tsp Orange flower essence,
1 tsp grated Orange rind or zest.
Dry mix:
1 1/2 cup Plain flour,
2 tsp Baking powder,
1/8 tsp salt.

How to:
1. Make Streusel topping first, chill it until needed.
2. In a stand mixer or processor, beat butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy on high speed. Stop and add 1 egg, beat gently until creamy.
3. Add liquid mix to it, mix on low speed. Add dry mix to it slowly until everything comes together to a thickish batter. Do not over mix.
4.Pour into the prepared bowl, tap the bottom of the pan gently on the counter top to make the top even and to take the bubbles out.
5. Cook it in the microwave for 3 mins. Take it out, sprinkle the Streusel topping, press it gently on top and microwave it again for 2 more mins.
6. Insert a wooden skewer or knitting needle in the middle to test the doneness. If it comes out somewhat clean, it's done. If very wet, microwave for just one more minute, but not more than that.
7. Take it out, loosen the sides with a knife, shake the bowl gently to loosen the bottom. Invert it on a plate very carefully as to not crush the Streusel (or try to take it out from the bottom i you can), invert again on a cooling rack to cool. Store in a air tight plastic bag or cake stand.
8. Serve a slice with cream if you like and dust with cocoa powder.

Note: Don't worry if you feel that it's still a little moist in the middle of the cake, it will cook as it cools. If you feel that it's not completely cooked, you can always microwave for 1/2 to 1 minute but DO NOT OVER COOK it or else it will be become dry and crumbly.
If that happens ie if it's very dry, prick the top with skewer, drizzle a tbsp of cream or Orange juice in the holes to make it moist again. Each Microwave differs in power, so use your judgment regarding the time for cooking after the first 5 minutes. Enjoy!:))