No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

There is a huge variety of cookies come every Chinese New Year and this time I'm sharing with you a very simple and easy to make Nestum Raisin Cookies.  The ingredients are very basic for any cookie recipe but the star ingredient is of course, Nestum.  Crunchy and crispy Nestum Raisin Cookies to serve your guests this Chinese New Year and I hope you will like it! Nestum Raisin Cookies ~  CNY 2020   麦片葡萄干饼干 Ingredients 250 gm butter 140 gm caster sugar 280 gm self-raising flour 1 egg yolk 40 gm Nestum 60 gm raisins 1/2 tsp vanilla a pinch of salt More Nestum to coat Method Beat butter and sugar till creamy, add in the egg yolk and vanilla, mix well. Sift in the flour, add in the nestum and raisins.  Mix well. Pinch some dough about the size of a 20 cent coin, lightly roll onto some Nestum to coat and place onto a parchment lined baking tray, about an inch apart. Bake in a preheated oven @ 180 deg.C for about 10 to 15 mins.  Let cool for a minute before

These Hup Toh Soh (Chinese Walnut Biscuits) are without hup toh/walnuts.  I do remember from young that the traditional Hup Toh Soh that I ate those days were quite big, around 4 inches in diameter or because I was small and to me everything looked big!  They were made with lard and were very crunchy but there wasn't any trace of hup toh in them and nobody asked why.   Although these biscuits are without walnuts, they are still crunchy and yummy.  If you are allergic to nuts, this is a recipe for you.  Give this a try for the coming Chinese New Year. However, if you would like to have a recipe of  Hup Toh Soh with walnuts, do hop in 'here'. Hup Toh Soh  (Chinese Walnut Biscuits)  ~   CNY 2020  核桃酥 Ingredients 300 gm plain flour                                                                         100 gm caster sugar 125 ml vegetable oil (may need a bit more or a bit less) 1/8 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp sodium bicarbonate 1 egg beaten to gla

A Very Happy New Year to one and All  All the Very Best in 2020 This is my first attempt at baking with spelt flour and I was quite skeptical at the beginning for I do not know how the texture of the cake will turn out.  But after reading through the recipe which calls for about half spelt and half self-raising flour, I have more confidence to give it a go.  Spelt is low in gluten and perhaps that's the reason why the recipe calls for only half spelt flour.  The cake turned out swell and the texture was good, soft and moist. Carrot Walnut Cake with Spelt Flour ~   胡萝卜核桃蛋糕 Ingredients 115 gm wholemeal spelt flour 113 gm self-raising flour 140 gm soft or dark brown sugar 4 large eggs 70 gm walnuts, chopped 70 gm sultanas, chopped 300 gm (about 2 medium size) carrots, grated Zest from 1 orange 1 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon a pinch of salt Icing sugar for dusting (optional) Method Line an 8 inch square pan with parchm