Chocolate Chip Muffins

A very simple recipe for classic chocolate chip muffins. What I like about them, is that you only need a couple of bowls and no more than 10 minutes to prepare them. These have chocolate chips in every bite and my favourite part is a slightly crunchy exterior. They are both good warm when the chocolate is still melted and cold. They really keep well for almost a week. 

Chocolate Chip Muffins

250g/2 cups all purpose flour
150g/⅔ cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
113g/½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
160ml/⅔ cup milk
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
200g milk chocolate chips

1) Preheat the oven to 190C/375 F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. 

2) In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3) In medium bowl, mix together melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla.

4) Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and mix everything together just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5) Divide the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from here.

Creamy Pasta Salad with Greek Yogurt Feta Dressing

Pasta dishes have always been my favourite ones. It's because pasta is extremely versatile and you can think of thousands of yummy dishes to make with it. One of my latest experiments was this creamy pasta salad. What is good about it, is that despite being amazingly delicious, it is also healthy. The dressing is made with greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise.
P.S. it is even better the next day after being refrigerated overnight. Enjoy!

Creamy Pasta Salad with Greek Yogurt Feta Dressing

200g ditalini pasta, cooked and drained
1 can sweet corn
1 large tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, sliced
55g (handful) of black olives, halved
1/2 head lettuce (Iceberg), chopped
75g mixed baby leaves, chopped
salt & pepper

Greek Yogurt Feta Dressing

100g Feta cheese
300g/ (a little more than 1 cup) greek yogurt
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried dill
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp lemon juice

1) In a large bowl, combine together all the ingredients for the salad. Set aside.

2) For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to make a smooth paste. Alternatively, you can simply put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix everything by hand.

3) Pour the dressing onto the salad and mix until evenly distributed. Keep in refrigerator.

Recipe by collecting memories

Ho Ho Cake

Ho Ho Cake

Cake
210g/3/4 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
220g/1 cup granulated sugar
44g/1/4 cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp instant coffee powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
120ml/1/2 cup milk
60ml/1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
120ml/1/2 cup boiling water

Cream Filling
300ml/1 1/4 cups milk
40g/5 tbsp all-purpose flour
220g/1 cup granulated sugar
113g/1/2 cup butter

Icing
250g/2 cups powdered sugar
113g/1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
84g/3 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp hot water
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cake: 

1) Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and flour 23x33cm (9x13inch) pan.

2) In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, instant coffee powder, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, mix together milk, oil, egg and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ones and beat on medium speed with mixer until well combined smooth.

3) Slowly pour in the boiling water. Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake completely.

Cream filling: 

1) In a small saucepan, combine together milk and flour. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (5-8 minutes). Cool to room temperature.

2) With a mixer cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the cooled milk mixture. Beat on high speed for 7 minutes. Spread onto the cooled cake and refrigerate until set. 

Icing: 

1) In a large bowl, beat together powdered sugar, butter and melted chocolate until smooth. Add milk, boiling water and vanilla extract and beat a few minutes (at least 5) until very fluffy. Spread icing over cream filling.

Recipe adapted from here.

Farro Bake

Here's another proof that healthy food can also be delicious. I like all kinds of grains but farro is among my favourites. 
This farro bake is very simple and maybe that's why I like it. The two bright flavours you basically taste is parmesan and tomato sauce. That's why I suggest using homemade tomato sauce. If it contains basil, oregano, onion, garlic - even better! If using simple tomato sauce, feel free to add herbs like dried oregano or basil. Just be sure you sprinkle enough Parmesan on top!

Farro Bake

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ tsp salt
300g/1 ½ c pearled farro
225g/1 cup tomato sauce (preferably homemade)
600ml/2 ½ c vegetable broth
60g/1 1/4 cups Parmesan cheese, divided

1) Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Prepare 20x20cm/8x8" silicone baking pan or lightly grease a metal pan.  

2) In a large saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onion, salt and garlic and bring to medium-high heat. Cook onions until they start to turn translucent. Stir occasionally. Add farro and cook for another minute. Add tomato sauce and vegetable broth. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and then remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese.

3) Transfer the mixture into the prepared baking dish and cover with foil. Cut a few slits in the foil. Bake for 45 minutes, removing the foil when it's almost done just to let the top darken. Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Recipe adapted from here.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everybody's searching for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. To me the best cookie is large, thick, chewy in the center and has a lot of chocolate chunks in every bite. Well, these cookies have all of those features! I have made very similar cookies before, and I have also tried chocolate chip cookies which contained oats and were as thick as these were, but what makes these "perfect cookies" perfect, is cornstarch. Yes, only two teaspoons of cornstarch make all the difference! It makes cookies soft and chewy. But I think even cornstarch is not the most important thing to make cookies perfect. I have made chocolate chip cookies many times in my life and I realized that the most important thing is not to overbake them. It is a must to turn off your oven when they still look a little bit underbaked. Also, chilling is very important too! Chilled cookie dough doesn't spread that much and the result is thicker cookies. So be patient!

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

170g/3/4 cup butter, room temperature
150g/¾ cup brown sugar
55g/¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
250g/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
220g semisweet chocolate chips

1) Cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

2) Mix together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. 

3) Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and blend. Stir in chocolate chunks. 

4) Chill the cookie dough for at least one hour in the refrigerator. Take out of the refrigerator, form the balls, place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

5) Next day, take the chilled cookie dough out of the freezer and let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes until you preheat your oven to 180C/350F. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden. Let cookies set on the pan for five minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Recipe adapted from here.