Tag Archives: wheat flour

Cakes and Bakes

Chocolate Sponge Cake | Eggless, whole wheat, jaggery chocolate cake

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As a kid, I was always excited about my birthday (was pampered a lot by my parents and my bday was celebrated the whole of December 😅). And now there is a “mini me” here, (everyone says she’s just like me – super hyper talkative 😂) who’s even more excited about her birthday. So much that she’s been waiting for it since last year. Everyday I used to get the same question, how long for February, Amma? 😄

So now, when Mr Feb is finally here, I decided to announce it to her that her birthday month has finally arrived (much to my relief 😅) by baking her favorite chocolate sponge cake. Just like me, she too loves chocolate cake very much and this cake tastes as yummy as the McCafe ones here in Qatar (my fav chocolate cake is theirs and I go mmm yummm when I take each bite 😂😂 When will I grow up? 😅). Baking a similar one at home was my goal but did not know I would get the exact same taste and texture even with wheat flour. One of the bakes that I am very happy about and the way my kids enjoy it, it increases my confidence in the recipe each time I bake it. ❤️❤️

My daughter loved this surprise cake and even took it in her snack box to school to show her friends. She’s now eagerly waiting for her birthday on Feb 15th (right after Valentine’s day😍) which she will celebrate with her small kiddo gang from our lane (her daily evening playmates, her source of joy ❤️). Now that Feb has arrived, her next question is when will 15th come (the never ending story 😁). My solution to that – I have made a small calendar and stuck it on the wall. Have asked her to strike off each day and countdown till her birthday. #momideas 💡😄

Anyhow while I find solutions to her queries, hope you bake and enjoy this cake. Do let me know if you have any doubts. Will be a pleasure to help. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { 1 Cup = 250 ml }

Dry ingredients:

1 Cup Whole wheat flour or Atta

1/4 Cup unsweetened Cocoa powder

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Baking soda

1/4 tsp Salt

Wet ingredients:

3/4 Cup Jaggery powder

1/2 Cup Hot water

1/2 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Ghee

1/2 Tbsp Vinegar

Step by step recipe:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 C for 10 mins.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl using a sieve.

3. Keep it aside.

4. In another bowl, add jaggery powder, hot water, milk (at room temperature), ghee and vinegar. Mix using a spatula.

5. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix only till you can’t see any dry flour specks. Do NOT over mix the batter as it can lead to dense cakes.

6. Add the batter to a greased cake pan (or lined with parchment paper). My rectangular loaf pan is 20 cm * 4 cm. Level the batter using a spatula.

7. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 30 to 35 mins in the center rack of your OTG or with both rods on or bake mode in conventional oven. In my oven it took exactly 30 mins. Might vary depending on your oven type. Once done, a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake must come out clear or with crumbs. Should not be wet.

8. Allow it to cool. Invert onto a plate. Frost with melted chocolate- milk mixture. Have shared the process to do it in this Chocolate brownie recipe. Then grate chocolate over it. Slice and serve.

I had cut it into two halves. This is one of the halve.

Notes:

* I use Pillsbury brand of wheat flour for all my bakes. It really comes well with Pillsbury. I have tried with other brands but the texture of cakes, bread, pav and cookies is best with this.

* Please use milk at room temperature and not cold.

* If you don’t have jaggery powder, you can also substitute with cane sugar or brown sugar. Else just grate and powder jaggery in a mixer.

* When you add vinegar to the mixture, it will curdle. Don’t worry about it as it will give very spongy cake.

* When the cake is hot, it will crumble easily on slicing. Allow it to cool well atleast for an hour and then slice for firm slices.

* If frosting, check this Dates Chocolate brownie for easy melted chocolate frosting recipe which I have shared at the end of the step by step pictorial.

* If you are new to baking, here are some tips:

# Always preheat your oven at 180 C for atleast 10 mins. Temperature might be 200 C also. It varies according to the recipe but for cake, it’s usually 180 C.

# For whole wheat cakes, do sift the dry ingredients using a sieve for a soft texture of the cake.

# Do NOT overmix the batter. Just mix till you don’t see dry flour specks. Over mixing can lead to dense cakes.

# Do NOT open the oven door atleast till 25 mins into the baking time. Opening the oven door in between can lead to temperature variations leading to uneven baking.

# Always insert the toothpick or skewer in the center of the cake for accuracy. It should come out clear or with crumbs. Wet means it’s not done yet.

If you are new to baking, you can read this article which I wrote : Baking basics for Beginners

I have tried to note down as much points as possible so that it’s easy for you all to follow but if you still have any doubts, either comment here or message me on my Facebook page Healthy cooking with mitha or on my Instagram handle and I would be happy to help.

You can also check my Healthy cakes and cookies recipe collection.

Update: I just baked chocolate cupcakes with this batter and it comes out perfect with flat top, super spongy, soft and delicious. It gets done in 20 mins at 180 C in my oven and yields 10 cupcakes with the measurement given above. Look at how excited my kids were to see their favorite cupcakes. They loved it a lot. ❤️❤️

Dosa corner, Millet recipes, Snacks

Jowar Vegetable Bhakri

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I have mentioned before that I always believe in following our age old traditional recipes for a healthy lifestyle. So when I found a youtube channel through food groups named NK Food & Lifestyle by Mr Krishnamurthy Setty sharing similar beliefs as mine, I felt happy and subscribed instantly.

I don’t follow many channels just for the sake of it, but only those whom I really feel are worthy enough (I am choosy that way 😄). This channel is in Kannada language showcasing Uttar Karnataka dishes, which makes me even more interested being from the south part of Karnataka. All their recipes are unique, simple and healthy, making me want to try that time itself.

This Jowar Bhakri, which they call as thalipittu was tried following their video, even though I chose to make it as thick ones rather than thin as my kids prefer that way and it’s easier too (for the busy mommy me 😀). My kids, specially my 2 year old son loved it so much that he became a fan of it. Can you believe this has radish too in it which goes into the tummy in a secret way 😁. We all loved it very much. A must try recipe for sure!

On a side note, I read something which made me think a lot (me and my best friend – my thoughts 😅). I was reading about how we should be kind and supportive even to strangers as we don’t know what they must be going through. We all have that facade which we show to the world but inside we might be suffering which is hidden deep inside us. So, as much as possible we must show empathy towards everyone. Have you ever noted how kindness showed by a stranger increases your faith in humanity? And what if you were the person who was kind to someone whom you don’t even know, without expecting anything in return? Doesn’t that make you happy?

That happiness is what I feel while sharing about Mr Krishnamurthy Setty’s youtube channel. He thanked me many times when I shared my feedback and said I would be writing about his channel on my blog. The way he expressed gratitude made me confident that I am on the right path.

So, support everyone, even strangers without expectations and love your loved ones with all your heart without conditions. Though expectations are human nature and unconditional love is not easy at all, once we experience it, we understand life fully. ❤️

After this long heartfelt writeup, here’s sharing the recipe with all of you. Do try. This comes out very delicious. Happy and healthy cooking!

RECIPE:

Recipe adapted from: NK Food & Lifestyle

Ingredients: {Makes about 7 to 8 thick Bhakris}

1 Cup Jowar flour

3/4 Cup Whole wheat flour

1/2 Cup Chickpea flour or Besan

1/4 Cup finely grated Radish

1/4 Cup finely grated Carrot

1/4 Cup finely grated Cucumber

1/4 Cup finely chopped Onion

1/4 Cup finely chopped Coriander leaves

2 to 3 Green chillies

Salt to taste

Ghee to cook the Bhakris

Step by step recipe:

1. Take Jowar flour, wheat flour, chickpea flour and salt in a bowl.

2. Now add finely grated Radish, carrot, cucumber and finely chopped onion, coriander leaves and green chillies.

3. Mix everything once with hands so that the veggies mix well into the flours. Now if making thalipeet, add very little water and make into a soft dough. Since I made Bhakris, I added water to bring it to a thick dosa batter consistency (about 1 1/2 to 2 Cups of water).

4. Now heat a dosa pan and add a ladle of dosa in the center of the pan. Spread to make a thick dosa. Drizzle ghee over the surface.

5. When the surface cooks, flip and cook for about 1 to 2 mins.

6. Serve hot with butter and a chutney of your choice.

Notes:

* I refrigerate the leftover batter for use the next day. It lasts well and there is no taste change in the Bhakris.

* Skip radish if you don’t have but it’s a great way to include the vegetable in your diet as you can never find out that the bhakris have radish in it.

* I have not tried these Bhakris without wheat flour. So can’t say about the result.

* Chickpea flour gives a good flavour to this. So don’t skip it.

* You can spread it like thalipeet but I find them making like Bhakris easier.

* Cook both sides well as this takes time to cook than regular Bhakris due to Jowar flour in it.

* I served these with Coriander leaves chutney. For the chutney, grind together coconut with green chillies, ginger, coriander leaves, salt with little water to a smooth paste. Season in coconut oil with mustard seeds and curry leaves.

* You can check all my bhakri recipes in this recipe compilation post.

* Other recipes with Jowar flour:

Jowar Idlis

Jowar Dosa

* All my Millet based dishes : Millet recipes collection

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Dosa corner

Urad – Wheat flour dosa | “No rice” dosa

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Though I had been trying different “no rice” dosas due to reader requests, it eventually has led to my kids loving it over rice based ones and now Ragi set dosas and Jowar flour dosas have become their favorite. It is easier for me too as I need to grind only urad dal and just mix in the flours. (Also saves my temper as running the mixy is like curfew time in my house as my daughter hates the sound. So she keeps asking every 30 seconds if it’s done. 🙄😄 #justmotherhoodthings 😂)

As I have already mentioned before, if anything keeps me sane sometimes, it’s music. Today when I finished my work and opened youtube to listen to cover songs (I am loving covers more than the originals now ❤️), I found a singer, Simran Sehgal. Loved her sweet voice and when I checked her videos, most of them were my favorite songs which I had forgotten about. Especially old ones like Hum Bewafa and Aap ki nazron ne.. I went mad at her song choices and beautiful singing (music crazy me😂).

Finally here’s the dosa recipe which I learnt from my friend Vinanti Gouri through a common food group that we are a part of. They come out so delicious that we all love it very much and I make it atleast weekly once. Glad to share this recipe with all of you. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Makes about 12 dosas }

1 Cup Urad dal (I use split ones)

1 Cup Wheat flour or Atta

Salt to taste

Oil or ghee to cook the dosa

Step by step recipe:

1. Wash well and soak the Urad dal for about 4 hours. Drain the water completely. Add 1 Cup water or as required and grind with salt to a fine paste. Pour into a steel vessel.

2. In another vessel take wheat flour. Add water while whisking it to remove lumps bringing it to slightly thick, smooth batter. (It takes me 1 1/4 Cup water for 1 Cup wheat flour)

3. Keep the batters to ferment separately at room temperature overnight or for 8 hours. Might take longer in cold weathers. After fermentation, the wheat flour batter leaves water on the surface. Discard that water.

4. Now mix the wheat flour batter to the Urad dal batter.

5. Now heat a dosa pan and add a ladle of dosa batter onto the pan. Spread as thin as you can. Add ghee and allow it to cook. The below dosa is crispy. If you like it soft, remove when it browns only slightly.

6. Repeat the same with the rest of the batter. Refrigerate the remaining batter and use later.

Notes:

* Remember to ferment the batters separately.

* Remember to discard the water that leaves at the top after fermentation. Else the dosa batter might turn runny.

* These dosas can be made soft or crisp. For soft dosas, don’t allow the underneath to brown a lot while for crisp dosas, cook till it browns completely. Also serve hot as keeping at room temperature makes the dosas soft.

* I serve them with Raw Onion chutney. Just grind coconut with green chillies, ginger, onion, tamarind and salt with little water to a smooth paste. You can season if desired. I don’t as my daughter does not like mustard seeds.

* Other no rice dosas: Ragi set dosas and Jowar flour dosas , Broken wheat mixed dal dosa , Masoor dal dosa

Cakes and Bakes, Cookies

Wheat Butter Cookies | Easy wheat jaggery cookies using 5 ingredients

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As I start writing, I can’t believe this year has almost come to an end. 2020 has been a huge life changing year for me. A year which taught me many things. A year where I understood myself more than ever and an unforgettable year for sure. If you ask me why, it is the time I got being home bound , which otherwise was always filled with the chaos of busy life.

Would love to share some positives that this year has brought in my life with all of you.

# Restarted listening to music (my long lost love ❤️), all thanks to my favorite singer Arijit Singh and Spotify which was my best friend all throughout the year. Music is truly healing and I don’t know why I had forgotten it all these years. 2020 can be called the “musical” year of my life for the amount of songs that I have heard this year. 😅

# Found love in birds and nature ❤️. With all the time in the world, I started observing the birds sitting in the backyard and would spend hours there without getting bored looking at them fluttering around. Along with that, I found an amazing Insta handle of our family friend, @mvbhaktha through whom I saw many beautiful varieties of birds. Sharing one of my favorite here. The innocent eyes of the bird is which attracts me the most. 😍

# Got a little more closer to my Krishna by listening to his bhajans and also by reading more about the unconditional true love that Radha had for Krishna. It taught me the way to love truly in life, without any expectations and always praying for the happiness of our loved ones, no matter what happens. ❤️

# There are two youtubers who deserve mention as I spent most parts of these last few months looking at their videos. One is Patrick Micheal and the other is Shivesh Bhatia. Looking at Patrick sing, his magical voice, feeling the lyrics of the song, touches you so emotionally that my eyes welled up many a times listening to him. His singing is definitely very special and I am very happy to have found such a soulful singer. Sharing my playlist here if you like to listen too. It is mostly malayalam and tamil songs though.

# Shivesh Bhatia from “Bake with Shivesh” is a delight to look at and he is a boy with so much knowledge about baking that I am amazed each time. He has been my inspiration to bake and the Chocolate Chip cookies on my blog are his recipe. When I want to divert myself towards something productive, Shivesh videos it is!

Finally after all the talking about my year (hope it was not boring 😄) , I want to share about these cookies which are not only my kids’ favorite but became my neighbor’s son, Ryan’s favorite too. I had shared some with them for Christmas wondering if they would like it as it is made with wheat flour and jaggery. But when I got a message the next day by Ryan’s mother saying he loved it so much that he is sad that it got over, I felt so happy that he loved it and promised to bake again for him.

So I baked them again for him yesterday and these cookies are definitely special because of that. Ryan gave me a beautiful memory with these cookies forever and I will never forget how much he loves these. Also, it has given me confidence to try more cookies for next year. A new zeal for baking! ❤️

Here’s wishing all of you a very happy new year in advance. Hope you all have a wonderful year ahead filled with love and happiness. Loads of best wishes. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Makes about 10 cookies }

1/2 Cup Wheat flour or Atta (I use Pillsbury brand)

50 grams salted Butter (1/4 Cup)

3 Tbsp Jaggery powder

1/2 tsp Baking powder

1 Tbsp Milk

Step by step recipe:

1. Take wheat flour in a bowl. Add cold butter, directly out of the fridge, cut into small cubes into it. Mix with your fingertips till the butter and wheat flour mix well resembling coarse texture. (Make sure there are no large chunks of butter and all the butter has been incorporated well into the wheat flour.)

2. Now add baking powder and jaggery powder to this. Sieve it if the baking powder or jaggery has big granules.

3. Mix once really well. Then add milk and bring the dough together. The dough will be little sticky. Refrigerate this dough for atleast 15 mins.

4. Preheat the oven at 180 C for 10 mins. Remove the dough from the fridge and make small balls out of it. Flatten it and cut using cookie cutter into different shapes. Place them on a greased (generously with ghee or butter) oven proof tray.

5. Bake in the center rack of your OTG (or bake mode or with both rods on in your conventional mode oven) at 180 C for 10 to 12 mins. The sides of the cookies will turn slightly brown and the surface will change colour to pale golden. The center surface of the cookies will also be hard and not soft. If you bake more than 12 mins, it will turn crispy.

6. Allow it to cool down. It will harden as it cools. Initially it will be very soft but will turn crispy as it is kept at room temperature. Enjoy the cookies!

Notes:

* Store in a container free from moisture. Will last for 3 to 5 days if handled well.

* I always use only Pillsbury brand of wheat flour for all my cakes, cookies and bread. It gives a great flavour and perfect bakes. Have tried with other brands but it does not give the desired result.

* I used salted butter. Add a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter.

* Don’t melt or soften the butter. Take it directly out of the fridge, cut into small cubes and mix into the wheat flour, crushing the butter with your finger tips. Make sure there are no large chunks of butter left in the mixture.

* Don’t add more milk then mentioned as it can lead to the mixture being very sticky. If by mistake, your mixture has become sticky, refrigerate longer and it will be easier to handle.

* Jaggery powder can be reduced too to make it plain biscuits. The sweetness in this measurement is not much though.

* Refrigerating the dough is very important to give it that firmness so that the dough can be easily handled while shaping them into cookies.

* These cookies turn soft if made in big sizes (like my heart shaped ones) and crispy if made in small sizes (like the flower shaped ones).

* If you have under baked the cookies by mistake (you realize the cookies are breaking after it has cooled down), preheat the oven and bake for 3 to 4 minutes again and it will be firm.

* If you over bake these cookies, they can turn very crispy.

* Best is to keep an eye after 10 mins and take them out when they turn brown at the edges. Remember that since they are small, cookies continue to cook on the tray even after removed from the oven. So best is not to over bake the cookies.

* These are two other cookie recipes which are a huge hit with my readers:

Ragi Butter Cookies and Almond Butter Cookies

I have tried to note down as much points as possible so that it’s easy for you all to follow but if you still have any doubts, either comment here or message me on my Facebook page Healthy cooking with mitha or on my Instagram handle and I would be happy to help.

Desserts, Millet recipes, Snacks

Ragi Malpua | Quick sweet idea | Healthy snack for kids

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I have already shared a chocolate cake, cookies, idlis and a dosa with Ragi flour. You can check all the recipes here. This recipe of Ragi Malpua was my first post on my old blog and one of my first trials with Ragi flour back in 2013. Now when my kids love it, it makes me very happy (one of my successful experiments 😄).

These little rolls of yumminess comes handy during their “Amma, we are hungry. Give us something right now!” kind of hunger 😂. Yes, as a mother, we always have to be ready as such hunger pangs can strike anytime (proportional to their naughtiness 😬). I quickly make these Ragi malpuas and they enjoy it while playing. Seeing them eat happily is one of the best moments in the day for me. ❤️

I never realized how someone else’s happiness can be more important than mine before becoming a mother. But now, all I think is how to make them happy (even though I do scold them if they get extra naughty 😁) and all my wishes have got replaced by theirs too. My daughter asked me yesterday what wish do I have in life (she was talking about her wish to be a princess 😆😍). I said I no longer wish for anything as nothing is in our hands and all depends on God’s will, but I do wish and pray that all your wishes get fulfilled. She was so happy with that answer that she gave me a tight hug saying thank you. It made my day! 🥰

Both of them fill my heart with their talks, smiles, naughtiness and love. Can’t imagine my life without them. ❤️❤️

Here’s sharing their favorite snack, these Ragi malpuas. Hope you all try and love it too. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Makes 3 Malpuas }

4 Tbsp Ragi / Finger millet flour

2 Tbsp Atta/ Wheat flour

1 Tbsp Jaggery

Salt to taste

5 Tbsp Milk

For the filling:

1/4 Cup Desiccated or Fresh Coconut

1 Tbsp Honey or as needed

1 Tbsp finely chopped Dry fruits ( I use a mix of cashews, almonds and pistachios)

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder

Ghee to cook the malpua

Honey and Pistachios for garnish

Step by step recipe:

1. Take ragi flour, wheat flour, jaggery and salt in a bowl.

2. Mix it once using a spoon. Now add milk, one spoon at a time and make a thick batter free from lumps. Keep it aside.

3. Now for the filling, take coconut in another bowl. Add honey, finely chopped dry fruits and cardamom powder. Mix well.

4. Now heat a dosa pan well. Then reduce flame to medium. Add about two spoons of the malpua batter in the center of the pan. Spread in round shape. Add ghee and cook till the surface cooks.

5. Flip and cook for a minute.

6. Remove into a plate and fill with the filling. Roll and serve. Drizzle with honey on top and garnish with chopped pistachios.

Notes:

* I have not skipped wheat flour in this recipe as it needs little wheat flour for that soft yet firm texture.

* You can increase the amount of honey on the filling or jaggery in the batter for more sweet malpuas. I prefer it in this quantity.

* Skip jaggery in the batter if you don’t have much sweet tooth.

* They are best enjoyed as soon as made. Keeping them for little while can make it dry.

* Don’t make the batter very thin. The batter is free flowing yet thick. It took me 5 Tbsp milk for 4 Tbsp Ragi flour and 2 Tbsp wheat flour to get the perfect consistency.

* This snack is really handy as it is healthy as well as tastes delicious. Hardly takes 10 mins to make too.

* You can check all my Ragi recipes here.

Recipe collections

Collection of my healthy cake and cookie recipes

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It’s Christmas time and the official “bake at home” time too 😄. I have been seeing so many wonderful bakes on various Facebook food groups that I am part of and it is really amazing that now, everyone bakes so many varieties at home itself. So I thought I too should compile my healthy cakes and cookies in one page for those who want to bake guilt free goodies even for Xmas (if you are like me 😀).

For me, Christmas brings back two memories of my childhood. One is my dad bringing me Plum cake from our nearby bakery and I used to wait so eagerly for it. The aroma and flavour of the cake is still in my taste buds that it brings so much nostalgia. 😍

Second memory is singing Christmas carol at school (yes, I used to sing too 😅). We all used to wear white top and black skirt, practice so much for weeks and finally when standing on the stage singing the choir together with friends, it felt so good. ❤️ Though I don’t have a picture of the carol singing, here is a picture of the dress, which was my favourite as a 12 year old. This is from Amma’s album which is a treasure trove of old memories (love looking at them remembering old times 😍).

A part of the album page for the memory of old style albums. Nothing can replace the pleasure of looking through those albums. ❤️

Though after school, I never sang on stage, I still sing bhajans and songs for my kids when putting them to sleep and record them to send Amma who loves to listen to them. 😍 The best part is I still remember the lyrics and tune of the Christmas carols, much to the amazement of my daughter (she loves Christmas 🎄). So we have been singing carols together, making cards for her friends while baking some goodies to enjoy this season.

Hope you all try some of them too. Happy and healthy Baking! Merry Christmas to all of you in advance! ❤️

Click on the name or image for the recipe.

Healthy Cakes:

1. Chocolate Banana Cake ( using wheat flour and jaggery ) – A moist and delicious basic chocolate banana cake with easy frosting.

Recipe here – Chocolate Banana Cake ( using wheat flour and jaggery )

2. Ragi Chocolate Cake ( using ragi flour, wheat flour and jaggery ) – My kids and readers favorite cake. You can never say it has Ragi in it. With the frosting, it tastes heavenly.

Recipe here – Ragi Chocolate Cake ( using ragi flour, wheat flour and jaggery )

3. Dates and Oats Cake – My idea to sneak some oats in the cake as well. Because you can never say it has oats in it. Another of my readers’ favorite cakes. Tried and loved by so many.

Recipe here – Dates and Oats Cake

4. Mango Ghee Cake – A super soft, moist and oh so delicious cake. My mouth waters whenever I think of this cake 😍

Recipe here – Mango Ghee Cake

5. Dates and Carrot Cake – Sugar free cake – My personal favorite as it is free from sugar or even jaggery can be skipped. Beautifully combines the natural sweetness of dates and carrots. Another of my recipe tried a lot by my readers.

Recipe here – Dates and Carrot Cake – Sugar free cake

6. Dates Chocolate Brownie – Guilt free indulgence at its best! ❤️ You can also skip dates for plain chocolate brownies.

Recipe here – Dates Chocolate Brownie

7. Mango Rava cupcakes – Easy one bowl recipe to make delicious mango cupcakes which are enjoyed a lot by my kids.

Recipe here – Mango Rava cupcakes

8. Wheat Jaggery Cake – Basic cake to which you can add dried fruits to make a dry fruit cake. Also can make cupcakes with this. Have been making this cake for years now for my kids.

Recipe here – Wheat Jaggery Cake

9. Wheat Chocolate Sponge Cake – You can never say it is made with wheat flour and jaggery. Comes out super soft and delicious. I make cupcakes with this batter regularly for my kids as they love it. ❤️

Recipe here – Wheat Chocolate Sponge Cake/ cupcakes

10. Eggless Banana Rava Cupcakes – This is my go to recipe when I have over ripe bananas. Super easy to make, one bowl recipe which tastes heavenly due to the combination of Rava, banana, Jaggery, ghee and cardamom powder.

Recipe here – Eggless Rava Banana Cupcakes

11. Eggless Dry Fruit Cake – A great way to add dry fruits in your kids snack. With the addition of orange juice, this cake tastes absolutely delicious. A regularly made cake at my place.

Recipe here – Eggless, whole wheat Dry Fruit Cake

12. Eggless Wheat Banana Cupcakes: I make these cupcakes for my kids’ evening snack during vacations and also for their tiffin box to school. A great way to finish up those over ripe bananas too. Comes out soft and delicious.

Recipe here – Eggless Wheat Banana Cupcakes

Gluten free Cakes:

Jowar Chocolate Sponge Cake – Gluten free and eggless, this cake baked with Jowar flour is a perfect example of being healthy as well as tasty. Comes out very soft and spongy too..

Recipe here – Jowar Chocolate sponge cake

Healthy Cookies:

1. Chocolate Chip Cookies ( using wheat flour and jaggery ) – Perfect cafe style cookies at home, only healthier and tastier 😍

Recipe here – Chocolate Chip Cookies

2. Almond Butter Cookies – With basic ingredients and uses no baking soda or powder, these cookies are still very soft and melt in the mouth.

Recipe here – Almond Butter Cookies

3. Ragi Butter Cookies – Another heavenly cookies with Ragi in it, yet tastes so good that you can’t stop devouring them. My favourite! ❤️

4. Wheat Jaggery Cookies: These easy to make cookies are not only loved by my kids but by their friends too. Comes out so tasty.

4. Cashew Butter Cookies – Delicious homemade cashew cookies which needs no baking soda or baking powder.

You can check all my other healthy bakes here. Enjoy Baking!!

My other compilations:

* Easy, Healthy Sweets (under 15 mins)

This is another easy, healthy sweet recipes collection that I made last time. You can find the recipes here. They are sweets that can be made under 15 mins.

* Oats Recipes Compilation

* No Rice Dosa recipes Compilation

* Variety Idli recipes Collection

Cakes and Bakes

Eggless Whole wheat Jaggery Cake | Tea time cake | Snack idea for kids

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When I became a newbie mother in 2015, it was really overwhelming for me as I did not know most things (babies don’t come with manuals 😄). Though my mother helped me a lot with her experiences, I hardly got time to talk to her in detail then (from talking for hours together on the phone to just few minutes, motherhood changes everything 😬).

So most of the time when my daughter slept, I used to read about nutrition and how babies really don’t need separate purees and porridges. Hence, when she started her solids at 6 months, I gave her whatever we ate (minus sugar and salt till one year) which she accepted without any issues. That is the reason why even now, she accepts almost all kind of foods at 6 years of age and after that, I am now following the same with my 2 year old son too. No purees or baby foods.

When she turned a toddler, I saw how she loved store bought sponge cakes. But somehow, I did not want to give her the maida, oil based sugary ones. So that’s how I started baking wheat flour jaggery ghee cakes in 2016 and that cake has now become both kiddos’ favorite cake. I bake this when they crave for cakes and their happiness while enjoying the cake is worth watching. Here is my daughter presenting a piece of her favorite cake.

This recipe is exactly same as my Cherry Wheat Jaggery muffins recipe. Just skip cherry in it and bake in a cake pan. You get this cake. I am adding this as a separate post so that it is easier for my readers when they search for basic wheat cake.

I also thank my idols Asha Satish Philar mai and Sujatha Umesh mai for skipping cherries from the muffins recipe and baking beautiful cakes. Here are their pictures of the cake.

Hope you all try this cake for your tea time or for your hungry kiddos this vacation. I just baked them yesterday again and the way my kids relish them makes me so happy. Happy and healthy Baking!

Important Note: I understand that wheat flour is also a refined flour but definitely more nutritive than maida/ all purpose flour. Also I know that jaggery has the same calorie count than refined sugar. But it has more nutrition than the bleached sugar and also the flavour is more delicious than sugar. Mainly my kids prefer jaggery than sugar. Finally it’s upto to you to read, be aware and decide.

Sharing the recipe with all of you..

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { 1 Cup = 250 ml }

1 and 1/2 Cups Wheat flour or Atta (I use Pillsbury brand)

1 tsp Baking soda

1/4 tsp Salt

Wet ingredients:

1 Cup Milk, at room temperature

1 Cup powdered Jaggery

1/4 Cup Ghee

1 tsp Vanilla essence

Step by step recipe:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 C for 10 mins.

2. Sieve together wheat flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

3. Now mix together milk and jaggery using a whisk till the jaggery melts in the milk. Add ghee and vanilla essence. Mix well using whisk.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold both the ingredients using a spatula just till no flour specks are seen. Do NOT overmix the batter as it can lead to dense cakes.

5. Now add the batter to a greased (with oil or ghee) cake pan and level using spatula. { My loaf pan is of 20 cm in length and 4 cm in width}

6. Bake in the center rack of your OTG ( or if using a microwave conventional mode oven, just keep both rods on option) at 180 C for 25 to 30 mins till a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean and not sticky. Mine gets done at 30 mins exactly.

7. Allow it to cool down completely. Loosen the sides using a knife. Invert, slice and serve.

Notes:

* This cake tastes best the next day. So I always bake at night, for the kids to enjoy the next day. Soon after it bakes, the crust with be slightly hard but as it stays at room temperature, the crust turns very soft.

* Ghee can be substituted with melted butter or oil but when using oil, always remember that the cake will have that aroma of the oil.

* Store in an air tight container free from moisture and the cake lasts well for two days at room temperature. After that, refrigerate and microwave before serving.

* If you don’t like eating cakes as it is, top a slice of this cake up with some fresh cream cheese spread. It tastes heavenly, trust me! {Tried and tested by yours truly! 😬}

* While mixing both dry and wet ingredients, make sure you just fold using spatula and don’t over mix the batter. It will lead to dense cakes. Just mix till you can’t see anymore flour specks.

* I get many questions about oven settings. I always bake in the center rack of my OTG with two rods option at the temperature and time varying according to each recipe.

* If you use a conventional microwave oven, just use bake option (or two rods option) at the temperature and time mentioned in the recipe.

* I have used my loaf pan of length 20 cm and width 4 cm. You can use round pan too.

* Timing varies according to each oven. So keep an eye after 20 mins into the baking time. But don’t keep opening the door before that as it will lead to uneven baking.

* You can also bake these as muffins like I did in my Cherry Jaggery Muffins recipe.

I have tried to note down as much points as possible so that it’s easy for you all to follow but if you still have any doubts, either comment here or message me on my Facebook page Healthy cooking with mitha or on my Instagram handle and I would be happy to help.

Cakes and Bakes, Cookies, Snacks

Almond Butter Cookies | Easy 4 ingredient healthy recipe using wheat flour and jaggery

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When I posted the Ragi Butter Cookies which was my friend Anvy’s recipe, she asked me if I had tried the almond cookies that she had shared on her Insta handle, Homemade by Anvy. I told her I don’t have almond meal with me (it sounded so exotic 😬) but I did have loads of almonds with me (which I had bought to eat daily to increase my memory. Now if anyone would remind me to eat them 😂).

So she told me almond meal was nothing but powdered Almonds (my plinggg moment!! 🤣). So I had to try it and imagine my happiness when it came out so good. I already made them thrice in the past week as it tasted so heavenly and since it was so easy to make with only 4 ingredients. Also, never knew homemade almond cookies could turn out so pretty. Could not keep the beauties down. 😍

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Off they went into my kids’ “choti bhook waala dabba” (their snack box for mid meal hunger and mine too for my sweet tooth 😬).

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It has been only an year since I joined Instagram and as much I like it, there have been times when I wanted to just come out of it as I had a tendency of over sharing stories. Finally, got rid of that habit ( some self control that was 😄) and now just using instagram to post my recipes while following some amazing accounts like that of Anvy’s.

Thank you so much dear Anvy @homemadebyanvy for yet another great recipe of yours. We absolutely love it! ❤️

Hope you all try it too. You will definitely love it. Happy and healthy baking!

RECIPE: { My 1 Cup = 240 ml }

Ingredients: { Makes about 12 cookies }

100 grams Salted Butter ( 1/4 Cup + 3 Tbsp) (Add a pinch of salt if using unsalted butter)

3/4 Cup Whole wheat flour or Atta

1/2 Cup finely powdered Almonds (or Almond meal)

1/4 Cup Jaggery powder

Sliced Almonds for garnish (optional)

Step by step recipe:

1. Soften butter by keeping it at room temperature for little time. (Do NOT melt it in microwave or so.) Just place it at room temperature till it turns soft. Now add jaggery and mix both together using a spatula till they combine. Also add the finely powdered Almonds.

2. Now add wheat flour and mix using hands till it forms a dough. It will come together and will be slightly sticky. Refrigerate for about 15 mins. It will turn firm.

3. Meanwhile preheat the oven at 180 C for 10 mins. Take small balls of the dough and flatten with your fingers. Place them on a greased (with ghee/butter) oven proof tray leaving space among them as it increases width on baking. Decorate each with slices of almonds.

4. Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius (350 – 375 F) for 10 to 14 mins in the center rack of your oven or with both rods on in your conventional oven. Mine gets done at 14 mins.

The colour of the cookies are brown and not the colour above. It is due to the reflection of my kitchen lights that the cookies have a light shade in the picture. I still added it to show how much the cookies increased in width after baking.

5. Remove and allow it to cool completely. As you keep it to rest, it turns hard but not very hard as butter cookies are supposed to be melt in the mouth and on the softer side.

Notes:

* Store the cookies in a dry, air tight container and it lasts well for two to three days. Mine gets finished off by my family before that. Will last longer if handled well, free from moisture.

* They are very soft and break upon touching on warm. As they cool down, they will harden but still not very hard like store bought ones as we have used only butter. The texture is melt in the mouth softer version of cookies.

* These cookies do not need baking soda nor baking powder. They still grow in width during baking process. I too was amazed the first time I tried it as I always thought cookies needed either baking soda or powder.

* Baking time depends on your oven. In some ovens, it can be done at 10 mins while in my OTG, it takes 14 mins. So keep an eye but don’t open the oven door before atleast 10 mins into the baking time. Else it will lead to uneven baking.

* Do refrigerate the dough for atleast 10 to 15 mins as it helps combine the ingredients well and also helps us form cookies well without sticking in our hands.

* Place the cookies in the center rack of your OTG or with both rods on if using microwave with conventional mode oven.

* I have not replaced butter with ghee or oil in this recipe. So can’t say about the outcome.

* For making powdered Almonds, just put the almonds in a mixer and pulse it in regular intervals till it turns into fine powder. Keep checking in between so that it does not leave oil and become a paste.

* Leave space between cookie dough while keeping on the tray as they increase in width as they bake.

* When they fully bake, you can see the surface is free of raw dough and edges are slightly golden in colour. It is enough. You can remove the cookies out of the oven.

* Garnishing with almond slices are optional. Avoid the slices if making for kids less than 2 years as it can be a choking hazard. Else just finely chop and garnish. Anyhow, the cookies tastes good even without it.

* You can check my Healthy Cakes and Cookies compilation.

* For beginners in baking, you can check my Baking Basics for beginners post.

I have tried to note down as much points as possible so that it’s easy for you all to follow but if you still have any doubts, either comment here or message me on my Facebook page Healthy cooking with mitha or on my Instagram handle and I would be happy to help.

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Breakfast time, Snacks

Drumstick leaves Aloo Roti | Easy snack and lunch box idea

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Finding healthy evening snacks are the most difficult for me as most of the snack ideas that are available online are deep fried ones or with bread. Though I bake my own wheat bread and we enjoy it with fresh cream cheese spread, still I have to think of varieties each day to feed my kids who get bored very quickly. 😀

I am also sorry that I always write about my kids. It’s because all my recipe ideas are inspired by what they like and I keep making the dishes they absolutely love. ❤️ Hope it is helpful to mothers like me who want to make their kids eat healthy yet get run out of ideas.

These rotis were found on a day when I had leftover drumstick leaves potato curry and I had to make something quick for the kids. I just added wheat flour and made rotis with it. The kids loved it so much that it has now become a regular in our place whenever I get drumstick or Methi leaves (best way to get leaves in their tiny tummies 😍😍).

This is very filling, yet tasty and very healthy. Best part is it stays soft after many hours. So you can give for lunch box too. Hope you all try and love it too. Happy and healthy cooking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { Makes 5 Rotis }

1 Tbsp Ghee

1 tsp Jeera/ Cumin seeds

1 Cup mashed Potatoes (Pressure cook potatoes till soft, peel and mash well)

1/4 Cup Drumstick leaves / Moringa leaves

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1/2 tsp Red chilli powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala powder

2 Cups Wheat flour

1/2 Cup Water

Salt to taste

Ghee to cook the rotis

Step by step recipe:

1. Heat ghee in a pan (I use my iron kadhai for this recipe.). Add Jeera. Fry little and add mashed potatoes along with drumstick leaves, Turmeric powder, Garam masala powder, red chilli powder and salt. Mix everything well and cook for two mins.

2. Allow it to cool. Then add wheat flour and water to make a smooth dough. You can add a pinch of salt to this if needed.

3. Make small balls of this dough, dust in dry wheat flour and spread using a rolling pin into rotis of medium thickness (slightly thicker than chapatis).

4. Cook on a hot tawa and use ghee while frying both sides.

5. Remove from flame and serve with mint chutney and curd.

Notes:

* I serve this with Pudina Lehsun chutney and curd. Makes a great combination.

* You can substitute drumstick leaves with Methi or fenugreek leaves too.

* I make and keep these in a steel container and it stays soft even after many hours. So really good idea for lunch boxes.

* The dough also can be made beforehand and refrigerated in an airtight container. Lasts well for a day.

* I add 1/4 Cup leaves to 1 Cup mashed potatoes and 2 cups wheat flour. You can increase the quantity of leaves if you want. I find this ratio good for my kids as the taste is not very overpowering while it gives them the nutrition too.

* You can also check the spicy idlis with drumstick leaves which we Konkanis call Mashinga palle sannamuddo.

* Do try these rotis or your regular parathas with Pudina Lehsun chutney. Tastes amazing.

* One more snack idea which is very filling and my kids’ favorite are these Masala Oats Parathas. Very delicious!

Cakes and Bakes, Cookies, Millet recipes

Ragi Butter Cookies | easy recipe using Jaggery

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The above picture is of “melt in the mouth” Ragi Butter cookies before two storms struck in 😅. Will come to that later. Right now, I just want to thank my school friend Anvy Susan Thomas who is a great baker ( I am her huge fan! 😍) for this amazing recipe of hers. She has an instagram page homemadebyanvy where she makes us drool with her delicious bakes.

As all of you know, I love baking and I bake atleast one kind of goodies everyday for my family (my daily dose of happiness ❤️). One of my regular bakes are these Ragi Butter cookies which turns out so good that you will never realize you are enjoying a healthy version of cookies. The kids are HUGE fans of it and you can see what I meant by storm strucking in. Here is my 5 year old daughter slowly coming in the frame to grab one of these cookies (storm no 1 😂).

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And when she gets her share, how could the little one be left far behind? Here is storm number 2, my two year old son grabbing the cookies. I loved their cute hands on the cookies that it became my favorite picture too. ❤️❤️

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These cookies are very easy to bake and turn out too good to be true. You won’t feel like getting cookies from outside once you bake them, that’s for sure. I always believe that it’s best we bake and make everything possible at home since we don’t know what kind of ingredients have gone in store bought ones.

Hence sharing one of my most favorite cookies. I whole heartedly thank my friend Anvy @homemadebyanvy for this recipe. Hope you all try it out too. Happy and healthy baking! ❤️

RECIPE:

Ingredients: { 8 Cookies }

100 grams salted Butter (add a pinch of salt if using unsalted)

1/3 Cup powdered Jaggery

1/2 Cup Ragi flour or Finger millet powder

1/2 Cup Whole wheat flour or Atta

1/2 tsp Baking soda

Step by step recipe:

1. Soften butter by keeping it at room temperature for little time. (Do NOT melt it in microwave or so.) Just place it at room temperature till it turns soft. Now add jaggery and mix both together using a spatula till they combine.

2. Now sieve ragi flour, wheat flour and baking soda over it.

3. Using hands, mix everything well till it forms a dough like shown below. Refrigerate it for 15 to 20 mins.

4. Preheat the oven at 180 C (350 to 375 F) for 10 mins. Make small balls of this dough and flatten with your fingers (like making pedas). Make lines over it with knife as shown. Place over a greased (with butter or ghee) oven proof plate. Keep distance between them as they increase in width as they bake.

5. Bake in the center rack of your OTG or with both rods on if using a conventional mode oven at 180 C (350 – 375 F) for 10 to 12 mins. Mine gets done exactly at 12 mins. Each oven is different. So in some ovens it may take upto 20 mins for it to bake completely. The surface will be smooth to touch and will be dough free. Also will have a golden tinge on the edges.

6. Allow it to cool slightly and enjoy the cookies.

Notes:

* They are very soft when they are right out of the oven but harden as they cool down. So do not keep a lot of time in the oven thinking the cookies are not done yet. Once the surface is free from dough and they are smooth to touch, they are ready to be removed from the oven.

* I used salted Butter for this recipe. Add a pinch of salt to the mixture if using unsalted butter.

* Also, don’t melt the butter. Just soften it by keeping it at room temperature.

* Refrigerating the dough is very important. Please don’t skip it.

* Place the cookies at little distance before baking as they increase in width as you can see from the pictures.

* Do grease the oven proof plate well with ghee or butter so that it does not stick to the plate.

* Bake in the center rack of your OTG or with both rods on if using a conventional mode oven. It is very important for even baking of the cookies.

* Mine gets done exactly at 12 mins. Might vary depending upon your oven. But don’t open the oven door before 8 mins into the baking time or else it will leave to uneven baking.

* Store in an air tight container at room temperature. Mine has never lasted beyond a day as my family finishes it off before that. 😀

* You may also want to try this Ragi chocolate cake which is my kid’s favourite (and her friends love it as well 😅). One of the most tried recipe by my readers.

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