Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Raisin Treats - Real Sweet

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Raisin Treats                                                                             ~Neetu Buttar

Today I am going to show you how to make some delicious treats that you can take where ever you go. The reason I decided to make these treats today is because "this formula manages to take a whole bunch of superfoods and turn them into something that walks the line between an energy bar and a ball of cookie dough" (Sever 41). This is such a simple and healthy yet delicious treat that is quite easy to make. This treat can also be made very quickly, if you are in a rush!

First off, I will list the ingredients needed down below:

• dates, tightly packed; 1 c.
• old-fashioned rolled oats; 1 &3/4 c.
• raisins; 3/4 c.
• bittersweet chocolate chips; 1/3 c.
• peanut butter; 2-3 tbsp.
• chia seeds; 1 tsp.
• ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp.
• pure vanilla extract; 3/4 tsp.
• salt; 1/8 tsp (pinch)                           (Sever 41).

Next off to actually get to making these tasty treats, you are going to need to follow a few directions. "Once you got the dates, oats, and chia seeds in the mix, there are about a million ways to riff on these treats" (Sever 41). This is one reason why I love making these kinds of treats, because you can make these treats to your liking.

1. Place the dates in a bowl full of hot water for about 10 minutes, so they can soften up.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a food processer, and blend until mixture is a consistency of dough. Feel free to add more of any ingredient, when you feel it is necessary.
3. Portion out the small pieces of the dough and roll them into balls.
4. Refrigerate until the treats are nice and firm.                                                        (Sever 41).

End Result:

I think that these chocolate chip oatmeal raisin treats have been one of the best treats I have made so far on my blog. There was a nice texture to the firm dough, so it wasn't so hard or so crumbly. The one thing that I would have added would have been a light chocolate drizzle on top to make it a little bit more sweet. Overall, these treats turned out great and I am for sure going to make them again!

Question: What would you add or take away from this treat to make it the right balance for you?

• Sever, Shauna, and Leigh Beisch. Real Sweet: More than 80 Crave- worthy Treats Made with Natural Sugars . New York: William Morrow, 2015. Print.   

Mrs. Braun's Oateal Cookies - Real Sweet

Mrs. Braun's Oatmeal Cookies                                                                               ~ Neetu Buttar

I am going to be going through the process of some delicious homemade oatmeal cookies that you are absolutely going to love. "If you're looking for a homemade treat that will make you the queen of the playground set or something wholesome to stash in your bag for those midday slumps, look no further" (Sever 63). I chose to continue making cookies in my blog because they are something that everyone would love, as there are endless combinations to what you can make your cookie look like and or taste like.

Starting off, you are going to need some ingredients to make these oatmeal cookies:

• old-fashioned rolled oats; 1 & 1/2c.
• raisins; 1/2c.
• whole wheat pastry flour; 2/3 c.
• baking soda; 1/2 tsp.
• fine sea salt; 1/2 tsp.
• ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp.
• unsalted butter; 1/2 c.
• sugar; 3/4 c.
• large egg yolks; 2
• large whole egg; 1
• pure vanilla extract; 1 tsp.               (Sever 63).

Now I am going to go over the steps to create these magnificent cookies. " Use the volume of raisins as your guide for swapping in amount of other, similar ingredients" (Sever 63). So if you aren't a big fan of raisins like me, just swap the raisins for chocolate chips, or you could do a little bit of both.

1. Whisk the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium sized bowl.
2. Beat together the butter, sugar, egg yolks, egg and vanilla extract until fluffy in an electric mixer and stir in raisins (or chocolate chips).
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Scoop the cookies with a small ice cream scoop onto the baking sheets.
5. Bake until deeply golden but still soft in the centers (15 minutes).

End Result:

Overall, I think that these oatmeal cookies turned out wonderful and delicious. They were indeed very soft but I think that the one thing I would've changed would be to make the cookie a little bit  sweeter, so maybe adding a bit more sugar in the recipe, but that's just my opinion. I also think that I would've baked it on a lower temperature so everything would be even through out the cookie.

Question: What would you switch out for the raisins and or what would you change about the cookie?

• Sever, Shauna, and Leigh Beisch. Real Sweet: More than 80 Crave-   worthy Treats Made with Natural Sugars. New York: William Morrow, 2015. Print. 

All-Purpose Cupcakes - Real Sweet

All-Purpose Cupcakes                                                                                               ~Neetu Buttar

In this blog, I am going to be going step by step to show you how to make the best cupcakes for any event you'd like! There are hundreds of different types of cupcakes, and sometimes it can be hard to just choose one or two, not knowing what other people would like as well. With this cupcake, "you have many mix-and-match options when it comes to the sweeteners and nondairy milks here" (Sever 116). The reason I decided to bake cupcakes was because there really are no limits to what you can and or want to add.  

To get started, we are going to need a few ingredients:

• all-purpose flour; 2 c.
• baking powder; 1 tsp.
• baking soda; 1/2 tsp.
• salt; 1/2 tsp.
• almond milk; 1 c.
• honey; 3/4 c.
• vegetable oil; 1/3 c.
• lemon juice; 1 tbsp.
• vanilla extract; 1 tbsp.                  (Sever 116).

First off, we are going to need to preheat the oven to 350 degrees, so the oven will be ready when the cupcakes are ready to be baked. In the process of making the cupcakes, an important thing to remember is that "this is a great basic cake that can be flavored with a variety of zests, spices, and extracts" (Sever 116).

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking power, baking soda, and salt together.
3. In another bowl, whisk the milk, honey, oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract together.
4. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients in an electric mixer and mix together.
5. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and divide the batter equally.
6. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until golden brown.                    (Sever 116).

I also cut this recipe in half, so it now yields 6 all-purpose cupcakes.

1. 
   
   
   
   
    You can really use any kind of frosting you want to decorate these cupcakes. You can also add food coloring to the cupcake mix to make baking the cupcakes a little more fun, like I did.

End Result:

These all-purpose cupcakes turned out great, with surprisingly enough sweetness to it, as there wasn't direct sugar poured into the cake. The frosting also helped with the sweetness. If there was one improvement that I could make, I would say my preciseness of making the cupcakes could be a little bit more neat and clear. But, the cupcakes really did turn out pretty soft, and moist, as well as fluffy.

Question: What would you add in these all-purpose cupcakes to make it unique to you?

• Sever, Shauna, and Leigh Beisch. Real Sweet: More than 80 Crave-   worthy Treats Made with Natural Sugars. New York: William Morrow, 2015. Print. 

Next Level Chocolate Chip Cookies - Real Sweet

Next Level Chocolate Chip Cookies                                                                         ~Neetu Buttar

In this blog I am going to be going through the process of how to make delicious homemade chocolate cookies. Lots of people usually make chocolate chip cookies with the Pillsbury cookie dough they buy at the store, and while those cookies taste good, these chocolate chip cookies will really bring your taste buds to the next level. I chose to do this chocolate chip cookie as many people can relate as they love to eat cookies, especially the classic of chocolate chip, but also to show how you can add a spin on every day recipes.

First I am going to start off by showing the simple ingredients that will be needed to make these next level chocolate chip cookies:

• whole wheat pastry flour; 5/3 c.
• fine seal salt; 1/2 tsp.
• baking soda; 1/2 tsp.
• baking powder; 1/4 tsp.
• unsalted butter; 1/2 c.
• sugar (turbinado or muscovado); 1&1/3 c.
• pure vanilla extract; 2 tsp.
• chocolate chips; 1 c.                                                      (Sever 64).

Now, I will explain how to put all these ingredients together to make the nice fluffy and soft chocolate chip cookies. A tip from the book from the author: "I use whole wheat pastry flour because I find its nuttiness is a perfect fit here, but you could also use all-purpose or a half-and-half mix of both" (Sever 64). This tip can be very helpful depending upon which taste you are going towards or the ingredients that you are limited to.

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together excluding the sugar and chocolate chips.
2. In an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract together, and then add the dry ingredients when the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract are mixed.
3. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough anywhere from 1 hour to 24 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and roll the dough into balls from 2 tablespoons on a tinfoil covered baking sheet, while the oven is getting ready.
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown.                                         (Sever 64).

End Result:

I think that the next level chocolate chip cookies turned out great, as the texture was soft and fluffy and the cookies were nicely balanced with sweetness and chewiness. The one thing that I think I could improve on was maybe flipping the two trays in-between baking. Overall I think these chocolate chip cookies were absolutely astonishing and you should definitely try them.

Question: Do you have any tips on what to add to make this cookie even more delicious?

• Sever, Shauna, and Leigh Beisch. Real Sweet: More than 80 Crave-   worthy Treats Made with Natural Sugars. New York: William Morrow, 2015. Print. 

Baking - Real Sweet

Brigadeiro Chocolate Fudge Truffle

In this blog I am going to be showing you how to make a Brazilian chocolate fudge truffle that is called a Brigadeiro.  "Traditionally, brigadeiros are found with a coating of thin, crunchy chocolate sprinkles, but you can go crazy with fun coatings here" (Sever 149). Baking is such an interesting thing because you can have fun with so many different elements with baking, whether it is the design, the taste, or the texture. This is why I wanted to do baking, because there are hardly any limits to what you can do. In baking, creativity and imagination are shown and represented.


First off to make this candy, you will need a few items, and you will probably have some of these already, if you have baked before.

Materials:

• 14 oz. Sweetened condensed milk
• 1/3 c. cocoa powder; unsweetened
• 2 tbs. butter; unsalted
• 1/8 t. sea salt; fine
• 1/4 t. vanilla extract; pure
• Toppings; chocolate sprinkles, cocoa powder, etc.
• baking pan; 8 x 8 inch  
• nonstick cooking spray                       (Sever 149)

After you have gathered all your materials you can start making your brigadeiros. "If you use canned milk, the candy is likely to thicken and cook faster, so keep an eye out for visual clues described below to avoid overcooking it" (Sever 149). This tip actually helped a lot with making these, because I didn't need to spend all the time to make my own condensed milk and even longer waiting for it to cook and not burn.

How to make the Brigadeiros:

• Put a saucepan over medium heat.
• Mix in the butter, condensed milk, cocoa powder, and salt and keep mixing with a whisk so the ingredients can come together.
• You will know the candy is done when it has a thick consistency almost like brownie batter, and this process can take 15 to 25 minutes to finish.
• Take the candy off the heat, stir in vanilla extract, and pour into a greased baking pan.
• Cool the chocolate truffle candy for about an hour in the refrigerator until it is firm.
• Then roll the candies into 1 inch balls and coat them in your desired toppings.      (Sever 149)

End Result:

I think the Brigadeiros turned out pretty well for a first try but the thing I probably would have changed about the process, is to keep the saucepan with the mixture on a lower heat so there would be a lower risk of the candy getting burned. But overall they tasted really good especially if you add chocolate sprinkles as your topping.

Questions: What kind of toppings would you put on a brigadeiro and what tips do you have for making candy?

• Sever, Shauna, and Leigh Beisch. Real Sweet: More than 80 Crave-   worthy Treats Made with Natural Sugars. New York: William Morrow, 2015. Print.