No-Recipe Chocolate Banana Popsicles (Vegan & Naturally Sweetened)

Some recipes start with hunger. Others, nostalgia.

This one started with a photo of watermelon popsicles on Pinterest, from some stranger who so kindly shared and inspired, and a random question:

Why haven’t I ever made these?

I’ve made frozen banana ice cream before. But never popsicles. And lately I’ve needed something snacky—cool, light, not too sweet, yet rich enough to indulge with. So this just... happened.

Didn’t follow any recipe. Just instinct and whatever was in my kitchen.

I threw in:

Now Perfected.

Photo mat by Ria Nirwana

The chewy chocolate chips cookies recipe was perfected! Alhamdulillah..
It uses bread flour to produce to chewy texture, but it tends to dry quickly after a few days. So the best way is to bake fresh, to finish in like 2 days. You can stock the dough in the fridge and bake fresh each time.

Secrets:

• Bread flour
• Store dough in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight
• Good vanilla
• Do not omit the salt
• Use real butter, not margarine, not butter substitute, not butter blend, not recombined butter
• Use real chocolate chips. The one with cocoa butter. Not palm compound.

I hope you like it like I do. Trust me, it's perfect :)

PennyLane Chocolate Fudge Cookies

The first post of this cookie was back in 2008. I have nothing to say except that I never bake chocolate cookies any other way anymore. Crackly outside, fudgy inside. Strong chocolate, vanilla, coffee. Lavished with almond and canarium nuts. A keeper ever-since.

I sell these on mood basis :). Masya Allah, the whole batch was usually sold out even when they're still in the oven. I never escalated the price per piece since 2008 and one of my customers now already suggested me to do so. Masya Allah, it is THAT good :)

I hope the recipe can benefit you too, and if it puts a smile on your face, my smile will be wider than yours :)

PennyLane Brownies

I've been baking since I was little. My first memory of baking was in the kitchen with my mom, messing up her cake tin with brush and margarine all over. My Mom always had confidence in me, giving me real tasks, like greasing the tins or cookie sheets, sifting the flour, separating the eggs. Real serious tasks. I always had great times with her in the kitchen.

My first big project as a kid was when I was in 2nd grade, about 8 year old, my Mom asked me to bake 6 cakes for a family event, without her supervision whatsoever because she was gone the whole day helping the host to cook everything for the event. Bi idznillah, I delivered well, then she bragged about it to all our relatives the next day, haha. I love you, Mama.

Sweet Perfection

Versi Manis

Jadi, begini.

Banyak orang mencari resep chocolate chips cookies yang sempurna seperti yang dibuat Pepperidge Farm, Mrs. Fields, St. Michael, Famous Amos, atau mungkin kafe mungil di pedesaan Liverpool atau Tuscany. Termasuk saya. Terutama jenis soft baked: berukuran besar, dipanggang setengah matang, empuk agak liat (chewy), berjibun isi, aroma butter dan vanilla, keping cokelat premium, dan.. keriput yang sempurna!

Sepertinya hanya di dunia arkeologi dan kuliner keriput dimaknai sedemikian tinggi :)

Pengembaraan dari resep ke resep, trial demi trial, membawa saya kepada satu kesimpulan. Chocolate Chips Cookies yang sempurna itu mensyaratkan penggunaan banyak bahan yang tidak ingin saya konsumsi. Bahan-bahan non-halal, trans fat, gula berlebihan, penguat rasa, pewarna, pengembang dan pengemulsi. Hampir mustahil bisa dibuat di dapur rumahan dengan pemakaian bahan artificial dan trans fat seminim mungkin.

Meski tabah dan ikhlas menerima kenyataan ini, ada 2 resep yang cukup menawan hati, paling mirip dengan gambaran kukis sempurna. Resep milik Nigella yang sudah saya post di sini, dan resep milik Ashley, salah satu foodblogger favorite saya yang pasti akan segera jadi favorite anda juga.  Kedua resep ini mirip-mirip saja, namun entah kenapa resep Ashley menghasilkan tekstur dan keriput yang lebih cantik. Atau mungkin hanya perasaan saya saja menjelang bulan purnama *eh*.

What's Left..

You'd think a plain cookie with a few chocolate chips folded into the mixture would be a simple matter. It's not. It's never difficult to make, just difficult to get right. 

~ Nigella Lawson

These were what I was left with. Three cookies. No more, no less. And even those were already booked by a friend. So basically, I got nothing left. Really. Well, I guess that just sums up how good they really were.

My Up and Coming Hero!

This is the wholewheat chocolate chips cookies I ranted about in the last post. Made it several times by now,  I keep craving for more. I tweaked the recipe to my liking and got me my best fool-proof version of comfort cookies. It is that good I am proud enough to include in my next Idul Fitri selection cookies to sell. It will be my up and coming hero!

Chocolate-Peanut Spread

I have this little book for 2 years now, "200 Chocolate Recipes" by Felicity Barnum-Bobb. I use it for food photography purpose and never tried any recipes in it. Until one night I was thinking it's time for the book to fulfill its destiny in my hand.

How I wished we grow hazelnuts locally in this country, coz a jar of homemade Nutella won't hurt at all. But I love peanuts just the same. I can finish a jar of Skippy crunchy peanut butter by myself and not feel guilty at all :). So when I poured the shiny chocolate spread into 2 half-pint mason jars, I couldn't help but feeling gleeful inside, almost could feel the dancing of two most delightful food in the world on my tongue already.

It was that good I felt like spooning all night. Literally :)