Peanut cookies / Biskut Kacang Mazola

Peanut cookies..hmm..what can i say? It's a household tradition to make these delectable cookies during Eid.  Well at least in my parents home it is. This year I made these late because honestly..I have never made them before..but I've tasted plenty..some delicious..some bland...some..errr...can't even be called cookies..hehehhe Anyway my mum makes the best ones... :)

For this particular peanut cookie recipe I'm about to share with you...well i stumbled upon it while searching for the best online recipe (and it seemed like it had the least amount of ingredients). I went through the comments the recipe received and I came to a conclusion..this is the ONE! huhuhu 

I also decided to experiment a bit with this recipe as i saw somebody commented that the cookies would taste different if you actually fried the peanuts without oil until browned as compared to the taste with just baking the peanuts in the oven...and also using the mortar and pestle (lesung batu) as compared to using a food processor. Well....guess what? I made two batches. One batch was made by frying the peanuts in a pan without oil and then bashing (crushing?..erk...the right word has yet to come to mind) using the mortar and pestle. Another batch was made by baking the peanuts till browned and then blitzing them in a food processor. Well well well.... the verdict...*drum roll please*.... the olden day method = pan frying without oil and crushing them in the mortar and pestle was wayyyyy worth the effort. The taste was like superb peanut buttery goodness! 

Anyway, let's get back on track. Here is the recipe and give it a go. For those worried about zits when eating peanuts..well..who cares! 1-2 zits wouldn't hurt..or your waistline...or.....ok ok enough already..the bad side over weighs the good..but have a go at it anyway because the cookies are sooo good. :)

Peanut Cookies / Biskut Kacang Mazola

Source: Arah

Ingredients:

200gm plain flour

200gm groundnuts/peanuts-fried without oil in a pan until golden brown

100 gm icing sugar

1 small bottle of mazola oil or any other corn oil

salt to taste

egg yolk for glazing

extra peanuts for decoration

Instructions:

1. Pan fry the peanuts till golden brown, (some may want to bake it) and finely crush the cooled peanuts in a mortar and pestle (or you could blitz it up in a food processor or grinder).
2. In a bowl, combine flour sugar salt and finely crushed peanuts.
3. Add the mazola oil little by little to the dry ingredients and mix till it forms a soft pliable dough. (don't put in the whole bottle..just until it forms a dough ok )
4. Scoop up the dough using a 1/2 tablespoon measuring spoon and roll to form a round cookie.
5. Glaze the tops of the cookie and put 1/2 a peanut on top to decorate.
6. Place in a preheated oven of 170 degrees Celsius until the glaze is golden brown. Usually it indicates that the cookie is done. 
7. When golden brown remove from the oven and place on the rack to cool. Once cooled put some into our mouth..nyumm nyumm nyumm..enjoy it and put the remainder of the cookies into airtight container. hahahha

they may not look too pretty but they sure do taste good!

in an airtight container..er...never full to the top because of the cookie monster (ME!!)

Pineapple Tarts My Fav!!!

This is my fav recipe to date! I made these pineapple tarts last year using this recipe and I am still using this recipe this year. I think this recipe has a full round flavour to it..and its best to use a good quality butter..nothing compares! Anyway, I've tried other recipes...they do taste good but I end up going back to this same recipe...so I hope you give it a try. Might be tricky at first because pressing the dough out takes patience but once you have gone over that hurdle then...its easy peasy lemon squeasy! Nobody ever said that making pineapple tarts are easy...it took me 2 hours standing up making one batch (erkk..or maybe I'm just slow) but the taste I tell ya......it's worth every bite! Here's the recipe!

Tart Nenas Gebu / Pineapple Tarts

Source: Sumber Inspirasiku - Haryati

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp corn flour
2 1/2 tbsp custard flour (u can substitute for cornflour)
2 tbsp milk powder
1 cup salted butter (226 gm) (erk..i just dump the whole 250g butter bar in :p)
1 tbsp ghee
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp sugar (i put in 1/2 tbsp sugar...i don't like my pastry sweet :p)

a pinch of salt

store bought pineapple tart filling made into balls (for lazy people like me..or you could always google a recipe for a good homemade pineapple tart filling recipe)

egg wash for gazing the tops

Instructions:

1. Place softened butter, ghee, milk powder, salt and sugar in your mixing bowl. Using a paddle attachment, beat these ingredients on medium speed until fluffy.
2. Add the yolk and vanilla essence and continue beating.
3. Add the flour to the mixture spoonful at a time till all is incorporated.
4. Prepare a clean work surface for pressing the mixture through the mould. 
5. Press the mixture on to the work surface with the jagged side down facing.
6. Place the pineapple tart filling balls on to the pressed pastry and roll.
7. Place into a small paper cases and brush a little eggwash for the tops before placing in the preheated oven (170 degrees Celsius) for 15 mins. but to me the determining factor that determines my tarts are done is when the egg wash is nice and golden brown. 
8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on racks. It takes time to cool as the pineapple filling remain hot for quiet a while. Make sure to store the fully cooled tarts in airtight containers.

Store bought pineapple tart fillings rolled into balls

pastry pressed out with the smooth side upwards and jagged side down facing

place filling on the pastry

roll pastry with filling inside

cut the end

place into small paper cases

brush on some egg wash and place into the oven.

ready! leave to cool before tasting as the filling can be super HOT!

These are the ones i did last year!