Oreo Truffles

What have you been baking this christmas? I just ended my class potluck last Friday and i attempted to make some Oreo truffles as simple christmas gifts. So sorry about it. think they look horrible. But the taste is great. I got my recipe from kraft. Oh well, almost everywhere has similar recipe. The challenge of making Oreo truffles is the last step which you coat oreo balls with melted chocolat. This can be a little tricky and you gotta do it fast because the melted chocolate may cool easily and solidfy.




Ingredients:
35 oreo cookies
1 pkg of Cream cheese ( soft: at room temperatre)
2 bars of semi-sweet baking chocolate
9 Oreo cookies ( topping)

Steps:
1. Crush 35 Oreo cookies + 9 cookies ( topping). Either you can pop them into a food processor or put them into a zip lock n hammer them w a hard n heavy object.
2. Using hands, mix the crushed cookies n the soft cream cheese together until incorporated.
3. Roll them into 1 inch balls.
4. Melt the baking chocolate with a double boiler or a microwave.
5. Coat these chocolate balls with the melted chocolate and place them on the parchment paper ( sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or lighly greased with butter)
6. Sprinkle the remaining crushed oreo cookies or any of your favourite topping ( nuts, coloured balls etc...
7. Chill it in the refrigerator for about 1-2 hours before serving.

Tip: You can vary the oreo cookies. If you prefer your oreo truffles to have a stronger cream cheese flavour, you might want to consider cutting down a few oreo cookies. Vice versa if you are going for a lighter flavour. However, too much of Oreo cookies in your mixtre may result in your oreo truffle dough to be very flaky and you are gonna have a hard time coating them w melted chocolate.

Jam Drops

I've been wanting to make jam drops. They look so pretty. Well, i intended to make these as christmas food gifts for my potluck this weekend. But, i guess i will do sth else instead. This is because i realise such cookies easily become v soft ( lou feng) when they are exposed to open air for a long time. They are best kept in a tupperware as soon as they are almost cooled after taking them out from the hot oven. Nevertheless, they still taste fabulous! Give this a try!



Ingredients:
125g butter (room temperature)
100g caster sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1 egg
190g self raising flour
Jam
Confectionary / powdered sugar ( topping)

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Meanwhile, beat the butter and sugar until smooth.
2. Add Vanilla essence and egg. Continue to beat until smooth.
3. sieve the flour over butter mixture until uniform consistency.
4. Roll teaspoon full of mixture into balls
5. Place on the prepared tray. gently press the centre of each ball with your fingers/ the back of a spoon to form a hole.
6. Fill these holes with Jam and pop them into the oven. They are ready when they are lighly browned.
7. sprinkle some powdered sugar on the top of the cookies.

Tip: Do not fill the Jam to the brim of the hole as it may overflow during baking. Avoid adding the watery portion of the jam onto the cookie as it may cause the cookie to turn soggy at the centre. Add the custard like portion of the jam.

Traditional Shortbread

Shortbread is a classic Scottish dessert that consists of three basic ingredients. Really easy to bake. A desert for any occasion. Be it Christmas or any ordinary day. Perfect for a snack in the late afternoon, accompanied by a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Of course, you could also bake them in squares or any other shapes you want. I drizzled some melted chocolate onto my shortbread and it's delicious. Alternatively, they are ideal for Apple Crumble's crust too!



Ingredients:
3/4 cup of unsalted butter.
1 ¾ cup of All Purpose Flour
¾ cup of Confectioner Sugar
½ tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

1)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees; line an baking tin with parchment paper coming up the sides of the pan, spray with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
2)Using an electric mixer, mix together the confectionary sugar and butter until very creamy.
3) Add the flour and salt and mix for 1 minute.
4) Press the dough into the parchment paper lined pan and press it all to make sure it’s even. Using a butter knife or a bench knife, cut the dough.
5) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly golden. As soon as you take them out of the oven, run your knife through all the cuts and let them cool completely.

*Remove from the pan and dip them in melted chocolate if you chose or sprinkle some granulated sugar while it is still hot.