To Bake or Not to Bake?


I have not been baking for quite a while as I was reading about keeping healthy. As we aged, our metabolism rate is not as high as before. The same diet we had when we were 19 may cause a problem for us if we are to follow it when we are 39. At 39, I have to watch my diet - I have to remind myself to eat in moderation. Exercising is important too. I have been doing Zumba for a year now, it is a class which I look forward to attending every time! :) But I realized my weight has been stagnant, it must be my diet and weakness for cakes/cookies :p



Back to baking :D Last Saturday, I baked these cornflakes cookies after a long break from baking. Although I wasn't baking as often as I did, I still continue to read the recipes posted by the various bloggers. I have been searching for a healthy cookies recipe, one which does not use butter, low sugar, etc. But cookies without butter just don't look very appealing :p Finally, I chanced upon this amazingly simple recipe which uses less butter.

The original recipe can be found here. Thanks to Simply June for sharing this recipe! I did some minor adjustments in an attempt to make it healthier :D or rather, to make myself feel better, haha.

Ingredients (my adjustments in pink)

100g butter, soften at room temperature
110g granulated sugar (I used 90g)
1/2 tsp grated orange / lemon rind (omitted)
1 large egg yolk (I used 2 egg whites instead)
100g cornflakes (I only have about 60-70g of cornflakes left. You will definitely need more!)
125g self raising flour (I used 125g plain flour + 3/4 tsp double-acting baking powder + 1/4 tsp low-sodium salt)
1 tbsp corn flour (I substituted with 25g plain flour)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (I used 1/2 tsp of vanilla paste)

The sweetness of the cookies is just right for my palate. The first batch of cookies rolled up by my kid and niece tasted the best, as the kids rolled the dough with plenty of cornflakes when I was doing the washing up :D It turns out that the cookies with lots of cornflakes were the crunchiest and yummiest of the lot! Great job, kids! :)

Method
1. Cream butter and sugar with a whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy.
2. Add sugar a little at a time, mixing the batter each time it is added.
3. Add vanilla paste to the batter and mix well.
4. Place cornflakes in a plastic bag. Crush the cornflakes (we used our fists :D just make sure you don't hurt yourself, hehe). Place the crushed cornflakes on a plate.
5. Using 2 spoons (tsp or any spoon), scoop some batter, form a ball, and drop it into the cornflakes. Roll the ball to coat the cornflakes all over it. Just make sure that the balls are of similar size to ensure even baking. Placed the rolled balls onto the baking tray lined with baking sheet. It seems to help to freeze them at this stage if you are not baking immediately. The batter does spread, so make sure you leave some space (about 3cm) between each ball, so the cookies will not stick together and form a large cookie when it's done :D
6. Preheat the oven at 180 degree celcius. Bake the balls for 20 mins, or until the surface of the cookies turn golden.
7. Cool the cookies on a wire rack before keeping them in an air-tight container. These cookies turn soft very quickly so ensure you seal the container tightly.


Enjoy! :)

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