Manju

This entry should be samuraisna and mommy bake, instead of samuraisna bakes. :)

Yaki Manju
(From Women of Nu`uanu Centennial Cookbook Itadakimasu)

2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup oil
6 tablespoons cold water
1 cup tsubushian
evaporated milk/egg yolk

Combine flour, sugar, and salt. Blend thoroughly. Add oil and water; mix well. Shape dough into small balls. Flatten dough to make circles. Place tsubushian in each circle and pinch edges together to seal. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Brush top of manju with evaporated milk or egg yolk. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30-35 minutes.



We didn't use the tsubushian. Instead, mom made a filling with okinawan sweet potato because we had a lot of it in the house. Recipe for filling as follows:

Okinawan Sweet Potato Filling

1 block butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups okinawan sweet potato, cooked and mashed
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and mix. Gradually mix in mashed sweet potatoes. Add evaporated milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well.

Mom didn't add all the evaporated milk because this recipe is actually for a dessert filling. Leaving out some liquid allowed us to form the filling into balls to put into the crust.



Also, when making the crust, we used two small balls for each manju...one for the top and one for the bottom. Make sure you seal them well, or they will open up in the oven.



I had some dough left over when we were out of filling, so I made some square ones with blueberry preserves in them. :)

Buttermilk Biscuits

Buttermilk Biscuits
(From Epicurious)

3 cups AP flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in large bowl to blend. Using fingertips, rub 3/4 cup chilled butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir until evenly moistened. Using 1/4 cup dough for each biscuit, drop biscuits onto baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until biscuits are golden brown on top, about 15 minutes.



I used dry buttermilk instead of regular because we don't keep buttermilk in the house on a regular basis. I picked this recipe because it doesn't use lard...as we don't keep that in the house on a regular basis, like the buttermilk. And hey, a lack of lard might mean a slightly healthier biscuit, right? heh...

I like biscuits. A lot, actually...though I'm not completely sure why. :) And I need to learn to take better pictures.

Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies
(From the back of a Coach's Oats bag)

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cup AP flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups Coach's Oats
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and butter. Mix in the eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla. Add combined baking powder, baking soda, flour, salt, and cinnamon. Mix well. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool cookies on a wire rack.



I have to say that I totally messed up this one. First of all, I put 2 tablespoons of vanilla into the batter, not 2 teaspoons. I don't know what I was thinking...what kind of recipe has two tablespoons of vanilla? Gah. Then I left the first batch in the oven for too long...and they burned. And stuck to the cookie sheets. It says ungreased...but grease your cookie sheets. I lucked out though...my mom helped me scrub them. The next batch that I put in came out a lot better. These cookies spread out a lot in the oven, so leave some space. They are okay...slightly chewy...but very oatmeal-y. Coach's Oats are kind of intense and not like Quaker Oats at all...and that might have been it. I think I am on a lookout for a new recipe though (maybe Quaker Oats next time?). And if I do make these again, I need to add more raisins.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies
(From A Taste of HECO)

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter and sugars together. Add peanut butter and mix until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift remaining ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Form into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes.



I have made these cookies before and my family has decided that we really like this recipe. Last time I added some semi sweet chocolate chips to half, and that came out okay. This time I didn't. These cookies are very peanut buttery, so if you don't like peanut butter this recipe isn't for you. Also, the recipe makes a crapload of cookies....so make sure you either adjust for quantity of have lots of friends to share with! :) I learned that I should always grease my cookie sheets though, so I just spray them with some PAM. It's more for my peace of mind and knowing that I won't have to vigorously scrub my cookie sheets to get all remaining cookie bits off of them when I am cleaning up than it is necessary.

baking!

Starting a baking blog. I have been baking lately...and haven't been keeping track of anything. So...here it is. :)