Oat and Ragi cookies

Ragi or finger millet is a part of the staple diet in the rural areas of Karnataka, especially among farmers. It is high in calcium, low on fat and provides a lot of energy to the body
I used a lot of ragi for my son when he was about a year old. I cooked the ragi flour in milk and then added some mashed fruits and it was a nutritious meal which kept him going for hours.



It is extremely rich in calcium and used regularly as baby food and for older people, who need the calcium intake. Ragi is also very cooling and in summers it is had with milk or buttermilk. Ragi with oats makes a very nutritious combination, though I must confess that I don't really like either of them unless its in a very interesting form, like these crunchy cookies.

You need to acquire a taste for ragi and it isn't something I can have as is, with milk or as mudde, the traditional way people have it in Karnataka.



I had seen this recipe for ragi cookies on Sanjeeta's blog and tried them once, but I must've gone wrong somewhere and it turned out slightly soft, so I added oats this time and it turned out really crunchy, just the way I like it. The oats adds to the taste and the nutrition and these cookies were a perfect snack with milk for my son. Thank you Sanjeeta for this recipe, would have never imagine cookies with ragi otherwise.

Ragi and oat cookies
(Adapted from Lite bite)

Makes about 30 cookies

What you need -

3/4 cup Ragi / finger millet flour
1 1/4 cup oats (I used quick cooking Quaker oats)
2 tbsp maida / APF
1 tbsp cornflour powder (I used custard powder)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar (slightly lesser would also work)
3/4 cup softened butter
2 tsp curd / yoghurt
1.5 tsp baking powder

What you do with it-

Roast the ragi flour in a pan for 2-3 mins on a really low flame. Ensure that it doesn't get burnt
In a large bowl, add the ragi flour, oats, cornflour, maida and baking powder
Mix well and set aside
In another bowl, add the butter, curd and sugar. Mix till the sugar dissolves
Add the wet and dry ingredient and make a hard dough with it. If it is very soft, add a little more maida and form the dough
Wrap it in cling wrap and refrigerate for about 10 mins at least
(I baked the second batch with the dough that was refrigerated for about 4 hours and it worked fine)
Take the dough and make small balls. Lightly press them between your palms and then place them on a baking sheet
I used this baking mat that needs no greasing and the baked cookies can just be pulled off with no effort
Heat the oven to about 180 C. In my OTG (Morphy Richards 40L), I preheat it at 160 C for about 12 mins
Bake the cookies at 180 C or 160 C, as per your oven requirements for 12-15 minutes
Enjoy these crunchy healthy cookies with a cup of milk or tea

Eggles Oatmeal Chocolate chip Cookies

Last weekend, I was itching to bake, tried these pesto rolls from Shaheen's blog, they looked pretty, but I had messed up on the yeast and they landed up getting a bit too yeasty had to just throw those beauties :(

Disheartened, yes, but the itch to bake was still on, so made a batch of cookies from this recipe here



Refrigerated the remaining batter and then baked the next lot 2 days later
Simple recipe, crunchy cookies, with lots of chocolate chips
My son loved them and when we set up to take these pics, he came up with his story books and toys and more toys, which is when the cookies almost fell off and we took more pics of him with his toys...He loves to pose and has a special pose and smile everytime the camera is out !

Eggless Oat Chocolate chip cookies

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

What you need (For about 30 cookies)

1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 cups APF / maida
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup boiling water
2 cups quick cooking oats (I used Quakers)
1.5 cups chocolate chips

What you do with it -

Beat the butter, sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy
Add flour and salt, mix well
Dissolve baking soda in boiling water and add to mixture
Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.
Scoop the batter with an ice-cream scoop and drop on the cookie sheet
Bake at 180degrees C for 12-15 minutes
Allow it cool before you take it off the sheet
Some turned a bit soft, so I put them back in for 2 more mins at 180 deg C
My son enjoyed it with his milk and his favourite stories

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Some good-for-the-heart oatmeal cookies for Valentines Day...



Simple, easy to bake, crunchy oat cookies that I made straight from this recipe here.



Have a great day people...

Choco-Nuttie Cookies

This was my third attempt at making chocolate cookies...It always failed at step 0, because the chocolate I buy to add into this is always polished off, either by my son, when it is at a level for him to reach, or by the sugar-starved husband, who claims that his hand actually shakes because the sugar content in his body is low !!



This was one of those days when I just had to bake something. It was a wierd hour of the night, but the baking itch didnt go away. It was the day before TH's birthday, so thought I would give him his quota of chocolate...
No chocolate in the house, no shops open at the wierd hour when the baking bug bit, so I borrowed chocos from my son's quota of afternoon snack and found one small packet of almond nutties that someone had gifted my son. It was stuck behind a big jar of jam in the fridge and so survived the attack from these two men in my house...



Really simple to make, I claim its healthy because its got oats in it and the son and husband are super thrilled that I am offering them something chocolatey...
These were crisp, not chewy and I think we enjoyed this much more than the chewy ones..

What you need -

1 1/2 cups oats (powdered in a blender)
1 1/2 cups plain flour / maida
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup butter
2 tsps cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1/2 cup chocos
nutties (optional, use as many as you have as a topping to the cookies)
1 egg
1 cup sugar (powdered preferably, i didnt so you can see the crystals in my cookies)
1 tsp vanilla essence

You can leave out the chocos and nutties..The chocos were to add to the crunch and the nutties, because they were around..

What you do with it -

Beat the butter and sugar in a deep bowl till its smooth
Beat the egg and add to the butter and sugar mixing it lightly till combined well
Sieve the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder
Spoon the flour into the egg mixture
Add the vanilla essence and combine with a wooden spatula / spoon
Cover this and refrigerate for about half an hour, so its easier to handle
Pre heat the oven to 180C / 350F
Cut butter paper to size and spread on a baking tray
Shape the cookie dough into balls, flatten slightly and place on the baking tray atleast 2 inches apart, they tend to spread and flatten as they bake
Crush the chocos with a spoon or your hand
Add the crushed chocos on each cookie and then top it with the nuttie
Bake for 15-20 mins. Remove the butter paper with the cookies on it and set aside to cool. Do not pull them off before they cool completely
Bake the remaining dough similarly till the dough is all used up