Lemon Crinkle Cookies

If you have been a regular visitor to my blog you must have known by now that I have a clear obsession with chocolate and also most of my baked goodies are either chocolate based or consist of nutella. Every time I think of dessert, I think chocolate. Even when I am online looking for ideas, I type chocolate based search words... even when I am blog hopping, the category I check is chocolate baked goodies. You get the idea.

This time around when I was in the mood to bake some cookies I was again drawn towards making double choco, fudge (God help me :)). But this time I struggled hard and overcame my obsession. It was mainly because of my not-much-of-a-chocolate-fan hubs (how can you!). Baked a lemon cookie instead. I loved the results so much that from now on you will be seeing lots and lots of citrus in my baked goodies lol. These cookies are so fresh, light and flavorful that even a no dessert and only chocolate person like me ate 2 whole cookies (much to my hub's surprise) ha ha!!

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Red Velvet Nutella Mug Cake

 I ♥♥♥♥ Red Velvet Mug Cake...:)

Recipe demo video...subscribe to me on youtube...

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp All purpose flour/maida

3 Tbsp Milk, Oil and Nutella

1/2 Tbsp Red Food Color

1/4 Tsp Baking Powder

1 1/2 Tbsp Powdered Sugar (Optional)

 For Frosting:
1/2 Tub Cream Cheese
3/4 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Sp Milk (Optional)
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Butter

• Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and beat well using a hand blender or a balloon whisk beat well till smooth well combined and fluffy store in a glass container and allow to cool in the refrigerator  before use.

Method:

•  In mixing bowl add nutella, milk, egg, oil and sugar whisk till well combined.
• Add the flour and baking powder to the wet mixture and whisk till well combined.
• Divide the mixture into serving mugs and place in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes till well done. allow  to cool and decorate with frosting and serve...enjoy...:)

♥

Keep 

Clam

Because

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is 

in 

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Air

Baked Red Velvet Donuts!

My kitchen drawer where I keep my bake ware is almost always in a disarray. All the different shapes and sizes of pans and trays oftentimes do not play very well together when it comes to staying organized. Then to top that I just cannot resist buying a baking pan or tray that I come across and it catches my attention. The donut tray I used for this recipe was another such thing that I had to have when I saw it the other day at the store. It was a Wilton brand pan and this recipe was in fact right on the packaging itself. They make the perfect shaped donuts and whats better is that you can actually eat a few since they are baked and not deep fried. To kick it up another notch, if the donuts are the red velvet kind, what's not to like, after all who doesn't like red velvet cake. These came out really nice and soft and velvety and then with that cream cheese glaze on top, you just go 'yummm'. They are perfect  treat for the upcoming Valentine's day too.
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One Bowl Everyday Chocolate Cake

Yesterday afternoon as I sat on the couch watching TV and waiting for dear hubs to wake up from his catnap so we go shopping, I suddenly started craving for chocolate cake. Nothing too fancy, just something that felt like cake to eat and was not-so-calorie-laden. A simple no-icing chocolaty cake that I can whip up in a jiffy. That is when this was made - a one bowl wonder, fuss free cake with my everyday pantry ingredients. A very basic beginner recipe that you can try your hand at even if you do not consider yourself much of a baker. It is moist, chocolaty with a very nice coffee flavor to it, has less calories when compared to most other chocolate cakes and so it can be your everyday cake.I made this in my new cute mini loaf pans but you can make it in a regular 5 x 9 loaf pan too, just double the recipe. I like it just this way - plain and simple - but you can most certainly dress it up with some whipped cream and berries if you so please. This is a chocolate cake you throw together real quick. It goes with tea and friends coming over on semi-short notice. It also makes for a great breakfast on the go.

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One Bowl Fruit Cake - my way!

Let's start with the disclaimer first. This is not your traditional, fully loaded fruit cake. This recipe does not involve rum, soaking, a few more time consuming steps and is not too rich either. It can be put together in one bowl in a few simple steps, tastes absolutely fabulous and looks festive with all the holiday colors. For those of my readers that have had similar growing-up experiences as I have, this cake will surely remind you of the plain old tutti-frutti cake from the local bakery that we so enjoyed. I always thought making this cake must require a complex process and machines that only factories have. So we never even tried to make it at home. Plus the fact that ovens are not a common fixture in most kitchens in India. A part of the 'factory machines' and 'complex process' in that the tutti-frutti must require some specialized machines. But the fact that they sell the tutti-frutti mix ready-made in the stores makes this cake a very easy do. A simple twist to the basic vanilla sponge to give it a holiday twist. A fun variation to the traditional cake recipe that is so popular in my family.

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The Best Ever Carrot Cake!

If you have never had carrot cake and the thought of carrots and cake does not paint a very appetizing picture in your mind, think again. For those of you who know and like 'gajar ka halwa', you kinda got the idea already. I was a skeptic once, a long time ago, and then like with everything else food, I had to try it for myself.
This carrot cake is such that once you make it, every single person who has tasted it (including you) will ask you when you are making it again. This cake has branding value. Yes, you might be known by this cake - you know when they say so and so's carrot cake - and you will be begged for the recipe, LOL. Its really that good!
The cake is fluffy and yet has that moist texture from the carrots. The carrots blend their identity into the overall taste and texture of the cake and together with the spices like ginger and nutmeg, give this cake its unique and unmistakable flavor. The hide and seek from the pieces of nuts definitely adds an interesting play as well.

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♥♥♥ Nutella Mug Cake ♥♥♥

Do  watch my video recipe and post your comments...Enjoy..:)

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

I must have made at least a couple of dozen different kinds of muffins in the last couple of years. Back when I started baking, what started as a 'let me see if I can bake a muffin of my own' has now almost become a chore. Especially so since every afternoon as my hungry kindergartner gets back from school, more often than not, her demand is to have a muffin for a snack. That makes my job to keep it interesting for her by mixing it up. This recipe is another variation that is derived from one of my own previous muffin recipes from here. Needless to say it worked great and also is just in time for fall.

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Baked Pumpkin Donuts!

You probably guessed where I am coming from with this recipe. It is that time of the year again. Fall is here and stores are already filling up with Halloween costumes, candies and other goodies and you simply cannot celebrate fall without the humble pumpkin. Right from scary looking carved pumpkins to the amazing tasting pumpkin pies, the pumpkin is everywhere. Besides the obvious reason of having the pumpkin on US Masala, the other part of the story behind this recipe is that I found this cool donut baking tray at the mall a couple of days ago. I have been on the lookout for it for a while now and I just snatched it up when I saw it laying on the store shelf. I have been itching to use it ever since I laid my hands on it and a pumpkin based baked donuts seemed like just the right thing to make.
To be honest I was a little apprehensive on how the shape and texture would turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled the tray out of the oven. The bright pumpkin color gets you first as soon as you look at them, then as you break one apart you feel the soft yet spongy texture and knowing that they were baked and not fried, you just can't resist biting into it. The soft texture with a burst of pumpkin and cinnamon just gets you in the mood for fall and Halloween.

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Mango Ginger Cardamom Mini Bundt Cakes

It poured all day yesterday and not just your average rain but the kind that you hear loud and clear even when all locked up inside the house over the sound of the movie playing on TV. It is surely daunting at first, scary even with the occasional loud thunder but then you start to enjoy it. Hubs decided it was perfect weather for some backyard grilling. First we decided to grill some corn-on-the-cob followed by our favorite veggie pizza. When I went looking for my pizza stone in the drawer where I keep all my baking trays and pans, that is when I saw my mini bundt cake pan sitting idle stacked away and hidden under several other trays. If you noticed recently I have made a few mango based drinks from which I had some mango puree left over. That's when this dish was decided. The cakes turned out perfect with the exotic flavor of Alphonso mangoes and a hint of ginger to kick it up a notch.

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Condensed milk orange pound cake

ou would probably agree with me that oftentimes we crave for simple treats. No bells and whistles, just simple yet full of flavor. Don't get me wrong, bells and whistles are good and I am all for them but then there is always that morning that you want a simple breakfast, that evening that you want something nice and simple with your hot tea or coffee or that something that you can leave on the kitchen counter that hubby in his usual nonchalant self, lost in his own thoughts, picks up a piece and stops, looks around, gives you a complement on how flavorful it is and goes back to being himself. For me, this orange cake with a burst of citrus comes very close to that description. Light and fluffy,  sweet and refreshing pure spring-summer time treat! It could even be a mood lifter when you are feeling a little blue. 

I go for a light breakfast especially on weekdays. Be it a bowl of cereal or oatmeal or a quick sliced bread sandwich with some fruits and veggies. To keep things interesting, I always find myself looking for ways to come up with interesting but light and yet 'breakfasty' recipes. Interestingly enough this cake has worked many-a-times for me as a light breakfast cake. Then of course there is the possibility of dressing this cake up with frosting and it becomes a dessert. Take you pick.

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Nutella filled baked donut Muffins

Featured on: The Kitchn, Huffington Post, Parenting.com, DDG Daily

ow many times have you picked up a donut and set it down? Did I touch a nerve there? If I did, then read-on. I don't claim these to be the healthiest things around but they are perfect when you have a serious craving for those fried beauties. You get the same donut taste without all the frying. Being smaller they also give you portion control, be cautioned though that you will be tempted to pick up a few. These are delicious little treats, baked scrummy soft fluffy doughnut muffins coated with cinnamon sugar and filled with Nutella, how can you argue with that! Hot out of the oven, you blow on them till they cool down just enough and then chomp away... yes you can close your eyes too when you eat, it adds to the pleasure. We shamelessly finished the batch and don't even have any regrets.

They are very quick and ridiculously easy to put together. They also make for a great breakfast muffin and your kids will just love them.

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4 Ingredient Nutella Brownie

rownies are not disliked by very many. People may pass on a cookie when offered one but you will definitely see them stop and give it a thought if you offered them a brownie. They may not take it sometimes for whatever their reason but I can promise you they definitely wanted to. So how do you one-up a brownie - simple - add Nutella to it. As soon as I saw this recipe there was no stopping me, especially unless you noticed already, it is really simple and straight-forward - heck even the title said there were only four ingredients. The proof was in the pudding as they say. Took me literally two minutes to mix it up and another ten to bake it - ready in under fifteen. And perfect they were - teeny bite-sized brownie with the classic crust and the ever familiar gooey chewy texture. For kicks I used my little tart pans but of course you can use your regular muffin tray.

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Cinnamon Rolls/Buns!

alfway through my pregnancy when I was carrying my little princess there was brief period of about a week when cinnamon roll was the only thing I would eat. We bought a whole big pack from our local Sam's club. The craving was gone in a few days but cinnamon rolls were stuck in my mind.

Cinnamon rolls need no introduction; sticky, sweet, sinful and utterly delicious. But the best thing about making your own is the irresistible aroma of the fresh rolls baking in the oven. The straight out of the oven, warm, soft and glazed rolls are heavenly you just want to dig into them and gobble them up... irresistible! On the day you feel like indulging, make these beauties.

I made them a few times since, made them again last week. Whenever I make them, the wonderful smell reminds me of my pregnancy days and then I see my little princess making a mess of herself eating them up. There is no better feeling. That makes this one special for me.

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Marbled banana chocolate loaf cake ~ eggless and butterless!

anana - as a fruit - is not something I am completely in love with. In fact to be honest I totally detest them - let's just say (without being too graphic) I can't even take a bite. I still buy them for my daughter and the hubs.
As strange as it may sound though, I like the banana flavor in cakes and bakes - go figure.
There's something special about the plain ol' Marble cake. It looks great without any extra effort and has that wow factor! It tastes great too and being two cakes in one, it satisfies people with varied taste too. Me and the little one being the chocolate lovers and hubs the vanilla and banana fan. It is one of the easiest cake to bake, requires basic ingredients which we mostly have in our pantry at all times! It is fun to  bake one at home and what makes it more exciting is the anxious wait with fingers crossed when you first cut into it and see the marble effect (yes I get excited about my food) - and the marbling effect is different with every slice.

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A Date with Chocolate Cake :)

n case you did not notice the nifty badge to your right, US Masala is proud to announce that it has been featured on yummly.com and has been 'Certified Yummly'.
Now on to this post.
A date with chocolate! Now that's a date I'd never pass on. If you have been a regular visitor to my blog you must know by now that I have a clear obsession with chocolate. Most of my baked goodies are either chocolate based or consist of nutella or both. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so-much-so that every time I eat anything sweet, I immediately need to eat something savory or spicy to 'clean' my palate. With chocolate, the story is a little different. Every time I think of dessert, I think chocolate. Even when I am online looking for ideas, I type chocolate based search words... even when I am blog hopping, the category I check is chocolate baked goodies. You get the idea.

I regularly make a date based breakfast cake that hubs loves to eat with his cereal before he leaves for work every morning. This time around, when I was in the mood to bake some cake with the leftover dates I got the other day, while mixing the batter came the bright (read:obvious for me) idea of adding chocolate and the result was magical, a soft chocolaty perfect breakfast cake. Added bonus is now I can eat it for breakfast too. Being butterless and eggless makes it even better.

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Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies!

ere's my dilemma. I am not a big cookie fan. But absolutely love chocolate. Don't even care much for chocolate cookies. There is about only one baked sweet goodie that I like and that is a good loaded rich and moist brownie. If you get my drift, you probably realize where the thought of these cookies originated. There is one other angle to it. My little princess. She likes cookies especially chocolate ones, but she gives me a hard time when I try to get her to eat brownies. She takes it as I am trying to get 'food' into her and immediately revolts. But she likes the taste of brownies... don't ask.

So long-story-short as you can see these cookies are a winner.... er... well yes before I forget, hubs liked them too :)

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