Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! It's the Asian Thanksgiving Day, the day where families come together and celebrate a bountiful harvest. Or the day we eat a lot of mooncakes if that's more significant.

Last year, I brought a traditional mooncake to share with my school friends. Papaya Crumpet brought a Starbucks one (they're flavoured like Starbucks' drinks!) Unfortunately my family didn't buy or receive any mooncakes this year, so I have none to share. As a 'replacement', I created these cookies. They are flavoured like the Chinese almond cookies you find at the store and stuffed with a white lotus seed paste, the same stuff as in the mooncakes. 

Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

The process of shaping these little cookies took longer than I thought; the dough was slightly crumbly and I had to really press to make a disk of dough that didn't fall apart. The sealing of the edges was okay though. Since the dough doesn't spread at all in the oven, shape the cookies as you wish them to come out of the oven. My goal was to create a chewy and soft cookie. These are not super chewy but they aren't crispy at all. This cookie dough base is very simple and uses wholesome ingredients. It makes a small batch so be sure to double or even triple if you're looking to make a few dozen!

The faint hint of coconut and almond lets the sweet lotus paste filling take the spotlight. Lotus seed paste reminds me of my childhood, eating the steamed buns for dessert at dimsum. I think this cookie is a clever way participate in some Chinese festivities. The outcome was very good and my friends complimented on how good they tasted. I'm quite satisfied with them myself; be sure to eat them warm for the best taste! Microwaving the cookie for ten or so seconds will do the trick.

Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

Lotus Seed Paste Stuffed Almond Cookies

Cookie dough recipe adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

Yield: 9 two-inch cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ¼ cup whole wheat flour
• A few grinds of Himalayan pink sea salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp + 1/8 tsp baking soda
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 2 to 4 tsp milk
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• Lotus seed paste (¼ cup will be sufficient; comes in a vacuum-sealed bag, similar to the packaging of red bean paste.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325˚F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
2. In a small mixing bowl, sift together flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. 
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Smush dough into a single ball with a rubber spatula or hands.
4. Make somewhat circular disks using approximately one tablespoon portions of dough. Roll about a teaspoon of lotus seed paste into a ball, flatten and place in centre of cookie dough disk. Place another dough disk on top and seal edges. Press a single sliver of sliced almond on top as decoration.
5. Cover and refrigerate unbaked cookies for 30 minutes.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 11 minutes and broil on high for 2 more minutes. Avoid over-baking to keep cookies soft.
7. Enjoy warm (not burning hot!) and store in an airtight container.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Fig, Almond, and Raspberry Yogurt Cake

It's my first time trying fresh figs. Alice is yelling at me, "You're mad, bonkers, off your head!" I know... These juicy, succulent, sweet delicacies, why didn't I go out in a mad search for these earlier?

I've been eager to work with fresh figs before the summer season began. My only experiences with figs are using the 'Chinese method'; adding dried figs to Chinese soups (which are usually broths) for sweetness and flavour. Eating fresh ones is completely foreign to my family. So are a lot of other foods; I constantly open my parents' eyes to new and exciting food. 

My neighbour has a fig tree in their backyard, and over the years, its branches have grown over to our backyard. For those that love figs, this would be a dream come true. However, I didn't know when the right time was to pick the fruit so we ended up with starchy, unripe figs in our mouth every time we decided to cut one open. That discouraged us from picking anymore. 

A bowl of fresh Black Mission Figs

During my last visit to our local Superstore, I scored a box of black mission figs for only two dollars! These babies could easily cost five dollars or more. Cha-ching! Finally, I can experiment with these luscious fruits. Hmm... with ricotta, in a muffin, or simply roasted? I can't decide. 

Beautiful, soft insides of a fig

A ripe fig should be soft and its thin skin should almost be wrinkly. A really delicious fig may have syrup beginning to drip out from the bottom end. The downside to purchasing from a grocery store is that the figs may not have been picked at its peak ripeness.

I was surprised at the soft, almost jelly-like flesh of fresh figs. Like dates, it's like nature's candy. It's unlike any other fruit I've tried and this made me very eager to get on with incorporating them into some recipes. After an evening of brainstorming a list of ideas, I decided to begin with a simple yogurt cake, pairing the figs with a drizzle of honey.

Grab a slice!

This cake is moist, flavourful, and fragrant. The yogurt replaces much of the fat while keeping the cake moist. That leaves us with only a quarter cup of coconut oil in an entire cake! I wished the figs had more time to roast and shrivel up a bit more; that would increase the sweetness of the fruit. But even after a bit of cooking in the oven, the figs provided much of the flavour and sweetness necessary for the cake. A sprinkle of sliced almonds gives a bit of textural contrast, and everything is better with some nuts ;)Raspberries give a pop of bright colour to the cake. It's the first time frozen raspberries haven't failed my entire baked good, I haven't had great experiences with using frozen raspberries... ahem. The hidden magic comes from the Meyer lemon zest. A Meyer lemon makes all the difference. The concoction of aroma coming from the oven while this cake is baking is mind-blowing. Ripe fruit, coconut, caramelizing honey, and zingy zest are all present.

A slice of Fig, Almond, and Raspberry Yogurt Cake

I've even healthified it by replacing some of the flour with whole wheat flour, wouldn' be a recipe from Coconut Crumpet without it being guiltless. Low in fat, sugar, increased fibre, and flavoured with fruits and nuts, this makes a fantastic afternoon snack or dessert. It's also very classy and would impress adults. Oh ho ho! Reheat a portion of this cake in the oven and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, honeyed yogurt, or whipped cream and top with a few quarters of fresh fig. De-lish.

Time to dig in!

Click below to view the recipe!

Healthy Banana Walnut Bread (with Coconut!)

Healthy Banana Walnut Bread with Coconut

Recently, I've returned to my obsession with Despicable Me minions. Last year, us Nutty Crumpets were crazy enough to put the Banana Song at the end of our YPI presentation. We thought it would be funny and end the seemingly depressing topic on a light-hearted note, but that nearly cost us not advancing to the semi-finals. Although I can't say the second movie was the best movie I've ever seen, it was definitely an entertaining movie to watch. Yes, it completely contrasts the first movie as Gru the villain is no longer doing evil deeds, but the increased amount of minion action makes up for it. 

What the banana minion says when you pull the banana

Mc Donald's currently carries minion toys as part of the kids' Happy Meal. It's extremely strange for me to want to visit Mc Donald's much less beg to go. The toys certainly do their job very well of luring children (or children at heart, ahem) into buying their food. Thankfully, Happy Meals are not the worst thing to force down your throat and are fairly priced. The portion control and healthy options like milk and apples makes for a acceptable fast food meal. By the way, the hamburger is the 'healthiest' entree option, Happy Meal or not. Anyways, back to the toys. I was disappointed to find that my preferred minion toy was not available on the first trip to get a Happy Meal with Az. Since then, I have dragged my parents to five different locations in search of the 'banana minion'. A successful Coconut Crumpet feels happy about her accomplishment. But my mother says I need to become more mature. I beg to differ.
 
Not only is the banana minion my favourite, but I've become addicted to playing Minion Rush on my phone. And I rarely ever play games, mainly because I'm terrible at them. Something about collecting bananas and running other minions over is so amusing to me. Evidently I seem to have some bias towards the combination of minions and bananas. So, with the bananas that have been sitting frozen in my freezer for months, I dedicate this beautiful banana bread to all 10 million of the minion fans out there.

Super tall Healthy Banana Walnut Bread