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    Cookies! Chinese New Year Traditions

    Cookies! Chinese New Year Traditions

    Just when you thought cookie season was over, I would like to introduce you to two traditional Chinese New Year Cookie recipes Hup Toh So and Almond Cookies.  

    Almond Cookies are created using traditional wooden molds, last year I demonstrated using husMait round cookie cutters and the bottom of husMait measuring cups. See that post here. The base of the 1/3 cup Stainless Steel Measuring Cup fits perfectly into the second smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters and the 1/8 Stainless Steel Cup can be used in the smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutter.

       

    This year I was able to go to Shanghai Street, in Hong Kong to buy the traditional wooden molds, and I am returning to Helen Au’s A Step Full of You for her Vegan Chinese Almond Cake Biscuit recipe. I love the way the traditional molds shaped the cookies.

     

    Hup Toh So is a walnut cookie this year I am using a recipe from Daily Cooking Quest by Anita. If you are looking for a vegan version, I like this one from What To Cook Today, or simply replace the butter with vegan butter or vegetable shortening.

     

    Products used in baking these recipes: 

    Set of 3 Melamine Mixing Bowls
    Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters
    Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
    Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
    Flour Scraper Set of 2
    Essential Bakeware 5 Piece Set
    Signature Bakeware 5 Piece Set

    Brownies Everyone Can Enjoy!

    Brownies Everyone Can Enjoy!

    Our family has a range of healthy eating requirements, which makes finding recipes for the whole family challenging.  However I have just found a fantastic recipe on the back of the Kirkland Signature Almond Flour bag.  The recipe is gluten free but with two small tweaks everyone in our home can enjoy this.  

    I replaced the dairy butter with a Miyokos European Style Cultured Vegan Butter and the egg with a Flax Seed egg replacement. Check your cocoa powder and chocolate chips to ensure they fit your dietary requirements.  We used Kirkland Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips and Ghirardellie Premium Baking Cocoa.  

    Our 3 Piece Mixing Bowl Sets are awesome tools for this bake. If you are looking for a value our 11 Piece Bakeware Set comes with the 3 stainless steel bowls, valued separately $18.99  (regularly for $30.00) plus the stainless steel measuring spoon valued separately for $13.99, which means the 3 stainless steel colanders are a steal at $8.01! 

    I thought I would mention again my high school Home Economic teachers training of assembling all of the ingredients and equipment before baking. Our equipment list is below the recipe. This combined with reading the recipe throughly before beginning really helps for an efficient, no mistakes bake.  

    Gluten Free Almond Brownies recipe as written by Kirkland Signature:

    INGREDIENTS 

    2 tablespoons butter, softened 
    1/2 cup sugar
    1 egg
    1/4 cup almond beverage
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    1 cup Kirkland Signature Almond Flour
    1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    1/8 teaspoon sea salt
    1 tsp baking powder
    1/4 cup chopped whole natural almonds
    1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
    more almonds for garnish

    PREPARATION 

    Heat oven to 350F

    Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Blend in egg. Blend in almond milk and vanilla

    In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, sea salt, and baking powder.  Add to butter mixture and blend just until mixed. Stir in chopped almond and chocolate chips. 

    Coat an 8”x8” baking pan with non stick cooking spray. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake 30-35 minutes

    Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving.

    Garnish with more chopped almonds or with sliced almonds toasted.  

     HusMait Equipment suggested for this recipe:

    Set of 3 Melamine Mixing Bowls or Set of 3 Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls 
    11 Piece Bakeware Set
    Stainless Steel Measuring Cups 
    Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
    Set of 2 Flour Scraper
    Side Tang Cooks Knife or Classic 4 Piece Knife Set
    12” Silicone Whisk with Stainless Steel Handle

     

     

    Luscious Flourless Orange Cake

    Luscious Flourless Orange Cake


    Here in the husMait kitchen, we look for a great treat that will satisfy our sweet tooth and have some redeeming qualities. We found this recipe posted over on Instagram, and it looks so moist and delicious, not to mention the recipe had simple ingredients and was easy to follow. Baking Envy, Flourless Orange Cake 

    Assemble all of your utensils: knife, cutting board, pan, measuring cups, measuring spoons, mixing bowl, blender and 8 inch round cake tin.

    Assemble all of the ingredients: oranges, sugar, almond meal, eggs, vanilla essence, and baking powder.  Then follow the recipe linked above. 

    The recipe calls for whole oranges, which are boiled and then processed in a blender, unfortunately, the oranges I used were a bit pithy and left a slightly bitter flavor in the cake. For that reason, I would take the time to peel the zest and cut the pith away from the fruit before boiling it. Another slight change I made was to cook the remaining orange/sugar water down until it was beginning to be jammy. That made a wonderful glaze that remained on the top of the cake instead of disappearing into the cake.  

    Everyone here loved this cake's excellent taste and texture. The use of the almond meal was sheer brilliance as it adds a luscious texture and flavor to the cake. To add a professional finish to this cake I would add some candied orange tweels to the top.

    This would be a lovely cake for an afternoon tea or formal dinner dessert as you can bake it up to three days in advance, storing it in the refrigerator, or frozen for six months remembering to leave the glaze off until you are ready to serve it. 

    If you bake this cake let us know how it turns out, and go give Chloe, over at Baking Envy a review as well. 

    With warm wishes for your home, 
    from the husMait home kitchen.

     

     

    Cookie Cutters as Cookie Molds

    We lived in Hong Kong for 30 years, longer than I lived in the United States!         In that time Chinese New Year became a traditional holiday for our family, rivaling the festivities of Christmas. This year Chinese New Year falls on Feb 12, 2021, and it begins on the evening before is celebrated for at least 3 days and often longer. It is a time of elaborate dinners, gift-giving, trips to the Victoria Park Flower Market, Dim Sum, and Lion Dances. 

    Food is central to Chinese New Year traditions in the way it is created, gifted, and consumed.  There are customs and traditions going back generations in regards to the variety, shape, and color of the food. So when I saw Helen Au’s Vegan Chinese Almond Cookies I knew I had to make them. 

    Unfortunately, I do not have traditional wooden almond cookie molds. A quick google search will show you what I am talking about. However, as I was contemplating this challenge I came up with an amazing cheat! The basic premise of a cookie mold is to compress the sandy texture dough into a solid shape that can be turned out onto a baking surface. While living in HK for 30 years I became very adept at substitution and ingenuity- So I just reverse-engineered, and used what I have to create a mold - the base of the 1/3 cup Stainless Steel Measuring Cup fits perfectly into the second smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters and the 1/8 Stainless Steel Cup can be used in the smallest Stainless Steel Cookie Cutter. 

      
    I assembled my ingredients and equipment.
    I prepared the recipe according to directions and then put 1/4 cup of mixture into the second largest cookie cutter and took the 1/3 cup and pressed very hard into the dough. Turning the cookie cutter over and gently released the cookie onto the husMait baking mat. 
       
    So while I did not end up with the lovely traditional design on the top of the cookies, this method gave the cookies the lovely scalloped edges of a traditional Chinese Almond Cookie. This recipe is amazingly simple and delicious. The batch I baked yesterday is nearly finished and a good friend said “They taste very authentic. Yummy.  They go well with coffee.”

    恭喜發財  Kung Hei Fat Choi!

    With warm wishes for your home,
    from the husMait home kitchen.

    husMait products used:

    Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters - Set of 6Stainless Steel Measuring Cups,

    Essential Bakeware Set 5 Piece Set - also available individually: Silicone Baking Mat, Silicone Rolling Mat, Set of 2 Flour ScraperStainless Steel Measuring Spoons, Set of 3 Melamine Mixing Bowl

    Cinnamon Roll Energy Bites

    Today in our husMait Home kitchen we tried a recipe from an Instagram friend Hannah Bostdorff @Hannahharvestinghealth. 

    The Silicone Flour Scraper made a perfect mixing tool as there was no sticking and the shape is perfect in my hand and easily runs around the sides and and the base of the bowl. 

     
    The Stainless Steel Cookie Scoop made forming equal balls quick and easy! 
    Here is Hannah’s recipe for Cinnamon Energy Bites
    Ingredients
    • 1/3 cup almond flour
    • 1/4 cup coconut flour
    • 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
    • 2 Tbsp honey
    • 1/4 cup nut butter

    We adjusted the texture of the bite by adding 3-4 Tablespoons of unsweetened shredded coconut plus 1 Tablespoon water. The addition gave a lovely chew to the bite.

    Mix everything together and separate into 8 balls. Roll in extra coconut flour and refrigerate.  

    Come by our Instagram and watch our full tutorial on  IGTV  by clicking here.  

    Warm wishes from husMait home to your home.  

     

    almond cookies

    Almond Joy Cookies

    It was not like usual chocolate cookies that I thought of always as non-nutritional as a harm to health. A sudden curve appears unintentionally on my face, and I said: “It has almonds?” She replied, smiling: “Yes, almonds with no flour, no butter, and no eggs!" I didn’t believe my ears how you could bake cookies without any flour, butter, and sugar? So, for confirmation, I asked her again, and she repeated the same. I also asked her about other ingredients.

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