Recipe: Pretzel Toffee

by Ikhlas // 22 February, 2016 // 1 Comment

For those of you who have been following my blog for awhile now, you might know of my love for Sally’s Baking Addiction.

So many of my favourite recipes on the blog are from her site. I’ve loved her simple recipes and clear and easy to follow instructions ever since I stumbled upon her blog. She often used to comment on my adaptations of her recipes and also responds to questions about the recipes, proving that she’s also super helpful. Her site not only has so many amazing recipes, but also tips and tricks on how to grow your food blog and also tips on food photography, which I definitely need!

Back in November, I had the pleasure of meeting her! Sally was on book tour for her second book, Sally’s Candy Making Addiction, and while I hadn’t purchased her book, I was still dying to meet her. So I went to her book talk, which was held at a Baking Convention. That’s where she made this recipe. She had samples for the audience and when I took a bite of this easy Pretzel Toffee, I knew I had to make it!

(On a side note, she also remembered my blog and who I was! I also got to take a picture with her :D)

So fast-forward to almost 3 months later and I’ve finally made it! Lol. This pretzel toffee recipe is in her cookbook, which I still don’t have yet, but I used her Saltine Toffee recipe to jog my memory of the steps. I made it this weekend and I just can’t stop snacking on it…it’s SO good!

I never imagined making candy because it seems like it’s such a daunting process, but as usual, Sally’s recipe was so easy. If you love the combination of salty and sweet, you’re going to love this simple Pretzel Toffee. So what are you waiting for? Check it out! Continue reading →

Recipe: Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Ikhlas // 14 February, 2016 // 1 Comment

Hello friends!

So I finally have a new recipe to share with you all: Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies. I know, it’s been ages right?

I’ve actually been making these for almost a year but just didn’t have a chance to take any photos to share the recipe with you all. The magic all comes from the deep dish cookie pan that I bought. I’ve been lusting after this pan for a few years now, especially since discovering that it can make deep dish cookies! I think it’s official name is the Muffin Top pan and you can get it pretty much anywhere. If you don’t have the pan, you can obviously just bake the cookies in a regular pan.

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are my go-to comfort dessert. I love having frozen cookie dough in my freezer which I can then thaw and make cookies whenever I feel like. I’d rather do that than bake 2 to 3 dozen cookies and have them sitting around the house tempting me. This is supposed to help me practice better self-control, but that’s in an ideal world…

As you know, I’m a creature of consistency and am a big believer of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I’ve had my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe perfected for years; it’s consistency awesome and I haven’t felt the need to try any others. But lately my eye has been wandering on Pinterest and a few recipes have caught my eye. While I love my soft, chewy, and puffy cookies, I’ve been craving a bit of crunchier, crispier cookie. This recipe didn’t actually produce a crispy cookie, but an incredibly thick and chewy cookie. And it’s all because of the corn starch.

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies

Again, I’ve seen this CCC (Chocolate Chip Cookie) hack of adding corn starch on many blogs. But I can be a snob and previously refused to try it, because, again, I had the perfect recipe. So why mess it up? But when I couldn’t stop drooling over the pictures for this recipe, I decided to give it a try.

And ohmygosh, I’m so glad I did! Because the cookies were so incredibly soft and chewy. The dough was just so buttery and puffy. But don’t take my word for it…check out the recipe below!

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies

Continue reading →

Reaching for the Stars

by Ikhlas // 11 February, 2016 // 1 Comment

flying

This post has been on my mind for awhile, but I’m only finally getting a chance to write it. Last week, I finally had the chance to watch The Martian. I’d been dying to see it since it first came out last year but never got the chance.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it also made me think a lot. About reaching for more. About never giving up, no matter the odds against you. About pursuing your dreams.

It reminded me of my obsession as a kid with being an astronaut. As my friend Anum would tell you, when I was younger, I wanted to be EVERYTHING. I could never pick just one thing. I wanted to do it all. I wanted to be an artist, an inventor, an astronaut, an author, a teacher, and probably a few more things that I can’t remember now.

Some of those things I tried to pursue but didn’t end up going through with. But some of them, I never even bothered to try. I gave up without even bothering to try.

So why didn’t I become an astronaut? I realised that you needed to be good at math and science to even think about pursuing it. And those two subjects were (and still are) my greatest weaknesses. And so I abandoned my dream of looking at the Earth from space because I didn’t think I could do well in math and science.

This isn’t a post about my regret of not becoming an astronaut. It’s instead about my sudden realisation that the fear of failure has kept me back from so many things in life. I’m so scared of failing that I don’t even bother trying. Instead of landing flat on my face and making a fool out of myself, I take the safe route and don’t even bother jumping. It’s a crippling fear that I have. Giving up even before trying is a pretty sad way to live your life, I realise that now.

I have so many ideas in my mind, but they rarely make it out of my mind and into the world. They remain locked up in a cage inside of my mind, because to me, there’s a very small chance that they’ll actually be successful.

I’ve always been a thinker, rather than a doer. I’ve given up on so many of my dreams without even thinking twice about it, because I’m so scared that they won’t fail, but by not pursuing them, they fail anyways. It’s like what JK Rowling says, “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might not have lived at all- in which case, you fail by default.”

I have no idea how to change this about myself. The fact that I’ve realised it is a pretty big step, at least I think so.

If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book, Mark Watney in The Martian is pretty much left for dead on Mars. He has a very small rate of survival, but he does everything in his power to try and keep himself alive. Even though he doesn’t know if anyone will ever come back for him, he puts his mind to use and tries to be creative. Because when faced with the choice between life and death, he chooses life. And he keeps trying. Even if you don’t make it, you still deserve to be proud of yourself, because at least you’re trying. And trying is doing something.

So I’m going to keep trying. And I hope you do too.

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas

Moving

by Ikhlas // 30 January, 2016 // 2 Comments

View from my backyard

Hello friends.

So after making the goal to blog more this year, I went and flopped on that goal. Oops!

The reason why I haven’t been blogging? I was moving! I just moved into a new house and was so crazy busy with that that I think a few days went by that I didn’t even touch my computer ( a new record for me).

I’ve settled in a bit but there’s still organizing to do. I absolutely LOVE organizing so that’s the best part for me. For now, I’ve literally just dumped things into cupboards and closets, just to get rid of the piles of boxes everywhere, but have yet to actually sort them out. It’s kind of crazy living among such disorganization, but I know it’ll take time. A home doesn’t get built in a day!

With that being said, I love my new place. It’s so nice to have room for everything. I also have about a million ideas for decorating and furniture and paint. I know, it’s not all going to happen overnight but it’s still so exciting! In the past few months, I’ve become obsessed with buying frames and have built up a collection. I can’t wait to make a gallery wall above the couch to showcase some prints and artwork. 😀

I’ve also already run out of space in my closet. -_- I’ve unpacked all my clothes and accessories, and my closet barely opens. For now I’ve stashed things under my bed, so I can figure out where to keep things but for now, I have no idea where anything is.

Our house is a bit old and there’s a little bit of updating to do. I’ve never taken on home renovation projects (they’ve always been my dad’s projects), but I’m excited to give them a try! There’s something fun about getting rid of the old and updating things. It’s also fun to pick things out yourself, like vanities and cabinets, and decide on the look of a room yourself, instead of sticking with what the builder gave.

The walls are all a boring beige colour and I want to paint them. I keep being discouraged from painting, since apparently it’s a lot of work but I still want to try. I definitely won’t do the whole house, but I do want to paint one wall in my bedroom and one wall in the living room. I think it’ll be enough to liven up the space a bit.

Oh and did I mention that everyday I get a sunset view?! It’s absolutely breathtaking! I’m sure in the summer it’ll be even more spectacular. 😀

Anyways, that’s what’s new with me! I hope you all are doing well 🙂

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas

Baking Challenges

by Ikhlas // 15 January, 2016 // 3 Comments

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I have a confession guys: I’m a wimp.

I chicken out when it comes to trying to bake new kinds of food. Sure, I don’t mind trying new recipes OF THE SAME KIND OF FOOD. You might have noticed this on the blog, since I have oh so many recipes of cookies and bars, since those are the two things I naturally gravitate towards.

Given that it’s a new year, I wanted to set myself some baking challenges that I hope to accomplish by the end of the year. So many bakers I know or read about online are self-taught and it gives me faith that I too can expand my baking knowledge by just practicing. 🙂

Some of you experienced bakers might laugh at my so-called challenges, because some of them are probably very simple, but I have yet to master them. But I’m ready to get out of baking shell! So here are some of the things I’m itching to try this year.

GANACHE

I know chocolate ganache is supposed to be easy because it only uses 2 ingredients, but I’ve always been a little frightened of it. There’s so many different ways it can be utilized, but I’m most excited to make chocolate ganache tarts and also try it for frosting purposes.

YEAST MADE THINGS

Ok so I know this is a bit vague, but it’s meant to encompass anything and everything made with yeast. I’m afraid of it; it just seems like an ingredient you have to be very careful with because it’s ALIVE. This fear has kept me from trying to make doughs or breads or rolls of any kind, but I’m ready to change that! Homemade cinnamon buns are high on this list. I absolutely love cinnamon buns from restaurants, but haven’t ever made my own and that’s mostly because of the yeast and all the rising action. But I think I’ve found a recipe I like, and so hopefully once I master those, I can try other yeast recipes!

CAKE

If you don’t know this, I tend to shy away from making cake (mostly because I’m not the most patient or neat person and frosting isn’t my natural talent). Layer cakes with buttercream and frosting freak me out, but I’ve realised that those aren’t the only kind of cakes out there! My husband loves pound cake and so I’m on a quest to find a good pound cake recipe for him. My mom also makes some of the yummiest cakes ever: a butter cake and a coffee cake, that I want to learn. Recently I had the fudgiest and moistest chocolate cake of my life and I am on a mission to find a recipe for chocolate cake that yields such a moist crumb. It was HEAVENLY. So cake is a big goal for this year.

MOLTEN LAVA CAKES

So this has been on my recipe wishlist for quite some time but I haven’t had a chance to make them yet. It’s such a rich and decadent dessert, and I love the idea of having cold ice cream on top of the hot centre. Oooh, just thinking about it is making my mouth water. -_-

JAM

This last one isn’t quite a baking challenge as much as it is a making challenge, but I am obsessed with the idea of making my own jam! I’m dying to go strawberry picking and make my own homemade jam out of it. The process seems quite tedious and tiring, but I’m determined to try it this year! When I was younger, my aunt made a batch of homemade strawberry jam and gave it to all of us and it was honestly one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. You could just taste summer lingering in the berries inside the jam. It was so good.

And that’s my list! So I have a lot more things that I’m dying to try, but I thought I’d keep the list nice and short so I don’t overwhelm myself.

I can’t promise that you’ll see all of these things here on the blog, especially since many of them will be first attempts, but if they go well, hey, you never know!

If you bake, what are you dying to try out? And if you don’t bake, what are you dying to eat? Lol.

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas

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