Frosted Sugar cookies

I prepared this frosted sugar cookies for the Christmas feast.
I chose to make butter cream icing in advance and refrigerated it for easy handling.
It is like an easy breeze to make and great for kids.

Ingredients:
granulated sugar - 1 cup
unsalted butter - 1 cup
milk -3 tablespoon
vanilla essence -1teaspoon
egg-1
all purpose flour-3 cup
baking powder-1 1/2 teaspoon
salt 1/2 teaspoon
sugar a little to sprinkle.

Method:
Beat the egg , milk, and vanilla essence .
In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter with the beaten egg mixture.Blend well.
Add flour, baking powder and salt to the mixture and make it into a dough.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1 hour for easier handling.
Preheat oven to 400 F .
Make small balls and flaten them on silverfoil or ungreased cookie sheet over the oven tray.
( place each cookie 1 inch apart)
sprinkle sugar over the cookies before baking.
Bake at 400 F for 5-9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown.
Immediately remove from cookie sheets and decorate as desired.
Makes 6 dozen cookies.


Frosting:
Unsalted butter - 1/2 bar (5 tbsp)
confectionery sugar - 2 cups
milk - 1 tbsp
cookie sprinkles - 1/2 cup
vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Cool the cookies completely before frosting.
Mix softened butter with confectionery sugar, milk and vanilla essence.
This can be of a thick consistency like a chapathi dough.
Spread the white icing uniformly all over the cookies by using a knife or icing tool.
Then decorate the cookies with sprinkles .

Frosted sugar cookies is ready!
Store them in air tight box and it will last for a month.

Frosted sugar cookies goes to FIC : White event in Yummy food.

Malar of Kitchen Tantra has tagged me for this baking event. Thanks for tagging me for this noble cause dear.

The following is quoted from the Breadline Africa Bake-Off site:
On 15 October, we launched The Breadline Africa Worldwide Blogger Bake Off. The Blogger Bake Off is an online campaign that challenges blogger to get involved by baking bread, and then acting by donating to end poverty. And then, challenge their readers and five other blogger to do the same.With the money raised, we will be supporting grass roots community projects aimed at ending poverty and hunger in Africa. We’ll be placing container kitchens, vegetable gardens and more in poor communities, sending emergency food relief where needed
and helping these poor communities to help themselves.

The rules for blogger are outlined below:
If you are tagged, copy and paste the rules into your post.
Bake bread, do something you would’t normally do, and blog about it. Upload your picture and recipe.
Give dough, donate to Breadline Africa and help us end poverty.
Tag five blogger, and ping us so we know you’ve done so.

The person who raises the most funds will get to name a Breadline Africa community kitchen and win $500 Amazon Vouchers.
There are also three minor prizes of $250 Amazon vouchers for people who receive the most votes in the following categories: Most Unusual Recipe; Most Nutritious Recipe and Most Traditional Recipe.
Breadline Africa is a registered charity in South Africa that is seeking to put an end to poverty in South Africa and further afield in Africa. Their aim is to break the cycle of poverty and help communities to achieve long term self-sustainability. Breadline Africa was founded in 1993 by social workers and communities in South Africa with minded colleagues in Europe, (who were well placed to source out donations). They are geared to help fund small ground level projects in Africa which are most likely to succeed with financial help.

On Blog Action Day Breadline Africa launched their Worldwide Blogger Bake-Off campaign. The aim is to raise $1 million in funds for a project to convert shipping containers into locations for food production and distribution in Africa. It is hoped that these sustainable community kitchens will not only provide food such as bread and soup to those in need, but also opportunities for skills development within poor communities.This bake-off gives us baking blogger the power to make a difference in this world. What do we do? Bake bread. Give Dough. Feed Africa. Vals says, "You can sign up for the campaign, make a donation, upload your bread recipes and document your culinary adventures in the media center to spread the word. You don't have to donate money but simply just mention the campaign and create awareness."

I am tagging 5 of my friends for this event.
Premy
Saraswathy
Usha Nandhini
Akal's saapadu
Shama
Best wishes my friends!

Wheat Halwa

While talking about wheat halwa , many will not be aware of its varieties.
There are two kinds of wheat halwa.
One made in a glossy form called Tirunelveli halwa and the other an opaque one.
The glossy Tirunelveli Halwa requires samba wheat (a red color wheat), more soaking time and a lot of ghee.
I did not plan in advance to make an halwa , so I could not make a Tirunelveli halwa. Instead I prepared the ordinary wheat halwa that can be seen in any other part of India.

Ingredients:
Ordinary Whole wheat (wheat grains) - 1 lb
Sugar - 4 cups
lemon - 1/2
Cardamom - 4 nos
Ghee + oil - 1 cup
Red food-color - 1 pinch
Cashew - 1/2 cup chopped (garnishing)

Method:
Wash and soak the wheat for 12 hours. (overnight)
Next morning grind it in a blender by adding 1 cup of water. Spread a muslin cloth over a sieve and Strain repeatedly to get milk.
Grind again with some water and strain again till we end up with the husk.
Let it stand undisturbed for 6 hours. Thick milk gets settled at the bottom.
Take the clear lean milk above . Use both milks and discard the sediment.
Add lime juice, sugar, red color (not necessary) and mix well with the wheat milk.
Pour it in to a thick bottomed pan and heat till the liquid starts to solidify.
Then reduce flame and keep stirring continuously.
Add the ghee+ oil when the halwa starts thickening. Add the cardamom powder. Mix well.
Cook till you can roll the halwa into a ball with your fingers.
Add chopped cashews along with the hot halwa and switch off flame.
Spread on a greased plate and allow to cool .Then cut it into desired shape.

Wheat halwa is ready !

Wheat halwa goes to celebrate the Christmas feast event with Purva.

I would like to thank my friend Varsha for passing me this cute award.

Thank you Varsha!
I pass this award to my friends below.

Premy's cakes

Akal's saapadu

Usha Nandhini

Saraswathy


Congrats!