When Recipes Come Together

Duet of Cookie recipes, with few of my favorite Asian ingredients!

One of many parts of a Private Chef’s job, is to provide snacks. Some indulgent, some nourishing, but they all have to be delicious! With my upbringing, I naturally gravitate towards Asian ingredients that are distinct, and/or add health components to the finished products. I also love finding new or forgotten, or hyper localized products while scouring markets for work and on vacation.

I have a soft spot for all things with Kinako powder, or- Toasted Soybean flour. We would have this ‘Magic-Dust’ to coat the freshly pounded Mochi during the new years. I know I should have eaten slowly, but the Peanut-like roasty flavors mixed with sugar, and the silky gooey Mochi coated in were too much temptation for this little glutton! I would wolf down the Kinako covered Mochi, and eventually cough out the Kinako, like Godzilla that sputters dust, instead of a Kaiju busting beam from his mouth. Everyone would laugh. Hey- I still get THAT excited about delicious food. Can’t help it.

Aside from Mochi, Kinako is used in bread, cakes, smoothies, and even Ice creams. The nutritional blessing they have is astounding; High in Fiber, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Polyphenols, and other antioxidants. It’s also gluten free, and it continues to provide a plant-based protein boost to the masses, as it has for generations.

This product was culinary Magic, when it was first introduced to me by my roommate in culinary school. He was from York, PA- and he would bring this concoction called ‘Apple Butter’, from the Amish community nearby. From the looks of it, I thought it was JAM, and I was also told that there is no dairy involved. What kind of snake oil is this? I reluctantly tried it, and BOOM! It was sensational! It’s like extremely concentrated Apple Pie in every bite. Once it was introduced, I wanted to have it with everything; Toast, Pancakes, Waffles, Ice Cream, .. Possibilities were endless! It has its origins from the Middle Ages in Europe- Germany, Belgium and Dutch have been credited for bringing this Apple conserving technique to the Americas, Channel Islands, and eastern Europe. Basically, any region that had Apple trees made sure to cook down their excess harvest to prepare Apple butter. They’re a great source for fiber, vitamin C, and great aid for digestion. It’s a win win!

Muesli was never on my radar. Health-conscious clients really really seem to love this stuff. It’s dried or whole grain oats that are mixed with nuts, dried fruits, etc. It could be soaked overnight with Milk or fruit juices. It could be eaten like an American Cereal as well, or with Yogurt. As an alternative, I began tinkering with snacks that incorporate this stuff that sits lonesome in the corner cabinet.

Malaysian Coffee, by contrast to the Muesli, is not in the ‘healthy realm’, but boy is it so good! Especially the legendary Ipoh white Coffee. In Malaysia, they have such a vast coffee culture. There are so many variations of Kopi; Kopi-si, Kopi-O, Kopi-Teh, Kopi-siu-siu, Kopi-kosong, Kopi-cham, and much more. I often avoid sweetened milk coffee drinks, but in the steambath from hell level of tropical heat, I get Kopi, with a bit of sweet condensed milk, and ice. The Robusta and Liberica beans are roasted in Margarine, which adds to the potent caramelized flavor in the cup that doesn’t budge with addition of milk or sugar. If there’s A/C and a place to sit down? I would get the hot version, with the aerated foam on top. I had a different version every single day when I was in Malaysia, and I so wanted to bring back the experience. Luck would have it, many famous Kopitiams have instant versions of their Kopis, so I brought bags of the powdered substances in my luggage, which security had to check to make sure that they are not narcotics. Nowadays, I do take breaks from my home espresso duties from time to time to prepare these instant Kopi, and indulge. Always brings back great travel memories!.. But do not look at the list of ingredients. Unlike the aforementioned health forward ingredients above- this one needs to be taken in moderation. Man, it’s so good though!.. Well, who’s to say I can only use the Kopi powders for indulgent drinks, right? I’ve made custards with them (*Malaysian coffee creme brulee was so good!*), baked them into a Marble cake, and Madeleines too.

So, all of these ingredients.. What to do with them? I have implemented them into two cookie recipes below. They’re easy, fun, and delicious. Nourishing too! Check them out!!

Double Chocolate Muesli Cookies, with Malaysian White Coffee

Ingredients

Melted 70% chocolate- 1 Cup

Light brown sugar- 6 Tablespoons

Butter softened- 6 Tablespoons

Whole Egg, beaten- 1

Vanilla extract- 2 teaspoons

AP flour- ½ cup

Dutch process Cocoa powder- 2 Tablespoons

Old town Malaysian white coffee powder- 1 package (35g pk)

Baking soda- ½ teaspoon

Salt- 1/3 teaspoon

Muesli- 1 ½ cup

56% Chocolate chips- 1 cup

Instructions;

1. Preheat the oven to 350F

2. On a double boiler, melt chocolate

3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, cocoa, coffee, salt and soda. Stir this into the creamed mixture to combine well. Fold in the melted chocolate. Stir in the muesli and chocolate chips.

4. Place a Tablespoon of the chocolate dough onto the parchment lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches in between each.

5. Bake for 6 minutes and rotate. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until set and cooked through. Leave to cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, then on a wire rack. Enjoy them on their own... Or with some Kopi/coffee! Enjoy!!

Chocolate chip Kinako cookies with Apple butter

Ingredients

whole wheat flour- 1 ½ cup

Kinako powder- ⅓ cup

Baking soda- ½ teaspoon

Salt- 1 teaspoon

Brown butter, room temp- ⅓ cup

Unsalted butter, softened- ⅓ cup

Apple butter- ½ cup

Granulated sugar- ⅓ cup

Light brown sugar- ½ cup

1 large egg

Vanilla extract- ½ teaspoon

Dark chocolate (64% cacao), roughly chopped- 1 cup

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, kinako, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butters and sugars on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add in the egg and the vanilla extract to mix well.

4. Add the dry ingredients in several additions, mixing just until incorporated. Fold the chocolate chunks into the dough; wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator to rest.

5. Portion out the chilled dough, onto sheet trays lined with Silicone, or parchment.

6. Bake for 6 minutes, and rotate. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until golden-brown. Cool on a wire rack, then Enjoy!