Whole Wheat Cinnamon Nutmeg Cookies

Can you believe tomorrow is the first of December?? Wow, this year flew by so so fast and it has been a good one for me.

Since December is a special month for me, The Cake Baby celebrates it with cookie baking. If you are a new reader, you should check out my cookie craziness from last year. And let's start this cookie month by baking some wonderful whole wheat cookies. Because whole wheat means healthy, right? And healthy means you can eat a dozen of them in one sitting, right? 

These cookies are so amazing if you love cinnamon and nutmeg. I even baked a batch for my friend and she loved it. You can never go wrong with a home-made gift.

You need:

Recipe adapted from here.

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tea spoon baking powder

1 tea spoon baking soda

dash of salt

1 tea spoon cinnamon

1 tea spoon nutmeg

110 grams butter, room temperature

1 egg

1 tea spoon vanilla

1 cup brown sugar

2 table spoons milk

zest of one lemon

For the topping:

1 table spoon granulated sugar

1 tea spoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200°C and line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Strain flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium sized bowl and set aside. In another, large bowl, cream the butter and add the sugar and vanilla. Beat well, then add egg, milk and the lemon zest. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Now use a tea spoon to measure the amount of dough you need and form a ball with your hands. Set the balls on parchment paper and use a fork to flatten them a bit. Then sprinkle with the topping (just mix the sugar with cinnamon) and bake for 10 minutes. When baked, let cool on a wire rack.

Carrot Cake

First of all, I have to apologize to every one, and especially to my blog, for being absent for such a long time. I was sick and couldn't even stand straight, yet write a blog entry. But, I am back and ready for blogging again! 

My dad bought some amazing organic carrots the other day and they were so beautiful and tasty. I am a great carrot cake lover and when I saw those gorgeous carrots I had to make a carrot cake. What I don't like that much is the butter frosting you can see on so many cakes and cupcakes. I mean, frostings have to be light and fluffy, not buttery and rich. So, here is my ultimate cake frosting which I love to add to so many cakes and cupcakes because it is so light and tasty. The special ingredient is Greek yoghurt. I am a Greek yoghurt addict and just love to experiment with it. As a matter of fact, did you know you can substitute almost every oil/butter/cheese with the same amount of Greek yoghurt? You should try it. But first, try this gorgeous carrot cake.

Recipe adapted from here.

You need:

For the cake:

2 cups flour

2 tea spoons baking soda

2 tea spoons baking powder

1/2 tea spoon salt

3 tea spoons ground cinnamon

1/2 tea spoon nutmeg

4 eggs

1 1/4 cup oil

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 tea spoons vanilla

3 cups grated carrots

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugars, vanilla, and eggs together and blend well with a mixer.

In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Gradually add the flour to the sugar and egg mixture and mix well.

Stir in the grated carrots. Pour into prepared pan.  

Bake for 40-45 minutes.

Let it cool and spread the frosting on top.

For the frosting:

1 cup Greek Yoghurt

2 table spoons honey

Mix the yoghurt with the honey and spread evenly over cooled cake. Enjoy!