baking

Homemade Whole Wheat Raisin Cookies!🍪👩‍🍳❤️‍🩹

Last night I made some yummy cookies. As you know, wheat is a much better alternative to white. Wheat bread and wheat rice are better for you in terms of balancing blood sugar. If you’re going to have a grain, it should be wheat or a darker color, such as Rye. Rye bread also is rich in B vitamins (1, 2, and 3).

I will post some pictures below. I also want to share the recipe in case anyone would like to make them. They came out to 25 cookies all together. What’s great about making a large batch of cookies is you can refrigerate them for up to 1 week and then freeze what you have not consumed for 1-3 months.. I like to put each cookie in its own plastic baggy.

Ingredients:

3/4-1cup of unsalted OR salted butter, and partially melt the butter in a pan

1/4 cup of white sugar

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups of Whole Wheat flour (all purpose flour)

3/4-1 cup of raisins (I used mixed raisins of different kinds)

1/2 tspn of vanilla extract

1/2 tspn salt

1/2 tspn baking soda

AND, this recipe is so easy. STEP 1: basically MIX all ingredients together (in no particular order!). It is fun. Now, there may be excess flour that doesn’t want to mix in. So you will have to add about 1/2 cup to a full cup of water, a little at a time, to smoothen the mixture out.

You want the mixture to have a dough like form but to be smooth enough to scoop onto a cookie sheet. Use parchment paper for best results. Scrape up all the excess flour. You can scoop with a tablespoon, and set the cookies about 1-2 inches apart.

This should come out to 20-25 cookies.

Voila! You have Whole Wheat Raisin cookies! By the way, chopped walnuts would be great to add too but are not necessary. It’s optional. Some people like to add 1 cup of uncooked cooking oats. Oats are also great for helping to regulate blood sugar!

Bake at 375-400 F. You may have to go back and forth between the temperature. Check on them every 2 minutes. They only need 10-12 minutes. But cooking times will vary. When the outer rims are golden they are done. But don’t burn! Once you leave them to sit for at least an hour, they will continue to form.

Enjoy!🍪🍪👩‍🍳

About Zina

Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT

Whole Wheat Flour Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies!🍪🍪👩‍🍳

Yesterday night I made homemade whole wheat chocolate chip walnut cookies and they are sooo delicious! Yumm! Since whole wheat is a much better alternative to white flour, I would like to share my recipe to put a health spin on baking. The next time you make homemade cookies, you may want to try whole wheat flour yourselves! It is better for you than white flour. 🍪🍪☕️

This recipe calls for:

3 cups of whole wheat flour

2 tspns baking soda

16 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white granulated sugar (optional)

3/4 tspn salt

2 eggs

2 tspns vanilla extract

8 ounces of chocolate chips

2 cups crushed walnuts

First, you whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Put in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter, sugar(s), eggs, and vanilla, and these don’t need to be too well blended just combine. Oops, don’t forget to add the walnuts and chocolate chips also!

Then, add the flour mix from the separate bowl. Now that all ingredients are in one bowl, use a wooden or regular spoon to combine and mix them together.

The mixture may seem a little dough like and hard to combine at first. Here’s the trick: add up to a half cup of water (as much as needed but not too much!) to moisten the combination of all the ingredients. Use your hand to knead. Put the mixture into cookie dough form.

You can even add extra flour and extra water to the combo mix to make more cookies. I added 2-3 cups extra flour and a little more water! It came out to 43 cookies!

Scoop the cookie dough (1-2 tablespoon sizes) onto oven trays covered with parchment paper, and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 F. Then move the trays around to rotate cookies, bake for an additional 8-10 minutes. The edges should be golden brown!🍪👩‍🍳

Then let them cool on oven racks for at least an hour. Refrigerate. You can even freeze them for up to a month!🍪☕️🌰

About Zina

Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT

Homemade Whole Wheat Walnut Cake!🥮🌾🌰

Baking has always been a favorite past time since I was a kid. At home they’d call me ‘Betty Crocker.’ As an adult I’ve grown more into the baking art and really enjoy embracing my ethnic side with the foods I make!🫒

They said it couldn’t be done, but I did it. Homemade wheat walnut cake from scratch! It’s never been done without white flour as far as I know. Mom was proud. I altered this traditional recipe to make it healthier. It is delicious! Even more delicious than the all-purpose flour version.

I have to be original and think of healthier methods. I hope I see posts from people in the future who have swapped the all purpose white or self rising flour for whole wheat cakes.

I altered the recipe a bit. Since it’s a foreign food, I was able to locate a few people who made this and one even attached a video. I didn’t follow the exact measurements. The better you get with baking the more you just know what to do.

Here is my own recipe:

It contains 3 and a 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour, 3 eggs, two teaspoons of baking powder, crushed walnuts (as many as you’d like :), a cup of whole milk, a cup and a half of sugar, a cup of butter, a tablespoon of vanilla extract, and I add a little water to make it more of a liquid form. You don’t want the cake mix to seem like dough. You are not making bread, you are making a cake. That’s why I add about a half cup or less of water. You basically mix them all together. I add a little extra flour (about a cup or two) to make two cakes each time. You can slice and freeze the cakes for up to a month. You bake at 350 F for a minimum of 30 minutes. Baking time can take up to an hour. Once your toothpick comes clean you’ll know it’s done.😊🥮☕️

Oh, and it might not be a bad idea to add about a 1/2 cup of vegetable oil into the mix.☺️ It will help the cake to keep that liquid form.

#wheat #wholewheatflour #diabeticfriendly #cake #betterthanwhite #assyrianchaldean #yummyfood #walnuts #tchai #tea #coffee #cake #mediterranean #style #foodie #conossieur 🥮☕️😀

About Zina

#Kleicha The National cookie of Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq)🥖👩‍🍳

Yesterday was fun! As much as I love to cook and bake, you would think I’d already made home made dough before, but yesterday was the first time. I made a traditional cookie called a “kleicha!” I made many, actually. So I have lots to store and freeze up for later. I grew up on these types of foods, so I really enjoyed the art of baking and didn’t mind putting forth the effort into making them. There were three phases: making the dough, filling, and then fill and bake.

Did you know that yeast is good for you? Just one tablespoon of yeast has protein, and high levels of iron, phosphorous, and B vitamins. It’s quite nutritious.🥖👩‍🍳 #bread #yeast #healthyliving

Well after I made the dough, then I had to make the filling. Here it is below: I made ‘walnut kleicha.’ Allspice, sugar, and even some coconut are included!🥥

After that, I had to cut, crimp, fill, and fold. By the time I was done I had about 50 kleicha (cookies)!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I had to brush on the egg wash to the top of each cookie!

Then, FINALLY, bake at 375 F for a total of 25 minutes. Be sure to remove midway from oven and add another layer of egg wash, you can crimp your kleicha again, and then return your tray to the oven so they can fully bake! You want the color to turn into a deep golden brown.👩‍🍳🥖

Here are a few pics of the finished product:

They came out delicious and are perfect to accompany with a cup of tea or coffee for dessert! These cookies are especially made around Christmastime or other major events/holidays.🎄 They are presentable and nice to add to the table if guests are over and a delightful treat! I hope you enjoyed my pics.😃👩‍🍳

About Zina

Zina Hermez has authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s been featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written more than 500 articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT

Happy New Year’s Day!!🌟🎊💫

Happy New Year, friends! As I reflect back on last year it was tough. Definitely not the toughest. But it was in the ‘more difficult’ chapter of my life. Despite of that—I’ve achieved some major milestones. Finally putting my book, ‘Not Without God: Hope In the Storm’ up for pre-order sale feels wonderful! It will be released just before my birthday on Jan. 24.🎂🎉 I also achieved my weight loss goals. Losing around 25 or more pounds between late October to December has felt wonderful too. I am down to the weight I should be and didn’t even have to make a ‘New Year’s Resolution.’

I continue to live my life that consists much of writing, teaching, and caring for others while hoping the Lord continues to shed his light on my path! One favorite piece of advice a wonderful doctor of mine once gave is: ‘The body takes time to catch up to the mind!’ So keep in mind that whatever you have decided on, whether it is to get healthier or be more successful, your body will follow!

Here’s another verse I found that I like:

Often times I feel this. At times I feel I’ve exhausted all options, or like I am simply worn out. But when I ‘keep my eyes on him’ and ask for his guidance he leads me. Psalm 23 reads:

He leads me beside still waters…🌊 He restores my soul!

Lastly, I’d like to display some holiday treats I made yesterday for NYE!💕⛄️🎄🌟

Each cinammon role=140 calories.

About Zina

Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. Recently she was featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written hundreds of articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She is also a major foodie and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm will soon be released on Jan 24!