Butter cookies

A tea always relaxes me after a long day. While I'm catching up on my favourite tv shows I like to drink some tea and snack on some butter cookies. It is just the perfect combo for me. Watching tv shows and eating butter cookies have always been my guilty pleasure.

I had my preferred brands at the stores, but a few years ago I realized that I can make my own butter cookies and ever since if I have time I choose to bake my own. 

To my surprise, butter cookies are a favourite here in Portugal, too, I discovered them in the supermarket. You can see them in the picture below. But let's start home-baking.

INGREDIENTS:
125g of butter (room temperature)
240g of sugar
2 eggs
340g of flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

For decoration: 
150g of chocolate (black or milk) 
almonds

Preheat your oven to 175°C (347°F) and line a baking pan with parchment paper. Get your room temperature butter and sugar, beat them together until they are fluffy. Then add your eggs one at a time and also the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl fold together your flour and baking powder and then mix them with your dry ingredients. (If you feel like it is not coming together then add more flour). Rest this for 40 minutes in . After 40 minutes put your dough on a working surface (put flour on it first) and get your rolling pin and roll it until it is a 0,5-1 cm thick. Then get your cookie cutter and press them on the rolled out dough (I used a circle shape for this). Transfer them on to your pan and bake them for 10 minutes, not more, because they dry easily. Let them cool completely. Then melt your chocolate in the microwave and dip the cookies half way into the chocolate. If you'd like you can put almond on top of your cookies.

These cookies taste a hundred times better then you would get in the store. If you try this recipe be sure to write a comment or take a picture of it and upload it to instagram using the #katasbreakfastcookies ( @breakfast_at_katas ).

Zucchini and bacon pasta

If I had to eat one food for the rest of my life it would probably be pasta. It is one of the easiest and most delicious dishes. I make pasta for my family a lot because the pasta is done in 10 minutes and when you are making the sauce you can get creative. My trick is to put all my favourite vegetables in tomato sauce with some bacon or ham and that is it. I believe that you can never go wrong with pasta.

INGREDIENTS: 
250g pasta
1 clove of a garlic
1 zucchini
250g tomato souce 
3 strips of bacon (or ham)
salt, pepper and oregano 

Add some salt to boiling water, and cook the pasta in it. Meanwhile heat a large pan and fry your garlic in some sunflower oil until they are golden brown. Then add your zucchini and season them with some salt and pepper to your taste. When the zucchinis are a bit brown and soft then put them on one side of the pan and put the bacon (I used bacon which didn't have too much fat) on the other side and fry until they are golden brown. Mix the zucchini and the bacon together in the pan. Add your tomato souce and for a really nice taste, some oregano. Fry that for a few minutes and then add your cooked pasta into the pan along with a few tablespoon of pastawater. Let it fry for a while (a few minutes) and then serve it on a plate and add some cheese on the top. You are ready to serve. 

( this makes 4 servings) 

This pasta recipe is easy but has a little twist with the zucchini. I hope you make this recipe for your family and if you do please leave a comment or upload a picture on instagram with the #katasbreakfastpasta. (@breakfast_at_katas).

Omelette for breakfast

On weekdays in the morning I'm always in a rush so I don't have time to make a proper breakfast. However, in the weekends I finally have time to make breakfast. I love it, when my family sits around the breakfast table, waiting for the delicious omlette that i prepared for them. If we are talking about a good weekend breakfast then in my case most of the time, it means omelette. I usually make two different omelettes for my family depending on what they choose.

For this week I am going to share with you two of my favourite omlette recipes. One of them is for the people who like their omelette simple and the other is for those fetta cheese lovers like me. :) 

1.OMELETTE, INGREDIENTS :  

2 eggs
a slice of ham

a slice of cheese(whatever you prefer) 

3 cherry tomatoes

arugula (rukkola)

some salt and pepper for seasoning

2.OMELETTE,INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs
a slice of ham

3 slices of fetta chees

3 cherry tomatoes

spinach leaves
some salt and pepper for seasoning

1.OMELETTE

First, beat your eggs with a fork and season them with some salt and pepper. Heat up your pan with some oil. Meanwhile, slice your cherry tomatoes. Pour the eggs into the pan and whait until it thickens a bit and then put your ham, cheese, tomatoes and arugula on one side of the omelette. When it is not runy anymore fold the omelette in half with your spatula and cook each side for half a minute. To decorate you can put some arugula and tomatoe on it. 

2.OMELETTE 

Repeat the same process, but this time put ham, fetta chees, cherrytomoes and spinach leaves on one side of the omelette. Fold it in half again and fry for a half minute. You can decorate this omelette with some spinach leaves and tomato.

(these make one omelette)

I would love to see you guys recreating these omelettes and if you do please upload the pictures on instagram with the #katasbreakfastomelette. (instagram: breakfast_at_katas)

Chocolate brownie

I have been living in our new house for a month now and I wanted to bake something (as usual) that brings back the feeling of our old home in Hungary. What is better and easier than a brownie? Also, my family loves every recipe that involves chocolate so they were more than happy to hear about my treat I've planned for them. I make this recipe very often because it is - as I said before - easy and it is very chocolaty. 
The best thing about this brownie is that for most of your measurements you'll only need a mug. Decide which mug you want and use all through the recipe. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 mug of flour

1 mug of (unsweetened) cocoa powder

1/2 mug of caster sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 eggs

4 tablespoons of milk

100g of unsalted butter (room temperature)
80g of chocolate

For decoration: 
1 or 2 banana (depends on how much you prefer)
black or white chocolate (a few squares)

Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) and butter your pan ( I used a 15x20 or you could use a 20x30 one too). In a bowl mix together your dry ingredients ( flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and cinnamon) and set it aside. Put your butter and chocolate above water bath and melt them together. In a different bowl whisk together your caster sugar and 2 eggs . Pour your chocolat and egg mixture together ( wait until the chocolate cools down so you don't cook your eggs. ) Lastly add a few tablespoons of milk (if you feel that your batter is too dry than add more milk). Bake this for 30 minutes until the center is nearly baked. (I baked mine in a glass pan and it baked slower!)Don't let the brownies cool when their done. Cut them into squares and put a chocolate square on each (that way the hot brownie will melt the chocolate.)Be careful when you cut the brownie because it is very tricky. I put black and a white chocolate squares on my brownies and some thin sliced bananas on the side.

I hope you'll try this recipe and like it. If you bake these brownies be sure to write a comment or take a picture of it and upload it to instagram using the #katasbreakfastbrownies ( @breakfast_at_katas ).