[For Seniors] Easy Snack Activity Perfect for September

ohagi (sweet rice balls coated with red bean paste)

[22] Ohagi (Sweet Rice Balls) Made with a Rice Cooker (Recipe Included)

September brings the autumn equinoctial week (Ohigan).

Let’s try making ohagi, a familiar dish for Ohigan.

I’m sure many of you will have lots of fond memories to share—how you used to make them often or had them made for you.

Ohagi can seem a bit tricky and fussy since they use glutinous rice and sweet bean paste, but if you cook the glutinous rice in a rice cooker, it’s no trouble at all.

Once it’s cooked, mash it well, cover it with a damp cloth, and let it cool.

It’s also fun to wrap or coat them with your favorites, like red bean paste, roasted soybean flour (kinako), or aonori seaweed.

Using store-bought sweet bean paste makes it even easier.

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chestnut yokan (sweet bean jelly with chestnuts)

How to Make Chestnut Yokan: Easy with just 4 ingredients! Simply mix and chill. We’ll share tips for achieving a smooth texture. -How to make Chestnut Yokan- [Cooking Researcher Yukari]

Chestnuts are one of those seasonal ingredients you start craving in autumn.

Let’s make chestnut yokan using plenty of candied chestnuts.

It’s very easy because we’ll use store-bought smooth red bean paste.

The ingredients are smooth red bean paste (koshian), candied chestnuts, the syrup from the candied chestnuts, water, and powdered agar.

Mix the powdered agar thoroughly into the water so there are no lumps, then heat and bring to a boil.

Powdered agar is hard to dissolve, so make sure to cook it well.

Add the candied chestnut syrup and bring it back to a boil.

Once cooled, add the smooth red bean paste and blend until silky, then pour into a mold.

Add finely chopped candied chestnuts and place whole candied chestnuts on top as a garnish.

Chill until set, and it’s ready.

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Pumpkin Mont Blanc

No oven needed: Pumpkin Mont Blanc—super easy, make lots quickly! Irresistibly delicious microwave pumpkin Mont Blanc.

Autumn is the season when sweet potatoes and pumpkins become especially delicious.

How about making Mont Blanc-style cupcakes by topping store-bought cupcakes with pumpkin cream? Cut the pumpkin flesh into small pieces, place them in a heatproof dish, and microwave until tender, then push through a sieve.

Add sugar and heavy cream to make it smooth, and transfer it to a piping bag.

Whip the remaining heavy cream and place a dollop on top of each cupcake.

Pipe the pumpkin cream around it in a spiral to form a cone shape.

Cut the pumpkin skin into small pieces, microwave until cooked, and use as a topping—the colors look great and the finish is adorable.

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Apple cake

Ready in 5 minutes! Super easy in the microwave! A delicious apple cake with just 4 ingredients! Apple cake

Autumn is the season when fruit tastes especially good.

Among them, apples are a fruit with many varieties and are easy to find.

How about baking a cake using those apples? Even though it’s called a cake, it’s very simple: just four ingredients, and you make it in the microwave instead of the oven.

The ingredients are apples, pancake mix, milk, and eggs.

Mix everything except the apples thoroughly to make the batter, and slice the apples into quarter-moon pieces about 2 mm thick.

Put the apples in a microwave-safe dish, pour the batter evenly over the top, smooth it out, and microwave for about 5 minutes.

Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

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Baked (non-fried) cream donuts

[Only 4 Ingredients] Made with Sliced Bread! How to Make No-Fry Cream Donuts! / [syun cooking]

When you think of donuts, you picture making dough, shaping it into rings, and deep-frying—quite a bit of work for a snack.

But these no-fry donuts are easy to make in a toaster.

You don’t even need to make dough; you can use sliced bread instead.

Prepare thick-cut bread (about 4-slice thickness) and use a cup to cut out round pieces.

Brush oil on the surface of the cut-out bread, toast both sides in a toaster, and coat with granulated sugar.

Gently insert chopsticks from the edge of the bread to create a hollow inside, then fill it with whipped cream—and you’re done.

As for the leftover crusts, why not turn them into rusks using the same method?

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moon-viewing dumplings

[Easy Recipe] How to Make Chewy Tsukimi Dango / With Shiratamako and Tofu / Mochi Balls

September’s seasonal event is Otsukimi, the moon-viewing festival.

And nothing goes better with moon-viewing than tsukimi dango.

Let’s make chewy, delicious dumplings using shiratamako (glutinous rice flour) and tofu.

Using tofu instead of water keeps the dumplings from hardening as they cool, which is especially nice for older adults.

Mix the shiratamako and tofu thoroughly, then divide the dough in two.

Leave one half as is, and mix pumpkin into the other to create beautifully yellow dumplings like the moon.

Roll into bite-sized balls, boil them well, and while they’re still hot, coat them with sugar to finish.

The sugar melts into a gentle, syrup-like sweetness.

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carrot cake

The easiest! How to make a delicious carrot cake with pancake mix

Here’s a recipe for a carrot cake that highlights the gentle sweetness of carrots.

The ingredients are carrots, pancake mix, eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil.

Grate the carrots with a grater, then simply add the other ingredients to the grated carrot and mix to make the batter.

Fill aluminum cups or silicone molds about 60–70% full, and then just bake.

A great thing about this recipe is that you can use either an oven or a toaster oven.

The inside stays moist, making this carrot cake irresistibly delicious—give it a try!

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