Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
You don’t need to live on Sesame Street to be a cookie monster with Noora Hassan Bahlool’s delicious delights close to hand.
A marketing co-ordinator by day and a baker by night, Miss Bahlool is sharing her love for cookies with the kingdom while everyone-else appears to be heading down the cupcake route.
Munch, her home-based enterprise in Tubli, offers those with a sweet tooth a variety of regular and bite-size cookies in a variety of flavours.
She said: “I always prefer to be different, in the way I dress and in pretty much everything else that I do.
“I love thinking outside the box and going for it which is why I am always up for trying new recipes as well.
“In my opinion, everyone loves cookies so it’s a great way to start my business. Who can resist freshly-baked, divine-tasting drops of heaven? I know I can’t!”
The 24-year-old first started baking and cooking for her family during the Holy Month of Ramadan. A true foodie at heart, cooking comes like second nature to her as she has been surrounded by it since childhood.
“Whenever I feel sad or lost, cooking and baking is my joy and freedom,” she explained. “It all started when I was young, watching my mother Mariam and my late grandmother Fatima cooking.
“I remember being so fascinated by them, watching them make magic in the kitchen. That’s where I got my cooking skills from and I’m extremely blessed to have my mum. I still learn from her on a daily basis. She bought me my mixer which I have named ‘sweetheart’.
“The feeling that you can create tasty food from simple ingredients was the reason why I fell in love with cooking.
“I never stick to ordinary flavours and people can contact me to request what they want. I make my cookies with love and I always think about what is not available in Bahrain.
“Baking should always be fun and not forced. That’s when I produce my best cookies.”
Chocolate chip Nutella, strawberry shortcake, peanut butter chocolate, apple crumble and even pumpkin cookies that taste like a burst of Christmas in your mouth can all be found on a regular Munch menu. According to Miss Bahlool, the best sellers thus far are chocolate chip Nutella and strawberry shortcake. Members of the GulfWeekly team particularly loved the apple crumble.
Miss Bahlool who cooks regularly for her family and friends, hopes to also add her savoury dishes to the Munch menu in the future.
And, after the annual holiday, she will be taking some culinary courses at the Gulf Hotel Bahrain and InterContinental Regency Bahrain in the hope of gaining more experience.
She said: “I cook for my family every Saturday and I have catered for some friends as well. Munch will surely grow as I have a large book full of recipes that I have compiled over the years.
“Everything I have learned so far has been self-taught. I aim to join a culinary school one day. Originally, I wanted to be a baker and a painter but back then my folks didn’t think there was a huge market for good food.
“But to have the chance to train at the Gulf Hotel and Regency would be great for me. Inshallah, someday I will launch my own restaurant or coffee shop so that everyone in Bahrain can feel the love, that I feel, in their tummies!”
A jar filled with one kind of regular or bite-size cookies is BD5.5 and a jar of three different types of cookies is BD7.5. There are 24 cookies in each jar. The cookies can be picked up from Miss Bahlool’s home in Tubli.
For more information contact 39236744 or email nora25@gmail.com.
