Posts Tagged ‘baking’
oatmeal raisin scones
Scones are tricky things. They’re one of those rare baked goods that should be dry, but not too dry. The texture should politely request to be dipped in tea, but not cry out for it.
I had to keep telling myself these things as I made these. I had a craving for oatmeal raisin cookies but wanted to try something new so I went with scones instead. King Arthur’s recipe is a great foundation to start from and I edited from there, and made myself resist adding more milk, more butter, etc. The first time around the texture was, ahem, less than ideal (and the taste of baking powder was unbelievably overwhelming), so this batch had a little more butter, little less baking powder, and brown sugar.
They’re super hearty and dense, but in that good scone way. Be sure to use sprinkling sugar (or some kind of sugar) on top – the texture really completes them. Served with a cup of good tea, they’re perfect.
english muffin bread
We take bread very seriously in the Test Kitchen at work. For many of us, a piece of perfectly toasted bread with a schmear of soft butter and a sprinkling of kosher salt is not only the perfect breakfast, it’s the perfect lunch, snack, or death row meal, even. So when I came across this recipe for bread whose description proclaimed it made “the best toast ever,” I thought “Oh reaaaaally?” and put it on the to-bake list. Although my chewing ability is somewhat handicapped right now, that didn’t stop me from using my ample freetime this weekend to bake up a storm.
This would honestly make a fantastic beginner’s bread for those who haven’t worked with yeast much. You don’t have to knead anything, have only one short rise, and since it’s baked in a loaf pan the shape is pretty much guaranteed to be a winner.
It’s got a great slightly dense texture which makes it easy for slicing, with a wonderful chewy crust that only gets better when you toast it. There’s just a hint of sweetness which really calls for a good sprinkling of salt once you toast and butter up a slice, making it a hearty and delicious breakfast (or anytime) bread.
oat soda bread
It’s been so long! I can’t believe it had been almost 2 weeks since I’ve baked something but it’s sadly true. Last weekend I got sucked into my new part-time job of working in a wine dept at a local gourmet grocer (best PT job ever!) so I had no time to cook. I made sure to make time this weekend to relax and play in the kitchen, and this bread was the counterpart to a wonderful soup I whipped up (and will be posted later this week!)
Chalk it up to St. Patrick’s Day being around the corner, but a quick soda bread sounded like just the ticket when I was perusing some bread recipes online. Easy, fast, and using ingredients I had on hand (the buttermilk was from the soup), I’m so glad I chose it. The bread is hearty and filling with tons of texture and flavor. As I ate it I thought “This is the kind of bread you eat as a meal, not as a side.” Especially slathered in warm, salted butter. Delicious.
On a different note, it feels selfish and almost silly to be posting about bread and complaining about my lack of time to post. The disaster in Japan is unbelievable and things that are larger than life like this really make you value what time you have and how you use it, so please take the time to donate to the millions in need: Red Cross Donation. Keep Japan in your thoughts and prayers, they are going to need them more than ever.
cowboy cookies
Sometimes you just have to bake cookies at 11pm on a Saturday night. And sometimes they just have to be chocolate-oat-pretzel cookies.
I got the Baked Explorations book for Christmas and this is the first thing I made out of it. I love the writing style of the Baked duo and their absolutely meticulous borderline OCD/Rose Levy Beranbaum way of explaining how to bake something as simple as cookies. Use cool (but not cold) butter, use a scoop this exact size, press down on the cookies but don’t smush them, etc. As much as I love to cook on the fly, sometimes it’s more relaxing to just follow instructions to the T. And this T stands for Totally awesome cookies.
Everyone knows I’m a sucker for salty sweets and so the pretzels are of course a fabulous element I love in these. Still, I wish they were even more salty. So in the ingredients listed below I’ve added a bit more salt and say you should use bittersweet chocolate. I think the cookies would just really benefit from it. They would go from totally awesome to super totally awesome. If there is such a thing.
milanos
Time to take a stroll down memory lane.
It’s always fun to try and remember your earliest food memories. My third birthday cake is probably the earliest I have, but it’s more the candles and party than the eating of the actual cake. Eating Pepperidge Farm Milanos at around age 4 on the other hand – now that’s something I can picture with perfect clarity. The bag appearing in the pantry, the fancy fluted wrappers, the first taste of chocolate that wasn’t sweetened milk. I could easily eat the whole bag but knew they were expensive and special and had to make them last. My nostalgia still makes me feel that way anytime I buy them.
They are special cookies. Delicate and delicious with that perfect crunchy cookie and semi-sweet chocolate filling. I rarely buy Milanos these days since I usually have my own baked goods around 24/7, but I came across this recipe while hunting for new cookie ideas and stopped dead. Why hadn’t I ever made my own Milanos before? Upon seeing just how easy the recipe was, I knew I’d rectify that situation tout de suite.
I strayed from Gale Gand’s recipe to make the flavor more akin to how I think of milanos: vanilla cookie + semi-sweet filling. No citrus, no mint, nothing else. Just perfectly combined chocolate and vanilla. And that’s what these are. Perfect. Just how I remember them.
