We’re Still Baking!
Were you wondering what the heck happened to us? Well, we didn’t forget you. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the high volume of visitor hits several weeks ago crashed our network. But, the powers that be have been working diligently to get us back up and with that come some giant changes. From this point on, all our writers will post their new content on our main site. To quote Cate, “You’ll still find all our great baking articles, tips on wine pairing and fitness, cookbook reviews and more, just in one central, easy to navigate location. We are also undergoing a behind-the-scenes redesign of the main site, which we will hopefully be unveiling within the next few weeks. In the meantime, let’s get back to what we all love …” Still referening all our previous, and totally fabulous, recipes? Not to worry. Just Baking will remain here as an archive for your convenience. Thanks for your patience during this unforeseen “burning”. Please, keep coming back and most of all, keep baking!
Whole Wheat Beer Bread
I had heard from several people that “You just have to make beer bread!” It is so good! One friend in particular kept talking about it, so I finally made it and I’m glad I did. This recipe could not be any easier. It comes together in just a few minutes (literally!) and comes out perfect. The only thing I had to adjust from this recipe is the time. I ended up baking mine closer to 40 minutes, but like most first-time recipes you just have to find what works with your oven. It was warm, had that yeasty tang from the beer, and was great with just a dab of butter straight out of the oven. It would also be great toasted alongside a bowl of hearty soup. As the hearty soups take over my menu in the fall I will be sure to make this again and again.
Whole Wheat Beer Bread
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease bread/loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Pour in beer, stir until a stiff batter is formed. Spread dough into prepared loaf pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.
NOTE: Adjust cooking time as necessary. I baked mine for 40 minutes and it was done! Also, feel free to use bread flour in place of AP flour if you have that on hand.
Apple Crumble Bars
I came across some delicious smelling apples on sale at the grocery store recently and couldn’t pass them up. I could only eat so many, though, and had to bake something with the rest. These apple crumble bars were a simple treat. It comes together quickly and tastes like apple pie. I’ll be making this again when the apple picking season begins.
You can use any kind of apples you like, but an apple with some tartness is generally considered best for baking.
Pizza
This Pizza Dough recipe, from the book Artisan Bread in Five minutes a Day: The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking, is the basic “Master” Bread recipe. There is a specific pizza dough recipe, but my brother and I were not fond of the recipe; we liked this one better.This is some real easy pizza dough. You do not need to do much to have a good dough.
Little Buttermilk Cake
I put out two bowls with my cake: one piled high with whipped cream and one containing fresh berries macerating with sugar and chopped mint.
Chocolate Bit Cookies
These are those stand-by cookies that my mother made from scratch during every holiday, for special occasions or just a way to keep us kids busy on a rainy day. She still swears by them today and have passed the test of time.
Now that I make them at home, I notice that the recipe certainly makes a larger batch than when I used to bake them off over 30 years ago. Interestingly, when I have my three children assist in the baking the recipe certainly seems to dwindle just the same.
These cookies are traditional chocolate chip cookies loaded with flavor and deliciously crispy. If you want them chewy then swap out the sugar for brown sugar and decrease the baking time by 2 minutes.
Strawberry Brown Sugar Scones
These scones represent 3 of my favorite things: strawberries, brown sugar, and scones. So, how could they possibly be bad?
Strawberries: I grew up near Plant City, FL (Lakeland to be exact). Plant City is known as the winter strawberry capital of the world. Every year we went to the Strawberry Festival - every 100 feet there was another make-your-own-strawberry-shortcake stand. So yummy. We feasted on strawberry pizzas and strawberries and cool whip all during the early spring. Now, since I don’t live there, I look forward to parental trips that bring the luscious red sweet goodness to my usually still cold and snowy KY home. However, I just realized that southern IN has some good early summer strawberries. Two weekends ago I went and picked about 13 pounds of them, and I could have eaten all of them while picking, no box required.
Brown sugar - the love of brown sugar was announced in the previous post for a Brown Sugar Pound Cake.
Scones: my love for scones started in seminary. The Old English Tea Room in downtown Wake Forest, NC had yummy scones - my favorite being the Butterscotch Pecan. Then, a good friend taught me how to make amazing scones, so I always come back to her recipe for my basic scone with mix-in. I got her a scone pan one year for a gift, and had to get myself one as well.
There’s Nothing Strange About These Brownies…
Through a small logistical misstep, a care package from Don Strange of Texas arrived too late for a story I was working on, and so I decided to make the best of it and share my findings with the readers of this blog instead. Why let a whole box of goodies go to waste?
Don Strange Market Place of Hill Country, Texas began as a grocery store over 50 years ago and evolved into a catering business and now sells some of its signature sweet and savory items online. Although the company ships its famous white wings (wrapped in bacon and spicy Monterey Jack cheese), which are sent to you uncooked and ready for grilling, along with its apple-smoked Christmas bacon, we’re going to focus on the sweet stuff: double-barrel brownies, Texas “two-bite” pecan tarts and Kendall Creek honey bars. All of the products have nuts, and all of them arrived in perfect condition via priority mail.
First, the brownies. You get two pounds of them, and they’re dense, fudgy but not overwhelmingly sweet. You don’t immediately need a glass of milk; they don’t completely coat your throat. This is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether you are the type of person who wants a rich indulgence. I thought they were good, but I didn’t think I’d go out of my way to order them again. The pecan tarts are more like tartlettes–small and packed with delicious Texas pecans, rivaling those my mom used to make at Christmas (except hers had walnuts and more cinnamon). My favorite item, probably because I was unfamiliar with it, was the honey bar, with a glaze worthy of the best cinnamon bun you’ve ever had. All three items weigh in around two pounds, retail for $20 for approximately 16 items and arrive sealed in plastic.
Michelle Obama’s Amaretto Shortbread Cookies
Remember in elementary school all the kids would bring in cupcakes for the class on their birthday? Well, that’s what I was reminded of when I asked my mom what she wanted for her birthday this year. She told me she wanted me to make a batch of Michelle Obama’s Amaretto Shortbread Cookies, and package them up all cute for her to give out to her coworkers, who would be taking her out to lunch on her birthday.
My mom’s love affair with these cookies started up a couple months ago when I mentioned the Family Circle Presidential Cookie Bake-Off, where the two potential first ladies each submit their favorite cookie recipe shortly before the presidential election, and the readers vote for their favorite. I had been baking Cindy McCain’s Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies for a while with rave reviews. My mom has always been a sucker for shortbread, and she along with most moms these days, thinks Michelle Obama is the coolest lady in town. I think she is their equivalent to Hannah Montana. So, my mom promptly starting dropping requests for a batch of Obama’s shortbread. I pretended I wasn’t paying attention, but I was keeping the recipe in my arsenal for a special occasion. On Mother’s Day this year, one of my Mom’s gifts was a batch of this shortbread, wrapped up in a bag with Michelle’s face on the tag. She was thrilled! I followed the recipe almost exactly as it is here. The only change I made was that I used all purpose flour and not cake flour, and I had great results. These cookies are delicious, and I have a feeling they are going to become a Mother’s Day staple for a while. Not only that, but now I’ve already baked them a second time so my mom could show off to her friends!
Popeye’s Wannabe Muffins
Like many people, I have a love/hate relationship with fast food. I really, really want not to like it. Even if it wasn’t terrible for you, they’re not exactly using the finest ingredients. It’s all pretty pedestrian and uninspired. A hamburger grilled in my back yard with a plop of homemade mayonnaise and a couple of lettuce leaves from my garden is far superior to anything that could be purchased from an establishment with light up menu boards, a cartoon character spokesperson, and a free-toy-with-purchase offer.
And yet.
And yet I sometimes find myself craving certain specific things. A chicken biscuit for breakfast. Fries with ketchup that comes in little paper cups. A burger with a slice of highway-maintenance-department-orange cheese.
So when I stumbled on the Popeye’s Wannabe Muffin recipe in the Washington Post last week, I cringed inwardly while hitting the “print” key. My two sides battled:
“Seriously? Popeye’s Wannabe Muffins? You’re not.”
“I am. Go away.”
“There are four ingredients. Only two of them really count as ‘food.’”
“But they look good. And they’ll be fast. And it’ll be an interesting experiment.”
“Please. They’re made with Sprite.”
“So? Snob.”
“Philistine.”
*Sigh.*
I made them as soon as I got home. (Correction, I made them as soon as I got home and dug four billion Legos out of my muffin tins, where my husband had put them to make the assembly of my son’s Star Wars Imperial Death Whatever easier, at which point my son promptly lost interest in its creation and went to go watch Spongebob.) These whip up in literally minutes, and smell heavenly while they’re baking. I probably did them a disservice in the top-buttering department; I used only (!) two tablespoons of butter for 15 muffins. Next time I’d just give in and use the other half stick from the making of the batter. Even still, they garnered rave reviews from all who tried them. They come out more muffiny than biscuity, surprisingly light and airy with a nice crunchy top.
Because they’re slightly sweet from the Sprite, they have both sweet and savory leanings, making them an ideal candidate for a brunch menu. I think there’s a need for a bread to bridge the gap between sweeter, more breakfasty menu choices, and savory lunch items. Something that can go with the fruit salad, but also with the ham. They can get cosy with butter, jam, or butter and jam. They’re also good plain. Although I didn’t try it, the batter had enough backbone that it could probably have been baked as a free standing drop-type biscuit on a cookie sheet.
Maybe I can argue that, while I might be making “fast food,” at least it’s home made. Or maybe that’s just a huge rationalization. Either way, these are worth a try.
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