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I need some recipes for cookies or baking ? Help ?

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Whole Grain Sourdough Bread Baking, Pt. I

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I have recently descovered baking. Are there any healthy and good recipes?

What is the best way to learn which flour is best for which recipe? Also, are there any sites that you can recommend that provide recipes that are low fat, low cal and use these healthy grains in the process? I’m hoping to begin to use these grains and cut the wheat from my diet. Is that possible and if so, what are the best resources available?

P.S. I’m fairly new to the kitchen and don’t have a lot of spare time, so I prefer to keep recipes and food prep fairly elementary!!

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Help with healthy cooking and baking with grains?

I firmly believe that baking is an expression of love. Of giving love in the purest sense. Giving of your time, talents and energies to create joy and happiness for others. Giving of a piece of yourself. Give some love this week. Bake one of these tasty cookie recipes. Then sit down with a glass of milk with someone you love. Share that baked treat and a piece of yourself. You might just be surprised by how far a plate full of cookies and an honest conversation can take you.

Gum Drop Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons milk
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
3/4 cup gum drops, cut up

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, brown sugar and white sugar. Add in the egg, vanilla extract and milk and mix well. Then add the dry ingredient mixture to this mixture. Add in the oatmeal and gum drops. Drop by teaspoons onto a baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

M&M Cookies
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon water
1 egg
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup M&M candies

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set this mixture aside. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening, brown sugar and white sugar. Mix in the vanilla extract, egg and water. Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredient mixture. Add in the M&M’s. Drop by teaspoons onto a baking sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup bread flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar. Add in the egg, peanut butter, salt and baking soda and mix well. Sift in the flour. Add the vanilla extract. Roll the dough into balls. Put on a baking sheet and flatten with a fork. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

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Baking With Love – Classic Cookies

Bundt cake recipes have grown in popularity since 1966 when a “Tunnel of Fudge” cake recipe used a bundt pan to win second place at a Pillsbury sponsored baking contest. Bundt cake recipes have since been quite popular and bundt cake pan sales have increased.

Because bundt cakes are baked in these intricate pans, there can be mishaps when turning the pan upside down and seperating the cake from the pan, ruining a wonderful cake. These mishaps can be avoided by following a few simple steps.

In order to stop your bundt cake from sticking when you turn it upside down you must prepare the pan by brushing it with vegetable shortening and a dusting of flour, alternatively use a non-stick spray with flour, stay away from sprays that contain lecithin as is will leave a residue. If you use the first method, tap the pan lightly over the sink to get rid of surplus flour.

You want the structure of your cake to be consistent throughout so you must avoid trapping air bubbles in the batter. This can be done by pouring the batter slowly, allowing it to fill the crevices of the bundt pan. It is prudent to only fill the pan ¾ of the way to allow the batter to rise. Use a spatula to press batter into the detailed walls of the bundt pan. Lightly wobbling the filled pan and tapping it against the counter will allow any remaining air bubbles to escape.

The cake should be placed in the center of the oven to allow for air circulation and even cooking. If the pan is dark colored it will absorb heat more quickly and the cooking temperature should be reduced 25 degrees fahrenheit from what the recipe calls for.

Once the cake has finished baking the correct time, let it cool for 10 minutes. If you turn the cake over now and it is stuck to the pan it may break so be sure to wobble the pan to indicate if it is loose. The cake should move freely from side to side letting you know it is ready to turn over. If the cake is sticking around the sides use a butter knife to gently pry the cake from the sides. Then turn the pan over on to a cooling rack and allow to fully cool.

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Bundt Cake Baking Tips

For success, start by gathering all the ingredients and equipment. Let the butter sit at room temperature until it’s soft. This makes it easier to beat the butter with the sugar so they take in air and form a fluffy, creamy mixture. Adding cold eggs to the creamed butter and sugar could harden the butter again and make the batter curdle. To prevent this, take the eggs out of the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before you use them or put them in a bowl of warm water while you’re assembling the other ingredients.

Low speed on the mixer helps keep the flour mixture from flying in the air. Because overbeating the flour could toughen your cake, beat just until the batter is smooth. Use a rubber scraper or spoon to add half of the fruit by hand. Be gentle to avoid crushing the plums.

In about half an hour from the time you pop the pan into the oven, you’ll have a cake you can proudly serve to family and friends. Nobody has to know how simple it was to bake!

Plum-Good Coffee Cake

1 (9-inch) cake or 8 servings

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter,

softened

2/3 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie

spice

1 1/2 cups diced fresh plums

(about 8 oz.)

Confectioners’ sugar,

optional

In small mixing bowl at medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Stir together flour, baking powder and spice. Add flour mixture to egg mixture. Beat at low speed until smooth. Fold in 3/4 cup of the plums. Pour into lightly greased 9-inch round cake pan or quiche pan. Top with remaining plums.

Bake in preheated 375 F oven until lightly browned and top springs back when lightly touched with finger, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired. Cut into wedges. Serve warm or cool.

Nutrition information per serving of 1/8 recipe without sugar dusting: 283 calories, 15 g total fat, 137 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 101 mg potassium, 33 g carbohydrate, 5 g protein and 10% or more of the RDI for vitamin A, riboflavin
Even if you’ve never baked before, the rewards of home baking are within your reach. Many recipes for baked goods aren’t at all difficult. Plum-Good Coffee Cake is a prime example. The coffee cake is a good way to add more fruit servings to your diet for breakfast, brunch or a late-night snack and, best of all, it’s easy to make.

For success, start by gathering all the ingredients and equipment. Let the butter sit at room temperature until it’s soft. This makes it easier to beat the butter with the sugar so they take in air and form a fluffy, creamy mixture. Adding cold eggs to the creamed butter and sugar could harden the butter again and make the batter curdle. To prevent this, take the eggs out of the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before you use them or put them in a bowl of warm water while you’re assembling the other ingredients.

Low speed on the mixer helps keep the flour mixture from flying in the air. Because overbeating the flour could toughen your cake, beat just until the batter is smooth. Use a rubber scraper or spoon to add half of the fruit by hand. Be gentle to avoid crushing the plums.

In about half an hour from the time you pop the pan into the oven, you’ll have a cake you can proudly serve to family and friends. Nobody has to know how simple it was to bake!

Plum-Good Coffee Cake

1 (9-inch) cake or 8 servings

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter,

softened

2/3 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie

spice

1 1/2 cups diced fresh plums

(about 8 oz.)

Confectioners’ sugar,

optional

In small mixing bowl at medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Stir together flour, baking powder and spice. Add flour mixture to egg mixture. Beat at low speed until smooth. Fold in 3/4 cup of the plums. Pour into lightly greased 9-inch round cake pan or quiche pan. Top with remaining plums.

Bake in preheated 375 F oven until lightly browned and top springs back when lightly touched with finger, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired. Cut into wedges. Serve warm or cool.

Nutrition information per serving of 1/8 recipe without sugar dusting: 283 calories, 15 g total fat, 137 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 101 mg potassium, 33 g carbohydrate, 5 g protein and 10% or more of the RDI for vitamin A, riboflavin

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Beginners’ Guide To Baking

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Home Page Home & Family Baking Versus Cooking
Baking Versus Cooking

Posted: Mar 5th, 2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 16 |

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Baking Versus CookingAuthor: Jeff Gustafson

We’re all different. No two individuals are exactly alike; however, there are some general categories that seem to hold true. For instance, there are the Morning People and the Night People. I am definitely of the latter variety. About 9:00 p.m. something kicks into gear

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Home Page Home & Family Baking Versus Cooking

Baking Versus Cooking

Posted: Mar 5th, 2008 | Comments: 0 | Views: 16 |

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<br /> <h1>Baking Versus Cooking</h1> <p><strong>Author: <a title="Jeff Gustafson" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/jeff-gustafson/45350.htm">Jeff Gustafson</a></strong> <p>We’re all different. No two individuals are exactly alike; however, there are some general categories that seem to hold true. For instance, there are the Morning People and the Night People. I am definitely of the latter variety. About 9:00 p.m. something kicks into gear</p> <p>

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Baking Versus Cooking

If you’re an experienced baker, then you know that different kinds of baking pans are best for different kinds of baked goods. A cake baked in a loaf pan has a different texture and cooks differently than one baked in a flat round pan. There are recipes that are specially designed for baking goods in a specific shape of a pan and some pans that are specifically designed for a certain kind of cake or bread recipe. Are you wondering which cake and baking pans you should have in your arsenal? Here’s a quick overview of the different kinds of baking pans available and how you might use them.

Standard Baking Pans

Standard baking pans are 8 inch and 9 inch round pans. They usually come in sets of two to make a 2 layer cake. If you use cake mixes, most cake mixes are meant to make two 8 or 9 inch layers.

Loaf Pans

Loaf pans are rectangular pans that are deeper than standard cake pans. They are designed to bake loaves of bread and bread-like cakes. They’re usually not the best choice for baking a regular cake recipe because their depth means that the outside of the cake bakes before the middle, making it dry and crusty. One of niftiest new versions of the loaf pan is a pan that bakes your banana bread or cranberry nut bread already sliced!

Bundt Cake Pans

Bundt pans are also called “ring pans”. They are one piece pans with a spindle or pillar in the middle, designed to cook heavy cake batters through without burning the outsides. Bundt pans are ideal for coffee cakes, fruit cakes and other thick batters that don’t cook well in flat pans.

Brownie Pans

Brownie pans are generally flat square or rectangular pans that make it easy to cut brownies into squares. Brownie pans are also ideal for cookie squares. There are two new styles of brownie pans that make brownies even better and easier. One is similar to the self-slicing loaf pans, you pour the brownie batter into the pan and then press an insert into place. The brownies come out of the oven already cut in neat, even squares. The other is an S-shaped brownie pan that has interior sidewalls so that every single brownie has at least two chewy brownie edges.

Baba Pans

Also known as “Section Pans” these nifty pans are designed to bake edible “bowls” similar to strawberry shortcakes. They’re perfect for nearly any kind of cake recipe, but are especially nice with sponge cake, which bakes up light and airy, and soaks up the juices of berries and other fillings you might add after baking.

Springform Cake Pans

Springform cake pans are two piece pans that consist of a bottom and a side piece. The side piece is designed to fit tightly around the edge of the bottom piece. A latch loosens the side and allows it to be easily removed from the bottom so that the cake can be served with the bottom serving as a platter. Cheesecake is most commonly cooked in a springform pan, as are tortes and other recipes that are not quite firm enough to be tipped out of a cake pan onto a plate.

Novelty Cake Pans

How do you make a cake shaped like a bunny? Or one in the shape of a number 5? With a novelty cake pan of course. Bunny cake pans, train cake pans and cake pans in the shape of popular cartoon characters are just some of the novelty cake pans that are available on the market. One general rule of thumb is that tall novelty cakes like beehives and standing bunny rabbits should be made with a firm cake mix like a Lady Baltimore cake.

Specialty Cake Pans

Some cake pans have been designed specifically to cook different kinds of batters. The shape makes a difference in the texture and flavor. These are some of the best known specialty cake pans:

Scone pans are designed to bake the heavy, crumbly scones that are so popular in Europe for breakfast. Each cake pan is divided into wedges so that each scone is cooked individually.

Cornbread pans are made of heavy cast metal and are designed to make cornbread in the shape of ears of corn. The unique shape makes toasty, crisp cornbread sticks that soak up butter deliciously.

3 Tier Cake Pans

Tiered cakes are especially popular for Sweet 16 parties and girls’ birthday parties. You can put together your own sets of tiered cake pans, but it’s much easier to buy a set of 3 tier cake pans which are perfectly sized for one cake mix.

Choosing the right baking pan for your recipe is an important part of baking tasty treats that are the best that they can be. While many of these cake pans can be substituted for others, be sure that you choose a cake pan similar to the one called for in the recipe for best results.

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Which Type of Baking Pan is Best For Your Baked Creations?

Let’s face it EVERY cook makes mistakes (yes, even us professional bakers make boo boo’s).

I’m going to list here, the 7 most common whole wheat bread baking mistakes that you’re probably making, or might make if you’re not forewarned, and what you can do about them.

Whole Wheat Bread Baking Mistake 1

By far the most common bread baking mistake is when the salt is forgotten to be added to the whole wheat bread dough.

This results in very bland bread, and even effects the rising of the dough. Making your whole wheat bread flat on top.

The best solution for this is to use a post it note as a reminder to yourself, to add the salt to the whole wheat bread dough.

You can stick the post it note where ever you’re most likely to see it (fridge, recipe book, etc..)

Whole Wheat Bread Baking Mistake 2

The second most common mistake is when the whole wheat bread dough is allowed to over rise, which leads to it falling.

This usually happens when the whole wheat bread dough is forgotten about. And with so much going on our lives, who doesn’t forget things like this now and then?

But don’t fret, there is a solution: If the whole wheat bread is already in the bread pans when it over rises simply use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the excess dough off the sides of the unbaked loaves.

Separate and roll this dough into a few small balls of dough. Allow them to rise 20 minutes to 30 minutes on a small oiled cookie sheet, and then bake them on 350 Fahrenheit, for 15 to 20 minutes as whole wheat rolls.

Also allow the whole wheat bread dough to rise for about 15 to 20 more minutes before baking if it is extremely flat on top.

Another solution to help you keep from forgetting about your bread, is to use a timer which will beep loudly after the selected time period is up.

Using a timer can also help stop other whole wheat bread baking catastrophes from happening.

Whole Wheat Bread Baking Mistake 3

When you heat up your water to put your yeast in, it is easy to accidentally make the water a bit too hot. This mistake will kill the yeast and your bread will not rise

To correct this mistake I strongly recommend you invest in a cooking thermometer, to measure the temperature of the water with.

Whole Wheat Bread Baking Mistake 4

If the recipe you use makes too much dough for your family’s needs and you worry that the extra bread will grow stale before you use it, fear not.

It is perfectly safe to refrigerate unused dough for a few days and allow the whole wheat bread dough to finish it’s rising time once you get it out to use it.

You can use a Ziploc bag or plastic wrap over bowls that contain your whole wheat bread dough, to store it in your fridge and still prevent oxidation.

Whole Wheat Bread Baking Mistake 5

Burned bread. Yup, nothing tastes worse than whole wheat bread which is black as charcoal.

To avoid this, be sure you follow baking times and temperatures strictly. And again use a timer to remind yourself when it’s time to remove your whole wheat bread from the oven.

Also remember that gas ovens and electric ovens vary in their temperatures. If you’re using an electric oven you should bake almost all pastries on 350 Fahrenheit.

Sometimes a recipe will call for you to start baking a loaf of bread on a higher temperature, but will also usually tell you to turn the heat down after a certain amount of time.

Whole Wheat Bread Baking Mistake 6

Mistakenly or purposefully using the wrong type of flour. If you are baking whole wheat bread, the only way to get good results is by using whole wheat flour to bake your bread.

There are different recipes for all the different types of bread and they all use one specific flour for each recipe.

So don’t try any substitution hoping that by adding rye flour for instance, you will actually turn a whole wheat bread recipe into rye bread. Because you won’t.

Whole Wheat Bread Baking Mistake 7

Last but not least there is the problem of air bubbles (also called “pockets”) which create large holes inside the whole wheat bread, after it’s done baking.

The best solution for this is to pinch any such bubbles whenever you see them in your whole wheat bread dough, before you bake it. This will immediately deflate the bubble.

Now you are armed with the knowledge of the 7 most common whole wheat bread baking mistakes (most of which also apply to all other rising breads) and how you should deal with them.

So don’t let the bread mistake blues get you down ever again.

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Solving the 7 Most Common Whole Wheat Bread Baking Mistakes