Cornbread Escapades

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!

This past weekend, my two best friends and I had a sleepover. They came over Friday around dinnertime, and instead of going out, Christy and I made dinner to repay Caitlyn for the time she made it for us. Our plan was quite simple: chicken, and corn. However, seeing as the three of us LOVE bread more than almost anything else, our dinner plans were not yet complete without something heavenly and full of carbs. Christy and I had the perfect solution:

Cornbread.

After looking online, we were torn between two cornbread recipes. What were we to do but make both of them and see what we liked better!

We decided on two recipes: Yogurt Cornbread and Buttery Cornbread.

Yogurt Cornbread:

1 ½ cups cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup plain yogurt

2 tablespoons melted butter

¼ cup maple syrup or honey (we opted for honey)

3 large eggs.

1.     Heat oven to 375F. Grease and flour a 9 inch round baking pan.

2.     In a large bowl, combine the meal, flour, baking powder, soda, and salt.

3.     In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, butter, honey, and eggs. Combine the two  mixtures and stir until blended. Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan.

4.     Bake for 25 minutes or until firm and lightly browned.

  As much as this sounds like it would be a moist bread with the yogurt and the honey, this was the drier of the two:

As you can see, the bread is quite dry--which is how cornbread is actually supposed to be. However, it was not as sweet as we had hoped, even though we used honey. It did turn out to be this gorgeous honey color, but it did not taste like we had hoped. If I were to make this again, I would probably double the honey it asks for, but I'm not sure I'll be using this recipe again because it did not make it as leftovers! I brought it to my mom's for a party after wrapping it up to keep it, but my dad said, "I haven't eaten anything this dry since sand." And he was right! Just that 24 hours made all the difference in the world and it basically turned into sand paper. =/ I like recipes I can eat and enjoy multiple days in a row, which was not the case with this cornbread.

However, the second recipe turned out to be fabulous:

Buttery Corn Bread

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 2/3 cups milk

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

4 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt.

1.     In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.

2.     Combine the eggs and milk separately.

3.     Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt separately.

4.     Add these to the creamed mixture alternately with egg mixture.

5.     Pour into a greased 12 in x 9 in baking pan. Bake at 400 F for 22-27 minutes.

I could barely get any photos of this because we all devoured it! It came out very fluffy and soft, and actually very moist! This would be a great recipe for anyone who is interested in moist cornbread. I have added this recipe to my recipe box and will most definitely make it again. I tried it 24 hours later to see how it kept and it was just as moist as the night before. :D We were very pleased.

And satisfied. It was like slipping into a cornbread coma :D

Podcast!

Happy Sunday, everyone! I am, unfortunately, sick again. Not sure how it happened. But it did. :/ However, because I am sick, my baking has been paused for the week. It never makes much sense to make to make something when I'm ill because of all the germs.

Instead, I thought I'd share my baking podcast I recorded. It has a few segments: kitchen gadgets, a healthy segment and a recipe to supplement the healthy discussion. Please give it a listen if you choose; if you like it, let me know! My professor said I should consider posting my own podcasts and keeping up with them weekly. Let me know your opinions. Thanks!

Podcast!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the fabulous moms who read my blog! And to all of those who do not, I am still thinking of you :D

Before I share what I made for Mother's Day, I have short story to share with all of you: last year, our best friends' baby was due on Mother's Day weekend. Their son's birthday was actually Mother's Day last year (May 7th). Anyway, we watched their daughter for them while they were busy at the hospital. Keith's parents were coming over for dinner, and Daisy (name changed to protect identity) and I decided it would be fun to bake something for them to celebrate. She helped me make my famous Snickerdoodles.

THIS year, my girlfriend came over to work on a project we had due for our seminar class. We finished it much earlier than we anticipated, so I asked her to help me make my Mother's Day treat to split up among Keith's mom and my family. So, on that day, May 8th, she and I made my famous Snickerdoodles.

That's right, folks. I made them two years in a row for Mother's Day, and I did not even do it intentionally. I didn't even realize it until after she and I had them in the oven. I had wanted to bake them anyway, but she had never had them before and wanted to try them. Christy is an avid baker herself and could not help but drool over the smell and the crispiness that came out of the oven:

Now, I am a firm believer that TRUE Snickerdoodle cookies have cream of tartar in them. However, if you do not have cream of tartar (the only reason I do is for this recipe), substitute baking powder for BOTH cream of tartar and baking soda. When baking soda and cream of tartar are mixed together, they basically create baking powder. I've been told this does not necessarily do anything to the taste of the cookie, but I'm not really sure about that. Snickerdoodles have a distinct sweet and cinnamon-y flavor to them that sugar cookies and shortbread cookies do not imitate. My recipe is below:

Snickerdoodles

1 ½ cups sugar

½ cup butter softened

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1.     Heat oven to 400 F.

2.     Cream together 1 ½ cups sugar, butter, shortening, eggs and vanilla in large bowl. Blend in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt

3.     Shape dough into balls. Mix ¼ cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

4.     Baking 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove to wire rack.

*Modifications: less butter; 2 ¼ cup flour 

Because I make these so often, I have figured out what works and what doesn't. Feel free to use less butter because it tastes the same with about 2 tablespoons less. Also, I never try to pack all the flour in because then I feel like they get too floury. You may not find that's the case, but see what you think. You can always add more flour, but you cannot take it away. Start with my modification and the rest a little at a time; the dough shouldn't be too sticky or too shiny, or else it is difficult to roll into balls. 

Now, you can present the cookie in two ways:

1. Leave them as balls on the cookie sheet.

2. Press down on the balls with the spoon.

Leaving the Snickerdoodles as balls makes them softer and smaller. By pressing down with the spoon, they become flatter and crispier, which is how my family prefers their cookies:

Some people say that a cookie is a cookie and it does not matter if it's soft or crisp because they all taste the same. I disagree. Soft cookies and crisp cookies are two different experiences. Because this recipe makes about two dozen cookies, make one try with the round balls and then flatten the other one to see which one you like better. 

Either way, Snickerdoodles are a fabulous treat for lunch boxes, desserts, or holidays.

Happy Mother's Day, and enjoy the recipe!

Applesauce Cake

Hello, all! I know I am a few days late with my post, and for that I apologize. However, I PROMISE I did bake on Thursday afternoon, and bake I did! I made my mother-in-law's Applesauce cake for my fiance. It is one of his favorites, and with his toothache, something soft enough he can chew without hurting. Because it is a family recipe of hers, I do not feel comfortable posting the recipe without her permission. Once I ask her and if she agrees, I will be more than happy to share it with all of you.

Here are some pictures of how it turned out:

The last image shows an awesome close up of the raisins, chopped apples and the walnuts I added to the batter. According to Joni's recipe, those three ingredients are not necessary, but it definitely adds flavor to the batter. While I am not the biggest raisin fan, Keith loves them, so I put them in. However, putting in the apples, raisins and walnuts made my batter so much BIGGER, that I had to make two cakes because the batter did not fit all in one pan. Next time, I think I am going to omit the chopped apples so I do not cut my finger while peeling. =/ Yes. I am not the safest person in the kitchen. 

This applesauce cake is moist and full of spice. It's perfect for breakfast, dessert or even a snack. Feel free to make it without the extras, or put your favorite ingredients in. The actual recipe calls for pecans, or you could even add cranberries if you like them. It's a delicious dish!

I.O.U

Hi Readers!

I sincerely apologize for not posting this past weekend; I always try to bake something one a week and blog about it on the weekend. Not because I feel an obligation, but because it is my outlet for stress. However, with all the projects, papers and assignments I have due for the end of the semester, my free time has seriously been lacking.

So here's my promise to you:

This Thursday, to celebrate the completion of my twelve page seminar paper, I will bake an Applesauce cake and blog about it. The recipe is my future mother-in-law's and it is my fiance's favorite. I've been dying to try making it own my own for the past week, but time just slipped away.

Next week, once finals are almost over, I plan on baking Snickerdoodles for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I'll probably do a double batch because there are one of my mom's favorites too.

So there's your schedule for the next two weeks. Give me some time to complete it, and you will not be disappointed!

The Perfect Treat

I wish I had more time to blog and bake, everyone! Unfortunately, it is getting to be that time of the semester where time is scarce and there is just too much to do. Luckily, I did get to bake a treat this weekend. It is one of my absolute favorites because it combines the wondrous qualities of both brownie and chocolate chip cookie.

You guessed it: Caramel Chocolate Chip Brownies.

You should be able to read everything off there, but if you can't, please let me know, and I will manually post the recipe one day when I have more time.

Sometimes I like to tell you all about the substitutions I do to make the recipe a little healthier but taste just as good. THIS recipe, on the other hand. Is absolutely perfect as is. The only thing I do a little differently is change the amount of chocolate chips because my pan is a little smaller. If you are using a small pan, use about one cup of chocolate chips. 1.75 is just too much because it makes it too heavy and too chocolatey. However, if you are using a large pan, try using about 1.25 cups of chocolate chips instead. You really want to taste the brownie part of this treat, not just the chocolate.

What's great about this recipe is that you can substitute anything for the chocolate chips: walnuts, pecans, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, mint chocolate chips, or even butterscotch syrup instead of caramel. It's great because you could make it for several different occasions, but never make it the same way twice.

This is my "Finals Week Treat" to myself. Definitely try this recipe! It does NOT let you down.

Happy baking!

Feel Better Cookies

Sorry it took me so long to post, all. I had a battle with sickness this past week and am finally feeling better!

Unfortunately, because of sickness, I did not get to bake anything. With throbbing sinuses and a fever, I did not think it was the best idea to consume anything I made with germy hands.

:[

LUCKILY, my fiancé came to the rescue one night when I wanted cookies. Yes. Cookies. When I'm sick I want the weirdest things. Usually my go-to cookies are the Lorna Doone shortbreads I keep in the cabinet for times likes these. Unfortunately, they were stale. =/ Instead, Keith made me my absolute favorite cookies fresh out of the oven: chocolate chip!

They look SOOO good, right? Warm and chocolatey, melt-in-your-mouth. Magical. Rich. Fabulous. I could go on and on. The recipe Keith used to make me these wonderful masterpieces?

;D

Pillsbury's own secret goodness. Just preheat the oven to 350 F and set for about fifteen minutes! This is my one non-homemade indulgence I allow myself because I cannot get my chocolate chip cookies this heavenly. I do have a recipe a friend gave me to try because I was venting about how I hadn't found a chocolate chip cookie recipe I liked yet, but I was not going to have Keith try it when I was not around to supervise.

The other great thing about these cookies? Even your baking inept fiancé can handle making them for you when you're out of commission. They are screw-up proof! 

I just wish I could have tasted them =/ Colds screw everything up!