Butter: salted vs. unsalted
Posted by Gina on Jul 20, 2009
Why is it necessary to use unsalted butter in some baking recipes? I am baking scones and have no unsalted butter. Will they be “not so good” with “regular” butter? Thank you very much! -Shelley
Your scones will be just as good, if not better, when using salted butter! I personally always bake with salted butter. I like to butter my bread with salted butter, so I buy just the one kind. Salt enhances the flavor of baked goods. The recipes that call for unsalted butter are following the rules by keeping sweet things sweet, but you may have noticed that most baking recipes almost always call for a teaspoon or so of salt. If salt were not used, the flavor would be unbalanced and a tad too sweet. You may want to eliminate (or cut in half) the teaspoon of salt called for in the recipe if you are using salted butter. But to be honest, most of the time when I bake I add the salt and use salted butter and I get good results.
natural food coloring
Posted by Gina on Jun 10, 2009
I am diabetic and have a passion for baking low sugar cakes and pastries. Prefer to have some color to them. Find it impossible to locate any certified organic food colors. Yes, I have used concentrated juices from pomegranate, blackberries, blueberries but the hues do not have the intensity I seek. Even caramel flavoring and color is artificially created from a corn base with or without ammonia and sulfites or synthetically made from acetone. Any suggestions? Thank you. - Louise
I did some research and found this website and then this one. Both sites offer all natural vegetable food colorings. The ingredients are listed and they seem like the real deal. They don’t feature the standard “artificial color” and use beets, carrots and other plants to create the colors. It is not clear if they are completely organic, but I think they are definite improvements on all the artificial colorings available. Both sites clearly state that the coloring may impart some flavor to your end product and that applying heat to these colors could change the hue. I think they could best be used in icings and glazes to create vibrantly colored cakes and pastries.
I have never worked with this kind of product before, but the reviews some folks have written on these sites seem like a helpful guide in getting started. I am curious to hear how they work for you and would like to try them myself.
Crumbling Cookies Caper
Posted by Gina on Mar 16, 2009
Why are my peanut butter, chocolate chip oatmeal cookies crumbling into pieces? Got the recipe online:
1c sugar, 1c brown sugar, 1c butter (I used 50/50 smart balance for baking), 2 eggs,1c peanut butter, 1tsp vanilla, 2c flour, 2tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1c oats (I used steel cut kind that might have been in smaller bits than they meant), and chocolate chips.
The culprit in your crumbling cookies caper is the steel cut oats. They require much more cooking time and water than regular rolled oats. What happened is that they absorbed all the moisture from the surrounding dough, but it still wasn’t enough, so the dough became crumbly and the oats remained crunchy. This recipe sounds tasty and looks like it should work just fine as long as you use rolled oats. Instant oats are fine as well. Mmmm… cookies!
Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Posted by Gina on Oct 31, 2008
I really want to make chocolate chip cookies that have the texture of “Chips Ahoy”. Whenever I make them from scratch they are really flat and too crunchy. What am I doing wrong? How do I make my dream Chocolate Chip Cookies??
I feel your pain! Cookies are very dear to me and I was so thrilled to find the chocolate chip cookie recipe of my dreams a few years ago from a small cafe where I was the chef. I am happy to share it with you!
First, let me explain what is going on with most recipes for chocolate chip cookies. The crunchiness has to do with the type and quantity of sugar being used. Of course if too much flour is added that will affect things as well. But let’s get back to the sugar issue. Most recipes call for equal parts white sugar and brown sugar. Brown sugar is brown and slightly moist because molasses has been added to granulated sugar. This added moisture makes the cookie chewy. The recipe I use calls for only brown sugar. The result is a cookie that is chewy all throughout with a slightly crispy edge. Mmmmm!
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1# butter-room temperature
4c brown sugar
4 eggs-room temperature
2T vanilla
4c flour
2t baking soda
2t salt
3.5c chocolate chips or 1# of chopped bittersweet chocolate
-cream the butter and sugar
-add the eggs one at a time until incorporated
-add the vanilla
-in a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients
-add the dry ingredients in thirds to the butter and egg mixture
-be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula so that all the ingredients are mixed evenly
-add the chocolate
-portion the cookies into equal sizes, it is easier to do if the dough has been chilled first and the chilled dough bakes more evenly
-bake at 350?F until golden, the cooking time will depend on the portion of each cookie
At home I will make a batch of cookie dough, portion them all out, place them on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer. Once they are frozen I put them in a ziplock bag for future use. When I want a batch of cookies I just preheat the oven and pop in the cookies. You don’t have to wait for them to thaw, they will just take a few minutes longer in the oven.
A few notes on portioning cookie dough. I use a scale to weigh the chilled dough because I happen to have one on hand. Two ounces is a nice size for a cookie. If you don’t have a scale, a small ice cream scoop will work, or you can just eye it. Once the dough has been weighed or portioned, roll it between your palms to smooth out the rough edges. Then you are ready to bake! The reason I am giving you all these details about portioning cookies is because it really makes a big difference in the final product. The cookies bake evenly because they are all the same size and they look really professional.