What are You Baking the Week of August 27, 2017?

[BakerAunt]

For Sunday breakfast, I made wholegrain waffles. I had previously reduced the butter from 8 Tbs. to 5 Tbs., so I tried it with 4 Tbs. They were fine, but I think that they are better with 5 Tbs. When cooling the leftovers, I also followed a KAF baking book tip and spread them out on the rack rather than putting them next to each other. That is supposed to keep them from getting soggy, and these were firmer (although maybe the reduced butter was also an element).

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[Mike Nolan]

My wife baked the chocolate mushroom cookie dough today, a variety of shapes, some came out better than others. The puzzle piece ones were a bit disappointing.

[chocomouse]

I made 2 loaves of whole wheat-oatmeal bread. We go through a lot of sandwich bread at this time of year. When we are picking tomatoes and lettuce from the garden, all my husband wants to eat for dinner is BLTs. Also, I made blueberry muffins, the KAF Jordan Marsh version. It is the second time I've used that recipe, but never again. I was disappointed the first time, as I recall. They did not rise, at all, although I know my baking powder is good. And the top edges was overbrowned, but the centers could have used another minute. The recipe called for 30 minutes at 375*, so I turned the temp down to 350 for the second pan. Same result. I put an oven thermometer in the oven a couple of weeks ago, and the temp was right on. I plan to make zuchinni-cheese-herbs pancakes tomorrow night.

[Italiancook]

Thanks, chocomouse, for the report on the KAF Jordan Marsh muffins. I printed this recipe today to make in a few weeks when guests are here. I would not have tried it until the day I wanted to serve it. Now, I'll stick to my tried and true blueberry muffins, although I may put sugar on the top as KAF recipe does. Did you think the top sugar added anything positive to them?

[Mike Nolan]

Haven't tried your recipe, but my take on blueberry muffins is that they're usually pretty sweet, added sugar on top seems unnecessary.

I haven't made them lately, because I don't have any spent grain, but the spent grain blueberry muffins I made several years ago were the best I ever had, a bit crunchy due to the spent grain. (Grinding it up in a food processor takes care of that fairly well.) spent grain muffins

I have been making blueberry cornbread muffins using the gluten-free cornbread recipe that I got from the gluten-free girl site. (The recipe has changed on that site several times, here's my variation on it: GF cornbread)) You do need to grease the muffin tin or they don't release well.

[chocomouse]

Italiancook, I confess I did not add the full teaspoon of sugar on the top of each muffin, thinking that was way too much, but added just a sprinkle. these were plenty sweet. I mostly use a white crystalized sugar, more for the sparkle and crunch than the sweetness. Mike, you are right - blueberry muffins are usually sweet, and this one called for lots of sugar. I'm a diabetic, and usually cut back the sugar by 1/4 -1/3, but the first time I try a new recipe I generally follow it exactly. I've got lots of blueberry muffin recipes, since we have 10 blueberry bushes that yield 50-100 quarts each summer. I usually add lemon flavoring, also. M

[BakerAunt]

I have a very nice whole wheat blueberry muffin (on the KAF site). I confess to putting a wonderful streusel mix on top.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/100-whole-wheat-blueberry-muffins-recipe

I cut the sugar to 2/3 Cup. When I bake it as 6 large muffins, I use this streusel topping (from a recipe that came with my Texas muffin pan), and I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup, since the streusel is sweet and delete the cinnamon in the muffins:

1/3 Cup light brown sugar
2 Tbs. flour
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbs. unsalted butter at room temperature

However, the muffins are fine without the topping, and I've even reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup without the streusel. I do like to sprinkle a bit of sparkling sugar over them.

I also have one that uses flax meal. I substitute in 1 cup of either white whole wheat or regular whole wheat flour. A bit of lemon zest can be added. These muffins I finish with a little of the KAF white sparkling sugar, just to give the a bit of sparkle:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/blueberry-flax-muffins-recipe

I usually cut sugar in muffins to 1/3 cup for a dozen muffins, but sometimes I'll use 1/2 cup. For me, any more sugar makes it a cupcake.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt. Reason: added information
• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, do you ever use frozen berries? Any hints for how to work with the variability of the wetness of the berries? Other than the toothpick test? I'm going to try both of your recipes - nothing like recipe testing as an excuse for another batch of muffins!! Also do you have the burger bun pan? I often make muffins in those, especially when I use a streusel topping. You get a bit of streusel with each bite!

[Italiancook]

The blueberry muffin recipe I use comes from the Better Homes & Garden New Cookbook. My son always liked them, but we all preferred a recipe from a cookbook that was lost in a move. Don't recall the title. It used canned blueberries. We preferred the rich blueness in the muffins as compared to the cleaner blueberry presence of fresh blueberries.

I appreciate the streusel topping recipe, BakerAunt. As a rule, I don't use streusel when it's called for. The recipes usually use more flour whose tasted I don't enjoy. Your recipe has way less flour, and I think I'll enjoy it. I wrote it down as my go-to streusel topping. Thank you! Maybe blueberry muffins with this streusel topping are in the offing. I won't make the whole wheat ones whose link you posted, because I can no longer eat whole wheat flour.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--this is the pan I use: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/texas-muffin-pan

I usually bake six large muffins rather than twelve small ones because I know that I'm going to eat two anyway, so why grease twelve cups when I can grease six? I do, however, make the smaller ones when I have company. I also like the large top for streusel. I do have the burger bun pan. (Actually, I have two.) I'll have to give muffins in it a try.

When I use frozen blueberries, I add them frozen to the batter, then put it in the muffin pan and bake. I've had more problems with frozen blueberries as pie filling. In that case, I think that I would thaw and drain them first.

I had not realized until this year how much blueberries can vary in water content. We got to Indiana late, due to our move here, so we missed the first ripening blueberries. The ones that ripened after that are smaller and less juicy, but they actually made a much better blueberry pie. I will keep that in mind in the future when determining how much thickener to add. I also found in the past when canning pie filling that I should always put in extra blueberries, since the water content varies so much. I think that Laura pointed that out to me. I'll have to look to see if that thread is one that was saved to this site.

Ah, here it is: https://mynebraskakitchen.com/wordpress/forums/topic/canning-blueberry-pie-filling-thread/

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

We made pies in pastry school using frozen berries, but we cooked the berries first, which helps adjust for any variances in their moisture level.

[Rascals1]

Made a couple of sweet potato pies. Been years since I've made any.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--I was wondering if cooking the frozen fruit first would make a better pie. Thanks for the insight.

Rascals--What recipe did you end up using for your sweet potato pies?

On Tuesday, I tried a new recipe, "Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies," that appeared in the R.S.V.P. column of Bon Appetit (January 1998), pages 28 and 30. The recipe was requested from Provisions, a sandwich shop on Nantucket. According to the requester, this cookie ended her husband's "lifelong search for the perfect peanut butter cookie." I baked a half recipe, and used my trusty #40 Zeroll scoop, instead of rolling them into balls by hand. (I got 27 cookies.) The only change I made was to substitute white whole wheat flour for 1/3 of the regular flour. It had an unusual mixing technique, in that the eggs are added, one at a time, AFTER adding half the flour mixture. The other half is added once they are incorporated.

I checked it against the recipe in my old Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (1976) which is the one I remember baking the most years ago. They are close, but this one has twice as much vanilla, a quarter cup more flour, and uses baking powder rather than baking soda, and thus uses twice as much salt. The BH&G book also makes the cookies smaller, as it claims a yield of 4 dozen. I do not bake Peanut Butter Cookies too often, given that the regular peanut butter (in this case, Jiff) is not exactly healthful.

The cookies are very good, with a kind of "sandy" consistency. The peanut butter taste is not as strong as in some cookies I've had, but that is fine. I think the vanilla mellows it, and perhaps the kind of peanut butter used also affects taste.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Rascals1]

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/sweet-potato-pie. I use regular milk and I don't like the spices in it.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for posting the link, Rascals. In looking at the recipe, I think that if I were to bake this recipe, I would cut the nutmeg in half and delete the vanilla. One day, I will try a sweet potato pie, but for now, I'm anticipating the coming of pumpkin season.

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