What are You Baking the Week of October 29, 2017?

[BakerAunt]

Sunday afternoon, I will bake Halloween cookies, using the No-Fail Sugar Cookies recipe from Fancy Flours. I cannot find my metal cookie cutters, but I do have some nice plastic ones with the "spring plunger" that pushes out the cookie. I also have a nice supply Halloween colored sugars.

Added Note: Although I made the dough on Sunday afternoon, I did not get the cookies baked until Monday afternoon.

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• This topic was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt. Reason: added updated information

[Mike Nolan]

I peeled, cored, cut up and pre-cooked about 11 pounds of Winesap apples today, the 2nd half of the ones I picked at the orchard two weeks ago. Made about 12 pounds of pie filling. (We finally had a killer frost Saturday morning, so the orchards are probably closed for the season, they usually close around November 1st anyway.)

I'll make 2 apple pies tomorrow for the Halloween buffet lunch at my wife's office on Tuesday, the rest will go in the freezer. (Depending on the size of the pie pan and how 'deep dish' it is, it takes between 36 and 48 ounces of pie filling per pie.)

I think I've got enough pie filling to last me until next fall, even if I make an apple pie every month.

[BakerAunt]

Tuesday evening, I baked Pear Crisp with Cardamom. It's not what I would have done normally for Halloween, but the pears were ready. I thought that I had posted this recipe, which came from The Los Angeles Times many years ago, but a search suggests that I have not.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[navlys]

I guess I'm a heretic because I baked pumpkin muffins from trader joe's pumpkin bread mix. They turned out pretty good.

[Mike Nolan]

You make muffins from a box?? Oh the Shame of it all! Where did we go wrong?

I'd sentence you to 3 lashes with a wet noodle, but you'd have to make noodles. 🙂

Seriously, though, glad you enjoyed what you made.

[BakerAunt]

Wednesday morning, I made oatmeal pancakes (with some whole grains thrown in) to use up some heavy cream that had been around a while.

I also baked a new recipe, "Toffee Pumpkin Snack Cake," from Better Homes and Gardens Fall Baking (2017), p. 28. I made a half recipe and used an 8x8 inch pan. I like that it called for some buckwheat flour, whole wheat (or spelt) flour, and chia seeds. I added 2 Tbs. powdered milk. I accidentally put all the toffee pieces into the batter, instead of half in and half on top, so I did not put any on top, but I did sprinkle the top liberally with harvest colored sprinkles. The recipe said to use an ungreased pan, which goes against what I would expect, so I instead lined the pan with parchment paper. I used some of the puree from the Cinderella pumpkin, which still smells to me more like squash than pumpkin, but I expect the spices and the wholegrains to dominate.

Addendum: It's a very nice moist cake. I will definitely make it again. Although the recipe included a cream cheese frosting drizzle, I did not use it, as the cake is sweet enough without it.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Friday I made my mom's molasses cookies. She always called them ginger snaps and they have always been one of my favorite cookies. I am not sure why I only make them this time of year.

This morning (Saturday) I made biscuits. My wife is out of town and she is not a big biscuit fan which is one of the reasons I made them. I also haven't made them in a while. My kids were happy.

I want to try to make meringues this afternoon but I'm not sure I will get to the store and to the meringues.

[BakerAunt]

In the oven this evening, I have "Polenta Asiago Bread," a new recipe for me from Sift (Fall 2015), p. 69. I used my bread machine to mix it, and I added a tablespoon of bread flour. It was a somewhat wet dough, so I did not try braiding it, as the recipe instructed, even though the accompanying picture shows a loaf that was not braided. It does not appear to be getting the same rise as the one in the picture either.

While I'm waiting for it to bake, I checked the KAF website, and there it is:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/polenta-asiago-bread-recipe

Apparently others also have found that the dough does not turn out as it should. Maybe I needed to cook the polenta longer?

I'll report back tomorrow on my results.
Note: See separate thread on Polenta Asiago Bread.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[skeptic7]

I made low fat Vanilla CHeese cake from Susan Purdy's "Have your cake and eat it ". I had had a Doctor's appointment and the scales persuaded me it was time to try low fat cooking again and make it for other people's birthdays so they can be stuck with the left overs. The cake used 1 1/2 packages of low fat cream cheese and 2 cups of low fat vanilla yogurt. It also used a few tablespoons (3 ) of Cheerios for a sort of crust subsitute.
This was tasty enough but it differered from a full fat cheese cake by being much smaller. There isn't a crust, there is barely a sprinkling of cheerio dust on the bottom, and the cheese cake ended up about 1 inch high or less, as opposed to the 2 inches of a real New York Cheesecake. I baked it in a 9x13 pan.
The strawberry glaze made with frozen strawberries was red and tasty and completely fat free.
The good part is that it was tasty, and Sam, whose birthday it celebrated, liked it. The bad part was that it was tiny.

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