[BakerAunt]

I chose the correct answer but for the wrong reason. I've learned a new food fact today.

[BakerAunt]

CWC Design--we have not heard from her for a long time--liked the spray that KAF offers.

I've also tried to get away from spray cans. I do keep an olive oil spray can, which I use for pizza (a light spray before drizzling olive oil on the pan) and for casseroles or roasting racks. It takes a long time for us to go through these sprays. I attempted to buy a pump spray, and the mechanism broke when I opened it, so it was back to the can.

With the baking sprays, I felt that the cans did not last all that long and had a tendency to clog and become useless. It also seemed to result in a darker crust. So far, the Grease has worked well for me and saved money I would have spent on the baking spray cans, as well as decreased my non-recyclable trash. I've used it on large muffins, but I do not particularly like to do standard muffins (takes a long time to prepare the pans so I often just use Crisco), and I'd be very unhappy if I had to coat a large quantity of mini-muffin pans.

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

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday afternoon, I baked the Espresso and Kahlua Brownie Chip Cookies (the recipe is here at Nebraska Kitchen), substituting 1/3 cup of oil for the butter, using white whole wheat flour, and omitting the chocolate chips. For further details, see the "A Chocolate Question" thread. Yum!

[BakerAunt]

Drum Roll: Here are the results:

On Tuesday, I tried an experiment, using the recipe for Espresso & Kahlua Brownie Chip Cookies, which was first posted by Lorraine on the Old Baking Circle, then re-posted onto the next version of the Baking Circle. When KAF dismantled the BC, this is one of the recipes that I saved and re-posted at Nebraska Kitchen. My experiment was to replace the AP flour with white whole wheat, replace the ½ cup butter with 1/3 cup canola oil, and eliminate the chocolate chips. My goal is a cookie with less saturated fat and a bit of a health benefit, although most of that will be wiped out by the saturated fat.

I was able to melt the chocolate with the oil. (Note: I used 2 oz. Bakers German Chocolate and 4 oz. Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate, as that is what I had on hand and needed to use up.) After mixing the dough, I used a ¼ cup scoop (Zeroll 13) to scoop not too full amounts onto two parchment-lined baking sheets, with seven on one sheet and eight on the other. I refrigerated these for 30 minutes. I baked each sheet at 325F for 19 minutes. To try to equalize the chill times, as I only bake one tray at a time, I took the second one out of the refrigerator after 40 minutes and let is sit at room temperature while the first tray finished baking.

Results: The taste is excellent, they have the same crinkles on top, and the texture reminds me of when I baked them with butter. Even with my changes, the saturated fat is not trivial; it’s 45g total (4g of it are from the eggs and 5g from the canola oil), which means 3g per cookie (I got 15 from the recipe). With the white whole wheat flour, it is wholegrain, so there is fiber, but I have no illusions that I’m eating health food. I cut the saturated fat by 51g by substituting canola oil for butter, and I cut it further by eliminating the chocolate chips. I would bake the recipe again.

[BakerAunt]

I never tried making onion soup at home, but I do recall eating some wonderful ones in restaurants. I would always order it if I had the chance.

On Tuesday, we have had a heavy wet snow of about an inch. It seems to be alleviating. We had a cozy dinner with a chicken roasted atop cut-up red potatoes and small carrots, tossed with olive oil and rosemary sprinkled on top. I rubbed the chicken with olive oil and sprinkled with poultry seasoning and sweet curry. It’s the same technique I used a few weeks ago. This time, after the chicken was finished, I let the vegetables roast for an additional 15 minutes, which caramelized them nicely. It’s not a recipe to use for a crispy skin, but we’re not eating the skin these days. We had microwaved fresh broccoli as well.

[BakerAunt]

I had the German chocolate leftover from another recipe, so I wanted to use it up. Other than the bittersweet chocolate, I had only unsweetened in the refrigerator. I still have some high quality bittersweet chocolate chips, but I wasn't going to "waste" them in a cookie recipe. They were awesome in the Bischofsbrot that I baked in January where they nicely set off the maraschino cherries and the dark and golden raisins and walnuts.

I bought some Callebaut to make a wondrous KAF chocolate tart. Those days are over. Sigh.

I'll probably be baking my husband's favorite chocolate cake when his birthday rolls around next month, so I need to check my store of Ghirardelli and Guittard dark chocolate chips. I also need to see exactly what chocolate ingredients I have in the apartment refrigerator. I moved it all out there when I started the low-saturated fat diet. I have some confidence now that I can keep a balance, but I still don't want to keep it in the house refrigerator.

[BakerAunt]

Both of the bars I'm using have cocoa butter, but as Mike notes, there is no mention of how much.

German chocolate ingredients: sweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, soy lecithin--emulsifier

Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate (60% cacao): unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, milk fat, soy lecithin--an emulsifier, vanilla

I just took the first tray out of the oven, and they look good. I'll post more details later this evening after we have one for dessert.

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

[BakerAunt]

KAF recipes often use a small amount of sourdough starter for the overnight levain. (See Jeffrey Hamelmann's rye bread recipe on the KAF site.) I find it a bit iffy, having tried baking the rye bread on two occasions, as there seemed to be a small window between when the levain was ready and moving on to the next step. I need to try that recipe again.

[BakerAunt]

Hmm--Good question, Aaron. One advantage might be being able to get the chocolate out of the bowl in which it was melted.

[BakerAunt]

Also moving to correct thread, as I followed Aaron's comment.

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

[BakerAunt]

I missed it by 10g too high. I'm still new to using grams in baking, but it helps that my scale will toggle back and forth between oz. and grams, so I'm learning. If I have a choice between oz. and grams, I will use the grams.

[BakerAunt]

Joan, it's great that your husband is not only eating well again but able to tackle chores again.

[BakerAunt]

Thanks, Mike. I'm not using "great" chocolate. I have 2 oz. Bakers German Chocolate, which I plan to melt with 4 oz. Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate. I want to use up some of the chocolate that has been sitting in the refrigerator.

After I make the dough, I plan to go ahead and scoop out the cookies, then refrigerate each tray for about 30 minutes before baking. The resting time worked well with the oil-based biscotti that I baked a couple of weeks ago.

[BakerAunt]

One summer before we lived here permanently, we had a pump problem that took the plumber the better part of a day. We had two of my husband's graduate students here doing research. I desperately wanted to order pizza, but there was only one very expensive restaurant. I ended up making something, although I don't recall what.

We have one pizza place--Bourbon Street, which is a chain in Indiana. I've not had their pizza. I have had pizza from Papa's, a local Italian restaurant (the expensive one). I've had it once, and it was good, although the occasion--watching fireworks with friends--may have colored that memory. We like my pizza, so it does not matter that we have no place from which we want to order it.

Thanks for the feedback on white whole wheat flour, Aaron. I'll try replacing the KAF AP in my crust next time I make it. The semolina and durum wheat will stay, as will the rye and sourdough.

[BakerAunt]

Sigh. I was so disappointed previously when Mike informed us that semolina is not a wholegrain. I've tried more whole wheat in my pizza crust but did not like the result. Adding some dark rye has worked. I may try some of the white whole wheat in place of the KAF flour. I do add some dark rye.

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