Science-Fair Success!

Although our first shot at a science-fair experiment was by no means a waste, we did have to redo the recipe with the correct proportions of ingredients. That meant we'd have to make more chocolate-chip cookies. (It's a tough job...)

The original cookie recipe came from My Kitchen Escapades. I cut the recipe in half, and we used baking powder in one batch and baking soda in the other. We used the same size cookie scoop, baked for the same amount of time, and measured the cookies after they baked and cooled.

Here's the recipe as Little Brother made it. Today, he had help from a friend who was visiting. I supervised and underwrote the cost of the ingredients. And I'm not letting him know that I'm reporting on his science-fair project here! He has to write his OWN report for school.

SAUCEPAN CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIES
(makes about 2 1/2 dozen)

1 stick butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp (baking soda OR baking powder)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Melt butter in saucepan.
2. Stir in both kinds of sugar.
3. Let cool 5 minutes.
4. Stir in egg and vanilla.
5. Stir in flour, baking soda OR baking powder, and salt.
6. Make sure dough is cool.
7. Stir in chocolate chips.

8. Measure scoops of dough onto baking sheet.
9. Bake 9 minutes at 350.
10. Allow to cool on pan at least 5 minutes before removing to rack.

The hypothesis was correct! The baking-powder cookies remained tall and puffy, while the baking-soda cookies spread a little more, so they were wider and flatter. Both cookies were delicious; it's just a question of the shape and texture you prefer.

Little Brother measured the cookies after they baked and cooled. The baking-powder cookies averaged 1 inch tall and 1 3/4 inches wide. The baking-soda cookies averaged 1/2-inch tall and 2 1/2 inches wide.

Personally, I preferred the cookies with baking soda. I like a cookie with a crispy outside and chewy inside. The baking-powder cookies were softer and puffier.

The proof is in the cookie!

For St. Patrick's Day: Irish Tea Brack

I like Irish soda bread as much as the next Irish girl, but the recipe I use makes a LOT of soda bread. I tried this recipe today, since I wanted to bake in a smaller quantity. It's based on a recipe from Georgina Campbell's book Classic Irish Recipes (Sterling Publishing, 1992). It is a "soda bread" but unlike the traditional soda bread, the liquid in the recipe comes from tea. Here's the recipe as I made it.

IRISH TEA BRACK

1/2 cup strong black tea
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup raisins
1 TBL orange zest
1 TBL lemon zest
4 TBL butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I used Penzey's Baking Spice instead)
pinch of salt

Mix tea, sugar and raisins in small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool. This can be done well in advance.
Grease a 2-quart round glass baking dish and line the bottom with waxed paper. Preheat oven to 350.
In a mixing bowl, combine tea mixture with citrus zest, butter and egg. Add dry ingredients and stir until mixed. Turn into prepared pan.
Bake 50 minutes or until firm to the touch. A cake tester or toothpick inserted into the middle will come out clean.
Cool in the pan at least 10 minutes before turning it out onto a rack.

Coffee-Cup Spice

I love how a little spice makes a cup of coffee that much sweeter and mellower, but without the "fake" flavor of artifically-flavored coffee blends or creamers. Those always have a strange chemical taste, I think. So I mix up my own "coffee-cup spice." Cinnamon by itself is delicious in coffee. Just sprinkle some on top of the coffee grounds before brewing (about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp for a 10-cup pot of coffee). I put together a spice blend, cinnamon-based, that is great in coffee or as a spice for coffee cake or muffins. To use it in baking, add up the amounts of spice you'd usually use in the recipe and use the same measurement of this spice blend.

I store it in an old jar from any one of the spices used in the blend. If you do this, don't even wash the jar first; whatever's left in the jar will just mix in.

Depending on the size of your jar, you can adjust the quantity of each, as long as you keep in mind that some are measured in TBL and some in tsp.

TBL:  cinnamon
tsp:  nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, ginger

Place in the jar, cover tightly and shake until well blended.

Sweet Scones

This is an adaptation of Granma's Irish Biscuits.  The technique is the same, but I've made these a little sweeter with spice and richer due to the use of cream instead of milk.

SWEET SCONES


2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 stick (1/4 lb. or 1/2 cup) butter or margarine, at room temperature (not melted)
raisins, to taste (about 1/2 cup is good)
1/2 cup half-and-half or light cream*
1 tsp coffee cup spice mix

Mix all ingredients. Batter shouldn't stick to fingers (add more flour if necessary).
Drop about 1/2-cup size balls onto floured cookie sheet, or pat into a rectangle on a floured surface, then cut into triangles. Makes about 8 round biscuits or a baker's dozen triangles, depending on how large you cut them.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes at 350.

*The quantity of cream is variable. Granma never used a measuring cup. If you accidentally put in too much liquid, just add a little more flour. This is a "go by the feel of it" kind of recipe.

Secret Recipe Club: Apple Cinnamon Muffins

It's a great time of year for apples, and baking anything with apples and cinnamon makes the house smell so good!  Naturally, though, when you get a bag of apples, there are always a few in there that have a bruise or imperfection and the kids don't want to eat them out of hand.  Those are great for cooking, though, as you can trim around those spots.  I bought way too many apples to make a Thanksgiving pie, so I used up two nice big Rome apples in this recipe for Apple Cinnamon Muffins, which I found over at No Reason Needed. This is my Secret Recipe Club pick for December.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups chopped, peeled tart apples (I used 2 Rome apples)
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
Demerara sugar for sprinkling

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Set aside.  Mix beaten egg, orange juice and melted butter, then stir into the dry ingredients until just moistened.  This will be a  VERY thick batter.

Fold in apples and walnuts.  Fill paper-lined muffin cups (I used an ice-cream scoop since the dough was so thick).

Sprinkle with Demerara sugar.  Bake at 350 until muffins test done; begin checking after 20 minutes.  It took mine 28 minutes to finish--think I might have overdone it on the apples a bit--the ones I used were REALLY big.

THINGS I CHANGED: I doubled the cinnamon from the original recipe, added nutmeg, added the walnuts and topped the muffins with Demerara sugar for a little extra crunch.

COOK'S NOTE: I was glad to read the note on the blog post (separate from the printable recipe) that said "don't let the lack of liquid ingredients scare you!"  I was SURE I would need more liquid, but these muffins turned out very moist--fiddling with that would have been a disaster.

SURVEY SAYS: These muffins were moist and tasty, full of nice big chunks of apples! They're great for breakfast or anytime.

I love how the recipes as this blog are all shown in printable format.  No Reason Needed is a family blog and recipe blog all rolled into one.  Recipes are uncomplicated and family-friendly!

Healthy Wheat Bread (for Beginners)

This is an original recipe.  The challenge:  to make a healthy bread without too much added sugar.  This bread can be made on the dough cycle in a bread machine (just add ingredients in the order recommended by the manufacturer.  Often, it's liquid first, then dry, with yeast on top.)   Directions below are for hand mixing or mixing with a stand mixer using a dough hook.  Baking directions will be the same regardless of whether the dough is hand mixed, done in a mixer or in a bread machine.

Makes 2 loaves.  I have not yet worked this recipe out for a single loaf.  Just cutting each ingredient in half doesn't always work.

Get the recipe and nutrition information for this bread at Cook and Count!

Secret Recipe Club: Cinnamon Roll Muffins

There's nothing like homemade cinnamon rolls--but they take about 4 hours, start to finish, and unless you want to wake up at three in the morning to start breakfast, there's no easy way to get them done before lunchtime.  Not that there's anything wrong with cinnamon rolls for lunch, or any time of the day, but sometimes you want them for breakfast.

That's why I had to try the Cinnamon Roll Muffin recipe that I found at The Baker Chick's blog.   Audra has collected a big bunch of appetizing recipes for everything from breads to cakes to cookies, but these muffins definitely caught my eye.  I was assigned this blog as part of the Secret Recipe Club, which is a wonderful way to visit new-to-you blogs and try new-to-you recipes!

Here's the recipe as I made it:

MUFFINS
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
3 cups flour plus more for dusting

FILLING
2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
2/3 cups brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

ICING
1 cup powdered sugar
2 to 3 TBL milk or cream

Preheat oven to 375° F. Measure the brown sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla and egg into a mixing bowl. Add the buttermilk. Mix together with a fork. Add the flour. Stir until thoroughly combined with a large spoon - do not overmix! Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Roll the dough into a 12-inch by 24-inch rectangle.

Mix filling ingredients in a small bowl.  Using an offset spatula, spread filling over the dough.  Roll the dough into a log and stretch slightly. Cut into two-inch pieces and put the pieces into muffin tins lined with cupcake papers. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes, and then remove from the muffin tins.

Mix icing, adding milk a little at a time to the powdered sugar until it reaches drizzling consistency.  Drizzle with icing (if using) when cool.

Makes 12 to 18 muffins.

Changes I Made:  The only change was that I mixed the filling instead of buttering the dough and sprinkling cinnamon-sugar separately.

My Bad:  I'm pretty sure I overworked this dough, as the results were a little tough.  Next time I'll go with a bit of a lighter touch.  Pay attention to the part that says "Do not overmix!"

Survey SAYS:  I couldn't resist tasting these when they were still hot...oh my, they were good!  You could add some finely chopped nuts to the filling if you like, and they really don't even need the icing.  These are a nice sweet breakfast treat.  Save this recipe for the next snow day and you'll be your family's hero!

How Hot is Hot?

If you've ever found a recipe on a European, Canadian or Australian website, or in a very old cookbook, you'll notice some differences in temperature notation.  So how hot IS a hot oven, anyway--and what's "gas mark 3?"

Thanks to Online Conversion for this very useful info!