Sourdough Popovers

Another WIN from the sourdough starter! Today's discard from feeding the starter had enough for another batch of crackers (this time with herbs) AND a batch of Popovers. 

Oh. My. Goodness.

I have always been afraid to make popovers because they seem so scary and fragile...

These were SO EASY. And SO DELICIOUS!!

Yep, you guessed it. This was another winning recipe from King Arthur Flour. Have you checked out their site yet? 

Ingredients

1 cup milk

3 large eggs

1/2 cup sourdough starter

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup all purpose flour

Instructions

Put a muffin or popover pan in the oven while it preheats to 450 degrees.

Heat the milk until just warm to the touch. (I did 30 seconds in microwave, stir, 30 seconds)

Mix milk, eggs, starter, and salt. 

Add flour and mix until JUST combined (lumps ok)

Carefully remove pan from oven and spray with oil (or brush with oil or butter)

Fill the cups (to the top if a muffin tin), leaving empty cups among them so they can expand

Bake for 15 minutes at 450

Turn down heat to 375 and bake for 15 more minutes

Remove from oven and serve immediately.

I ate mine with just a touch of butter and salt, but they would be amazing with honey, jam, or anything else you can think of!

Sourdough "Starter Discard" Crackers

If you remember from my Sourdough Starter post, you have to discard some of it every time you feed it. Well.... I do NOT like to waste food! 

So, each time I feed my starter.... I bake! The King Arthur Flour site has lots of great recipes that you can use with this "discard" sourdough starter!

The first recipe I tried was Sourdough Crackers. You can add all kinds of things, like herbs, to the dough to make it different flavors, but we did it plain... in hopes that my picky eater would like them. (Spoiler alert... she didn't. But the rest of us SURE DID!! SO YUMMY!)

This recipe is based on King Arthur, but the following instructions are tweaked to be exactly what I did.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sourdough starter (discard/unfed)
2 Tbsp butter, room temperature

Olive Oil for brushing
Coarse Sea Salt for sprinkling

Instructions:

-Mix together the flour, salt, sourdough starter, and butter to make a smooth dough
-Shape into a rectangular slab and wrap with plastic
-Put in refrigerator for 30 minutes (or up to 2 hours) until dough is firm

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Lightly flour a piece of parchment, your rolling pin, and the top of the dough
-Roll the dough to about 1/16" thick
-Brush oil over entire sheet of dough
-Use pizza cutter to cut sheet into small squares (about 1-1 1/2 inch)
-Sprinkle with course salt
-Transfer dough (with the parchment) to a baking sheet
-Prick each square with the tines of a fork
-Bake 20-25 minutes, turning sheet around halfway through
-Remove from oven and transfer parchment to a cooling rack
-Store airtight up to a week

It really is super EASY! I can't wait to try it with some rosemary or thyme from the garden!

                                                  

Sourdough Starter

Well, since we are all quarantined for the next month or so, I figured "hey, I'll go back to that blog that I forgot about ages ago!" (Yeah, sorry about disappearing for about 7 years.... life got... busy).

With all of the extra time I have from NOT running kids to and from school, music lessons, social activities, theater, etc. right now, I have been spending a LOT of time in the kitchen. Plus, by making things from scratch (like I used to), I can avoid the germ filled store AND teach my kids some much needed life skills. (Not that I didn't teach them useful things before.... we just have WAY MORE time to spend doing it now).

Where to start...

Thanks to my love of baking, I always have flour on hand, so the HOARDING that people are doing didn't affect me in that sense. (I AM running dangerously low on TP, though, so hopefully the stores get stocked up soon.... or I will be writing a VERY different blog entry in a few weeks).

Back to baking...

We have been baking banana bread like CRAZY, as well as my famous Cinnamon Swirl Bread (I will write those posts separately for you later). We have also been baking my Everyday Bread and my favorite 5 Minute Bread often. I have ALWAYS wanted to make my own Sourdough Starter from scratch, but it's kind of intimidating! Having to feed it daily, or more, and keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't get contaminated. My schedule has been a little to crazy to commit to such a project. 

Not Any More! Time to give it a go!

I did a bit of research, since there are many opinions on the RIGHT way to make a starter. After comparing about a dozen blogs, recipes, and websites, I narrowed it down to the advice from King Arthur Flour. I mean, they do MAKE flour and all, so they probably know what they are talking about. Also, their website was much easier to follow than many others. I suggest you go there and check it out! They also have recipes for using the starter once you get that far! (AND they have recipes for using the discarded starter.... you will know what I am talking about soon.)

Here's the basic gist of how to make your own sourdough starter!

Day 1: Mix 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water. 

            Cover and let sit for 24 hours at 70 degrees.

-Whole wheat flour is more likely to have natural yeast in it.

-You can use tap water as long as you can't smell any chemicals. Otherwise, use filtered water.

-You can cover it with a tea towel or loose plastic. I used one of those elastic plastic covers (like a shower cap). See picture below.

-The BEST place to keep your starter is in the oven with the LIGHT on. JUST THE LIT BULB makes it nice and warm and helps the yeast become active. Don't turn the oven on... you will cook your yeast.

Day 2: Remove 1/2 cup of starter and discard it 

           (or use in one of the "discard" recipes on the King Arthur Flour website... I made crackers).

           Add 1 cup ALL PURPOSE flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water.

           Cover and let sit for 24 hours at 70 degrees.

           This is my starter after Day 2 feeding and resting in the oven for 12 hours...

Day 3: Keep ONLY 4 oz (1/2 cup) of starter and remove/discard the rest (or make something with it!)

            Add 1 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 cup water.

            Cover and let sit 12 hours.

            Keep 4 oz and remove the rest, and add another 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup water.

            As you can see, you feed TWICE a day for day 3, 4, and 5!

Day 4: REPEAT Day 3 (feed twice, 12 hours apart)

Day 5: REPEAT Day 4 (feed twice, 12 hours apart)

After Day 5, if your starter is nice and bubbly, it is ready! 

(if it is not bubbly yet, continue for a few more days. Cold weather can take longer)

To USE your starter, first feed it and let it sit for 6-8 hours (yes, you discard all but 4 oz again)

Remove what you need for the recipe (no more than 1 cup) and feed remaining 4 oz starter again, letting it rest at room temperature for a few hours to activate. After it rests this time, keep this remaining starter in a jar or other covered container in the fridge (loosely covered), feeding it once a week and using as needed.

     

Good Luck! 

Pumpkin Puppy Treats

Hurray for fall! I love the changing colors of the trees and the cool, crisp mornings. But most of all, I love baking with PUMPKIN! (And drinking pumpkin spice lattes, of course). There is just something about pumpkin flavor that makes it feel like fall. 

I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodles on Pinterest that looked delicious, so I had to give them a try. (I forgot to take pictures). They were SOOOOO good. I will be making them again. Check out the recipe I used HERE.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I only had a giant can of pumpkin in my pantry and was left with extra after making the cookies. I couldn't just throw it away, of course, so I had to think of another use.

I had read somewhere that pumpkin was good for dogs, and since we recently got a puppy,

I decided to whip up some yummy treats for him too. Isn't he adorable?

I found a recipe for Pumpkin Dog Treats on THIS blog that sounded pretty easy. And I had all of the ingredients in my pantry already, which was a huge bonus. 

15 oz pumpkin puree

2 eggs

1/2 cup oats

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbls peanut butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix it up, roll it out to 1/2 inch thick, cut out the "cookies," and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. 

A half hour later........ Voila!

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Puppy Treats!

I couldn't find my bone shaped cookie cutter, so we made diamonds instead. I don't think Benson (the dog) minded at all. He gobbled them up like crazy! I think he might like pumpkin flavor as much as I do. Good dog!

Shredded Wheat Cookies

Have you ever wondered what to do with the leftover crumbs at the bottom of the cereal bag?

We get the giant boxes of Frosted Mini Wheats from Costco because my kids love it and I feel like they are eating kinda "healthy." Lately, however, there has been a HUGE amount of crumbs at the bottom of the bag. I started saving the crumbs, knowing that there MUST be something I could make out of them. (This seems to be a growing trend with me, as my husband jokingly asks me now before he throws anything away, "Do you want to save this for something?") 


Apparently I am not the only one who hates to waste the shredded wheat crumbs. As I was looking for a recipe to "tweak," I came across THIS website. Aha! She's already done the work for me! I decided to try her recipe first (which I think she got from the box of a generic shredded wheat), and then alter it next time if needed. So, here it is:


Shredded Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

1  1/2 cup frosted shredded wheat crumbs (she said to finely process them, but I decided to try it with crumbs straight from the box to add some texture to the cookie)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

8 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 375F. 

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until well blended:

Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

In a separate bowl, combine cereal crumbs, flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder; add to butter mixture and stir to combine: 

Add chocolate chips:

(I found it easier to use my hands at this stage. The dough is hard to stir with a spoon). 

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a lightly greased cookie sheet:

(I used my Silpat baking liners instead of greasing my pan).
Bake for 10-12 minutes:

Cool completely; store in an airtight container.

Wow. These things are SO good. They are chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside (with neat little crunchy bits from the cereal crumbs). They are buttery and chocolatey. I would say they are a little bit too sweet (if there is such a thing), so next time I might reduce the sugar just a tad. Overall, though, this is a winner. 

And now I don't have to throw away the crumbs at the bottom of the cereal bag. Sorry honey......

Everyday Bread

My "Everyday Bread," as I call it, comes from an old William Sonoma bread cookbook that my husband has had since before we met. It is such a simple recipe, and it produces 2 loaves that are just the right consistency for sandwiches. I've even used it to make buns for hamburgers! What I'm trying to say is that this recipe is versatile and great for the beginner baker.


Ingredients
1/4 cup warm water
2 cup warm whole milk 
4 tsp active dry yeast
2 Tbsp sugar or honey 
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 Tbsp salt
6 cup (+ or -) bread flour (I always use all purpose)
Canola Oil for greasing the pans (I use "Pam" spray oil)

Directions
To warm the milk, I usually just "nuke" it in the microwave for a few seconds. Be careful, though, because it can get hot and if it is too hot it will KILL the yeast and your bread will fail. It's best to warm it a few second at a time and stir it to make sure there are no hot spots. 


Mix the water, 1/4 cup of the milk, and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir to mix. Set aside. When it is bubbly and starting to puff up, it's ready to use (see lower picture)

In a large bowl, mix remaining 1 3/4 cup milk, melted butter, sugar (or honey), salt, and 2 cups of flour. Mix until creamy. (You can use a stand mixer to make this dough, but I prefer to do it all by hand).

By this time, your yeast mixture should be bubbly and ready. Add your yeast mixture and another 1 cup flour to the large bowl and mix for a minute or two until combined.

Mix in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. (I usually get about 5 cups of flour in to get to this point.... and I add the remaining 1 cup while I knead by hand. If you use a stand mixer to knead the dough, skip the next step, finish adding the flour and continue to mix it until it is smooth and elastic)

If you will be kneading by hand, like I do, prepare your surface with flour (Here is where I can add my last cup of flour). Turn out the dough onto the floured surface and sprinkle flour on top.

Knead in the remaining flour, and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Remember that the purpose of kneading is to stretch the gluten fibers, so don't tear your bread. Instead, pull up on side of the dough and fold it over the rest.

Using the heel of your hand, press down and away from you.  Turn the dough 1/4 turn and do it again. Continue in this way until the dough is smooth and elastic. That means that there are no lumps and when you press on the dough it springs back. 

When you are fininshed kneading, put the dough into a greased bowl. Spray a little oil on the top of the dough so it won't dry out. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap (DO NOT SEAL the edges. You want to plastic to move if the dough rises above the sides of your bowl).

When your dough has doubled (after about 1 1/2 hours at room temperature) it is time to prepare the loaves. Grease two 9 inch loaf pans and set aside.

Turn out the dough onto a floured counter. Divide in half. Press each half into a rectangular shape (does not have to be perfect).

Fold each rectangle like a letter: Starting from the short side of the rectangle, fold up the bottom edge 1/3 of the way up. Fold down the top edge 1/3 of the way down and press to seal (now you have a rectangle that is three layers thick..... see second picture). 

Turn the new rectangle so that the short edge is facing you. Starting with the short edge, roll up the dough into a log. Seal the edges and continue to roll until your log is the same length as your pan. Place you logs into the prepared loaf pans.

Cover the pans loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about an hour. 

When the dough has risen about 1 inch above the edge of the pan, it is ready. Preheat your oven to 375.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until the loaves are golden brown and pull away from the pan sides.

Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on a rack. Cool completely. Enjoy!

I've made this recipe so many times that I can do it by memory. And now, I feel brave enough to experiment a little. The first change I made was to use 1-2 cups of whole wheat flour in place of some of the white flour. It didn't change the bread too much, but I found I need to add a little bit more milk to accommodate the extra absorbency of the whole wheat flour. I felt like it was a little "healthier" than the plain white bread, without going completely whole grain. My kids ate it, and that's the true test of a successful recipe!


The next change went kind of the opposite way. In term of healthiness, I mean. I had been hearing of people using coconut oil in their cooking. Recently I read about a friend who was using it in her bread. I really wanted to try it, but I didn't have any. I did, however, have a box of Coco-Pop. You know, the weird yellow sticks of oil that are made for popping popcorn? They are Coconut oil, Cottonseed oil, and Soybean oil (and colored with Beta Carotene). And I'm sure there is some artificial butter flavor in there somewhere too, even though it's not listed on the package. My husband picked this up recently because he was curious about whether or not it would REALLY make our popcorn taste better than using regular vegetable oil (which, by the way, it DOES!). My hesitation with it is that it is Hydrogenated oil, which really isn't good for you. I decided, though, that because I was using such a small amount, it wouldn't kill me. Or so I hoped.


The verdict? DELICIOUS! Replacing the butter with the coco-pop made the most moist and wonderful bread. Great texture, great flavor, and the beta carotene even made the bread a neat color! Total winner! (except for the hydrogenated part). I WILL be making this version again!


***Update***
If you are a novice baker and this, or other bread recipes, doesn't work for you the first time. DON'T GIVE UP! Bread dough is a funny thing, and even the most experienced bakers make bread that flops! In fact, just the other day, I made this exact recipe (which I've made a hundred times). The temperature in my house was a little warmer than usual and I got distracted by  my kids. I ended up letting my loaves rise too much before getting them in the oven. The result? Edible bread that was a little too "holey" and that collapsed in the oven. It won't stop me from making it again, but I guess I need to set a timer so that I remember to check on my loaves. :-)

5 Minute Bread

Ok, so it takes a little longer because it has to rise. But it is literally FIVE minutes of work. And NO kneading. It really couldn't be simpler. And now that I know this bread exists, I don't ever want to hear anyone say, "I don't have time to make fresh baked bread." And that includes myself.

I enjoy making bread, and I probably bake fresh bread 3-4 times a month. Occasionally, I buy bread for my kids' sandwiches, but that is only when our schedule is really hectic, I'm sick, or I have too many other baking projects to do to fit in another loaf of bread. Needless to say, I don't buy bread often.

My brother first introduced me to this type of bread. He came over for dinner one day with a tupperware container full of "dough." All he did was pull out a "hunk", let it rise for 40 minutes, and pop it in the oven. Oh My Gosh. Hot from the oven bread with a crusty crust? HEAVEN. He said that he keeps the dough in the fridge for a few weeks and pulls out just what he needs for dinner. It couldn't get any easier!

Too lazy to call him for the recipe, I did a little internet search on "refrigerator dough" and found this video put on YouTube by the authors of "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day," Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. The recipe couldn't be any easier:

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt
3 cup water
6 1/2 cup flour

Thats it! You just mix it in a big container with a loose fitting top and stir until mixed. NO KNEADING! Let it rise for 2 hours, and it's ready to go. Take what you need and put the rest in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. All you have to do when you want fresh bread is take it out and let it rest while your oven heats up (about 40 minutes). Make sure to use a baking stone and a dish of water on the bottom rack for steam.

The steps for baking your bread are as follows:
1. Put your baking stone on the middle rack of your oven, and empty pan on the bottom rack, and preheat to 450 degrees.

2. Put a generous amount of corn meal on a wooden pizza peel.

3. Flour your hands and pull out a "hunk" of dough. (Your dough should be really "wet").

4. Form the dough into the desired shape. I did small oblong loafs this time. No special technique needed. Sprinkle it with flour and let it rest/rise for about 40 minutes. When you are ready to put it in the oven, take and knife and score the top (I didn't do this step for this batch).

Carefully slide the dough onto the baking stone in the oven and pour a cup or so of water in the pan that is on the bottom rack. Close the oven door quickly to trap the steam. Bake for 30-40 minutes (This will depend on the size loaves you make). The top should be a nice dark brown color and will sound hollow when you tap on it (I probably could have left these in a few more minutes to darken a little more). Remove loaves and put on rack to cool.

Talk about simple living. Fresh bread doesn't get much simpler. Enjoy!

Let Them Eat Cake

It's that time of year again. You know. Spring. When ALL of my kids have their birthdays. 


That means cake, cake, and more cake! 


And, of course, now that they are in school, I have to think up cute things for them to take for their birthday treat for their friends IN ADDITION TO a cute birthday cake for their party (which could be challenging depending on the theme they choose). Thankfully my kids are flexible and I can usually convince them that my "easier" version of their cake idea will be even more awesome.


This year, I got off easy with my youngest. Since she is only 2, she really doesn't know what she wants and really doesn't care about what her cake looks like. We did a dinosaur party and my cake was a total flop. I tried to use a cookie cutter to make dino shaped cupcakes. FAIL. So what the kids got was random shaped cupcakes out of the part of the cake that I didn't ruin. They didn't care. Sugar is sugar, right? I've got to step up my game for her next year, though, because 3 year olds are in a whole different league.


Next up is my son's 6th birthday. We had originally decided on a pirate party, but somewhere along the way he begged for a bowling party. Since I hadn't started on any of the decorations or planning, switching was easy. And I am SO glad we changed. Since we are going to a bowling alley for his party, I don't have to clean my house before OR after the party! Yay! This sounds like a cop out, but I clean ALL THE TIME. I jump at any chance for a break.


So back to the cake. I really try to make everything from scratch. I know it would be really easy, and pretty cheap, to go get a box of cake mix and can of icing. But I can't pronounce some of the ingredients, and really, I have everything I need in my pantry. And, thanks to the internet, I have thousands of recipes at my fingertips (this is one of those times that I am very grateful for the internet..... there are other times that I hate it, but this is not the place to discuss that).


Today I have to take my son's treat to his school. I decided to make cake cones. I've never actually made any (or eaten any) but I remember seeing them as a kid and thinking it was SO cool. It's really easy too. All you do is line up your cones in a baking dish (I used a rectangular cake pan) and fill them half way with cake batter. You can't see it, but I put a few chocolate chips in the bottom of the cone before filling them with batter as an extra special surprise when the kids eat them. (I'll get better at taking pictures to post.... I'm still new at this blog thing). Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool completely and top with your favorite icing. I added sprinkles because what kid doesn't like sprinkles?

They didn't turn out exactly how I wanted (I wanted them to look more like soft serve ice cream), but I think they are still cute. I guess I need to practice my icing technique. Here's the whole batch.....

I used Keebler brand cones as well as Safeway store brand. I figured there was no difference. There IS a difference. Definitely spring for the name brand cones in this case. (When they are on sale there really isn't much price difference anyway).

So, here are the recipes I used for the cake and icing. 

Cake: This could possibly be the best, light, fluffy, moist chocolate cake I've ever had. And it is SO simple to make. I won't rewrite the recipe here since they have great instructions at this link: Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake. 

Icing: This is my "go to" recipe when I need a quick, easy vanilla buttercream. I don't remember where I got the recipe because it's scribbled on a scrap of paper in my recipe box and I've had it forever.

1/2 c. butter (softened)

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

3 Tbsp. milk

When making icing, it is really important that your butter is room temperature. Beat it with you mixer on medium for a minute or so to make it creamy and fluffy. Add vanilla and milk and beat until mixed with butter. Add sugar a bit at a time and beat into butter mixture. Continue beating until it reaches the consistency you are looking for (depending on if you are spreading or piping the icing). You can add a little extra milk if you need to thin it out, or a little extra sugar to thicken it. 

For my cake cones, I spooned the icing into a piping bag with tip (you can use any tip you want) and then piped it on in a swirl pattern. I learned that putting ALL of the icing in the bag at one time makes it hard to pipe. I would recommend putting half in..... pipe some of your cakes.... and then refilling the bag with the rest of the icing to finish.

I will update this post with my son's party cake and my daughter's treat and cake next month. 

The last thing any of us needs is more stress. I'm trying to "not sweat the small stuff" as best I can and keep my life simple. I hope my recipes, tips, and experiences can help YOU keep YOUR life simple, even during the birthday party craziness.