Week 8: Chocolate Chip Brownies

Yes, yes, it's the start of another week and once again I find myself falling behind. I promise you, the baking gets done on time... it's finding time to blog about it that's hard. But once again, here I am, bringing you a recipe that my 12 year old nephew claims is "the best thing ever". He's even requested it for his birthday present next year. Must really be good, huh? See for yourself...

Chocolate Chip Brownies

Makes 1 9x13 pan

Recipe from Now You're Cooking!

1/2 c. butter

2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (first amount)

1 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. vanilla

1/4 c. hot water

4 eggs

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips (second amount)

1 c. white chocolate chips

Melt butter and 2 c. chocolate chips together. In a small bowl mix flour and baking soda together. Put melted chocolate mixture in a large bowl. Add sugar and beat for about 5 minutes until smooth. With mixer on add vanilla, and gradually add water. Add eggs one at a time and beat after every addition.

With mixer on low, add flour mixture until blended.

Fold in remaining 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. (Personally, I don't like white chocolate. Chocolate should be brown, in my humble opinion. I had peanut butter chips on hand, so that's what I used.) Coat the chips with 1 1/2 tsp. flour before adding to the batter, to keep them from sinking to the bottom of your brownies while baking. Trust me, it works.

Pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 35-45 minutes. It took 51 minutes in my oven, so keep a close eye on these babies. Cool. Cut into squares and store in refrigerator.

I'm not sure why, but as my brownies were cooling, they sunk down in the center. I was a little concerned that this meant they would be less cooked in the middle, but no worries. They are FAN. TAS. TIC.

Week 7: Pita Bread

Now before you start thinking that I've forgotten about the "one baking project per week" plan... let me say this: the baking was done last week Wednesday. I work on Thursdays and Fridays. We went camping Saturday and Sunday. Today is Monday. Today is when I have time to post last week's baking project. Back off, okay? The baking got done. :)

When I committed to baking one new recipe per week for a year, I didn't fool myself into believing that every week would produce delicious, "oh my goodness this is the best thing I've ever made" results. Week 7 is the reason I am glad that I wasn't lulled into a false sense of baking nirvana.

Ordinarily, I love pita bread. I'd rather have a sandwich where the fixin's are stuffed into a tasty little pocket than smushed between two slices of mushy bread. This pita bread is not what I have become accustomed to. They're "okay". That's all. Nothing spectacular. But I promised to bring it all to you, good and bad, so here ya go!

Pita Bread

Makes 12

Recipe from: Better Recipes

3 1/2 - 4 c. flour

1 pkg. dry yeast

1 1/4 c. warm water (115-120 degrees)

2 Tsbp. oil

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. sugar

In mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 c. flour and yeast. Combine warm water, oil, salt and sugar. Add to yeast; mix for 30 seconds. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. By hand, stir in enough flour to make a moderately-stiff dough. knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Cover and let rise 45 minutes. Punch down and divide into 12 pieces. Shape into balls; cover. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll into 5-inch rounds. Roll out from center, not back and forth (I used my hand to flatten the dough-- why use the rolling pin for something so small?). Cover and let rise 20-30 minutes.

Put 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

That's about it. The pitas do puff up a bit when they bake, so if you cut them in half it would be possible to put sandwich stuff into them, but the flavor just isn't there for me. I'm sure if you added honey and used whole wheat flour it may improve the flavor, but to be honest, I'm not that interested. Sorry this is kind of a downer of a post, but I have to be honest. And honestly, if I were you, I wouldn't bother with this one.

Guess they can't all be winners. Better luck next time.

Week 6: Iced Molasses Cookies

So... I know that typically one would make yummy desserts containing cinnamon, cloves, and ginger sometime in the fall or winter months. I am aware that today is July 7. I just really, really REALLY love molasses cookies. I thought about making some kind of cupcake for this week's project, but was concerned about dealing with a mess of sticky melty frosting, being that the temperature hit 90 degrees today.

Plus I love molasses cookies. Did I already mention that? Well, it's true.

Iced Molasses Cookies

Recipe from www.cookiemadness.net

Makes 40-50 cookies

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

3/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1/2 c. vegetable shortening

1/4 c. (4 Tbsp.) softened butter

1/4 molasses (light or dark)

1 large egg

Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Cream the sugar with the butter and shortening. Beat in the molasses, then add egg and beat well until thoroughly mixed. Gradually add the flour mixture to the molasses mixture and stir to make a dough.

Chill dough for 90 minutes, or until ready to bake.

Shape dough into little balls (the recipe I was reading says it will make 50, but I only got 40, so I must roll bigger dough balls than most people). Arrange 2 1/2 inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets, press down slightly (I used my fingers).

Bake in the center of a preheated 350 degree oven for 10-14 minutes (took exactly 10 minutes in my oven). Let cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Icing:

2 c. powdered sugar

1 Tbsp. melted butter

2 1/2 Tbsp. milk or light cream, plus more as needed (I used soy milk)

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix the sugar and butter together the best you can. Slowly stir in the milk and beat until smooth. Add vanilla, then add more milk little by little until you get a nice drizzling consistency. Using a teaspoon, drizzle over cooled cookies. The icing hardens pretty quickly, so you'll be able to stack them for storage.

The plan is to bring these lovely "better than store bought" cookies to work tomorrow, but I had to sample one to make sure they were good enough to share. They're chewy, molasses-y, and delicious. They'd be great without the icing, but it really adds a nice sweet note to balance out the "spice" from the cloves and ginger.

So good. You have to try them.

Week 5: Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Let me just start by saying that this could possibly be the best thing I've ever baked. Not just in the last 5 weeks, but EVER. Seriously, it's that good.

Now that I've got your attention...

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Recipe from Taste of Home

Makes 2 loaves

2 pkg. (1/4 oz. each) active dry yeast

2 c. warm water (approx. 110 degrees)

1/4 c. canola oil (I used vegetable oil)

1 c. sugar

3 tsp. salt

6 - 6 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1 c. raisins

3 tsp. cinnamon

additional oil

Combine the yeast and warm water in a large bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes until it looks foamy. Add the oil, 1/2 c. sugar, salt and eggs; mix until smooth. Add 4 cups of flour and mix until you get a soft dough.

(Don't you love this mixer? We call it "Big Red".)

Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. (Remember to remove your rings and put them in a safe place while you knead the dough, or it'll get into every nook & cranny-- mine always go in an ice cube tray that lives on the counter.)

Place dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat the dough.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide in half. Knead 1/2 c. of raisins into each section of dough. Roll each section into a 15x9 inch rectangle.

Combine the remaining 1/2 c. of sugar with cinnamon. Brush the rectangles with oil, then sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar mixture, leaving 1/2 inch margin all the way around.

Starting at the short end, roll the dough up, jelly-roll style. Pinch the seams to seal, then place in 2 loaf pans, seam side down. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Brush the tops with a little more oil, then bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Remove from loaf pans and cool on wire racks.

A few notes:

1) I used half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour, just to see what would happen. Good things happened.

2) I used the paddle attachment for mixing the dough with the 4 c. flour, then I used the dough hook for adding the remaining flour.

3) This bread is amazing. I toasted it and added butter. So. Good. Tastes better than store-bought, and I know exactly what went into it, and can pronounce all the ingredients.

No preservatives + no high-frutcose corn syrup = good for your family.

Please try this bread. Add a slice of cheese for even more yumminess. You know you want to. :)