Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

Hello and welcome to this weeks Adventures In Baking.  I seem to be on a cookie kick here lately and one of my favorites is Oatmeal Cookies.  Without Raisins.  My Mom knows how much I love oatmeal cookies so she emailed me the recipe I'm using today and you can find it here on Barefoot Contessa's blog.

The ingredients.  Cookies always have soooo many ingredients.  This one uses rolled oats (naturally), dark brown sugar, cranberries and whole wheat flour.

Let's get started.  Cream the butter with the granulated and brown sugars.  Add the eggs and stir. 

Next step.  Add the cinnamon, baking soda, cream of tarter and vanilla to the mixture.  Stir in the oats.

Final step.  Mix in the all-purpose and whole wheat flours.  Then add the cranberries.  I couldn't decide whether or not to use the whole wheat flour but I wanted to stay true to the recipe.  If you look closely at the above photo, you can see the slight color difference between the all-purpose flour on the left and whole wheat flour on the right. 

Taste test.  The batter wasn't very thick and I was worried the cookies would spread out in the over, but they held their shape pretty well.  The cookies are nice and chewy, just how an oatmeal cookie should be.

The clean up.  The recipe said it yielded 24 cookies.  I made 46.  And these aren't some little bite-sized cookies.  These are full-sized cookies.  I can't imagine how big they'd be to only have 24 cookies.  This would be a good cookie to make using the Whoopie Pie Pan so they'd be nice the thick and chewy.  And they're so good I can't decide if I'm going to take any to work and share or not.  I may just bag some for the freezer!  After I enjoy a few more with a glass of cold milk that is....

I'm heading out of town again for a couple of days for work and I'm anticipating a spotty Internet connection.  But I'll be back as soon as I can with the final 6 month review of The Best of the Rest.

Till then

-Teddra

 

 

The Best of the Breads

Hi and welcome back to another review round-up of Adventures In Baking. This episode takes a look back at the Breads I've made during the first half of the year. I'll just say right up front, this was not a very successful category!  I attempted 6 bread/muffin recipes since January 1.  Like the other categories I've reviewed so far where it was a tough choice for Top 2 Favorites,  it was a tough choice here too.....but for entirely different reasons!  This review is going to go from most to least successful.  Or, if you will, from most to least edible! 

The breads were off to a decent start with Lemon Glazed Cranberry Scones I made the second week of January.  You can read all about my adventure here.  The scones were pretty good, especially the glaze, they were just a little too thick.  The larger scones wouldn't have been quite so doughy if they would have been baked a little longer.  I tried baking these again for Easter morning and everyone liked them.

Next up we have the muffins: Banana Chocolate Chip, Pecan Pie and Blueberry.  Of the three, the Banana Chocolate Chip were the best.  As long as you like banana.  Click here to read about them . 

 Click here for the Pecan Pie Muffins.  They don't look very pretty, but they totally taste like pecan pie!  They were super easy and only used 5 ingredients. 

And finally, click here for the Blueberry Muffins.  They have the opposite problem of the Pecan Pie Muffins.  They look amazing, but have no taste what-so-ever.

And that brings us to the final two items, Banana Bread and Strawberry Almond Scones.  I'm not even going to include the links to these.  In the words of a 12 year old, Epic Fail!  See for yourself...

After more than double the directed baking time, it was both burned and raw.  Pieces fell off in the oven.  Smoke billowed out of the stove top burners.  It wasn't pretty.

And then there's this.

They baked beautifully.  On the outside.  The inside was like gnawing on a piece of Styrofoam.  I haven't made another bread, muffin or scone since.  They may have scared me for life.

One final category to go.....The Best of the Rest!  

See ya back here soon.

-Teddra

 

Project Life Update

Hi there!  It's been a crazy week for me so I apologize for the lack of recent posts.  I worked out of town last week and between the lack of air conditioning for almost 48 hours, a dead car battery and spotty Internet connection, I'm glad that weeks behind me!  Before all the craziness,  I took a few days off in conjunction with the 4th of July holiday enjoyed my time by catching up on something I've been neglecting, my Project Life album.  As I explained way back in January, I'm approaching PL a little differently than most and combining it with my Adventures in Baking. 

I'd happy to report I now have one complete album, Yeah!  And, now that I've completed the first 6 months of PL, I thought I'd take a little time to share some of my favorite layouts.  The first two pages are from the Banana Bread I made that was a total disaster!  It was so bad I went back to the drawing board (er, in this case the baking blogs) and made banana chocolate chip muffins the next day. 

The next two pages are from the Apple Crumb cake.  I used my favorite color combo of turquoise and orange. 

And one final layout for you today is from the layered brownies.  The brownies weren't very good, but I really like the layout!

I have two more Project Life layouts I'd like to share with you, but I'll save them for another time.  One thing I'm very please with on each of these layouts is that I'm using papers, embellishments and letters from my stash.  I still have lots of pretty papers to use in traditional layouts, but I'm cleaning out my rarely used items too!

I'll be back here tomorrow for The Best of the Breads, so stop back by!

-Teddra

Surprise Cookies

Hi and welcome to Adventures in Baking. Chocolate is the name of the game today!  Chocolate cookie, chocolate frosting, chocolate goodness in general.  I have a very limited Internet connection this week so this post is going to be short and sweet!  This is a recipe my aunt sent to me from Martha Stewart called Surprise Cookies.  Her recipes always look too complicated and froofy, but this one was easy. 

The ingredients.  Can't have chocolate cookies without Hershey's Cocoa.  And yes, that's a bowl of marshmallows.  They aren't called Surprise Cookies for nothing!  The instructions call for large marshmallows, cut in half horizontally.  See, that's another one of those useless instructions.  Horizontally?  Really?  Is that with the marshmallow standing on it's flat end or on it's roll-y side? 
Does it really matter?

Let's get started.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. 

The next step.  In a larger bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg, milk and vanilla and beat until well combined.  Add flour mixture and mix on low until combined. 

The surprise.  Bake.  Remove from oven and place half a marshmallow in the center of each cookie.  Return to the oven for 2 additional minutes. 

Final step.  Make the frosting.  Place confectioners sugar in a bowl.  Whisk in butter and cocoa powder.  Add milk and vanilla and whisk until combined.  Spread over marshmallow.

The taste test.  Speaking as someone who can take it or leave it when it comes to chocolate I have to say these are scrump-dilly-icious.  I kept them in the refrigerator so the chocolate wouldn't melt and they are soooooo good!  Love.  All the reviews from my taste testers have been very good also.  These are a winner!  Not very attractive to look at, but tasty none the less!  Maybe they need a little splash of color on top.  Yeah, sprinkles always liven things up.

Clean up.  The recipe made 26 cookies.  Not too many, but with so much chocolate you can't eat very many either.

That's all for me for now.  Stay cool and I'll see you next week!

-Teddra

The Best of the Cakes

Hi and welcome back to the review round-up of  Adventures In Baking.  This episode takes a look back at the Cakes and Cupcakes I've made during the first half of the year.  I attempted 7 cake/cupcake recipes since January 1.  It was a tough choice for Top 2 Favorites but it came down to the Hummingbird Cake I made in April and the Lemon Cupcakes I made for Mother's day. You can read all about them here and here.

The Hummingbird Cake might look like a great big donut, but it's light and moist and has just the right amount of frosting.  And the frosting on the Lemon Cupcakes.....that would be strawberry frosting. Lemon and Strawberry, nice and refreshing.

The next two favorites are the Apple Crumb cake I made in February that you can read about here and the Chocolate Cupcakes I made in March.  You can find that adventure here.

The crumb topping on the Apple Crumb Cake is perfection and as for the Chocolate Cupcakes, well, who doesn't need a chocolate fix every now and again! 

And then we have a final dessert to round out the top 5 which is the Firecracker Cake I made last weekend as a salute to the 4th of July.  You can find out how to make this cake for yourself by going here. 

This cake has personality!

There are two additional cake/cupcakes that didn't make the top 5.  The first is the Pink Velvet Cupcakes I made in January.  I mixed up the whipped cream and buttermilk in the recipe so the cupcakes were very dense.  At least I think that's why each one weighed about 5 pounds!  They weren't exactly bad, but I hope they can be better. 

The second dessert that didn't make the cut is the Whoopie Pies with Raspberry Filling I made in June.  I'm not even sure they qualify as a cake.  They're kind of a cake/cookie/pie hybrid.  I didn't find a single redeeming quality about the pies.  My taste testers really liked them though so it must be a personal preference kind of thing.  Plus they were super messy.  Not my kinda thing.

Well, that's it for the Cake/Cupcake 6 month review.  Next stop is the Breads. 

See ya next time
-Teddra

Firecracker Cake

Wow, How's that for an Adventures In Baking 4th of July Cake!  Bright and festive and you haven't even seen the inside yet.   I found the recipe here at Betty Crocker's website.  It's quick and easy and the kids will love helping to decorate it.  Enough with the jibber-jabber, let's get to it but be warned:  Lots of pictures today. 

The ingredients.  Yes I used a box mix.  And canned frosting.  Like I said, it's quick.  And who wants to spend all day in the kitchen with the oven on when it's about 120 degrees outside?   

Let's get started.  Generously grease the cake pan.  I thought about using Pam spray.  I thought about using butter.  But it was that one word, Generously, that had me reaching for the Crisco. 

Next step.  Make cake batter as directed on the box using water, oil and egg whites.  Those darn egg whites again.  What are you supposed to do with the left over yolks?

And then.  This is where it get's interesting.  Pour 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl.  Stir in red food color until well mixed.  I stopped counting after 16 drops of red food coloring and just hoped it wouldn't be too pink.

Pour another cup of the batter into a separate bowl and stir in blue food color until well blended.  For the blue color, I used gel instead of liquid drops.  Love the blue color.

The assembly.  Pour red cake batter into bottom of pan. 

Carefully pour remaining white batter over the red batter.

Carefully pour blue batter over white batter until it forms a ring around the center.  Bake as directed on box.  Cool for 30 minutes.

Final step.  The decorating.  Divide frosting evenly into 3 microwavable bowls.  Microwave one bowl of frosting on High a few seconds until it's smooth enough to drizzle.  Drizzle white frosting back and forth around the cake.  Microwave the second bowl and stir in a few drops of red food coloring.  Drizzle the red over the white but don't completely cover the cake. 

 Repeat using the third bowl of frosting and blue food coloring.

And then, cause this cake doesn't have enough going on, throw on some sprinkles just for fun. 

The taste test.  Remember those colored layers.  This is what the inside looks like.  Red, white and blue.  And it tastes good too.  The sponge is light and fluffy and it has just the right amount of frosting.  This would be pretty at Christmas using red and green.  Or Valentines Day with Pink and Red.  The only thing I'd change is to use gel coloring instead of liquid for the red. 

This was a fun cake that tastes good and  can be customized for any holiday or event. 

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

-Teddra

The Best of the Cookies

Hi and welcome to a special edition of Adventures In Baking.  Since we've reached the mid-way point of the calendar I thought I'd do a little 6 month review of my favorite adventures.  Let's start with the cookies!  I attempted 8 cookie recipes since January 1 and my Top 2 Favorites are the Peppermint Chunkies from January and the Brown Sugar Crinkles from May.  You can check out the original posts here and here. 

I've made two more batches of the Brown Sugar Crinkles since the original post and everyone has loved them.  I probably would have made another batch of the Peppermint cookies if the chewy peppermints from Andes were available and not just a seasonal item. 

Next in line on the favorites list would be the Butterscotch Pecan Sandies I made for my Dad's Birthday in January and the thick, chewy Chocolate Chip cookies I made two weeks ago using my Whoopie pan.  The original posts can be found  here and here.

The Sandies use way too much butter, but are so light and flaky you can't eat just one.  The chocolate chip on the other hand are so nice and BIG and round (and melty when they're warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds) that one'll do ya.

And then to round out the top 5 cookies, we have the Snickerdoodles I made in February.  You can read all about these cookies here.  Soft and chewy with a touch of cinnamon.  'Nuff said.

The three remaining cookie's I've made so far this year are the Chocolate Mint Thumbprints, S'Mores and Toffee Chip Snickerdoodles.  While they each had their own unique quality, they just weren't a cookie I'd want to eat again.  And life's too short to eat cookies that don't WOW you!

That's it for today.  Check back later this week for the round up of The Best of the Cakes! 

Happy Baking!

-Teddra