Need baking help? Check out Baking 911

As you know, I'm pretty new to this whole baking thing. Although my experience is limited, I learn something new every time I bake. However, I still have tons of questions. Questions like, why am I adding eggs? What would an extra egg do? What if I used less sugar? How do I make the cookies softer? What does baking powder do? What is baking soda? What is the difference between salted butter and unsalted butter? And the list goes on and on...

Baking is pretty scientific. A good baker knows her ingredients and knows how they work. In my quest to broaden my baking knowledge I came across a great website that explains all of these things! For those wanting to understand a little more about the science in baking, check out:

http://www.baking911.com

I recommend the tabs "How Baking Works" and Baking Terms" -- very helpful stuff!

Dieting and Brownies - a perfect mix

I've totally been slacking this week with my blogging and my baking. I know. I admit it. One of the main reasons is that I am on a fitness kick and trying to lose my baby weight (by the way, the little guy turned 5 months on Saturday -- he's getting so big!). Anyways, I had a baby this year and I'm turning 30 in 3 weeks. 2 really big milestones and, thus, the reasoning for the fitness kick. One might ask why in the world I would start a blog dedicated to baking the year I had a baby. I would respond with that by saying what better time to start a blog about baking than after you've had a baby. I've got hormones flying and and my taste buds are still out of whack. I thought it might make for some interesting creations :) Anyways, back to turning 30. I am having a big celebration in Vegas with a group of friends for my 30th birthday. Actually, we are celebrating all of us that are turning 30 this year. Let's hear it for 1978! We plan on partying by the pool all day one of the days and I am determined to look good in my bikini! I gained over 40 pounds when I was pregnant so I had the last 6-months to lose it. Despite all of the desserts I have made, I've done really well. I've only got 3 weeks to go and I don't want all of my efforts to go to waste so I've been kind of reluctant to make great desserts that I just know I will gorge myself on. After my birthday, I promise I will be back in full throttle.

Last night my husband was complaining about not having anything sweet to eat after dinner so I dug around in the pantry to see if there was anything quick I could whip up. I found a box of Pillsbury Fudge Supreme Chocolate Chunk Brownies. I threw in some oil, egg and water and presto, I had me a batch of brownies. I know...I know I'm a poser for not whipping up a batch of homemade brownies but, seriously, I don't think I could make any that taste as good as these. They may be the best brownies I have ever eaten. No joke. The next time you are at the grocery store, I would definitely recommend picking up a box. You will not regret it :)

Easy Creamy Homemade Banana Pudding

Ok, so I finally made it to the grocery store for some butter. I went ahead and bought 3 boxes so I wouldn't run out any time soon (and couldn't use my lack of butter as an excuse to be lazy and not make a new dessert). I mentioned earlier this week that I wanted to make homemade banana pudding. I grew up with my mom making it for us all of the time, using an old family recipe. It is soooo good. It is more of a vanilla pudding with bananas added to it. It has a thicker texture than most puddings but that is what I love about it. It is also really easy to make. It only takes about 20 minutes so you can whip it up in a flash. Also, pudding is so versatile in that you can serve it different ways. As you can see from my pictures, I served in out of a trifle bowl. You can also serve in individual pudding or dessert dishes which is very cute. I probably should have done that with this because I only made one batch and it barely even filled a quarter of my trifle dish! I would definitely recommend doubling or tripling the recipe if you want to serve it in larger dishes.

Enjoy!

Homemade Banana Pudding

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 stick butter

Directions:
Combine sugar, flour and milk. Cook on stove over low-medium heat until slightly thickened.
Add egg yolks and continue cooking until thick.
Add vanilla and butter.
Layer in bowl with Vanilla Wafers and bananas.


NOTE: this recipe only makes enough for about 4 people. I would recommend doubling the recipe to make a larger amount. You can tell from my pictures that I barely filled up a couple of inches on the bottom of my trifle bowl.

Dessert Drought

Ok...Ok...I know it has been like a week since I've posted anything but I've been on vacation. Really. My husband, who had gotten used to our constantly having desserts in the house has started complaining about the lack thereof. I keep reassuing him that "No, I haven't already given up on my quest to domesticate myself and become a master dessert-maker, I'm just taking a couple days off." I have a list of desserts I have planned on making all week but I just haven't found the time. Ok, the truth is that I am out of butter and I just haven't wanted to run to the grocery store. Coming back from vacation is kind of depressing so I just haven't mustered the energy. I also ate about 3000 calories a day in desserts alone while I was on vacation so I thought a week haitus might be good for me. I am having dinner with girlfriends tonight so its a no-go tonight but I promise to whip up something yummy tomorrow! I'm thinking about making my mom's fabulous homemade banana pudding. I think the recipe comes from some great-aunt of mine. Regardless, it is sooo good. You will never want to eat store-bought pudding again after you see and try this recipe. It is a completely different texture and taste than regular pudding. I used to always request my mom's banana pudding for my birthday instead of a cake. Yes, it's that good. Ok, I've put it out there...and I'm craving it...now I have to make it.

By the way, did you know that there is a website called http://www.banana.com/. It has everything you need to know (and didn't even know you needed to know) about bananas. It has recipes, instructions on how to grow bananas and the history of bananas (which apparently dates all the way back to 6th century BCE). Kind of interesting stuff.

I learned that the banana plant is not a tree. It is the world's largest herb!!! Who would have thought?

Searching for Perfection: Part 3 - Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars

I said last week that I was in search of a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. I solicited recipe ideas and my goal was to find a good recipe and run with it, adding my own variations and making adjustments as I felt like it. Well, I started with a great cookie recipe and made slight changes to make it better (see post below). I then made that recipe better by adding ice cream. Yummy! Just when I thought I couldn't make it any better, I did. I added oatmeal, more chocolate chips and made a flat pan of chocolate chip oatmeal bars.

My husband said they were like a delicacy. He said they tasted expensive. I think that means he liked them! He's been eating them with ice cream on top!







Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
4 teaspoons pure mexican vanilla
2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
2 cups semi-sweet morsels (I used Hershey's chocolate chips)

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar, butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats and morsels; mix well.

Spread out entire mixture evenly onto ungreased baking sheet.


BAKE for 9 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 13 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute; remove to wire racks to cool completely.


This should satisfy my chocolate chip cravings for a while. I'm heading to New Braunfels for va-cay for the rest of the week but look for some different desserts next week. I promise...no more chocolate chips for a while!

Searching for Perfection: Part 2 - Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

As I lay awake thinking about how good my chocolate chip cookies were I couldn't help but wonder how I could make them any better. I know there were different recipes I could try but I still had a whole batch (ok, well half a batch...I have eaten quite a few of them) of cookies that I didn't want to go to waste. Then it hit me, I could make an ice cream sandwhich out of them! I've seen it done before but I had not had one in forever and I certainly had never made one myself. It couldn't be too hard, right? All I needed to do was throw some ice cream in between 2 cookies and I had an ice cream sandwhich, right?

Here's what I did: I first put several of the cookies in the freezer (for about 10 minutes) so that they would be harder and the ice cream would spread on easily. Second, I choose my ice cream. I figured that I couldn't go wrong with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (I mean really...does it really get any better?) so I put some in a bowl and mixed chocolate chips in it (I was totally channeling Marble Slab...but without the marble slab...and without the metal scoops to bang around on the slab.) After mixing the ice cream and chocolate chips I got my cookies out of the freezer and spread the ice cream on top of one cookie and then firmly pressed another cookie on top of it. I then rolled the cookies (the sides of the cookies) in chocolate chips to add more. I then promptly (because the ice cream was quickly starting to melt) placed the cookie sandwiches back in the freezer. They were hardened and ready to eat in about 10 minutes.

This is a great way to use leftover cookies!

Here's some pictures!

Chocolate Chip Cookies...Searching for perfection: Part 1

On my quest to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie I plan to try out many recipes. Last night I tried my first and it was a success. The cookies are awesome. I had my friends Jennifer and Kasey as tasters and they both raved about how yummy they were. I was proud of myself.

After reviewing about a dozen recipes I decided to start out easy. I mentioned in my previous post that a friend recommended the Nestle Toll House recipe on the back of their bag of chocolate chips. I thought this was a good place to start so I took the recipe and made a couple of minor changes. First, I used Hershey's chocolate chips instead of Nestles'. I know...I know...it's the Nestle recipe but I was told (by a chocolate lover) that Hershey's has better tasting chocolate so I had to defer to her expertise. Second, I used Pure Mexican Vanilla that my mother recently brought back from her trip to Mexico. Pure Mexican Vanilla comes from Mexican vanilla beans and means that nothing has been added or taken away from the bean. My mom always cooks with Mexican Vanilla and I think it adds a distinct vanilla flavor to any dessert. Third, (because I love vanilla) I added 3 times the required tsp in the recipe. I had read that this gives them a stronger aroma and just makes for an all around better cookie. Fourth, the recipe calls for nuts and I'm not a big fan of nuts in my cookies so I didn't include them. Although I plan on trying several more recipes, this is definitely one I will continue to make over and over. I may try some additional variations but it's a great recipe to start with.

Here's the result. Yummy!



What you don't know is that there almost were no cookies at all because my friend Jennifer and I couldn't stop eating the batter. It was sooo good...


Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 teaspoons pure mexican vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.