Lets face it Chocolate Chip cookies are a beautiful thing! Today I thought lets make chocolate chip cookies but, I felt like putting an unusual spin on this common cookie. The chocolate chip cookie has been around for over eighty four years. There are many versions for these cookies and most are garnered to be a tasty treat! I came across a recipe that caught my eye. What made me look twice at this recipe for chocolate chip cookies was some of the ingredients.  The cookies called for soy sauce, and marshmallows. I never would have thought to put soy sauce into cookies. However, this strange item took on a sweet flavour in each cookie.  Unlike other cookies, the instructions advised to mix the liquid ingredients together first. This made it easier to ensure that all the flour was mixed in well.  If I were to change one thing with the cookie it would be to place the marshmallows on top as opposed to mixing them in the batter. I found with my first batch the marshmallows melted to the cookie sheet before the cookies were finished cooking. This resulted in the cookies sticking to the sheet and broke. With my second batch I put the marshmallow on top and the cookie was evenly cooked with a golden marshmallow on top. All in all, these cookies were fantastic! They were super moist as well as gooey and the marshmallow on top made for a great treat in every bite. 

January 24, 2014 

Lemon Cranberry Scones with Lemon Glaze. I thought I would make some scones today. However, I am on a little bit of a health kick so I added whole wheat flour instead of regular white flour. You can make changes to almost any recipe depending on your mood or lifestyle.  This is a very straight forward easy recipe. I was extremely pleased with how these scones turned out.  The lemon glaze adds a extra sweet tang to every bite.  Give this recipe ago, they are a simple delicious snack accompanied with a spot of tea.     

Lemon Cranberry Scones with Lemon Glaze:


SCONES:
2 Cups Flour (I Used Whole Wheat)
1/4 Cups Sugar 
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder 
1/4 Teaspoon Salt 
1 Tablespoon Finely Grated Lemon Zest 
1/2 Cup Cool Unsalted Butter, Cut into Small Pieces 
1/2 Whipping Cream
1/4 Cup 2% Milk
1 Large Egg
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract 
1 Cup Frozen Cranberries 


GLAZE:
1 Cup Icing Sugar 
1 1/2 Tablespoon Lemon Juice 

1. To bake scones preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray with non stick spray. 


2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir in lemon zest. Cut butter into small cubes and add to mixture. 


3. In a separate bowl whisk together: cream, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Add this to the flour mixture and mix all together.


4. Flour a rolling surface and kneed dough making sure all ingredients are together. Shape the dough into a circle shape and cut like a pizza into sections. Place on cookie sheet and brush milk over top of the scone pieces. Bake for 20-25 minutes.


While scones are cooking it is time to make the glaze. 
1. Add icing sugar and lemon juice resulting in a thick consistency. 
2. When scones are cooled you can go ahead and drizzle icing over the scones. 


                                                ENJOY! 




 

January 24, 2014

Today I baked my first pie!! I was so excited! I thought for the first time I should stick to the classic apple pie. In the past I have heard many horror stories of burning pies and crusts that just have not worked out. Therefore, I wont lie I was a little on the nervous side however, I did it anyways and I am so proud of how it turned out. Firstly, I started with the assembly of the crust. I would recommend that you start with the crust as it has to be chilled for a minimum of thirty minutes. The directions instruct eight tablespoons of water you may think that is not enough however, it will be.  Kneed the dough and the heat of your hands will melt the butter binding the ingredients together.  Secondly, chilling the crust dough is a crucial step so please do not skip this.  Like us dough needs time to rest and chill, when the dough is firmer is makes it easier to roll out. Moving on to the filling... while the crust was chilling I started to assemble the filling. The filling was super easy to make I simply combined all the ingredients into a large bowl and mixed together.    There are many ways to design your crust including, the honeycomb pie crust, the traditional all over crust and shaped crusts. For the pie I made I decided to go with the common laced crust.  This looks kind of difficult but trust me it really is quite simple. Start by cutting out strips from your rolled out crust depending on how you would like to section the pie off lay the strips vertically. Next, lift up the first strip from either end and lay another strip of crust under it. Do this to every other strip and you will quickly see that it creates a laced pattern.  Now it is time to let the oven take over and cook the pie to a nice golden drown. Do not be scared to make a pie! If I can do it I believe anyone can! Just take your time with new recipes and you will be surprised with what you can accomplish!      
Try it yourself! 

Apple Pie

THE CRUST:
2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour 
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Sticks (one cup) Unsalted Butter
8 Tablespoons Ice Water


THR FILLING:
8 Apples Cored and Peeled 
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon 


1. Prepare crust by mixing the: flour, salt, and sugar. With a cheese grantor grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture.  Next, add the water. Start with three or four tablespoons and work the dough. Then go ahead and add the rest until a firm consistency. Split dough into two balls one slightly larger than the other and chill for thirty minutes or even over night. 


2. While the crust is chilling now is a great time to assemble your filling. Start by cutting all the apples into thin slices.  Place apples in a large bowl and add brown sugar and cinnamon. And set aside. 


3.  Now to roll the crust. Flour your rolling surface and begin to roll. Your crust should be thick enough that it does not rip. next line your pie plate with the crust pinching the edges.  Then pour in the filling making sure it's evenly distributed.  Lastly, cover the filling with the smaller of the two balls of dough. This is where you can get creative and design you pie crust. 


4. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and let pie cook from forty five minutes to an hour. 

January 20, 2014 

Muffins have become one of my favourite things to make. Over the past couple weeks I have been baking up a muffin storm. For Christmas my sister got me a mini muffin tin have been experimenting with them since. However, today I stuck to the classic regular size muffins. I came across this recipe for Cranberry-Citrus Muffins and they turned out fantastic. As I was going through the recipe I noticed it called for low fat vanilla yogurt sadly, I did not have any. When a recipe calls for yogurt that you do not have, an easy substitute is to mix a cup of milk with a tablespoon of white vinegar. Let the mixture sit for roughly three minutes before use. The consistency between yogurt and this mixture is very different  therefore you will need to go with your judgement on what the batter looks like. Keep the dough thick enough to spoon it into the muffin tins making sure its not too runny. Another thing to keep in mind when using this milk and vinegar concoction is the cook time I found instead of a half hour the muffins were ready in fifteen minutes.  Something that I added to the recipe that was not called for was about a half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a dusting on top. This just adds a little extra flavour to compliment the cranberry.  To sum up, these muffins were amazing and I think you should try them! 

Cranberry- Citrus Muffins:
Prep Time: 20 Minutes 
Cook Time: 33 Minutes 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees 

Ingredients: 
1 1/2 Cups Chopped Cranberries (I used whole frozen cranberries)
2 Cups plus a tablespoon of All Purpose or Whole Wheat Flour 
2/3 Cups Granulated Sugar
2 Teaspoons of Baking Powder 
1/2 Teaspoon Salt 
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Grated Lemon Rind 
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract 
2 Large Egg Whites 
1 (1Cup) Carton Vanilla Low-Fat Yogurt 
1 Large Egg
Cooking Spray 


Mix all the wet ingredients together: oil,vanilla,lemon rind,egg whites,egg, and yogurt  and set aside. Secondly, take cranberry,flour,baking powder, sugar, salt and mix in a bowl. Next, slowly add wet ingredients to the dry with an electric mixer. Mix well and spoon into sprayed (cooking spray) muffin tins. Let cook for 15-30 minutes (depending on if you used yogurt or the vinegar and milk mixture) Let cool in tins. And enjoy!  

MONDAY, JANUARY 13,2014

My first post! This is so exciting! I have started this blog in the hopes that I can share my love for baking with the world as well as, to get other people to start baking too! I have not gone to school or had training in baking I just have this drive and passion for it.  I began baking when I was much younger, starting with the simple Peanut Butter Cookies and the classic Chocolate Chip Cookie. As I have gotten older I have become more  interested in expanding not only my cookie skills but also my baking experience in general. 
Everything I make is 100% homemade. I love the imperfections of home baked goods. The cookie not being a perfect circle is what makes it so unique!  I am looking forward to posting pictures, new recipes and some tips and tricks.