Baking Tips

At this time of the year everyone is very busy!  Buying gifts can be stressful and making homemade gifts even more so. Below are a few of my favorite baking tips that help my baked goodies turn out perfect almost every time. Click on the title to go to the article.

Stop burning the cookies!

 

Cake flour tip. 

 

Muffin tip. 

Pan sizes and substitutions. 

Mailing cookies tip. 

Check back on Friday, for 
 Honey Nut Cheesecake Cookie recipe! 

Follow me on my Facebook page!

Visit my friends blogs!

GINGERLOCKS' KITCHEN, will become one of your favorite blogs! Stop by Jordan's blog and take a peek! 

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Cake Mix Tips

There are a lot of people who criticize the use of cake mixes for recipes instead of baking one from scratch.  With today's busy lifestyles, not everyone has the time to do that.  Why heap guilt on someone who is too tired or too busy to do so?  I know my nieces don't care if they help their mom make a cake from scratch or a box as long as they get to lick the beaters. 

Many bakeries and restaurants use cake mixes.  I met a baker at a cooking demo a couple of years ago; he had interned at one of the bakeries that made Princess Diana's wedding cake.  He told me that they used cake mixes occasionally in that bakery.  If it is good enough for one of Princess Diana's bakers, it is good enough for me!

When a cake mix lists water in the instructions, try swapping the water out with one of the below ingredients.

1. Use milk instead.  You can even use chocolate milk.  It will make the cake denser

2. Use lemon lime soda, cola, root beer, or other flavors of soda pop.

3. Orange juice

4. Lemonade

5. Fruit Punch or Kool-Aid

My new cookbook is available at schools, businesses, hospitals, and book fairs in cities across the United States.  Be sure to pick up a copy or two, when you see them.  They make great gifts!

Check back on Friday,
for my Easy Banana Bread recipe! 

Follow me on my Facebook page!

Visit my friends blogs!

GINGERLOCKS' KITCHEN, has become one of your favorite blogs! Stop by Jordan's blog and take a peek! 

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Tuesday's Tip & Tricks: Baking Tip

The kids are back in school and soon the weather will change and the urge to bake will hit me again.  Baking can be tricky.  There are so many things that can go wrong.

It help insure great baking results, leave the eggs and butter at room temperature overnight. Your baked goods will be fluffier and there will be less lumps when mixing.

My new cookbook will soon be available at schools, businesses, hospitals, and book fairs in cities across the United States.  Be sure to pick up a copy or two, when you see them.  They make great gifts!

Check back on Friday, 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake recipe! 

Follow me on my Facebook page!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks: Muffin Trick

 Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins & Strawberry Butter

I occasionally get distracted when I cook and bake.  According to my husband, Stan, I always get distracted when I cook or bake.  What can I say, between the phone, email, blogs, my husband, and our dog Buddy, there are lots of things to catch my attention.

Our Dog Buddy

We enjoy having muffins for breakfast at our house.  But, one thing I hate about muffins is how quickly the bottoms of them can burn.

My phone rang one day just as I was making a batch of muffins.  I chatted and laughed with my sister as I filled the muffin pan with batter and popped it in the oven.  Too many minutes later, I remembered I had muffins in the oven.

In a panic I pulled them out; just knowing the bottoms would be very brown.  To my surprise, they were perfect.

As I cleaned up the muffin pan, I found the reason why they didn't over bake on the bottom.  I had two muffin pans stacked together making a do-it-yourself air bake muffin pan.  By stacking the pans, I had created a pocket of air that protected the bottom of the muffins.

Now when I bake muffins, I make sure to stack the muffin pans together, so I can talk all I want and not ruin breakfast.   I also use this trick when I bake cupcakes.

See Stan, sometimes good things happen when I am distracted!

Check back of Friday, 

for my Mocha Pudding recipe.

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Tuesday's Tips & Tricks: Stop Burning the Cookies

Cookies can go from almost done to burnt, in a flash.  Carryover cooking can help prevent a cookie disaster.  When I would bake cookies with my mom, she would always remove the cookies from the oven just before they were done.  Then she would leave them on the hot baking sheet to cool, before transferring them to a wire rack.  The heat from the pan would continue to bake the cookies.  This also allowed the baking sheet to cool, helping to reduce the chance that the next batch of cookies would burn.

I still use that tip from my mom when I bake cookies.  But, I also use insulated baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, to help guarantee perfect cookies every time.

Check back on Friday for my,

Slow Cooker Chocolate Covered Peanut recipe.  

It only has 3 ingredients!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Biscuit Tips

With the weather turning cooler, my oven is coming back into use.  We love biscuits, but always seem to have leftovers, so I use tip number five a lot.

Biscuit Tips:

1. To create a rich golden brown color when you make biscuits or rolls, add a teaspoon of sugar to the dry ingredients.  It helps the crust caramelize.

2. Dip your biscuit cutter in flour, before you use it to cut biscuits from the dough.  This will keep the cutter from  sticking to the dough.

3. When you cut the biscuits out, don't twist the cutter.  If you twist the cutter, it will seal the edges of the biscuits, keeping them from rising high.

4. Don't over stir your dough, it will make the biscuits tough.

5. To reheat biscuits or rolls, sprinkle them lightly with water and wrap them in aluminum foil.  Place them in a preheated 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. 

On Friday, I will be posting my,

Heartwarming Oat Biscuits.

Don't forget to leave a comment on the

Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway post for your chance to win

Tate's Cookbook & Cookies!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Is It Done Yet?

When I made my Orange Twist Cake last week, I went to my trusty toothpick holder, only to find it empty.  I searched the cupboards, and there was not a toothpick in sight.  Oh no, what to do!  I always insert a toothpick in the center of my cake, just like my mom had taught me too. 

Then I remembered, my mom would use a strand of uncooked spaghetti when she found the box of toothpicks empty.

She would insert it just like it was a toothpick, and if it came out clean or with a couple of crumbs, the cake was done.  This little trick really worked!  Thanks again, Mom!

I have been beyond busy the last couple of weeks.  I am the Executive Producer for Passion Play Ministries International.  It is a drama ministry that is in 15 cities around the world.  This last week we trained groups from three new cities and did further training with an existing city.  I trained people on how to paint the sets and make and apply special effects make-up.

The set for scene one.

Special Effects Make-up

 Music video with scenes from the play.

On Friday I will be posting my 

Tortellini Stir-Fry recipe.

My friend Diane of My Life in the Charente, posted a blog about winning my cookbooks.  Please stop by her blog and check it out.  You will love it; she takes fantastic pictures!

Thank you Christine, of Cristine's Pantry for posting my Orange Twist Cake!  Please visit Christine's wonderful blog!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Stop by and visit Ashley, at What Does A Songbird Sing.  She posts recipes and exercise tips on her blog, and who couldn't use a little more of both!

Cookie Baking Tips

"Tis the season to be baking, Fa la la la la la, la la la la"

Giving a batch of cookies you baked or some other baked good, is a perfect way to show someone you love them at Christmas.  

Below are a few of the baking tips I use when I am putting together my Christmas baskets.   

Sugar Cookies Tip:

To make it easier to roll out sugar cookie dough, place it between two sheets of waxed paper before you roll out the dough.  This will keep the dough from sticking to your rolling pin.

Roll out small batches of the dough and keep the remaining dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

Bar Cookies:

I like to line the baking pan that I use to make bar cookies in, with aluminum foil.  I cut a piece if foil several inches wider and longer than the pan, so I can easily lift the bar cookies out of it.  To form the foil to fit the pan, I turn the pan upside down, then mold the foil around it.

Flip the pan back over, and place the foil inside, pressing it into place.  Fold the excess foil around the outside of the pan.  You can grease the foil if the recipe calls for it, then bake as directed.  I have several pieces of foil formed ahead of time, so I can pull the baked bar cookies out of the pan, and place on a wire rack to cool.  I then place a new preformed foil liner back into the pan; then I can immediately reuse the pan without waiting for the cookies to cool first.

On Friday, I will be posting one of my favorite side dishes,
Wacky Wild Rice.

For your chance to WIN three boxes of Tate's Bake Shop Cookies and their Cookbook, check out my post about the Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway.

 When you enter the Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway, you are automatically entered into my monthly giveaway.

Read my post about my monthly Giveaway for more details.  

Sign up as a FOLLOWER for your chance to win!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner,  for more great recipes!  Once you read her blog, she will be your friend too!

Another blog that I think you would enjoy is my friend Janet's blog, 

Chocolate and God.

Tate's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Tate's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup salted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets or line them with Silpat.
   In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
   In another large bowl, cream the butter and sugars.  Add the water and vanilla.  Mix the ingredients until they are just combined.  Add the eggs and mix them lightly.  Stir in the flour mixture.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Don't over mix the dough.
   Drop the cookies 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets using two tablespoons or an ice cream scoop.
   Bake them for 12 minutes or until the edges and centers are brown.  Remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool.  Yield: 4 1/2 dozen three-inch cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies are Tate's Bake Shop signature item.  They are thin and crisp and remain everyone's favorite.  They sell thousands a week and ship them all over the country.

This recipe came out of the, Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook by Kathleen King, the owner of the bakery.  I compared the batch of cookies I made using her recipe to the cookies they sent me in the mail.  The flavor and texture is exactly the same!  Using this cookbook allows you to make bakery quality cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, and breads at home.

To order cookies or Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook:

Go to their website: TATE'S BAKE SHOP and enter the discount code: "cookies" to receive 15% off of your order, now through December 31st.

For your chance to WIN three boxes of Tate's Bake Shop Cookies and their Cookbook, check out my post about the Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway.

 

Below are a few tips from Kathleen to help you achieve bakery quality cookies.

Flour makes a big difference to the outcome of your product.  Kathleen suggests you use Gold Medal all-purpose flour.

Use a 2-tablespoon ice cream scoop.  This will ensure the correct yield and bake time, and give you more uniform, professional-looking cookies.

Always preheat the oven and wait for it to reach the correct temperature.  Don't rush this part.


Use a Silpat baking mats.  They make cleanup much easier, and there is no added butter to the product.  Silicon paper works just as well.

Most of all, have fun!  Don't take it seriously.   If you screw up, don't worry about it-they're only cookies!

When you enter the Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway, you are automatically entered into my monthly giveaway.

Read my post about my monthly Giveaway for more details.  

Sign up as a FOLLOWER for your chance to win!

Visit my friends blogs!

You will love Bo and his blog,  Bo's Bowl.  Not only does he host great giveaways,  his recipes are incredible!  One visit to his blog and you will see why I faithfully follow it.

Also visit my friend Pam's blog, Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner, she is also hosting a Tate's Bake Shop Giveaway!  

Another blog that I think you would enjoy is my friend Janet's blog, 

Chocolate and God.