Category Archives: Baking

Snickerdoodles

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Cookies, Dessert

Last week I had every intention of presenting a recipe for lemon meringue pie. I made the pie on Wednesday and it looked great from the outside. However, when I cut a slice on Thursday in order to take pictures, I discovered I had actually created lemon meringue soup. It had great flavor, but was definitely nowhere near ready for the blog.

Onto Plan B: Cookies.

A few weeks ago M and I moved into a new place. We have a ton more space (including a garage!) and it’s been a great upgrade for us. I bribed a few friends to help us move the heavy furniture, as everyone does, by promising them cookies. One requested chocolate chip, and the other, his favorite snickerdoodles.Snickerdoodles

I was around 14 when I made snickerdoodles for the first time. They turned out huge and soft and perfectly round, with that classic snickerdoodle flavor. I have never quite been able to replicate this feat, but my current favorite recipe comes pretty close. No one turns them down, and in general it’s hard to eat fewer than six at one time. This recipe makes enough to share while keeping plenty for yourself.

I always think they look like donut holes at this stage.

Although they are a little more time-consuming than standard drop cookies, these snickerdoodles are well worth the extra effort. The recipe is below, with my preferred method for making them.

Snickerdoodles

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker
Makes about 5 dozen

Ingredients

1 cup (224 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (288 g) sugar

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

3 cups (360 g) flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Snickerdoodles - stack

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, on medium-high speed, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Set aside.
  3. Beat the eggs into the butter mixture one at a time, combining fully after each addition.
  4. Beat in the vanilla.
  5. Slowly and gradually stir in the flour mixture, beating just until combined.
  6. Chill dough for about 30 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl.
  8. Scoop the dough into 1 tablespoon balls (I like to use a cookie scoop).
  9. Roll each ball in your hands (should be about 1″), and then in the sugar/cinnamon mixture.
  10. Chill the dough balls while you preheat the oven to 350°F.
  11. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon mats, and place in the fridge while the oven preheats.
  12. Place the dough balls about two inches apart on a chilled cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for a couple of minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

Notes

  • Chill the cookie sheets and the dough balls between batches.
  • Store cookies in an airtight container and they will keep well for several days.

Meyer Lemon Cookies

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Cookies and tagged with
[After over a year of being a slacker and not posting a single thing, I’m back. I’m planning to post approximately every other week, so look for a new one every other Monday. Having graduated and started a Real Person Job, my life is far more stable than it was a year ago. With a new camera, a new stove, and (beginning next week!) tons more kitchen space, running a consistent food blog should be far easier. Hope you enjoy the new recipes. =)]

Around the beginning of April, the weather in Montana gives everyone a brief taste of Spring before retreating back to second winter (and third and fourth and fifth…) with a cruel laugh. Or maybe I’m personifying the weather a bit too much. But regardless, it is those first few hours of Spring that turn my thoughts to the flavors of summer, starting with lemon.

Over the past few years I’ve looked for a go-to lemon cookie recipe, and struggled to find one. I wanted a soft, lemony cookie that didn’t require a glaze or start with a cake mix. It took awhile, but I finally found a great one. The lemon taste is present but not overly powerful; the cookies are soft and chewy, and there’s no cake mix involved. Even better, other than a lemon, it’s all standard ingredients. The recipe is below with my [very minimal] changes and the method I followed to bake them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Meyer Lemon Cookies 

Lemon cookies Adapted from Lauren Brennan
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients

1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
zest of 1 (Meyer) lemon
juice of 1/2 to 1  (Meyer) lemon

1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions

  1. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats. Pour powdered sugar into a shallow bowl or large plate.
  2. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy; this will take a few minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, combine vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk the remaining dry ingredients in a separate small bowl.
  4. Beat the wet mixture into the sugar/butter until well mixed, scraping the sides at least once.
  5. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape the sides and mix again briefly.
  6. Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and then roll in the powdered sugar. After all the dough is rolled, (I put all mine on a plate), place in the refrigerator while the oven preheats, or at least 15 minutes.
  7. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  8. When the dough balls are chilled, bake for 7-11 minutes, until the cookies are no longer shiny or melted looking, and the bottoms are barely browned.
  9. Let the cookies cool on the sheet while you fill the next batch and put them in the oven, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  10. Try not to eat them all on the same day. =)

Lemon cookies 2

Ready to bake

Notes

  • I got about 34 cookies from the recipe, using a tablespoon cookie scoop.
  • I used the juice from half a Meyer lemon, but next time I’ll use the whole lemon to give a slightly stronger flavor.
  • I found that when the dough wasn’t chilled, some of the cookies turned out very flat and had overly browned edges.
  • The darker the cookie sheet the less baking time required. I used light-colored silicon mats on dark pans and my cookies needed 10 minutes.

Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Cake, Celebration/Holiday, Sauces and Frostings and tagged with

Apologies for the long hiatus. Between spending my winter break in New Zealand (I know, poor me), part of January at home in Alaska, and the new semester/work starting, I didn’t get around to blogging. However, this should mark the beginning of ~weekly posting! *cheersapplauseyay!*

For most of my life I was never a fan of Valentine’s Day. It’s always over (or under) done, and involves way too much pink. However, I no longer loathe the “holiday” because it happens to coincide with my anniversary with my boyfriend (henceforth known as M.) Last year I made a very delicious chocolate peanut butter cake from Smitten Kitchen.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

This cake was three layers of rich, delicious, chocolatey peanut butter flavor. But despite their amazing taste and texture, the cake layers were nearly impossible to work with. Even after being placed overnight in the freezer they were almost too crumbly to frost and layer. Whether this is just part of the recipe or due to my inexperience with cakes I don’t know, but it did inspire me to find a more manageable cake layer recipe.

M also requested a slightly less decadent recipe, so “a guy can eat more of it at once.”

This time, I made sure to use a recipe that included pictures of the sliced cake to act as “proof” of manageability. I debated which accent flavor to involve, but another SK recipe convinced me to use a raspberry filling.

Whole Cake

The result was a two-layer chocolate layer cake, chocolate buttercream frosting, and a raspberry filling. The layers popped easily from the pans, were easy to level, and held their shape nicely.

Slice of cake

Below you will find recipes for the cake layers, frosting, and filling. This cake is not difficult and would be an amazing addition to any celebration. Feel free to substitute any frozen berry you wish for the raspberries.

Chocolate Cake

Adapted from My Baking Addiction
Serves 8-10

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder (optional)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup strong black coffee
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 375°F. Line the bottoms of two 9”x1.5” round baking pans with parchment paper, then grease and flour. (Cooking spray works great for this step.)
  2. In the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl if you don’t have a stand mixer), combine the sugar, flour, cocoa(s), baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk (by hand) until well combined.
  3. Add the eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla. With a stand mixer or electric beater, beat on medium speed for about two minutes, and pour into prepared pans. The batter will be quite thin.
  4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes in the pan, and then turn the cake layers onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  5. Freeze in Saran wrap or freezer paper for 2 hours (or a few days) until ready to frost.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

From Savory Sweet Life
Makes about 3 cups (or barely enough for this cake. Feel free to make 1.5 recipes!)

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (NOT melted!)
3 ½ cups sifted powdered sugar
½ cup sifted cocoa powder (I prefer dark cocoa for frosting)
½ teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ cup tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Directions

  1. Beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three minutes.
  2. Add sifted powdered sugar and cocoa, and mix on low (unless you want a blizzard) until combined.
  3. Add vanilla, salt and milk or cream and beat for 3 minutes on medium speed.
  4. If necessary, thin with milk/cream (1 tablespoon at a time) or stiffen with powdered sugar to desired consistency.

Raspberry Filling

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes enough for a 2-layer cake

Ingredients

12oz bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions

As a note, my method for this is not the most time or dish efficient, but I did find it to be the easiest.

  1. Using a blender or food processor, puree the raspberries.
  2. In a small saucepan, heat the puree over medium heat until thin.
  3. Place a fine mesh strainer over a medium saucepan, and pour in the thinned puree. Using a spoon or small whisk, press the puree through the mesh to remove the seeds. (Don’t worry if you miss a few seeds or don’t get all the puree through, just aim for most of it.)
  4. Add sugar and cornstarch and heat over medium-high until it boils, stirring constantly. It should quickly thicken after reaching boiling temperature.
  5. Remove from heat and let cool completely before use.

My Assembly Method

Preparation

  1. Fill a frosting bag fitted with a large star tip with chocolate frosting.
  2. Cut a cakeboard or piece of thick cardboard to the SAME size as your cake layers. (No need to leave extra room!) Cover with aluminum foil.
  3. Assemble a long serrated knife or cake level, a flexible cutting board (or similar item), a cake stand (or a plate), a straight or offset spatula (or a table knife), the remaining frosting, the filling, and your cake layers in front of you.

Assembly

  1. Level your cake layers. (If it only dips slightly in the middle, this can be filled in with frosting if you prefer.) On a flexible cutting board place your cakeboard.
  2. Plop a couple of tablespoons of frosting in the center of your cakeboard, and press your first cake layer (cut side down) on top. Using a spatula, spread evenly with about ¼” frosting.
  3. Pipe a border of frosting around the edge to act as a barrier. Spoon or pour in the filling, being careful not to let it flow over the frosting barrier.
  4. Carefully center your second cake layer, and press down gently to seal. Smooth the frosting seal with a knife (or your finger…yum.)
  5. Frost the top and sides of your cake with a smooth coat, about ¼” thick (or thicker, if you like.)
  6. Plop a second dollop of frosting onto a cake stand, and carefully slide on the cake/cakeboard. If necessary, clean the edge of your stand with a damp paper towel.
  7. Using the bag with the large star tip, pipe stars around the edge of the cake.
  8. If desired, transfer the remainder of the filling to a frosting bag fitted with a small, round writing tip (I think mine is a #3 Wilton), and use to decorate the top.

Other

  1. This cake kept quite well for the rest of the week, at which point we had finished it off. Saran wrap works great, but be sure to wait until your frosting has set.
  2. If you are making this a day ahead (which I fully recommend, I thought the flavor was better on day 2), wrap with cling wrap (lightly over the cake but fully sealed around the stand or plate) and wait until the day you are serving it to pipe the decoration on top.
  3. I used a toothpick to design my swirl design before I piped on the filling – much easier to make changes this way.
  4. The filling would also be great on ice cream!

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Cookies, Dessert and tagged with ,

Cookies are one of my favorite things to bake. Unless your oven bakes 100 degrees too hot (not that I’m speaking from experience or anything…) they are pretty easy and generally turn out well. They are great for snacks, lunches, dessert, breakfast, lunch, dinner… maybe I like cookies too much…

But be that as it may be, I would be very sad if I couldn’t have cookies anymore. So when my friend found out she has a wheat allergy, I decided to try out some recipes for gluten-free cookies. I perused several recipes but when I came across the gorgeous pictures at Kumquat, I knew it was the recipe for me.

Despite having a mere half dozen ingredients, these cookies are actually quite delicious. Not a substitute for my favorite chocolate cookie recipe, but a new one to enjoy. They are extremely chocolatey with a crunchy outside and a chewy inside. Although their texture is a little different, their taste more than makes up for it.

When I made these, I was hesitant to add more sugar (3 cups already seemed like a lot) but don’t be afraid. If the batter spreads too much go ahead and dump some more in there. Trust me, it’s necessary.

This is too runny.

It will look more like brownie batter than cookie dough in the bowl, but that’s okay. Just make sure it’s nice and thick.

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

From Kumquat
Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder (I like dark chocolate)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Combine powdered sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Add egg whites and vanilla; stir until well-combined. (Batter should be about the consistency of school glue… not too runny. if it’s runny, add more powdered sugar to achieve correct consistency.)
  3. Spoon batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets in mounds of 1-2 tablespoons. (Mine spread a lot so I was never able to fit more than 6 per sheet.)
  4. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until tops are cracked and glossy, and edges look done. Cool slightly on pan, then peel carefully off parchment and cool completely on wire rack.

Note: I was baking at a friend’s place (my oven was broken) so I ended up using aluminum foil. This worked well enough, but I’m sure parchment paper would be a lot better. If you do use foil, I recommend spraying it very lightly with cooking spray.

Whole Wheat Beer Bread

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Bread, Quickbread

Unlike most college students, I don’t drink beer. Honestly, I think it’s pretty disgusting. I will try any beer someone puts in front of me, but so far they’ve all been on the scale from not great to completely repulsive. Someday, perhaps I’ll find one I like.

But until then, I do love things cooked with beer. Beer-battered halibut and beer pancakes are pretty delicious, but I don’t make them often (or really ever.) What I do pretty regularly make is beer bread. This particular recipe is excellent so I’ve never felt the need to try any others. The best part is the only ingredients you really need to measure are dry, so you don’t dirty any of your measuring cups and spoons. (If you’re like me and have less than one of each, this is really nice.)

I’ve made this with several different beers and while they’ve all been good, my hands-down favorite has been with a Honey Raspberry Ale by Spanish Peaks Brewing Co. I original bought it because I thought just maybe it would be a beer I like to drink. I didn’t. However it makes fabulous bread so no loss.

Plus the logo involves a dog. http://thetasteofbeer.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html

This bread (with any beer) goes great with stews or meatloaf, or just as a midday snack. Warmed and buttered, toasted with peanut butter, or just plain, it’s a delicious addition to any day. Plus it has half whole-wheat flour so that makes it healthy, right?

Whole Wheat Beer Bread

From Allrecipes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer

 Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar.
  3. Pour in beer and stir until a stiff batter is formed. It may be necessary to mix dough with your hands. Scrape dough into prepared loaf pan.
  4. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.
  5. Let cool briefly before slicing.