Power Restored: A Return to Normalcy

Hello friends,

It has been roughly a week since Hurricane Sandy tore through the Northeast, and it took until this past Sunday for my apartment to regain power. My heart goes out to all those affected and still struggling through the aftermath. My thoughts and prayers are with you and I hope you stay safe and warm.

I have to say though, that as devastating as the storm was, it showed me how people can come together as a community to help one another in times of crisis. First, a manager at a local Stop and Shop allowed me to charge my phone so that I could call my parents and let them know I was okay. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it meant everything to me to let my family know I was safe.

Then, after attempting to hold out at my apartment for three days without power, my boyfriend and I drove back to his parents' house in North Jersey. We showed up to a house full of candles, a warm wood-burning stove, and a hot meal. Neighbors were invited over to warm up, have a bite to eat, and even get in on a surprisingly relaxing game of charades.

So thank you, to everyone who helped me and my loved ones during this past week. You all made me feel loved and it meant the world to me.

Getting the apartment back into a normal state is still taking some time though, so the most I can do is show you the super cool candy corn cookies I made before the storm and then couldn't share with you after losing power (grumble):

and then share this recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bread, which also managed to get baked before the storm, and helped me and my boyfriend through many a cold, dreary morning with nothing else to eat.

Hopefully I will be back later this week with a fresh batch of warm, homemade goodies to share with you all.

Wishing everyone the best,

Jess

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bread  
Via HowSweetEats

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup chocolate chunks/chips



1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with butter or cooking spray. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
2. Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla.
3. Stir in half of the flour mixture, then add the buttermilk. Stir until just combined. Add in rest of flour mixture and stir until well incorporated, being sure to scrap down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 375 for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Brownie Banana Bread Cupcake Blunder

Hello friends,

Let's get straight to it shall we? I am sad. Just when I thought I was getting into a groove, life decided to throw me a sucker punch in the form of this tantalizing recipe for Brownie Banana Bread Cupcakes.

My bananas were getting ripe. Too ripe. But I had read somewhere on the good old Internet that you can freeze black bananas until you are ready to bake with them.

Ask me if I remembered to thaw the bananas ahead of time.

Nope.

Did I remember to take butter out of the freezer?

Nope.

But I did not let any of this deter me, even though I probably should have just taken the hint. Fate was trying, most likely, to help me out; but stubborn little me really really wanted to try one of these cupcakes. I managed to get the skin off of the bananas, much like peeling a carrot, but then thought to microwave them to get them a little less, well, frozen.

I finally manage to get everything into the cupcake pans and it's so late that I think "just not frosting them would leave me with sweet muffins. No one will know the difference". But frosting would not have saved these sad, naked cakes. The added moisture from the microwaved bananas made me increase the cooking time, to the point where the brownie became non existent, dry, and crumbly, and there still were mushy sections of cake.

It's never a good sign when one must wrestle with the cupcake wrapper to get at the actual cake. Ugh.

I guess I am still trying to get my head in the game so to speak for my senior year of college. Coming back is always exciting, but it also tends to feel a bit like a slap in the face. Reading, studying, homework, part time job, running a student organization and blogging. What have I gotten myself into?

Well, next week there will be fudge. Fudge makes everything better, right?

Right.

So until next week,

Happy Baking!

THE Best Banana Bread

Hello friends,

No, you did not misread that title. This is truly the best banana bread I've ever had the pleasure of baking and eating. I do love my Oreos, but after they inspired some kick-ass cookies and cupcakes, I was suddenly craving some serious warm, cozy, wholesome flavors that can only be administered by a well-baked banana bread.

But what recipe would ensure a satisfied craving? I began roaming through recipes, searching Pinterest and FoodGawker until I almost lost hope. Why does nearly every recipe I find have to be "Banana + other flavor I don't want detracting from my Banana Bread Bread"? Banana Coconut Bread, Banana Walnut Bread, I just want Banana Bread. Much like my feeling to carrot cake, I am a bit of a purist when it comes to this. Absolutely no nuts may permeate my bread, and I must really be in the mood for chocolate chips. No, when I bite into a piece of banana bread, I want pure, unadulterated banana flavor. No extracts or extras.

But then, on what I want to say was page eleven or twelve of my search on FoodGawker, I saw it. The Cook's Illustrated Recipe for Banana Bread. The link led me to "First Look then Cook" and wouldn't you know it, the method for preparing this bread sounded eerily similar to the preparation of a certain Banana Bread Snickerdoodle I attempted awhile back. My conclusion?

Microwaving Bananas, extracting the juices, then reducing them to a decadent banana syrup is by far one of the most awesome ideas I've ever encountered online. Merely mashing bananas? Please. Let's all step it up a bit here and take the sweet, syrupy plunge. It makes a world of a difference.

A side note though. After these photos, I've come to the realization that banana bread batter, unlike chocolate chip cookie dough or a fluffy vanilla frosting, does not look appetizing. At all. I could tell you what I think it looks like but, well, I'll leave that to your wonderful imagination.

Ah, that's better.

Do I dare tell you that I ate at least half of this loaf on my own, probably to the slight frustration of the rest of my family, also avid banana bread lovers? Do I tell you it is absolutely divine with a nice cup of hot coffee first thing in the morning? But I bet you already knew all of that...So bake, eat, enjoy; revel in the delicious flavor of this banana bread and share it (or not!) with all your friends. You'll be glad you did!

Happy Baking!

Cook's Illustrated Banana Bread
Via FirstLookthenCook

1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
4-5 large, peeled, very ripe bananas
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease one 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with cooking spay.
2. Place bananas in microwave safe bowl and heat in microwave for 2-5 minutes, until the bananas give off about 1/3 cup liquid. Transfer bananas to fine-meshed strainer over a small saucepan. Let drain for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl and set aside.
4. Once bananas have drained, place bananas into large bowl and set the saucepan with the banana liquid over medium-high heat, allowing to reduce to about 1/4 cup (about 5 minutes).
5. Pour banana liquid over bananas and mash together until you reach a relatively uniform consistency. Whisk in eggs, butter, brown sugar, and vanilla.
6. Fold flour mixture into banana mixture, being careful not to over-mix. A few streaks of flour are okay.
7. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan, sprinkle 2 tsp of sugar over top, and bake at 350 for 55-75 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
8. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

Banana Bread Snickerdoodles

Friends,

I have found it.

The cookie to end all other cookies.

Don't laugh; I am dead serious here. It is called the Banana Bread Snickerdoodle and it has now become my most absolute favorite cookie in the entire world.

I am actually going to take a moment here to personally thank the creator of these cookies, Mrs. M.O.B. over at Mind Over Batter.

Dear Mrs. M.O.B.,

Your cookies are so amazing that I think you could end all the arguments currently happening on Earth by making just one cookie for every person on the planet.

Please let me know if you need help in doing so.

Best,

Jessica 

 

Now that that's out of my system - you NEED to make these cookies! She has you microwave the bananas and then take the juice from them and turn it into a syrup that goes BACK into the cookie dough. I know. It's that intense.

My whole kitchen smelled like a banana bread bakery during all of this. It was the best smell. ever.

A little bit more work than your average snickerdoodle I'll give you that. But it doesn't matter. If you consider yourself a lover of banana bread or snickerdoodles, you must must must make these cookies.

The recipe makes over 3 dozen, which sounds like a lot. However, see how much it makes when you are face-to-face with the delectable and dangerously delicious dough. Go ahead, I dare you; try not to eat an unhealthy-sized spoonful of it.

Enough said. Get going on making these cookies and start achieving world peace with their awesomeness.

Banana Bread Snickerdoodles By Mind Over Batter
makes roughly 4 dozen cookies

3 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 medium very ripe bananas, peeled and chopped
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
 1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp banana syrup (recipe follows)

For banana syrup:

1. Place chopped bananas into large microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 2-3 minutes, or until the bananas start to let out juice.
2. Mash bananas through a fine mesh strainer, put banana mash aside.
3. Take banana juice and place in small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Heat until syrupy, about 2 minutes (it should reduce to about 2 tbsp). Allow to cool before using.

For cinnamon sugar:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Mix together with hands until well incorporated.

For cookies:

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cinnamon into a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl cream butter until fluffy, about 1 minute. beat in both sugars and the mashed bananas until fully incorporated.
3. Mix in egg, vanilla extract, and banana syrup until well combined. Stir flour mixture into wet ingredient mixture roughly one cup at a time. Be sure to chill dough at least one hour before baking.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper (or grease liberally with cooking spray).
5. Use a cookie scoop or small spoon to scoop out tablespoonfuls of dough. Roll into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place at least 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten each cookie ball slightly with the bottom of a glass.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes or until cookies are slightly firm. Let cool five minutes on pan before transferring to wire cooling rack.

Macaron Success and Homemade Bagels

Happy New Year all!

Although I can honestly say I don't often partake in the New Year festivities, I decided to ring in 2012 with a new, never-before attempted recipe for...

Bagels!

But, before I get into bagels and bread, I must share with you all a photo that makes me smile with joy every time I gaze at it.

My friends: I have made a successful French Macaron!

What a relief, that after 5 unsuccessful attempts to recreate my favorite French cookie, I finally had a macaron I could be proud to call my own.

What I've learned:

1. Add the granulated sugar to the egg whites right at the beginning: it saves you a lot of stress.
2. Don't feel like aging egg whites? Buy a carton of Egg Beaters Egg Whites and bring desired amount to room temperature.
3. Make sure to let the cookies rest on the counter for at least 30 minutes to form a crust.
4. MOST importantly - do not be impatient. STIFF peaks means stiff peaks. If you flip that bowl over those egg whites better not move an inch!

Thank you to all who commented and shared links with helpful tips and tricks; it all made such a difference!

Now enough with the cookies - it's time for bagels.

Unfortunately, for any of you who are overly-excited or extremely impatient in baking (as I am), then making bagels may be a bit taxing on you. It is a two-day process, and a bit of a tedious one at that.

I utilized the Kitchen Aid for all of the kneading, but if you don't have one then it's perfectly fine to use your hands and knead away. After bringing the dough together, it needs to proof overnight in the fridge; only after this important step can the fun begin.

Another tip I want to stress: spray whatever surface you happen to be working on with the bagels with Pam. I made the mistake of placing the shaped bagels on plain parchment paper, and when it came time to take them off the paper to place them in the simmering water, I entered into a few aggravating battles with the bagel dough.

I decided to do a nice mix of flavors, ranging from plain to salt and (my favorite) Asiago.

Ah! I plan on throwing one of those Asiago Bagels right in the toaster and smearing butter all over it. Happy New Year indeed!


Handmade Bagels

3 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/4 tsp dry active yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey
1 cup + 2 tbsp warm water

poaching liquid:
3 quarts water
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Assorted Toppings: sea salt, sesame seeds, Asiago Cheese etc

1 Day Before Baking

1. Hydrate the yeast in 2 1/2 tablespoons warm water and a pinch of sugar. Allow to reach foamy stage (about 10 minutes)
2. In a small bowl, combine rest of warm water, honey, salt and yeast mixture.
3. Add wet ingredient mixture to bread flour in a large bowl.
4. Knead by hand (or with dough hook attachment on the lowest setting) for 3 minutes. Dough should be fully hydrated; if it is too dry add a little bit more warm water.
5. Let dough rest 5 minutes.
6. Repeat Step 4
7. Place dough in large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for one hour; then place in refrigerator overnight or for up to 2 days.

On Baking Day:

1. Divide dough into 6 or 8 equal portions. Shape each into bagels by using both thumbs to poke a hole through the center and shape around fingers. Preheat oven to 500 degrees
2. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot. Reduce heat to maintain simmer and add baking soda, salt, and honey.
3. Place on bagel into a bowl of cold water - if it floats then it is ready to be poached; if not let sit for another 10 minutes.
4. Once bagels pass the float test, place as many as will easily fit into the simmering liquid and let simmer for 1 minute. Gently flip bagels and let simmer for another 30 to 60 seconds
5. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bagels and place onto a lightly oiled, parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle any toppings on immediately.
6. Place sheet in oven and immediately reduce heat to 450 degrees.
7. Bake for 8 minutes, and then rotate pan. Check underside of bagels - if they are browning too much then insulate pan with a second pan underneath it.
8. Bake for another 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Let cool 30 minutes on wire rack before serving.

Easy Italian Bread

Okay, so the title is still "sort-of" of an alliteration, but I'm working on it. At least all the words in the title don't start with the same letter, right?

Right. Now on to better and more delicious things. To start with, my mom's famous spaghetti with clam sauce!

Alright, maybe it's not famous (to you anyway); but it's definitely yummy. And what goes well with yummy pasta?

Yep, you guessed it - Italian bread.

Now you see, my mom comes from a very Italian family. If you also come from an Italian background, you know what I'm talking about. The red stuff that coats your favorite pasta is called gravy, not sauce and so on. Even her maiden name sounds like it could be one of the types of Buitoni pastas - Orsini (seriously, doesn't that sound like it would look like orzo or Acini Pepe?).

So naturally, we like pasta in my house - a lot, and bread - lots of bread. So how could we have spaghetti with clams without any bread?!

Never fear I thought - I will make the bread! In reality though, there was considerable fear. Mostly my own fear of not meeting my family's (and my own) great expectations when it comes to good Italian Bread.

But - I happened to have stumbled upon a rather intriguing FoodGawker post that claims it's a "no fuss" recipe for bread. No fuss? No overnight starter? This I have to see.

The recipe comes from ShareMyKitchen, and it looks just like the Italian Bread my mom would pick up from Calandra's Bakery in Newark. So now a little bit of the initial fear has subsided, and I'm thinking "I can do this!" I hope. Otherwise, there's no bread in the house to have with dinner....so maybe I am still a little concerned. Just a little.

But with only 5 ingredients - how hard could it be? I opted to make one larger loaf than split it into three smaller ones like the recipe suggested. Other than that I followed it to a T.

Pretty simple, longest step was just letting it rise for an hour but....

Ta - Da! Italian Bread in less than a few hours!

And may I say (I feel like I always do actually) that this is a STELLAR recipe?! Super easy, even for the most amateur (like me) bread bakers. If you are planning to have family or friends over for a pasta night, I would strongly suggest planning ahead just a bit so that you have enough time to make this. You can even have it still in the oven when they arrive, and casually remark "oh let me go get the bread out of the oven" and do a total shock and awe when they see you pull a Rustic, Artisan-esque bread from your oven.

There you have it, a super-cool (and simple!) way to impress your friends, and save you some cash. This is definitely more cost-effective than buying one of those loaves from the supermarket (and it tastes better too).

I hope you are inspired to have an Italian pasta night just to have a reason to bake up some bread! I know it definitely made a great addition to Mom's Spaghetti and Clams. Enjoy!

Quick Crusty Bread Via ShareMyKitchen
makes 3 smaller loaves or 1 large loaf

500 g all-purpose flour
370 ml lukewarm water
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1. Sift together the flour and salt. Add the yeast.
2. In a separate bowl, dissolve the honey in the warm water.
3 Make a well in the flour and pour in the warm honey-water. Stir until you get a sticky dough (trust me, it won't look pretty, but that's fine. It looks pretty when it's done)
4. Sprinkle a little flour over the top and cover the bowl with a towel or foil. Let rise for about an hour in a warm, dark place. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 430 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle a little flour over it.
5. Carefully remove dough from bowl and place onto baking sheet (floured side up). Shape slightly into a loaf and place in oven.
6. Bake at 430 F for 15-20 minutes, then lower the heat to 320 F and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack before slicing.

Fumbling Around with Focaccia

Well, it's about time to take a turn towards savory baking. I had been dying to try out a focaccia recipe and my mom needed bread to go with dinner (penne with clam sauce!), and would you believe it's so much easier than I thought! Some students in my Foods Lab last semester made some using a basic recipe, which I tweaked quite a bit for this post.

So basic ingredients are: active dry yeast, flour (all purpose is fine but I happened to have bread flour handy), sugar, water, olive oil, and salt. Other than that, you can pretty much customize your toppings. I went with a basil, oregano and sea salt combo.

Here's how the dough looks once it doubles after 30 minutes of rising in a warm, dark place (aka my pantry). It's so awesome to see it expand like that in such a short time; although now my pantry does smell a whole lot like bread. Not that I mind. :)

I'll add the whole recipe at the end of the post, but I decided not to go completely step by step with photos since this recipe is really quite simple. I am not a bread baker, and this was my first time using yeast. But the good news is that this is a pretty forgiving recipe since formation of gluten is actually a good thing (not like in cakes). So knead away my friends!

Now the original recipe wanted me to mix the toppings with the olive oil, but I was worried that would clump and I wanted to make sure there was an even distribution of spices. So instead I brushed the entire top of the dough with olive oil and then sprinkled the seasonings over. At this point, it's time to pop it in the oven! Did I mention this recipe will fill your entire kitchen with the amazing smell of Italian spices and bread? Because it does, and it's downright awesome.

And there you have it! Fantastic Focaccia from your own oven. I have to say, now that I know I can do this, I plan on making this a lot more often, with dozens of different toppings (sundried tomatoes and mozzarella anyone?)

Focaccia

for the dough:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar

for the topping:
olive oil (enough to coat the top of the dough)
oregano and basil (roughly 1-2 tbsp)
(feel free to add as much or as little toppings as is preferable to you; I just sprinkled both spices over the dough until I felt it was enough)


1. Mix 3/4 cup of flour with salt and olive oil
2. In a separate bowl, add 1 tbsp + 2 tsp of warm water to yeast and sugar. Mix thoroughly and let stand for roughly 10 minutes, or until frothy/foamy
3. In a large bowl, mix together flour mixture and yeast mixture with 1/2 cup of warm water
4. Knead the dough and add the remaining flour as needed to lessen the stickiness of the dough. If it becomes too dry, just add a little more warm water
5. Cover the bowl with a cloth and set in a warm, dark place to rise for 30 minutes
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
7. Remove cloth and knead dough. Divide into two portions and roll (or stretch) out to 1/4 inch thickness, making either a round or oval shape. Place each on a cookie sheet and let rise in a dark place for an additional 10 minutes
8. Slash or poke the dough with your fingers (make sure to make indents over the entire dough)
9. Brush dough with olive oil and sprinkle toppings
10. Bake at 400 degrees for roughly 13-15 minutes, then turn the broiler on high and let cook for an addtional 1-2 minutes (watch carefully so it does not burn).
11. Let cool, cut into strips and serve!