[displaced]

Originally Posted by sanuri11

i baked an apple pie yesterday but the crust came out so tough. is it cause i used butter instead of shortening in the flour? or is it cause there was too much flour and not enough butter? and umm.. i used fat free butter. is that causing the problem?

pie crust needs the fat to be flaky, otherwise it's a brick.

[Songbird]

Originally Posted by iTz_NoT_Me_iTzZu

fat free butter is an abomination!

This can only happen in the land of obesity: America.

If you ever eat a home-made apple pie which I grew up on, and the dough/crust is made from pure butter, guaranteed, it will be soft.

Fat-free butter? Pure idiocy.

I will post up a good recipe when/if I have time for melt-in-your mouth dough for apple pie.

[ABCDGIRL]

Originally Posted by hijabihoodlum

yum, truffles
.

and then i went to micheals and i found 4 little bottles of cherry, cinnamon, peppermint, and creme de menthe candy flavoring oils without the alcohol

[ABCDGIRL]

The truffles I made for my boo, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, and Toffee Bars.







This weekend Ill be making a sheet cake and Ill be decorating it with frosted rose petals and sprinkles

[sumiyia]

question:

which do you prefer: silicone bakeware or classic non-stick bakeware?

[gmk]

Originally Posted by Sapphire

Does anyone have a good recipe for chocolate brownies?
I made some Betty Crocker ones and they tasted SO good, but I would like a tried and tested recipe.

These are RIDICULOUSLY good:

From "The Best Light Recipe" by America's Test Kitchen:

Be sure to use semisweet chocolate and not semisweet chips--the additives in chips will result in a drier, squat brownie. To ensure moist, fudgy brownies it is important not to overbake them. Be sure to check the brownies for doneness several minutes before the specified baking time has elapsed.

Brownies
makes 12 brownies

1/2 cup flour
1/3 t baking powder
2 T dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 T warm water
1 T vanilla
1/2 t instant espresso powder (I replaced this and water with 1 T coffee)
2 T unsalted butter
3 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
1/2 c sugar
1/8 t salt
1 egg, lightly beaten

1) Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven 350 degrees. line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving flaps on the edges large enough to grasp, then lightly coat with vegetable oil spray.
2) whisk flour and baking powder together in a small bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the cocoa, water, vanilla, and espresso powder together; set aside. Microwave the butter and chocolate together in a medium microwave-safe bowl on 50 percent power until melted, about 1 minute; whisk until mixture is smooth. Whisk in the sugar and salt until completely incorporated. Whisk in the cocoa mixture, then whisk in the egg. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated (do not overmix)
3) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking (do not overbake). Cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour, lift the brownies out of the pan by grasping onto the parchment paper, and cut into 12 brownies.

[gmk]

Originally Posted by iTz_NoT_Me_iTzZu

Definately.

Fresh bread takes wayyyyyyyyy longer to make by hand, and it's a million times better than store bought
As long as you're not too lazy to throw some ingredients into it and press start, then it's worth it

Also, if you wanna make like cinnamon buns or pizza or anything that requires yeast, you can just use it to mix up and kneed the dough and you just roll it out and put it in the oven

I have a bread machine and it makes good dough, if I take it out before it bakes and form it into a loaf or into rolls by hand. But whenever I try baking it in the bread machine (instead of my oven), the crust is thick and hard... Is there some sort of trick I'm missing here? I use bread flour and everything..

[iTz_NoT_Me_iTzZu]

Originally Posted by gmk

I have a bread machine and it makes good dough, if I take it out before it bakes and form it into a loaf or into rolls by hand. But whenever I try baking it in the bread machine (instead of my oven), the crust is thick and hard... Is there some sort of trick I'm missing here? I use bread flour and everything..

hmmm depends on the bread machine... check the manual to see if there are different crust settings

[iTz_NoT_Me_iTzZu]

I made monkey bread the other day... or "primate bread" as my sister calls it


I sort of followed this recipe.. but not really.. I put strawberries in the dough and baked them in a strawberry sauce instead of caramel. Oh and I cut out the raisins.

INGREDIENTS

* 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 2 tablespoons butter, softened
* 1 cup water
* 1 cup butter
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 cup raisins



DIRECTIONS

1. Remove baking pan from machine. Place yeast, flour, ground cinnamon, salt, white sugar, 2 tablespoons butter and water in the order that is recommended for the bread maker. Make sure that no liquid comes in contact with the yeast. Select dough cycle and press start.
2. When dough is complete, place dough on floured surface and knead 10 to 12 times.
3. In a medium saucepan on low heat, melt one cup of butter, stir in brown sugar and raisins ( 1/4 cup of chopped nuts is good too!). Stir until smooth. Remove from heat.
4. Cut dough in one inch chunks. Drop one chunk at a time into the butter sugar mixture. Thoroughly coat dough pieces, then layer them loosely in a greased Bundt or tube pan, staggering layers so you're plopping each dough chunk over a space between two below. Let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until dough is just over the top of the pan, 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Bake in a preheated 375 degree F (190 degree C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes or till golden brown. Remove from oven, place a plate face down in top of the pan and, using oven mitts to hold plate on pan, turn over both until bread slides out onto plate. Serve warm...and enjoy.

[hefty]

CINNABONS!!! RAwR!! Yeah so a few years ago I heard we couldn't eat cinnabons anymore.. alcohol or something in them. ANyway, I found a recipe that is *superclose* to cinnabons. oh and a helluva lot cheaper too. (source: allrecipes.com).

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees
F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine
yeast

1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground
cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened

1 (3 ounce) package cream
cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS:
1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start. 2. After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. 3. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). 4. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

You can cut them thinner than what the recipe says (before baking), they turn out huge if you follow the recipe exactly. Oh and this is definitely not for anyone who's on a diet

[gmk]

Originally Posted by iTz_NoT_Me_iTzZu

hmmm depends on the bread machine... check the manual to see if there are different crust settings

Tried that... BAH!
Cheap-a** craigslist breadmaker.

[iTz_NoT_Me_iTzZu]

hmm, so we have a pecan tree in our back yard.. and now we have LOADS of pecans. so does anyone have any recipes that require em?

[gmk]

Originally Posted by iTz_NoT_Me_iTzZu

hmm, so we have a pecan tree in our back yard.. and now we have LOADS of pecans. so does anyone have any recipes that require em?

If you want a nice, low carb/diabetic-friendly (but still good) pie crust, you can grind them up really fine until they cover the bottom of a pie pan, then add melted butter (or smart balance, which is heart-healthy), then splenda if you want it to be sweet. Then bake in the oven till browned. Fill with sugar-free chocolate pudding/pie filling.

For a totally NOT low-carb treat, make caramelized pecans. I don't have a recipe on hand, but maaaannn.... you will eat all your pecans in one sitting if you make these.

Another thing I like is to just have them roasted. Oh! And you can also stuff dates with them.

[iTz_NoT_Me_iTzZu]

Originally Posted by gmk

If you want a nice, low carb/diabetic-friendly (but still good) pie crust, you can grind them up really fine until they cover the bottom of a pie pan, then add melted butter (or smart balance, which is heart-healthy), then splenda if you want it to be sweet. Then bake in the oven till browned. Fill with sugar-free chocolate pudding/pie filling.

For a totally NOT low-carb treat, make caramelized pecans. I don't have a recipe on hand, but maaaannn.... you will eat all your pecans in one sitting if you make these.

Another thing I like is to just have them roasted. Oh! And you can also stuff dates with them.

I'm gonna tell you right now.. I'm into butter, sugar, and carbs. I can't do the fake butter, fake sugar stuff blech. But that does sound pretty good overall I might make a version of it