Ok so this is really a combo-post: cookies & my first non-burning muffin experience ☺ So please bear through my drudgery…
#5: Batch 3 of ‘some kind of chip’ cookies complete!! I feel so successful… I am the chip cookie master! Well master of 1 recipe in which I have placed several different types of chocolate chips ;) My most recent invention: Black ‘n Gold’s (butterscotch and chocolate chip)
You see in New Orleans people LOVE anything to do with the Saints. This also means anything with “Who Dat” written on it, and anything with Saints coloring. So… I figured I’d capitalize on that a little bit… after all it’s for a good cause! It worked like a charm; only one lone cookie left after the bake sale… one lone perfect cookie for moi! hehe
Another interesting thing has developed: cookie donations. This week a co-worker’s wife baked 2-dozen for our bake sale, and someone else brought by cupcakes! It amazes me how many people want to help out. Then again I understand the need, or perhaps the drive, to contribute and just do something to lend a hand. Bravo ladies!!
#6: I baked muffins…and here is the big bonus of the hour: I did not burn them! Yes you have heard me right!!!
Ok ok ok ok … I kinda had a cooking lesson, and perhaps it wasn’t a completely independent cooking experience. But I did mix, spoon batter into a pan, place said pan in the oven, and the muffins did not exploded into burnt corrupt horribleness! I will take my successes where I can get them ☺
You see, over the weekend I went out to Austin, TX and the surrounding wine country with my lovely friends. Now, Heather’s parents live near wine country so we stop over the first night of our trip. Heather’s Mom, master baker Mrs. M, had been following my burning experiences and took pity on my poor muffin burning habits. She declared “That I would not leave her house without making a proper batch of muffins!” ok, perhaps it was a little less dramatic than that… but you get my point ☺
Mrs. M decided I knew how to measure, but something was wrong in the mixing/pan placement/baking section. In the morning she prepped a bowl of dry and wet ingredients, and declared we would be making apple muffins. Now that sounded super hard to me… with fruit involved and all…but I figured it was cooking school so I would be safe?
But safe I was! I mixed, I scooped batter into lil’ tins, I placed in oven, and I made beautiful, delicious, pecan apple muffins. Pecan Apple Muffins! Seriously, I think these were the best muffins I have ever tasted. Fluffy, light, non-burnt. Freakin’ delicious.
Heather and I had debated doing away with Muffin Mondays… especially because we’ve had ‘free donut’ competition the past 2 weeks. However, since I have a new recipe in hand, a personal lesson from the master baker, I will attempt to bake the muffins! Well, at least one more time!
On a side note…. with the help of the Master Baker, Heather&Allicia, and a glass of wine …I believe I may have figured out why all my muffins were burning. Too detailed to explain… but I will keep you posted on whether my new cooking method works!!!
Your muffin master in training,
~Natanya
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Mission 4: Muffin Madness Part 2
Ok, so after burning the last set of muffins, I was sure I had this one. I found the recipe for 'basic' blueberry muffins in Joy of Cooking. I had studied the recipe, read the section on making muffins, and even read the section on muffin mixing techniques. I was pretty confident I couldn't mess this one up...
Well you can already guess what happened.
I sat near the oven waiting intently as they baked, and a few minutes before the cook time...I noticed they looked a little brown....but they were still liquidy in the middle. When the timer when off I look them out, and what did I see??
Burn muffins. Again.
The muffins were totally burnt around the outside, and totally under cooked in the middle. WTF?? How could this be happening again! I practically studied for this!
However, at this point I can’t help but completely laugh at myself. I mean who can’t bake a simple muffin recipe? Apparently me. I CANNOT make muffins, muffins hate me, my oven hates muffins, or there is a sabotaging muffin elf who lives in my kitchen!! I try to pout and complain to Jorge, but underneath it all I cannot stop laughing at myself and my ridiculous inability to cook a simple batch of muffins….
Jorge and I drive to the store at 9pm at night to see what I can buy to redeem myself. There’s no pre-baked goods that will work, so we find Jiffy muffin mix for $1 a bag. Jorge says “Why don’t you see if you can make boxed muffins first, then try making them from scratch”…huh, that’s kind-of a good idea I guess. Although deep down inside I feel like I’m cheating.
The boxed muffins turn out ok, a little brown, but definitely not burnt! I few people at work even tell me they taste really good (they are boxed after all). Ever time someone tells me that I feel like a big fat cheater, but I just smile and say ‘thanks! I had a little help from Betty Crocker…’
Ok new idea, I master the ‘boxed’ muffins first. Yes, boxed muffins sound about right.
Well you can already guess what happened.
I sat near the oven waiting intently as they baked, and a few minutes before the cook time...I noticed they looked a little brown....but they were still liquidy in the middle. When the timer when off I look them out, and what did I see??
Burn muffins. Again.
The muffins were totally burnt around the outside, and totally under cooked in the middle. WTF?? How could this be happening again! I practically studied for this!
However, at this point I can’t help but completely laugh at myself. I mean who can’t bake a simple muffin recipe? Apparently me. I CANNOT make muffins, muffins hate me, my oven hates muffins, or there is a sabotaging muffin elf who lives in my kitchen!! I try to pout and complain to Jorge, but underneath it all I cannot stop laughing at myself and my ridiculous inability to cook a simple batch of muffins….
Jorge and I drive to the store at 9pm at night to see what I can buy to redeem myself. There’s no pre-baked goods that will work, so we find Jiffy muffin mix for $1 a bag. Jorge says “Why don’t you see if you can make boxed muffins first, then try making them from scratch”…huh, that’s kind-of a good idea I guess. Although deep down inside I feel like I’m cheating.
The boxed muffins turn out ok, a little brown, but definitely not burnt! I few people at work even tell me they taste really good (they are boxed after all). Ever time someone tells me that I feel like a big fat cheater, but I just smile and say ‘thanks! I had a little help from Betty Crocker…’
Ok new idea, I master the ‘boxed’ muffins first. Yes, boxed muffins sound about right.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Mission 3: White Chocolate Chip Cookies
(my belated update… :) )
SUCCESS!!! I didn’t burn anything, and the cookies turned out great! Pretty little round circles of white chocolate deliciousness! I added a little more flour (thanks Mom) so they didn’t thin out too much, and they came out perfect. It was everything I dreamed making cookies should be…
Ok so I did drop a stick of butter face down on the floor, but only a minor mishap. After all, butter is like soap, wash the top layer off and it’s like new, right???
After last week, all I heard from Jorge was: “ how could you not make any extra cookies for me? I would have eaten the burnt ones….I can’t believe I didn’t get one cookie…” You see, he was on duty the night I was baking…so he really had no idea what those burnt cookies looked like! So after all this whimpering I made LOTS of cookies. First off, I wanted to make extra to make up for the fact I didn’t sell any muffins this week (see Mission 2). Secondly, I was worried there would be a revolt in my house if there weren’t any extra cookies for the husband. I ended up making almost 5 dozen! It was like a crazy cookie wonderland….
The house smelled like cookie heaven… yet no husband, hovering, waiting around for cookies?!? Hmmm, I go upstairs with a couple of cookies warm from the oven, and of course, Jorge is asleep in bed, one hand still on his laptop. He sleepily wakes up, gobbles down two cookies... and promptly falls back asleep.
Perhaps, a bit anti-climatic after the week of whining about cookies, but I am way too ecstatic from my first no-burn baking experience to even care! 5 dozens perfect, yummy, un-burnt cookies!!!! I’m finely getting the hang of this!!
The next day we sell about 5 dozen of the 6 dzn we bring in. All week long people have been coming up to us and remarking on what a great idea our bake sale is. We even get a “thank you” note from the Race for the Cure committee at work, saying thank you for fundraising and raising awareness! I’m also getting teased a lot, one man proclaimed I was his new girlfriend, another co-worker asked if I would start pushing a cart around at work… Lol I guess smart women baking creates a bit of confusion! (no matter how poor many of my attempts are!)
SUCCESS!!! I didn’t burn anything, and the cookies turned out great! Pretty little round circles of white chocolate deliciousness! I added a little more flour (thanks Mom) so they didn’t thin out too much, and they came out perfect. It was everything I dreamed making cookies should be…
Ok so I did drop a stick of butter face down on the floor, but only a minor mishap. After all, butter is like soap, wash the top layer off and it’s like new, right???
After last week, all I heard from Jorge was: “ how could you not make any extra cookies for me? I would have eaten the burnt ones….I can’t believe I didn’t get one cookie…” You see, he was on duty the night I was baking…so he really had no idea what those burnt cookies looked like! So after all this whimpering I made LOTS of cookies. First off, I wanted to make extra to make up for the fact I didn’t sell any muffins this week (see Mission 2). Secondly, I was worried there would be a revolt in my house if there weren’t any extra cookies for the husband. I ended up making almost 5 dozen! It was like a crazy cookie wonderland….
The house smelled like cookie heaven… yet no husband, hovering, waiting around for cookies?!? Hmmm, I go upstairs with a couple of cookies warm from the oven, and of course, Jorge is asleep in bed, one hand still on his laptop. He sleepily wakes up, gobbles down two cookies... and promptly falls back asleep.
Perhaps, a bit anti-climatic after the week of whining about cookies, but I am way too ecstatic from my first no-burn baking experience to even care! 5 dozens perfect, yummy, un-burnt cookies!!!! I’m finely getting the hang of this!!
The next day we sell about 5 dozen of the 6 dzn we bring in. All week long people have been coming up to us and remarking on what a great idea our bake sale is. We even get a “thank you” note from the Race for the Cure committee at work, saying thank you for fundraising and raising awareness! I’m also getting teased a lot, one man proclaimed I was his new girlfriend, another co-worker asked if I would start pushing a cart around at work… Lol I guess smart women baking creates a bit of confusion! (no matter how poor many of my attempts are!)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Mission 2: Banana Bread Muffins
aka Muffin madness.
I have this healthy banana bread recipe that I make all the time – it’s the one thing I can bake and I know it like the back of my hand. According to Joy of Cooking “any bread recipe can be turned into a muffin recipe, just use the same temperature and cut the cook time to 15-18 min”. I had already experiment with making these muffins before (ok I did burn the bottoms, but I had learned from that mistake…) so I figured the 2nd time around should be easy. For I believed I was an experienced muffin maker… of this recipe at least.
Wrong
The usual mix up of the batter goes off without a hitch. Mixing and measuring of ingredients takes me only 10 min or so…oh I love my Kitchen Aid Mixer. I place cute colorful paper cups in the muffin trays as the batter mixers away. I figure I should be done soon since Jorge is waiting on me to watch the season finale of True Blood.
It takes me another 20min to get the dang batter into the little muffin cups. The muffin cups often slide out of place as I try to pour the batter and as I reach the end, I realize I’m at least 1-2 muffins short of 2 dozen. Grrrrrrrrrrr. I spend the next 5min spooning batter out of other muffin tins into these last few cups, trying to keep it all even, and trying (unsuccessfully) not to drip batter all over the place.
Finished! I pop them in and set the timer… 15 min later I pull them out. Toothpick says they are still a little gooey, so they go back in for another 3 min. At 18 min I pull out the muffins, set the trays on the counter, a few of the muffins sort of look dented…and kinda collapsed in a bit... but to Jorge’s impatient “are you done yet?” we finish watching True Blood and I let the muffins cool.
The show is over, muffins are cooled, so I take one out for a QC check. As I begin pulling the paper off the base I quickly realize something is wrong… about 1/3 of the muffin is coming off with the paper. Then I realize the bottom ½ inch is also burned!!
I bring my muffin to Jorge who looks at the problem…and doesn’t say anything. The worse. He looks at muffin and looks back at me. Then says “well can’t you buy some muffins at the store?”
Ugh
I curl up on our big living room chair a declare myself a failure. “It’s a recipe for heaven’s sake! How do you mess that up!?! “
Followed by,
“This should be like math 1+1=2. Ingredients + directions = delicious baked goods. What the hell is my problem? I can do complex math, but I can’t even make a batch of baked good without ruining them somehow??” (this is followed by another whimpering berating ‘I suck at baking’ statement)
Jorge meanwhile is chuckling at my temper tantrum, and tries to explain to me that baking is not like math. Which (of course) I promptly refuse to listen too. There are directions – things that get measured, stirred, then cooked – well perhaps more like intro chemistry…. but I can sure as hell can do that too.
But apparently I cannot (as of yet) make an unburn, unpaper stuck, muffin. I can solve the wave equation, but I cannot solve the muffin one.
Muffins 1 : Natanya 0
I have muffin nightmares all night. I keep dreaming about the stuck paper and burnt sides…I set my alarm early to buy muffins at the store, and then I oversleep instead. The next day I arrive with my burnt muffins to work…unsure what to do, I think I was hoping they would secretly ‘heal’ themselves over night. I see my fundraising partner’s muffins, perfectly cooked cranberry orange. They look delicious. I gently push my muffins under my desk. I confesses to her that I “suck at baking and I burnt the muffins…again”. Heather of course is sweet and just laughs, hugs me and says not to worry. I still feel like a muffin-fundraising failure, but both her and Allicia console me and tell me “learning to bake just takes time….”
I got 5 more weeks of this, so we shall definitely see.
I have this healthy banana bread recipe that I make all the time – it’s the one thing I can bake and I know it like the back of my hand. According to Joy of Cooking “any bread recipe can be turned into a muffin recipe, just use the same temperature and cut the cook time to 15-18 min”. I had already experiment with making these muffins before (ok I did burn the bottoms, but I had learned from that mistake…) so I figured the 2nd time around should be easy. For I believed I was an experienced muffin maker… of this recipe at least.
Wrong
The usual mix up of the batter goes off without a hitch. Mixing and measuring of ingredients takes me only 10 min or so…oh I love my Kitchen Aid Mixer. I place cute colorful paper cups in the muffin trays as the batter mixers away. I figure I should be done soon since Jorge is waiting on me to watch the season finale of True Blood.
It takes me another 20min to get the dang batter into the little muffin cups. The muffin cups often slide out of place as I try to pour the batter and as I reach the end, I realize I’m at least 1-2 muffins short of 2 dozen. Grrrrrrrrrrr. I spend the next 5min spooning batter out of other muffin tins into these last few cups, trying to keep it all even, and trying (unsuccessfully) not to drip batter all over the place.
Finished! I pop them in and set the timer… 15 min later I pull them out. Toothpick says they are still a little gooey, so they go back in for another 3 min. At 18 min I pull out the muffins, set the trays on the counter, a few of the muffins sort of look dented…and kinda collapsed in a bit... but to Jorge’s impatient “are you done yet?” we finish watching True Blood and I let the muffins cool.
The show is over, muffins are cooled, so I take one out for a QC check. As I begin pulling the paper off the base I quickly realize something is wrong… about 1/3 of the muffin is coming off with the paper. Then I realize the bottom ½ inch is also burned!!
I bring my muffin to Jorge who looks at the problem…and doesn’t say anything. The worse. He looks at muffin and looks back at me. Then says “well can’t you buy some muffins at the store?”
Ugh
I curl up on our big living room chair a declare myself a failure. “It’s a recipe for heaven’s sake! How do you mess that up!?! “
Followed by,
“This should be like math 1+1=2. Ingredients + directions = delicious baked goods. What the hell is my problem? I can do complex math, but I can’t even make a batch of baked good without ruining them somehow??” (this is followed by another whimpering berating ‘I suck at baking’ statement)
Jorge meanwhile is chuckling at my temper tantrum, and tries to explain to me that baking is not like math. Which (of course) I promptly refuse to listen too. There are directions – things that get measured, stirred, then cooked – well perhaps more like intro chemistry…. but I can sure as hell can do that too.
But apparently I cannot (as of yet) make an unburn, unpaper stuck, muffin. I can solve the wave equation, but I cannot solve the muffin one.
Muffins 1 : Natanya 0
I have muffin nightmares all night. I keep dreaming about the stuck paper and burnt sides…I set my alarm early to buy muffins at the store, and then I oversleep instead. The next day I arrive with my burnt muffins to work…unsure what to do, I think I was hoping they would secretly ‘heal’ themselves over night. I see my fundraising partner’s muffins, perfectly cooked cranberry orange. They look delicious. I gently push my muffins under my desk. I confesses to her that I “suck at baking and I burnt the muffins…again”. Heather of course is sweet and just laughs, hugs me and says not to worry. I still feel like a muffin-fundraising failure, but both her and Allicia console me and tell me “learning to bake just takes time….”
I got 5 more weeks of this, so we shall definitely see.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Mission 1: Chocolate Chip Cookies
Batch one: I follow the recipe on the back of a bag of chocolate chips. Only thing is I’m trying to make half the amount of cookies as the recipe calls for (2 dozen instead of 4), so I need to halve all the ingredients. I keep forgetting this too, because I am also trying to watch Criminal Minds in the background. I keep having to pause &rewind my show since I’m losing track of whether or not they’ll find the killer because I’m trying to read these dang instructions …and at one point I add 2 eggs instead of one, and I realize this before I mix it up and end up scooping out the extra yolk and trying to guess-ta-mate how much extra white should also go with the yolk. Errghh now where was I at with Criminal Minds again??
Finally the batter is done, chocolate chips added and mixed in by hand. Note to self: do not mix in chips by hand next time, way too much muscle required. Cookie balls on the pan (after a few re-orgs to fit 12 per sheet), and in the oven. I set the timer and settle in for the rest of my episode.
20 minutes later. WTF?? These are totally burnt!?!? How could they be so burned I followed the directions exactly!?! (well almost if you discount that egg mix up…which I totally fixed!). Me: re-read directions on chocolate chip bag, and I still don’t understand what went wrong. Then, look in my Joy of Cooking cookbook. “Why does it say 8-10 min in here??” Re-read directions on bag again, “Damn it! That was the time for the cookie bars..not the cookies...shit!”
After eating 3 of my burnt cookies I come to terms with the fact that they are completely inedible, and I cannot bring them into work for our first bake sale day.
Batch two: I say screw the micro-printed ‘multiple cook time options’ recipe on the bag. I go straight to the Joy of Cooking recipe. The recipe is already written for 2 dozen too! I curse myself for not starting there in the first place. Whip up a second batch. I watch the oven intently knowing this is my last chance (since I do need to get to sleep and work the next day!). I switch the cookie sheets around in the oven at 4 min. This takes me 1 min to do because I almost drop the tray and dump all the cookies on the floor. I bake for another 5 min to make sure they are done. The cookies come out Ok, a few a little too crispy, but they are edible. I even get some compliments on them at work the next day! Now I feel like a total pro. Just had one little mix-up.
Next attempt: muffins.
Finally the batter is done, chocolate chips added and mixed in by hand. Note to self: do not mix in chips by hand next time, way too much muscle required. Cookie balls on the pan (after a few re-orgs to fit 12 per sheet), and in the oven. I set the timer and settle in for the rest of my episode.
20 minutes later. WTF?? These are totally burnt!?!? How could they be so burned I followed the directions exactly!?! (well almost if you discount that egg mix up…which I totally fixed!). Me: re-read directions on chocolate chip bag, and I still don’t understand what went wrong. Then, look in my Joy of Cooking cookbook. “Why does it say 8-10 min in here??” Re-read directions on bag again, “Damn it! That was the time for the cookie bars..not the cookies...shit!”
After eating 3 of my burnt cookies I come to terms with the fact that they are completely inedible, and I cannot bring them into work for our first bake sale day.
Batch two: I say screw the micro-printed ‘multiple cook time options’ recipe on the bag. I go straight to the Joy of Cooking recipe. The recipe is already written for 2 dozen too! I curse myself for not starting there in the first place. Whip up a second batch. I watch the oven intently knowing this is my last chance (since I do need to get to sleep and work the next day!). I switch the cookie sheets around in the oven at 4 min. This takes me 1 min to do because I almost drop the tray and dump all the cookies on the floor. I bake for another 5 min to make sure they are done. The cookies come out Ok, a few a little too crispy, but they are edible. I even get some compliments on them at work the next day! Now I feel like a total pro. Just had one little mix-up.
Next attempt: muffins.
The Beginning
Inspired by Julie and Julia I’ve decided to chronicle my first ever baking experience(s). How did I get into a baking you might ask? Well that is a simple yet complex story.
A few months ago I decided I would raise funds & run the Race for the Cure 5k in New Orleans. Then recently, a good friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. I really want to do something, just anything to help. Since I couldn’t punch a cancer monster in the face (which is what I really wanted to do), my alternative:
I found this great fundraising idea: “Hold a bake sale at work!” I talked to one of my friends at work and we decided to hold twice weekly bake sales to raise funds. “Muffin Mondays” and “Cookies for the Cure”. We figured we could raise about $80-100 a week, and our company matches dollar for dollar, so we would raise at least a $1000 dollars over 6 weeks! While also raising awareness for breast cancer research, and the Race for the Cure. A great, easy, and simple idea! And a way to do something positive to help, even if just in a small way.
Obvious problem (or not so obvious to me…)
I’ve never really baked before. I bake bread occasionally…so other things shouldn’t be that hard, right? You just open a cook book follow recipes for cookies and muffins. Should be a complete piece of cake.
A few months ago I decided I would raise funds & run the Race for the Cure 5k in New Orleans. Then recently, a good friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. I really want to do something, just anything to help. Since I couldn’t punch a cancer monster in the face (which is what I really wanted to do), my alternative:
I found this great fundraising idea: “Hold a bake sale at work!” I talked to one of my friends at work and we decided to hold twice weekly bake sales to raise funds. “Muffin Mondays” and “Cookies for the Cure”. We figured we could raise about $80-100 a week, and our company matches dollar for dollar, so we would raise at least a $1000 dollars over 6 weeks! While also raising awareness for breast cancer research, and the Race for the Cure. A great, easy, and simple idea! And a way to do something positive to help, even if just in a small way.
Obvious problem (or not so obvious to me…)
I’ve never really baked before. I bake bread occasionally…so other things shouldn’t be that hard, right? You just open a cook book follow recipes for cookies and muffins. Should be a complete piece of cake.
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