Tag: baking

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To Bake or Not To Bake

By Fran Hill

I was a newlywed when Martha Stewart and her lifestyle of seeming perfection was becoming a mainstream phenomenon. Every holiday season, her magazine featured a fabulous array of cookies artfully arranged on trays for gift giving. Of course, I fell under her spell and killed myself worked tirelessly to create my own amazing cookie trays for everyone I knew.

Eventually, I came to the realization that I don’t like to bake. I find it tedious and troublesome. Exactly measuring and following a recipe? Ugh. For a few Christmas seasons, I made a variety of fudge. We had Milk Chocolate Cream Cheese Fudge, Butter Pecan Fudge, Lemon Fudge, Peppermint Fudge, and even deeply Rich and Creamy Fudgy Fudge. While this was easier and seemed like less hassle than hustling sheet pan after sheet pan of cookies in and out of the oven, it still felt like a chore. My Christmas spirit seemed to be dying a slow death with each hour I spent in the kitchen.

About this same time, I was really getting into canning and preserving each summer and fall. My basement storage shelves were lined with jeweled jars of jellies, jams, salsas, sauces, and vegetables. I had an epiphany. The work was already done. Tie a bow around a jar; slap on a gift tag; and boom! Homemade goodness that didn’t damage my festive outlook.

These days, I still favor gifting the bounty of my garden harvest over baking, but occasionally, I do crave a sweet treat. This year, I managed to incorporate some of my preserving into my baking. The mint extract experiment that I undertook just before the first heavy frost wiped out my herbs became an ingredient in Peppermint Sugar Cookies. Of course, store bought peppermint extract is fine (said in my best Ina Garten voice), but it was kind of fun to have a hand in one of the main flavor ingredients.

I may not be a baker, but baking is fine in small doses, and very fine when the treat is as sweet as Peppermint Sugar Cookies.

Peppermint Sugar Cookies are a sweet reward for those who dread holiday baking.

Peppermint Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups sugar (plus more for rolling)

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons peppermint extract

1/2 cup crushed candy canes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, at least 5 minutes, but up to 8-10. (It makes a difference. Really.) Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla and peppermint extracts. Beat until combined. Reduce speed to low, slowly add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined.

If dough seems too soft, refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. (I usually do this anyway.)

Place about 1/4 cup extra sugar in a shallow dish or plate. Use a cookie scoop to make uniformly sized balls and roll them in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Using a flat-bottomed glass, flatten each ball just slightly and sprinkle with peppermint candies.

Bake until edges are set, but centers are still soft and puffy, 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheet for 10 additional minutes (the residual heat will continue baking and fully set the cookies). Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. (Yields about 3 dozen soft and chewy peppermint sugar cookies.)

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and two dogs reside near Colome.

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An Apple a Day

By Fran Hill

I have a cold. I have a snotty, feverish, sore throat, starting to cough and can’t stop cold.

Recently, I started a long-term substitute teacher gig. I am covering some high school and middle school classes while a teacher takes maternity leave. It is great. The kids are fun, and the days go quickly. However, I don’t have the immunity of full-time teachers. The students are germy, and I am sick. Whiny sick. I am not a good invalid.

My bathroom counter is lined with a myriad of over-the-counter meds. I have daytime, nighttime, cough and cold, decongestants and pain relievers. I have been diligent with my multi-vitamin and added an additional Vitamin C and zinc to the mix. We all should buy stock in tissue companies. I am on my third box.

Hubs and I have made homemade chicken noodle soup. I am snacking on lots of citrus and craving spicy things that actually make an impact on my taste buds (and make my nose run). I am, much to my dachshund, Tabby’s, delight, napping every chance I get. She loves to snuggle.

Maybe there is something to the old adage,”An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Perhaps, along with their germs, students should have been bringing an apple for the teacher. I did make applesauce and Apple Pie Jam earlier this month with a bounty of fall apples. The last were tossed into a pie that was an absolute delight with vanilla bean ice cream. Maybe I need to add more apples to my diet.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies sound good. Chewy oatmeal cookies with chunks of dried apples and caramel couldn’t hurt this cold. They are definitely worth a try.

Will apples keep you healthy if you put them in cookies? Either way, caramel apple oatmeal cookies are worth a try.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

(adapted from Cooking Light)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 large egg

3/4 cup finely chopped dried apples (I used apples that I had dehydrated and were very dry. Therefore, I added a splash of water to the chopped pieces and let set for a bit before stirring into the dough. I think it made for a chewier cookie…my preference.)

3/4 cup caramel bits OR 16 small soft caramel candies, chopped (I opted to chop the caramels. The caramel bits were quite hard, and I wanted softer, chewier cookies. I tossed my chopped candies with just a smidgen of flour to keep them from sticking together.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine sugars and butter in mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, beat well. Mix in the flour, oatmeal, baking powder and soda, and salt just until combined. Fold in the caramel bits and dried apples.

Drop by 2 teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment. Flatten balls slightly. (I pressed with the bottom of a measuring cup.)

Bake at 350 degrees F for 9 minutes.

Cool on pans for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. (Makes 4 dozen cookies)

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and their three dogs ranch near Colome.

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Duncan Donuts

Our July/August issue includes a story by Staci Perry on the Flandreau Bakery and Coffee Bar. Two generations of the Duncan family have been baking tasty treats there for 88 years. Perry visited the Duncans to hear their story, sample a few classics and take several photos — too many to print. Here are the ones we couldn’t fit into the magazine.

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The Reluctant Baker

By Fran Hill

If you follow my blog, you have repeatedly read my declarations that I don’t like to bake cookies.

However, I baked for you.

Triple Chocolate Ginger Crinkles.

Rich chocolate cookies with just a hint of spicy ginger and dusted with powdered sugar. Each unique like a snowflake. All delicious.

I want to wish a Merry Christmas to you and yours. May you find peace and love in this holiday season and beyond.

Triple Chocolate Ginger Crinkles

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs, beaten

3/4 cup candied ginger, finely chopped

1/2 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

1 cup powdered sugar

Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate, stirring until smooth.

Let cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F; line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat the eggs and sugar together.

Whisk in the cooled butter and chocolate mixture.

Stir in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt until incorporated.

Stir in mini chocolate chips and ginger.

Place powdered sugar in a wide bowl.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. (Using a cookie scoop works well.)

Roll each dough ball in powdered sugar to coat.

Place cookies about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

Bake 14-17 minutes, until cookies are puffed and cracked. (14 minutes made perfectly chewy cookies for me; 17 minutes yielded crisper cookies)

Allow cookies to cool for a minute before transferring to racks to cool completely. (Yield: 3 dozen)

Fran Hill has been blogging about food at On My Plate since October of 2006. She, her husband and their two dogs ranch near Colome.

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Parker’s New Bakery

By Rebecca Johnson

These days,”gluten-free” is almost everywhere. Most major grocery stores carry gluten-free items and an Amazon.com search of the phrase turns up over 190,000 results. But it hasn’t always been that way.

April Smith was first introduced to the gluten-free lifestyle in college at the University of South Dakota.”I had a few roommates in a row diagnosed with celiac disease,” Smith says. She was sympathetic as they adjusted to the digestive disorder that causes an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, and later was diagnosed with wheat intolerance herself.”It explained a lot of my food choices over my lifetime,” Smith says”It wasn’t just that I didn’t like pasta or beer. It was making me sick.”

After college, Smith spent over a decade managing natural foods sections in Hy-Vee grocery stores in Rochester, Minnesota and Sioux Falls.”One day I had four different dads come in looking for [gluten-free] cupcakes for a little kid’s birthday party at school,” she says.”It just drove me nuts that there were so many kids out there who couldn’t get a cupcake for their birthday safely.” More options are now available, but they’re not always delicious. So Smith and her husband, Clement, decided to start Heart of the City Bakery, a gluten-free bakery in Parker.

Clement spends his”day job” supervising the kitchen at South Middle School in Harrisburg.”He’s the one that hammered out how to make a lot of the initial recipes,” Smith says. They started their business at home, testing muffins, cookies and cupcakes on their kids. Gluten works like a glue that holds ingredients together so it’s a lot of trial and error.”It’s almost better that neither of us are trained bakers because if we were it would drive us nuts what we have to do to make things work now. Like a lot of times instead of kneading air out of bread, I’m trying to put air into bread. Or a cake mix that you would have mixed for 5 or 10 minutes on an industrial mixer, I now need to barely combine the ingredients and then walk away,” she explains

The couple initially filled private orders and traveled to farmers markets. But business grew quickly, so they moved to a building in downtown Parker last July. Space is shared with Brandy’s Custom Cakery, owned by Brandy Engels.”It was a giant old bakery, so we basically divided the back third of it up so it’s two separate bakeries now. We have walls and a door between us that stays shut whenever Brandy’s got any flour flying around,” Smith jokes.”And if an ingredient is not certified gluten-free, I don’t bring it into my bakery.”

April works full-time in Sioux Falls and bakes in her free time, while Engels keeps regular hours. Clients can pick up special orders from Engels’ storefront and the businesses work together for special events.”Brandy does all the wedding orders and we just come back to our bakery and make all the pieces,” Smith says.”Basically I make all the bricks and she mortars it together and makes it gorgeous.”

Besides gluten-free, Heart of the City Bakery can fill vegan orders and work with other allergies. Call (605) 929-9542 to order.”And people are always welcome to call and talk. If you just need to figure out how to feed a kid who has been diagnosed with an allergy, I can always point you to the right web site or the right dietician to get you started,” Smith says.”You know, I’m not trained in that at all, but I’ve spent 15 years helping other people learn how to eat again.”

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A White Cookie Tradition

Story and photography by Staci Perry

Delicate white sugar cookies are a holiday tradition for Staci Perry and countless other South Dakota families.

My grandma Janet Moe has always arrived at Christmas dinners carrying a bucket delicately packed with thin, white cookies twinkling with fine sugar. A few years ago, we allowed ourselves to accept that grandma would not be the white cookie matriarch forever. She humbly shared the recipe with us, which is particularly light on instruction, and said,”I don’t do anything special to them.” I knew it was time for me to learn how to make her signature cookies.

Staci Perry and her grandmother, Janet Moe.

As we baked that day, I pictured my grandpa, his hands the size of little league gloves, grabbing a handful of grandma’s white cookies and steeping them into his steaming coffee until soggy crumbs floated to the top. It was one of his favorite cookies. But that’s no surprise. His mother gave the white cookie recipe to his lovely bride, and his father made the richly-marbled apple wood rolling pin that grandma still uses.

After almost 70 years of warmly saturating her home with the sweet scent of homemade goodies, grandma’s baking sheets have become almost too heavy for one oven mitt to hold, the dough is getting harder for aged hands to stir, and her kitchen counters have mysteriously gotten taller.

Although my first crack at baking grandma’s cookies taught me that it would take practice before they look perfect like hers, my kids devoured them when I got home. And grandma asked me to come back and make them again. To me, that’s what baking and sharing is all about.

Now it’s my turn to give grandma a tall, plastic bucket overflowing with family tradition and sweet memories that will spread farther than a handful of flour tossed into the South Dakota wind.

Grandma Janet’s White Cookies

2 cups white sugar

1 cup vegetable shortening (not butter-flavored)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup sour cream, room temperature

1 teaspoon baking soda

6 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

White sugar to sprinkle on top of the cookies

Flour for rolling out the cookies

Prep: Bring the eggs to room temperature, approximately 30 minutes. At the same time, measure 1 cup of sour cream into a medium bowl and stir in 1 teaspoon of baking soda. The sour cream will swell as the soda dissolves.

Make the dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat white sugar and shortening together until creamy.

In a separate bowl, vigorously stir eggs with a table fork or small whisk until well beaten. Add to the sugar mixture and beat on medium-high until combined.

Spoon sour cream into the batter and add vanilla. Beat on medium-high for 3 minutes, turning off the mixer a few times to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Into a separate large bowl, dump 6 1/2 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder, stirring so the powder is dispersed throughout. Add the flour to the cookie batter 1 cup at a time, beating on medium-low speed after each addition until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is stiff. If it’s not firming, sprinkle in more flour until stiff. Depending on the mixer’s power, you may need a thick wooden or heavy metal spoon to stir in the last few cups of flour by hand.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours or overnight. The batter is ready when it’s firm and doesn’t stick on your finger. If the dough remains sticky, add a little more flour.

Roll out and bake cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a heavily floured surface, roll a handful of cookie dough into a flattened 1/8-inch thick sheet, dusting with flour to prevent sticking.

Cut the cookies using a lightly floured 2- or 3-inch round biscuit or cookie cutter, turning the cutter slightly as you lift it off the dough. Slide a lightly floured spatula under each cookie to ease it from the surface and transfer to a cookie sheet, lining cookies 1 inch part. (If the cookie sticks to the counter, there wasn’t enough flour on the rolling surface so add more next round.)

Scatter sugar onto the tops of the cookies. Bake 7-8 minutes. The cookies go from white to golden brown in a matter of seconds so watch closely in the last minute. The whiter the cookies, the softer they are in the middle. For a crisper cookie, bake 8-10 minutes, removing from oven as they turn darker brown.

Transfer to cooling rack. Repeat in batches until the dough is gone. Makes approximately seven dozen cookies.

Staci Perry blogs at www.RandomSweetnessBaking.wordpress.com. She is also the corporate communications manager for Daktronics in Brookings.