Homemade 'Bisquick'

There's no shame in making your life easier.

From simple home organization to major changes (like moving closer to your work and social activities), most of us try hard to make life a little less crazy/time-consuming/chaotic. Bisquick, the beloved baker's shortcut, was created in the 1930s and is still used. The problem: hydrogenated oils, pricey for what you get, etc. If you make a big batch of homemade 'baking mix,' you can use a cup here and two cups there in all sorts of ways for meal/snack shortcuts. Here is how I use it:

• Garlic cheese biscuits
•  Pancakes
• Chicken pot pie
• Breading for chicken or shrimp
• Pies
• Muffins
• Scones
• Etc, etc, etc...

 So here are the ingredients in the big Yellow box:
Enriched Flour Bleached (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil, Leavening (Baking Soda, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Dextrose, Salt.
 (courtesy of http://blog.fooducate.com/2010/08/29/bisquick-a-shortcut-loaded-with-trans-fat/)

Ick. But here are two homemade recipes:


Homemade Bisquick Mix 
Thanks to Pennies & Pancakes for her recipe

• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon salt 
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter 

 Combine the first three ingredients in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or the back of a fork, chop up the butter in the same bowl and combine it with the flour mixture.

Transfer to an airtight container and keep in your fridge for up to 4 months. Scoop out the mix as needed.


Homemade Wheat Bisquick Mix
Thanks to Thrifty Housewife for her recipe

• 4 Cups unbleached flour
• 4 Cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 Cup baking powder
• 4 Teaspoons salt
• 1 Cup shortening or oil
• 1 1/3 Cups dry powdered milk

In large bowl, blend unbleached flour, salt, and baking powder. Add shortening (or oil) and mix until crumbly. Stir in powdered milk, and then the whole wheat flour.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 months; refrigerate if made with the oil.


***USE BOTH OF THESE MIXES AS YOU WOULD NORMALLY USE BISQUICK.

 And, on that note, a simple Bisquick recipe...that I've been making since high school.

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits (like from Red Lobster)
Makes 8, but easily doubles
2 cups Bisquick mix (either regular or wheat version)
3/4 cup milk (or 1 cup milk for wheat version)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 t. garlic powder
2 TB butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except butter.

Spoon out small 'biscuit-sized' portions of dough on a nonstick baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden on top.

Once you take the biscuits out of the oven, quickly brush the melted butter on top of them. Serve warm or at room temp. 

*These go great with anything, but we usually serve them with pork, ribs, stew, or something hearty. If you're serving with fish, you might want to add 2 dashes of dill to the dough.


Happy eating!
Laurel

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Monday!

Okay, so Mondays usually remind me of the Boomtown Rats song that Tori Amos later covered. I (usually) don't like Mondays. It is the death of the weekend and all of that. But I made cookies on Sunday and, seeing them on the kitchen counter the next morning, I instantly felt like today would be good. What can be bad when you have cookies with sprinkles!?

Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 20 cookies

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar
1 stick butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet)
1 TB sprinkles (optional)

You'll need: 2 medium bowls, 1 large spoon, 1 teaspoon, baking sheet, nonstick spray/baking mat, oven

step one: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine first four (dry) ingredients in a bowl and set aside. In the second bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. 

step two: Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and sprinkles. Using both spoons, form balls about the size of a golf ball and set on the cookie sheet. Repeat until 12-15 dough balls are formed. 

step three: Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from oven, let sit for 1-2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack or a cool plate. Yummm. 

By the by, check out my Recipage (link at the top right) to see some of my recipes by category/ingredient/etc. I'm adding more each day! Happy Monday!

Honey wheat apple crostata

It is so rewarding when I am feeling a little brave and try to make a bread for the first time. Baguettes were a big deal the first time, and bagels were fun, too. In the upcoming year, as I am choosier about eating breads, I hope to make breads more and start a bit of a collection of tricks I can store in my baking bag. Today, we will share a crostata.

This is not a difficult pastry to make. It's rustic, warm comfort food. In case ya didn't know, a crostata is a rustic Italian pie, usually filled with fruits like cherries or peaches, sweet ricotta cheese or anything else you like. It's pretty but not perfect. It's humble but beloved. Let's make one!

I learned the basic way to make the crostata dough from Joann from Alforno Restaurant via Martha.
Then, thinking a little more fiber and all of that would be helpful, I've changed it up a little using whole wheat flour. Here we go.


Honey wheat apple crostata
This crostata is rustic, hearty and Italian comfort dessert at its best. The baked apples and wheat flour dough bake to a golden brown, giving off a "honey" taste in each bite. Enjoy on a cold winter night or a snowy morning in.
Makes 2 small (7-inch) crusts or 1 large crust

Dough
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 sticks butter, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup cold water

Step one: In a food processor, pour in flours, salt and sugar. pulse a few times to combine. Then, add the butter and pulse until crumbled. Next, add cold water while pulsing. Dough will be very crumbly.
Step two: Lay down flat a piece of plastic wrap. Pour dough onto the plastic wrap and wrap up. Push dough together into a disk shape. Let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (or up to 3 days). 
 Step three: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take the dough out of the fridge and lay on a floured surface. Roll out to a large circle or square. (Remember, this is rustic. Put your perfectionist hat aside and have fun!) Transfer dough to a nonstick baking sheet.
  
Filling   
2 apples of any variety, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
1 TB flour

Step four: In a  medium bowl, combine the apples, cinnamon, sugar and 1 TB flour. Pour the filling onto the center of the crostata dough, leaving 1 to 1 1/2 inches of dough clear around the edges. Starting with one side, roll up and over, folding the next side over the former side (see photo). Be sure at least half of the fruit is exposed.
Step five: (optional egg wash: Beat an egg in a bowl and use a brush to lightly brush all areas of the dough exposed.) Bake at 375 degrees for one hour. Serve warm for breakfast or dessert (with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream).


Happy eating!
Laurel

Can't Stop Baking!

Yesterday, I got the urge to bake. So I baked...a lot. None of them were my recipes (originally), but I vamped all of them to make them 1) (hopefully) tastier & 2) healthier. That's what it's all about anyway, right?

THE MENU: chocolatey, cakey, sconey.
THE MUSIC: An old new favorite...Ella Sings Broadway on vinyl...

Sometimes I wonder if I was born 60 years too late...she's definitely one of my top 3 faves. So, while she & I sang Hernando's Hideaway and I Could Have Danced All Night, I baked and baked. Joy!

Here's what happened:

1) Bethenny's Low Fat Fudge Chocolate Chip Muffins

I have a guilty pleasure, I'll admit. I like the Bravo reality show "Bethenny..." about a New York housewife and her craziness. She's witty, crass, & wears beautiful clothes while pulling off her hectic schedule and chaotic life. She's a self-proclaimed healthy foods chef, so I thought I'd give a couple of her recipes a shot. They're simple and really tasty! This particular one is vegan, completely guilt-free and so chocolatey! The only thing I changed was using dark chocolate (non-vegan) chips instead of the vegan variety. (I'm too cheap to spend $6 on a bag of vegan chips.) The key is applesauce instead of eggs and oil, which I use a LOT for a sub. You don't notice the difference when all is said and baked!

You throw everything into a bowl (easy cleanup and quick!) and pop it in the oven. I eat them for breakfast/dessert, a side with lunch, and (sorry mom) for dinner sometimes, too. They freeze well, too.

• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• ½ cup raw sugar (1/3 cup packed brown sugar works, too; white if you must)
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• ¾ cup oat flour (wheat works, too; white if you must)
  
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips (for non-millionaires, reg milk/dark chocolate chips work, too)
  
• 1 dash cinnamon (who am I kidding? I throw in MORE than a bitty dash.)

Preheat the oven to 375. Spray/paper-line 8 muffin cups. Fill each cup 2/3 full and bake for 17-20 minutes. You can use the toothpick method, but I usually know they're ready when the top is slightly firm and the visible chocolate chips look "melty." The applesauce allows for the entire muffin to bake really evenly, which is quite nice.

2) Low-Fat Coffee Cake (not the prettiest, but still tasty)

This came from that magazine "Taste of Home," you know, the one where you have to be Mary Sue Earl from Timbuktu and must have a degree in all things southern, just in order to submit your fave recipe! It's a simple, traditional cinnamon coffee cake you've had a million times before...lots of cinnamon, a sugary crumble on top, and gooeyness. I've gotta admit, this recipe wasn't my favorite. My grandmother loved coffeecakes, and she always used the base from Joy of Cooking...a classic. I like that one better. Of course, her's called for something like 2 sticks of butter...this LOW-FAT version requires no butter/margarine and only egg whites. The cake was moist and fluffy, but not as moist as the full-fat version served at every Baptist church breakfast and bridge club on this side of the Mississippi. (ha) This one is good (and guilt free!), but there are other really great ones that you can modify. Here's my moister (yet still low-fat) version:

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups oat flour (all-purpose will work, too)
  
• 3/4 cup sugar (turbinado or white)
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup fat-free milk (cow's or soy)
  
• 4 TB margarine/butter, unsalted & at room temp
  TOPPING:
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup of granola/corn flakes, crushed
  

Directions

• In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat egg whites, applesauce and milk. Add to dry ingredients. Pour into a 9-in. square baking pan that has been coated with cooking spray. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 375° for 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm. Yield: 9 servings.

3) Raspberry Scones Recipe

I got this one off of Joy of Baking's website. I've used a couple of her recipes, and they're fun. While this was not an authentic British scone, it was good. The dough was tasty (you have to taste it!), and I used Strawberry Jam (my favorite) instead of fresh raspberries, like the recipe calls for. They turned out tasty, a bit crisp on the outside and soft and moist in the middle. Yum! Here's my version:

Ingredients:

2 cups oat flour (1 2/3 wheat flour works, too)

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter/margarine, cold and cut into pieces

1/2 dark chocolate chunks or chips (optional)

1/3 cup strawberry preserves

1/4 unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chunks (chips) and raspberries. In a small measuring cup whisk together the yogurt, vanilla extract, applesauce, and egg. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently four or five times and then pat, or roll, the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 1 inch thick. Cut the dough into eight triangles. Place the scones on the baking sheet.

Bake for about 16-18 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Although not necessary, if you want the tops of the scones to be crispy, then turn your broiler on high. Sprinkle confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar over the tops of the scones and place them under the broiler. Broil for just a few seconds, turning the pan as necessary, until the sugar has melted and turns golden brown. Make sure to watch the scones carefully as the sugar will burn very quickly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 8 scones.

Fun, fun! I'll put the rest of my baked goods up tomorrow! Happy Monday. Relax, enjoy the week and try not to stress the small things.