COOKIES! discussion

I thought it would be nice to have a place to share baking tips. I know I have learned short cuts and have developed ways to make things easier for myself in the kitchen.

For example, when something says to sift ingredients together, my sifter is a pain, so I either use my large mesh strainer or most often, I use a whisk or fork to blend the dry ingredients in a bowl.

I have the bestest boyfriend in the world. He gave me the neatest kitchen thing a few days ago. At his work, they are selling a very nice metal measuring set that is both decoratative and functional. It measures a dash, pinch and smidgen. Just so you know:

Dash = 1/8 tsp.

Pinch = 1/16 tsp.

Smidgen = 1/32 tsp.

How cool is that?

Kim wrote: "I have the bestest boyfriend in the world. He gave me the neatest kitchen thing a few days ago. At his work, they are selling a very nice metal measuring set that is both decoratative and functio..."

My sister has one of those! Cracks me up !

A bestest boyfriend, or a measuring set?

Kim wrote: "A bestset boyfriend, or a meausuring set?"

Well, she's got a husband. He sometimes cracks me up too.

My boyfriend and I have very random senses of humor and so do his friends. We frequently quote movies and books, and our conversations tend to meander away from the topic a lot, usually with very funny results.

If you are worried about burning the bottoms of your cookies try this:

1) get an oven safe thermometer and double check how hot your oven really gets. You may have it set at 350, but it may actually be heating to 375. If that is the case, turn it to 325 and see what the thermometer says. You can then adjust baking temps. accordingly.

2) Try putting your cookies in for 1-2 minutes less than the recipe calls for.

3) Even if you have non-stick baking sheets, try parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. If you have dark colored sheets, these will greatly help.

4) Don't get distracted! Don't go check email or start texting/talking on the phone. Pay attention to your bakery.

5) Keep a nose out. If things smell good and done, take them out, even if it's a little early. Remember, cookies will continue to bake on the sheet while you are waiting the 2-5 minutes most recipes recommend you wait before placing on cooling racks.
(I have surprised many people that I can walk into the kitchen without seeing a clock, and know that my bakery is done. You learn.)

If you have chunk cheeses that you don't know how to store, try Glad-ware you get for free from the grocery items. It keeps much longer than leaving it wrapped in the wrapper or in a zip-lock bag.

I use the Glad-ware to store things that stain, like tomato sauce. Instead of ruing my Tupperware type stuff, I use the Glad-ware. Stained? Recycle it! Perfect.

I also store my ingredients for baking in them when I am making things that require an ingredient to be un-wrapped (like the caramels for German Chocolate Caramel Bars), or something that can be chopped in advance, (like the dried peaches Peaches and Cream cookies.) Everything keeps well for a few days or so.

In all my recipes, I use Hershey's unsweetened cocoa. I use only pure extracts when available, and I use McCormick brand extracts.

I use Mounds coconut for toasting and most recipes. If I need really moist coconut, I use Bakers in a bag (it works even for when canned is called for if you can't find it.)

Keep shortening(and butter too!) in the fridge when making a pie crust. Chill your flour in the bowl 1 hour before you are planning on making a pie crust. Use only ice water. The cold ingredients help make a flakier crust.

Chill your dough for 30 minutes before rolling out. Just place the dough on plastic wrap and form a disk. Wrap well.

I have found that rolling it out between 2 pieces of waxed paper has been the best way to get the dough in the pan. I have found that I have to lightly sprinkle a little flour on the bottom sheet to keep it from sticking. Also, lightly sprinkle water on your counter top to keep the paper from slipping and sliding.

Let your dough rest 10-15 minutes before baking to reduce the amount of shrinking.

Rinsing your Tupperware with cold water prior to use will keep spaghetti stains from forming

Good to know. I know that washing it on the top shelf of a dishwasher usually can remove most stains.

According to Ina Garten of the "Barefoot Contessa" show on foodnetwork, coffee will enhance chocolate. 1 tsp.of instant coffee or espresso will greatly enhance your chocolate and you WILL NOT taste it. Trust me. My mom does NOT like coffee and she cannot taste it in baking and this is a woman who can tell when tea has been brewed in a coffee pot.

1 tsp. of cinnamon also does well, but does not make it as chocolaty.

Keeping hard liquor in your freezer will ensure a good and chilled cocktail. Champagne will loose it's fizz when frozen and wine will freeze,so place it on it's side on the bottom shelf of your fridge. This is the coldest spot in your fridge and the side rest will keep the cork moist. Same with wine that is not open. Store at room temp. on it's side to keep the cork moist.

I always had trouble creaming almond paste into a recipe. It is such a stiff paste. The other day I was watching on the Foodnetwork and they put the almond paste into the food processor along with the sugar for the recipe and whirred it up. I tried it and it worked like a charm.

I will have to remember that when I go to make Drew's Almond Butter cookies or Martha Stewart's Cranberry Upside Down Cake.

Paul called me with this question,and since I do not bake with whole wheat flour, I did a little research. This answer comes from e-how.com

Substitute an equal part of whole wheat flour for white flour as long as it's the same type of flour. In other words, 1 cup of whole wheat bread flour can replace 1 cup of white bread flour, and 1/2 cup of whole wheat all-purpose flour is an acceptable substitute for 1/2 cup of white all-purpose flour.


Sift whole wheat flour more than white. The problem cooks tend to run into is that because whole wheat flour is more dense, the end product can often seem heavy or solid. No one wants to eat bread that has no air in it, so if you're using whole wheat flour, lessen the density by sifting the flour a couple of times. This helps incorporate more air into the dough.


Adjust your recipe to keep your baked goods from drying out. If you do a complete substitution and there is no white flour in your recipe, you'll end up with a baked item that is a bit drier than normal. There are two ways to avoid this: you can adjust your baking time and take the bread or muffins out of the oven sooner, or you can increase your wet ingredients ever so slightly. For example, if you're making an applesauce muffin with whole wheat flour, add just a bit more applesauce to compensate for the dryness of the whole wheat.


Avoid over mixing when you use whole-wheat all-purpose flour in baked goods such as cookies or muffins. Too much mixing will cause the flour to form glutens, which gives you a tougher, chewier end product. Some cooks choose to use a combination of whole wheat and white flour for a slightly fluffier end result. Depending on what you're cooking, you may want to substitute anywhere from half to all of your white flour with whole wheat.


Tips & Warnings:

Recipes substituting whole grain flour for white flour will have a heavier, more chewy texture than those using only white flour or a portion of whole grain.

Measure out the whole grain flour by transferring it to the measuring cup with a spoon instead of scooping out the flour from the container with the measuring cup.

Breads will not rise as high when using whole grain flour and the dough will have a stickier consistency.

Kim wrote: "Paul called me with this question,and since I do not bake with whole wheat flour, I did a little research. This answer comes from e-how.com

Substitute an equal part of whole wheat f..."

Kim, you are my hero! THANK YOU again!

To get eggs to true room temperature takes 4 hours. You can shorten this by placing the eggs in a bowl of WARM (NOT HOT) water for 5 minutes.

One of the worst things to find out when you are baking is that you are short on flour. I have made my own oat flour and recently learned how to make nut flour. I have NOT made and entire recipe out of these flours and have mixed them with regular all-purpose flour for any recipes I have done. You can substitute some oat or nut for regular flour, but again, keep in mind there is still regular flour involved. Do some further research before using all oat or nut flour in a recipe that is not tailored to said flour.

To make oat flour all you need is non-instant oatmeal. Measure out what you need, say a 1/2 c. of oatmeal, and just whiz it into dust in your food processor. Re-measure after processing to make sure you still have 1/2 c.

Same thing for nuts. Measure out your whole nuts and make dust out of them. Re-measure when done to double check.

This same advice also goes for any crumb or nut crust. Re-measure after chopping for an accurate amount.

I hit on this one the other day while making the Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies. I was using all dark brown sugar, and it was not as easy to work with as I would have liked, being lumpy and hard to break apart, but not so dry that it was unworkable, just sticky.

So, I got out the potato masher and that did the trick. Now, my masher is kinda more like a ricer/masher as it is round with square holes, so the next thing I did with it worked because of that. I used it to put the grid on the cookies. Worked like a charm and the marks stayed during baking. I am pretty proud of myself.

Recently, I was watching somebody on foodnework, and they were separating eggs to use in a recipe. They only needed one component of the egg so they THREW the rest of the egg AWAY! Instead of separating them ahead of time and storing the unused portion for a later time and then letting the portion they needed come to room temp, they left out the entire egg. What a waste!

So, I wondered if you can freeze eggs and the answer will surprise you. I went to the following link and was amazed by what I found. Who knew?


http://www.incredibleegg.org/egg-fact...

Freezing Eggs

If you have more eggs than you can use within a few weeks of buying them, you can break them out of their shells and freeze them. Freeze only clean, fresh eggs.
Whites

Break and separate the eggs, one at a time, making sure that no yolk gets in the whites. Pour the whites into freezer containers, seal tightly, label with the number of egg whites and the date, and freeze. For faster thawing and easier measuring, first freeze each white in a standard ice cube tray. Then transfer to a freezer container.
Yolks

The gelation property of egg yolk causes it to thicken or gel when frozen, so you need to give yolks special treatment. If you freeze them as they are, egg yolks will eventually become so gelatinous that they will be almost impossible to use in a recipe. To help retard this gelation, beat in either 1/8 teaspoon salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar or corn syrup per 1/4 cup of egg yolks (about 4 yolks). Label the container with the number of yolks, the date, and whether you’ve added salt (for main dishes) or sweetener (for baking or desserts). Freeze.
Whole eggs

Beat just until blended, pour into freezer containers, seal tightly, label with the number of eggs and the date, and freeze.
Hard-boiled eggs

You can freeze hard-boiled egg yolks to use later for toppings or garnishes. Carefully place the yolks in a single layer in a saucepan and add enough water to come at least 1 inch above the yolks. Cover and quickly bring just to boiling. Remove the pan from the heat and let the yolks stand, covered, in the hot water about 15 minutes. Remove the yolks with a slotted spoon, drain them well and package them for freezing.

It’s best not to freeze hard-boiled whole eggs and hard-boiled whites because they become tough and watery when frozen.
To use frozen eggs

In a home freezer, you can freeze eggs for up to one year. When you’re ready to use frozen eggs, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator or under running cold water. Use egg yolks or whole eggs as soon as they’re thawed. Thawed egg whites will beat to better volume if you allow them to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Use thawed frozen eggs only in dishes that are thoroughly cooked.

Substitute 2 tablespoons thawed egg white for 1 Large fresh white.

Substitute 1 tablespoon thawed egg yolk for 1 Large fresh yolk.

Substitute 3 tablespoons thawed whole egg for 1 Large fresh egg.

I found this site today when I wondered how may tsp. are in an egg. It is full of all sorts of information that you may find useful.

It turns out than one large egg is about 3 TBlSP. of product including the yolk.


www.globalgourmet.com

I discovered this one the other day by accident. I am working on a new cookie (recipe to be posted soon, I hope) and I opened a bag of white chips from Hershey's which a friend had sent me. They are smaller than Toll House brand. So, if you want a smaller chip, use those. You still get the same weight in each bag, but you may get more chips over all with Hershey's but I like the bigger ones for certain things. In this case I was trying to chop them up which was for the most part, not successful.

Good to know!

I saw Ina Garten do this on food network yesterday. She was making a lime tart and instead of zesting about 8 limes, she used her Y veggie peeler to remove the zest in long strips. She them put them along with the sugar into the food processor and ground them with the sugar.

I think that is a neat idea if you need a lot of zest.

Cleaning your silver a chore you abhor?

Try this trick.

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

aluminum foil or disposable pan

hot water,NOT boiling


Take a pot,your sink, or the pan and add the salt and baking soda one set per quart of water. Any silver that touches the aluminum will cause the tarnish to be removed. Rinse,dry with a scratch free cloth and buff if desired.

I find that toasting nuts,even if they are already roasted in a can, bounces back the flavor of the nuts. You never know how old they may be, so lightly toasting them in a dry pan on top of the stove perks them right up. I find that my stove top does well on medium-low, but your stove top may do better higher or lower, depending on your burners. High heat is not suggested. Stir them a few times and as soon as they start to give off a nutty aroma, take them off of the heat.

I find that stove top toasting is better than oven toasting, offering more control and I think a faster toast. For a large amount of nuts the oven method is best and the Better Homes and Gardens cook book has the best method, but most cook books will give you a good start.

When you need to crush something hard, like Starlight mints, I put unwrapped candies into a larger than needed zip-top bag, preferably and old one, suck the air out of it, and then I place that bag in another bag, like the kind the bread comes in (I save those and use them for wet garbage, like tea bags, egg shells or other items that need to gotten rid of that I don't want leaking in the in house garbage pail)

I then take it outside to my stoop and hit it with a rubber mallet, which is safer than a hammer and won't damage your sidewalk or counter top should you need to stay indoors.

The zip top will most likely blow a hole (see, that's why you use an old one if you have it) and the bread bag will contain the shrapnel. You are then free to put the bits in a DRY container that seals well.


For candy bars, freeze them, and then hit them with the rubber mallet while still in their wrappers. That way, all your bits are contained.

I find that making bar cookies and brownies in a disposable aluminum pan is the best way of cutting them instead of using parchment paper to line the pan with for a lift out. Grease the bottom of the pan and when cool, you can flip them out onto your counter and flip them back to cut. For brownies, I flip them out, then frost them if I'm taking them somewhere.

Quick breads slip out with ease as well.

If the pan is in good shape, just wash and reuse.

I save plastic shell boxes that bakery and other items come in, then I wash them out and reuse them to give bakery away in. That way, I don't have to worry about getting my dishes back and the containers can either be recycled or reused by the recipient. This especially works well for bakery for church for funerals and bake sales.

Want cookies on hand, but don't want to bake 4 dozen?

Make your dough for a full batch,then cover and chill for and hour or so. Dose out your dough onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Don't worry about crowding, you're not going to bake them. Fill your sheet and any others you need to, and place the sheet in the freezer for at least an hour. Then, just pop your dough into a freezer safe container and freeze your dough. That way you can make as many or few as you want. Surprise company? Just pop some cookies in the oven.

Most dough will keep 3-6 months.

Good tips, thanks for sharing.

I try. :)

I am updating a tip.

As far as freezing cookie dough, if you can, thaw it over night in the fridge. I just did this for a friends event and the cookies baked just fine, but I found that they needed a little longer to bake, anywhere from 30 seconds, to 1 or 2 minutes more if they are cold from the fridge, Just wanted y'all to know.

Having a party? Use tiny pretzel sticks in place of toothpicks for cheese cubes. Great for kids as well as adults,it keeps clean up to a minimum and keeps kids from sharp objects in their mouths. The cheese needs to be room temp, or the pretzel may break.

Also,if you do want to use toothpicks or are serving thing with pits or seeds, set out decorative votive candle holders around the room for discreet disposal for guests. This way, they fit into the room quietly and do draw attention away from your nice things. To get people started, place a few pits or seeds inside so people get the idea.

When I'm baking cookies, I put a paper towel (needs to be a strong one - I use Viva) that is wet to the point of almost dripping covering the bowl with the batter to keep it from drying out between batches.

I use a product from Glad that I think they still make. They are elasticized covers in various sizes that snap in place over bowls or pans. We call them shower caps, as this what they look like.

I will have to remember the paper towel trick for when the "shower caps" are in use.

Freeze cheese for up to a half hour before shredding. The colder it is before shredding, the better it will shred. You can freeze most cheeses for 4-6 months. Double wrap it is plastic wrap, then in foil. Place in a zip-top bag that just fits. Suck out all the air,close and freeze. Keep in the fridge to thaw. You can also freeze pre-shredded cheeses, just pop the bags in zip-top bags to prevent freezer burn. You can divide up larger bags into smaller ones and to the same.

Remember, that double wrapping in plastic wrap and then double wrapping in foil, is also good for meat storage as well. Place the double wrapped meat into a zip-top bag, suck out all the air,and mark it(!). First in should be first out!


Freeze parmesan rinds and add them to soups and stews. They will dissolve and add tons of flavor!
DO NOT FREEZE: Cottage,ricotta or cream cheeses!

Did you know you can freeze fruit zest as well as the juice? Yep. Place each in their own airtight containers and freeze for up to 6 months for the zest, and 1 year for the juice.

I zest any fruit before juicing it even if the recipe calls for juice only. I then freeze the zest and left over juice for other recipes and for homemade lemonade,limeade, etc.

Kim wrote: "Did you know you can freeze fruit zest as well as the juice? Yep. Place each in their own airtight containers and freeze for up to 6 months for the zest, and 1 year for the juice.

I zest any fru..."
Great idea!

*Curtsies* Thank you.

I discovered that one on my own. So many times you only need the juice or the zest and the rest goes to waste and I hate to waste food if I can.

I found this one out the hard way yesterday when I was making cookies for my "nieces" graduation party on Saturday. I almost destroyed 20 cookies in the first batch due and lost several others due to the cookies sticking to my sheets, 3 of which are non-stick.

The culprit?

Bits-O-Brickle Toffee bits.

So, here's a HUGE tip, if you are baking with these little devils, USE PARCHMENT PAPER or grease a non-non stick sheet even if the recipe does not call for it. Trust me, your life will be much happier if you do, which it was once it dawned on my pea brain to use the parchment paper.

Yes, the shrapnel is edible, but not some thing I can put on a plate.

The sad thing is, I posted a recipe for Toffee Chip Cookies and said right in the recipe to use parchment or they will stick.

See, even I forget from time to time!

By the way, DO NOT grease non-stick baking sheets. You can actually ruin the coating,which then will come off in your food. Use parchment paper and/or a silicone baking mat for things that will stick. This also works well for those sheets that are less that stellar looking but you can't get that size anymore (Come on, we all have them!)

Foil for non baked goods are also a great way to use your not so great baking sheets. I love the Release Foil but you can always just lightly spray regular foil (dull side up) with PAM and it will work just fine.

I also put a pre-heated cookie sheet with foil on the rack under anything that may run over, pies, casseroles, etc. so I don't have to clean my oven every day.

A friend posted this really helpful site on facebook. It basically shows the outcome of slight changes to the standard Nestle Tollhouse chocolate-chip cookie recipe.

The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies

Changing the temperature can also influence your cookie to cake like,chewy or crispy.

When it comes to holiday baking,the best way to keep control of the chaos is make list, a schedule and stick to it. Get out all of your storage containers long before you need them so that you can wash them and make sure they are dry. Do the same with any containers or pans that you will baking in or giving out bakery in as well.

1) Make a list of what you want to bake 2 months before the time you need to bake. Keep track of the book, magazine issue, page number and recipe title.

2) Keep track of coupons and sales so that you can stock up a head of time. Figure out how much butter, flour,sugars,eggs and the like you will need. Since butter freezes well, pick up extra in case of boo-boo's or last minute extras.

3) Go over your list of recipes. Are they all new, or tried and true? Don't do too many NEW things, pick 1-3 new ones and do others you know work.

4) Can you make your dough ahead and freeze it? If it's for a sturdy cookie, then make your dough, dose it out into balls, logs or disks (like with pie dough) for cut outs and place them on a cookie sheet for a least 2 hours before wrapping well and placing in a zip-tip bag with the air removed.

5) Write a baking schedule. Be realistic on how much time you need to bake each item and if you need cooling time to decorate. Make the most delicate things last and your things that keep well first.

6) Figure out when you want to deliver your goodies and schedule times with those who you wish to give them to to make sure that they will be home. Wrap any bakery well and place is a zip-top bag if there will be delays.


7)Enjoy your efforts and your holiday.

To keep brown sugar from getting hard, keep it away from light and heat. Don't store it on top of the fridge, but in a cupboard or drawer. If you are low on space, like me, use the giant rubberbands that come with your produce to hold the bag shut. I fold the top down and wrap the band around the bag (vertically) to keep it shut. If you can keep it a large airtight container, then do so. The same goes for powdered sugar. Airtight is the way to go.

Need coffee for a recipe but you don't drink it yourself?

You can get around this a few ways. One, keep a jar of instant on hand and make the desired coffee amount needed if it calls for brewed. If it says strong coffee, use 2 tsp. instead of 1 to the same 6oz. of water. If you don't want a jar sitting around, Tasters Choice makes individual sticks of instant coffee, that are equal to 1 tsp. You can use one of these in any recipe that calls for 1 tsp. of instant coffee and you're good to go.

If your recipe calls for brewed coffee and you really don't keep coffee in your home or make lousy coffee, then just go to your local doughnut shop,fast food place, or diner and get a small coffee to go. Remeasure at home in a liquid measure to make sure you have your measurement.

Filling a muffin tin, with or with out liners? Use a small ladle, cookie scoop, ice cream scoop to measure your batter into the cups for even amounts and for keeping you pan clean. Really runny batter? Place it is a spouted container and pour in into your cups.