Haven't been baking much

I'm sorry I haven't posted, but I haven't been baking much other than bread. Last week, I spent 8 days with my parents. We didn't bake at all! Dad didn't even make any bread like he usually does, until the last day when he made Pyragas for breakfast on Sunday.

We did, however, process a lot of apples. Wish I'd thought to take some pictures, as I probably won't be doing any of my own this year. Some apple trees int heir neighborhood had lovely apples this year--and no one picked them. So Mom and her walking partners started picking up the drops and got permission to pick any they wanted from some of the trees.

I brought along my dehydrator, steam juicer, and some quart jars (Mom was running out) and we made applesauce, apple cider, dried apple slices, dried apple pieces (perfect for granola and trail mix), and apple fruit leather (when we got tired of canning applesauce). Some batches had cinnamon sticks put in with the apples in the juicer. Mom and I spent 1-2 hours three days chopping, coring, slicing, and dicing apples. It was a good time to chat, and one time Dad joined us and did a crossword puzzle with us. My hand got very sore from the knife, and I couldn't only do so much coring. I thought Mom's arthritis would do her in long before me but she never faltered. I hope this doesn't mean I have to start worrying about arthritis any time soon.

I usually buy dozens of pounds of apples each year and make cider and sauce, and dry apples, during January or February. I probably don't need to this year! I brought home 5 quarts of sauce, 2 quarts of cider*, and I don't know how much of the dried things. *After telling Eric he couldn't use so much cider last winter, we forgot about it and used almost no apple cider either hot in the winter nor cold in the summer. So we still have about a dozen quarts from last year. Ooops!

Good thing I forgot about going to the orchard previously...but I do still need to get some keepers. I like to eat an apple a day at work--and with Maggie needing a snack at school, apples are perfect. Eric also uses them in oatmeal. We did bring some back from my parents for the next weeks, but I doubt they are keepers. Also, some of them are far too sour for me (the sample was sweet, but the ones I've tried so far have been so tart and crisp I couldn't finish!).

Peachy Nutmeg

Just to show I'm not the only one who has fun in the kitchen, the other night Eric made a Peachy Nutmeg:

Better Than Reese's bar

Nutmeg's favorite treat at the farmer's market is Better Than Reese's Bars. I figured I could make them far cheaper--they sell for $1.50 for a 3x2" bar! The ingredients for a whole batch might cost 4x that (because I usually buy fresh ground PB at about $4/2 cups). So I set out to try a recipe earlier this week.

I realized that I essentially made the same thing I made last Christmas, except at Christmas time I was trying to duplicate PB cups and went through a heck of a lot more work, making them in a mini-muffin pan with chocolate on top and bottom. I looked at a bunch of recipes online and chose the one that sounded the best and included graham cracker crumbs (healthier than straight sugar, I hope). But it was way too sugary, so I added even more PB. Here's what I came up with:

Better Than Reese's Bar

• 2 1/2 c crushed graham cracker crumbs (18 full crackers)
• 2 c peanut butter
• 3/4 c butter, softened
• 2 c confectioner's sugar
• 2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 c peanut butter (opt)

Mix together the crumbs, pb, butter, and sugar. Spread in a 9x13 pan. Melt chocolate chips (90-120 seconds in microwave, stir every 30 seconds, hold back 1/4c to temper after rest are melted). Add 1/2 c pb if desired for more pb taste. Spread on top. Cool for a while and cut into squares before chocolate hardens.

Based on comments on the recipe, I'd already reduced the butter and sugar. But when I was done, it tasted like sugar only, so I double the PB (to 2 cups). I still wasn't sure, but after they cooled it tasted peanuty enough. I liked the idea of the pb in the chocolate, especially since I wasn't sure about the pb taste of the main portion. But that ended up tasting more PB-y as well, so I think it was a bad move.

I crushed the crackers by hand. First, it took forever. Second, I couldn't get every crumb fine. Well, I could have, but I didn't want to spend another half hour doing it (imperfection is the key!). But this is one recipe where fineness matters. I would actually consider sifting out the larger pieces to crush by themselves. The small pieces make the bars feel like a Reese PB cup since it has little bits of nuts (or maybe crackers, too) in them. But the big pieces make it seem like you are eating pb on a graham cracker. (Which, by the way, is a lovely treat, but not what I was going for here.)

I put most of them in the freezer and look forward to seeing what Nutmeg thinks of them. Perhaps she'll pay be $1.50 each Saturday for one? Well....I should at least give her a discount...say $1/bar? What better way to teach her that making it from scratch is cheaper than buying?

On the other hand, she doesn't have a concept of money yet, so I'm not sure if that's what she'll learn. Maybe if I sell her two for the same price it would click? [Mine are a bit smaller, too. Maybe 4 for $1.50?]

Oh, and I don't think these are better than Reese's mini peanut butter cups. It would be pretty hard to get better than them. But a close second that's far cheaper and I can make from scratch!

Granola

I can't stand hot oatmeal, one of Eric and Nutmeg's favorite meals (any time of day, nearly any time of year). But I adore granola (which Nutmeg also loves, but Eric oddly does not). My Mom made an awesome granola when I was a kid, but I have not been able to replicate it (I think it had more sugar or oil than I wanted, too). A few years ago, I adapted a recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats along with my Mom's, that has become a favorite. It's quite adaptable, too. It's a flaky granola, not chunky. (I LOVE chunky granolas--that's what Mom made, and what I love at restaurants/farmer's markets. I don't know what makes it that, but I'm guessing using sugar instead of honey, baking on a cookie sheet, and not stirring. But I prefer honey and molasses to having to cook sugar and honey on the stove.)

Granola

• 3 c oatmeal or other rolled grains
• 1-2 c chopped nuts (walnuts, cashews, almonds, etc)
• pinch salt unless nuts or seeds are salted
• 1/2 c coconut
• 1/2 c wheat germ
• 1/4 c sesame, flax, or sunflower seeds
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon or other spices depending on nuts and dried fruit

Put in 9x13 baking pan and toss with hands to mix well. (This can be done hours in advance.) Pour on top:

• 1/4 c oil + applesauce OR 3/4 c applesauce (increase time by at least 15 mins)
• scant 3 Tbs molasses (scant 1/3c for double batch)
• heavy 3 Tbs honey (1/3 c for double batch)

Mix well using hand. AB says to wear a disposable glove, but I just wash my hand afterward.

250 oven for 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring and shifting oven position every 15 minutes. When cool, add dry fruit to taste.

Adaptations:
Walnut orange: 4 Tbs orange peel (although I make my own and its not very strong as I don't take much pith off; YMMV).
Peanut butter: Substitute 1/2 c peanut butter for oil, shorten bake time to 1 hour.
Sun oven: 1 hour with lid on, stir once. I didn't care for the taste as it doesn't dry out as much as in the oven.
Misc: If I don't have nuts, seeds, or coconut, I leave them out. If it's all of the above, I put in more oats to replace the lots bulk. I've used wheat bran instead of wheat germ since I had it once. If you prefer honey or molasses, they are interchangeable; I love molasses but I did not like it when I did more than just under 50% molasses.

Since we eat so much and it stores well in the freezer, I usually make 2-3 batches at once. Either size will fit in 2 9x13 pans or a roasting pan (increase time by 15 mins).

This morning, I forgot the coconut as when I prepped the dry last night, I wanted to grate it fresh. But I didn't leave a reminder out and remember after it had been cooking. I did it with all applesauce, which I've surely done before, but it seemed much moister than usual and I baked it at least 30 minutes extra, maybe an hour. I made orange-walnut, with clementine zest from early spring.

Grandma Frost's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'd be willing to bet this recipe came from a cookbook, but I don't care and I'm not going to try to find out since it's so much cooler to use my Grandma's recipe than a cookbook's. I don't recall using hot water in any other choc chip cookies I've made, so maybe not. It's my Grandma Frost's recipe, via my Mom.

Hint: Put butter out long in advance; the softer it is (but not melted) the easier it is to cream. By the way, this is a good time to note that I cream by hand. In fact, I do almost all my mixing by hand. We do not own a mixer, although we do have a hand mixer used about once a year (my husband Eric uses it sometimes), nor a food processor (though we have a mini electric chopper again used about once a year), nor a blender (except an immersion blender used way more than once a year for mixing ice cream and pesto). I've mixed everything by hand since I was a teenager and realized I could get a little bit of exercise, save electricity, and not spend all that much more time just using a bowl and a spoon.

We made them with raspberry chocolate chips my Mom (daughter of Grandma Frost) gave Maggie (my 5.5 year old daughter, who made these with me) last Christmas or so. So maybe I should call these 4 generation cookies? By the way, my Mom is the oldest daughter, I'm the oldest granddaughter, and Maggie is the oldest great-granddaughter. I think that is so cool!

Grandma Frost's Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c white sugar
3/4 c margarine but I always use butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
1 c chopped nuts (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
2 c or 12 oz chocolate chips or 4 sq sweet chocolate chipped the size of peas.
Variation: add 1 c peanut butter

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Mix in eggs.
3. Add in flour and baking soda. Grandma probably sifted these, but I usually don't bother. I just make sure the small dry ingredients aren't dumped in a lump.
4. Stir in water and vanilla.
5. Stir in nuts and chocolate.
6. Drop by teaspoons or tablespoons, or make giant cookies on greased sheet or Silpat.

350, ~15 minutes (the recipe has no time listed and this is the first time I wrote down the time), 3-5 dozen depending on how big you make them.

The recipe card has only one step listed: "Last of all, add [chocolate amounts]." But cookies follow a pretty typical set of instructions, which I wrote above.