from Tracey G.

Tasting Is Believing Whole-Grain Brownies

This week I tried King Arthur Flour’s Tasting is Believing Whole-Wheat Brownies.  And, as I type this I am munching happily on one of these brownies and first thought was “oh my gosh these are wonderful!” Second thought was “I still can’t believe they’re whole wheat!”. They use King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, which has quickly become a favorite of mine as it’s a great way to get the whole grain goodness, without the whole wheat “taste”, for lack of a better term!

The trick aside from the  White Whole Wheat Flour, is to let the brownies sit overnight before cutting them. It gives the wheat bran a chance to soften and blend in seamlessly – I cannot tell these were made with a whole grain flour at all!

The usual ingredients apply, nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the whole grain flour. These include:

• Unsalted butter, softened
• Light brown sugar
• Dutch-process cocoa
• Salt
• Baking powder
• Espresso powder, optional but recommended
• Vanilla extract
• Eggs
• King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, organic preferred
• Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

The recipe is easy to do:

1. Melt the butter (either in a small saucepan or microwave safe bowl) and add the brown sugar so that some of it melts a bit (this gives your brownies a shinier top after they’ve baked).
2. Add that to a bowl, stir in the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, espresso powder if you’re using it and the vanilla.
3. Mix in the eggs until well blended, then add the flour and chips.
4. Pour into your prepared pan (I lined mine with parchment paper so I could take them out to cut them), and bake at 350° F for 30 minutes.
5. Allow to cool completely, then cover and let sit overnight before cutting.

Not only are these fantastic, they are easy which makes them fabulously fantastic in my opinion! If you didn’t tell anyone they were made with a whole grain flour, they would never guess it all – so it’s a treat that can be a sneaky way to get whole grains into everyone’s diet!

from Kris B.

Bacon-Onion Rye Rolls

Spring has sprung in Dallas!  We’ve had temperatures in the 70-80s for the last couple weeks.  There is a chance we will make it to 90 degrees this weekend.  This seems crazy considering what all of you in the northeast have been enduring this winter!  With this warm weather comes the wearing or short sleeves and the potential for shorts.  Unfortunately the effects of all my winter baking and hibernating rather than going to the gym are revealing themselves in the form of “thunder thighs” and “flying squirrel arms.”  LOL!  In an effort to address these things, I’m trying to be a little more conscious and careful with our food choices at home.

Carbs continually get bad press, but they are nutritionally important.  And there is no way, thunder thighs or not, that I can give up eating carbs even for a finite period of time.  Again, I’m trying to be intentional about the ones I do it.  Enter this week’s recipe for Bacon-Onion Rye Rolls.  I was drawn to this recipe because of its use of rye flour and the fact that it contains a little protein.  One of these rolls with some fruit and, or course, coffee makes for a filling and satisfying breakfast.

Despite its name, this recipe only uses 1/2 cup of rye flour to its 3 2/4 cups of all-purpose flour so it doesn’t have much rye flavor.  In the recipe’s defense, however, it does call for an optional ingredient, Deli Rye Flavor from King Arthur Flour, which I did not have.  I suspect that this flavor enhancer is caraway seeds and perhaps some other “secret” ingredients.  The King Arthur Flour website does not give any specifics on the ingredients of the Deli Rye Flavor.  Despite not having this, the dough is delicious!  It’s hearty but not heavy.  It was also the easiest dough I’ve worked with in a long time.  It was a little sticky during the initial kneading process, but I used the dough hook on my stand mixer, which made the kneading easy.  The dough rose beautifully.  When it came to roll it out to add the filling, it was a breeze rolling it into its 12×18 rectangle.  Because of its stickiness, I did roll it on a generously floured board.

Another deviation from the recipe for me was that I used unsweetened almond milk instead of regular milk.  Best I can tell, this caused no issues.  And if there were issues, I’m going with they had a positive impact!  Lol!

The Bacon-Onion Rye Rolls recipe makes eighteen rolls.  The 12×18 rectangle of dough is rolled from the long side and then cut into eighteen one inch rolls.  It is important to spread the filling all the way to the edge of the twelve-inch sides or your rolls on those ends will have no filling!  That’s not a good thing! 🙂

This dough is a flavorful all around dough.  Though the recipe calls for it to be filled with bacon and onions, I suspect that there are many savory combination of meat and/or vegetables.  I think bacon or ham and spinach would be quite tasty.  I’ll let you know when I try it!

If you are still considering your menu for Easter brunch or some other spring gathering, these rolls would definitely be a nice addition!

For those of you digging out of the spring snow, I hope warm weather heads your way soon!  Happy spring, everyone!