Tag Archives: molasses

Mix It Up Monday – Bake or No-Bake…The Choice Is Yours!

04 Monday Feb 2019

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from Tracey G.

Gingersnaps from King Arthur Flour

These cookies kind of found me this week. I went to the KAF website to find my recipe for the week, fully intending to search for some recipes with specific ingredients as this past week of being stuck home during snow storms and Polar Vortexes really hit my pantry hard, and no real chance to stock up – so I was low on butter and sugar. I knew whatever recipe I found would have to have very little butter or rely on shortening. And it also had to use a very small amount of granulated sugar or an alternative, like brown sugar.

When I started my cookie search, this recipe popped right up, before I even had a chance to recipe-search using specific ingredients! It was meant to be! It really must have been – as it relied on vegetable shortening and only one cup of sugar, I found my recipe first shot, and didn’t search any further.

These are super-duper easy to make, and that’s not an exaggeration one bit. The ingredient list is simple as well:

COOKIES

  • vegetable shortening*
  • sugar
  • salt
  • baking soda
  • egg
  • molasses
  • King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • ground ginger
  • ground cloves
  • ground cinnamon

*Can you substitute butter for the vegetable shortening? Yes; but the cookies will be soft, not crisp.

COATING

  • sugar
  • ground cinnamon

The making of the dough is really fast as well, I had these done in no time at all!

You start by beating the shortening, sugar, salt and baking soda together. After that’s blended well, you add the egg and the molasses. Next is the flour and spices, and, I whisked my spices right into my flour so it would be a bit easier – one step in the adding of them to the mixing bowl.

Once you get it all mixed up, mix your additional sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl (I use a small cake pan so I can shake/roll the dough balls easily and fairly neatly too), this will be what you coat your dough balls in. Form the dough into about 1″ balls, and then coat with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. I used a teaspoon cookie scoop and this phase went really quick! Scooped and plopped into the sugar mixture and then onto the parchment lined cookie sheet.

These are baked at 375° F, and you have your choice as to how long to bake, depending on how you want your final cookie to be – 11 min for crisp edges, slightly chewy center, or 13 minutes for a fully crisp cookie. I did both and love both!

That’s it. The hardest part about these cookies was making sure there were still enough left by the time I needed to get my photos taken! Some never even made it off the cookie sheet, Jeremy and I couldn’t stay away from them!

I am most certainly adding these to my cookie recipes, they are so fast and easy and taste wonderful, a perfect combination in my opinion! Easy to whip up if you need some cookies FAST for anything from bake sales to holiday gifts/treats!

If you like spice cookies, do give these a try!

from Kris B.

No-Bake Energy Bites

I’m not going to lie, one of my favorite weeks of baking for Sifted Together is when cookies roll back around in the rotation.  That furry blue monster on Sesame Street and I are most certainly soul mates, though I have a hard time getting behind his new philosophy that “cookies are a sometimes food.”  Well, not really…cookies are definitely should be a sometimes food; for me, they are a weak spot and may be the number one reason that I needed to join Weight Watchers.  Like Cookie Monster, I have learned to moderate my consumption.  But…I do still love a good cookie!

As I searched for a recipe, I was sort of looking for a healthy cookie recipe.  What that means, I’m not exactly sure.  I was considering those recipes that used oats, applesauce instead of fat, whole grains, fruit…and then I stumbled upon these – No-Bake Energy Bites.  They are energy bites, not cookies, despite showing up in my search for cookies, so they must be healthy!  Mind games are a wonderful past-timer! 🙂

Whatever…they use ingredients that I love and that I had on hand.  It was a win-win.

BASIC DOUGH

  • nut butter (peanut, almond, sunflower)
  • rolled oats, old-fashioned or quick
  • honey
  • dried whole milk
  • vanilla extract

All of these are pantry staples, making this a recipe that can be whipped up on the spur of the moment, especially since it is also no-bake!

Once the basic dough is mixed, then the real fun begins!  To this dough, you stir in “add-ins” of your choice – mini chocolate chips, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, cookie crumbs – really, the possibilities are endless.  A total of two cups of add-ins are used in the recipe.  You can choose as few or as many as you like, in any proportion, as they as they total two cups.

I added mini chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and pecan pieces in equal amounts.  Once the dough and add-ins are mixed together, the energy bites are scooped out onto a parchment lined baking sheet using a TBS scoop.  It helps to place them in the refrigerator to allow them to firm up and hold together.

Oh my goodness!  These things are fantastic!  They are the perfect pick-me-up mid-morning or afternoon snack.  And unlike cookies, at least for me, one of them is plenty.  My sweet tooth is satisfied.  Because there is so much packed into these little bites, I’m not even tempted by a second one.

As I said, the combinations of add-ins that one could use are endless.  I think that cereal pieces or pretzels would be good in addition to those things mentioned in the recipe.  The sky…well maybe the contents of your pantry…is the limit.

As I said, I am thrilled to have found this recipe.  These No-Bake Energy Bites may themselves become a staple item at my house!  The recipe makes two dozen bites and they can be stored in the fridge for up to two weeks.

If you give these a try, please share your add-in combos with us.

Happy baking…or no-baking, as the case may be!

Food Friday – Let’s Hit the Bars!

01 Friday Dec 2017

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from Tracey G.

I have no idea how I have survived this long without these things!! I am so glad I chose the Good ‘n Chewy Hermits recipe from King Arthur Flour, in this our first week of cookies for the month of December! They were so darn easy, and turned out so well, that they have earned a permanent place in my recipe repertoire!

I really started my cookie recipe search with nothing in particular in mind. I knew I wanted something yummy (a given), easy to put together AND made with stuff I had on hand. That was my only criteria. In my perusing, I ran across this recipe, and as I read it, I mentally checked off the ingredients – and I had everything needed! Add to that my love of molasses, and I was all in.

I will also say right now, again for the record – I do not like raisins in baked goods. I like raisins, but not in any kind of chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie, etc. It was after eating these Good ‘n Chewy Hermits that it dawned on me, I like them in certain baked goods, along with a certain spice profile – cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger etc. (first noticed this with the Rugelach filling!). I was skeptical about them in this recipe, since it qualifies as a baked good, and sort of cookie thing, lol, but I absolutely love them and can not imagine these bars without them!!!

The history behind them is rather fun, that they’re a New England favorite that have been around for a VERY long time. I can see why – they are fantastic! They mention that due to their excellent keeping qualities, back in the days of clipper ships, many a tin of these accompanied sailors on their way around the world!

This recipe calls for basic ingredients: sugar, butter, vegetable shortening, flour (they also state that you can use their White Whole Wheat Flour instead of all-purpose), salt, baking soda, molasses and raisins. The spices used are: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ground ginger. It’s put together the way any cookie/bar recipe is, starting with creaming the butter and sugar etc. After you get all the ingredients combined, you pat the dough into a greased 9×13 baking pan (they do give you other pan size ideas/options in their Baker’s Tips after the recipe).

Bake the bars in a 350° F oven, for about 25-30 minutes in a light colored pan or 20-25 minutes for a darker pan – just until the edges start to pull away from the sides. I baked mine exactly 25 minutes, in a light colored pan, and while they were still so yummy that they were eaten up quickly and they had a fabulous chewy-goodness, I think I would back down to maybe 20 minutes in my oven next time so they are a bit softer. They do warn about over-baking and I can see how easily it can happen and ruin the texture you’re looking for. Jeremy said they reminded him of gingerbread, and of course they do, they have that same flavor profile.

I had wanted to add KAF Sparkling Sugar to them before I baked them, and I forgot. So I sprinkled some on them as soon as they came out of the oven (only half because the boys in my house don’t care for the crunchy sugar), and it didn’t stick very well, lol. Oh well, next time I’ll remember. Or maybe not. Either way, they won’t last long – they’ll be gobbled up fast.

I am heading into the final stretch of the semester (next week is final exams) so I needed a SUPER simple recipe for this week, one that would keep from hitting the other kind of bars!  It doesn’t get much easier than the Chocolate Peanut Butter  Pretzel Cookie Bars!  There is nothing about these cookie bars that requires any kind of talent or even culinary skill to make.  All you need is a few ingredients, most of which are kitchen staples at my house, and about an hour to mix things up, bake the cookie crust and allow the whole thing to chill and set.  And you are done!

These Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookie Bars consist of a bottom “cookie” layer, a middle layer of chocolate and peanut butter, and then a top layer of pretzel pieces.  The cookie layer is a mixture of all-purpose flour, crushed pretzels, a touch of confectioners sugar, and a stick of butter.  All of these ingredients are mixed together and pressed into the bottom of a parchment lined 9×13 baking dish.  It is then baked in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

Two cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips and a cup of peanut butter are melted together in a double boiler.  Once the chips are completely melted, this mixture is spread evenly on top of the cookie base.  This is then topped with pretzel pieces.

The cookie bars need about 30 minutes or so in the freezer to set and then can be cut into individual servings.  The recipe makes approximately 40 pieces.

These Chocolate Peanut Butter and Pretzel Cookie Bars are a tasty mixture of salty and sweet, but not too sweet.   Because they are made with basic ingredients, they can be put together quickly to take to an impromptu holiday gathering or to fill a last minute gift need.  And how wrong can you go with chocolate and peanut butter?

Happy holiday baking to you all!

Mix It Up Friday – Holiday Flavors

25 Saturday Nov 2017

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As we approach the hectic holiday season, mix it up takes on a whole new meaning! Decorating, holiday events, shopping, on top of all of the “regular” life’s stuff make for crazy times. Though we enjoy holiday baking from scratch, sometimes you need a “lifeline” in the form of a mix when it comes to an unexpected gift or a need for a last minute gift. With King Arthur Flour mixes, we are here to help!

This week, I am baking with King Arthur Flour’s Traditional Gingerbread Cake and Cookie Mix. What a versatile mix! Notice the cake or cookies in the name. It can be used to make either, or both.  And, as an added bonus, if you choose to make cookies, you have a choice between rolled and cut shapes, or drop cookies. This is almost certainly a “must have” mix to keep in your pantry just in case!

I probably should have ordered two boxes and tried both the cake and the cookies, but at the time I was ordering, I was in a cookie mood. Based on their delicious taste though, I do feel confident in saying that the cake would not disappoint!

It doesn’t get any easier than dumping butter, egg, water, and the package of mix in the mixer bowl and turning it on! If you make the cake, the recipe uses vegetable oil instead of butter.

As I said, I made the sugar topped drop cookies. I used a cookie scoop (approximately 2 TBS…it didn’t have a measure on it) and dipped the balls in King Arthur Flour Sparkling White Sugar. They are then placed on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet, flattened a bit, and baked for 12-14 minutes. I got two dozen cookies.  Mine were bigger than the box suggests.

Really, it doesn’t get any easier!

King Arthur Flour’s Traditional Gingerbread Cake and Cookie Mix

King Arthur Flour’s Traditional Gingerbread Cake and Cookie Mix – 6 pack

 

from Tracey G

I had bought this King Arthur Flour Cranberry Orange Scone Mix so I could compare it with the homemade version of Cranberry Orange Scones I’d made back in September. I wanted to see if a mix could be as yummy as a homemade version of the same item, and I am happy to report that yes, this mix performs admirably! It’s every bit as good as the homemade version – I have been thoroughly enjoying them! And, as per suggestion on the box, I made up a quick icing/glaze to gild the lily with and it just ups the “yum” factor in my opinion!

It’s a very, and I mean VERY simple mix to make. It requires a few ingredients from you, such as salt, butter, milk and an egg. The salt gets mixed into the mix, the butter then gets cut into it (I used my pastry cutter for that) and then you combine the 1/2 cup of milk with the egg, and add it to the dry ingredients in the bowl, and mix until just combined. At this point, you have two options, you can either use a scoop/spoon/measuring cup and make “drop” scones, or you can pat into an 8-inch circle and cut into wedges, 8 to be exact. I chose to pat mine into a circle, purely for the aesthetic reason – I like my scones shaped into triangles!

Now, you bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Cool for at least 5 before eating or glazing then eating. I chose to mix up some glaze, and, I then “glazed as needed”. Their glaze recipe on the box calls for powdered sugar, orange juice and orange zest. I chose to just go with simple glaze from powdered sugar, milk and a smidge of vanilla extract. And let me say it was pretty darn yummy with that, lol.

That about sums up my experience with the KAF mix for Cranberry Orange Scones. There’s really not much to report on the taste/texture other than they are easy to make, quick to bake and delicious to eat – I don’t think any more needs to be said!

King Arthur Flour Cranberry Orange Scone Mix

You can also check out the page they have for using any scone mix of your choosing to make some other yummy treats as well! Soc check out: “Scone Mix Magic”

I’d also like to add a little note here that in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Kris and I have decided to add an extra little “goody” to our Sift Magazine Giveaway – have a peek at the post to find out!! We think you’ll like it! 😉

Mix It Up Friday – Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

29 Friday Sep 2017

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from Tracey G.

Nearing the end of September, I’m still thinking apples, but also starting to think pumpkin! So, when I saw the King Arthur Flour mix for Pumpkindoodle Cookies, I decided I needed to try them! I love Snickerdoodles, and in my opinion the addition of pumpkin and spices could only add to them – and I was correct!

This mix was super easy to pull together, all it required of me, by way of ingredients, was a stick of butter and one egg. That’s it! The cinnamon-sugar to roll them in before baking is provided for you, which was a really nice inclusion.

You blend the mix along with the butter and egg, and it does come together quickly. Once you have a smooth dough, you scoop by the tablespoonful and roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mix. I used my cookie dough scoop to make them, and it was super easy to get them from the bowl, to the cinnamon-sugar and onto the baking sheet – and lastly, into a 350° F oven for about 13-15 minutes. When the cookies come out of the oven, they cool on the cookie sheets for 15 minutes. I then transferred mine to a rack to finish cooling.

We all enjoyed these immensely – both Harry and Jeremy have pretty much demolished the whole batch between the two of them, I think I’ve had maybe at the very most, 3 out of the 22 I got out of it. It says it makes 20, so I was pretty close –  I guess I got a couple bonus cookies, lol. They are reminiscent of a molasses cookie  with the addition of pumpkin, plus pumpkin pie spices, and then the coating they received of cinnamon-sugar gave them the Snickerdoodle trait. They were not dry at all, but moist and chewy and have kept their chewy texture. I absolutely loved this Pumpkindoodle Cookie Mix – it’s simple, easy to prepare and yummy to eat, what’s not to love?

 

from Kris B.

I am not one of those people who is beating down the door at Starbcucks when the Pumpkin Spice Lattes return each fall.  Yes, I do like pumpkin spice…a lot, but I much prefer it in baked goods rather than coffee.  Cinnamon, cloves, allspice…those are the flavors of fall to me.  Admittedly, my favorite baked pumpkin spice recipe is one for pumpkin bread given to me by my mom, but I was willing to give King Arthur Flour’s Pumpkin and Spice Muffin Mix a try.

Despite that this mix says right on the box “Do not eat raw mix, dough, or batter,” I ate a spoonful of the batter as I scraped the bowl.  I was surprised by a heavy molasses taste.  It wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t what I was expecting.  The flavor is somewhere between traditional pumpkin bread flavors and gingerbread, leaning more towards the gingerbread.  In very small, faint, vertical text, King Arthur does say next to the name on the box that molasses is a signature ingredient in these muffins.  Once you know to expect molasses rather than cinnamon and allspice, the muffins tasty.

Requiring only the addition of three eggs, a cup of water, and 1/3 of a cup of oil, to the contents of mix, the batter for the muffins comes together quickly.  It can either be made into a loaf or muffins.  The instructions say that the box makes a dozen muffins. I got fourteen standard muffins.  As with Tracey and her cookies, this was bonus week!

These muffins are great with coffee and fruit for breakfast, as a sweet treat after lunch, or as a snack any time of day.  Like the traditional “pumpkin pie” spices, molasses too is one of those flavors that, to me, says fall.  Being that fall is my favorite season of the year, I am for anything that reminds me of cooler temperatures and the colors of the changing leaves.

Happy fall, everyone!

Pumpkin and Spice Muffin Mix

Food Friday – Cookies: Not Just For Monsters

12 Friday May 2017

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from Tracey G.

I will preface this by saying that this is my second time making this recipe for Soft Ginger-Molasses Cookies. I tried it a few weeks ago and fell in love with it, which, actually has a story itself…

I had never made molasses cookies and I’m not even sure I’d ever had them before! Which is odd for me, because I love molasses. Usually this sort of “spiced” cookie seems to be around or made, only in the fall or during the Holidays. But in my mind, they can be an anytime cookie! So, on a whim, one day I decided to make some, and of course I headed to King Arthur Flour’s website to see what I could find. They had a few, and I had to look through them to make sure I found one with the most molasses AND the one that I had all the ingredients to make it with. And that was how I decided on this particular recipe, it fit perfectly into my cookie recipe criteria. This particular one has a variation along with it using a homemade ginger syrup along with the molasses. But, since I was after max molasses, I didn’t bother with the ginger syrup variation. And I didn’t have the ingredients to make the syrup with, even if I’d wanted to!

I was delighted to see that I had everything required to make these gems and the ingredients were things I would always have on hand anyway, no matter what. All of course, except for the fresh ginger used in the syrup variation – that can be a hit and miss ingredient as far as being  “in stock” in my kitchen.

The ingredients for these are:

  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Molasses
  • Baking Soda
  • Salt
  • Ground Cinnamon – as for cinnamon, I have become a total convert to King Arthur Flour’s Vietnamese Cinnamon. I will never go back to the stuff I buy in the grocery store! I do remember though, last fall when I purchased my first container of the stuff (reasonably priced too by the way, you get quite a bit!), I was a bit nervous I’d not use it up before its expiration date. Ha! I was so wrong! I just had to buy another container the other day!
  • Ground Cloves
  • Ground Ginger
  • Eggs
  • Flour
  • Sugar for Coating – I used the King Arthur Flour White Sparkling Sugar

If you’re interested in the Ginger Syrup, the ingredients are:

  • Fresh Ginger
  • Water
  • Sugar

The recipe is easy to follow and using my cookie scoop, it was quick to go from dough to baking sheet as well! But, before you bake, you’re to roll the dough balls in sugar – so, I put my sugar-of-choice in a pie pan, and then drop the scoops of dough in the pan. I then shake/roll them around until they are coated. After their sugar-coating, it’s onto the prepared baking sheet – I use parchment all the time, it’s so much easier and lining the baking sheets gets me through the whole baking session without needing to re-parchment my sheets. One of these days I am going to “treat” myself to KAF’s pack of 100 Pre-cut Parchment Sheets (they also have a pack of 50 Pre-cut Parchment Sheets). I really do get tired of the parchment roll and the cutting to fit while fighting with the tendency for it curl back up on me, lol.

And as a side-note on the sugar coating – my household is divided when it comes to the “type” of sugar that’s used. I prefer the bigger sparkling sugar crystals and Harry and Jeremy prefer the regular granulated as they don’t like the crunch the bigger crystals contribute. So, I do some for me in the big crystals and some in regular granulated for them. It’s no big deal and makes every happy in a really easy way!!

After they are sugar-coated, they then go into the oven, and bake for 10 minutes at 350°. When they come out, they sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before you move them to a rack to finish cooling. This works out really well, as they are ready to be transferred to the rack as soon as your next batch it done. Cool completely and store in an airtight container. And they really are soft and chewy-ish, and they do stay that way. I made them on Tuesday and since I am back to sensible eating (HA!), there are some still around today and they are just as good if not better than the day they were made. The spice factor is fantastic in my opinion!

This seems to be one of those cookie recipes that most people have already in their collection that was either their mom’s or their grandma’s and so forth. Since I didn’t have either, I am so glad I found them at KAF! It’s a recipe that will become my go-to for a molasses cookie – they’re easy, tasty and pretty and not just for the holidays either.  And now, I think I’ll go have a cookie!

from Kris B.

Cookies!  Cookie Monster and I definitely have something in common.  For me, cookies  are my number one comfort food.  They are what I want after a bad day, after a long day, when I need a quick pick-me-up during the workday, and as a snack almost anytime of the day.  And I don’t need grown-up cookies.  Animal crackers/cookies are my all-time favorite.  I’m not sure why that is.  I can’t remember any event from my childhood for which they are an integral part or hold special memories.

My most vivid memories of animal crackers as comfort food come from my college days.  This may be because they were cheap and I could get a lot of bang for my poor college student buck.  We could buy a big tub of them for next to nothing.  I also remember that when we were feeling rich and decadent, at least a decadent as you can feel as a student, my roommate and I would buy canned chocolate frosting to dip our animal cookies in.  It is amazing how comforting this combination was on those late nights studying for music history exams!

When my kids were little, animal crackers were a staple.  My girls got them because I liked them…you know, kind of like the sweater you had to wear because your mom was cold.  Animal crackers with coffee are delicious…and with coffee they become a more mature snack.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!  My girls are now grown up and are in charge of their own snacks and cookie choices.  All I can say is that as the animal cookies that I made for today’s post came out of the oven, my oldest (now twenty-seven) was waiting to get her hands on a lion, elephant, zebra, and giraffe!

During my lifelong fondness for animal cookies, I have never made them.  I’ve made cookies from a similar dough, but never have I made the animal shapes.  I think I bought some small animal shaped cutters when the girls were small and tried once.  This attempt went into the category of #momfail.  The dough stuck in the plastic cutters and I ended up with a whole slew of decapitated and an amputee animals.  It was not a pretty sight!  From that point on, animal cookies have been one of the only  cookies that I consistently buy rather than make.

Then I found these animal cookie cutters on the King Arthur Flour website.

These cutters – a lion, zebra, giraffe, and elephant – are spring-loaded so the shapes are cut by pressing the outer edges of the cutters into your 1/4″ thick dough and then the plunger embosses the animal details, which are fantastic, and releases the dough onto your parchment lined baking pan.  I had a few casualties in terms of lost heads and limbs, but not enough for the process to even seem remotely frustrating.  These cutters are fantastic!

I used King Arthur’s recipe for Animal Cookies.  The recipe uses all-purpose flour, oat flour (or rolled oats finely ground in a food processor), honey, sugar, butter, salt, baking soda, and King Arthur’s Princess Cake and Cookie Flavor, which I did not have. I substituted homemade vanilla extract, though after learning how stress=free these animal cookies are to make, I am going to order some of the Princess Cake and Cookie Flavor for my next batch.  “Princess Cake Flavor has a light, nutty taste, accented with overtones of citrus and rich vanilla.  [It is] an alcohol-free emulsion, [which] is stronger than an extract flavor [and] won’t bake out.”  You could also substitute your favorite extract.

The Animal Cookies bake for 8-10 minutes on a parchment lined baking sheet in a 350 degree oven.  They cool for a few minutes on the pan to “set” and then they are ready to be eaten!

If you are not an Animal Cookie fan, or you need a fun savory treat, these cutters can be used with most rolled and cut recipes – graham crackers, cheese crackers, herbed wheat crackers, etc.

Have fun with these!

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