Valentine’s Day May Be Over!

 

But guess what! My chocolate supply is holding steady. In fact, I made a batch of wonderful brownies yesterday. These Triple Chocolate Brownies, as I named them, distracted me from possibly feeling sad about the end of my favorite holiday.

Today I bought a 72-ounce bag of Costco’s chocolate chips. That should last a while and keep my sweet tooth happy.

Meanwhile, try making these brownies as soon as possible. You won’t regret it.

Triple Chocolate Brownies – serves 8-10

 2 tablespoons butter + more for greasing

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8- or 9-inch square pan with aluminum foil, making sure two ends of the foil overhang the pan by about 2 inches so you can easily lift the brownies out of the pan later. Lightly rub the bottom and sides of the foil with butter. Set aside.

Combine the chocolate, water and butter in a medium, heavy pot over low heat, stirring occasionally. When the chocolate is just melted, turn off the heat and add the cocoa. Stir until combined and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

Add the sugar, eggs and vanilla and stir until well blended. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and stir until no flour shows. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts (if using).

Scrape the batter into the pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top feel firm and the brownies pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Carefully lift the ends of the foil and remove the brownies from the pan. Cut into 25 squares and serve. Store in an airtight container or wrapped in foil or plastic wrap.

              For more chocolate recipes get “Chocolate on the Brain”  

Question for Mom

I am almost out of granulated sugar but want to bake cookies or a cake.  Can I substitute brown sugar or powdered sugar? –Jody K.

Yes, you can substitute brown sugar for granulated sugar. 

Back to Basics: Making Whole Wheat Bread

In this stressful time when movie theaters have closed, the NBA season has been suspended and restaurants are only offering take-out in an attempt to thwart the coronavirus, food shopping can be a nightmare.  If you’re worried about having a steady supply of bread, now is the time to learn how to make it.

One Cup of...Chocolate Chips

Normally when I read a recipe, I take a quick look to see if I have the ingredients.  If I do, I may start preparing it right away.  If I don’t, I either add what’s missing to my shopping list or decide not to make that dish after all.

But what if I start with an ingredient I have and then search for a recipe that calls for it?  One of my favorite ingredients when I’m baking is chocolate chips.  What could I make with one cup of them?  Here’s what I found:

When Making Cookies...

Making cookies seem so simple, but if you're not paying attention, things can go wrong.  So here is a cheat sheet to help keep your mind in the game.

Question for Mom

Where does powdered sugar come from?—Eli B.

Powdered sugar (also called confectioners sugar) is crushed white sugar with some cornstarch added to keep it from clumping..  It is often used to make icings or is sprinkled onto cakes, cookies and other pastries as decoration.  In England it’s called icing sugar.  Substituting regular white sugar is not recommended as the taste and texture of what you’re making may be affected. 

                   For more recipes, order "Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen!"

Calling All Chocoholics

Even if I just whisper the word ‘chocolate,’ every family member in my house will find their way to the kitchen in 30 seconds.  They have good reason to be optimistic. 

My son Kevin and I wrote a chocolate cookbook--“Chocolate on the Brain”--so we have a wide range of desserts and snacks to draw from.  You may have baked some of our favorites--Chocolate Chip Bagels,  Chocolate Banana Bread and Lava Cookies.

Now it’s time to introduce you to

Mom Cooking Tip 168

Using yeast but don’t know where you should place your dough to rise?  Use your oven. Turn it on to 325 degrees for 45 seconds to warm it up just a bit.  Then turn off the heat, put your dough in a large bowl, cover it with a tea towel and place the bowl on the bottom oven rack to rise.

                                                 See all my Cooking Tips!

Mom Cooking Tip 167

If you are just learning to bake or are trying a new baking recipe, it’s a good idea to check whatever you are baking 5 minutes before it’s supposed to be done.  Your oven may be hotter than it should be…or the recipe writer could have made an error.  If you over-bake bread, cakes or cookies, there’s nothing you can do.  By checking 5 minutes early you may discover your dish is done and you can remove it from the oven.  If it’s not done, you have not harmed it by opening the door.  Just let it bake for the additional 5 minutes.  However, don’t open the oven door every 5 minutes during baking.  That will change the temperature of the oven and will impact the end result.

                                            See all my Cooking Tips!

Tired of Chocolate Chip Cookies? Try Chocolate Biscotti!

A huge box of biscotti somehow found its way into my shopping cart at Costco, and soon after I got home every adult in the house was standing next to it.  Maybe the see-through packaging was too inviting to ignore.  Within a few days the box of 20 individually wrapped 8-inch-long biscotti was empty.

Question for Mom

What am I doing wrong?  I wanted to make a two-layer birthday cake so I mixed up the batter, transferred it to two cake pans and put them in the oven to bake at 350 degrees.  The recipe said to bake the layers for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle of the layer came out clean.  Luckily I checked after 20 minutes.  The layers were done. In fact, they were overdone. Why did this happen?—Gloria K.

If a cake cooks much faster than it should, it’s likely that the oven is too hot. Some people might say the quicker the better, but too high temperatures are not good for cake-baking. 

Mom Cooking Tip 164

If you keep extra butter in the freezer and sometimes forget to take it out until you’re in the midst of preparing the dish you need it for, here’s what to do.

If the butter is to be melted before adding it to other ingredients,

Question for Mom

Sometimes a recipe calls for egg yolks, rather than whole eggs.  What can I do with the leftover egg whites? --Jordan G.

Why not make yourself an egg-white omelet?  It’s a great diet meal and an excellent source of protein.  One large egg white has just 17 calories, while one whole egg has 78 calories.  

Egg white omelets are much easier to make than whole egg omelets.  You can beat the egg white(s) if you like or just pour them into a hot frying pan containing 1 teaspoon olive oil or canola oil.  Cook the egg white(s) for about 1 minute, or until firm on the bottom.  Then flip the pancake-like whites over and cook for 20 or 30 seconds, or until the whites are firm.  Gently fold in half with a metal spatula and serve with salsa or hot sauce.

                                            See all Questions for Mom

Question for Mom

Onion Quiche

A lot of recipes say to preheat the oven before putting food in to cook.  Are there any dishes you can bake without preheating?  --Amy V.

When you’re baking cakes, pies, cookies, quiches, bagels or anything made with yeast, pre-heating the oven is very important.  Just a few days ago I put my pizza stone in the oven but forgot to turn on the heat.  When I was about to slide my homemade pizza onto the stone, I suddenly realized my mistake. 

So the uncooked pizza sat on the counter on the pizza paddle until

The Dangers of Autopiloting in the Kitchen

I have made hundreds of loaves of whole wheat bread over the years, and the ingredients/directions are tattooed on my brain – or so I thought until this morning.  We were running out of bread so I decided to make some more.

Easy peasy, as my kids used to say.  Out came the yeast, water, sugar, flour and all the other ingredients I keep on hand just for bread-making.  At least a decade ago I stopped looking at the recipe because I knew it by heart.  

A Springform Pan: What Is It and How Do I Use It?

Unless you like to bake, it’s unlikely that you would own a springform pan.  I bought one when I was planning to make a chocolate cheesecake with a cookie crumb crust and worried: 1) a regular cake pan wouldn’t be deep enough to hold all the cheesecake batter, and 2) if I used a deep dish casserole, how would I get the baked cheesecake out of it without making a mess?

Mom Money-Saving Tip 98

Here’s how to recycle leftover mashed potatoes:

* Add them to soup as a thickener

* Use them as an ingredient in Clover Leaf Potato Rolls  - click for recipe!

                                         See all my Money-Saving Tips!

Seriously Chocolate Brownies

I love going to potluck brunches because there’s always a chance I will discover something new and delicious. That’s how I came across a brownie recipe that has a deeper chocolate flavor than any I’ve tasted before.  My friend Rhea brought the whole pan of brownies to share, and she took very few of them home with her.

Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons: What Are They and How Do I Use Them?

This is an easy question, and you probably know the answer. But I bet you don’t always use these cooking tools when you should.  I know I don’t, and sometimes the end result suffers.

When I don’t use them?

Vanilla: Why Does It Cost So Much Today?

I got some real sticker shock a few days ago when I bought a large bottle of vanilla extract.  A few years ago a 16-ounce bottle cost $8.  That same bottle now sells for $34. 

I do a lot of baking, especially with chocolate, and I never skimp on the vanilla.  It was probably my first unwritten cooking rule—Honor the vanilla.  Never use imitation vanilla, made from something called vanillin. 

The Nancy Drew in me did some research and discovered a few reasons why vanilla extract has shot up in price.