All-natural recipes and baking tips for home bakers
The biggest reason for failing at an oven roast beef is being impatient. We tend to equate “It takes so much work!” with “It takes so much time!” And the fact is, the two are not the same at all. Yes, a tender, juicy roast beef takes a lot of time, but it does not take a lot of work. Plan ahead one day for …
Kansas Bierocks with Three Variations: If you’ve ever bought the commercial-grade Hot Pockets brand snacks, you’ve had to wonder what was in them, right? I mean – how can you put something in the microwave and never, ever know if it’s going to be a pizza-cicle on the inside or molten cheese-lava? It’s positively diabolical! And the ingredients? I’ve seen fewer chemicals in my students’ …
And here it is: The best Old Fashioned Coconut Cake recipe. It doesn’t use white cake mix (with it’s sickly-sweet taste and gummy texture). All-natural ingredients – no artificial flavors or colors. Includes both regular and high-altitude versions. If you’re a regular visitor, you know I live in Colorado – at around 5,300 feet. Because of this, lots of cake recipes have to be adjusted …
This easy breakfast casserole recipe is a Schmidt family recipe shared through their Our Family History Cookbook. (Check out some other recipes from the cookbook, like the Apfelkuchen Overnight Coffee Cake or Wilma’s Scalloped Potatoes with Ham.) Dwaine’s mother and sister, Betty, did a tremendous amount of work putting this cookbook together, and it contains not only good, trustworthy recipes, but saves a lot of …
Whole Wheat v. Whole Grain: What’s the difference and is one better for you than the other? Well, in a perfect world, there would be no difference at all. If a label said “Whole Wheat” you would be able to assume that it contained all three parts of the wheat kernel: Alas, marketers are geniuses at selling their product, and if they have to …
I love baking with whole wheat flour. Not just because I believe it’s healthier to use the whole grain, but I really do prefer the taste. Whole wheat products have a nuttier, heftier feel to them. You won’t get “wedding cake” smoothness out of a whole wheat recipe, but then, you won’t have that cloying, gummy mouthfeel, either. Whole wheat flour is simply flour made …
For an item consisting of three ingredients, buttermilk biscuits sure can be tricky. I’ve baked up plenty of hockey pucks over the years, and had almost resigned myself to a biscuit-less life. Until I shared my frustrations with my friend in Georgia, who showed me the Southern secrets to buttermilk biscuit success. This genuine Southern Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe is nothing special – it doesn’t vary …
Flour, water, yeast, salt, fat and something for the yeast to eat – the basic building blocks for a loaf of American-style bread. But of course, the proportions of each element are important, too. This Honey Whole Wheat Bread Recipe provides that. It yields two, soft-crust loaves, and is perfect for the bread machine. Why Honey Whole Wheat Bread? I’ve talked about the benefits of …
I’ve spent a lot of time in Germany, particularly Berlin, and this version of apfelkuchen (apple cake) is very similar to what I’ve found in the bakeries there. Never too heavy on the sugar, European pastries are often sweetened naturally with fruit. Apples are very common, but you see many fruit tarts loaded with any seasonal fruit, as well as jam-filled sweet rolls or doughnuts, …
High Altitude Chocolate Cake – Baking chocolate cake at high altitude is one of the greater challenges in a baker’s life. Chocolate cakes tend to take more sugar, and sugar plus high altitude is a problem. You can overcome this problem with trial and error, or you can use a tried-and-true recipe that will produce a moist, chocolaty cake without a lot of fuss. This …