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Baking/Dessert Tips
 The
Grant Family from Indiana writes: "We tried York Peppermint Patties
instead of the tradional Hershey's for our S'Mores and they were a hit.
However, I think that next time we'll try thin mints. - Fran from Kentucky suggests when a recipe calls for oil and honey,
measure the oil in a measuring cup first and then measure the honey
in the same cup. Every drop of the honey will easily slide out.
- Margaret writes: I use chopped dried apricots in my banana bread.
To "chop" them easily, I spray my kitchen shears with Pam and cut the
apricots in small pieces.
- June Griffeth from Dunwoody, Georgia came up with a camping dessert
in a pinch on a rainy evening. She had intended to make S'mores on the
fire but it rained. Instead June quartered a two inch slice of Entenmann's
Cheese Danish (the kind with confectioner's powdered sugar works great)
and arranged on a paper plate, topped with sliced strawberries and spooned
on some melted chocolate. June used a makeshift double boiler of heavy
duty foil over a pot of water to melt her chocolate bars.
- Zeeze from Houston, Texas suggests if you're on the go each morning,
freeze muffins and reheat them in the AM for a quick sweet breakfast.
- Beverly K. Tudor from Port Neches, Texas uses a teaspoon to scrape
a section of fresh ginger root instead of a knife. Beverly says it's
much, much safer and faster.
- The Crain Family from Mesa, Arizona writes: When decorating any special
meal or baking item that has a specific design, such as the star on
the Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Pie, use a cookie cutter to
help arrange the fruit so the design has a truly professional look to
it.
- When cooking fresh apples for pies or sauces, the yield is about 50%.
1 pound raw apples equal 1/2 pound cooked.
- Tracey Burnt says "To avoid milk from boiling over and spilling, add
a drop of vinegar to the milk at boiling point, it won't boil over.
- M.Sharp from Modesto, California suggests that when baking a cake,
instead of dusting the pans with flour, use granulated sugar. The cakes
come out of the pan just as easy and taste better with that little bit
of melted sugar on them.
- Burnice Gerono from Hamilton, Ontario, keeps a plastic quilt ruler
with her baking supplies and uses it to measure pastry and pasta squares
or strips, or to measure cakes or squares to cut into equal portions.
- 4 lemons yield about 1 cup of juice.
- 10 limes yield about 1 cup juice.
- 1 orange yields about 1 tablespoon of grated zest.
- 1 pound of oranges yields about 1 cup of juice.
- Baking powders lose strength over time. Store them tightly covered
as moisture can cause them to lose their strength faster.
- Always store butter covered as it absorbs odors.
- Corn syrup is one of the few sweeteners that has shelf live. Discard
immediately if there are any signs of mold or bubbles caused by fermentation.
- For tender muffins, stir only until the dry flour is moistened. Extra
stirring makes muffins tough.
- Store lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit rinds in the freezer. Grate
fresh citrus zest whenever you need it.
- Having trouble removing muffins or cakes from their pans? Place a
wet towel beneath the hot pan and they'll usually lift out easily.
- Do you have fruit in your kitchen that's ripening quicker than you
can eat it? Puree it and use in smoothies or as a topping for ice cream,
pancakes or waffles. You can also freeze the purreed fruit in a plastic
freezer zipper bag and use it later on.
- Karen from Peoria like to make Cinnamon rolls in a spring form pan.
It easy to get the rolls out, just remove the sides of the pan.
- Use a potato peeler to make chocolate curls for dessert garnishes.
- Soak oranges and grapefruits in boiling water for about 5 minutes
to easily remove the white membrane around them.
- Make your own superfine sugar (especially handy for decorating cookies)
by whirling granulated sugar in a blender or clean spice/coffee grinder.
- Need whipped cream but don't have an electric mixer? Put the cream
in a bowl with a tight lid (Tupperware works well) and shake vigorously
until whipped.
- Keri Matthews from Woodbridge, Connecticut says "To prevent
whipped cream from deflating store in the fridge with a paper towel
covering the container. I usually use a Tupperware container and put
the paper towel under the lid before closing. You'll be amazed at how
long you can keep whipped cream this way."
- Sam from Hillsboro, Oregon suggests if you need to use brown
sugar and you haven't used preventative measures to keep it from hardening
try putting it in your microwave for a short amount of time.
- Estelle from Pittsburgh suggests perking up a fresh fruit salad
by adding some undiluted, frozen juice concentrate, such as orange,
or grapefruit.
- Allow cookies to cool slightly before removing them from the baking
sheet. As soon as they are firm enough to move without breaking, transfer
them to a wire rack to cool completely. Do not leave cookies on the
hot baking sheet -- they will continue to cook!
- Do not store crisp and soft cookies together -- the crisp ones will
soften.
- Prevent sharp edges on muffins, bar cookies or quick breads by greasing
the muffin cups or pans only on the bottom and halfway up the sides
so the batter is higher than the greaseline.
- Do not use spreads to replace butter, margarine or shortening one
for one in a recipe. Spreads contain less fat and more water, so they
will not perform like butter. On the other hand, you can substitute
margarine for butter is most recipes (especially baking) without altering
quality.
- To test for doneness in cakes, quick breads and bar cookies, use a
toothpick inserted in the center. The toothpick should come out clean
and dry, or have only a few crumbs clinging.
- To get the last bit of shortening from the can, fill with boiling
water and let cool. The shortening will rise to the top and harden,
when it can be easily removed.
- If you freeze then thaw an Angel Food cake, it will slice with less
crumbs.
- Short on cookie sheets? Remove your oven rack before preheating the
oven, cover with foil and use this as you would a baking sheet.
- Instead of rolling out cookie dough on a floured surface, use confectioner's
sugar instead. You'll end with a mor tender cookie.
- The cleaned grill from a barbecue makes a great extra cooling rack
for baked goods.
- Wrapping the outside of ice cream containers in aluminum foil will
help prevent freezer burn.
- Putting a slice of fresh bread in the cookie jar will help keep cookies
fresh. Switch the bread for a new piece every 2-3 days.
- To help cakes come out flat on top, for decorating, be sure to lightly
drop the filled pan on the counter three or 4 times before placing in
th oven. This helps remove extra air bubbles in the batter.
- To quickly and easily melt chocolate or carob, place in a metal bowl
and put this in the oven, with the temperature turned on the lowest
possible setting. Close the door. After about 5 minutes, turn the oven
off. In about 10 minutes, the chocolate should be melted.
- A cake decorator's secret for getting really flat tops on cakes is
to wet a terry cloth towel and wrap it around the outside of the cake
pan (secure with safety pin). The moisture from the towel acts like
a smal "bain Marie" and makes the cake cook more evenly.
- Placing a cake that has just come out of the oven on a damp cloth
for a couple of minutes will help it come loose from the pan and prevent
sticking.
- Give your angel food cakes a new look by marbeling them with color.
Just sprinkle a few drops of food coloring on top of the batter in the
pan and use a butter knife to gently swirl it around, producing amarble
effect.
- Adding a pinch of baking soda to icings prevents hardening and cracking
so the icing stays moist.
- If you're having a problem with icing sticking to your spreaders,
dip it briefly in hot water first. The icing will slide right off.
- If the cupcakes you are making are destined for a lunchbox, a less
messy way of icing them is to split them down the middle and make an
"icing sandwich." This way the icing can't stick to the wrappers.
 This
tip and the following four are from the book Food FAQs: Substitutions,
Yields & Equivalents by Linda Resnick and Dee Brock. Click
here for more information about this invaluable resource. Tip:
As a general rule, you can expect to get 1 1/2 to 2 cups of nutmeat
from 1 pound of nuts in their shells.
- Fresh, frozen and canned fruits are generally interchangeable in equal
measures in recipes.
- To get approximately 1/2 cup of fruit puree, use 4 ounces of fresh
berries or juicy fruit or 1 cup of cooked and drained berries or juicy
fruit.
- When stiffly beaten, egg whites will expand to approximately 6 times
their unwhipped volume. But they will not whip up if even a speck of
yolk is included or if the dishes or utensils used for whipping have
any oil or fat on them.
- An easy and neat way to fill a pastry bag is to stand it upright in
a tall glass (a half pint pub beer glass works well) and fold the edges
of the bag around the rim of the glass. Fill the bag, then gather up
the edge before decorating.
- A batter made with baking soda should be put into the oven as soon
as possible after baking as the leavening actioning starts to take effect
immediately upon contact with liquids.
- Test baking soda for freshness by pouring 1/2 teaspoon vinegar or
lemon juice over the baking soda. If doesn't actively bubble, it's too
old to be effective. Pour it down the drain and buy a new box!
- Barbara Overland of Reno, Nevada writes: "To have a nice flat
cake top, cut a piece of toweling the width of the cake pan, and long
enough to wrap around and overlap slightly. Wet the towel strip and
place it around the cake pan, pinning or fastening it snugly. Bake cake
as usual (no, it won't burn). Your cake will be nice and even on top
because the edges cook at the same rate as the rest of the cake."
- Use a flat metal pastry scraper to cut squares and bars right in their
pans. It's easier to get a cleaner cut than with a knife and it cuts
right through to the bottom.
- Apple, peach and berry pies freeze well. When you're making pies,
make several and freeze just before baking. It beats Mrs. Smiths!
- Prevent dried fruit or nuts from sinking to the bottom of your batters
by coating them lightly with flour first.
- The end of a clean, empty 10 oz. can makes a handy cookie or biscuit
cutter.
- Fortune cookies make a fun lunchbox addition for kids of all ages.
- Save money on chocolate! Shop the after holiday sales (Christmas,
Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Halloween, etc.) when seasonal
candies are often marked down by 50% or more. If you buy good quality
chocolate, you'll save a bundle and be bale to use it for cooking or
recipes.
- Mary McLuckie from Redding, California had this tip for pies:
"Before placing double crusted pies in the oven, loosely wrap aluminum
foil around pie crust edges. This will help the edges from browning
too quickly. Remember to remove the aluminum about 10 minutes before
pies are ready to come out of the oven so the crust is properly browned."
- Measuring Honey or Molasses is easier if you first spray the measuring
cup lightly with Pam says C. Perez of Mexico City, Mexico. The
sticky liquid will slide right out.
- Joan wrote in to say that she always makes up two or three
recipes of the dry ingredients for cakes, cookies, breads, etc. then
labels them, and tucks in a copy of the recipe,and put them in the cupboard.
This way you're only dealing with flour etc. that is messy to clean
up once. When you're in a hurry its great to have everything ready.
- Cak from Wisconsin writes: Whenever a pie boils over in the
oven I coat the run-over with soda to prevent smelling or burning in
the over and it comes out easily after.
- Soupy whipped cream can be revived by adding an egg white to it then
chilling thoroughly before re-whipping it to its former fluffy glory.
- When whipping cream, placing your bowl on a folded, dampened towel
will keep it from sliding around the counter.
- Storing a slice of raw apple in with your brown sugar will prevent
it from hardening.
- Brown sugar that has already been hardened can be put through a grater
for use.
- Placing a slice of soft bread in a package of hardened brown sugar
will soften it in a couple of hours.
- For muffins that slide right out of their tins, place the hot pan
on a wet towel for a second before turning over.
- Before unmolding a gelatin mold, wet the plate. This will allow you
to move and center the gelatin easily.
- Don't want to wait for butter to soften? Grate it with a small hand
grater instead.
- If fruit pies boil over in the oven, shake some salt into the spill.
This will cause the spills to burn to a crisp, then they can easily
be removed with a spatula.
- After squeezing lemons for cooking, freeze the rinds. Whenever you
need freshly grated lemon zest, you can grate it from the frozen lemons.
Saves a trip to the store or buying a lemon just for a small amount
of zest.
- Maryann Bille from Barberton, Ohio says she keeps her brown
sugar wraped in another plastic bag in the freezer to make it last longer
without hardening. Take it out to thaw about 15 minutes before you need
to use it, then return the remaining portion to the freezer.
- Judy Anne Wagner from Boone, North Carolina writes: "Whenever
I make cookie dough, I double the ingredients and bake only what I need
at that time. I load the remaning mix into 7 oz paper cups, placing
these cups into a ziplock bag to freeze for future baking. One 7 oz
cup holds enough dough for about a dozen freshly baked cookies. One
mixing mess to clean up, and freshly baked cookies whenever you want
them!"
- Meriel Christensen from Milwaukee, Wisconsin says "Freeze your
marshmallows after opening the bag. They will will be as good as new
when they thaw. "
- When making drop cookies, make a large batch, form into balls and
freeze on cookie sheet. When frozen put into zip lock bags and store
in freezer. Later, just remove amount needed from freezer, place on
cookie sheets and bake while still frozen. This way you will always
have a variety of cookies on hand. Submitted by Turp of Borrego Springs,
CA.
- Reader L. Brown says: "Has your brown sugar hardened?
Place your box of brown sugar in a zip lock bag. Place a small piece
of bread inside the ziplock bag but outside of the box. Seal and let
sit a short while (at least overnight). Use the softened sugar as needed.
Replace the dried out bread (it dries as it remoistens the sugar) with
a fresh piece as needed."
- Betty Brotherton of Williamstown, New Jersey has a suggestion
for stabilizing whipped cream. Dissolve 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
in a little bit of water and beat it into whipping cream to keep it
from turning watery.
- Store marshmallows in the freezer to keep them from drying out.
- To revive marshmallows that have become hard, place them in a plastic
bag with a couple slices of fresh bread. Seal the bag and after a few
days the marshmallows will be as good as new.
- Dried out coconut can be revitalized by sprinkling with milk and letting
it stand for about ten minutes.
- Brownie or cookie crumbs make a great ice cream topping.
- Sprinkle some pumpkin pie spice inside your Jack O' Lantern to give
the air a spice aroma!
- Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to keep
the ice cream from dripping.
- When shelling pecans, if you want them to come out whole, pour some
boiling water over the pecans and let them sit for thirty minutes before
cracking.
- To chop nuts, place in a plastic zipper bag and roll with a rolling
pin.
- When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of
the dry cake mix instead - no white mess on the outside of the cake.
Submitted by Melody Sherrill of Le Mars, Iowa.
- Before frosting or decorating a cake, be sure to anchor it to the
plate with a dab of frosting. This will keep it from moving while you're
working on it and no one will ever know it's there.
- If you're making a recipe that calls for ground nuts, grinding them
with a little sugar from the recipe will keep them from becoming too
sticky and oily.
- When baking single pie crusts, invert your pie pan upside down and
lay your rolled out pie dough across it for about 10-15 minutes. This
will prevent all that shrinkage that occurs when you bake your crust
and you can fill a full cooked pie crust with your favorite pie mixture.
Tip sent in by Bonnie Browning of Bethel, Ohio.
- In general, the lower the moisture level in your baked goods, the
more successfully they will freeze. Well wrapped bread will keep for
about five months in a freezer.
- Unbaked pie crusts freeze well as do unbaked fruit and meat filled
pies (add a little extra thickening agent to fruit pies destined for
the freezer), so you might want to stock up and get ahead when making
these.
- Unfrosted cakes will keep for months in the freezer (again well wrapped
is the key).
- You can freeze a butter cream frosted cake, although other types of
icing tend to separate (especially those made with egg whites and/or
brown sugar).
- Cool baked goods completely before freezing or they will end up soggy.
- Care must be taken when melting chocolate or you can easily end up
with a grainy mess. The lighter the chocolate, the higher the chances
of this happening. The most important thing to remember is that chocolate
melts better and faster at lower temperatures. Never let your chocolate
get above 115° F.
- Alternatively, you can melt chocolate in a dry oven. Place grated
chocolate in a metal bowl and place it in an oven set at 110°F (if
your oven doesn't go that low, use the lowest temperature and keep the
door ajar). Your chocolate will melt in about an hour.
- What if your recipe calls for melting chocolate along with water or
some other type of liquid? That's fine, as long as the liquid is mixed
with the chocolate from the beginning of the melting process, it won't
get grainy on you, (but adding even a drop in mid-melting will cause
this problem).
- Egg whites WILL NOT WHIP (they just won't) if they come into contact
with even the slightest trace of fat, grease or egg yolk. This is why
it's a good idea when separating eggs to have three bowls: one for the
yolks, one for the whites and one bowl to separate over so that you
won't have to throw out a whole batch if one yolk breaks while separating.
It is also a good idea to wash your hands, beaters and bowl before beginning
as well, to make sure they are grease free.
- Avoid using plastic bowls for whipping egg whites as they can often
harbor traces of grease, which will keep the eggs from ever whipping.
If you must use plastic, wash extra carefully with a grease dissolving
dishwashing liquid first.
- Egg whites that are at room temperature will whip easier and faster.
- Once you've made your dough, flatten it into a disk and chill the
disk in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. This step helps the dough
to roll out better and keeps it from springing back.
- To make rolling pie crusts easier, roll between 2 sheets of parchment
paper, waxed paper or plastic wrap. No messy flour all over the kitchen,
no sticking and your crust will be more tender.
- The secret to tender, flaky piecrust is to handle the dough as little
as possible.
- Eggs separate more easily when they are cold.
- Don't attempt to bake meringues on a humid day, or they will turn
out as stickier than the weather.
- Instead of greasing or oiling pans for baking, use parchment paper.
Your food won't stick, there's no mess and no unwanted fat or calories.
- Sprinkle cut apples or bananas with lemon juice to prevent them from
turning brown.
- The best and fastest way to cool sauces ad other liquids, especially
when making desserts, is to place the container holding the hot sauce
in another, larger container that is partially filled with ice and water.
Stir the sauce frequently to accelerate cooling time.
- To remove the skins from hazelnuts or filberts, toast them on a baking
sheet at 325° F for about 20 minutes (don't over brown). Remove
from oven and cover with a damp kitchen towel, then cover with another
baking sheet. This allows the steam from the towel to help remove the
skins from the nuts. To finish the job, take a handful of nuts at a
time, and rub vigorously between the folds of a clean towel.
- A double boiler, necessary for melting chocolate and other dessert
tasks, can be improvised by placing metal, glass or heatproof ceramic
bowl over a pot of simmering water.
- The best tool for uniformly chopping nuts is the food processor.
- Don't have a bread machine? A food processor can also mix yeast doughs,
up to and including the kneading process.
- For great baking results, also keep an oven thermometer in the oven
and use it. Oven temperatures regularly vary between 25 - 75° F,
so this can be a crucial step.
- Need a quick dessert when there's no time to fix anything? Use your
blender. A fruit smoothie (juice, fruit, ice or maybe yogurt) is a delightful
choice.
- Use frozen fruit rather than ice cubes when making smoothies. This
allows for a thicker texture without watering down the final product.
- All out of unsweetened baking chocolate? Substitute 3 tablespoons
cocoa powder mixed with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or butter instead.
 To
get more juice out of lemons, limes or citrus fruits, roll them around
on the counter, while mashing down with the palm of your hand, before
cutting and squeezing.
- Another method for getting more juice out of citrus is to first microwave
the whole fruit on high for about 15 - 20 seconds, or to submerge the
fruit in very hot water for about 15 minutes, then squeeze.
- Try using a little black pepper to give baked goods a little character.
Many people don't realize that pepper is what gives gingerbread its
characteristic bite.
- Use a stencil or even a paper cutout doily to quickly decorate cakes
and cookies. Simply put stencil on baked goods and sift powdered sugar
or cocoa powder over. Carefully remove stencil and you'll have a beautiful
design left.
- For rich vibrant food colors, use paste, rather than liquid colors.
- Here's a fun way to let the kids "paint" their own cookies. Make cookie
paint by mixing food coloring with egg yolks. Let the kids paint pictures
on the cookie, before baking. After baking, the colors will come out
bright and glossy.
- For small, quick piping jobs, when you don't want to dig out the pastry
bags, use a small zipper top plastic bag. Fill with icing, remove excess
air, seal the top and snip off a tiny bit of one corner. You're now
ready to pipe away!
- For soft chocolate chip cookies, bake at 325° F until golden brown.
For crisper cookies, bake the same dough at 350° F (again till golden
brown).
- Unless a recipe specifies otherwise, drop cookies should be removed
from the baking sheet soon after coming out of the oven.
- If you want the chocolate chips in chocolate chip cookies to retain
their shape better, freeze them before adding to your cookie or cake
batters.
- Freeze drop cookies before baking, then pop how ever many you want
to eat in the oven when you want them. Just think of it, you'll always
have hot cookies on hand!
- Small ice cream scoops are perfect for making uniformly sized drop
cookies.
- Chilled chocolate can be grated and chopped more easily than room
temperature.
- Empty coffee cans make perfect storage (or transporting) containers
for cookies.
- When re-rolling scraps of cookie dough, dust the surface with equal
parts flour and confectioner's sugar. This will help keep the dough
from getting tough.
- Be careful not to over mix cookie dough after adding flour as this
can over-develop the gluten in the flour, resulting in one tough cookie.
- To keep cookie cutters (especially plastic ones) from sticking to
cookie dough, lightly coat them in some vegetable oil.
- Cookies made with corn oil or corn oil margarine are softer than cookies
made with butter or other types of margarines.
- Make your own custom shaped cookie cutters by using a cardboard cutout
pattern and a sharp knife to cut around the cookie dough.
- It's easier to transfer shaped cookies to cookie sheets, if you remove
the scraps from around the cut out shapes first.
- When measuring sticky ingredients, like honey or peanut butter or
marshmallow cream, lightly coat the measuring cups with vegetable oil
first and the ingredients will slip right out.
- When rolling doughs between waxed or parchment paper, dampen the countertop
first, to keep the paper from slipping.
- When rolling doughs, always start from the center and work your way
out in all directions.
- For fewer scarps and less rolling when making cookies, start cutting
on the outside edges and work your way in towards the center.
- When making sandwich cookies, make sure to only cut the cookies half
as thick as you normally would.
- When making a new cake, cookie or bread recipe for the first time,
it's a good idea to use slightly less flour than called for, then add
the rest if the batter warrants it. You can always add, but you can't
take it out if there's too much.
- If your brown sugar has turned to rock, you can easily soften it by
putting it in a glass bowl, sprinkling with a little bit of water and
placing in the microwave. Try high power for about 10-15 seconds. Zap
it again if necessary, until fully softened.
- Storing brown sugar in the freezer will keep it soft.
- Store different types of cookies separately, or they will all end
up tasting alike.
- When chopping fruits, especially sticky ones like dates, figs, apricots,
etc., lightly oil or butter the knife first.
- If you are using butter for the purpose of greasing pans, be sure
to use unsalted butter or you run the risk of food sticking.
- When slicing cylinders of ice box cookies, be sure to roll the dough
every other cut so the bottom of the cylinder doesn't flatten out.
- Be sure to rotate baking sheets from the top to bottom shelves mid
cycle when baking cookies to insure even browning. Even the best ovens
can build up hot spots in certain areas.
- To avoid breaking and crumbling, cool bar cookies and cakes completely
before cutting.
- To put an end to the chewy versus cake-like brownie debate - the more
eggs in a batter, the lighter and more cake-like the brownie will be.
Less eggs means, denser, chewier brownies.
- To bring butter or margarine to room temperature quickly, use a grater
to shred it into your mixing bowl.
- To get confectioner's sugar to stick to cookies or cakes, sprinkle
while they are still warm.
- Need a quick glaze for cakes, cookies or other desserts? Simply spread
with melted jam or preserves.
- Storing cookies with a slice of bread will keep them soft, or re-soften
those that have already hardened.
- Substitute for 1 teaspoon baking powder : 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda.
- Substitute for 1 cup buttermilk: 1 cup plain yogurt OR 1 cup whole
milk mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Make tasty dessert treats out of leftover scraps of pie dough. Braid
or twist dough scraps into desired shapes, roll in a cinnamon and sugar
mixture and bake for about 10 minutes.
- Make quick work out of slicing a cake into layers by using a long
piece of dental floss or fishing line. Hold the string between both
hands and use a sawing motion to cut through cakes, cookie doughs or
even cheeses.
 Your
favorite nougat type candy bar (like a Milky Way or Three Musketeers)
can make a quick dessert sauce to serve over ice cream or cakes. Chop
the candy into small pieces and place in a small saucepan with about
2 teaspoons of milk or cream. Melt over medium low heat, stirring constantly,
and pour over dessert immediately.
- A fun cookie project for kids is "Cookie Pizzas". Make large round
sugar cookies, then let the kids top their own "pizzas" with various
toppings: chocolate chips, tinted coconuts, jelly bean or other candies.
- Substitute for 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate or a cup semi-sweet
chocolate chips: six tablespoons cocoa, plus ¼ cup shortening, plus
7 tablespoons sugar.
- Substitute for 4 ounces sweet baking chocolate: 3 tablespoons cocoa,
plus 2 2/3 tablespoons shortening, plus 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar.
- To tint coconut, dilute a tiny amount of paste or liquid food color
with a few drops of water, place coconut and color mixture in a large,
heavy duty, plastic food storage bag, close tightly and mix and shake
until completely combined.
- To tint granulated sugar, take a tiny amount of paste or a drop or
two of liquid food, in a large, heavy duty, plastic food storage bag
with sugar, close tightly and mix and shake until completely combined.
- If you are having trouble getting cakes or cookies to brown evenly,
try baking them on the middle rack of the oven, one at a time.
- Want to make chocolate chip cookies, but are out of chocolate chips?
Get creative and raid the pantry. Some tasty alternatives that will
usually work well mixed into any chocolate chip cookie recipe include:
raisins, dates, coconut, nuts, chopped candy bars, toffee bits and dried
fruits.
- Need a fun activity to keep a group of kids occupied? Have a cookie
decorating party. Bake large cookies in advance. Cover a worktable with
a plastic disposable cover, lay out various bowls of colored icings
and various topping and candies for decorations. The kids will take
it from there and everyone goes home from the party with a souvenir.
- Make your own homemade ice cream sandwiches. Take your favorite cookies
and use them to sandwich your favorite ice cream. Prepare a platter
in advance, hide them in the freezer and surprise the family!
- For a low fat/low calorie dessert, make sandwiches out of graham crackers
and non or low fat frozen yogurt. Prepare a platter in advance, hide
them in the freezer and surprise the family, they'll never know it's
healthy!
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