Steel-cut oatmeal muffins

I've been craving a nubbly, fluffy, steel-cut oatmeal muffin for some time.  I could have sworn it was something I'd made before, but I couldn't find any similar recipe.  So I looked around and settled on this one that sounded like what I wanted, but I did have to make some adjustments.

To make a dozen muffins, here's what I used:

1½ cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 3/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 large egg
1 cup cooked steel-cut oatmeal
1/2 cup whole milk
1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 400°F, and grease a 12-cup muffin tin. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  In another bowl, lightly beat the egg.  Add the oatmeal to the egg, and mash with a fork to break up clumps.  Add the milk, vanilla, and the butter, and stir or whisk to combine.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and stir briefly to just combine.  Divide the batter evenly between the wells of the prepared muffin tin.  Sprinkle tops with walnuts and press in to secure.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.  The muffins won't brown much on top and might even look a little anemic, but that's okay.

Although the tester came out clean after 15 minutes, I think these could have used a few more minutes in the oven.  I'd also knock the sugar down to 1/2 cup and try that.  (I wanted them sweet enough to eat alone, but they were  slightly too sweet.)  Considering some muffin recipes add up to 1½ cups of sugar (gah!), these were still only mildly sweet.

I tend to cook oatmeal fairly dry and perhaps a little "al dente," which might explain why my batter was VERY thick.  I added another splash of milk, but I wish I hadn't.  Perhaps extra time in the oven would have fixed the texture, but these were ever so slightly gummy, rather than fluffy.  It could have been that extra milk, though.  Perhaps they could have used another 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, maybe a little nutmeg, and a little less vanilla.  I meant to use brown sugar in them but forgot---I think that would be a nice addition.  A touch more salt would be an improvement as well.  So, like, basically a whole different recipe.

Conclusion:  These were good, but didn't quite hit the mark.  I wanted something more nubbly, more hearty, and with a more satisfying flavor. 

Recipe:  Left-over Oatmeal Muffins via epicurious (adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

June ABC challenge: chocolate birthday cake

It was my chocolate-loving friend's birthday, so in May I made her a chocolate cake.  There are several chocolate cake recipes on the GBBO website.  I ruled out one because it called for "cake margarine," whatever that is.  I compared chocolate quantities amongst the others and this had the most.  It also was the only one that didn't call for self-rising flour, so I didn't have to be hassled with working that out.  (Most called for additional rising agent anyway.)

I made a half recipe and used 5 3.5-inch cakelet tins, but the batter rose so much I wish I had used 6.  (I filled the tins about 2/3-3/4 full.)  I greased them all, but then dusted some with cocoa powder and some with flour to see if one looked better.  They both performed equally well.  The ones with cocoa were very dark (that would have been the Dutch cocoa) while the one with flour was dry cocoa-colored.  I'm not sure the darker color, which wasn't even noticeable at first, is worth the trouble of using cocoa.

I started out with Imperial volume measurements, having converted them from the original metric, but I tested them against the weights and they were way off, so I switched to metric.

Here's what I used:

For the cake:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
200g plain flour
45g Dutch cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
230g caster granulated sugar
1 1/2 medium eggs, at room temperature
150ml (5 ounces) full-fat milk
112ml (4 ounces) strong hot coffee (or 1/2 tablespoon instant coffee dissolved in 112ml hot water)

Heat the oven to 350°F.  Melt the butter and leave to cool.  Grease and flour (or line) baking tins.  Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large mixing bowl.  Add the sugar and mix together.  Break the eggs into the milk and whisk until thoroughly combined, then mix in the melted butter and hot coffee.  Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; pour the milk mixture into the well and stir everything together with a wooden spoon.  When smooth and thoroughly combined, pour the mixture into the tins about half way.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes until each is well risen, starting to shrink away from the sides of the tin, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.  Run a knife around the inside of the tins to loosen the cakes.  Leave to firm up for 3 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool upside down with the tins loosely on top.

For the ganache:
2 ounces 56% dark (semi-sweet) chocolate, roughly chopped
2 ounces double whipping cream

Place the chocolate in a small bowl. Heat the cream gently until hot, then pour over the chocolate.  Leave for 5 minutes, then gently stir to make a smooth sauce.  Allow to cool until thickened, then drizzle over completely cooled cakes.

 

These cakes practically doubled in size while baking.  For the coffee, I used one of those singles tubes of Taster's Choice French roast, which was just slightly more than 1/2 tablespoon.  The ganache quantity was just enough to do three cakes--- definitely need more of that.

Conclusion:  The texture was really good, moist but firm.  The flavor could have been more decadent and I'm going to blame the Dutch cocoa powder.  It's not as potent as natural cocoa, and it was probably poor quality as well.  But overall I think a good chocolate cake recipe, and with chocolate chips added it would be a nice snack cake.

Recipes:  Benjamina's Winter Wonderland Cake for the cake and Steph's Raspberry Chocolate Fudge Cake for the ganache.  (Also consider Steph's Black Forest Chocolate Cake frosting recipe.)

Orange walnut biscotti

Another recipe to try, just for something different.  This recipe calls for orange from every source:  candied peel, fresh peel, and orange liqueur.

The original recipe called for pecans, but I didn't have any so I used walnuts.  I also didn't have any orange liqueur or even orange juice.  I thought about using orange essence, but that flavor comes from orange peel and there's already a lot of peel in this recipe, so I just used water.  (I don't think that little bit of orange juice or liqueur would add any flavor anyway.)  Otherwise, I followed the recipe.

Cutting off just the thin layer of peel and mincing it is a pain; grated zest would be much easier and faster.  I suppose the larger pieces of minced peel give bursts of flavor here and there, whereas grated zest would add even flavor throughout. 

I made half the recipe, which made 23 somewhat small biscotti.  The recipe calls for the second baking of 10-15 minutes; I left them in for about 20 minutes because I like biscotti hard and crispy so they hold up to dunking.

Conclusion:  These are buttery, with a nice amount of orange flavor, not overpowering (which surprised me because of the quantity of peel.)  They're a little sweet--- fine for a cookie, but sweeter than I like for biscotti--- and I prefer the hard biscotti made without any fat, but these were very tasty.  I might add some spice, especially for Christmas.

Recipe:  Candied Orange Pecan Biscotti via Lou Seibert Pappas

May ABC Challenge: seeded rye bread

This year the Avid Bakers Challenge group is doing recipes from the Great British Bake Off.  We're picking our own recipes, and I needed bread, so I chose a couple rye bread recipes and sort of combined them.  They were pretty similar to start, but one had a lot of seeds and seasoning, and the other had more technique (and more molasses!)

I made a half recipe, and here's what I used:

4-6 ounces warm water
1/2 1 tablespoon black treacle molasses
3/4 teaspoon dried yeast
1 cup wholemeal rye flour 
1/2 strong white bread flour  
1 teaspoon salt  
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds  
2 teaspoons flax seeds (linseeds) 
2 teaspoons poppy seeds 
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds 
½ tsp chilli powder 

Mix the molasses into the warm water, then add the yeast and allow to proof.  Place the rest of the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Mix on medium speed for 10 minutes, to a soft, slightly sticky dough. If the dough looks too dry, add more warm water. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until about doubled in size.  Knock down and knead briefly to knock out any air. Shape into a log and place in a greased, 7.5 x 3.5" tin.  Cover loosely with cling film and leave in a warm place for a further 1 hour, until the dough has risen to the top of the tin. Towards the end of the proving time, heat the oven to 425°F.  Slash 3 diagonal cuts across the top.  Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375F and bake for another 10 minutes, until dark brown and the base sounds hollow when tapped. Turn out onto a wire cooling rack for at least 30 minutes to cool before cutting.

I had to add a few more ounces of water, and I still didn't end up with what I'd call a "shaggy" dough, and it was only sort of soft.  It was sticky, and it gave way, but it felt tough with all the gluten development.  (I used AP flour with some high-gluten flour instead of bread flour.  Maybe it was too much gluten.)  After an hour, it didn't look risen enough, so I let it go a while longer.  But then I forgot about it and let it proof too long.  (I don't know what effect that has, if any.)  I struggled with what size pan to put it in; I didn't want a round loaf, and the loaf tin seemed too long, but I used it anyway.  I had sprinkled sunflower seeds on top, but they fell off as soon as I turned the loaf over.

Conclusion:  Very mildly rye-tasting but with that slightly sour taste that comes with rye.  Not very complex flavors, but the texture was good.  It worked well for toast but would also work for a sandwich. 

Original recipes:  Ruby’s Smørrebrød with Fennel, Flax, Poppy & Chilli and Julia’s Black Rye Bread via The Great British Bake Off 

Brownie mix cookies

I needed chocolate cookies.  I had brownie mix.  Here's to #covidbaking  Onward ho.

For one dozen cookies, here's what I used:

1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 of an approximately 18-ounce box of brownie mix (Duncan Hines, as it was)
1/4 cup (more or less) cocoa powder
1/4 cup (more or less) pea protein powder
1/8 teaspoon (more or less) salt (optional)
1 teaspoon molasses
1/4 cup milk (more or less), added 1 tablespoon at a time
several handfuls (maybe 1/2 cup) chopped walnuts

In a medium bowl, stir together the melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract with a fork.  Separately, sift together the dry ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, along with the molasses and stir until completely incorporated, adding enough milk to get a wet cookie batter consistency.  Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Add the walnuts and stir to distribute evenly.  Drop by double tablespoons onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.  Leave to cool for a few minutes on the sheet, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

My stupid oven...  I checked the cookies at 10 minutes and they were still mounds of melting dough.  The oven was at 300.  I turned it up to 350, and checked again at 7 minutes.  They still looked suspicious, so I left them in another 3 minutes.  Then they were quite firm.  I probably should have taken them out after 7.

I liked the added salt at first, but once I'd gone through about half of them it started to seem like too much.  An option would be to leave it out of the batter, but sprinkle the tops before baking.

Conclusion:   Delicious.  Cakey.  A little dry right out of the oven, but better the next day.  They didn't flatten at all, and in fact sort of puffed up a little.  Using 1/2 an egg would make them less cakey (or 1 egg for the whole box of mix.)   Now I'm thinking of a lot of fun ways you could change these up, with peanut butter, mint, coffee, rum...

Peanut butter oatmeal cookies

I made these to address a craving.  Part of #quarantinebaking  They hit the spot, although they could have used a little more chocolate.

Here's what I used to make 15 cookies:

1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4-1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 - 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and peanut butter, then add the sugars and cream together until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and the vanilla extract and beat until well blended.  In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; add to butter mixture and beat until well blended.  Add the oatmeal, walnuts, and chocolate chips and stir to incorporate evenly.  Scoop by heavily-heaping tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350F for about 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown.  Allow to cool a few minutes on the pan, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

I used 1/4 cup chocolate chips, which wasn't enough, even for me.  One half cup might be too much, although it was the perfect amount of walnuts.  There was also the perfect amount of salt.  I didn't measure the peanut butter--- I put in two big tablespoons, which didn't look like it was quite 1/4 cup, but seemed like plenty.  They have a mild peanut butter flavor, so for more intense flavor, use more peanut butter.  (I'm just not sure if that's a full 1/4 cup or more than that. I set the recipe as up to 1/2 cup.)

Conclusion:  These were delicious, and just what I needed.  For breakfast cookies, I'd add some whole wheat or wheat bran, reduce the sugar, and increase the chocolate.  (I'd rather the sweetness come from chocolate or fruit.)  Dried cranberries or tart cherries would be good too.

Original recipes:  Chris' Kicked up Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and Twisted Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, both via Emeril Lagasse

Chocolate Whoopie Pies: a COVID birthday

Everyone should get a little whoopie on his or her birthday.  But while a little whoopie is a good thing, being quarantined in the house while #covidbaking with a full batch of little cakes is asking for trouble, so I quartered the recipe to make 4.  (Original recipe makes 15.)  I cut the sugar of the cookie part in half, and threw in a little protein powder so I'd feel less guilty, but at a 2:1 ratio since it sucks up so much moisture.

There are a lot of whoopie pie recipes out there.  I don't know where I got this one, but I chose it because there's no vegetable shortening and it uses a cooked flour filling, which helps cut the sweetness.

For 4, 3¼ " cakes, here's what I used:

1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon pea protein powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 pinch spoon of salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup 2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 egg
4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons milk

Cream Filling:
3/4 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

Heat oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with aluminum foil; coat with cooking spray.  Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in bowl and set aside. Beat butter and sugar in mixing bowl until creamy, 1 minute. Beat in vanilla and eggs for 30 seconds. On low speed, beat in cocoa. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk in 3 additions.  Drop 2 tablespoons mixture per cookie onto prepared sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Shape each into 2¼” rounds (keep size equal since they will be sandwiched.) Bake in 375° oven for 12-14 minutes or until cookies spring back when lightly touched in center. Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

Stir flour and milk in saucepan until smooth. Bring to simmering over medium heat, whisking, until thickened and bubbly; cook 1 minute.  Remove from heat. Whisk in 1/2 tablespoon butter until smooth. Press waxed paper directly on surface. Let stand until cool to touch, about 45 minutes.  Beat remaining 1½ tablespoons butter, the vanilla, and confectioners’ sugar in small bowl until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping bottom and side of bowl as needed. Add milk mixture; beat 1 minute or until smooth and fluffy. Sandwich together pairs of cookies with 2 tablespoons filling, pressing lightly until filling begins to show around edges. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight containers in refrigerator.

I baked them for 12 minutes and they were overdone, even starting to burn a little. I didn't measure my rounds, but I tried to estimate a 2¼" diameter.  I made only 1/2 of an extra cookie--Right?  Fifteen sandwich cakes need 30 cookies, divided by 4 is 7.5 cookies.  I made 8.--so I wouldn't think it would affect them that much.  Maybe my oven was too hot.  (One thermometer read 400 and the other 350.  I split the difference.)  I was hoping for something softer and thicker.

I'm wondering why the cocoa is mixed in separately.  It would be a lot easier to sift it with the other dry ingredients.  I would try that next time.

The dough was quite thick, which makes me wonder if it would lend itself to piping.  These would make sweet little heart cakes if that worked.  My filling ended up runny and slightly separated, which was disappointing.  I filled the
cakes and put them in the refrigerator, hoping the filling would soften the cakes a little.  Otherwise, it's going to squirt out with the first bite.

Conclusion:  They weren't quite what I was wanting, but they were tasty.  It's nice having just that single little cake that's just enough.  Perhaps could have been a little more chocolatey.