Week 4 Part I

Blond Brownies  ☆☆☆☆ [pg 97 HFC]
Somewhere in the past year I heard my sister say that my dad enjoys blond brownies more than regular brownies, and so this Monday I threw together some blond brownies. I like that these are made with ingredients I have on hand and they can easily be mixed by hand; no need to dirty the mixer.

The brownies were baked until they were a nice golden color and seemed firm to the touch. As is usual, I have a hard time waiting until they were cool for taste testing. Who doesn't love a warm brownie? When I first bit into this bar I was afraid I hadn't baked them enough. Then I mentally compared them to the consistency of my favorite regular brown. I like brownies more moist, and so I determined these brownies would need to be taste tested again when they were thoroughly cooled.

The next day, I tasted them and they were great. I like that they have just a bit of chocolate and who doesn't like walnuts in a brownie? Oh....wait...both my kids. :-(

Well, based on how fast these brownies are disappearing with just Tom and I eating them, I would say they rate a strong four but Tom says if regular brownies are a five (and they are for both him and me) then these are a four. A strong rating but given a choice, regular brownies will win out every time.

Week 3 Part I

Date Frying Pan Cookies ☆☆☆☆ [pg 106 HFC]
These cookies were some I remembered from my childhood, or at least I remember my sister making them one Christmas. Dates are not something I normally have in the house so I would need to plan to make these. Chopping dates is not easy, so I chose to cut them with kitchen shears. Even so, I needed to dip the shears in hot water several times to de-stick them. This is fussy work to me.

The ingredients go together easily but you need to cook and stir them for 10 minutes. Seriously?! My arms aren't that fit. This was a long time, but I hoped worth the effort. Once all the Rice Krispies were stirred in, I began the process of making the little balls of cookies. Yuck, what a sticky mess and my coconut didn't stick very well. I was beginning to think these would never be worth the effort.

Then the taste test. Wow, these have pretty good flavor. They certainly are different but not bizzare different, good different. Jason was available to give a review and we all agreed they worth a four on the rating scale. They are not like chocolate chip cookies you crave, but they are tasty and would be a nice addition to a cookie plate at a holiday. The next day Kyle was at our house and he also rated them a four. So after all my fussing and a bit of grumbling as I made the cookies, we all agreed they are tasty and worth making again, although they are a special occasion cookie to be made once or twice a year.

Week 2 Part II

Chocolate Streusel Bars ☆☆☆☆☆ [pg 109 HFC]
When considering these bars, I opted to make the complete batch since I was not sure how using just the egg white would affect the consistency of the cream cheese layer. As the recipe notes, the initial mixture is very dry and I was concerned the base of the bar would stick together. I made sure the butter was very evenly distributed and well pressed into the pan. A solid brownie like crust was formed, but it was much less dense than a regular brownie. Since I did not have confectioner's sugar on hand, I used powdered sugar. As noted at the bottom of the recipe, they are not the same, but I assumed the contributor of this recipe used powdered sugar as well.

I missed the instruction to chill the brownies and so ours were served at room temperature and were very good. Both Tom and I give them five stars. They are flavorful and a bit rich, but not so much that you need to cut the bars into 1" squares. Since we had 24 bars, much more than we needed for the taste test, Lynsey took them to her Bible study and many said they were very good, confirming my five star rating. These are certainly bars I will make again.

Week 2 Part I

Butter Pecan Cookies  ☆☆☆☆☆ [pg 94 HFC]
This week, on Monday, I made these buttery cookies. I wasn't sure how using just the egg yolk or just the egg white would affect the final product so I made the whole recipe. I used my large cookie scoop (1 1/2 inch cookie balls) and the final cookies seemed too large to me, so I switched to my small scoop. ( 3/4 inch cookie balls) The smaller scoop would allow me to make 36 cookies instead of 24, as noted in the cookbook. You can see the larger cookies in the left pile and smaller ones on the right.

The cookies were given a rating of 4 by me (it is hard to give a 5 rating to a cookie without chocolate, but that is my problem) and Nathan gave a rating of 5. He liked that the cookies were thin and loved the flavor. Lynsey gave the cookies a three for the opposite reasons. She likes her cookies a bit thicker, more substance she said, and they were almost too buttery for her.

Later that day, we attended a BCS football game, watching the Oregon Ducks play against the Auburn Tigers. Since I had plenty of cookies, I took them along for ratings from the Davis family. Tony, Debra, and Kyle all gave the cookies a five. They too enjoyed the buttery flavor and the pecans. The cookies have quickly disappeared.

Although, my rating is a 4, an overwhelming number of "qualified" raters gave these cookies a 5 and so that is what will be noted in my cookbook.

Week 1 Part III

Making 1/2 a recipe of baked goods has worked very well for the challenge so far. Items are tasted and disappearing, so today I was inspired to bake again. Admittedly, the recipe chosen for today was another simple one and it used chow mien noodles again.

Allison's Bird Nests ☆☆☆☆☆ [pg 97 HFC]
I opted to microwave the marshmallow cream, butter, and peanut butter and this worked very well. The ingredients stir together very quickly and my large cookie scoop was the perfect size to create the nests. I had only placed the peanut m&m's into two nests when I knew I had to share this with our Friday school teachers. Mrs. Flynn is looking forward to making these with the kids at the end of her bird unit.

It was hard to wait for the cookies to firm up before trying them but I resisted. Upon first bite I knew they would rank high. After my second cookie I had decided they were a five, but I had to wait for my husband to get home and give a rating. He took one bite and gave them a five. I agreed and these will most likely be made again in the near future. Thanks to my niece Allison for contributing these and at our house, the recipe will now bear her name.

Week 1 Part II

The success of Barb's Roman Apple Cake yesterday has left our house without baked goods. So, today I went ahead and made another item from the cookbook.

Caramel Chews ☆☆☆☆ [page 92 HFC]
These "cookies" go together quite easily but caramels and chow mien noodles aren't considered staples in my kitchen so I would have to plan to make them. I like that the oven does not have to be heated up to make the cookies, and if a person uses a cookie scoop to actually shape them, they are really a snap to make. I opted to microwave the caramels to melt them, and it is possible the caramel mixture would have been smoother if I had melted the mixture on the stovetop. I used a quart size plastic Ziploc® bag to apply the chocolate topping (which I also melted in the microwave).

I admit to trying the cookies before they were properly chilled and then again later. They are better cold since the caramel is quite sticky at room temperature. After one bite it was apparent that this recipe should be in the miscellaneous section with other candy items.  They are particularly sweet, but that might be in part because I had a hard time determining 1.5 ounces of noodles as I had purchased a 14 oz bag of noodles vs the 3 ounce can.  Certainly, the sweetness could be diminished by adding more noodles and/or peanuts. I used store brand caramels, and I regret that. Kraft caramels are not only easier to unwrap, but they have better flavor.

Overall, I liked the chocolate topping but the caramel/noodle/peanut mixture is just so-so. The cookies have good texture but I was disappointed in the actual caramel flavor. This could be attributed to my decision to use store brand caramels. I have pondered chilling the caramel/noodle/peanut part and then dipping them in chocolate to totally cover them, but I don't really like the work of dipping stuff to get the final product. I have consumed four of these little cookies so they are certainly tasty and so I give them four stars.

Tom concurs on the four stars. He states "...I would eat them every time you made them, but they are not something you must make again."

Baking Adventure Week 1

While editing the latest edition of the Hayes Family Cookbook (HFC), I decided there are too many dessert recipes in the cookbook that our family has never tried, and I vowed to rectify that during 2011. My goal is to prepare a minimum of one dessert recipe a week and rate the recipes for future reference. Inspired by the movie Julie Julia I decided to chronicle this adventure on a blog and invite family members, and other interested parties, to follow this journey.

Today, the baking adventure begins. It has been decided to map out the month’s recipes, attach a pdf of the recipe to this blog, include a photo of the final product on the blog, and of course note the family’s final rating. Since one of my other goals for 2011 is to continue to watch my weight, each recipe will be cut in half whenever possible. It is understood this could affect final results and appropriate notations will be made in my evaluation of the recipe.

Consistent raters will include hubby Tom (my faithful husband and dishwasher), Lynsey (lovely daughter and self proclaimed procrastibaker), Jason (newest addition to the family and accomplished cook), and myself. Occasional raters will include Nathan (our fine son and biweekly dinner guest) and Laurie (Tom’s sister and another biweekly dinner guest). So here we go!

Barb’s Roman Apple Cake ☆☆☆☆☆ [pg 99 HFC]

Occasionally, we have one apple that seems to be left in the fruit bowl, as if no one wants to take the last one. This recipe is simple to throw together, as all the ingredients are staples in a baker’s kitchen, and about six people can share that one apple. (That is assuming you make ½ the recipe as I did.)

In lieu of the 13 x 9 pan I used this heart shaped pan. I imagine one 8" or 9" round cake pan will also work. The heart shaped pans have been around the house for some time and this seemed a good reason to use one; start the year with some "love" baking.

It is recommended this cake be served warm with ice cream or whipped cream, but I chose to taste the warm cake without these toppings. My first reaction is that this is a cake to be served with coffee, making it a coffee cake, I guess. It is fairly rich as the amount of cake is about equal to the amount of apple and topping. I give it five stars out of five and determine it well worth making again, particularly if we have company for breakfast. (I am thinking morning after the wedding. k) Tom says "... served with ice cream it is a total five."