Category: Baking

Friday Faves #76-Fortune Cookies for Confucius Day

9/28/2018

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. But, all opinions expressed are my own.

Today's Friday Fave post came about because of a few things:

Tomorrow, September 29th is Confucius Day. Finding this out made me think of all of those Chinese Proverbs that are always so wise and may or may not have been something said by Confucius.
That made me think of fortunes in fortune cookies that sometimes have proverbs written on them.
I have a fortune cookie kit that my son gave to me a few years ago that I have never used. But, when I saw the contestants on the Great British Bake off make fortune cookies, I decided that I should give it a try.
Even though fortune cookies aren't really Chinese, they are a very fun part of a Chinese meal. It is thought that David Jung, a restaurant owner in LA, invented them back in 1920. Until the 1960s, fortune cookies were handmade until a machine was invented to automate the process.
And, even though fortune cookies aren't really Asian, Alicia just put up our newest podcast about the book to film title, Crazy Rich Asians on From Cover to Reel! They could be a good snack while reading or watching this movie!

Of course, the best part of the fortune cookie is the fortune! I asked my girls for fortunes that they would like to see, and I got a couple of good ones from them. Also, the kit comes with over 100 fortunes, and some are pretty good, depending on the type you want, serious, romantic, funny, etc.

The recipe for fortune cookies is very simple. Be prepared to have burnt fingertips as you shape the cookies.

Fortune Cookies

This is how the batter looks spread on the parchment.

Here is the cookie shaped and in the muffin tin.

Depending on your oven, you may have to play with the time and temperature for your cookies. Some of my cookies ended up nice and crispy with that nice snap. But some were a little too soft. So, it is trial and error I guess.
Of course, if you don't want to make your own cookies, but want the personalized fortunes, you can purchase them and pull out the fortunes carefully and add your own.
Happy Confucius Day! And be sure to check out the podcast! It is extra good because my son-in-law is partnering with Alicia this week and they do a great job together!

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Sprouted Wheat Potato Rolls

8/27/2018

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**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. But, all opinions expressed are my own.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I shared with you my all time favorite rolls that I have ever made. They are Potato Rolls. Well, one of my goals for this year is to do more sprouted wheat baking. It is a technique that I shared with you last year. So, after I made the regular Potato Rolls, I decided to give them a try using sprouted wheat.
I sprouted the wheat, dehydrated it, ground it into flour and gave the recipe a try. (I feel like the Little Red Hen!) Here is what I discovered:

These rolls are much softer and lighter than any other totally whole wheat rolls I have eaten, but not as light as the ones made with white flour.
The dough itself was stiffer than the white flour dough, making it take longer for them to rise. Because the dough was so much stiffer, next time, I will probably use about 1 c less flour that the recipe calls for.
The taste is still soft and delicious, just different from the white rolls. They are extra good with honey!

A lot of people may feel like the sprouted wheat method is too time consuming, but really, you just put each step into place and go on your merry way. I feel like the health benefits are worth it. You can check out my article about this method here and here.
I am referring you back to the original recipe and all you have to do is change the type of flour that you use. I hope that you will give these a try!

We have a ton of bread recipes of all kinds on our blog! Check out the Bread Pages here!

Believe it or not, it is time to start thinking about the holidays and all of the baking you will want to be doing. Be sure to click over to our Etsy shop and pick up our Bloggelicious Baking Printables to put together your own recipe binder filled with the new ones you find here and on Pinterest!

Click here to find out all about how this binder works!

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Pumpkin Brulee-The Best Way to Use Up Leftover Milk!

8/13/2018

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**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. But, all opinions expressed are my own.

My husband and I are truly empty nesters now. This past weekend Madalynn moved in with a friend to be her roommate. It is a new chapter for her and it makes me a little sad, but I am glad that she still works nearby and is still in Phoenix, so I know I will still be seeing her quite a bit. So, until our youngest gets home from his 2 year mission in Africa, we are empty nesters.
One thing about being empty nesters is that we use a lot less milk than we used to. It is hard to use a gallon before it sours, so I am having to start buying half gallons. But, when Alicia was here with her children, I bought milk for them and there was still almost a gallon left when they were gone. The expiration date was coming and I hated to see the milk go to waste, so I found some recipes that use large quantities of milk. Do you remember the post about Lindsey coming into a huge amount of canned pumpkin? This Pumpkin Brulee recipe made it possible for me to use both the milk and some of the pumpkin!
This brulee gives you the pumpkin pie taste without the crust. Because it is made with regular milk rather than evaporated milk, it is a soft, creamy custard, less firm than you get in pie. My favorite perk is that I got to use my brulee torch to make the crunchy topping!