Author: petebakes

classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Post author By petebakes
Post date November 7, 2008
26 Comments on classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

there are just some recipes that will never get old. the tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe is a great example. another is the quaker oats “vanishing oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.” you don’t have to look far for a good oatmeal cookie recipe; just flip over the lid to a can of quaker oats. it’s been there, unchanged for as long an anyone can remember. i tried doing a little research on the history of the recipe, but i couldn’t nail anything down. anyone out there know anything?

the only change i make with the quaker oats recipe is to completely melt the butter instead of just softening it and slightly underbake the cookies so they are simultaneously chewier and crispier. raisins are great and all, but i love using chocolate chips in these cookies. the best part is that since they have oats in them, you feel like you’re eating something healthy.

there’s good reason to call these “vanishing” cookies. i brought a batch to an election results watching party and they disappeared long before obama was officially declared the 44th US president. you might want to make more than one batch. just throwing that out there.

bread

european peasant bread

the girl recently surprised me with a copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, a book that aims to simplify the process of making fancy high-quality bread. i definitely recommend it, even if i had trouble believing that the authors could pull off the concept before tasting it myself. the basic idea is that you can make bake great bread that tastes like you spent much more time on it than you really did – no starters or kneading necessary. that’s right, no kneading.

with most of the recipes in the book, an overly wet dough is quickly mixed together and allowed to rise in the bowl straight away. it is then quickly shaped into loaves after a few hours of rising. for those few seconds that the dough was actually in my hands for shaping, i was tempted to start working it on the counter to get a consistency i was more comfortable with, but the whole point is to let the ingredients do their job.

restraint definitely pays off with these recipes. i know mark bittman’s no-knead bread was all the rage, but the rising time for the original recipe is 12-18 hours. this peasant bread rose for 2 hours, and then another 40 minutes after it was shaped and as the oven warmed up. the crust and crumb were delicious, and as the smell of this bread filled the apartment, it made me want to grab a loaf and have a picnic in the park with a block of cheese and a cheap bottle of wine.

since my kitchen is about 40 degrees most mornings, there’s only more incentive this season to fire up the oven and bake a fresh loaf of bread every day or two. join me, won’t you?

cake

pumpkin donuts with pumpkin cream cheese frosting

Post author By petebakes
Post date October 24, 2008
22 Comments on pumpkin donuts with pumpkin cream cheese frosting

i know you’re still in the mood for pumpkin, so let me give you a recipe that will satisfy your cravings but in no way make you feel healthier (take that, healthy pumpkin muffins that are all the rage right now). my recipe uses a deep fryer, so it has to be delicious. it’s a law of science.

did you know that i actually own a deep fryer? it was purchased in a moment of weakness when, in my college days, i set out to make the perfect monte cristo sandwich. the model i have is called the “fry daddy.” the larger version of the same model is called the “granpappy” and smaller model is the “fry daddy junior.” it’s one big unhealthy deep fried carnival food family. like most people, i was terrified of deep frying at first, but the draw of frying experimentation spurred me to try just about everything from apples and bananas to candy bars – and for those wondering, yes, deep fried pies are coming soon.

it’s true: pete usually bakes, but occasionally, pete deep fries. initially i was embarrassed about purchasing a machine whose sole purpose was to make me fat(ter), but i quickly got over it after i realized the joy that comes from homemade tempura and corndogs. i’ve become a proud granpappy of my frydaddy, and the more i tell others about it, the more excitement i get from those people what could possibly be deep fried. let me tell you a secret: anything can be deep fried, and don’t let anyone tell you different.

if you don’t think you can handle all the hot oil, there are recipes for baked donuts out there. to be honest i didn’t try to bake with this particular batter so i couldn’t tell you how well they would come out. additionally, don’t worry about actually using a deep fryer – a pan on the stove works just as well. you just need to monitor the temperature with a deep-fry thermometer, and i’ve included the instructions for doing that below. these donuts taste best right after you make them, so you really have no excuse not to spend all morning filling the house with the wonderful smells of deep fried pumpkin and then all afternoon devouring them with generous dollops of some of the most decadent frosting you’ll ever whip up. what are you waiting for?