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Follow These Tips for Bakery Quality Cookies Every Time

April 16, 2015 by

If you’ve ever wondered how to get that deliciously moist, chewy cookie consistency that you normally only find at your favorite bakery, all it takes is a bit of inside knowledge. Here are some expert tips that will help you to bake better cookies at home.

  1. Use a high-quality cookie sheet. Although stainless steel cookie sheets are a bit pricier, they make all the difference when it comes to your cookies. Dark colored sheets may cause your cookies to burn on the bottom, which results in an overcooked, dry texture.
  2. Be sure to use soft butter. Many at-home bakers skip this step and use cold butter to save time, but letting the butter melt a bit can work wonders when it comes to the texture of your cookies.
  3. Know which ingredients to use for your desired consistency. If you like cookies that are thinner and crispier, add more sugar. For cake-like cookies you can add an extra egg, and for a coarse, crumbly texture, simply add baking soda.
  4. Only bake one sheet at a time. Baking multiple cookie sheets at once can cause them to bake inconsistently, so try to use only one sheet at a time. If you’re short on time you can bake a few sheets at once, but be sure to rotate them frequently.

Cookie Tips – Secrets to Making Perfect Cookies [What’s Cooking America]
Tips for Baking Perfect Cookies [Macrina Bakery]
Tip: The Secret to Baking Perfectly Browned Cookies Every Time [The Kitchn]
Tips for Getting That Perfect Cookie Texture [Baking Bites]

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Learning These Culinary Terms Can Help You Become a Better Cook

June 19, 2014 by

In order to create the perfect dish, you first have to understand the proper terminology. If you’re unsure of the difference between slicing and dicing, these helpful definitions will make you feel like a professional chef the next time you’re in the kitchen.

  1. Julienne. To julienne fruits or vegetables means to cut them into very thin strips. This technique is often used when you want a dish to look more attractive.
  2. Mince. When a recipe calls for mincing, it means that the food should be chopped into the tiniest possible pieces. Many chefs achieve this by using a machine like a food processor with revolving blades.
  3. Pare. This means to remove the skin from a fruit or vegetable. Using a paring knife or other peeler, you simply peel the skin away.
  4. Puree. Pureeing is often used on vegetables in soups or fruits for desserts. It means to mash the food until it’s smooth and thick, often using a blender, food processor, or even your hand.

Glossary of Basic Cooking Terms [Les Petites Gourmettes]
Cooking Terms [Recipe Goldmine]
Glossary of Cooking Terms [UMN]
Glossary of Cooking Terms [Better Homes & Gardens]
Culinary Terms [About.com]

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Improve Your Diet with a DASH Healthy Eating Plan

December 18, 2013 by

High blood pressure is a major health concern, and it can often be mitigated by limiting the amount of salt in your diet. The NIH's DASH Eating Plan can help those at risk for high blood pressure to stay on track with a low-sodium diet.

The DASH Eating Plan stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, the formal name for high blood pressure. DASH recommends limiting your sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams per day, because this is the adequate intake level determined to lower blood pressure.

In order to follow the DASH Eating Plan, you must eat a certain number of servings per day from all of the food groups. For example, DASH advises that followers consume 6 – 8 servings of whole grains per day, like whole wheat pastas, breads or oatmeal. It also recommends 4 – 5 servings of fruits, 4 – 5  servings of vegetables, and only a limited amount of sweets and sugars. DASH also encourages people to exercise for 30 minutes per day to produce faster results.

DASH Eating Plan [National Institutes of Health]

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Veg Out with These Vegan and Vegetarian Recipe Sites

November 6, 2013 by

Cutting meat out of your diet is proven to reduce the risk of heart disease, help you lose weight, and lower the amount of greenhouse gases in the environment. If you’ve chosen to go vegan or vegetarian, these creative and helpful websites will help you stay on track with your meat-free lifestyle.

VegWeb
Not just a recipe website, VegWeb is also one of the oldest online communities for connecting vegans and vegetarians. Here you’ll find an expansive assortment of meatless recipes for every meal of the day, as well as a thought-provoking blog, discussion forums, and tips for transitioning to a vegan lifestyle.

Vegetarian Times
Vegetarian Times is a simple, convenient online recipe book full of meat-free recipes that expand far beyond your basic tofu. The recipes are organized extensively by type of meal, cuisine, holiday and even season, providing you with a seemingly endless assortment of meals for any given day. If you follow a specialty diet such as gluten-free or low-calorie in addition to your vegetarian lifestyle, Vegetarian Times has sections tailored to those needs as well.

Post Punk Kitchen
With humble beginnings as an online vegan cooking show featuring live bands, Post Punk Kitchen has since become a popular website with a devoted following of like-minded, meat-free individuals. The site takes a fun, laid-back approach to teaching others the ways around a vegan kitchen, and the videos that accompany each recipe make this website feel like you're hanging out with your best friends.

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