PIONEER WOMAN FAIL (Assignment 5)
YOU. GUYS.
I made the assignment, and I absolutely hated these little cakes. I have no idea what Ree Drummond is up to, and this is my second recipe fail from her in a row! Frankly I don’t think this recipe was too complicated at all, so I really don’t think I messed it up—I just think the flavor is AWFUL and I have no idea at all why anyone would eat these lemony herb nuggets.
Now I have 11 of these suckers (after the first bite I threw out the twelfth) and I have no idea what I’ll do with them, since neither Tom nor I plan on eating them and I can’t imagine offering them to my friends!
Anyway, the baking quest continues… after the last two recipes (that didn’t work out at all, clearly), I’m hoping what we go with next will be a brilliant enough success to make up for it!
Let me know if you make these (and if you like them? I promise not to make fun!) and how it goes… I know they won’t be finding a home in my recipe catalog, that’s for sure!
Happy baking,
Sara
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The smell of disaster.
My bread smelled soooo good, wafting through the apartment. And so little did I suspect what a complete and utter failure I had created!
Yes, this was my finished product. Weirdly crispy on the edges, a bit too salty, and looking like a pile of something no one should eat.
Granted, I didn’t follow the instructions perfectly, and suspected I might have a mistake on my hands when it came out of the oven. I accidentally dripped with olive oil and salted before letting it rise for an hour pre-baking. I also forgot to cover with plastic wrap! Bad baker! I presume my problem lies therein, but don’t know for sure.
What I do know is that my “focaccia bread” got dumped in the trash unfortunately! Tsk tsk, Pioneer Woman, for making believe this would be the easiest recipe ever. I don’t think it was just me—but some combination of the not actually very lucid instructions along with my lack of experience in bread baking (and anything involving yeast).
Anyway, I am disheartened and won’t be trying my hand at any breads for a while probably!
Love,
Sara
blog comments powered by DisqusSmells Like Heaven: Assignment 3
I spent the first part of a lazy Saturday morning baking this week’s assignment, and it is an AMAZING recipe. These are honestly some of the best scones I have ever had. Ever. My husband loved them, and our whole apartment now smells delicious to boot.
I didn’t really make many modifications to the recipe this go round—though I did use old fashioned, not quick cook oats, as the purveyor of Smitten Kitchen used herself. I also didn’t use a biscuit cutter to shape them, and just made little mounds with my hands, so the scones are not uniform in size really.
The scones have this marvelously rich flavor… it comes in stages. You get the oatyness, and then a buttery bit, and then finally a sweet maple kick at the end.
We buttered ours (well, technically we used vegan spread) and they were divine that way. I tried a couple bites with some strawberry preserves, which is definitely yummy but does overpower the natural flavors in the scone, so I wouldn’t recommend it for more than a bit or two if you really want to experience the full scone flavor (something I never expected to write, that).
I’ll definitely be making this recipe again and again and again! Once you’ve baked yours, submit you photos and opinion here.
Love,
Sara
blog comments powered by DisqusAssignment 3: Maple Syrup and Oat Scones
Cruising around to find our third assignment, I went over to one of everyone’s favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen. And boy do these scones look awesome!
So, let’s hop to it!
(Photo by Deb Perelman, author of Smitten Kitchen)
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Maple Syrup and Oat Scones
Adapted from Breakfast Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery
These maple syrup scones have oats, whole wheat flour and maple syrup but are just barely sweet yet not at all gritty with healthfulness. I think it’s the substantial amount of butter within. Of interest, most of my favorite scones have heavy cream in them; this one does not but it has nearly the same amount of butterfat due to the higher amount of butter.
About the weights: In this recipe, they’re provided by the book’s author, not me. They differ from what I’d measure in my own cups and spoons but you can feel safe following them just the same, as they work — I did.
Yield: The book suggests 10 to 12 but I made mine (ruler-measured! yes, I’m ocd!) their suggested size and only got 8.
1 3/4 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting surface
1/2 cup (80 grams) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (35 grams) rolled oats (I used quick-cooking)
1 very heaped tablespoon baking powder (I only slightly heaped; wish I’d heaped more!)
1 very heaped tablespoon superfine (caster) or granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Scant 3/4 cup (160 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup milk or buttermilk
1 egg, beaten (for glaze)
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Butter a baking tray, or, if you’re me and your baking sheets are in horrendous condition, line them with un-buttered parchment paper.
Whisk the flours, oats, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. With a pastry blender or your fingertips, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. In a small dish, combine the milk and syrup, then add these liquid ingredients to the butter-flour mixture. By hand or with a rubber spatula, bring everything together to form a softish dough. If it feels too dry, add a little more milk but not enough that the dough is sticky. “The dough should not be stick at all,” the book admonishes.
On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll the dough out until it is 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) tall. Using a 2-inch (5-cm) cutter, cut the dough into rounds and place them on the prepared tray so that they almost touch. Glaze the tops with beaten egg and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the scones are lightly golden. The scones will stick together, so pull them gently apart when they’ve cooled a bit — pull-apart scones!
Serve warm.
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Giddyup! Due date is April 9.
Love,
Sara
blog comments powered by DisqusGot Butter? Assignment 2.
I finally got around to making the oatmeal-coconut cookie bars tonight, and BOY are they buttery!
I didn’t really make any modifications to the recipe, other than instead of buttering the pan I just sprayed it with olive oil. I don’t think doing that effected anything negatively at all.
I grabbed my pan out of the oven at the perfect time. Just slightly browned on top.
I think this recipe is honestly a bit too rich for me. I ate one bar by itself, and am yet to try it with some ice cream as the recipe suggests. I think that with ice cream the butteryness would perhaps be balanced out a bit somehow, and if it is then I would like these a whole lot more.
As is, if I were to make these again, I’d definitely add some raisins, apricots or dried cherries to give them more pizzazz. But like I said, they’re just so rich I’m not sure I’ll be up for another round of these suckers.
—Sara
blog comments powered by DisqusAssignment 1 Deadline Approaching!
Hi bakers,
Our time for baking the peanut butter and jam heart cookies is coming to a close. For this club, anyway.
If you’ve baked the project get your pictures in quick!
I’ll be posting Assignment 2 tomorrow!
Happy Friday,
Sara
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