Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Baking is bliss

At least in this house it is. If I'm feeling stressed, overwhelmed, happy, excited, etc, I bake. There is something deeply satisfying about it to me. Our little man is my partner in crime. He's quick to grab a beater when it needs licking or a bowl needs scraping!
We're showing off our aprons in the picture above. My mom made me an apron for Christmas (at my request). I actually got it the beginning of December so that I could use it through the whole Christmas season. Chase watched me put it on frequently and sadly remarked at lunch one day that he didn't have an apron like me. I told him to ask Nee Nee and he did at the first chance he got. Mom found "Cars" themed material perfectly suited to a boy and got to work. Now we bake in our aprons, side by side.
A tip for baking. Did you know that you can cut the sugar in your baking recipes by 1/4 to 1/2 without it affecting the taste? I've cut the sugar in a bunch of my cookie recipes by half and we still love the way they taste! Since I'm a diabetic the less sugar/carbs in the recipe the better for me and everyone benefits from less sugar intake.

He's a master at cleaning up. Just don't ask him to stop playing in the bubbles or a major temper tantrum will ensue! :-)

Another baking tip before I go...Since we have a serious egg allergy in our family I am always looking for new substitutes for eggs. The latest one I tried was ground flax seed. I used it for the doughnuts we made a few weeks ago and in the chocolate chip cookies you see above. You can substitute 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed mixed with a quarter cup of water for one egg in a recipe. I like to bring the water to a simmer and then stir in the flax seed. I keep stirring until the mixture becomes almost like the consistency of egg whites. You can use this substitute for up to three eggs in a recipe. After that the eggs perform a necessary function. You lose the cholesterol from the eggs and up the protein and fiber in your cookies by substituting so it's usually a win-win situation! Flax seed is a strong binder however, so whatever shape your cookies are in when you drop them onto the tray they will retain that shape when baked. I recommend with cookies that you press them flat with a glass so they are more round and not too dense.

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