Don't break the bank while learning to bake!

Author

Sarah
June 13, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Good morning!

Hey there! Father's Day is just around the corner, and what better way to show Dad you care than with a delicious homemade treat? Whip up some flaky pastries or a batch of his all-time favorite cookies – trust me, the smile on his face will be worth it!

THE MAIN COURSE

You know, baking isn’t that different from art. Both endeavors focus on combining different materials together to create a masterpiece. The biggest downside is that, like art, baking materials aren’t always affordable. That can make sustaining this hobby challenging. But it doesn’t have to be! Let me show you some clever tips for baking on a budget without sacrificing flavor.

RISE TO THE OCCASION

There are 3 days left until Father’s Day

A SLICE OF INSPIRATION

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Thank you Stephan for sharing your wonderful Kaiser Rolls recipe with us! These look delicious!

Kaiser Rolls

Ingredients
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/3 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons salt
6 to 6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg white
2 teaspoons cold water
Poppy and/or sesame seeds

Directions
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water.
Add 1 tablespoon sugar; let stand for 5 minutes.
Add the oil, salt, remaining warm water and sugar and 4 cups flour. Beat until smooth.
Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.
Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 16 pieces.
Shape each into a ball.
Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets.
Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Beat egg white and cold water; brush over rolls.
Sprinkle with poppy and/or sesame seeds.
With scissors, cut a 1/4-in.-deep cross on tops of rolls.
Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven.

Stephan

THE SIDES

As humans, we always strive for perfection, ensuring that every part of our work is refined to its maximum potential. Well, the truth is that no matter how good you are, your work won’t always be perfect. That’s particularly true in baking. You’ll make big and small mistakes, but that’s perfectly fine. All you have to do is jump in and practice! You’ll love the results.

You’re in the kitchen ready to bake a carrot cake, preparing your ingredients, but find one missing ingredient, applesauce. This ingredient plays a critical role in your recipe since it can be a binding or fat agent. The good news is that you can substitute applesauce with plenty of other similarly textured and flavored ingredients.

Dry cookie dough is never good! You don’t want your cookie efforts to go to waste, and baking dry cookie dough will likely lead to tough, dry cookies. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to fix dry cookie dough. Let’s get started.

CHEW ON THIS

Summer's bounty is here! This week, swap your usual baking ingredients for some fresh, in-season stone fruits. From juicy peach crumbles to vibrant plum tarts, these beauties will add a burst of flavor and color to your creations.

THE LEFTOVERS

Packaging and shipping sugar cookies can be nerve-wracking. Unless you deliver them yourself, you can never guarantee they’ll arrive at their destination intact without the proper packaging techniques in place. After countless trials and errors (and a couple dozen cookies sacrificed for the cause), I finally discovered a foolproof method that works nearly 100% of the time.

If you have ever wondered if you can use baking soda instead of baking powder, you are not alone. Many people have asked this question and it is a good one! After all, what is the difference between baking soda and baking powder anyway? Are they interchangeable? What function do the play in baking? All of these questions (and more) will be answered right here!

KEEP ON RISING

Still hungry for more baking knowledge? Dive deeper into past newsletters for tips and tricks you might have missed the first time around. Completely free and available 24/7!

STAY SWEET!

Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this newsletter. If you have any comments or question - just reply!

Happy baking!