snickerdoodles

so i made these two years ago for my friend's wedding in san francisco, but every time i've ever made them since then, they've gone flat. most snickerdoodles are flat, but i like them to be spherical. and i tried so many things and different recipes with unsatisfactory results. TILL NOW. yes, i think it should be that emphasized. i asked a friend of mine who sent me an altitude chart and suggested refrigerating the dry ingredients. i also wrote into thekitchn and asked them for advice. between that and comparing a few recipes and the altitude chart, i wrote up a new recipe that would make my perfect idea of snickerdoodles. here it is!


3 cups flour
2 t. cream of tartar
1/4 t. salt
(refrigerate these dry ingredients till chilled in a seperate bowl)

1/2 c. butter (chilled - only microwave it for about 10 seconds to get it barely soft)
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
2 eggs (chilled - normally room temp works for most cookies. not this recipe)
1 t. vanilla

(for rolling cookies in before baking)
2 T. sugar
2 t. cinnamon

mix butter and sugar till well whipped. add baking powder and soda. then eggs and vanilla. add dry ingredients. refrigerate till cool (10 - 20 minutes). roll into balls then refrigerate and let stand 15 minutes. roll into balls then coat in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on greased cookie sheets. cook at 425 for 7 min. let bake on cookie sheet at least 5 minutes before transferring. repeat for each batch.

(for those of you at lower altitude, reduce the flour 1/4 c. and you should be just right. you could also reduce the cream of tartar by 1 tsp.)

3 day weekend!

and, i'm going to be eating this... only the best taco in the world, accompanied by strawberry juice. la taqueria, here i come!

things i've made this week

ok, so i haven't posted a ton lately. i left my camera at a friends house and then i've just forgotten to take pictures cause i've been in a hurry or multi-tasking. but i've made stuff that i already made on this blog before. except the best peanut butter cookies ever, i'll post those later. for now, revisit banana bread and granola. i also made hummus, based on this recipe. i don't garnish with olive oil, and i usually blend up red peppers with the hummus.

1 hour bread

i used to make bread all of the time, but lately i just feel like i don't have the time. rising, proofing, baking, etc. takes a good chunk of time. but my sister found this recipe on my cousins' blog. i have made it twice now it's absolutely dreamy. i've made it in both all wheat or half-white/half-wheat iterations. no matter what i do, it's the lightest bread i've ever made. i LOVE it. now there's really no excuse not to have homemade bread always on hand.

(this comes from my cousin, trina brumble - i hope she doesn't mind i'm sharing this! it's too good not to!)

3 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/3 c. vital wheat gluten
1 1/4 tbs. instant yeast
2 1/2 c. steaming hot water (120-130° f)

1 tbs. salt
1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. honey
1 1/2 tbs. lemon juice

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

Mix together the 1st 3 ingredients in your Bosch. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute; cover and let rest for 10 minutes (this is called sponging).

Add salt, oil, honey, and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute.

Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This makes a very soft dough.

Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn off. Turn dough onto oiled countertop; divide, shape into 2 loves, place in greased bread pans. Let rise in warm oven for 10-15 minutes until dough reaches the top of the pan. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350F and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans.

Another tip….when the dough is put into the bread pans, squish the dough softly into the corners of your bread loaf pans. This will make your bread cook more evenly and not have the large lump in the middle of your loaf.

a waffle is not always just a waffle

so, there is a waffle place called bruges in downtown salt lake that i'm newly obsessed with thanks to my super talented, fun, attractive friend, dallas. when he told me about it i was like, "cool, sounds good." but i HAD NO IDEA. these are authentic belgium waffles with sugarcubes in them. yes, i said sugarcubes. it's this thick dough with these little sugarcubes in them that get all caramely when are baked in the waffle iron. it's insane. there are a few different kinds on the menu that you can get. the plain or the cinnamon batter. you can have it topped with strawberries, whipped cream, chocolate, ice cream, etc. they also have fries (frites), which i hear are on point, but i haven't tried them yet. i'm too enthralled with the waffles. i think i will have to get my fix at least once a week. and somehow i need to get this recipe for myself. it's too good not to have for my very own!

notice the sugarcube in this picture???