Tuesday, December 22, 2009

The Trinity



I've been a busy gal this holiday season. At least three times a week this month I've had a date after work. Well, a date with my oven that is. I've been competing in my self-declared yearly cookie baking marathon and have now finally come into the home stretch.

One of the things I did differently this year was make up my own All Purpose Flour. As you know, I like to include a little oatmeal and a little whole wheat along with my white flour when I bake. And this little trinity seems to do the trick. It's simply 1 part AP flour, 1/2 part old fashioned oats ground in a spice mill and 1/4 part whole wheat flour. I made a big batch of this and it turned out to be a great time saver and produced some fabulous baked goodies.

Linda's All Purpose Flour
4 cups white flour- I used organic but any will do
2 cups ground old fashioned oats
1 cup traditional whole wheat flour
Sift all 3 flours into a large bowl, stir with a whisk or fork and store in a covered container

I used this mix in my standard chocolate chip cookes and Giada's chocolate hazelnut cookies and they came out great. Better than I expected. So I kept going. It then made an appearance in Erika's Schweddy Balls, my last few ricotta cakes, and a liquored-up version of my pumpkin bread. So if you're looking for more than white flour in your baked goods, and don't know where to begin, give this a try. Any recipe that calls for all purpose flour should adapt very nicely to this blend. And as I love to say, that's one smart reason to have a second helping.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar or 1/4 cup plus 2T Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

1/4 cup granulated sugar or 2T Splenda Blend

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 large egg

2 cups Linda 's AP flour mix

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.In large bowl using electric mixer, combine butter, sugars, vanilla, salt and baking soda until mixture is smooth. Add egg and mix until incorporated. Add flour and when blended, add chips. Drop by heaping tablespoons on parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

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