Baking

For some reason I’ve always had the belief that I couldn’t cook.  Maybe it’s because my mother-in-law is a stellar cook and compared to her I cook like crap.  Maybe it’s because my older sister did most of the cooking growing up (besides my mom) and I was too busy at ballet to care about learning another new skill.  My husband and I survived on macaroni and cheese with kidney beans for many years!  Then, when my father-in-law passed away and we moved in with my husband’s mom, I started picking up on some tricks and finding out that it’s really not that hard.  She knows how to do things without a recipe, but she also makes things with recipes and alters them to make them healthier.

Even though I’ve mastered the English roast chicken meal, complete with roasted potatoes, gravy, and yorkshire pudding, the one thing I’m best at in the kitchen is baking.  And it is true, if you just follow the directions you pretty much can’t go wrong.  I put in “pretty much” because of my lack of confidence in all things related to an oven…it’s an old habit that is dying a slow death.

I love making the chocolate chip cookies from the recipe on the back of the Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate chips package.  They turn out very good.  I also like baking these apple spice muffins that I got from a Yoga Journal (Oct. 2009 issue).  They are very yummy!

2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk or buttermilk

2/3 cup Sucanat or other natural sugar (I use Sugar in the Raw)

2 eggs

6 tablespoons ghee, melted (I just boil 6 Tbs butter)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 peeled fresh apples or pears (about 1 1/2 cups), cut into bite-size chunks

2 pitted dates, chopped (optional)

2 tablespoons maple syrup (I use honey or Agave)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Oil 12 muffin tins or line the tins with muffin cups.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, Sucanat, eggs, ghee, and vanilla extract.  Pour into the dry ingredients and mix gently until evenly moistened.
4. In a third bowl, combine the fruit, maple syrup, and cinnamon
5. Spoon muffin batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling them only halfway.  Add a heaping tablespoon of the fruit mixture to each cup, and then top with the remaining batter.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until browned on top.