Hiding Veggies in Baked Goods

Expectation: Kids don't mind veggies in their cookies.

I love putting vegetables into baked goods. Zucchini and pumpkin turn a dry bread into a moist bread, with no additional butter or oil needed (in fact, you need less), providing nutrients to a typically empty-calorie treat. Black beans give an otherwise unattainable, fudgy texture to brownies, while creating a protein-dense goodie that will keep you satisfied much longer than it's white-flour counterpart.

Zucchini Bread

Tonight, I read this article from NPR, which states that "nutritionists generally hate the idea of 'stealth veggies,' arguing that children should learn to eat their vegetables and like them, darn it. They got really bent out of shape after reading The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lepine, and Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld, both of which argued for sneaking veggies into kid-friendly foods."

I consider myself somewhat of a nutritionist wannabe. I've considered going back to school to become one several times in my life, and nutrition is a topic I regularly read about for fun. Hearing that "nutritionists hate the idea of steal veggies" just seems plain silly. It's like saying that kids should stay quiet in the classroom because they should WANT to learn.

Beet Walnut Goat Cheese Muffins

Although I haven't read "The Sneaky Chef", and I've only skimmed Jessica Seinfeld's book, I'm pretty sure they aren't saying, "instead of feeding your children vegetables with dinner, hide them inside cake!" The point here is that we all need to eat vegetables, and lots of them. As Michael Pollan says; "eat food, not too much, mostly plants." Even the USDA knows that Americans need to eat more vegetables. I try to eat vegetables with every meal, and I snack on carrots, sugar snap peas and jicama in between those meals. Adding parsnips to my muffins is a way to get vegetables in my breakfast, while giving them a moist texture and lowering the carbohydrate content by replacing some of the flour. 

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Moms love to bake for their kids. They are the reason why most of us have a sweet tooth, and the reason the scent of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie brings us back to our childhood home. Although many nutritionists would rather we didn't bake sweet treats at all, adding vegetables to baked goods is a way to make these treats healthier (using whole grains and less sugar is another way). It's a way for moms to help their children enjoy vegetables, and perhaps even help them be more receptive to them when meal time comes around ("you love beet cupcakes, so try some beet salad!")


Can we please get past they "kids should love vegetables" argument, and agree to embrace veggies in every form?

All-Natural Alternative Sweeteners

Expectation: That there was somebody else out there who wasn't afraid to make a few substitutions.

I came across this fantastic article on npr.org with some tips about using all-natural, alternative sweeteners. Here are some of those tips, but I encourage you to read the whole article here.

Alternative Sweetener advice from Nicole Spiridakis

Agave nectar, extracted from the agave cactus plant, is a little sweeter than sugar.

Barley malt syrup, from sprouted barley, roasted and cooked down to a syrup with a maltlike flavor, is great for using in more savory recipes, such as a barbecue sauce, rather than baking.

Brown rice syrup tastes about half as sweet as white sugar, with a mild flavor.

A host of organic cane sugars, including muscovado sugar (made from unrefined, evaporated cane juice), organic, whole cane sugar (unrefined and unbleached); turbinado sugar (made by heating sugar cane juice, then spinning it in a centrifuge or turbine to extract moisture and molasses for large, golden crystals) and demerara sugar (similar to turbinado, with large sugar crystals).

Honey

Maple syrup

Molasses, a byproduct of refining sugar cane, is slightly sweet and a source of iron and calcium.

Stevia, derived from a perennial shrub with leaves 30 times sweeter than sugar and calorie-free.

Xylitol, a sweetener made from corncobs that is low in calories and tastes similar to cane sugar, is available online and in some health food stores.

Proper Storage of Whole Grain Flours

Expectation: That whole grain foods are dry, heavy and bitter.

As you know from reading my page about whole grains, one of the things that makes grains "whole" is the vitamin-rich germ. In refined grains, this germ (along with it's good fats, fiber and nutrients) is stripped away, leaving a finer flour.

The main reason why whole grain foods taste bitter is because they contain healthy oils that, once oxidized, can go rancid. This rancidity is actually the cause of the bitter taste that many of us associate with whole grains. Although it does not affect the safety or performance of the flour, the rancid germ has certainly affected the popularity. Don't let it stop you from baking healthier treats! In order to prevent this bitter taste, store whole grains in the refrigerator or freezer to minimize the oxidation.

Or, if you have a ton of time on your hands (and an electric grinder), you can grind your own flours just before you bake with them. Happy baking!

More Lessons Learned

After the great pretzel failure that occurred on Monday, we were determined to make the damn pretzels. Upon further inspection of the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book, we found a couple of informational sections that looked important: the section about yeast. and the section about how to measure flour.

The yeast section explains, "Instant yeast can be added to the dough along with the other dry ingredients, no dissolving necessary. A third type of yeast, rapid rise, is inappropriate for these recipes." So apparently, contrary to what many websites and other books said, there is a difference between instant yeast and rapid rise yeast. We had used rapid rise in the pretzels, when it had called for instant yeast. Clue #1.

The other section was a little paragraph hiding in the front of the book about how to measure flour. The book states, "Use a fork or spoon to vigorously fluff up the flour in the bag or container that it's in. This, of course, incorporates air into the flour, and air is one of nature's very best leaveners, and a powerful one to boot. Then dip a flour scoop or spoon into the container and sprinkle the flour into your dry measuring cup. This will assure that you don't pack in the flour - a certain path to dry, hard, crumbly bread or cookies and so on. Take the edge of the flour scoop or the flat edge of a knife and level the cup." Clue #2.

So there we had it - the reasons for our pretzel fail. We set off to Safeway to buy some instant yeast, but wait! They didn't have any! They only had active dry and rapid rise. This sounded like a problem for the King Arthur Baking Hotline! I called the hotline and told them what had happened, and that I couldn't find any instant yeast at the grocery store. She told me to buy something called "bread machine yeast", which should give me much better results.

So we tried again. This time we used the bread machine yeast and fluffed the flour. Then we sat back and let our mouths water with visions of pretzel-deliciousness while the dough was supposed to rise. BUT, you guessed it - it didn't rise. A fourth batch of pretzel dough thrown into the trash.

Still determined to make the pretzels, I emailed the baking hotline and told them the whole story. Once again, I got the same response: bread machine yeast and how to measure flour. But, I do want to share with you exactly what Frank at the hotline told me:

Currently there are 3 types of yeast on the market:
1) Rapid Rise/Quick Rise: These are proprietary strains of yeast designed for only 1 strong rise. This type of yeast can not be proofed. We do not recommend this style of yeast.
2) Active Dry: This is a dried yeast that requires proofing before incorporation into the final dough.
3) Instant/Bread Machine: This is a dried yeast that is added directly with the flour. It can not be proofed. It is designed for traditional multiple rises.

He also said, "When a whole wheat recipe has difficulty rising, the first thing to review is how the flour has been measured. Because whole wheat flour contains bran, having the correct water: flour ratio is essential. All of our recipes use the sprinkle and sweep method. You will find an explanation and video of the method here. If a dough is too dry, especially a whole wheat dough, no amount of yeast will be able to budge it."

I really appreciated Frank's response, but I had to tell him that we had basically done these things, and just weren't up for trying the same recipe again, unless he could see some other obvious thing we were doing wrong. He told me he had always had success with this recipe.

This recipe is not whole grain, so I won't be making it (at least for the blog). I have found another recipe that looks more promising, so stay tuned for that one!

3 Things I've Learned Already

1. It's hard to make half of a recipe when it only calls for 1 egg.
2. If you don't make half of a recipe, you have too many cookies around the house.
3. No matter how healthy they are, there is still such a thing as too many cookies.