January, 2016

Here’s another super easy, healthy bread recipe and it’s by popular demand. My first “simple whole wheat bread” has been hugely popular but a lot of people have asked if they can eliminate the egg or add honey. YES and YES. This easy honey wheat bread has no egg and it’s made with… you guessed it:  honey. The interior is nice and soft and it tastes really good.

It takes a little longer to make than my other whole wheat bread (the one with the egg) and it doesn’t rise quite as tall so if you want it taller or faster, try my Simple Whole Wheat Bread. But if honey-wheat bread is your preference, this recipe only takes a few minutes longer. And it works with either honey or sugar, and any kind of vegetable oil you like. I mostly use extra light olive oil.

Having a warm spot to rise your dough helps it grow faster and I’m lucky to have a warming drawer in my kitchen but I have some other ideas on where you can rise dough in my blog. I hope the bread industry isn’t mad at me because so many people have said, “I don’t buy bread any more,” and that includes me. Between my no knead breads and whole wheat loaves, I always bake my own bread and I’m saving money… and spending it on spatulas! I hope you’ll try my honey wheat bread and somebody send me a picture! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Guess what? I just made a Boston cream pie without no butter at all. And it’s awesome! The cake is super easy (it’s my easy one-bowl yellow cake), the creamy custard filling takes about 5 minutes to make, and the chocolate glaze comes together in minutes. Put them all together and you have a luscious dessert that looks fancy but you can make it at home.

But this is not a pie. They should call it Boston cream cake. Whatever you call it, I call it delicious. It starts with my easy yellow cake made in a 9-inch round pan. It’s best to line the pan with parchment paper and for convenience, I buy pre-cut parchment paper that’s sold in 8 and 9-inch rounds, but you can always cut your own.

I grease the pan (it’s non-stick but I always grease it for cakes), put in the paper, and grease the paper. When you do that, cake removal is a breeze. The reason I spread the custard filling onto a dinner plate is just to help it cool faster but you can also put it into a bowl to cool. If you leave it in the saucepan, it will take a lot longer to cool down. One other thing I highly recommend is the use of a cake strip. You will never have overdone and dry edges when you bake using one of these strips. Here’s more on cake strips. And finally, always be sure to aerate your flour before measuring. Here’s more on that.

One of my favorite desserts (which I avoid) is a chocolate eclair but I can get my fix with this Boston cream pie because it tastes just like a chocolate eclair. And it has no butter at all! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Here’s a new addition to my 30 Minutes or Less dinner category. It’s lean white meat chicken, bow tie pasta and asparagus in a creamy, low fat Alfredo sauce. It’s super easy, quick, and yummy. The whole meal takes just 25 minutes to make and it also works with broccoli.

The only difference if you use broccoli is you add a little pasta water to the broccoli when you saute it. This recipe was in my cookbook but that version used butter. My new way does not use butter and it’s much easier to make. In fact, almost any recipe I made ten years ago is not the same today. I’m always finding ways to make things simpler, easier, and faster.

The creamy sauce is my version of alfredo sauce. Did you know they call fettucini alfredo a “heart attack on a plate?” That’s because alfredo sauce is traditionally made with all cream and butter. I will never do that. Mine uses no cream or butter. I use 1% milk and I get a creamy, satisfying comfort meal that I can feel good about eating. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Do you miss Fettuccine Alfredo? Avoiding it because you don’t want to die? My Alfredo sauce has no heavy cream and no butter, in fact it’s made with 1% milk and it’s deeelish. And you can be eating it in five minutes. That’s how long it takes to make the easiest Fettuccine Alfredo ever, and the healthiest too.

This is the same sauce I use in my Creamy Chicken Asparagus Bow Ties recipe but if you just want pasta alone with a creamy, easy sauce, this is it. Alfredo sauce is traditionally served with fettuccine but today, I’m making Bow Ties Alfredo. Put it on bow ties, elbows, or any pasta shape you like. You won’t feel weighed down after this light sauce… or tired from all that 5 minutes of work! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Brown sugar gets hard when its moisture escapes. The best way to keep brown sugar soft is to use a small clay disc and it works really well. Here’s an example below…  It costs less than $5 and you just soak the disc in water for 15 minutes and then put it into a fresh bag of brown sugar. Seal up the bag tightly and you’re done.  Mine stays soft until I finish the bag. You can even use a piece of broken clay from a pot as long as it’s unglazed.

Happy New Year to all my fellow cooks. I’m so pleased to see so many people using my recipes and I’m often surprised at which ones are the most popular. My simple whole wheat bread has been wildly popular with almost 1/2 million views on youtube and hundreds of comments here. One question I’m often asked is, “Can I make this with only white or all-purpose flour?” I decided to try it and the answer is… yes.

I used the exact same recipe but substituted white flour for the whole wheat flour and I loved the result. The loaf rose just as tall as the whole wheat version and it was ready to eat in 90 minutes.  My other “easy white bread” recipe is similar (and also quick) but does not use egg while this version uses an egg.

It seems that almost everyone is having success and loving my simple whole wheat bread recipe but when you want a similar, easy white bread that uses an egg, you can try my new Simple White Bread (with egg) recipe, which is exactly the same except it uses 100% all-purpose flour or bread flour. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

I love to see photos of my recipes made by other cooks and see where they’re from. Please send your picture to: YourPhotos@JennyCanCook.com …or… Share it on INSTAGRAM or TWITTER and hashtag it #JennyCanCook

CUDI MADE MY NO KNEAD BREAD
“This is made using your brilliant recipe Jenny. My 2nd attempt as I realised US liquid measurements are different to UK.”

MARIJA MADE MY NO KNEAD BREAD & CINNAMON ROLLS
“My no knead bread.Amazing!!! The best bread ever! I used clay baker and it works. Thank you Jenny!”

“My cinamon rolls disapeared in a minute ! Thank you Jenny.”

BARB MADE MY BOSTON CREAM PIE
“Made this baby yesterday. a-MAZ-ing! Huge hit!”

…AND MY CINNAMON RAISIN BREAD
“Well, the Boston Cream Pie was such a hit I had to try another recipe! Yesterday I made your Cinnamon Raisin Bread. mmm… This will be made again and again!!”

CISSY MADE MY SIMPLE WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

JASNA MADE MY FASTER NO KNEAD BREAD
“Hello, For a long time now i was searching for a crusty and tasty bread. I finally found it!  Thank you for this lovely and easy recipe!”

JAN MADE MY CREAMY CHICKEN ASPARAGUS BOW TIES
“Hi Jenny, attached is a picture of your creamy chicken with asparagus & bow tie pasta. If I didn’t make it myself I never would know that it had absolutely no butter and was made with 1% milk and only 2 teaspoons of oil. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe.”

CHRISTINE MADE MY WHITE BREAD WITH EGG
“Hi Jenny i made your white bread with egg , the one you just sent , so happy with myself , cause you sent this recipe and i LOVE IT , i will never buy bread again, your recipes, are wonderful .the taste is out of this world . i never thought i could do this, but you proved me wrong , i did do an egg wash on the bread to make the crust softer.my pan was a bit larger but still came out beautiful , ty ty ty ty  ty .”

YOLY MADE MY EASY DINNER ROLLS
“Made Jenny,s easy dinner roll. I used bread flour and I like it better. Thank you again for your easy to follow recipe. The outcome is always good.”

EDDIE LIM MADE MY CINNAMON PUFFS
“This cinnamon puffs just made today, is moist and delicious! Thank you Jenny.”

GEERT MADE A CALZONE WITH MY PIZZA DOUGH RECIPE
“With your recipe for pizza dough, I made a Calzone pizza today. It was delicious and my house smelled like a pizzeria. Thank you!”

YOLY MADE MY EASY DINNER ROLLS
“Thank you Jenny. Delicioso..”

SYLVIA MADE MY CINNAMON ROLLS
“Cinnamon buns made the night before and baked this morning! Everyone said they were better than store-bought 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!”

KATIE MADE MY CHRUSCIKI
“My cousin Katie Pittas baked these, I could not resist to post. Well done cousin Katie Pittas. – Kati.“

YOLANDA MADE MY SIMPLE WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
“I made two loaves today and looks good taste gooood .Thank you very much Jenny for your recipes. I am so proud of myself. WOW.”

KATI MADE MY GRANOLA
“Yummmmmmmy. So easy.”

SYLVIA MADE MY  NO KNEAD BREAD
“Made your no-knead bread recipe in a stainless steel pot with a lid since I didn’t have a Dutch oven. Turned out amazing! Thanks for easy instructions :)”

THERESA MADE MY SIMPLE WHOLE BREAD
“Jenny, I proofed my yeast and kneaded a few extra minutes. I love the soft texture and finer grain. Thank you so much for your help. You have inspired me to try more types of bread.”

ENNEJ MADE (CUSTOMIZED) MY WHITE BREAD
“Here’s your white bread turned into our “everything” bread.  Just before we put the bread in the oven we brush the top with an egg white and then sprinkle on dried chopped onion, dried garlic chips, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and a little course salt.  Oh my, this bread is incredible.”

GEERT MADE MY CINNAMON ROLLS
“Dear Jenny, Happy New year 2016! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes. Yesterday, I made your cinnamon rolls and they were absolutely fantastic! yours sincerely, Geert (Belgium).”

VICTORIA MADE MY TORTILLAS
“Hi Jenny, You are such a joy to watch and to follow along using your recipes. I just made the tortillas and used these for dinner tonight, making a quessadia. Thanks, Victoria Wingo – Maine.”

CONNOR MADE MY CHOCOLATE PUDDING
“Hi, Jenny I made your chocolate pudding in the microwave and made it even healthier. I used stevia instead of sugar. I whisked together the stevia, corn starch, cocoa. Then I slowly added the milk. I heated it for 3 minutes on full power. Then I stirred it and heated it for 1 more minute. I didn’t put in the egg yolk.”