Bread dough too dry? Cookie dough too heavy? You probably didn’t aerate your flour.
The two cups in this photo are exactly the same size. The left (red) one contains flour that I aerated, scooped into the cup, and leveled off with the back of a knife. The right (blue) one I did NOT aerate, just scooped it into the cup, and leveled it off with the back of a knife. Then I weighed the flour from both cups.
You can see that the flour that was aerated (red) weighs less than the NOT aerated flour (blue) and that’s because flour settles in the bag or container and if you measure it without aerating, you will probably be using too much flour. This can cause baking problems, especially if you consider that 3 cups of flour, that should weigh 13 1/2 ounces might weigh 15 3/4 ounces if not aerated before measuring. That’s exactly 1/2 cup more flour than you need!
Oh… one more thing. Aerating is not sifting. To aerate flour, you simply stir it around in the container with a spoon or spatula to incorporate some air. You can see how I aerate flour in my Quick and Easy Chocolate Cake video at the one minute mark: Click here to see it. I hope this is helpful and you have great results with all your baking. ? – Jenny Jones
If you like baking without butter, this marble cake is one to try. It’s not too sweet with lots of dark chocolate swirls. With all the controversy about butter being good or bad for you, I still bake mostly without butter just in case they are wrong again. And I don’t miss the butter in this moist and light cake.
A marble loaf never looks the same twice and when you slice it you never know what the swirl will look like. I always hope it will have an even mix of white and chocolate just like this…
My baking cocoa of choice is Dutch process, which produces a rich dark color and is less bitter than regular powdered cocoa. You can find Droste brand at World Market. I also really enjoy adding some fresh orange zest to this pound cake because chocolate and orange go great together. Plain or with orange, you won’t find a marble loaf this good at any store. Try it for dessert or afternoon tea, or serve it when you have company and wait for the raves. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I love all desserts made with apples so I try to make them as healthy as I can and still be delicious. I did it with this easy homemade apple crisp. It’s made with 100% whole grains, no butter, and not too much sugar. You can use butter if you like but you’ll be using a lot less butter than most other recipes.
There’s not much cleanup here either – basically just one bowl and a cutting board. I combine the apples in a plastic bag and you don’t even need a mixer. I use granny smith apples, which are always available, but make sure you slice them thinly so they cook up nice and soft.
Considering the ingredients (rolled oats, whole wheat pastry flour, lots of apples) I thought, “Why can’t I have this for breakfast?” If you can have oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, well that’s what’s in my apple crisp. I even put it in the breakfast category because compared to some breakfasts, like a bagel with cream cheese (no fiber/no fruit), this is a healthier choice. And more fun. Sometimes my breakfast is a hard boiled egg, toast, and apple crisp for dessert. Yum!
Oh, and you can add nuts to the topping if you like (more protein if it’s breakfast!). Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Guess what? I just found out that my video for these fall off the bone ribs is the second highest viewed ribs recipe on youtube after Gordon Ramsey. Well knock me over with a spatula! It makes me proud because I was just making my home videos for fun, never expecting them to be so popular. But that means lots of people are cooking at home and I’m glad my videos and recipes are helping. Here are my current top 5 most viewed videos.
Fall Off The Bone Ribs – 4 million views
Cabbage Rolls – 3.9 million views
Faster No Knead Bread – 2.8 million views
Easy Whole Wheat Bread – 2.8 million views
Hash Browns – 2 million views (My Hash Browns? I couldn’t believe it!)
It’s exciting to watch these numbers grow. I don’t make ribs often but when I do, I always find myself saying, “Wow, I forgot how good these are!” If you haven’t tried them yet, summer is coming! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Thank you all for taking the time to take a photo and send it to me, and it’s always nice to see where you are from. Please send your photo to: YourPhotos@JennyCanCook.com
SABINE (from Germany) MADE MY NO KNEAD BREAD
“Dear Jenny. Today I had to bake your yummie bread again. I’ ve put some seeds into the dough. Tomorrow we will have a very nice breakfast again. Lots of greetings out of my kitchen.”
~ Seeds sound like a healthy addition. Thank you for the photo.~ jenny
DALILA MADE MY OVEN BAKED DOUGHNUTS
“Hi Jenny! ? I had a taste for doughnuts, so I whipped up a batch of your delicious BAKED DOUGHNUTS. I did make a slight change by adding some diced strawberries to them this time. I also made the glaze with a hint of strawberry in it. I’ve made your baked doughnuts many times before and the are always a huge hit. I never have any leftovers….LOL!! I’ve even done double batches and I still have no leftovers! As always your recipe never fails, they came out wonderful! I’m not sure how these taste or keep for the next day…..all gone again! LOL!! Have a wonderful day Ms. Jenny! Happy Baking! ?”
~ Strawberry doughnuts with a strawberry glaze – sounds wonderful!~ jenny
KARINA MADE MY CINNAMON ROLLS, COOKIES, BREAD & ROLLS
“Hi Jenny. I’m really happy that I have found your website with all those great recipes. Today I have tried the cinnamon rolls, oatmeal cookies, whole wheat bread loaf and dinner rolls with a bit of a twist: I’ve filled them with mincemeat and sprinkled with poppy seeds. They’re wonderful, the dough has risen perfectly with a nice crust and delicious. Here’s a picture. Thanks for sharing your recipes! Cheers!”
~ Wow! This is my first quadruple recipe photo. Thank you so much!~ jenny
Bread dough too dry? Cookie dough too heavy? You probably didn’t aerate your flour.
