Holiday Baking Archives - Sensory Nutrition

Fearless Holiday Baking With Yeast Part 2 of 2

In Part 1 of 2 of our series on baking with yeast, we mentioned a bit about the history of baker’s yeast and some details concerning fresh yeast and active dry yeast. In this Part 2 of 2 of our baking with yeast series, we’ll discuss how to “proof” or “bloom” active dry yeast prior to incorporating it into recipes, as well as the various offerings under the category of instant dry yeast and some pointers when it comes to using it. Also feel free to check out our accompanying picture-based recipe blog post on how to make G’s Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls.

Gluten-Free for the Holidays and Everyday

(November 8, 2013 NOTE: This blog post has been significantly updated since originally posted. You might want to also see these related blog posts: Holiday Baking- Does Your Choice of Flour Really Matter? Gluten-Free Update January 2012 Including Apps Gluten-Free Update Potpourri Gluten Free Update June 2012 November 2012 Potpourri: Gluten; Diabetes; 2013 Women’s Heart Health ) The holidays are exciting and everyone looks forward to them, although if you need to follow a special diet, it may be a bit disconcerting to think about how to handle a wide range of holiday situations. How do you deal with invitations to

Holiday Baking – What’s Up With Nut Prices?

Many holiday recipes, especially for baked goods, feature tree nuts in them. Nuts can contribute wonderful sensory qualities as well as terrific nutritional value when used in moderation as part of a healthier diet. That said, what’s up with nut prices this holiday baking season? Are dramatically higher prices a one time fluke or are they here to stay for awhile?

Holiday Yeast Baking: G’s Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls

G’s Heavenly Cinnamon Rolls recipe was adapted from other cinnamon rolls recipes by our webmaster to have a more heathful profile overall for baking a yeast-based cinnamon roll. Each 3+” diameter cinnamon roll from the adapted recipe features an overall lower fat and lower saturated fat content than other typical cinnamon rolls, features applesauce as a replacement for fat in the actual dough, is higher in whole grain content through the use of some* white whole wheat flour to replace some of the all-purpose unbleached flour, is lower in overall sugars, yet when iced still offers the appeal of those

Fearless Holiday Baking With Yeast Part 1 of 2

Are you a seasoned home baker who doesn’t hesitate to work with yeast dough, or does the thought of working with baker’s yeast make you nervous? Have you ever wished you knew more about yeast baking so that you would always be successful in working with any form of baker’s yeast sold to consumers? Have you ever wished you could get some yeast risings to go a bit faster to save some time making a recipe from start to finish? Have you ever wondered about the differences between fresh yeast, active dry yeast, and instant dry yeast? We’d love to

Solar Panels Powered House: Pointers for Baking & Cooking

Preparing a holiday (Thanksgiving) meal using an electric stove provided a new twist for us this year. It turned out to be an eye-opening event. The stove’s performance was enhanced in an unexpected way! (Roof solar cell powered house photo ©2012 courtesy of DCH in conjunction with Sensory Nutrition.com)

Holiday Baking – Does Your Choice of Flour Really Matter?

In the culinary arts, there are “formulas” or “ratios” for preparing baked goods that are the basis for any category of product. To create different varieties of cookies, for example, the basic formula of ingredients is tweaked. This series on holiday baking will focus on some of those ingredients and how they affect your sensory perception of the finished baked good product, starting with cookies. Today’s blog post will look at one key ingredient: flour. With so many flour options on the market, you may wonder if your choice of flour really might matter when it comes to baked goods in

Savory Cheese Rolls

I use the Red Star Yeast Savory Cheese Rolls recipe. This is a batter dough method yeast roll recipe, so requires NO kneading! Once the dough has risen in the bowl, you beat it down, fill muffin cups, allow the dough to rise again, then simply bake it off. If for some reason you don’t like celery seed, but do like fennel seed, then you could probably add 1 tsp dried Herbs de Provence to this roll recipe in place of the celery seed if desired (and IF you aren’t making a bread stuffing recipe as well for the Thanksgiving Holiday–bread stuffing

Holiday Baking – Very Easy-to-Make Peanut Butter Blossoms Cookies

Want a cookie recipe that is EASY to make & that virtually any one can make for the holidays? (or any other time for that matter!) These work quite well for many a cookie exchange, too.

Holiday Baking – Cookie Making Tips

If you are making any type of drop sugar cookie recipes up this holiday season, here are some easy to remember tips to keep in mind…