Baking with the Behrman's
In the Behrman family, we love to bake!
Do you like baking? I know I do!
You may not know this, but I used to be a science teacher, and part of what I love about cooking is that it is science in action. You get to combine a set of ingredients and make something totally different. One of my favorite cookbooks is actually written by someone who used to work in science, but left his job as a biologist and now owns his own restaurant. Below I will share with you some of my family's favorite recipes as well as some videos that we put together showing you how to make what we're making.
First you'll see a picture of the ingredients, then the recipe is written out, and finally a video. Unfortunately something seems to have happened to our video for the pancake party, so I can't share that here. If your parents are on Facebook and part of the Fishers Elementary PTO Page, you can see the video there!
If you participate, let me know what you made! Did you make one of my recipes? Or did you decide to bake something of your own? I can't wait to see it!!!
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
The recipe:
- 2 Cups uncooked Elbow Macaroni (or whatever kind of noodles you want)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups shredded cheese - Cheddar or American
Preheat over to 350˚ F.
Boil water and cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain and reserve cooked noodles.
Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper; blend well. Cook over medium-low heat until bubbly. Slowly add milk stirring constantly until thickened. Add cheese and stir.
Combine cheese sauce and cooked macaroni. Bake in a casserole pan or souffle dish for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly at 350˚ F.
Serve while hot!
The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!
The Recipe:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter - super soft (let it sit out for a day before baking)
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons nonfat milk powder (if you don't have this, it's ok, but it's amazing what this does to the flavor!!!)
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 12-ounce bag chocolate chips
Prep!
Heat the oven to 350˚F.
Mix the wet!
In a large bowl, and using a wooden spoon or sturdy spatula (or you could use a stand mixer) mix together the butter and sugars (for about 2 minutes) until they are fully combined. Add egg and vanilla and stir until combined and fluffy, about 1 minute.
Mix and combine!
In a medium bowl mix the flour, milk powder, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and add to the sugar mixture, mixing until just combined.
If your dough looks really wet (maybe your butter was melted, not just softened) or shiny/oily, you can put your dough in the fridge for a few minutes to firm it up before the next step.
Chocolate time!
Stir in the chocolate chips
Scoop and bake!
Use your butter wrappers to oil the pans (or you could use a baking spray). Scoop your dough in 2 tablespoon-sized pieces and place 2-3 inches apart onto your baking sheets. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. With oven mitts, remove the baking sheets from the oven and cool the cookies completely on the baking sheets. Store in an airtight container for up to a week (who lets cookies this good last that long!!!).
Pancake Party!!!
The Recipe:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons oil
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl whisk together egg, milk, and oil. Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients in and combine with a spoon until just smooth.
Ingredients in the second picture can be used as mix-ins. See the video below for how we utilized those mix-ins in our house. Sometimes we also use frozen blueberries or other fresh fruit to mix in.
Fishers Elementary School
Website: https://fes.hseschools.org/
Location: 11442 Lantern Road, Fishers, IN, USA
Phone: (317) 594-4160
Twitter: @FESTigersHSE