A Baker's Guide to Chocolate
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A Baker’s Guide to Chocolate A Baker’s Guide Table of Contents: A Baker’s Guide to Chocolate.............................................................................. 2 Tips for Great Brownies.................................................................................... 3 to Chocolate Father and Son Secrets to Great Chocolate Chip Cookies................................. 5 Drizzle a Little Chocolate.................................................................................. 5 Frequently Asked Questions about Chocolate.................................................. 6 A collection of recipes How to Make Chocolate Covered Caramel Apples............................................ 7 and useful information Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins...................................................................... 9 Banana Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins...................................................... 10 Cranberry Chocolate Chip Cookies................................................................... 11 Sweet Chocolate Braided Bread....................................................................... 12 How to Braid Bread (Challah).......................................................................... 14 Three-in-One Chocolate Chip Cookies.............................................................. 16 White Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut Cookie Recipe............................. 18 Serious Chocolate Chunk Cookies..................................................................... 19 Butterscotch Chip Oat Cookies......................................................................... 20 Macadamia and Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies...................................... 21 Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies with Ganache Filling.................................. 22 Sugar Crusted Currant or Cranberry Scones.................................................. 23 Chocolate Walnut Refrigerator Cookies.......................................................... 24 Double Chocolate Sandwich Cookies............................................................... 25 Chocolate Raspberry Sandwich Cookies......................................................... 26 Chocolate Pintos Cookies Recipe...................................................................... 27 Cherry Chocolate Cookies................................................................................. 28 Mayan Chocolate Chip Brownies..................................................................... 29 Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies......................................................................... 30 Mrs. Wilson’s Chocolate Chip Refrigerator Cookies....................................... 32 The Prepared Pantry 3847 East 38 North Rigby, ID 83442 208-745-7892 www.preparedpantry.com Copyright 2006-2015, The Prepared Pantry. All rights reserved. The material herein is published by The Prepared Pantry for the private use of individuals and may not be used for commercial purposes without the express consent of the publisher. The in- formation contained herein is believed accurate but the publisher makes no warranties, express or implied, and the recipient is using this information at his or her own risk. A Baker’s Guide to Chocolate A Baker’s Guide to Chocolate A Baker’s Guide to Tips for Great Chocolate Brownies What’s the best way to melt butter and chocolate together? What’s the difference between bittersweet Sweet baking chocolate--bittersweet, chocolate and semisweet chocolate? Can I use semisweet chocolate--has sugar added. These We like to use the microwave. With many Dutch cocoa in all my recipes calling for cocoa? products must contain 35 to 50% cocoa butter recipes, you can melt the chocolate and Understanding the difference in chocolate and but may have as little as 15% chocolate liquor. butter in the mixing bowl and have a one- how they are used is essential to baking. In this Because unsweetened chocolate has twice the bowl recipe. Melt the butter first. Chop guide, we’ll identify the characteristics of those chocolate liquor, we prefer to use unsweetened the chocolate into bits and add that to the chocolates used in baking. chocolate in most of our baking. melted butter. Stir gently. If the chocolate is not entirely melted, heat again. Cocoa is the dry chocolate powder derived Bittersweet and semisweet chocolate from chocolate liquor. It comes in two types: can be used interchangeably in recipes Why is the consistency of my batter different natural and Dutch process. Dutch processed though there is a difference in flavor. Often, each time I make my favorite recipe? cocoa is processed with an alkaline. It is bittersweet is a more expensive chocolate and It could be the heat of the melted butter slightly darker, smoother, and more easily to many, a better, richer-flavored chocolate. and chocolate mixture. The warmer the dissolved than natural cocoa. In many melted butter and chocolate mixture, the Milk chocolate is made with ten percent recipes, natural cocoa and Dutch cocoa are thinner the batter. Will my brownies continue to bake in the pan? not interchangeable. Natural cocoa is slightly chocolate liquor. It contains a minimum of acidic and will therefore chemically react with twelve percent milk solids. Because it has such Can I leave the nuts out of my brownie Yes. Heavy glass pans retain heat better baking soda to create carbon dioxide bubbles a low percentage of chocolate liquor, rarely is it recipe? and will cause brownies to continue cookie and some leavening power. Dutch cocoa is melted and added to batter or dough. longer. You can always pull the pan out just Yes but the texture of the brownies will be slightly alkaline, will not react with baking a few minutes early. different. Without the nuts, the brownies soda, and must rely on baking powder for White chocolate contains no chocolate will be much denser. Will the type of pan that I use affect baking leavening. liquor but is made with cocoa butter. Historically, the FDA has not regulated the times? How do I make my brownies less cake-like manufacture of white chocolate so you need to Bitter (unsweetened) baking and more dense and moist? Yes. Baking times is one of the great varia- chocolate is made from pure chocolate read labels carefully. If the product was made bles in baking. The pan as well as the oven, liquor. By specification, it must contain with vegetable oil instead of cocoa butter, it Try reducing the flour by one-third. It’s the shelf location, and the ingredients, af- 50 to 58 percent cocoa butter though with will not perform the same as a product with all that butter, eggs, and sugar compared fect baking times. Check your baked goods inferior products, vegetable oil may he added. cocoa butter. to a relatively small proportion of flour at least five minutes before the allotted Depending on the producer, milk solids, that makes brownies dense. Brownies time. Dark pans tend to bake quicker than vanilla, or salt may be added. I have a package Chocolate chips are made with chocolate seem to be very forgiving and allow for light pans. A silver pan may take much in front of me that contains only chocolate and liquor with only minimal amounts of cocoa experimentation. longer to bake. butter. Instead, they are made with vegetable milk solids. Unsweetened chocolate has a bitter How do I tell when my brownies are done? taste and relies on sweeteners in the recipe to oil and stabilizers to help them hold their Can I drizzle chocolate over my brownies? shape. Without the cocoa butter, chocolate make it palatable. The appearance of the brownies in the Yes. Carefully melt the chocolate over a chips have a different taste and mouth feel. pan will change with a dryer, less-glossy double boiler or in the microwave with Chocolate chips will have a firmer set in look. The brownies will be firmer. Most one teaspoon of shortening added for each puddings, pie fillings, and sauces than baking cookbooks tell you to stick a knife or a three ounces of chocolate or 1/2 cup of chocolate. Chocolate chips can be purchased in toothpick in the center of the cake. If it chips. The shortening will help the choco- milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate. is cake -like and done, it will come out late set up. clean. A dense brownie will still have some moist crumbs sticking to the tooth- How do you prepare the pan for brownies? pick when it is done. Brownies over baked We usually line our pan with parchment for even a couple minutes will be much paper or foil. Here’s how you do it: Lightly drier. grease the pan with butter or shortening, 2 3 A Baker’s Guide to Chocolate A Baker’s Guide to Chocolate Roll the dough pieces with a rolling Sweet Chocolate Braided Bread pin to rectangles 15 inches by 5 inches. Spread one-third of the filling down the center of each leaving a one-inch border with no filling. Roll the rectan- gle into fifteen-inch long ropes with the cup brown sugar filling inside. Pinch any seams together 1/3 cup cocoa and roll the ropes with your hands on the counter until smooth. 4 tablespoons butter 1/2 teaspoon salt 5. Braid the three ropes as if you were braiding pigtails. (Some people find it 1 large egg at room temperature easier to create a symmetrical shape For the filling if they start braiding from the center.) When you get to the ends, wet them, 5 ounces cream cheese pinch them together, and tuck them 1 ounce semi-sweet baking chocolate, under. You should have a neat, sym- melted 3 tablespoons granulated sugar metrical loaf when you are through. While challah is a traditional