Baking with Less Sugar (15 page)
Read Baking with Less Sugar Online
Authors: Joanne Chang
MAKES
15
TO
18
BISCOTTI
- 150 g/1
1
/
2
cups walnuts, coarsely chopped - 3 large eggs
- 225 g/
2
/
3
cup honey - 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp finely grated orange zest
- 315 g/2
1
/
4
cups all-purpose flour - 1 tsp baking powder
- 1
/
4
tsp kosher salt - 120 g/1 cup dried cranberries
1.
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325°F [165°C]. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.
Put the walnuts on the prepared baking sheet and toast for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
3.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or with an electric hand mixer or by hand with a whisk), whisk together the eggs, honey, vanilla, and orange zest on medium-high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, or until well combined.
4.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and, using a wooden spoon, mix the two together for 2 to 3 minutes, or until thoroughly combined into a thick dough. You may need to switch to mixing the dough with your hands since the batter can get stiff.
5.
Dump the dough onto the prepared baking sheet and pat it out into a log about 5 in [13 cm] wide, 12 in [30 cm] long, and 1 in [3 cm] high. It's helpful to wet your hands in a bowl of cold water as you're shaping the log so they won't stick to the dough.
6.
Bake the log for 40 to 50 minutes, or until completely browned and firm. Check it by pressing a finger firmly into the middleâit should not give at all. Remove the log from the oven and let it cool on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes, or until it is cool enough to handle comfortably. Decrease the oven temperature to 200°F [95°C].
7.
Transfer the log to a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, slice the log on the diagonal into biscotti that are
1
/
2
in [1 cm] thick. You should get 15 to 18 biscotti. (At this point, you can store the once-baked biscotti in the freezer, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 1 month.)
8.
Arrange the biscotti on the baking sheet, with a cut-side down, and bake for 3 to 4 hours, or until the biscotti are completely baked through. Test by poking at the middle of one of the cookies; it should be completely hard. Turn off the oven and leave the biscotti in the oven overnight. Remove the biscotti from the oven.
9.
Biscotti can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.
With all of the tasting I do during the day, I rarely find myself hungry, but I often worry that I'm not eating as well as I should. (I guess that's what happens when you eat Breton butter cakes and
brioche au chocolat
for breakfast, brownie scraps and Boston cream pie trimmings and banana bread bites for lunch, and apple cake edges and muffin tops for afternoon snacks.) Even our granola bar, touted by many to be a healthy choice for a snack, is laden with butter and sugar, making it better suited as an occasional indulgence than a really-healthy-and-good-for-you daily treat.
These bars fit the bill for something sweet and indulgent tasting yet full of nuts and dried fruits and good-for-you grains. It's gluten free as well if you source your oats from a gluten-free company (oats themselves are gluten free but most companies process wheat with the same machines that process the oats, cross-contaminating them). I tested these way more times than I needed to simply because I loved having them on hand as a wonderful way to get a quick, healthy energy boost. I tried them with and without the banana (the banana makes a moister bar with a sweeter flavor), and I changed up the nuts and fruits based on what I had in-house. Play around with what suits you; you won't regret having extras on hand as you test.
MAKES
16
BARS
- 75 g/
3
/
4
cup walnuts, coarsely chopped - 75 g/
3
/
4
cup slivered almonds - 75 g/
3
/
4
cup pecan pieces - 40 g/
1
/
2
cup dried apple slices, chopped - 60 g/
1
/
2
cup dried cranberries - 60 g/
1
/
2
cup dried apricots, diced - 60 g/
1
/
2
cup sultanas (golden raisins) - 60 g/
1
/
2
cup raisins - 50 g/
1
/
2
cup almond flour - 60 g/
1
/
2
cup buckwheat flour - 100 g/1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant or quick cooking)
- 40 g/
1
/
2
cup unsweetened shredded coconut - 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 100 g/
1
/
2
cup vegetable oil, such as canola - 115 g/
1
/
3
cup honey - 1 super-ripe banana, mashed (optional)
- 40 g/
1
/
4
cup flaxseed - 35 g/
1
/
4
cup sunflower seeds - 50 g/
1
/
4
cup millet
1.
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F [175°C].
2.
Put the walnuts, almonds, and pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.
3.
Put the dried apples, cranberries, apricots, sultanas, and raisins in a medium bowl and pour boiling water over the fruit to cover. Let sit for 30 minutes.
4.
Decrease the oven temperature to 325°F [165°C]. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
5.
In a large bowl, combine the nuts, almond flour, buckwheat flour, oats, coconut, salt, cinnamon, vegetable oil, honey, banana (if using), flaxseed, sunflower seeds, and millet. Using a wooden spoon, stir well until thoroughly combined.
6.
Drain the fruit into a medium bowl, reserving
1
/
4
cup [60 ml] of the soaking water and discarding the rest of the liquid. Divide the fruit roughly in half, place half in a food processor or in a blender, and add the reserved soaking water. Process until you have a chunky jam. Add the jam to the nut mixture along with the remaining whole fruit. Stir well to combine.
7.
Press the mixture evenly on the prepared baking sheet into a rectangle about 12 by 8 in [30 by 20 cm]. Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle in half lengthwise and then cut each half into 8 pieces widthwise so you have a total of 16 bars. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown throughout. Reduce the oven temperature to 250°F [120°C] and continue to bake for another hour. Turn off the oven and let the bars sit in the oven until completely cool. They will get pretty dark, but that is okay.
8.
Remove from the oven and, using a sharp knife, recut the bars along the marks to separate (they will have joined slightly during baking). The bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
We bake so much bread for our sandwiches at the bakery that we are constantly trying to come up with fun, creative ways to use up the bread ends: We give them away with soup, we cut them into croutons, we bag them up and sell huge bags of ends for about a buck-and-a-half (best deal in town!). Making bread pudding is my favorite use for the extra bread. This one is filled with naturally sweet bananas, a touch of cinnamon, and honey to round it out. I love eating it warm out of the oven, but I'll admit to also sneaking bites of it straight from the refrigeratorâit's that good.
SERVES
6
TO
8
- 960 g/4 cups half-and-half
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1
/
4
tsp kosher salt - 225 g/
2
/
3
cup honey - 3 large eggs plus 4 egg yolks
- 3 super-ripe bananas, mashed (really ripeâI mean it! Black and spotty on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside)
- 6 cups bread cubes, either with or without crusts, about 1 in [3 cm] cubed (weight will depend on type of bread used; we use day-old white bread)
- Unsweetened heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks, for garnish
1.
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F [175°C].
2.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, cinnamon, salt, honey, eggs, and egg yolks, then whisk in the mashed bananas. Put the bread cubes in a 9-by-13-in [23-by-33-cm] baking pan and pour the liquid ingredients over the bread. Mix the bread well into the custard to ensure everything is well combined.
3.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the pudding is firm when you press it in the center and it is just starting to brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 30 to 45 minutes.
4.
Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or with an electric hand mixer or by hand with a whisk), whip the cream on medium speed until it holds soft peaks that droop a little when the whisk is lifted.
5.
Serve the bread pudding warm, topped with unsweetened softly whipped cream, or store in the refrigerator and serve cold. The bread pudding can be stored, well wrapped with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
In my family, my nickname in Chinese is “Rice Head” because of how much I adore rice. I eat a bowl nightly at dinner and have my entire life. I still remember the first time I learned about rice pudding: my absolute favorite foodâriceâcombined with my obsession with all things sweet? SCORE! Rice pudding allows me to indulge in rice in an entirely different way. Sweetened with a little honey and currants (feel free to substitute raisins if you don't have currants) and vanilla (don't skimp on thisâbuy a fresh vanilla bean and it will make a dramatic difference in the end result), it is super simple and crazy delicious. Enjoy this pudding warm or cold.
SERVES
3
OR
4
- 960 g/4 cups whole milk
- 1 whole cinnamon stick
- 1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
- 100 g/
1
/
2
cup jasmine or white basmati rice - 60 g/
1
/
2
cup currants or raisins - 3 egg yolks
- 170 g/
1
/
2
cup honey - 1
/
4
tsp ground cinnamon - 1
/
4
tsp kosher salt
1.
Place the milk and cinnamon stick in a medium saucepan. Using a small paring knife, scrape the seeds from the split vanilla bean into the milk; throw in the pod as well. Bring the milk to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in the rice with a wooden spoon and decrease the heat to a low simmer. Cook the rice slowly in milk for 20 to 25 minutes, uncovered, or until the rice is soft. Stir regularly during cooking with the wooden spoon to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom.
2.
Remove from the heat, remove the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean pod, and stir in the currants. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and honey; slowly ladle the hot milk-rice mixture into the yolks, whisking all the while. Continue adding hot milk-rice to the yolks until about half of it is mixed in. (This is called tempering: you are slowly adding hot to cold and gently bringing up the temperature of the cold item to meet the hot.) Dump the rice mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in the ground cinnamon and salt.
3.
Serve warm, or refrigerate and serve cold. The rice pudding can be stored, well wrapped with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
A light, luscious dessert whose sophisticated taste belies the ease in putting it together, this parfait is a perfect dessert to end a summer dinner party. Prepare the parfaits in the afternoon, store them in the refrigerator, and simply pull them out at dessert time to “wows” and “ah-h-h-s.” Feel free to vary the fruit. As with most fruit desserts, for the best result, be sure to select the ripest, sweetest fruit.