Saturday, May 30, 2015

Confetti Cupcake Bites

My recipe makes half-size cupcakes, using nonpareils and jimmies in two half batches during one baking session. Contrast the results of the sprinkle types, and decide on your own single or duo sprinkle-type morsels. I've been dancing around using both kinds of sprinkles for cake mix cookies in a couple of previous recipe articles. This time, I'm talking about using cake mix for actual cake.

In case you're unfamiliar with differences between nonpareils and jimmies, "Sprinkles, Demystified: An Explanation of All Types" explains a main difference as shape—round for nonpareils and cylindrical for jimmies.
Round Sprinkles: These can more specifically be referred to as nonpareils. These are those teeny-tiny round balls that can come in a single color or in rainbow.

Cylinder Sprinkles: Sprinkles with a cylinder shape are made by mixing up a paste ...a little slower to “bleed” color than the nonpareil type of sprinkle. ....In some parts of the United States, particularly Pennsylvania and the Northeast, this type of sprinkle (the chocolate type in particular, it seems) are referred to as “Jimmies”.
Caution: Nonpareils "bleed" rather readily in moisture, even more so with cake batter than with cooky dough as in my "Rainbow Nonpareil Cake Mix Cookies" recipe. Thus, minimize time and effort when stirring nonpareils into batter.

My pixstrip shows the following image areas:
  1. Implements
  2. Ingredients
  3. Mixed cake mix batter
  4. Batter divided into two Pyrex bowls—with nonpareils in the left bowl and jimmies in the right bowl
  5. Each batter type in separate cupcake pans
  6. Baked cupcakes
  7. Cut sample cupcakes for visual contrast
  8. Some cupcake bites arranged in a tin
Implements
  • Mixing bowl
  • Electric mixer
  • Cup for eggs
  • Measuring cup(s) for dispensing batter
  • Tablespoon measuring spoon for measuring sprinkles
  • Spatula for scraping batter
  • Same-size bowls if making separate batches of nonpareil and jimmies batter (If making only one kind of cupcake, skip using these two bowls.)
  • Cupcake pans
Ingredients
  • 1 box cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Golden Vanilla.)
  • Eggs (as listed on box)
  • Cooking oil (as listed on box)
  • Water (as listed on box)
  • Sprinkles as follows (option a, b, or c—pixtrip shows option "a".):
    1. 2 T nonpareils for 1/2 recipe, 4 T jimmies for the other 1/2 recipe
    2. 4 T nonpareils for a whole recipe
    3. 8 T jimmies for a whole recipe
  • Spray oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  2. Spray pans with oil.
  3. Follow box instructions for mixing powder, eggs, oil, and water together.
  4. If making separate nonpareil and jimmies recipes, divide the cake batter equally into two bowls. (I used two Pyrex bowls and evened out the weights.) If making a batch with only one type of sprinkles, skip this step.
  5. Add the sprinkles.
    • When using nonpareils, measure and very lightly stir them into the batter to minimize color "bleed".
    • When using jimmies, measure and stir them into the batter, but don't worry about color "bleed".
  6. Scoop the batter into the pan wells, each about 3/4 full. (For more crunch in the nonpareil version, sprinkle an additional pinchful over each well after dispensing the batter.)
  7. Bake for about 17-20 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick.
  8. Remove the baked cupcakes. Tilt them in the wells or place them onto a cooling rack to cool.
  9. Frost if desired. Beware of extra effort required and added calories in gilding the lily.
Post-Recipe Thoughts
Interestingly, the heat seemed to cause the jimmies to diffuse. That is, after baking, the jimmies looked wavy instead of retaining their rod shapes. But the jimmies morsels didn't bleed and change the cake color like the nonpareil morsels did.

When working with nonpareils, remember that they're itty bitty spheres. When I first opened the jar, I tilted it. Out came several orbs, rolling freely on the table, a challenge to easily stop their willy-nilly, runaway movements.

Cake mixes that already contain jimmies are available. When I made the jimmies version of cake mix cookies, using Betty Crocker's Party Rainbow Chip mix, I didn't think to sift it to measure the amount of jimmies. Maybe some day I'll break down and buy another box, remembering to check out the amount of jimmies before baking something.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Rainbow Nonpareil Cake Mix Cookies

Multicolor sprinkle decorations for packaged cookies, cakes, and cake mixes tend to more often be jimmies than nonpareils. These cookies vary from the ones I made when I used the Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip cake mix. Instead of using cake mix that already includes multicolor jimmies, I used basic cake mix and added rainbow nonpareils. (Wilton's product name is Rainbow Nonpareils.)

"Sprinkles, Demystified: An Explanation of All Types" explains a main difference as shape—round for nonpareils and cylindrical for jimmies.
Round Sprinkles: These can more specifically be referred to as nonpareils. These are those teeny-tiny round balls that can come in a single color or in rainbow.

Cylinder Sprinkles: Sprinkles with a cylinder shape are made by mixing up a paste ...a little slower to “bleed” color than the nonpareil type of sprinkle. ....In some parts of the United States, particularly Pennsylvania and the Northeast, this type of sprinkle (the chocolate type in particular, it seems) are referred to as “Jimmies”.
My pixstrip shows the following image areas:
  1. Implements
  2. Ingredients
  3. Stirred cake mix and nonpareils (dry ingredients)
  4. Stirred eggs and oil (wet ingredients)
  5. Blended dry and wet ingredients in the larger bowl
  6. Raw dough in pan
  7. Baked cookies in pan
  8. Cookies on a cooling rack (some flipped back to right side up)
Implements
  • Cooky pan(s)
  • Pastry blender
  • Mixing bowls (one medium-large, one small)
  • Measuring cup (optional for cracking eggs individually before pouring them into bowl)
  • Tablespoon for measuring out cooky dough
  • Spatula for scraping dough onto pan
  • Cooky spatula for lifting and transferring baked cookies
  • Cooling rack for baked cookies
Ingredients
  • 1 box vanilla cake mix (I used Betty Crocker French Vanilla.)
  • 4 Tablespoons Wilton Rainbow Nonpareils
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup cooking oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  2. Use the pastry blender to stir the cake mix powder and nonpareils together in a medium-large bowl.
  3. Use the pastry blender to stir the eggs and oil together in a small bowl.
  4. Pour the eggs and oil mixture into the larger bowl and combine the ingredients.
  5. Use a round tablespoon to scoop the dough. Shape to rounded, level, or concave height.
  6. Drop the spoon's dough onto the cooky sheet, using the rubber spatula to ease out each lump.
  7. Bake for about 9 to 11 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.
  8. Use the cooky spatula to lift and transfer the done cookies onto cooling rack.
The batch made 38 cookies, ~65 calories each.

Post-Recipe Thoughts
Those nonpareils in these cookies "bled" slightly into the dough during mixing, turning the dough a light bluish gray. Interestingly, enough of the nonpareils' texture remained so that after baking, the cookies still had some crunchiness within the soft texture. Eh, at some time, I should try another cooky batch with jimmies in an egg-oil-powder dough to see if the jimmies bleed.

A few months ago, I actually did bake a jimmies version, using Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip cake mix, but I used butter instead of oil. Looking at pix I had taken of the process for "EZ Buttery Confetti Cake Mix Cookies", the jimmies did not bleed and tint the egg-oil-powder dough.

The nonpareils came free with a supermarket promotion. Normal price would run about $1.75 for the 3-ounce jar. The four tablespoons amounted to over half the jar, thus, about a dollar's worth. Cake mix tends to run slightly more than a dollar for a 15.25-ounce box. The oil cost about 30¢, and the eggs cost about 34¢.

If I calculate the cookies as having free nonpareils, each cooky comes to a little over 4¢. If I include nonpareil price, each cooky comes to about 9¢. Sure, a big price difference. OTOH, you make them fresh instead of buying them from a store or bakery. Yum—freshness and lower cost!

For a quick reference to price of eggs and oil, scroll to the bottom table at "Whataburger Pancakes, Mix, or Scratch". (I calculated costs of scratch pancake ingredients, an egg and oil being two of the items.)
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Monday, April 27, 2015

Instant Pancake Mix, Info Table, Etc., for 12 Brands

Previously, I wrote Whataburger pancakes, Whataburger pancake mix, and scratch pancakes. Recently, a relative told me that she used to cook pancakes from scratch for her kids when they were growing up. At that time, no companies made convenient pancake powder, the "complete" kind that required only water.

Shortly after the discussion, I went to a supermarket and looked at the pancake/waffle mix aisle. Was I surprised to see so many brands! Initially, they all seemed to be 32-oz boxes, about six brands.

Upon a return trip for a closer look-see, I found 12 brands and took more detailed notes. All but two "complete" mixes are 32-ounce boxes. One anomalous brand is Krusteaz' Heart Healthy Light & Fluffy Buttermilk Complete Pancake Mix—28 ounces. The other anomalous brand is Betty Crocker Bisquick Buttermilk Pancake Mix Shake 'n Pour, which comes in two shaker-bottle sizes—5.1 and 10.6 ounces.

I googled the 12 brands and many of the ingredients. (Many of the chemical-sounding names seemed confusingly similar.) My compilation table, which I based on my previous article, includes compilation of ingredients for my scratch recipe ("0") and the 12 brands. I listed the general order of ingredient types as follows:
flours, sugars, milks, fats, eggs and non-egg emulsifiers, leavenings, salt, thickeners, and other additives (some groupings based on various Google researches on chemical names and purposes).
Note: In the table, each number in the heading row points to the URL of the pancake mix brand. Hover your pointer to see the brand name. Click to find details of the brands, including lists of ingredients and nutrition tables.

The total number of ingredients is near the bottom of the list. The scratch recipe ("0") ingredients—from Pillsbury's Simply From Scratch Volume 2 book—requires only eight items. Of course, this recipe requires getting and putting the ingredients together, as opposed to the convenience of using only powdered mix and water.

Ingredient, etc.
0
Flour
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
Whole wheat flour
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
Wheat gluten
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
Soy flour (defatted for brand #12)
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
y
y
y
Yellow corn flour
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
Sugar
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
Dextrose
n
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
Corn syrup solids
n
y
y
y
y
n
y
n
y
n
n
n
n
Whey
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
Buttermilk or milk/vinegar rplcmt
y
n
y
n
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
Nonfat milk
n
n
y
y
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
Lactic acid
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
y
n
Cooking oil (whatever's handy)
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Palm oil
n
y
y
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Soybean oil
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Canola oil
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
Canola or soybean oil
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
y
n
Hydrogenated Soybean
and/or Cottonseed Oil
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil
(Soybean and Cottonseed Oils)
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
y
Partially hydrogenated soybean oil
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
Monoglycerides
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Mono & diglycerides
n
n
n
y
n
n
y
y
y
n
n
n
n
Mono diglycerides
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
Egg white
n
y
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
y
y
Egg
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
y
n
n
n
Egg yolk
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Sodium caseinate
n
y
n
y
n
n
y
n
y
n
n
n
n
Lecithin (soy lecithin for brand #12)
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
Sodium stearoyl lactylate
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
Baking powder
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Monocalcium phosphate
n
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
n
y
y
y
Calcium acid pyrophosphate
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
y
Calcium phosphate
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
Sodium acid pyrophosphate
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Sodium aluminum phosphate
n
n
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
n
n
Salt
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
y
Modified food starch
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
Modified wheat starch
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
Corm starch
n
n
y
n
y
y
n
n
n
y*
n
n
n
Guar gum
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
Potassium bicarbonate
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
Calcium carbonate
n
n
y
y
y
n
n
y
y
y
n
n
n
Dipotassium phosphate
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Tricalcium Phosphate
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
Soy Protein Isolate
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
Natural flavors
n
n
y
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
Natural and artificial flavor
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n
Caramel color
n
n
y
n
y
n
n
y
n
n
n
n
n

Total ingredients/option (0-12)
8
15
15
14
14
12
13
18
15
13
12
16
13
Water (C) for each 1 C of mix (3 svgs)
NA
2/3
2/3
3/4
2/3
2/3
3/4
3/4
3/4
3/4
2/3
3/4
**
One serving of mix (C)
NA
1/3
1/3
1/3
1/3
1/2
1/3
1/3
1/3
1/2
1/2
1/2
Total servings/container
NA
18
23
20
23
15
23
18
20
17
18
14
Price/32-ounce box
NA
2.78
1.85
2.37
 1.85 1.47 1.78 2.11 2.37 1.98 *** *** ***
* Hungry Jack corn starch ingredient—"colored with yellow 5 and red 40, iron, niacin, vitamin b6, riboflavin, thiamin mononitrate, folic acid, vitamin b12"

In preparation instructions, about half the brands call for a ratio of 2/3 cup of water to 1 cup of powder, and the rest of the brands call for 3/4 cup of water. (** Bisquick Shake 'n Pour's water requirement depends on the shaker-bottle size.)

The ranges for yields of 4" pancakes run as follows when using the 1 cup powder and 2/3 or 3/4 cup water: 5-6, 6-7, 6-8, 6-9, 7-8, 8-9, considered to be three servings. The total estimated servings for 32-ounce pages vary widely: from a low of 15 to high of 23. The Krusteaz Heart Healthy and Bisquick brands are special cases because their box weights are not 32 ounces.

Note: In brands' nutrition tables, most of the brands consider 1/3 cup of mix as one serving.

The prices for the powders range from $1.47 (Hill Country) to $2.78 (Whataburger).
*** Pricing for anomalies:
Krusteaz Heart Healthy mix, $2.08 for 28 oz
Bisquick Shake 'n Pour, $1.54 for 5.1 oz and $2.24 for 10.6 oz

Giving a backward glance to the compilation, my following thoughts:
  • Most of the brands use buttermilk.
  • Dextrose, another form of sugar, is listed as a separate item. And all the brands use both.
  • The brands vary in the numerous fats they use.
  • Sodium amounts per serving are high, and from more than just salt.
  • Many listed chemicals names and their inclusions as ingredients are mind-boggling. Many are leavenings, emulsifiers, and thickeners. Some seem to have obscure, niche purposes.
For an entertaining purpose for "complete" pancake mix, visit Game of Thrones ...pancakes? The YouTube page states "Ingredients: off-the-shelf mix + water. Make sure you mix it thoroughly and use a nonstick pan." Be sure to give into temptation to view additional pancake creations from channel owner Nathan Shields and others.

Additional pancake-theme articles:

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Friday, April 10, 2015

Whataburger Pancakes, Mix, or Scratch

Tried Whataburger pancakes? Yummy, quick, and economical! Know that you can buy Whataburger Pancake Mix at HEB? Have you tried making scratch pancakes? Also yummy, even more economical, but not quick! The scratch recipe, which I've used for many years (with slight occasional tweaks) comes from Pillsbury's Simply From Scratch Volume 2 booklet. This method of obtaining pancakes is yummy, slow, and economical, although surprisingly, more expensive that the Whataburger mix method.

Note: My article does not include info about other places that serve pancakes or other pancake mixes. (I do include a few links to scratch recipes farther down.)

Whataburger Pancakes—Buy at Restaurant
The least amount of effort for obtaining pancakes is going to Whataburger. The info doesn't state the diameter, but does state the calories as 720. Guessing the price might be less than $3, if available, as the pancake platter lists as $3.35. "Platter" indicates added sausage or bacon.

Whataburger Pancakes—Buy Powder and Make at Home
The next least effort for obtaining pancakes is making up a batch from Whataburger pancake powder. I bought a box (32 ounces) for $2.78. The batch had 2 cups of powder (~10 ounces) and 1 1/2 cup of water. One yield was 10 4" diameter cakes, another yield was 9 pancakes. OKaaaay. The box says that one serving is two 4" pancakes, totaling 180 calories—using 1/3 cup of powder.

According to a Whataburger press release,
The 32-ounce pancake mix uses the same ingredients and recipe used in Whataburger restaurants. Customers simply combine the mix with water and follow the instructions on the label to enjoy the light and fluffy Whataburger pancakes they love. Each package makes approximately 32 pancakes.
Um, the info conflicts with the package I bought, which claims 36 pancakes. Even weirder is the online two-package bundle info:
Two 1.75 lb (794g) pouches. Each pouch makes approximately 32 pancakes. ... Price: $14.99 (Yow! My one 32-oz box cost only $2.78.)
So now we have three stats for weight and estimated yield of pancakes:
  • 2#, 32
  • 2#, 36
  • 1.75#, 32
Proportionally, the 2#/36 and 1.75#/32 match up for weight and yield.

By my calculations, a 3-pancake Whataburger restaurant stack (720 calories) equals 4—FOUR powder-mixed pancake servings. ¡Ay, caramba! But wait! If I used 4 as a multiplier for powder stats vs. restaurant stats, the sodium ratios look to be way out of whack—1650 for restaurant pancakes, and 2560 for the powder-made pancakes. In any case, those sodium stats are way high!

Alrighty then. Because I made the middle range number of pancakes, the total calories came to 1080, ~540 for each of two people. Feeling better already that those two plates have fewer calories than two restaurant pancake stacks. Of course, I'm ignoring the addition of calories because of butter-type spread and syrup. Comparison of price: ~$6 vs less than $1 ($2.78 divided by 3 batches) if you supply your own labor.

Now inching towards discussing scratch pancakes. I use a half recipe from the Pillsbury scratch booklet, and I tweak it with added vanilla and cinnamon. The table below shows ingredients (but not quantity) mapped to Whataburger's powder:

Ingredient
W
Scratch
Flour
y
y
Soy flour
y
n
Sugar
y
y
Dextrose
y
n
Whey
y
n
Sodium caseinate
y
n
Milk
n
y
Vinegar
n
y
Cooking oil (whatever's handy)
n
y
Palm oil
y
n
Sodium bi aka baking soda
y
y
Baking powder
n
y
Sodium acid pyrophosphate
y
n
Salt
y
y
Corn syrup solids
y
n
Monocalcium phosphate
y
n
Egg white
y
n
Egg
n
y
Dipotasium phosphate
y
n
Monglycerides
y
n


In light of the Whataburger powder having so many more ingredients than my scratch ingredients, I think when I finish off the powder, I'll not buy more. Instead, I'll consider experimenting with other brands' powders that have fewer ingredients.

Scratch Pancakes, Tweaked From Pillsbury's Simply From Scratch Volume 2 booklet
The following tables list the main ingredients for my batch of scratch pancakes for amounts, cost, calories, and sodium:

Dry Ingredient Cost, Calories, Sodium
~1 cup flour 9¢ (1.68/5#, using 1/4#), 450, 3 mg
1 T sugar 2¢ (2.78/4#, using 1/128#), 50, 0 mg
1 t baking powder 2¢ (1.18/10oz, using 8/473 container), 0, 480 mg
1/2 t baking soda 0¢ (68/16oz, using 4/908 container), 0, 476 mg
1/2 t salt 0¢ (62/26oz, using 2/491 container), 0, 1180 mg
1 t cinnamon 6¢ (2.49/4oz, using 1/40 container), 6, 1 mg

Wet Ingredient Cost, Calories, Sodium
1 cup nonfat milk 25¢ ($2/64oz, using 1/8 container), 80, 100 mg
1 T vinegar 1¢ (44/16oz, using 1/32 container), 0, 0 mg
2 T cooking oil 5¢ (2.38/48oz, using 1/48 container), 240, 0 mg
1 egg 17¢ ($2/dozen), 70, 70 mg
1 t vanilla extract 18¢ (2.67/1.5oz, using 1/15 container), 12, 0 mg

Main Recommended Instructions for Making Scratch Pancakes
  • Note that ingredients and quantities vary slightly from recipe to recipe.
  • Have a separate bowl for mixing dry ingredients and one for wet ingredients.
  • Grease or spray oil onto the pan or griddle.
  • Make sure the pan is hot enough before pouring batter into it.
  • For each pancake, watch for bubbles to emerge from the uncooked side before flipping it over.
I am unable to find the Pillsbury Simply From Scratch recipe that I use. If you are somewhat experienced in pancake making, you can glean my list of ingredients. The milk and vinegar substitutes for buttermilk. The actual measurement is 1 T vinegar and 1 cup minus 1 Tablespoon milk. Numerous scratch pancake recipes are available through Googling and YouTube searches. Visit the following sites for ideas:
Scratch Pancakes vs. Whataburger Pancake Mix Stats
  • Scratch batch (9 to 10 pancakes): 908 calories, 2310 mg. $1.22 (excluding cinnamon and vanilla)
  • Whataburger batch (also 9 to 10 pancakes): 1086 calories, 3840 mg, $ .93
Clearly, the Whataburger mix, although more economical but requiring the less mixing effort than scratch pancakes, uses A LOT of sodium. Also, the powder includes more mystery ingredients than the scratch recipe does.

Additional pancake-theme articles:

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Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Why Are So Many Tortilla Chips Triangles?

These shapes force the eater to form a Wallace (of Wallace and Grommit) mouth shape for minimizing messiness when the chips have flavor powders, dip, queso, or nacho toppings. These chips can be (and have been) hazardous, especially if the toppings are hot, melted, or both. Ow!

Besides lots of tortilla chips, most Doritos are also triangles. Note, however, the niche line DINAMITA chip shape is rollup with various flavors. For the Jacked 3D product, the shape is triangular with thickness.

According to some commenters in an online discussion "How did Lays decide to make Doritos in the shape of a triangle?", Doritos and tortilla chips originated as wedges from round tortillas, or emulation of. At "Why are nacho chips triangular?", a commenter offers another explanation for the typical tortilla chip shape:
it represents the shape that creates the least amount of wastage and greatest amount of throughput, while still honoring the original wedge design (created from circular-shaped corn tortillas)
The YouTube video "How Tortilla Chips Are Made" shows the entire process. At the 2:20 time mark, the measurement for thinness displays 0.93 (assuming 1/32", by metric-to-inches conversion. A similar YouTube video with some different details is "How its made doritos Tortilla Chips", even though the product brand is actually Tom's.

In case you're confused about differentiating nachos, Doritos, and tortillas, "What is the difference between nachos, Doritos and tortillas?" succinctly explains, with pictures.

How about more info about Doritos? Visit "102 Doritos Flavors from Around the World". For a site that more emphasizes non-US Doritos, visit "35 Strange Doritos Flavors From Around The World (But Mostly Asia)". Note the Christmas tree shapes in #23 (Winter Cheese) and #30 (Roast Turkey). Another eye-catcher is the PIZZA-LA label.

Want to try making your own tortilla chips from tortillas? "HOMEMADE DORITOS STYLE CHIPS - Nicko's Kitchen" shows how. At the 1:20 time mark, Nicko mentions baking the oiled wedges at 170° C (338° F) for 7 to 10 minutes. He also suggests seasonings, one type being the flavorings from a mac 'n' cheese package.
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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Baking Cookies with Trader Joe Cake MIx

I was visiting a relative and wanted to bake some cookies using cake mix, eggs, and oil. She showed me her two boxes of cake mix, a Trader Joe's Golden Yellow cake mix, and a Duff's Zebra cake mix. I chose TJ's. This baking experiment produced results that differ from my standard cake mix cookies.

Standard cake mixes from Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, and Pillsbury weigh 15.25 ounces each these days. (Grrr! They used to weigh 18.25 ounces apiece.) The Trader Joe mix was 28 ounces. Funny thing, though, is that the pan and well sizes all claim the same thing—2 8" or 9" round layers, 9" x 13" rectangle sheet, or 24 cupcakes.

Wasn't sure I wanted to double my usual added ingredients (2 eggs and 1/3 cup of oil) for making the cookies because TJ weighed nearly twice as much as DH, BC, or Pillsbury. So I hedged my bets. My relative had larger eggs on hand than I usually do, so I used three. For the oil, I upped the amount to 1/2 cup. I should have taken TJ's cake ingredient requirements to be added into account—3 eggs, 1 cup water, 1 cup oil. BC, DH, and Pillsbury each call for 3 eggs, 1 cup or so water, and 1/2 cup oil—half the oil that TJ calls for.

Forged ahead with making the cooky dough with the pastry blender, then shaping cookies onto pans and baking at 350° for about 12 minutes each pan. The yield was 56 cookies. They tasted ok for not having additional enhancements.

Post-Baking Thoughts
  • The cookies stuck to the pan, requiring scraping with a spatula. Would put in 2/3 cup total oil AND spray the pans with spray oil.
  • I was correct to use more oil and eggs than normal, and ignoring TJ's yield prediction of same amount as BC, DH, and Pillsbury. TJ's yield was 56, compared to the other brands of about mid- to high 30s.
  • Would put in maybe 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for extra zing.
  • Would add chocolate chips, coconut, nuts, or combinations for additional textures.
My Non-TJ Cake Mix Cooky Recipes (Try 'em!)
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Friday, February 27, 2015

Do Vultures Really Eat Only Dead Prey?

Know the stereotype about a flock of vultures circling overhead, waiting for potential prey to die? They then approach the dead prey, feasting as they pick it apart. Can it be true that they don't kill a prey, but wait until it dies?

Nature shows have televised birds of prey, such as eagles and owls, targeting live prey and grabbing them with their talons. View an eagle swooping and snagging a fish. View a great gray owl "sniping" a vole, detecting and snatching it from under snow.

Well, I wasn't sure about vultures/buzzards being patient enough to wait for prey to die before they eat them. However, poking around google yields some interesting contrast between vultures and buzzards. From Is There a Difference Between a Vulture and a Buzzard?:
Buteos are true birds of prey. Unlike vultures, they have feathered heads and they hunt for and kill live prey, although they can and will eat carrion if it's available. … if you want to use the proper terminology, use the word "vulture" when talking about a scavenging bird with a sharp beak and a (usually) bald head, and "buzzard" when you're talking about a bird from the Buteo genus, such as the Common Buzzard.
From Difference Between Buzzards & Vultures:
New World vultures have very weak feet, which is fine for them since they don’t use them to grasp prey. They have a keen sense of smell. ... buzzard hawks and Old World vultures have strong feet to grasp prey and a weak sense of smell.

Vultures everywhere are known for eating carrion, otherwise known as dead animals. ... Buzzard hawks are birds of prey, eating small animals, insects and carrion.
I decided to look up "carrion". The definition sounds more specific than just dead meat—"dead and putrefying flesh". Ew! Putrefy means "to render putrid; cause to rot or decay with an offensive odor". Hooboy! Big difference between carnivore (essentially, flesh eater) and carrion eater!

Lots of cartoon images are available where one vulture says to its branch buddy, Patience my ass! I'm going to kill something!". I noted that most of the images use the more casual "gonna" in place of "going to". (I created my own vulture-pair image by using the YouTube video "Simple Art Style - How to draw a Vulture" as my guide.)

The pictures are from https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/black-vulture/ and https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/a-dark-encounter/, respectively. Thanks to Steven Schwartaman for permission to use them. Please visit and subscribe to his Portraits of Wildflowers blog for daily nature pictures and great commentary—way more than just wildflowers!

My takeaway from the vultures/buzzard research is that vultures dine on already dead meat, and buzzards hunt. Hmm, a wordplay term that contributes to muddying the contrast—vulture capitalist, a derogatory term for venture capitalist. In poking around at definitions for vulture capitalist, the similarity in characteristics seem to be that the prey is dying, and the vultures are waiting.

Update: March 30, 2015
Recently have received and found further info about vultures killing and eating prey, rather than waiting for prey to die.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Grateful for Autofills By Google and IMDB

How's your spelling for unusual names? Do you use autofill features to help spell words or names correctly? My Word Trips article from mid-May 2013 discusses words and meanings that cause me to slow down and do lookups. This time, I have some even more difficult-to-spell (imho) names—some sky objects, a couple of celebrity-star surnames, and additional spellcheck-stopper names. Use Google and IMDB for GREAT spelling helpers.

One starry starry night object that sends me to Google EVERY TIME is Pleiades. Hard to believe three different, consecutive vowels. The "i" before "E" except after "C" rule doesn't work here, and the "A" doesn't help. For readers who don't know anything about Pleiades, it's a great-looking star cluster in the northern hemisphere in the winter. The cluster looks like a smudge if viewing with the naked eye; it looks awesome with binoculars, and spectacular through a telescope.

More sky objects that have recently given me trouble with spelling are anything that starts with "Al", which makes me think of Al Borland from Home Improvement. Anyway, Google to the autofill rescue! Aldebaran and Albireo are both stars that give me problems.

Can anyone easily name the comet that Rosetta orbited around and that Philae landed on? Remember that Philae, unfortunately, wound up in a shady area of the comet? (I did Google search for Rosetta Philae comet. The two proper nouns, fortunately, don't tax my speller power much.) Bingo! One search result yields the eye-boggling comet name—67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. ¡Ay, caramba!

Coming down to earth, Kyle MacLachlan is an actor I've seen in several movies and shows over MANY years. And I actually need to look him up on IMDB before I can remember his surname. For that matter, if he's not in recent roles, I forget if he's Lyle or Kyle. So, I need to find him via Dune or Desperate Housewives. Recently, he's also been on Big Bang Theory and Portlandia.

Now for some guilty-pleasure gossip! I'd read a few weeks ago that Miley Cyrus has been dating Patrick Schwarzenegger (son of Ahnold) and can't spell his surname. C'mon! She should show the guy some respect by learning it, even if they're both dating each other because of famous names for currency.

In sports, I recently encountered the names for the European figure skating women champions—Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Elena Radionova, and Anna Pogorilaya. Take a deep breath before attempting to pronounce or spell!

In younger years of grade school spelling tests, my scores were nearly all 100%. Of course, I think proper nouns tended to be omitted from word lists. I'd have problem with some of these names I provided. What names give you heartburn?
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Friday, January 30, 2015

EZ Buttery Confetti Cake Mix Cookies

This recipe features Betty Crocker Party Rainbow Chip cake mix. Over the years, seems that companies have used labels like "party", "birthday party", "funfetti", and "confetti" for including the colorful, sugar mini-rod decorations. Hmmm, BC's webpage shows a Rainbow Chip cake mix, but omits "Party" from the product title and URL.

I'd been curious for a long while about using butter instead of cooking oil in my cake mix cooky recipes. (Try "cookies" in the search field at the upper left.) Rather than use a single-flavor cake mix, I decided on the confetti-ish mix. Interesting contrast between using butter and oil. The process is slightly different with softening the butter first. The buttery cookies came out softer and fluffier than cookies that I used oil instead.

My pixstrip shows the following image areas:
  1. Implements
  2. Ingredients
  3. Softened and slightly stirred butter
  4. The butter and two eggs
  5. Blended butter and eggs
  6. Blended butter, eggs, and cake mix
  7. Raw dough in pan
  8. Baked cookies in pan
  9. Cookies on a cooling rack (some flipped back to right side up)
Implements
  • Cooky pan(s)
  • Pastry blender
  • Mixing bowl
  • Measuring cup (optional for cracking eggs individually before pouring them into bowl)
  • Tablespoon for measuring out cooky dough
  • Spatula for scraping dough onto pan
  • Cooky spatula to lift and transfer baked cookies
  • Cooling rack for baked cookies
Ingredients
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup soft butter (2/3 stick)
  • 1 box Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip cake mix
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  2. Soften the butter in the microwave oven as necessary.
  3. Combine the butter and eggs.
  4. Use the pastry blender to stir the cake mix powder into the butter and eggs mixture.
  5. Use a round tablespoon to scoop the dough. Shape to rounded, level, or concave height.
  6. Drop the spoon's dough onto the cooky sheet, using the rubber spatula to ease out each lump.
  7. Bake for about 9 to 10 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.
  8. Use the cooky spatula for lifting and transferring the done cookies onto cooling rack.
The batch made 39 cookies, ~57 calories each. I did spot some other cake mix recipes using the Betty Crocker Party Rainbow Chip cake mix, but several added frosting atop the cookies. Adding the frosting seems to be gilding the lily, adding more calories and sweetness, in addition to using more time and effort. Assuming a hypothetical distribution of an entire 16-oz can of Betty Crocker Rich and Creamy Vanilla frosting, each cooky would have an additional ~47 calories—13 servings x 140 calories/serving ÷ 39 cookies = 46.7 calories/cooky.

Post-Recipe Thoughts
Another time, I'll try making cookies that emulate my "Krusteaz Choco Caramel Squares" from my previous article. However, I'll try making individual round cookies instead of a single slab that I cut up later. Haven't decided whether to use tablespoon/spatula method or use my cooky shooter to dispense the dough.
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Saturday, January 24, 2015

Krusteaz Choco Caramel Squares

These sweet-tooth munchies have a fudge-brownie cooky base, topped with non-nut nougat and chopped nuts. Nougat etymology includes nuts; the sweet confection on the cooky is not nutty—only the final topper. For expediency in this article, "nougat" refers to that middle layer, a combination of melted chocolate chips and squeeze-packet caramel.

About a year ago, I bought a box of Krusteaz Molten Deep Dish Chocolate Cookie with Caramel Center. I periodically would read the instructions, wondering if I really wanted to use up all the ingredients for 12 cookies that had "molten" centers. The yield seems pretty paltry, especially considering extra hassle beyond other munchies I make.

I looked at suggested recipe alternatives on the box. I wasn't warm to requirements for additional ingredients.
So, I took inspiration from the Seattle Bars and tried something else, skipping all the additional ingredients except for nuts, and adding melted chocolate chips. Was the process less hassle? No. But the results won rave reviews, and gave me ideas for a future similar but different munchie.

This recipe differs somewhat from other recipes I've posted because I needed to improvise as I went along. I've added several parenthetical thoughts during the process. My pixstrip shows the following image areas:
  1. Ingredients and utensils (Pics do not include additional implements I needed to use later.)
    1. Utensils and ingredients. The dashed line indicates the mix kit is part of two preparation stages. (The left side shows the dough ingredients, the right side shows the topping ingredients.)
    2. Oblong pan and spray oil
  2. Doh!
    1. Bowl of the cooky dough—mixed eggs, soft butter, and Krusteaz powder
    2. Pan with the raw, pressed cooky dough, spread out to edges
    3. Pan with the baked cooky slab (Note: During the baking, I needed to press some of the dough down to flatten for height consistency.)
  3. Squares!
    1. Cooky squares in larger, wax paper-lined pan (Note: First, I flipped the cooky slab onto a cooling rack, cut it into 24 squares, then placed the squares right side up onto the larger, wax-lined pan.)
    2. Cooky squares, topped with with choco-caramel and nuts.
    3. Finished squares in cupcake liners and tote tin
Implements
  • 9" x 13" pan
  • Pastry blender
  • Mixing bowl for blending to-be-baked ingredients together
  • Mixing bowl for melting chocolate chips, then blending in the envelope of Krusteaz caramel "sauce"
  • Spoon(s) for later distributing the choco-caramel topping onto the baked cooky squares
  • Additional helpful items during process
    • latex or vinyl glove(s) for spreading out the cooky dough, then later for pressing down inconsistent-height dough during baking
    • Cooling rack
    • Wax paper
    • Additional pan or cooky sheet
    • Plastic knife for separating the baked cooky slab from the pan
    • Knife fur cutting squares
    • Plate for nuts
    • Cupcake papers
Ingredients
  • For the cooky slab
    • 1 egg
    • 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
    • The bag of the Krusteaz mix powder
  • For the topping
    • 4 oz chocolate chips
    • The 4-oz package of the Krusteaz caramel topping
    • 1/2 cup of chopped nuts (Suggestion: Place on a plate or other flat area.)
Instructions (for the cooky slab)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine the oil and egg.
  3. Stir the Krusteaz powder into the wet ingredients.
  4. Spray the oil generously onto the pan. (Spray REALLY generously at the edges and corners!)
  5. Distribute the cooky dough evenly onto the pan. (Gloves help for less-mess pressing.)
  6. Bake for about 13 minutes, and check progress. (The dough rose unevenly, so I pressed the high part to flatten it even with the rest of the slab.)
  7. Finish baking for about another 3 minutes, verifying doneness with toothpick or lightly pressing the cooky slab for springiness.
  8. Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for a couple of minutes or so.
  9. Use a plastic knife to carefully separate the cooky slab edges and corners from the pan, then flip the pan upside down onto a cooling rack.
  10. Cut the cooky slab into 24 squares, placing them right side up. (I initially subdivided the slab into 4 quarters, placed them right side up onto a larger, wax-lined pan, and finished cutting them into squares.)
Instructions (for the topping and completion)
  1. Melt the chocolate chips.
  2. Snip the envelope of caramel and squeeze it into the bowl.
  3. Alternately stir and heat the chocolate and caramel together.
  4. Use spoons or similar implements to distribute the nougatty mixture onto the cooky squares. (Using two spoons, I made use of the thick mixture's inertia for transports and gravity for the drops.)
  5. For each square, turn it upside down and lightly flatten it onto the plate of nuts, then place it right side up elsewhere. (The nougat acts as a glue.)
The batch made 24 squares, ~142 calories (gasp!) each. The box recipe itself would have made 12 molten-filling cookies at 220 calories each. Adding nuts and chocolate chips increased calories, but dividing the batch into 24 portions reduced the per-unit calories.

Post-recipe thoughts
If making similar squares and using cake mix, for the "molten" caramel, I'd try a spoonable caramel ice cream topping like they use for sundaes. "Smucker's" prominently comes up in Google for ice cream toppings, even without using Smucker's for a search term. These Smucker images are making my mouth water!
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Friday, December 26, 2014

Minty Choco Chip Cake Mix Cookies

My previous recipe (Choco Cranberry Sauce Cake Mix Cupcakes) used cake mix powder that I sifted white and chocolate flavors together, using half of the mixture. This recipe uses the other half of the powder. My cooky recipes are almost all about using cake mixes because of convenience. Using cake mix in cooky making is more complex than using refrigerated cooky dough, but easier than blending soft butter into cooky powder mix. Furthermore, cake mixes come in more varieties and provide more options for the imagination.

Winter time seems to bring out inclinations for something minty. Do something different than chocolate chip cookies—make the chips mint! One year, I found mint-green chips, which I haven't seen lately. This year, I ran across Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips, which have chocolate and mint-green stripes. Did not know until now that Tootsie owns Andes.

Note: Both Tootsie and Amazon offer up Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips, but their prices are WAY more expensive than the local supermarket price.

Besides using chips with varying mint strengths, have the dough flavors meet in the middle—half vanilla-ey and half chocolatey. If you'd rather not commit to buying one box each of white and chocolate mixes, buy a marble cake mix and mix the powders together. My recipe for Diff Kinda Choco-chip Cake Mix Cookies includes marble cake mix, chocolate chips, and coconut.

Onto the recipe details!

My pixstrip shows the following image areas:
  1. Implements
  2. Ingredients
  3. Combo pic:
    1. Mixed eggs and oil
    2. Mixture of eggs, oil, and cake mix
    3. Dough, with chips stirred in
  4. Raw dough in pan
  5. Baked cookies in pan
  6. Flipped cookies on a cooling rack
  7. Cooled cookies on a plate
Implements
  • Cooky pan(s)
  • Pastry blender
  • Mixing bowl
  • Measuring cup
  • Spoon for measuring out cooky dough
  • Spatula for scraping dough onto pan
  • Cooky spatula to lift and transfer baked cookies (not shown—forgot for preprep pic)
  • Cooling rack for done cookies
Ingredients
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 box chocolatey cake mix (I used half fudgy chocolate and half white.)
  • 5 oz mint chips (I used Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips.)
  • 5 oz chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Combine the oil and eggs.
  3. Use the pastry blender to stir the cake mix powder into the wet ingredients.
  4. Stir the chips into the dough. (I might have saved a little energy if I had combined both kinds of chip together first.)
  5. Use a round tablespoon to scoop the dough. Shape to rounded, level, or concave height.
  6. Drop the spoon's dough onto the cooky sheet. (For slightly flatter cookies, slightly flatten the shaped dough rounds with the measuring cup.)
  7. Bake for about 9 to 10 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.
  8. Use the cooky spatula to lift and transfer the done cookies onto cooling rack.
The yield was 57 cookies, amounting to ~65 calories each. YMMV

Recipe Deviation Suggestions
If trying out this recipe, advanced deviations include the following modifications:
  • If you want to buy only one box of cake mix instead of two for making up half chocolatey and half white dough. buy marble cake mix and sift the powders together.
  • For more mintiness, use all mint chips instead of half mint and half chocolate chips. If you want to be really gutsy, you can add some mint extract into the wet ingredients before mixing the powders in.
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