Helpful Hints

A few people shared this concept of lining a square pan with parchment paper by crumpling up the paper into a ball and then pressing it into the pan. I was a little skeptical but decided to try it and and it really works. I always struggled with lining my square pan for granola bars, which I make almost weekly, because you pressed one side down and the other one pulled away. This way is much easier. I don’t know why… it just works. – Jenny Jones

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL MY HOW-TO TIPS Click here.

Most of us are not grocery shopping as often as we used to and that includes me. I go once a week during the “geezer hour” when they open early for us seniors. So I had to figure out the best way to store my cut fruit and veggies so they would last all week. I always have some crudité on hand as well as cut papaya or melon. I store them in those Glad plastic containers and I noticed that moisture always accumulated inside but on the underside of the lid and moisture is not a friend to cut fruit or vegetables.

I tried lining the container with a paper towel but the moisture still did its damage. Then I tried putting a piece of paper towel or a napkin on top of the fruit to keep the moisture from dripping down on the fruit. Guess what? It works! The paper on top of the cut fruit keeps the excess moisture away and now my cut papaya keeps all week and my crudité of carrot & cucumber slices and cabbage wedges stays fresh twice as long as before. I just wanted to share this tip for everyone else who is eating lots of fruits and veggies. You ARE eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, right? What was that?  “I try…???”  Don’t get me started! ?

Fresh fruit and vegetables are the lifeline to good health. ???? So here’s a new rule: You can’t make any of my breads until you’ve had some fruit and veggies. Don’t make me come over there! ?

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL MY HOW-TO TIPS Click here.

My thanks to Annie Y. for sharing this terrific helpful hint. I tried it myself and loved it, especially with my no knead crusty rolls that make a sticky mess on the counter. She said, “I don’t have a large wood board, so I taped a piece of waxed paper to the counter top and floured it, allowing me to work and form the dough easily and making clean up a breeze.” Thank you, Annie.

Bread dough too dry? Cookie dough too heavy? You probably didn’t aerate your flour.

The two cups in this photo are exactly the same size. The left (red) one contains flour that I aerated, scooped into the cup, and leveled off with the back of a knife. The right (blue) one I did NOT aerate, just scooped it into the cup, and leveled it off with the back of a knife. Then I weighed the flour from both cups.

You can see that the flour that was aerated (red) weighs less than the NOT aerated flour (blue) and that’s because flour settles in the bag or container and if you measure it without aerating, you will probably be using too much flour. This can cause baking problems, especially if you consider that 3 cups of flour, that should weigh 13 1/2 ounces might weigh 15 3/4 ounces if not aerated before measuring. That’s exactly 1/2 cup more flour than you need!

Oh… one more thing. Aerating is not sifting. To aerate flour, you simply stir it around in the container with a spoon or spatula to incorporate some air. You can see how I aerate flour in my Quick and Easy Chocolate Cake video at the one minute mark: Click here to see it. I hope this is helpful and you have great results with all your baking. ? – Jenny Jones

Yeast has a short shelf life and once any package of yeast has been opened, it should be kept in the freezer. I always use the small packets and I find that using a butterfly clip, the kind you can get at an office supply store, is a good way to seal up the packet for freezing. A paper clip would also work. I snip off the corner of the packet, measure what I need, fold the open corner over twice and seal it with the clip. Then I pop it in the freezer. – Jenny Jones

If you’ve ever wondered which one of my recipes I make the most, it’s granola bars. I make them almost every week. Granola bars were never my favorite thing to eat but I would occasionally buy one when I was away from home and getting hungry because it’s a healthy choice but the ones from the store never left me wanting more. These days I crave granola bars because homemade bars are infinitely better… and easy to make.

I make sure we always have these delicious bars at home and as soon as we run out, I make more. They are full of protein and fiber and they are incredibly easy to make. Everything mixes in one bowl and you bake it.

How To Line a Pan for Granola Bars (with Parchment Paper).

The hardest part is lining the pan with parchment paper because it won’t always stay in place, but I found an easier way to do it… with binder clips. You can get them at a stationery store and since they’re metal, they can go right in the oven.

Cut two parchment paper pieces a little bit wider than your 9-inch pan and lay them in, criss-crossing each other, clipping the ends down as you go. It will keep the paper in place, like this…

Now that you know how  easy it is to make your own granola bars, try them and see if you don’t wind up like me, making them every week.  Every time I go out the door, I take one with me. You will too. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

No knead bread depends on the steam created inside a pot with a tight-filling lid. I use an enameled cast iron Dutch oven but other people have commented on my website that they had success using:

• a glass pyrex dish with a lid
• a stainless steel pot with a lid
• a stainless steel pot with foil on top and the original pot lid over the the foil
• a clay baker
• a springform pan with an aluminum foil top
• a pizza stone with a stainless steel bowl as a cover
• several people posted that they used a black cast iron pot with a lid
• a roasting pan with a tightly sealed foil heavy duty top
• a heavy soup pot with a lid
• a corning dish with a glass lid
• a Romertopf clay pot
• a crock pot bowl with a lid
• two nonstick bread pans, no parchment paper – put the dough in one of the bread pans, flip the other pan upside down over the first pan and put binder clips on the two ends to hold the pans together.
• an oven-safe stoneware insert (removed from a slow cooker) with a cookie sheet over it as a lid.
• a cast iron skillet and foil as a lid
• 2 1/2 quart corning ware casserole.

Keep in mind that any lid must be tight fitting because you need to create steam inside the pot and the lid should have an oven-proof handle (not plastic). Your pot will need to hold at least 3 quarts but 5 to 6 quarts is most common. Or… You can make my No Knead Ciabatta Bread or No Dutch Oven Bread – they both bake on a pan, no Dutch oven needed. Click here for the recipes.

If your tortillas are not soft there can be several reasons:

1. You did not use all purpose flour.
2. You did not use a cast iron pan.
3. Your pan was not hot enough.
4. You did not roll them thin enough.
5. They are not stored properly.
6. I store mine by placing them, while they are still warm, in a zip top plastic bag – air tight –  with all the air removed. They are always soft.

“Which flour do I use for bread, or muffins, or cookies?” “Can I substitute one flour for another?” “Why is my flour mixture so dry?” I hope this helps clarify any questions you have about flour. By the way, with all baking the amount of protein in flour matters. The lower the protein, the softer the baked goods. So here is my simple guideline to baking with flour:

How to Measure (& Aerate) Flour
Flour must be aerated before measuring because it often settles in the bag or container making it heavy  and compact, resulting in too much flour being measured. Aerating basically means fluffing it up and is not the same as sifting. Flour should not be sifted before measuring unless the recipe states to do so. Sifting will result in too little flour being measured.

If you dip into flour without aerating, you will be getting too much flour and your dough will be too dry. To aerate flour you simply stir it around with a spoon before measuring. To measure, be sure to use a flat-topped dry measuring cup like in my photo. To see a short video on how to aerate flour click here.

After aerating, there are two ways to measure the flour: 1) Scoop & Level – Gently scoop the flour up with a spoon and sprinkle it into your measuring cup until it’s mounded above the rim. Do not tap the cup or the container of flour. Finally, level off the excess flour with the back of a knife. 2) Dip & Level – Gently dip your measuring cup into the flour until it’s mounded above the rim and level off the excess flour with the back of a knife. In my kitchen, a cup a flour weighs 4 1/2 ounces (130 grams).

The Difference Between Flours

Whole wheat flour (about 14% protein/gluten)
Whole wheat flour is not the same as whole wheat pastry flour and should not be substituted for whole wheat pastry flour. Whole wheat flour is milled from hard winter wheat and is best used only for yeast breads. A loaf made entirely with whole wheat flour will be a dense and somewhat heavy loaf. For a softer loaf, it is often combined with some all-purpose or bread flour. Whole wheat flour is not suitable for other baking like cookies and cakes. *Since it contains the germ of the wheat which contains oil, once opened, this flour should be kept refrigerated in a tightly sealed container.

Whole wheat pastry flour (about 10% protein/gluten)
Also called whole grain pastry flour, this flour is good for most recipes that use all-purpose flour when you want to add fiber. Whole wheat pastry flour is milled from a soft summer wheat and is best for baking cookies, brownies, pancakes, waffles, quick breads, and some cakes. Results will not be as light and soft as using all-purpose flour but you can also mix part whole wheat pastry flour and part all-purpose flour for soft baked goods with added fiber. (I use this flour the most in cookies, brownies, even pancakes & waffles for extra fiber) This flour is not a good substitute for whole wheat flour and is not suitable for baking yeast breads. Don’t have whole wheat pastry flour? Regular whole wheat flour is not a good substitute – your baked goods will be dense and heavy. Look for whole wheat pastry flour at health food stores or you can order it online. Once opened, it should be kept refrigerated in a tightly-sealed container.

Bread flour (about 14% protein/gluten)
This flour is designed for yeast baking. It helps create more gluten for a better rise in yeast doughs. Use it for yeast bread and pizza dough for a chewy texture and good structure. However, all-purpose flour works almost as well with yeast. From my experience, if you don’t have bread flour, all-purpose flour can be used as a substitute in yeast bread and pizza dough.

All-purpose flour (about 10% protein/gluten)
The name says it all. Use it for cookies, cakes, quick breads, yeast breads, pies, pancakes, etc.

Pastry flour (about 9% protein/gluten)
This flour falls between all-purpose flour and cake flour and can be used in pastries, cookies and cakes. This flour is not suitable for baking yeast breads.

Cake flour (about 8% protein/gluten)
This very fine grain flour is good in light and airy cakes like angel food cake. However, if a recipe does not call for cake flour and you decide to use it, you would use more (2 tablespoons more per each cup). Conversely, if a recipe calls for cake flour and you don’t have it, you can make your own: For one cup of cake flour, measure one cup of all-purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons of flour and replace that with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. I do not use cake flour – I don’t find it necessary. This flour is not suitable for baking yeast breads.

Self-rising flour (about 8 % protein/gluten)
This soft flour is similar to pastry flour but has salt and baking powder added. Many southern recipes call for this flour in biscuits and pancakes but if the recipe calls for all-purpose flour and you substitute self-rising flour, you will need to adjust any added salt and baking powder. (one cup of self-rising flour contains 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ to ½ teaspoon of salt) This flour is not suitable for yeast breads.

I hope these simple flour basics are helpful. – Jenny Jones

If your parchment paper stuck it’s from using an inferior brand. Reynolds brand always works for me. I got a cheaper parchment paper once and everything stuck to it. I only use Reynolds brand – it never sticks. (This is not a paid endorsement, I’m just sharing what works for me). NOTE: Wax paper is NOT the same as parchment paper. DO NOT USE WAX PAPER in the oven because it will melt onto your food.