About the Book
At last! Bake delicious whole grain treats, from tender cookies to flaky piecrusts, high-rising cakes to soft sandwich breads. King Arthur shows you how in this ground-breaking new book. Includes 600+ pages, hundreds of imaginative, King Arthur test kitchen (and taste-tester!) approved recipes and step-by-step illustrations with color photos. Get it here!
Susan's Favorite King Arthur Recipes
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Benne Wafers
These rich brown cookies, sweet and nutty, have an interesting texture: solid and crisp on the bottom, crunchy-light on top.
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup toasted sesame seeds
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, baking soda, and egg. Add the flour and mix till smooth. Stir in the sesame seeds.
Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls (our tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) onto parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheets. Bake the wafers in a preheated 350°F oven for 8 to 9 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove them from the oven, allow them to cool for 1 minute on the pan, then transfer the wafers to a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 3 dozen 3-inch wafers.
Deluxe Chocolate Truffles
All truffles start with a rich chocolate ganache center, flavored or plain. To finish, dip truffles in melted chocolate and sprinkle with sugar decorations or chopped nuts. Or, more simply, just roll the ganache centers in cocoa. See these step-by-step photos illustrating how to make these truffles on the King Arthur blog.
Centers
2 cups (about 12 oz.) finely chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips
1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream
Flavorings
Choose one of the following:
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon raspberry flavor combined with 1/4 cup melted raspberry jam
1 tablespoon espresso powder + 1 1/2 tablespoons coffee liqueur
1/2 teaspoon hazelnut flavor + toasted chopped hazelnuts
1/8 teaspoon orange oil + 1 to 2 tablespoons orange liqueur
1/2 cup finely chopped toffee or praline candy bar
Coating
1 pound finely chopped chocolate or chocolate chips (about 2 2/3 cups) OR 1 cup (3 ounces) cocoa
Garnish
Chopped nuts, sprinkles/jimmies, sugar decorations, nonpareils, cocoa nibs, and/or toasted coconut
Centers: Place the chocolate and cream in a microwave-proof bowl. Heat in the microwave until the cream is very hot. Remove from the microwave and stir until the chocolate is melted. Add the flavors or flavor combinations of your choice. Stir till everything is well-combined.
Line a 9" x 13" baking sheet with parchment or plastic wrap, and pour the chocolate over it; don't spread it out. Cover the pan, and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes, until the mixture is thick and "scoopable."
Assembly: When the mixture is cool enough to hold its shape, scoop small balls of the chocolate onto a baking sheet that's been lightly dusted with cocoa. A teaspoon cookie scoop is exactly the right size for this; you want balls that are about the size of a small chestnut, or a small melon ball. For perfectly round truffles, quickly roll each one between the palms of your hands. You have to do this quickly, or the chocolate will become too soft. Your palms will soon be coated with chocolate ... yum! Refrigerate the centers for about 30 minutes, covered, till they've firmed up a bit.
Coating: To take the simplest route, coat the shaped centers in unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-process preferred, as it's smoother in flavor than natural). Put the cocoa in a shallow pan and roll the centers around in it; or place cocoa and 4 or 5 centers at a time in a plastic bag, and shake gently to thoroughly coat.
To coat with melted chocolate, heat 2 cups of the chopped chocolate (reserving some to add later) in the microwave until it's melted. Add the remaining chopped (unmelted) chocolate to the melted chocolate. Stir constantly until the chocolate is thick and shiny.
This is the potentially messy part. If you have a chocolate dipping tool, use it to dip each center in the melted chocolate, setting the dipped truffles on a piece of parchment or on a plastic-lined wire rack. Immediately, as you make them, sprinkle each truffle with the garnish of your choice. Be aware that if you don't cover the chocolate coating with a garnish, you'll probably see dull patches on its lovely sheen after a day or so; this is because you didn't temper the chocolate, to keep it shiny. If you have a chocolate temperer, and want to temper your coating chocolate before dipping the centers - go for it! Yield: approximately 3 dozen 1" truffles.
Crunchy Granola
7 cups (1 1/2 pounds) rolled oats, uncooked
1 cup (4 ounces) flaked unsweetened coconut (optional, but good)
1 cup (4 ounces) stabilized wheat germ
1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sliced almonds
1 cup (4 ounces) diced pecans or walnuts
1 cup sunflower seeds, raw or toasted
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (11 ounces) pure maple syrup*
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) vanilla extract
5 cups (about 20 ounces) mixed dried fruit** (raisins, cranberries, cherries, diced pineapple, diced apricots, chopped dates, or the mixture of your choice)
*Pure maple syrup (as opposed to maple-flavored cane sugar syrup) makes a MUCH tastier granola. If you use "fake" syrup, be advised you’ll have to use a lot more to get the same degree of sweetness; probably an additional 1/2 cup.
**Our Fruitcake Fruits, 20 ounces of tasty dried apricots, raisins, pineapple, dates, and cranberries, is the perfect size for this recipe.
In a very large bowl, combine the oats, coconut, wheat germ, nuts, and seeds. Mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, salt, maple syrup, and vanilla. Pour over the dry mixture in the bowl, stirring and tossing till everything is very well combined; a spoonula or large stirring spoon work well here.
Spread granola on a couple of large lightly greased baking sheets; a half-sheet pan is ideal. Bake in a preheated 250°F oven for about 90 minutes, stirring the mixture with a heatproof spatula, spoonula, or turner every 15 minutes or so. You want to bring the granola at the edge in towards the middle, so it all browns evenly. And reverse the baking sheets in the oven (top to bottom, bottom to top) each time you stir.
When the granola is a light–to–medium golden brown, remove it from the oven and cool completely on the pans. Transfer the granola to a large bowl, and mix in the dried fruit. Store in a tightly closed container at room temperature for several weeks; freeze for extended storage. Or portion into pretty patterned plastic bags for gift-giving.
Yield: about 18 cups, about 4 1/4 pounds granola.
King Arthur Flour Resources
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1. What is your all-time favorite cookbook?
Julia Childs Mastering the Art of French Cooking, followed closely by the Victory Garden Cookbook.
2. Name your favorite cooking tools.
I love my bench knife and my baking stone.
3. Describe your signature dish.
That’s a hard one—it changes all the time. Right now, I’m enjoying pairing breads and stews as the weather gets colder and the days get shorter.
4. Do you have a favorite cooking website? What is it?
Besides ours? I go to the New York Times dining section every Wednesday—their site is great, with archived articles, videos, and the latest food news.
5. What is one food item that is a staple in your fridge or pantry?
In my fridge—yogurt, preferably the thick, greek yogurt—yummy for cooking, baking, and just eating plain. In my pantry—how can you even ask? King Arthur Flour, of course—I’ve used it my whole life and wouldn’t think of baking without it.
