jenncc's Reviews
1256 recipes reviewed. Showing 51 to 100Sort by: Book Title 
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Website: Always Order Dessert
This was delicious! I cut both the honey and sugar by (a generous) half and it was plenty sticky /sweet. The flaked salt made it addictive!
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Ama A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen
By Josef Centeno
- 2000
The end product was great- soft and pliable, however it took a major adjustment. The dough was much too wet! I added about 1/3-1/2 cup flour and that worked. These are the perfect vessel for fajitas, beans or eggs and bacon.
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This is a delicious Mexican style rice with a surprising secret ingredient- V8 Juice! The technique of toasting the rice is traditional and helps ensure that the rice doesn't get too sticky, as well as providing a nutty flavor. I did need to add a salt at the table, perhaps because I used low sodium broth.
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The American Boulangerie: Authentic French Pastries and Breads for the Home Kitchen
By Pascal Rigo, Paul Moore
Bay Books (CA) - 2003
Ugh, what went wrong! Came out heavy, dry and did not look AT ALL like the beautiful picture. Not enough sweetness (which was shocking considering the amount of caramel and honey used) or spice (even though I was very generous)!
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Ample Hills Creamery: Secrets and Stories from Brooklyn’s Favorite Ice Cream Shop
By Brian Smith, Jackie Cuscuna, Lauren Kaelin, Lauren Kaelin, Lucy Schaeffer
Stewart, Tabori and Chang - 2014
I only made the Peanut Butter Swirl portion of this recipe. I ran out of heavy cream and had to sub 1/4 cup half and half and it came out great. Nice compliment to my banana pudding ice cream, with very good texture - smooth and doesn't get hard/icy once frozen.
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Apples for Jam: A Colorful Cookbook
By Tessa Kiros
Andrews McMeel Publishing - 2007
This is wonderfully refreshing, tangy and creamy. If you like lemon curd you'll enjoy this! I used it as a layer of a triple layer ice cream cake, but was happy to have left overs.
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The Arab Table
By May Bsisu
Cookbooks - 2005
These are good - not as good as the ones I grew up with, better than some I have made/had from bakeries. The biggest difference in this recipe is the lack of yeast in the dough. I have made Maureen Aboods recipe before and with one tablespoons yeast they were far too puffy/pillowy. The problem here is the dough/crust is pretty bland even with that amount of olive oil. This dough does come out a bit harder than I would have liked, and even though they soften as they cool (or you can steam them slightly in a plastic bag) it just isn't the soft, slightly chewy, super thin crust I was looking for. The filling is very good, tho I would not recommend the pomegranate molasses as any leaks will easily burn (from the sugars) which gives them an obvious off- putting flavor. The dough was easy to work with (I used my stand mixer) and I love the simplicity of the recipe but will continue my search for the perfect spinach fatayer.
Upgrading this to 4 stars - I guess they improve with a little time - crust becomes more tender and filling more flavorful. I may try to hit the perfect balance by using a recipe with a little yeast but nice to know it can be made without.
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Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon
By Claudia Roden
Knopf - 2006
Great dish! Cooked the eggplant directly on the coals of the grill, peeled and strained overnight. The pomegranate provides nice tang to the smoky eggplant. I have also made this in the oven or "burnt" the eggplant over a stove top flame - it's always wonderful.
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Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
By Dorie Greenspan, Alan Richardson
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2010
A delicious buttery cookie with a slight crunch of salt here and there. These are fantastic! This makes one large cookie that guest break-up and take as big or as small a piece as they wish. The dough came together fast and rolled out easily. The important thing with this is to have a consistent thickness so the edges don't burn while the middle of the cookie stays too soft. Mine needed the full 40 minutes and came out with lovely brown edges (my favorite part) and a light golden flaky center.
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Simple but with big, bold flavor! Terrific even when tomatoes are not at their peak. I add a sprinkle of parmesan and chili flakes a few minutes before taking then out of the oven.
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This is delicious! I used a small cauliflower and went with only 4 eggs, and a little less of everything else. Dorie calls it quiche like but I also found it reminiscent of a soufflé. Really lovely along side a steak or roast.
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Moist flavorful chicken with crispy skin and the special added bonus bread! This was terrific and is now my go to recipe. Let it rest as Dorie suggests - propped up, tail in the air, on a bowl to allow the juices to redistribute back into the breast meat.
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Finally got over my raw egg anxiety and whipped (and whipped and whipped) this up. I opted for the 5 or maybe 6 (?) cloves of garlic and an extra squirt of lemon. It did take mine a bit longer to come together (lots of whipping) but when it did it was divine!
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Apples with a little cake - I loved it. It was a lovely golden color with a very moist crumb - almost like bread pudding. I used a variety of apples and the flavor was wonderful.
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The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
By Alice Waters
Clarkson Potter - 2007
This is a good, basic salsa verde. I added a bit of lemon juice and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Nice with grilled eggplant (as recommended on page 304).
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This was really nice made with my farmers market veggies and a creamy polenta. I mixed in a little spicy sausage as well for a delicious main course. Also added some black olives and thyme.
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Excellent basic white beans. I used cannellini beans and they cooked in less than 2 hours (without presoaking). I have served this with meatballs and, as a side, with oven dried tomatoes.
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Surprised I have never reviewed this one as it is a winter favorite! Sometimes I garnish it with just a squeeze of lemon or lime. I have also topped with a garlicy basil or cilantro pesto.
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Website: Artisan Bryan
www.artisanbryan.com/recipes/2020/07/16/recipe-sourdough-discard-doughnuts
I wanted to use up some discard and I was low on eggs and this fit the bill. The recipe is a little vague but in the end they were good and pretty simple to throw together. I did hold back some of the flour (about 1/4 cup), used the lesser amount of milk (all I had was buttermilk) and skipped the zest. What makes these interesting (and tasty) is the use of discard, and the long fermentation time (15 hours). What makes them different is the very small amount of butter and no eggs in the dough. I rolled mine thicker than he directs and was happy with the results once I got the oil temp correct (350 worked best for me/about 1 minute cook time each side).
7/14 Made cinnamon rolls with the remaining dough and they were very good (maybe better than the doughnuts!).
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Baked Elements: The Importance of Being Baked in 10 Favorite Ingredients
By Matt Lewis, Renato Poliafito, Tina Rupp
Stewart, Tabori and Chang - 2012
This a cinnamon forward, crispy edged, nugget of deliciousness! Unfortunately the brown butter flavor did not come thru enough, and texturally they were a tiny bit cake-y where I prefer a chewier interior. I still have some dough that I will bake for about 8 minutes to see if I can achieve the chewy cookie I crave.
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Baked to Order: 60 Sweet and Savory Recipes with Variations for Every Craving
By Ruth Mar Tam
Page Street Publishing - 2020
Made these as directed except for carrying the butter a little farther until nicely browned. Running low on granulated sugar and was shorted by about a tablespoon in the dough (trying to save enough for the topping). In the end there was plenty of cinnamon/sugar mixture and next time I may make a little less. These were described as "plush" and I would have to agree - nice thick, chewy centers and slightly crisp all around. Will have to compare these to the Stella Parks recipe and see which are better.
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Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
By Matt Lewis, Renato Poliafito, Tina Rupp
Stewart, Tabori & Chang - 2008
These were excellent! I went full tilt on the chipotle powder (1 Tablespoon) because I appreciate (and need) a little kick in the morning. I thought these were most delicious warm out of the oven drizzled with honey, but also very satisfying as part of a bacon and scrambled egg sandwich. I topped mine with smoked salt (rather than the kosher) but other than that followed the recipe to a "T". These would also be good alongside a bowl of chili or soup.
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Website: Baker By Nature
These should be called BROWN Butter Pecan Cookies - because of the browned butter these really shine. I was worried they would spread due to the melted butter and after reading the reviews I was convinced a bit more flour would be necessary for the thick chewy cookie pictured on the blog. I added about 1/4 cup bread flour (trick I often borrow from Flour Bakery) and the cookies were rich,buttery, thick and delicious! I used Ashley's method for double scooping which created enormous cookies. Next batch I may just make heaping scoopfuls. Also I was running a bit short on butter so I toasted my pecans in a combination of butter and bacon fat.
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The Baker's Dozen Cookbook: Become a Better Baker with 135 Foolproof Recipes and Tried-and-True Techniques
By The Baker's Dozen
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2001
Really enjoyed these! This is a crisp cracker with a hint of spice that holds up well to toppings and dips. I love the ease of rolling the dough into one large rectangle, baking and then breaking into smaller pieces for a nice rustic look. I followed this recipe to a T, though I was worried about the oven temp (500) being too high for the thinly rolled dough so I kept a close eye on them.
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Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere
By Dorie Greenspan
Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2014
As I have said before I am no chocolate chip cookie connoisseur, nor a big fan of the popular cookie, but I think these were really very good. That said the dough was a little brittle and I was afraid it was going to make for a dry/crumbly cookie, but with a a couple quick kneads of the dough it came together. I baked these for 8 minutes as directed, turned the pan and baked another 5-6 minutes. These are puffy without being cakey and the cookie itself has great vanilla/caramel flavor. I did add a sprinkle of salt to these.
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Website: The Baking Chocolatess
I chose this recipe because I had Greek yogurt nearing it expiration. I also only had 2 eggs and 2 egg whites (left over from another recipe), so I made do. After reading the reviews I decided to cut the sugar to one cup and it was plenty sweet. I also didn't have enough olive oil so I used butter -the author calls for evoo OR melted butter- so I just took it a step farther and browned the butter. This cake was simple, moist and had a tender crumb. I will make this again with the third whole egg and olive oil (although the brown butter was delicious). No glaze needed but a lemony drizzle might be nice.
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Baking for All Occasions
By Flo Braker
Chronicle Books - 2008
Really tasty for breakfast or dessert. The components of this recipe (the pastry and the filling) can both be made ahead and put together when your ready to eat. Lovely and not too sweet.
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Baking for Two: The Small-Batch Baking Cookbook for Sweet and Savory Treats
By Tracy Yabiku
Rockridge Press - 2016
These were tasty - rich peanut butter flavor - but the chocolate chips didn't melt into the promised "molten chocolate" center. Surprise - Peanut Butter Chocolate chips Cupcakes it is then! This didn't deter anyone from gobbling them up with a strong cup of coffee. The frosting was delicious and easy to work with even though I did use Crazy Richard's Natural peanut butter. The author warns against using natural p.b. but that was all I had and it was perfect for both the cake and the frosting.
Next time I will use chopped chocolate chips over a half filled muffin cup and top with the remaining batter in hopes of a gooey chocolate center.
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Good basic cookie recipe. I skimped on the chocolate chips a little (it seemed like a lot). Allowing to rest in the fridge for 2 hours made for a nice chewy cookie with crisp edges.
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Love this banana bread! I was generous with the spices and the banana (closer to 2/3 cup) and it was moist and flavorful. The walnut streusel is a great addition as the bread itself is not too sweet. Baked about 28-30 minutes (more banana may account for the slightly longer bake time).
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This is a keeper - great chocolate flavor without being too intense or rich. I made this in a 4 inch springform pan and baked about 21-22 minutes.
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This was moist and tender and while I used my own frosting, this cake could be paired with almost any flavor/type of topping.
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These make an excellent small batch of cinnamon rolls! I actually made 6 smaller rolls (rather than 4) but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Baked 14 minutes.
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Baking Illustrated
By Cook's Illustrated Magazine Editors
America's Test Kitchen - 2004
Just the right amount of tart and sweet. The whipped cream topping piped nicely and managed to stay light but not too sweet. It did take way more than the suggested 3-4 limes for the zest and juice, other than that this recipe was perfect.
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Website: Baking Sense
These are a little fussy ... that said the flavor and texture are great! This is a two day affair but the few pita I made right away (after the 3 folds and 60 minute rest) came out better than most pita. The ones that benefited from the overnight rest were excellent - slight sourdough flavor, soft, just the right amount of chew and most of them puffed up nicely.
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Website: Baking Sense
Nice flavor but I did not get great oven spring. Perhaps I over proofed slightly? I will try this one again, watching the clock a little closer.
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Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple
By Dorie Greenspan
Mariner Books - 2021
So Delicious! Lovely flavor with nice bursts of lemon and cornmeal texture. The sumac is a nice, unexpected addition. Chopping the lemon is a little fussy but well worth the trouble and next time I may add the additional/optional (if you don't have sumac) half lemon as well as the sumac. Not too sweet - perfect for breakfast or brunch.
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These are tasty oatmeal cookies. I am not a huge lover of chocolate so I made half the dough with extra nuts (walnuts) and cranberries and half as directed by the recipe. Both variations were great. These are not the deeply spiced, super chewy centers that I usually make, but enjoyed by all none the less.
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This is an excellent recipe, worthy of 5 stars, however the crust recipe is skimpy! I wasn't able to push the crust fully up the sides of the pan as there was barely enough for a thin bottom layer! Usually Dorie's recipes are so precise! I was a little disappointed especially since the crust was delicious, and the tart would have been a showstopper if the crust hadn't looked so meager/uneven. The flavors of the lemon custard are wonderful - tart and sweet, while the crust is similar to a barely sweet cookie.
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Hmmm... I halved the recipe and used a loaf pan, maybe that was the problem? I am rarely disappointed with Dorie's recipes but this one was a miss for me. Perhaps the the halving, perhaps I over-whipped the egg whites, perhaps there was too much egg white (the eggs seemed a little oversized) or maybe I just don't love spongey cake?? This shrunk up in the pan, lacked flavor (in spite of me using extra zest) and had a weird texture. Because I love DG and her recipes are so reliable I may try this again, then again I may just go straight to the Chunky Lemon Cornmeal cake (also from this book) which is terrific!
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Baking: From My Home to Yours
By Dorie Greenspan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2006
This recipe produces a fabulous, rich loaf. Though it takes time, it isn't complicated and certainly worth the effort. My only worries were when Dorie says (during the first step) that the dough should be a fairly dry, shaggy mass - I had dry for sure, but no "shaggy" and nothing cohesive enough to call a mass. I added a bit more warm water and it eventually came together. My other dilemma was during the final rise the dough are in pans, on a baking sheet - I wasn't sure if they should remain on the baking sheet during baking or not. I went ahead and put them in the oven, baking sheet and all, where they browned quickly and evenly. In fact I did turn the oven down a notch for the final 5-6 minutes of baking as to not over brown the tops (I wasn't so worried about the bottoms since I had the baking sheet under the pans:) They came out lovely both in flavor and texture.
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Great cake with a bright, lemon-y flavor. The buttercream came together easily, though it did separate momentarily before whipping up into the perfect silky, shiny, white frosting. I made a strawberry quick jam for between the layers - lovely lemon- berry combo. Skipped the coconut.
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This is delicious! It was fairly simple and I had no trouble getting the cream to thicken/ reaching 180 degrees, especially after following Dorie's tips on her website - put a metal bowl over a soup pot of simmering water (rather than my usual smaller saucepan), whisking "like mad", and not straining the lemon zest. Used her Sweet Tart Dough recipe which is always great. It definitely benefits from setting in the fridge overnight (4 hours was not quite enough).
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This is moist and delicious without being over the top and it is not as heavy as the usual pound cake. Fancy enough for guests, humble (and simple) enough for a lazy Sunday. I used fat free Greek yogurt and added a bit of orange juice to my glaze as I found the marmalade a little bitter for my taste. I like Dorie's idea of making this into a layer cake as I think it would hold up to a multitude of flavors and textures. I served this along side goat cheese and sweet corn ice creams (from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream cookbook).
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Yum! This is a moist, tender cake with chunks of pear and sweet little morsels of prune. Honestly I hesitated on the prunes, not that I don't like them, I do, but I just thought the pear/brown sugar/hazelnut flavors would be enough to carry this cake. I am so glad I decided to throw then in! The addition reminded me of a delicious, homey dessert I had in France. The options for this cake are limitless - Dorie suggests apples with raisins or currents. I think dried apricots or tart cherries would also be great. I am sure the ground hazelnuts added to the moisture in this cake, I did not get much hazelnut flavor however.
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Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2006
I love lemon and I appreciate the flavor of this cake, the texture unfortunately was a little dense. I may try this again, using room temperature ingredients, separating the egg yolks from the whites and whipping the whites before folding into the batter to see if I can get a lighter cake.
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Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients
By Ina Garten
Clarkson Potter - 2008
Love this recipe. I have done it with potatoes and green beans but I'm sure the addition of asparagus and fennel would be great. I will say that you need to adjust your cooking time / when you add the other veg depending on your type/size of potato. Mine cooked very quickly and were ready by the time I was to toss in the green beans. I had to remove them, and put the beans in alone to let them "catch up". Also added chopped garlic towards the end of the cook time.
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Bavel: Modern Recipes Inspired by the Middle East
By Ori Menashe , Genevieve Gergis, Lesley Suter
Ten Speed Press - 2021
This is the plushest, most tasty pita I have made in a long time. This has just the right chew and extra flavorful from an extended ferment and the good dose of olive oil. I made a half recipe and each one puffed nicely. Never made pita with egg ( this calls for egg whites) and I was pleasantly surprised.
Make these all the time and have realized that the perfect "puff" is accomplished with a thin-ish pita (closer to 1/8 inch thick) and oven temp of 500 (550 was too hot in my oven). Also they can also be baked 3-4 at a time on a baking sheet.
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Better Baking: Wholesome Ingredients, Delicious Desserts
By Genevieve Ko
Rux Martin/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2016
Definitely one of the healthier granolas I have made, however the spices did not come thru and the flavor would have benefited from a bit more honey or perhaps a substitution of maple syrup. I just felt these flavors fell a little flat. I have made other low sugar granolas, often using maple syrup and more spice, which I prefer. The texture was good and I liked the addition of sesame and flax. This was a perfectly acceptable granola for adding crunch to my morning fruit and yogurt, but not great as a stand alone or add milk granola.
The author includes a recipe for applesauce that may make a difference in the results, but I used an unsweetened grocery store brand.
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Website: Bettycrocker.com
Loved these! Lots of ginger flavor, nice chewy cookie with crispy edges and they keep well.
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