Recipe testing, the last chapter

I ended up doing a total of three recipe-tests for the new cookbook. I would have loved to do more, but having all of these baked goods in the house when you are trying to lose weight is not a good thing! The last recipe was an easy, fast, and delicious one for Pineapple Bread. A super-quick bread that vanished super-fast between my two girls!

The dry ingredients were whisked, and the wet ones were combined. A total of only 7 items went into this bread!

I was surprised at how light and fluffy this batter was, as compared to the much thicker/denser batter of a zucchini or Amish friendship bread.

The batter was poured into a greased loaf pan and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Although the directions stated to bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, I found it to be completely done at 30-40 minutes... just another reason these recipes are tested!

I had to snap a quick photo before it was all gone! A light, pineapple-y sweet bread with a cinnamon-sugar crust. Perfect for breakfast or snacking ☺

Whew, finally a recipe that didn't give me too many fits. Kevin currently has the first-draft of the book in his hands, and it is scheduled to be released this Fall. I think it will be an amazing book of recipes and stories, which I am looking quite forward to. I will share more with you all when the time comes!

Recipe Testing, take 1

Why is it that sometimes, when you think something is going to be easy, it ends up being super-difficult? This recipe that I tested for Kevin and Lovina's newest baking book, called Butterscotch Brownies, seemed like a no-brainer. And, actually, it was... once I got past that first stinking step!

The first thing you do is melt butter in a pan, then add brown sugar. You are supposed to cook it until the brown sugar "melts". I was waiting for it to turn into a carmeley-saucey sort of thing, so I continued to stir...

Eventually, then entire thing seized up and turned into a brown sugar brick; good for making houses, no so good for making brownies.

I scrapped that batch (obviously!) and started over. This time, I only let the butter/b.sugar mixture get to a peanut butter consistency before I allowed it to cool.

The rest of the ingredients were assembled, and the batter was made.

As in many of these Amish recipes, the specific are just not there. Directions may just say "pour into greased pan." Then the question becomes, "What SIZE of pan?". The first batch I made in an 8 x 8 pan (and you can see that only half of that batch has nuts in it...that is intentional ☺). There just didn't seem to be enough batter to cover a 9 x 13 pan. They turned out very good, but a little taller/cakier than a normal brownie.

I take this job very seriously, so I made another batch and spread it into a 9 x 13 pan. The batter is very thick and sticky, and there isn't much of it, but my off-set spatula made short work of this. I was suprised how much that little amount of batter really puffed up! It was decided that 9 x 13 pan is definitely the right one to use.

Nutty, chewy, and not overly sweet...Delish!