How to Make Chocolate Frosting

Here is an easy homemade chocolate frosting to complement any cake or dessert.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine (softened)
• 6 cups of baking cocoa
• 1/2 cups powdered sugar (if needed)
• 3 whole eggs
• 3 cups milk
• 4 teaspoon of vanilla for flavor
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Steps

1. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a bowl until it is fluffy.
2. Add cocoa and sugar with milk and egg yolks
3. Beat until the mixture is spreading consistency
4. Add the vanilla and blend.

Tips

• The icing should be of a consistency that can be easily spread without tearing the cake.
• If the frosting is too thick to spread easily, add a drop or two of additional milk until frosting reaches the desired consistency.

Warnings

• Caution: uncooked eggs can carry salmonella bacteria. Consuming salmonella bacteria can lead to poisoning or death. Consume raw eggs at your own risk! Always cook eggs thoroughly whenever possible!

How to Make a Raw Apple Cake

An old-time favorite that is packed full of generous amounts of apples, walnuts, and raisins. This delicious cake needs no frosting!

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 cups diced raw apples - Granny Smith apples work best
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Steps

1. Obtain the necessary ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 275ºF.
3. Prepare the baking dish by greasing the bottom and sides. You may spray the pan with a vegetable oil spray, if you wish.
4. In a large mixing bowl, mix sugar, oil, raw apples and eggs together.
5. Stir in flour, soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla.
6. Add chopped nuts, raisins and cinnamon, and stir.
7. Pour into prepared baking dish and spread batter evenly.
8. Bake at 275ºF for 45 minutes to an hour for metal baking pan; glass baking pans can take as long as an hour and 15 minutes to bake, depending on the oven.

Tips

• To prevent the raw apples from browning, add a teaspoon of lemon juice to a bowl of water and keep diced apples in the water until you're ready to add the apples to the mix (drain water from apples before adding to the mix). A cup of 7-Up or Sprite (lemonade) can be used if no lemon juice is available.
• Test the center of the cake with a knife or toothpick to see if it's done; the knife or toothpick should come out clean when cooking is complete, though bits of apple may stick. Give it a visual check, too; when completely cooked, the top has a uniform brownness. If the center of the cake's top is lighter in color than the outsides of the cake's top, it isn't done yet. Don't undercook!
• This is a fun recipe to make with children - a younger child can "chop" the nuts by placing them in between towels laid on a hard surface, and whack them with a pan to break the nuts into smaller pieces. Older children can help dice apples.
• Adding nuts and/or raisins is optional.
• Frosting isn't necessary; however, it does have that "unfinished" look without it. To give the raw apple cake more visual appeal, try a light sugar glaze drizzled over the top. A whipped-style cream cheese or spice frosting goes well with this cake, too.
• To keep fresh longer, it's best kept refrigerated.

Warnings

• The low baking temperature is the key to the richness of this cake. Don't try baking this cake at higher temperatures or the results will be disappointing!

Things You'll Need

• Bowl
• Stirring implements
• 13" x 9" x 2" baking dish (glass is best)

How to Bake Cookies

Whether you call them cookies or biscuits, everyone loves them just the same. Cookies come in thousands of shapes, sizes, and flavors, and they're relatively easy to make. While some cookies don't need baking, the ones that do offer more flexibility in terms of crispiness or chewiness. You just need to know how to tweak the ingredients and baking techniques for the desired effect! This article will offer good general instructions for baking cookies; see the related wikiHows section for links to cookie recipes.
Steps

Steps

1. Measure carefully. This is the golden rule of cookie baking. Follow the recipe to the tee (you can always experiment with later batches, testing how alterations affect the final product) and take the time to learn how to use measuring spoons and cups properly.
2. Check the baking soda or baking powder carefully. Using inactive baking soda or powder can ruin a batch of cookies. Test baking soda by adding a little bit of vinegar, or baking powder by adding it to hot water--if the mixture doesn't bubble, throw it out and purchase fresh.
3. Add a little extra baking soda for thinner, crisper cookies. Adding .25 to .5 ounce (5 to 15 grams) per 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of cookie dough will increase the pH of the dough, which weakens the structure and lets the dough spread more easily while it's baking. But be careful because adding too much baking soda can increase browning, leave a salty-chemical off flavor, and make the eggs in the mixture turn grayish-green!
4. Use coarser sugar for thicker, chewier cookies. When sugar dissolves, it acts as a tenderizer that interferes with dough structure. This increases spreading in much the same way as baking soda does as described in the previous step because finer sugar dissolves more easily than coarser sugar. So if you want your cookies to remain thick and chewy, use coarse sugar (or use fine sugar for the opposite effect). If you decide to use powdered sugar for extra crispiness, make sure it doesn't have corn starch in it, or you'll get unexpected results.
5. Mix the dry ingredients first. This is especially important with the baking soda or baking powder to ensure that it's evenly distributed and make sure that you don't end up with big holes in your cookies. Also, since baking powder is activated by water, you want to wait until the last minute before mixing the wet ingredients so that the baking powder doesn't "run out of juice" too early on in the process.
6. Mix the wet ingredients briefly. You only want to mix just enough so that the ingredients are moistened. Over-mixing will allow too many of the gas bubbles from the baking soda or powder reactions to escape, while also developing the gluten in the flour, resulting in dense, tough cookies.
   
   
   • Use butter that's at room temperature. Cold butter is stiffer and will require more mixing, which can negatively impact the texture of your cookies. The butter is softened enough when it gives slightly when pressed but still holds its shape, and it blends with little resistance (no cracking or breaking).
7. Put the cookies on a room temperature or cool cookie sheet. Using a hot baking sheet will cause the dough to start to melt prematurely. Grease the cookie sheet with vegetable shortening or unsalted butter--don't use vegetable oil because it'll burn between the cookies, and that's not a pleasure to clean. Some cookie dough recipes, however, have a lot of shortening or butter in it already and may not need to have the cookie sheet greased at all.
8. Use a parchment paper or Silipat lined baking sheet for ease of cookie baking. The baking sheet is easier to clean and will not suffer from greasy build up, if either is used while baking. Another plus is the cookies can be carefully removed from the baking sheet by pulling the parchment paper carefully from the cookie sheet and placing it on a cooling rack. The cookie sheet can be lined again with parchment paper and another batch of cookies can be baked.
9. Use a cookie scoop or measuring spoon to make sure drop or shaped cookies are all the same size. The cookies will bake evenly and taste better.
10. Check the cookies. A time range is often given in a recipe, so once you reach the short end of the range, stick a toothpick right in the center of a cookie, and pull it out quickly. If little or no cookie sticks to the toothpick, they are done. Depending on amount of cookie left on toothpick, adjust cooking time accordingly.
11. Allow cookies to cool after removing from the oven. It is best to either let the cookies cool on the sheet, or to move them to a cooling rack. If you do not have a cooling rack, just turn a large plate upside down, and place the rack on top until it cools. Once the cookies have cooled slightly, remove them from cookie sheet to prevent them from sticking and breaking later.

Tips

• Flouring the cookie sheet after it's been greased can minimize spreading (i.e. a potential solution to cookies that are too thin) and prevent chocolate chips in the dough from sticking to the cookie sheet.
• Preheat your oven while mixing ingredients.
• After the baking is finished and the oven has been shut off, keep the oven door slightly ajar to cool off the oven faster. However, if your oven has plastic knobs, check that the heat escaping will not melt the knobs.
• Use vanilla sugar for baking for added richness of flavour. Put a vanilla bean in a canister of sugar for two weeks before using. This imbues the sugar with vanilla and enhances cakes, cookies, and even sweet breads.
• Use parchment paper or a reusable Silpat baking mat (more eco-friendly) on your cookie sheet instead of greasing/flouring for easier cleanup and more even baking. Be aware that a "Silpat" baking mat can impart a slight plasticy flavour to your cookies.

Warnings

• Don't under-bake cookies, because that can taste too doughy, there is an increased health risk from under cooked ingredients (e.g. eggs), and may possibly lead to a stomach ache.
• Do not keep opening the oven door to check on the cookies. Each time you open it, the oven cools off. Instead, use your oven's internal light, if it has one, to view the cookies through the door.
• Make sure you do not put anything that might burn on top of the stove. You can start a fire.

Things You'll Need

• Baking sheets
• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Cooling racks
• Spatula
• Cookie cutters

How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies with Store Bought Dough

Chocolate chip cookies and milk seem to be perfect together. Munching on them while watching TV is as natural as eating popcorn in the theatre, but making your own is even better, because all things home made, just taste great!.. the ingredients of store bought cookies are:

flour, niacine, chocolate chips, butter, cocoa, milkfat, soy, salt, water, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, eggs, vegetable mono-, citric acid, soybean oil, palm oil, natural and artificial flavor, eggs, mollasses, vitamin A, vanilla extract, vanilla, whey, margarine, soy lecithin,sodium benzoate,reduced iron.

Steps

1. Buy a bucket or package of pre-made cookie dough.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 450ºF(make sure you took out anything that was in the oven).
3. Roll the cookie dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter.
4. Line the cookie tray with aluminum foil, parchment paper, flour, or a type of pam spray on the tray itself to prevent the dough from sticking.
5. Place the cookie dough balls on the tray, evenly spaced. Make a full tray. Approximately 16, 20, or 24 cookies.
6. Put the tray in the oven after your oven beeps. Set the timer for 17 minutes (Be sure to read cookie dough package, as cooking times may vary).
7. When the timer beeps, indicating that your cookies are done, use an oven mitt to take out the cookie tray.

Tips

• Get the big tub of cookie mix because it is cheaper and it lasts a long time.
• If you like to dunk your cookies in your milk, be careful you don't drop the cookie in or half breaks and sinks to the bottom of the cup. Especially if the cookies are fresh from the oven and are still a little warm.

Warnings

• Use a cooking mitten for handling the hot baking tray when you take the cookies out of the oven.

Things You'll Need

• A cooking mitten
• A roll or tub of cookie dough
• A tray
• An oven

How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies

Follow these simple steps to make the the world's best chocolate chip cookies!

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 - 2 1/3 cups flour
• 1 Tsp. salt
• 1 Tsp. baking soda
• 1 Cup shortening or 1 Cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1/2 - 3/4 Cup packed brown sugar (total sugar should equal 1.5 cups)
• 3/4 - 1 Cup white sugar (total sugar should equal 1.5 cups)
• 1 - 2 Tsp. pure vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 - 3 Cups chocolate chips
• 1 Cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Steps

1. Preheat your oven to 350ºF.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Gently mix these together and then set this bowl aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat together shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, and pure vanilla. When those are completely mixed together, add eggs and mix again until completely combined.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients from the medium bowl to the wet ingredients in the large bowl, mixing until the dry ingredients are totally combined. At this point you should have a moderately thick cookie dough.
5. Add chocolate chips, and if you want you can also add chopped walnuts. Mix together.
6. Scoop up a golf ball size amount of dough with a spoon and drop in onto a cookie sheet. Leave at least an inch of space between the cookies because they'll spread out when they cook. You can usually fit 12 cookies on a cookie sheet at a time.
7. Put the cookies in the oven and bake for about 8-10 minutes. You'll want to check them after 8 minutes, but if they look doughy, you'll want to cook them for another couple of minutes. After 10 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies sit on the pan for 3-5 minutes.
8. Using a spatula, lift cookies off onto wax paper or tin foil. Let cool for about 5 more minutes.
9. Eat and enjoy!

Tips

• If you want crispy cookies, bake them a few minutes longer.
• Do not grease the cookie pan prior to baking.
• Makes about 30 cookies.
• Spray the pan lightly with nonstick cooking spray (Pam is a well known brand).
• Use parchment paper or silipat sheets to prevent sticking.

What You'll Need

• One medium bowl
• One large bowl
• Mixing spoon
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Cookie sheet
• Spatula
• Wax paper, foil, or cooling rack