Bake 2019 - February

I had a lot of good bakes this month.  Bake 2019 is really fun!  If you missed my January bakes, click on over to see what I baked in January.

First up, my classic chocolate chip cookies with rainbow sprinkles added.  I made this for my dad's birthday.  I put most of them in a box and mailed them to Florida.  

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Next, I tried my hand at crepes.  I always read that the first one is the worst one and that is so true.  It was a mess!  After that first one the rest were great.  I used this blender crepe recipe for the actual crepe.  I made them savory with Costco spinach dip and bacon inside.  Very good!

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French bread was next on the list.  I made mini loaves.  I used a recipe from a cookbook I've had forever.  It was my mom's cookbook first and then she gave it to me.  So good!

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I made a pan of cinnamon rolls on a snowy Friday afternoon.  Another one from the baking cookbook from my mom.  They are dangerously easy, but you have to be patient while they rise.  That's probably the only thing that saves me from making cinnamon rolls daily.  Luckily, Matt was meeting up with family so we could get these out of the house quickly.  After I had two for sure.

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I have been wanting to make lava cakes and finally did near the end of the month.  I used this Dessert for Two recipe and it was great!  I probably could have let them bake a few minutes longer.  Runny, gooey chocolate cake is not necessarily a problem.  

Look at that gooey goodness!  Strawberries make it healthy.

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I have been practicing pie crust.  Pie crust is something that challenges me.

  I didn't get a photo of my first crust.  I made a shortening only crust for a savory taco pie.  I felt like the flavor was good, boring, but good.  It was really flaky.  I just had a hard time with the rolling out and getting it in the pie plate in once piece.  Good but not pretty or overly exciting.

The second pie crust recipe I tried was from Sally's Baking Addiction.  It was her Buttery Flaky Pie Crust made with butter and shortening.  I think we have a winner with this one!  It seemed to roll out better for me but I still have issues with the transfer.  I didn't have enough room to make a pretty fluted edge.  I did have left over crust so I cut out little circles and added a little cut out decoration.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  It also doesn't seem to want to roll out into one nice circle for me.  I need more practice.  Also, next time I'll try parchment.  

I baked the crust and then used a French Silk recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.  It was delicious!   

Why does pie crust shrink down like that?  See that spot with the chocolate?  That's where the crest shrunk during baking.  I've got to get this figured out before the pi day pie contest.

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