Whole Wheat Tortillas (Thin Pizza Crust)

Okay people. I’m going to be really honest with you.

There is pretty much zero reason that you would ever need to make your own tortillas. I mean, with the one hundred thousand, three hundred and thirteen different kinds of tortillas out there, there is really no reason to ever NOT buy them.

UNLESS you are trying to make a very VERY thin pizza crust.

Which coincidentally, I happen to love.

So if you are like me, and you like a ridiculously good looking pizza crust, this recipe is where it is at.

You will need…

(makes 9 smaller tortillas or 2 larger pizza crusts)

½ cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat bread flour

½ cup shortening

2 teaspoons salt

1 ½ cups boiling water

Extra flour for rolling

Start by combining the all-purpose flour, the whole wheat flour and the salt.

Add the shortening to the mixture and use your hands to combine it well.

Then, make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the boiling water.

Using a fork, combine the water and the flour mixture until the water is evenly incorporated.

Knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your fingers. Add extra all-purpose flour if necessary.

The dough should be smooth throughout.

Now I you have two options. If you are going to make tortillas, divide the dough and make golf ball sized balls of dough. About 2 ounces each. If you are going to make pizza, divide the dough into 2 separate balls.

Set all your balls aside, cover them with cloth and let them stand for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours.

If you are going to make tortillas, heat up a griddle or large frying pan and heat it over high heat. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball of dough to your desired thickness. I recommend 1/8^th to 1/16^th of an inch thick.

After rolling out the dough, add the tortilla to the griddle and cook for about 10 seconds, waiting for the dough to bubble. Flip the tortilla and let it cook for another 30 second. Flip it one last time and cook for a final 30 seconds. And serve hot.

If you are going to make a pizza, preheat your oven to 415 degrees F.

Roll out your 2 dough balls to 1/8^th to 1/16^th of an inch thick.

Top the dough with all your toppings and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela

The Perfect White Cake

The cake saga continues.

I’m four cakes in to my wedding cake prep and I’m starting to feel pretty good about the wedding cake I have to make come September.

And I’m freaking out at the same time.

For the wedding cake, I am going to attempt (attempting being the key word) a three tiered cake with three different flavors.

The flavors are not my issue. Flavors, I’m crushing.

My problem is the decorating.

I guess I’m not talented in the cake decorating department.

I’ve been making these cakes for four months now and my decorating skills are leaving something to be desired. It takes me forever to ice the cakes and I always end up uneven and crumbly.

My brother Josh agreed to help me on this bad boy.

In ten minutes and on his first try he had this cake iced better than all of the cakes I’ve done combined.

Guess who I’m recruiting to help me for the real thing?

Regardless of my lack of icing skills, this cake was bomb.

It was so moist and airy and packed with ton of flavor.

I don’t even like white cake and I gobbled this thing down.

You will need…

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

1 ½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

¾ cup buttermilk

½ cup milk

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F.

Start by combining the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer combine the shortening and sugar on a high speed.

Lower the mixer to a lower speed and add in the eggs, extracts and the milk.

When the wet ingredients are completely combined, slowly add in the dry ingredients.

Pour the cake into your floured baking dish of choice and bake for 40 minutes. 

Make sure the cake is done by sticking it with a toothpick and making sure it comes out clean.

When the cake is done, let it cool in the pan for twenty minutes.

Turn out the cake and allow it cool completely.

Ice with your favorite icing and serve.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela

The Perfect White Cake

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

1 ½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

¾ cup buttermilk

½ cup milk

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer combine the shortening and sugar on a high speed.

Lower the mixer to a lower speed and add in the eggs, extracts and the milk.

When the wet ingredients are completely combined, slowly add in the dry ingredients.

Pour the cake into your floured baking dish of choice and bake for 40 minutes. Make sure the cake is done by sticking it with a toothpick and making sure it comes out clean.

When the cake is done, let it cool in the pan for twenty minutes.

Turn out the cake and allow it cool completely.

Ice with your favorite icing and serve. 

Snickerdoodles

It’s almost eleven-thirty at night on a Saturday and I am laying in bed blogging about baking.

Apparently in the last week I have aged twenty-seven years.

Last year when I did the first ever Twelve Days of Treats, it was one of those things that sounded like a really good idea in my head but then I wanted to kill myself when I actually had to execute it. It was right up there with the AP Calculus class I took my senior year in high school and when I decided I could handle being the swim team captain and the sorority president at the same time.

But this year, something is different. I can’t really put my finger on it, but this go round I have a new found enthusiasm for baking.

So instead of dragging my feet and making a treat that was already in my repertoire one night at a time, today I spent six hours in the kitchen, baking up a storm. Including redoing things I had already made for the blog and just really wanted to make again.

Cough. Macarons. Cough.

First on the list of treats today was a cookie that I never really had as a kid, but have recently fallen in love with.

The snickerdoodle is reminiscent of both the cinnamon rolls my grandmother and I made when I was young and the delicious sugar cookies I made with my mom.

Match made in Twelve Days of Treats heaven.

You will need…

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

1/2 cup shortening

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 3 tablespoons sugar or colored sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

With a handheld or standing mixer, beat together the shortening and butter.

Add the 1 1/2 cups sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. 

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.

Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl. In this case you can use sugar sprinkles that are holiday colors.

Roll the dough, by hand, into 1 1/2-inch balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar.

Flatten the balls into 1/2-inch thick disks, spacing them evenly on unlined cookie sheets.

Bake until light brown, but still moist in the center, about 12 minutes.

Cool on a rack.

And them put them in an adorable tin and share the doodle wealth.

Love and Beer Floats

Angela