The First Step...

...is often admitting that you have a problem.  So, here goes.

I, Kel, like to bake.

Nope, that simply does not express it accurately enough.

I, Kel, love to bake.

Hmmm, while that is closer to the truth, I think I need a little more zing.

I, Kel, have a baking obsession.


It was not always like this.  Sure, I remember in high school baking chocolate chip cookies using the recipe on the Nestle package.  I used to babysit for a family, and when they threw big dinner parties, I was always in charge of the baked goods.  As a teenager, I was making Julia Childs' flourless chocolate cake.  I just followed the recipe.  To think, she got all my glory!

There is a precision to baking that I love.  I always so there are those that love to cook, and those that love to bake.  Cooks can take ingredients and swap them out, deciding that today they wish to use twice as much thyme as the recipe calls for, or perhaps to skip the salt, as there is already enough there.

Baking is measuring; it is chemical reactions that should not be messed with.  I really should learn the details of the chemistry, but why?

I came across this English Muffin recipe last week.  I had seen the recipe before, but for whatever reason, the directions on the little red house made me realize that I can do this!  All it would take were two ingredients that I needed to buy; nonfat powdered milk and bar jar lids!

I wish you could have seen my happy dance at the grocery store when I found out that you can buy the jar lids without actually buying the jars!   It was Festival in Vadnais Heights; contact them to see if they have security footage.

I was waxing poetic (ha - in 104 characters or less) on Twitter yesterday about these little babies.

I proudly present to you nooks and crannies!

You don't cut these in half; you gently pull them apart before placing them in the toaster to crisp up.

If you are lucky, you have homemade ricotta and Trader Joe's honey apple butter in the refrigerator.  I make my own luck, and my own ricotta, thanks to this recipe.

I left the house this morning for some exercise thinking it would be pumpkin pancakes upon our return.  Nope.  All I could think about where these english muffins.  With a runny egg.  And black beans.  And salsa.  And cheese.  Don't forget the avocado.  Sorry, no pictures as my appetite would simply not allow it.

So, what is an obsessed baker to do but bake more?  A double batch at that.

Today I successfully made 8 per batch; yesterday I overfilled the lids.

I did not use the gluten in the recipe as the little red house did;  I used white wheat King Arthur flour and was very pleased with the results!

Fingers crossed that these freeze well!

Enjoy the recipe!