Cardamom Spiced Applesauce Muffins

I have lots of powdered butter to play with.  I don't use it that much, so I decided to try it as a butter replacement in baking.  I started with a favorite recipe: cardamom spiced applesauce muffins.  The recipe is super rich because it calls for both butter and oil.  Since it has two oils, I figured replacing the butter with powdered butter couldn't hurt too much.

You don't need powdered butter to try this recipe.  It is super delicious on it's own.  But Hubby did say these were the best I had made.  Perhaps he was just hungry.  You can see that some of them appeared to have oozed something.  I don't think this was the powdered butter.  I think it might have been the sugar, which is very old and a bit lumpy.  In any event, they tasted great and didn't last long around the house.

Cardamom Spiced Applesauce Muffins

1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 stick butter melted (or 1/2 c. powdered butter)
1/2 c. oil
2 eggs
2 c. applesauce
2 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. cardamom
1/2 t. cloves
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper (weird, I know.  But don't skip it!)
2 1/2 c. flour (I think I did 1 1/2 c. whole wheat with 1 c. white.  Maybe it was the other way around.)

Mix together ingredients and scoop into lined muffin tin.  Bake at 350 until toothpick comes out clean.  Makes about 24 muffins.

How I started my food storage: Part III--Fats

I'm back with part three of how I started my food storage.  Today, I take up fats.

I have a confession to make.  Fats have never been my strong suit when it comes to food storage.  I have never had a year's supply on hand.  Perhaps part of the problem is that fats are by nature perishable.  Recommendations are that oil is only good for 6 months to a year.  This is not the kind of thing you can purchase and stick in your garage for 20 years.

Some of the other reasons that I found fats difficult is the list and amounts on the calculator.  Four pounds of shortening is just plain gross given that I try to avoid hydrogenated fats.  And two quarts of salad dressing is just silly when I prefer to make my own.  And there is no way I would go through two quarts of mayo.  If need be I can make that too so long as I have an egg.  I have yet to try it with powdered eggs, but you know I will.

So what have I done about fats?  I try to have a few months supply on hand of what I do use.  I like to cook with olive oil.  I use canola in my bread and for frying.  I keep butter in my freezer and we purchased some Red Feather canned butter--which is super expensive but awesome.  And I like to have several cans of spray canola oil for pancakes and my bread pans.  I don't skimp here either.  If the first ingredient on the can isn't oil, I don't buy it.  Some cheaper brands have the first ingredient as water.  Totally not worth the savings.

I will also let you know that I wanted to have a backup for spray oil in case I ran out so I purchased an oil mister.  I tried it on my bead pans and it was worthless.  I have no idea why.  So if you are thinking of purchasing an oil mister don't expect it to be useful for bread making.  I do like to use it for pancakes and french fries--it's easier to coat fries and uses less oil!

So how much oil should I store?  I am in the process of figuring that out.  I did some calculations and if I make 4 loaves of bread per week (I make about that now) it would use 1 and 2/3 gallons of oil.  That doesn't include any cooking.  But the recommendation is that you have 2 gallons per person for a year's worth.  I actually think that would be pretty close.  Plus I need to factor in olive oil and some other fats like peanut butter.  But you know, food storage is a work in progress.

Before I leave this fatty topic, let me say something about powdered butter and shortening.  I have used powdered butter, but have had mixed results.  See here and here for example.  My feeling is that it works ok for baking and some cooking, but not so much for anything else.  You can't spread powdered butter on bread.  The best use may be in a white sauce mix I have made.  I want to try it in a few more baking recipes, like applesauce cake--mmm  . . . applesauce cake.  I just lost my train of thought.

I suppose that this Self Reliance Experiment is a bit about figuring out what I want to store.  I use this as an opportunity to experiment.  I don't expect to have all the answers anytime soon.  Perhaps you can let me know what you do about storing oil?

P.S. I love butter.

Apple Pie Oatmeal Bars

Last fall I canned some Apple Pie Jam.  It was a bit unintentional as I was going for an apple conserve with big chunks of apple but couldn't get the apple's to suspend in the syrup so I gave up and attacked the whole pot with my immersion blended.  I called the result apple pie jam.  It turns out I'm not a big fan of apple pie jam on toast.  So I now have the burden pleasure of using up the jam.

I decided that this recipe for oatmeal bars courtesy of the Pioneer Woman was made for my jam.  I'd like to pretend this is healthy since I used whole wheat flour, but it has nearly two cube of butter.  So I'll just enjoy it for what it is--pure deliciousness.  You know the crumb topping on muffins.  This is like a bunch of that topping with a hint of spicy apple pie.  It's really good. 

1 3/4 sticks of butter (14 Tablespoons)

1 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 1/2 c. rolled oats

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

12 oz. apple pie jam

Cream butter and brown sugar.  Add in the whole wheat flour, rolled oats, baking powder and salt.  Press half of mixture in 9x13 pan.  Spread jam over top.  Sprinkle with the other half of the mixture.  Press lightly.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. 

Let cool completely before cutting.  This is important because they are too gooey to cut.  Or you can be impatient like me and eat them hot.  I was wishing I had some ice cream with this one.

Butter, how do I love thee?

I ran out of butter in week nine.  It was inevitable.  The rationing . . . well, I'll be honest.  I didn't ration.  I used my butter to my heart's content.  (Or discontent.  Has butter been linked to clogged arteries?)  Anyway.

In the interest of experimentation, I busted out some canned butter that Bryce and I bought in our first year of marriage.  Romantic, I know.

Here is a picture of the can.  Just ignore the dent; I did.  The brand is Red Feather and is supposed to have a 25 year shelf life.

It looked like read butter when we opened it up.  And, more importantly, it tasted like it!  I used it on toast and to cook with.  It was perfect.  I would recommend having some of this in your food storage if you don't think you can live without butter.  The only catch.  It's pricey stuff.  About $7.50 a can.  Each can is only 12 ounces or three cubes.  That's $10 a pound folks!

Given the price, I think we will keep some in our food storage, but not rotate it too regularly.  It does have a 25 year shelf life after all.

And in case you are wondering, I found a sale on butter for $2.50 a pound a few weeks ago.  I bought 12 pounds.  Yes, $30 worth of butter.  It will last us about 6 months. We should make it to the butter sales around Thanksgiving.  It was $2.00/lb. last year.  I am hoping for something similar this year, but with the way prices are going . . .

Butter Update

You might recall my little tirade about butter some weeks ago.  I thought I would let you know how things are going.  We have just over five weeks left and I have a pound and a half of butter.  That's 6 cubes, people!  Based upon the former rationing, I should have about 10 cubes.  So what happened to those extra 4 cubes?  This carameled popcorn I made for FHE might be the first clue.

Making Butter from Cream

I'm not sure this could be any easier.  The hardest part was skimming the cream off the top of the milk.

1.  Place cream in mixer.  Turn mixer on.

2.  Mix at a high speed and wait for it.

3.  Wait for it.

4.  Wait for it.  (I confess there was a point that I thought it might not happen.  My friend I got the milk from told me that if there was any milk in the cream it wouldn't turn to butter.  I thought I might have been a poor skimmer  . . . but . . .)

5.  Butter!  I tossed the water that was produced, technically "buttermilk."  However, buttermilk today is a fermented skim milk and not really the same thing.  I didn't salt the butter, but I suppose I could have.  I worked out a little extra water when I put it in a jar.  Bryce thinks this is the best butter he has ever tasted.

Butter Rationing and a Sunday Treat

I have started to become paranoid about running out of butter.  I love butter.  I love it on my bread, especially when the bread is warm and fresh out of the oven.  I love it on my pancakes.  I love to make grilled tuna and grilled cheese, both of which require butter.  I also love it to make eggs in toast (Kimball calls them circle eggs) as pictured below.  Not to mention a long and varied list of sweet things which require butter.  I love butter.

And I only have 5 pounds in the freezer with one extra cube sitting out begging to be used.  It was about three weeks ago that I bought 8 pounds at Costco.  That means in 3 weeks we have used nearly 3 pounds!  At that rate I only have 5 more weeks of butter usage.  I'm beginning to freak out.  What will I do without butter?  That means the butter rationing begins now.  Only two cubes a week, people.  That's it.  No  more.  That gives me 10 weeks of butter with a little to spare.  I just might be able to make it.

So, today when Bryce wanted a Sunday evening treat, we needed one that did not require butter.  We found this recipe for chocolate chip muffins.  We skipped the coffee and added extra milk.  Bryce also threw in some almond extract.  They really hit the spot.  Best part?  They didn't call for any butter.  I'm totally having butter on my toast in the morning.