Day 101 - Mother's Day and Baked Bananas

On this Mother's Day, I want to say a HUGE thank you to my wonderful mother. 
Also to both of my grandmothers and both of my aunts, and of course, my mother-in-law.
Each of these women has been a huge part of my life and have been such an influence on the woman I am today.
It goes without saying that my mother was my very best friend right up until the day she died.  We were so close that I even called her up to tell her about the first time I made out with a boy and that was before there were cell phones.
I know, it's weird.
Growing up, I was extremely blessed to be very close to both sets of my grandparents, emotionally and in proximity.  My father's parents lived next door and my mother's, about 10 minutes away.  It was awesome and what made it even better was that I was the first grandchild on both sides for the first 8 years of my life. 
You could say I was a little spoiled.
Also, because my mother and my father have one sister each, we are a close extended family, and I'd visit each of them and their families growing up.
And my wonderful mother-in-law raised a kind, compassionate, caring, loyal, loving and very hard-working man.
This man has given me the greatest blessings of my life, our three children, allowing me to fulfill my greatest dream of becoming a mother.
I wouldn't change it for anything.

Being Mother's Day, this mother took it easy today in the baking department.  I wanted to be able to relax and enjoy the time with the family and I did just that. 
I baked bananas tonight.  I've never had them, but have heard about them being flambeed and being yummy, so wanted to try it.  I didn't go the flambee route though - no rum.
I used the Fannie Farmer Cookbook Thirteenth Edition, p.721; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. a division of Random House; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

Baked Bananas

4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 firm, ripe bananas
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Put the butter, lemon rind, and lemon juice in a baking dish.

Place it in the oven for 2-3 minutes, just long enough to melt the butter; remove and stir.
Peel the bananas, cut them in half lengthwise and put them in the baking dish, turning so they are coated with the butter mixture. 

Sprinkle the brown sugar over them and bake for 15 minutes.

 

I served them with ice cream and Hershey's chocolate sauce, 'cause what goes better with bananas than chocolate?  Ok, maybe peanut butter.

The kids didn't like them at all and I thought they were a little bizarre.  I couldn't taste ANY banana, only lemon, lemon rind, and some brown sugar.  Weird.  Maybe it was because I cut the bananas in half and it doesn't say to do that.  So if you want to try this you may want to leave them whole and see how it turns out.  Yeah, no one liked it, so I won't be making this again.
I rate things that I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these baked bananas earn 1 rolling pin.  My son said a 0, but that isn't on the scale.
Happy baking and a big, big thank you again to all the amazing mothers in my life!

Day 81 - Gluten - Free Margarita Cookies

       I'm aggravated.  Plain and simple.  I'm aggravated to the point of tears.  I'm not going to lie and pretend I'm all happy and joyful right now because I'm not.  I made these gluten - free, but you can substitute regular all-purpose flour so others can enjoy them, too!  No, you can't.  Unless you know of a way to substitute the gluten-free flour and have a way that these cookies will not disintegrate at the moment you touch them, DO NOT use Gluten-Free flour.  I found this recipe from Meg & Josh at The Red Spoon.  It's a very interesting cookie.  While I'm not much of a drinker, I do enjoy an occasional Margarita, and thought these cookies were so cool that I just had to try them.  Her recipe used regular all-purpose flour, but I used the King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour and some Xanthan gum.  I'm giving you the recipe with the regular flour.  Remember, I didn't make them this way, so I can't tell you how they are. 

     Margarita Cookies   Makes about 50 cookies

     2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
     2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
     1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
     Pinch of salt
     2 teaspoons tequila
     Grated zest of 4 limes*
     Grate zest of one orange
     2 cups all-purpose flour

     Coating:     Approximately 1/2 cup clear sanding or other coarse sugar
     2 – 3 teaspoons Kosher salt
     1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

     Put the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until it is smooth.

     Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and silky.

     Beat in 1 egg yolk, followed by the salt, tequila, grated lime and orange zest.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, beating just until it disappears. Underbeat rather than overbeat; if the flour isn’t fully incorporated, just blend in whatever remaining flour needs blending with a rubber spatula.

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, gather it into a ball, and divide it in half. The dough will be sticky and will probably stick some to the counter. Working quickly, separately wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

     Working on a smooth surface, form each piece of dough into a log that is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches (2.5 to 3.2 cm) thick. At this point, the dough was extremely sticky, so I put a small amount of flour on the counter.  Meg advised not kneading extra flour into the dough, just using enough to roll into a log.  Wrap the logs in plastic and chill for 2 hours. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.)

     Position the oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

     Prepare the sugar coating: Whisk the remaining egg yolk plus a teaspoon of water in a small bowl until it is smooth and liquid enough to use as a glaze.

     Mix the coarse sugar and salt well and spread the mixture out on a piece of parchment paper.

     Remove the logs of dough from the refrigerator, unwrap them, brushing any excess flour off. Brush them lightly with a little egg yolk.

     Roll the logs in the sugar, pressing the sugar/salt mixture gently to get it to stick if necessary, then, using a sharp slender knife, slice each log into cookies about 1/4 inch thick. I did as Meg suggested here and to get the sugar/salt mixture to stick better, took the parchment and rolled it over the cookie dough pressing the sugar/salt into the dough. 

     Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets, leaving about 1/2 inch space between them.

     Bake the cookies for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are set but not browned.  Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool to room temperature.

     Keeping: Packed airtight, the cookies will keep for about 5 days at room temperature, if they last that long. Because the sugar coating will melt, these cookies are not suitable for freezing.

    


As I said, I substituted the 2 cups of all-purpose flour for 2 cups of the Gluten-Free flour and added ½ teaspoon Xanthan gum.  They fell apart, completely crumbled as I went to pick them up.

 Well, a few didn't and those I was able to get a picture of, but the others are inedible.  And what makes me aggravated is that I'm doing this project and since my daughter's on this gluten-free diet, I really just want to be able to make her something that she finds absolutely delicious and wonderful.  I know these cookies would be wonderful made the way Meg made them at The Red Spoon.  So, I highly recommend that you do that.  I think I might try them again made that way, too.  The flavor really was wonderful and they did taste like a margarita, especially with the bits and pieces of salt and sugar that I was able to retrieve.  And that aggravated me all the more because they were so tasty. 

     I have a rating system on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and I need to rate them as I made them.  Unfortunately, because I made a mistake somewhere along the way, I have to give these 1 rolling pin.  My daughter thought they should be given 3 rolling pins, but in all seriousness, I can't do that.  I don't think it's fair and wouldn't want to mislead you.  Maybe instead of just an egg yolk, it needs a whole egg because of the switch in flours.  Ugh!  I don't know.  Now I need a real margarita. 

     Happy baking!

    

Day 80 - Brown Butter Pantry Bars

       I know, weird title, but I couldn't think of what else to call them because this is truly a recipe from scratch.  Not that all of the previous 79 haven't been, it's just that this one I completely made up out of my own little head.  I was looking through the pantry and found various ingredients and thought if I threw them all together, they might make a decent tasting bar.  We'll see.  I guess I could have called them Odds & Ends Bars, too, but the other title sounds a little more appetizing, I think.

     Brown Butter Pantry Bars

     ½ cup (1 stick) butter
     1½ cups flour
     ½ cup sugar
     1 egg
     1 teaspoon vanilla
     1 can sweetened condensed milk
     ½ cup white chocolate chips
     ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
     ½ cup cherry Craisins (sweetened dried cranberries)
     ½ cup chopped peanuts

     Preheat oven to 350ºF.
     In, small pan, melt butter until it is browned.  Remove from heat.

     In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, and sugar.
     Add butter, egg, and vanilla to mixing bowl.  Mix well until thoroughly combined.

     In a 9 X 13" baking dish, spread dough evenly over bottom of pan.
     Pour can of condensed milk over dough, spreading evenly with a spatula.

     Sprinkle semi-sweet and white chocolate chips on top of condensed milk.  Follow with Craisins.

     Scatter peanuts evenly over top.
     Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes.

 Allow to cool completely before cutting.
    
     I probably should have added a ½ teaspoon salt to the dough, but I forgot.  This was fun!  I really liked being creative and adding different things.  I was going to add some miniature marshmallows, but I thought that might be overkill and that they would already be sweet enough.
     Yes, they are very sweet and they fall apart easily.  They are not too exciting, so I wouldn't recommend printing this recipe.  I didn't even take a finished picture because it just wasn't worth it.  They were waaayyyyyy too sweet.  I am amazed that people are able to make recipes up.  I can follow a recipe, so that it turns out really well, but make my own things up?  I'm just not there yet and I wonder when I will be.  Everybody has a special purpose in life; maybe mine's just following the recipes, not creating them.  I'm okay with that, but I'm still jealous.
     I rate my recipes on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best.  These didn't cut it, so I'm giving them a 1.  Oy.  They were really sickening sweet.  Although the dough with the brown butter was good, maybe I'll have to work that into something else.
     Happy baking!

Day 74 - Brown Sugar Drops

          I decided something extremely important today.  And yes, it has to do with baking.  I absolutely CANNOT, MUST NOT do any of my baking for this blog while the Red Sox are in the middle of a baseball game, especially when they are playing the Yankees.  And especially when David Ortiz comes up to bat with Kevin Youkilis on third base.  I was in the middle of measuring the flour, baking soda and salt into the sifter, and usually I'll put like half the flour in and then the other dry ingredients followed by more flour so that everything is sifted in together nicely.  Yeah.  I was measuring, the tv was on, and I knew Big Papi was up to bat.  I measured the flour, half or all I wasn't sure, and had done the salt and baking soda, then heard the hit and the crowd erupted.  Of course, I'm going to drop everything and run to the tv!  I know, I can hear you saying, "the team has only one win since the beginning of the season and 7 losses, so it's too early in the season to be so wrapped up in one game".  Oh, but this is the Red Sox, playing against their arch rival, the Yankees.  These are games we die hard Red Sox fans DO NOT MISS.  I also didn't add the milk or the maple syrup before putting in the dry ingredients.  So,we can either chalk this up to my preoccupation with the baseball game or that I was having consecutive senior moments even though I'll deny I'm anywhere close to being a senior.  It was the game.  "That's my story and I'm stickin' to it." 

  Brown Sugar Drop Cookies came out of my New Doubleday Cookbook, p. 830-831; authors, Jean Anderson and Elaine Hanna; publisher, Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.; ISBN 0-385-19577-X.

   Brown Sugar Drops  - 6 dozen

     3½ cups sifted flour (Ha, I forgot to do that, too - sift it before measuring. Yikes.)
     1 teaspoon baking soda
     1 teaspoon salt
     1 cup butter or margarine or ½ cup each vegetable shortening or butter, softened to room temperature
     2 cups firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
     2 eggs
     ½ cup sour milk or buttermilk ( I used sour milk: 1½ teaspoons added to ½ cup milk and rest for 10 minutes.)
     2 teaspoons maple flavoring (optional) (I used 2 teaspoons of maple syrup)

     Preheat oven to 400ºF.
     Sift flour with soda and salt and set aside.  With a rotary beater or electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, and eggs until well blended. 

Mix in sour milk and maple flavoring.  Slowly mix in dry ingredients. 

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2" apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes until nearly firm (cookie should barely retain fingerprint when lightly touched).  Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

      My son absolutely loved these.  I rate everything that I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and this crazy kid thought they should be given 4 rolling pins.  I'm sorry, I have to disagree.  I really thought the kid was off his rocker.  I don't think they had any taste.  It was after I had added the milk after adding the dry ingredients that I thought for sure I had used an extra cup of flour.  The batter just looked.  Too.  Sticky.  It was like spackle and took me a while to clean it off my spoons it was so thick.  Yeah, I really think I added that additional cup.  See, just like drinking and driving, baking and Red Sox don't mix.  Someone could get hurt or at least ill from something made when the chef isn't paying attention.  They kind of tasted like cardboard.  I have to give them a 1 rolling pin.  I'm interested in making a second batch to see what the difference would be, possibly tomorrow.  Not sure though, I already have something very important to bake and I have GREAT EXPECTATIONS for it, so I'll NEED to PAY ATTENTION!!
     Happy baking!

Day 63 - Gluten-Free Ham and Cheese Pocket Pies

         Today was an absolutely wonderful day!  We were blessed with a new addition to our extended family; a new nephew/cousin.  I'm very excited!  We are waiting on pictures, but I'm sure he is just as beautiful as his older brother.  A HUGE congratulations to the new mommy and daddy!!  Babies are always so exciting, and sometimes I wouldn't mind being pregnant again.  I do miss those days.  But, that phase of my life is over.  I don't know if I could tolerate waking in the middle of the night every few hours anyway.
     I also received a most wonderful phone call from my very dear friend, Mary.  I shared her Spanikopita recipe on Day 48.  And just as I thought it would be, we picked up right where we'd left off.  It's been a couple years since we've spoken on the phone, but it was as if no time had passed.  And we talked for 2 hours; I'm sure we could have stayed on longer.  It was great to catch up, but it was even better to hear her voice, and especially her laugh.  Mary will always have a very special place in my heart. 
     If you have a friend like that or a friend who you haven't spoken with in a while, call or e-mail them.  You never know what they might be going through and you may be contacting them at the perfect time.  Why wait?  I'm sure it would do you both good to reconnect. 

      We had rice for dinner last night and I've been craving rice pudding lately.  NO, I am NOT pregnant.  I am looking forward to the time when we have grandchildren.  Yikes!  I feel so old when I say that, and I DON'T want it to happen anytime soon.  Back in Rhode Island whenever I'd go to a Walt's Roast Beef (they are SO much better than Arby's, I think!), I'd buy their rice pudding for dessert.  Mmm, mmm, good!  Now I'm homesick.
     I was really looking forward to this, and the recipe couldn't have been any easier!  I was psyched because I'd start it in the morning, it would bake while I cleaned the house, and this would be the one night that I could relax because I would type the blog up in the afternoon before making dinner.  But,

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

"To a Mouse" - Robert Burns

     See, last night I finished blogging shortly before midnight then sat up talking to my husband til around 1.  We were awakened at 5 am by yet another cat fight under our bedroom window.  Our cat, Charlie (my sous chef in pictures), likes to take cover under a plastic chair right next to our bedroom window.  He hides here because as tough as he attempts to be, he really is a big fat wuss, and is terrified of everything!  He doesn't even like to leave the security of our back yard and growls whenever I attempt to put him out the front door.  He freaks.  This black cat (I know because I finally saw him this morning) comes into our yard and kicks Charlie's butt.  He ended up with a scratch on his nose and I had to break it up.  So what, do you ask, does this have to do with baking rice pudding today?  Well, a lot actually.  Being up at 5 and then knowing that my alarm was going off in an hour, I decided it would just be best to stay up and be productive before taking the kids to school.  I was able to do some things before dropping them off and then completely crashed, so decided to take a nap.  I slept til noon and when I awoke, had no idea what day or time it was.  I know it's happened to you.  So, it took me quite some time to get my bearings, and never ended up cleaning the bathrooms, but managed to put the pudding into the oven after this....   



How does it go, don't cry over spilled milk?

     Yes, another mishap in the kitchen.  I turned from the refrigerator after putting the milk away and put my hand into the measuring cup (I don't know, I guess with old age depth perception goes, too) which spilled it all over me, the cookbook, counter and floor.  I was extremely grateful that I had decided to halve the recipe since I knew I'd probably be the only one eating it.  If I hadn't, instead of spilling only ¼ of a cup, it could've been 2.

     Baked Rice Pudding

    
     4 cups milk
     ½ teaspoon salt
     1/3 cup sugar or to taste
     ½ teaspoon nutmeg (optional) I can't imagine my rice pudding without it and used freshly grated.
     3 tablespoons rice
        Yes, only 3 tablespoons.  Marion says, "The little bit of rice to a quart of milk is correct.  Don't use instant or converted rice."

     Preheat the oven to 300ºF.  Put all the ingredients in a buttered baking dish and stir to blend.  If you don't like your rice pudding too sweet, start with only ¼ cup sugar, then taste.  Bake for 3½ hours, stirring three times during the first hour of baking so the rice doesn't settle.

In the oven

     Notice how she didn't mention what size baking dish to use - I didn't omit it.  I was still sleepy, so that really threw me off.  I think the one I used may have been too big and remember, I halved the recipe - didn't want to waste any ingredients.  While it still had 1½ hours to bake, I ran a few errands and was psyched because upon pulling into the garage, knew I had about ½ hour to spare before removing it. 



     Yeah.  Dried up, crusty, baked rice pudding.  I am now sitting here eating vanilla bean ice cream drenched in chocolate syrup.  I knew I should have bought some alcohol when I stopped at the store, and I rarely even drink.  NOT the rice pudding I was going for.  The hole in the middle occurred when I attempted to (Ready? Get this!) stir it after it was already burnt.  HAHA!  Obviously, something cannot be stirred when dried and crusty.  Note to self. 

     I had to taste it, otherwise, how else am I going to honestly rate it.  Um, 1.  1 rolling pin.  I rate my recipes on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the absolute best.  I realize this may be a partial rating (actually, come to think of it, aren't they all?), but this rating is due to baker's error.  I'm sure if the recipe isn't halved, an appropriately sized baking dish is used, and you are home keeping an eye on the pudding for the last 1½ that it is baking, you will determine that it deserves a different rating.  Do not allow my baking experience to deter you.  It is a simple recipe.  How much simpler can it be?  Remember, I have told you in the past that I enjoy making things more difficult than they are for myself.  I exhibited that again, today.  And it's now 10:22 pm.

     If you enjoy rice pudding, I encourage you to try it.  Happy baking!

Day 21 - Chile Cheese Casserole

     I didn't see that woman's car today at school during drop-off, but you can be sure that I was looking!  I had to do a lot of talking to myself this morning while I was working my way through the parking lot, so I wouldn't become frazzled.  It worked.  I came out unscathed.
     The 21st recipe is Chile Cheese Casserole from the Food Network website.  No recipe, but here is the link:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/chile-cheese-casserole-recipe/index.html
     I was needing to bake something today that would use up the egg whites I had leftover from making the Créme Brulée yesterday.  I love the Food Network site because in their search field you can type in any ingredient and recipes will come up containing it.  So, I typed in "6 egg whites" and voila:  Chile Cheese Casserole.  It was either that or omelets and those wouldn't work 'cause they aren't baked.  My initial thought was that this dish would be too eggy for a dinner and would be best suited for breakfast; maybe I should add some cooked chicken to it.  But we had chicken last night for dinner and I try not to repeat things two nights in a row.  As it was baking, my daughter said that it smelled really good, so I was excited to try it, as was she.  Here are the pictures of the process:

     Chile Cheese Casserole
     The ingredients.

The diced green chiles and cilantro added to the mixture of eggs, egg whites, chili powder, and pepper.

The crushed tortilla chips in the bottom of the baking dish and the final mixture with the cheeses added to it.

After being poured into the pan.

In the dish with the additional layer of tortilla chips.

End of initial baking time before the additional cheese was added.

Out of the oven.

Ready for dinner.

The recipe suggested serving it with sour cream and green salsa verde.  I did neither and served it with Greek yogurt and regular jarred salsa.  Nobody even knew the difference.  The same daughter who told me it smelled good while it was baking took two bites and didn't eat the rest.  My husband and son said it was ok, finished it or nearly finished, but never went back for seconds which is a nightly occurrence around here.  I really didn't like it.  Yes, it was extremely eggy, but it did call for 6 egg whites and an additional 4 eggs.  It wasn't as spicy as I expected though and I have to say that the yogurt and salsa on top made it better.  My recommendation if you're looking for a way to use up those egg whites from the créme brulée you made the day before, make omelets for breakfast or some meringue cookies.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best part.  Right after dinner my husband took me to a movie. Upon walking into the house, I was overcome by the smell of dirty diapers.  It was horrible!  Yes, it was the remaining smell from dinner.  I need to burn a candle.  Just something to think about if you're looking to try this one.  Or, you could make it on a night when you're having company you're not particularly thrilled to see.

     My rating for the Chile Cheese Casserole:  1 rolling pin.

     Happy baking!

Day 16 - Corn Crisps

     In a word, bizarre.  That's what I made today, something that tasted bizarre.  I'm using this recipe book quite a bit, but it has a lot of good things in it.  This one though just didn't make the cut.  Once again, this one comes from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook Thirteenth Edition, pg. 73; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher, Alfred a. Knopf, Inc., a division of Random House; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.

 Corn Crisps (even the name is a little weird to me.)
     3/4 cup water
     2 tablespoons butter
     ½ cup yellow cornmeal
     ¼-½ teaspoon salt

     Preheat the oven to 425ºF.  Butter a cookie sheet.  Bring the water and butter to a boil in a small pan. 

Quickly stir the cornmeal and salt and mix well.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10-15 minutes.  I took them out after 10 minutes and there was a bit of smoke that accompanied them on the exit from the oven because of the buttered cookie pan.

     This recipe was short, quick and to the point.  I don't think they get any easier than this.  But I know there are some that taste much better.  I like cornmeal in other things, not in these crisps.  This was listed in the Nibbles section of Appetizers & First Courses with popcorn, sugared nuts and some other things.  My children tried it and really didn't like it either.  Definitely not an after school snack here and I really wouldn't make it to serve to guests.  The rating for this:  one rolling pin.
     Happy baking!

Day 14 - Cheese Straws

     This recipe is from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook Thirteenth Edition, pg. 66; author, Marion Cunningham; publisher Alfred A. Knopf, division of Random House; ISBN 0-394-56788-9.  Things That Make You Go Hmmmm.... Remember that song?  Yeah, that's the topic for today's recipe.  Things that make you go hmmmm...Cheese straws.  I was looking forward to having them and was thinking they might be a good snack when the kids came home from school.  They can still have them, but I don't think they're going to like them.  Kind of blah and the ingredients did NOT come together as they were supposed to.  I have no idea where this went awry.  I checked, double checked, triple checked and checked yet again as I was going through the process, but the outcome was BLECH!  I find it extremely odd that it didn't turn out unless something was missing from the list.  I can count on one hand in all the years that I've been reading recipes that they didn't work.  I'm not saying that I'm the greatest chef, cook or baker, but darn, I CAN follow a recipe.

     Cheese Straws

     ¼ pound butter

     2 cups flour

     ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

     1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, grated

     Salt to taste

     

     Preheat the oven to 400ºF.  Cream the butter until light; add the flour, cayenne, cheese, and salt.

   

     Knead until dough forms a ball, then roll out on a floured board or pastry cloth.

     Cut into strips 5 inches long and 3/8 wide.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake 6 minutes, until golden.

     I had the ingredients in my Kitchen Aid and when I saw that the dough wasn't coming together as it should (after (I kid you not) a good twenty minutes of "kneading"), I started kneading it with my hands.  That wasn't working either.  The dough was just coarse and not sticking together.  So, I added teaspoons of water until I thought it looked like it would stick - 5 to be exact.  I didn't want to add too much.  It stuck it together a little better, but you can still see from the picture when it was on the board that something just wasn't right.  I rolled it out the best I could and baked about a dozen or so to see how they would be.  Nope, not happening.  Bummer.  I decided to not even bake the rest because the product had no taste and was, as my husband said,  "blah".  I'm not educated enough in the science of food; acids, bases, ingredients that should be added to MAKE A DOUGH STICK TOGETHER to know what will and will not work.  Sorry for yelling.   I'm thinking I might need this book.  Happy baking!