Makes 12

This recipe is a simple muffin base into which flavorings should be added; see the variations for our favorite flavors.

Our basic muffin recipe can be endlessly varied depending on what you have in your pantry or freezer.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2012/01/no-muffin-left-behind/

Makes about 16 (4-inch) pancakes

Getting the skillet hot enough before making the pancakes is key.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2012/05/secrets-to-perfect-pancakes/

Makes about 15 (4-inch) pancakes

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Getting the height and lightness of traditional pancakes with the more robust flavor and texture of cornmeal pancakes is tougher than it seems. Coarsely ground cornmeal can be sandy, and lacks the gluten necessary to support a fluffy internal structure. We found that we could use more cornmeal without getting too much grit by heating it with some of the buttermilk to soften it. Soaking the cornmeal also thickened the batter, helping it ride higher in the pan instead of spreading out. Letting the batter sit for a few minutes before griddling the cakes allowed the buttermilk to react with the baking soda, making the batter foamy, which resulted in fluffier, airier pancakes.

[Lemon-Cornmeal Blueberry Pancakes:
When fresh blueberries are not in season, frozen blueberries are a good alternative. To make sure that frozen berries do not bleed, rinse them under cool water in a mesh strainer until the water runs clear, then spread them on a paper towel-lined plate to dry. If you have buttermilk on hand, use 2 cups instead of the milk and lemon juice.]

Serves 6 to 8
Don’t skip the baking soda in this recipe. It’s critical for home fries with just the right crisp texture.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Making home fries the traditional way takes about an hour of standing over a hot skillet, after which you get only three servings at most. We wanted a quicker, more hands-off method for making a larger amount. To speed things up, we developed a hybrid cooking technique: First, we parboil diced russet potatoes, and then we coat them in oil and cook them in a very hot oven. We discovered that boiling the potatoes with baking soda quickly breaks down their exterior while leaving their insides nearly raw, ensuring home fries with a crisp, brown crust and a moist, fluffy interior. We added diced onions in the last 20 minutes of oven time and finished the home fries with chives to reinforce the onion flavor.

Serves 4
The oatmeal will continue to thicken as it cools. If you prefer a looser consistency, thin the oatmeal with boiling water. Customize your oatmeal with toppings such as brown sugar, toasted nuts, maple syrup, or dried fruit.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
Most oatmeal fans agree that the steel-cut version of the grain offers the best flavor and texture, but many balk at the 40-minute cooking time. In this recipe, we decrease the cooking time to only 10 minutes by stirring steel-cut oats into boiling water the night before. This enables the grains to hydrate and soften overnight. In the morning, more water (or fruit juice or milk) is added and the mixture is simmered for four to six minutes, until thick and creamy. A brief resting period off the heat ensures that the porridge achieves the perfect consistency.

Serves 6
In order for the eggs to cook properly, it is critical to add them to the hot filling–lined ramekins quickly. Use 6-ounce ramekins with 3 1⁄4-inch diameters, measured from the inner lip. It is imperative to remove the eggs from the oven just after the whites have turned opaque but are still jiggly—carryover cooking will finish the job. We developed this recipe using a glass baking dish; if using a metal baking pan, reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees. This recipe can be doubled. If doubling, bake the ramekins in two 13 by 9-inch dishes and increase the baking times in steps 3 and 4 by 1 minute.

MAKES 2 LOAVES
To achieve the proper dough consistency, make sure to weigh your ingredients. The dough will appear very wet and sticky until the final few minutes of kneading; do not be tempted to add supplemental flour.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
This American classic frequently disappoints due to either precious little cinnamon flavor or, just as bad, a gloppy, oozing filling reminiscent of sticky buns. The bread itself is often an afterthought of pedestrian white bread, or else it’s a cakey, dense affair. We swapped in an airy, cottony Japanese white bread called shokupan and struck a balanced filling with a mixture of cinnamon, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla. To ensure that our filling stayed put and could be tasted with every bite, we traded the traditional swirl shape for a simple yet elegant Russian braid.

Makes about 6 cups of mix, enough for 3 batches of 8 pancakes each

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
All-purpose flour made for tough pancakes. Replacing half the all-purpose flour with cake flour yielded sturdy yet tender cakes. To give pancakes made from our Better-than-the-Box Pancake Mix complexity and depth, we added an unusual ingredient: malted milk powder. It imparted a sweet, nutty flavor that tasters loved. Tasters also preferred the flavor of butter to vegetable shortening. For higher-rising pancakes, we used fresh buttermilk instead of milk when mixing up the batter. The acid of the buttermilk reacted with the baking soda, causing the batter to bubble.

MAKES NINE 5-INCH TURNOVERS

If at any point during rolling the dough becomes sticky and difficult to work with, transfer it to a cookie sheet or cutting board, wrap it in plastic, and chill until it becomes workable. The dough can be made through step 4, then wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and kept for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer. Defrost frozen dough in the refrigerator 1 day before you plan to use it.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
For an apple turnover recipe that wouldn’t require a day in the kitchen, we used quick food processor puff pastry and added a quick extra step for more flakiness—the classic technique fraisage, in which the dough is pressed, one handful at a time, against the work surface so the butter is forced into thin sheets. Instead of using chunks or slices in our apple turnover recipe, we grated the apples for maximum flavor, then seasoned them with lemon juice, sugar, and just a pinch of salt, saving the cinnamon for dusting the surface of the turnovers.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2013/02/secrets-to-apple-turnovers/

Makes 12

This recipe is a simple muffin base into which flavorings should be added; see the variations for our favorite flavors.

Our basic muffin recipe can be endlessly varied depending on what you have in your pantry or freezer.

http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2012/01/no-muffin-left-behind/