Baking Tips

Illustrated Direction Sheets
	Muffin Bases
	Pancake Mix
	All Oatmeal Cookie Base

Storing, freezing & reheating

Storing the mix before baking

A sealed package will keep well in the cupboard for a good 6 months. GRAINSTORM mixes are designed to be used in one batch, But you can save unused mix in an airtight bag in the fridge for 10 days or so—we don’t recommend more.

Storing & freezing finished goods

GRAINSTORM baking tends to stale faster than regular commercial baking; it also will more easily host molds. It’s a good idea to immediately freeze whatever you aren’t going to eat within 24 hours. We like to use resealable freezer bags (push as much air out as possible when closing) and eat it within 6-8 weeks of going into the freezer.

Reheating

You can use a microwave, oven, toaster oven to reheat. You can also just them thaw on their own (in a lunchbox for instance). Here’s some tips:

• using a microwave, we like to use the defrost cycle because it is gentle

• using an oven or toaster oven, try 350F for about 10-12 minutes. If you defrost first in the microwave (what we do) try 400F for about 7-8 minutes; you’ll get a sublty crispy outside and warm moist inside, just like fresh baked

• pancakes and waffles can also be reheated in your toaster if they fit

Muffin tips

• a good non-stick muffin pan will not require greasing; for older or conventional pans, a light coating of butter or olive oil does the trick

• be sure to remove the muffins from the pan after the prescribed setting time (5 minutes) or you may have sticking problems

• we highly recommend a cooling rack; pick one up at any kitchen store

• over-mixing when you add the grains to your wet mix will make your muffins tough so be gentle stirring in the grains, using as few strokes as possible

Cookie tips

• batter should be stiff but not hard; add a little milk if required
  cookies will spread in the oven, don’t make them too big (a generous teaspoon is good)

• flattening the cookie batter a bit before baking will produce larger, thinner, crispier cookies

• a good quality non-stick cookie sheet will not require greasing; untreated or older baking sheets should be rubbed with just a thin coating of butter; we like silicon cookie sheet pads

• to avoid sticking, be sure to remove cookies from the sheet after just a 3-minute cooling period (we recommend a cooling rack)

• to make a crispier texture, use a little extra butter/oil/sugar (try 1 to 3 tablespoons); let the batter sit for 10 to 15 minutes before you spoon it onto the pan; flatten a bit before baking; and add 2 or 3 minutes to the cooking time. This will produce a crisper cookie.

Adjusting our recipes

Adjusting the fat content of our recipes

First, we feel compelled to say that, in our opinion, you shouldn’t be too scared of fats in your diet, despite our cultural conditioning. A moderate amount of healthy fat is a good thing. That said, yes, you can absolutely adjust the fat content. Our base recipes have been carefully designed and tested to balance taste, nutrition, and baking performance at what we believe is optimum levels; but you may want your product richer or leaner, depending on your tastes and diet.

Here’s what you need to know: less fat will make your end result dryer and it will stale faster too; too much fat and the result will be overly greasy. As a guideline, it would be a good idea not to increase or decrease butter/oil content by more than 50% either way. Also, keep in mind, you can increase or decrease the fat content by using different dairy products: lower or higher fat yogurt or milk.

Adjusting the sugar content of our recipes

We’ve designed our base recipes to have the minimum amount of sugar that is requried for good results. Now, if it’s still too sweet for you, then we have a problem: you can’t take sugar out! But, more likely, if you would like your end result to be a little sweeter (we won’t ask why!) there are lots of opportunities.

• add some natural sugar, honey or maple syrup to the wet mix before you mix in the grains (from 1 to 3 tablespoons is a good starting point)
• use commercial fruit or vanilla flavored yogurts — they have added sugar
• add some raisins or other dried fruit

See our quick variation sheets for more specific ideas on each mix.

Baking tip: Sugar plays a role in the chemistry of baking; adding extra sugar will make your products brown faster.

Making muffin batter into a loaf or cake

This is easy to do. Just keep in mind that cooking time and temperature are dependant on the pan size. As a rule, the farther the distance to the centre of the product, the longer it needs to cook and the lower the temperature needs to be to keep the product from overcooking or even burning on the outside. So if you want to use a different pan for your muffin mix, you need to adjust time and temperature. Keep a close eye on them the first couple of times until you know the time/temp settings that give you the best results.
Here are a few ballpark settings to get you started.

• loaf pan: adjust temp to 350F (325F convection); bake 45-55 minutes
• bundt pan: adjust temp to 350F (325F convection); bake 40-50 minutes
• mini-loaves: keep temp at 400F (375F convection); bake 20-25 minutes

Working with different fats

We follow a whole food philosophy that says natural, traditional foods are preferable to modern processed foods. But if you would rather not use butter, you don’t have to! Of course the character of the end product may be changed slightly by the flavour and texture of substitutions. Here are some options:

• use all olive oil (this works surprisingly well, and is the healthiest choice in our opinion; although the flavour can get a little earthy for some; especially in the cookies)

• sunflower oil, almond oil are both interesting, healthy choices canola oil will work fine in the taste department although we don’t love it for health reasons—it’s too highly processed

• prepared margarines should work fine although, again, we’re not fans of this highly processed food

When substituting fats, keep this rule in mind: oils are a little denser than butter or margarine. So use 10-15% less oil than you would butter.

Getting consistent results

You’d think with all our technology we would have perfected the simple oven by now. But sadly, oven temperatures can vary widely, even in expensive ovens. If your grainstorm products are coming out either too raw or too well done (this is harder to detect), here’s what you can do:

first, be sure you’re avoiding these simple mistakes

• make sure your oven is well pre-heated — we recommend at least 20 minutes.

• some of todays high-tech ovens have complex controls: be sure you are using the right mode and that you are aware if you are using convection cooking or not (convection cooking is faster and hotter, so time and temperature need to be adjusted down)

• use good-quality bakeware – the cheap stuff can have poor heat transfer qualities that provide unreliable results.

• use the right size muffin cups: muffin cups size can vary widely; if yours are either very big or very small; you’ll need to adjust accordingly. For smaller, try 25F degrees hotter and 3 minutes shorter; for larger, start with 25F degrees cooler and 3-4 minutes longer. You’ll need to experiment a bit. Or, you can treat yourself to a nice new muffin pan!

None of these tips applies to you? Your oven temperature is off, an all-too-common problem. Here’s what to do:

calibrate your oven

Pick up a reliable oven thermometer (inexpensive at most kitchen shops) and use that as your temperature guide (this will be helpful in all your oven use, not just for our baking). Also, many modern electronically-controlled ovens allow for user calibration: see your manual for instructions.

compensate the way your grandmother did

If, after the recommended time, your product is too raw, cook 2-3 minutes longer and check again. Next batch, increase oven temperature by 25F degrees. If the recommended time gives you overdone results, reduce the temperature by 25F degrees for the next batch. Keep adjusting time and temperature with each batch until you have a formula that works. This may all sound fussy, but don’t dispair. All it takes is a few rounds of trial and error correction, and you’ll have a time/temp combo that works perfectly for you every time—and you’ll never have to think about it again!