A reader reached out and asked about swapping baking ingredients to increase the shelf life of baked goods, especially for “desert safe” recipes that may be shipped to your loved ones serving overseas. For some help answering these questions, we reached out to Londa Nwadike, PhD, State Extension Consumer Food Safety Specialist for Kansas State University and the University of Missouri.

What kinds of homemade goods are recommended for sending long distances?

Dr. Nwadike suggests sending firm, dry drop cookies such as molasses, ginger or shortbread cookies. Dense cakes, such as fruitcake, are also good to send in gift packages. Don’t send any baked items that require refrigeration or will easily break.

Are foods with white sugar least likely to mold?

The short answer is yes.

According to Dr. Nwadike, including sugar in a recipe will lower its water activity, helping to extend shelf life. White sugar has a lower moisture content and generally a longer shelf life than brown and powdered sugars. Thus, treats made with white sugar should generally be less likely to mold than products made with brown sugar.

What’s best for long-lasting cookies – shortening, butter or margarine?

Dr. Nwadike explains that shortening, when by itself, can be kept at room temperature for up to 8 months and that it should be less likely to go rancid than butter or margarine.

If you’re concerned about how shipping time will affect the quality of your treats, don’t worry! We’ve broken it down for you:

• Most cookies can be stored at room temperature for 2 to 3 weeks.
• High-moisture cookies, including cookies made with cream cheese, need to be refrigerated immediately.
• Most breads and low-moisture cakes can be safely stored at room temperature for about 3 days.
• Unfrosted cookies can be frozen for 6 to 12 months.
• Unfrosted cakes can be frozen for 2 to 4 months.

If you are planning on sending treats to loved ones far away, choose firm, low-moisture goodies that will last several days at room temperature. Baked treats are always a good idea, especially if you’re sending them to servicemen and servicewomen who are serving abroad. For more insights on baking this holiday season, check out Baking Questions Answered With Science.

Originally posted Dec. 18, 2015, revised from the original.

The post Sending Cookies as Gifts? Tips to Help Them Last appeared first on Best Food Facts.

What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder?

The Answer: Both baking soda and baking powder release carbon dioxide gas bubbles which helps batter and dough to rise.  Recipes that use baking soda require an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk or honey to help extract all of the carbon dioxide gas.  Recipes that do not contain acidic ingredients and that need more leavening than the baking soda alone can provide are made with baking powder.

The Science: Chemical leavening occurs when a leavening base and a leavening acid react in the batter to create carbon dioxide gas bubbles which are what makes the batter rise (leaven) during baking. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a leavening base and the source of the carbon dioxide.  Less than half of the total amount of carbon dioxide in the baking soda is released by the heat in the oven and available to leaven the batter during baking. Acids are used to lower the pH of the batter which allows all the carbon dioxide in the baking soda to be released and used for leavening. Some recipes contain acidic ingredients such as buttermilk, sour milk, vinegar, fruit, fruit juice, sour cream, yogurt, honey, cocoa and molasses. In some baked products, this small amount of carbon dioxide gas released by heating in the oven is sufficient, so the recipe only calls for baking soda. Other baked products contain enough acidic ingredients to cause the right amount of carbon dioxide release from the baking soda.

Baking powder is a blend of baking soda, plus one or two chemical leavening acids. There are many different chemical leavening acids available which have different reaction rates and times. Most household baking powders are double acting, meaning they contain a fast-acting and a slow-acting leavening acid. The fast-acting leavening acid reacts during mixing to help make the batter more airy or fluffy. The slow-acting leavening acid reacts during baking, to help make the baked product rise in the oven

Can you substitute margarine for butter in a recipe?

The Answer: Yes, margarine can be substituted for butter in a recipe.

The Science: It is a simple substitution with no adjustments. Be sure to use margarine which comes in sticks and NOT the spreads which come in tubs.

For more information, see What’s the difference between butter and margarine?

What is the difference between using a glass pan or a metal pan? Does it matter which one you use?

The Answer: Yes, it does matter because the two materials transfer heat differently.

The Science: During baking, heat is transferred from the oven through the pan and into the batter or dough. This means the baked product bakes from the sides toward the middle and from the bottom toward the top. Glass and metal transfer heat differently.  Glass takes longer to heat up and to cool down than metal. This means that it will take longer for the batter or dough to start baking in the glass pan and it will keep baking for longer after the pan is removed from the oven. It is standard to lower the baking temperature by 25°F and lengthen the baking time by about 10 minutes when baking in a glass pan compared to a metal pan.

Why do cakes fall?

The Answer:  When the starch in flour does not gelatinize, like in cakes with more sugar than flour, the structure does not set and the cake will fall. In high-ratio cakes, use cake flour to keep them from falling.

The Science: The structure of a cake is set when the starch in the flour gelatinizes during baking. Most layer cakes eaten in the US are high-ratio cakes which means they have more sugar than flour in the recipe. The high level of sugar increases the gelatinization temperature of the starch in the flour to higher than the boiling point of water. It is not possible to raise the temperature of the cake batter that high during baking, so the starch does not fully gelatinize.  This causes the cake to fall during cooling because the structure is not completely set. This problem can be fixed by using cake flour. Flour for high-ratio layer cakes is tumbled with chlorine gas which oxidizes the starch. The oxidized starch absorbs more liquid and swells faster so it does completely gelatinize and the structure of the cake is fully set by the end of baking and does not fall. In low-ratio cake recipes, the amount of sugar is the same or less than the amount of the flour. The sugar level is not high enough to raise the starch gelatinization temperature so the cake does not fall. In these cakes, it is not necessary to use chlorinated cake flour.

Why do cakes crack at the top?

The Answer: A delayed release of carbon dioxide from double-acting baking powder will build up and the pressure from the built-up gas will break the cake crust causing a crack.

The Science: Cakes are usually leavened with double-acting baking powder which contains sodium bicarbonate and two leavening acids. One leavening acid reacts in the batter during mixing and the other reacts during heating in the oven. The heat-activated leavening acid that must react at the correct time during baking. If the leavening acid reacts too late after the top crust of the cake has formed, the cake cannot expand when the carbon dioxide gas is produced in the leavening reaction.  This causes a buildup of pressure inside the cake which can cause the top surface to crack to release the pressure.

Learning the science behind baking can help make the process more fun and rewarding. Ready to try out your baking skills? Check out our Pinterest board for more tips and recipes!

The post Baking Questions Answered With Science appeared first on Best Food Facts.

How do you ripen bananas faster?

Dr. Brecht: “The way to get bananas to ripen faster is:

1. Hold them at room temperature.
2. Enclose them in a paper bag (not a sealed plastic bag) or place in a ripening bowl along with an apple or an already ripe banana. The idea behind the bag/bowl is that bananas ripen in response to ethylene, a gaseous plant hormone produced by many ripening fruits, including bananas. You are allowing a higher concentration of ethylene to accumulate around the unripe bananas when you place them in a bag or ripening bowl with a fruit that is already producing lots of ethylene.”

Is there any credibility to the claims online about being able to ripen bananas faster? (Ex: separating the bananas and wrapping saran wrap around the stem, hanging them on a banana hanger, etc.)

Dr. Brecht: “None of those methods would result in faster ripening, as far as I know.

How long do bananas take to ripen naturally?

Dr. Brecht: “Around four to five days at room temperature, depending on how far along with ripening the fruit are when you start. (The modified atmosphere, Clearly Fresh, bag I mentioned will about double that time frame).”

Bananas will ripen… around 4-5 days at room temperature, depending on how far along with ripening the fruit are when you start.
Click To Tweet

Some additional ways to ripen bananas include: (from Spoon University)

1. Leaving them in a bunch
2. Place in warm places
3. Place in a paper bag
4. Baking them in the oven

Are you wondering why you would want your bananas to ripen faster? For baking or quick eating, of course! We gained some inspiration from Yellow Bliss Road’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread to try to ripen our own bananas faster.

There are many options when it comes to speeding up the ripening process of bananas. However, if you’re looking for ways to slow down the process, we’ve done some digging on that topic, too. Dr. Brecht gave us the scoop about how to slow down the ripening process, and he also told us where we shouldn’t be storing our bananas.

The post How To Ripen a Banana Faster appeared first on Best Food Facts.

What makes it different? Kernza is a perennial that lives for several years. Wheat, in comparison, is an annual crop that farmers typically plant in the fall. It is harvested in the summer when the grain is ripe and the plants die. Each year, new seed is planted.

Kernza is not a strain or species of wheat, but a registered trade name owned by The Land Institute for a type of intermediate wheatgrass, a wild relative of annual wheat. The seed is planted and farmers harvest the grain, but the plant continues to live in the soil and produce a crop every year.

Why is it important? Researchers developed Kernza to capture the environmental benefits of perennials. The roots of a Kernza plant grow 10 feet into the soil, much deeper than annual wheat. Those deeper roots allow the plant to store nutrients, resist drought and reduce soil erosion. Kernza can both protect the soil while producing food for people to eat.

How does it taste? The grain has a sweet, nutty flavor making it a good fit for cereals and snacks. The kernel is smaller than wheat and has more bran and fiber, but fewer carbohydrates.

When will it be available? General Mills announced that it will be using Kernza in some of its Cascadia Farms organic brand cereals and snacks. The products will be on store shelves next year.

The Land Institute has been conducting research on perennial grains since the 1980s and continues to work with the goal of developing varieties of Kernza that are economical for farmers to grow on a large scale. They expect the first Kernza variety will be widely available by 2019.

Where can you buy it? Kernza is available in a few specialty products now. Patagonia Provisions produces a beer called Long Root Ale which is sold on the West Coast. Chefs in the Minneapolis area, where Kernza is grown in test plots, have made pasta, tortillas and muffins. The Perennial restaurant in San Francisco serves Kernza bread and crackers.

Kernza is a new grain that has the potential to change how farmers grow crops. “Kernza is among the first of a range of new perennial crops in development that together are expected to build soil, improve wildlife habitat, protect water and provide abundant nutritious food. Over a few more decades of research and development, dedicated global partnerships will make this vision a tangible reality. Already the first fields now yielding Kernza perennial grain and the food and farming innovators working with the grain promise great things to come,” the Land Institute told us.

_{Photo Credit: The Land Institute}

The post Food Facts: What is Kernza? appeared first on Best Food Facts.

Noun. The kissing crust is the edge on a loaf of bread where it has touched another loaf in baking.

Used in a sentence:

My sister and I fight over the kissing crust. 

_{The image “My dough-fu is weak” by jeffreyw is licensed under CC BY 2.0.}

The post Word of the Week: Kissing Crust appeared first on Best Food Facts.

On June 28, the FDA published a consumer update warning against consuming raw dough, but not for the reason you may think. While the risk of salmonella from eggs exists, the risk of E. coli from flour is the reason for the FDA’s warning. It’s not very often that flour is the culprit of a food recall, and many raw flour products are generally viewed as safe.

So what’s a baker to do? On top of not consuming raw dough, the FDA advises that those working with raw flour keep work surfaces and utensils clean after contact with raw dough, as well as keeping raw dough away from other foods because flour can travel easily. Here are five tips to help keep you safe while baking:

1. Wash your hands often and use clean towels
2. Keep your countertops clean
3. Don’t leave eggs out for more than two hours
4. Don’t eat raw cookie dough
5. Keep flour in a food-safe container

Now that your raw cookie dough-eating days are over, you may be wondering what this news means for no-bake treats with raw flour. Keep your apron on, because we’ve got the answer!

Dr. Londa Nwadike, assistant professor and extension food safety specialist at Kansas State University and the University of Missouri, warns that no-bake treats are not an exception. “Any raw flour, regardless of the brand, could potentially contain pathogens,” explains Dr. Nwadike. “This was true in the past and is still true today, but this recent outbreak has helped to remind us that anything with flour in it that has not been baked could potentially make people sick.”

Ready-to-bake store-bought cookie dough is also at risk. “That dough was not intended to be consumed raw, so it should be cooked for safety,” Dr. Nwadike says. “When will the madness end?,” you’re probably asking yourself right about now. According to Dr. Nwadike, products that contain cookie dough in a ready-to-eat state, like cookie dough ice cream, have been heat-treated before being sold and are therefore safe to consume. Score one for the bakers!

While there’s always a risk when consuming raw dough, kids under the age of five, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are at a higher risk for hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a type of kidney failure associated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infection. “Kids are generally more susceptible to foodborne illness as their immune systems aren’t as developed,” explains Dr. Nwadike. “They may be more likely to put their hands in their mouth after touching raw flour.”

As much as you may enjoy eating raw cookie dough, you should avoid the temptation and practice some patience to prevent potential foodborne illness. This infographic outlines tips for baking safety:

The post Raw Cookie Dough? FDA Says No appeared first on Best Food Facts.

Noun. A preparation containing the active ingredient of a substance in concentrated form, and used in cooking and baking to add flavor.

Used in a sentence:

Vanilla beans in a recipe can be replaced with vanilla extract.

The post Word of the Week: Extract appeared first on Best Food Facts.

So, how do different oils factor into a healthy diet? It all comes down to the types of fat found in different kinds of oil. We asked our own registered dietitian Sarah Downs to give us an overview on the different types of fats and their impacts on health.

Sarah Downs: “Fat is essential to health and helps to support many bodily functions. Fat helps to absorb certain important nutrients, builds nerve tissue and hormones, serves as an energy source and can add to the satisfaction and pleasure of eating. Oils are made up of fatty acids, which have specific components that affect how they perform in cooking and affect health. The most common of these fatty acids are unsaturated fats, saturated fats and trans fats.

• Unsaturated Fats – These are liquid at room temperature and come in two main forms, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These fats may help reduce heart disease and lower cholesterol levels.
• Saturated Fats – These fats are typically solid at room temperature. Many studies have linked diets high in saturated fat with elevated cholesterol levels and increased risk for heart disease, so it’s best to consume these in moderation.
• Trans Fats – Some occur naturally, but most are manufactured through hydrogenation, which helps increase shelf life. Trans fats can raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol, a combination that increases the risk of heart disease. Experts suggest consuming trans fats in limited quantities.

Keep in mind all fats have 9 calories per gram, so even the healthier choices can contribute a significant amount of calories to the diet if consumed in excess.”

What oils would you suggest?

Sarah Downs: “Often times it comes down to what you are cooking/baking and taste preference. My favorites are olive oil and canola oil. Canola oil has a neutral flavor and medium-high smoke point, which makes it extremely versatile. Olive oil is a source of not only monounsaturated fats but antioxidants called polyphenols, making it a great choice for heart health.”

Need a visual? This infographic highlights the six most commonly consumed oils, the types of fat they contain and common uses.

_{“Chile Olive Oil” by catalina woken is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.}

The post All About Oils: The Slick of It appeared first on Best Food Facts.