Autumn puts me in a baking mood

Well, okay, I'm usually in a baking mood. It's just that I almost never want to turn my oven on during summer. Ugh.

But, with the return of cooler weather, falling leaves, and autumn winds, every year I re-discover how very much I love to bake. Cookies, bars, bread, rolls, muffins, cakes and pies - and much more. Of course, this addiction doesn't much help me lose weight, but what's fall without pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing? Or warm apple pie?

This summer, I bought three new cookbooks: King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, and King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. I spent quite a bit of time looking through them (I love to read cookbooks, after all!) and picking out recipes to try.

My first attempt was from the Cookie Companion, two different kinds of oatmeal cookies, one chewy cookie with chocolate chips, raisins and dried cranberries, and one soft cookie with no additions. Both were exquisitely, mouthwateringly good, and there is at least one other kind of oatmeal cookies to try (crisp), not to mention about 10 variations. Since then, I've made the Raisin Bran Muffins from the Baker's Companion, and last night I made the Honey-Oatmeal Sandwich Bread from the Whole Grain Baking book. Both were just delicious, and I'm so impressed with this.

I mean, it's not uncommon to come across some plain delicious recipes every now and then - but this set of books is 4/4, and I'm just getting started. But I don't mean to sound so surprised. Even while looking through these books, before ever measuring out flour and milk and eggs, I could sense the dedication and time put into each one. Sure, there's some overlap between the three books, since they're all from the same company. But surprisingly little - I believe I came across two or three duplicates out of the hundreds in these books, and I looked at every single recipe. There are tips and suggestions and explanations on many pages. And I'm not just talking little wimpy variations or substitutions, though there are those in abundance. I'm talking about why certain flours work better in breads or pastries, what kinds of yeasts there are, and how to use them, in-depth explanations about why baking works, and how to make it work for you. And that's why I bought these books.

My dream (once upon a time) was to be a pastry chef, but I'm sure that will never happen. I have, after all, a family now, and from what I understand, being a professional chef requires a lot of long days and odd hours. Not what I need with a two-year-old running about, growing and learning and hopefully benefiting from me staying at home with him. I bought a textbook on baking & pastry arts, and sure, it has a lot of good information about baking and good recipes to try. But here's what it doesn't have: heart. It gives you formulas, approaching everything scientifically, as if there's a foolproof way to do things right all the time. But the King Arthur Flour books tell you why some things work well and others don't, and encourage creativity in ways my textbook doesn't. And that's why I will learn more cooking at home from a layman's cookbook than I ever will from my professional textbook. It's interesting, creative, and fun, and a lot less like chemistry class.

Next project: making cutout sugar cookies with my son, from the Cookie Companion. Chewy, soft, or crisp? Hmmm... good thing I got out those autumn cookie cutters. We'll be eating leaves and pumpkins in no time. And I bet they're delicious.