Paykel. Americas cooks rely on innovation and culinary precision. Dcs by fisher paykel, offering premium indoor and outdoor Kitchen Appliances. And by kohler. Inspiring home chefs to create a professionallevel kitchen with innovative sinks, faucets, and cook centers. Diamond crystal salt, for the professional chef and those who want to cook like one. From our family to yours, fresh from the field, foxy organic vegetables. Cooking. Com, an online retailer for the kitchen enthusiast. If its not in your kitchen, try ours. Wente vineyards. Family owned, estate grown, sustainably farmed, since 1883. Lee kum kee, providing authentic chinese sauces for the past 125 years. You know, a midlife crisis is always painful. And in my case it was really hard. I got a new hat, a new look, new glasses, even bought the bike and the messenger bag. I didnt fool anyone. But just like these tattoos dont make me a hipster, the stamp on the top of this cookie doesnt mean its Peanut Butter. So lets go into the test kitchen with julia and figure out how to make a Peanut Butter cookie that tastes better than it looks. For the best Peanut Butter cookies, our goal was to capture the most amount of Peanut Butter flavor that we could find. And of course, we started by testing some other recipes. And pretty early on, it became clear to us that the most peanut flavor came from cookies that were sandwich cookies that is, two thin cookies with a creamy layer of peanut filling in the middle. So thats what were going to make. And of course were going to start with peanuts. This is one and a quarter cup of raw peanuts that we toasted and cooled. And were going to grind them up in the Food Processor until theyre pretty finely chopped, so that they incorporate easily into the cookie dough. All right, that looks pretty good. You can see here, pretty evenly finely ground. And that, of course, will deliver a bunch of peanut flavor. All right, so were going to set these peanuts aside and start to work on the dough itself. Now, this is flour. This is three quarters of a cup of allpurpose flour, which, when you think of it, isnt a lot for a cookie, but that works for us. Since theres less flour in the dough, the doughs going to be a little bit wetter, so it will spread very thin. And having thin, crisp cookies is what were after. Were going to add half a teaspoon of salt. Were going to add a teaspoon of baking soda, which is kind of an insane amount for such a small amount of flour. But that again is a good thing for us, because leaveners make the cookies rise, but if you have too much leavener, itll deflate into a very flat, thin cookie, which is what were after. So too much leavener means a thin cookie. Thats right. Okay. And well set this aside while we whisk together the wet ingredients and the peanut flavor. This is half a cup of creamy Peanut Butter. And to this were going to add half a cup of white sugar, which gives you the crispness that you want. But a little bit of brown sugar. This is another half a cup of brown sugar. That of course helps bring out that peanut flavor. So a combination of the two works perfectly. Three tablespoons of melted butter. And again, we want kind of a wet dough, so that it spreads really evenly. And this is three tablespoons of milk. And then were going to add to this one whole egg. So if you compare this to a more traditional Peanut Butter cookie, this has less flour, less egg, which, of course, egg makes things cakey, and a little bit more liquid. So were going after a very thin and crisp cookie. So well whisk this together. All right, and to this were simply going to add the dry ingredients. So this is a real simple dump and stir, which i like, of course. Me, too. All right, so you just want to fold the flour in. And then, of course, were going to add our chopped peanuts. And if you see, this is a lot of chopped peanuts compared to the amount of dough. Again, that delivers a really strong peanut flavor. Mmm, smells good. It does, doesnt it . Thank you. Youre welcome. Isnt that good . And thats it. So now we can portion this dough out onto baking sheets. And you only need a tablespoon of dough per cookie. And so you can just take a tablespoon measure. And this will make about 48 cookies, which translates to 24 sandwich cookies. And now if you make a lot of cookies and you have a set of these Spring Loaded scoops, a number 60 scoop makes also really quick work of this. And a number 60 scoop is about a tablespoon. And our last trick to getting really flat cookies, we actually have to manually press them down so that theyre nice and thin and crisp. And so what you can do is with. You can wet your fingers a little bit. You can just press them down to nice flat cookies. And you want them to measure about two inches across. So i have a ruler here. I can just get one perfectly done, then use it as a guide for the others. Theres no, like, bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup trick here . Yeah, you know, this dough is so wet that if you do that, it really just sticks. So youre better off just using some wet fingers. And here, im going to leave you to do the rest of these. I knew it. This is. I hope you were paying attention. Department of things you dont want to do department, yeah. All right, im going to let you finish those while i scoop out another tray of cookies. All right, so theres that last one. Now these trays are ready for the oven. Were going to bake them at 350 degrees for about 15 to 18 minutes. And were looking for that theyre very golden and very firm to the touch, because we want them to be nice and crisp. Well switch and rotate those cookies halfway through baking. And while they bake, well portion out the rest of this dough. Okay. So its been just over 15 minutes. So the way to tell if these cookies are perfectly baked is, obviously theyre evenly golden and very brown. But when you pick up the side of a cookie, you know its very firm, and its really baked through. And thats how you get very crisp cookies. Normally with cookies, most other kinds, they should look half baked one of my favorite expressions because theyll continue to cook when they come out. But these you want to be firm. Thats right. We want them to be very crisp. So were going to let these cookies cool on the hot baking sheets for about five minutes to finish setting up. Then well transfer them to the wire racks and let them cool completely. Meanwhile well put these cookies in the oven. All right, so the cookies are all baked and fully cooled, and now its time to make that creamy peanut filling. This is three quarters of a cup of Peanut Butter. And to this were going to add three tablespoons of butter. And then were going to put it in the microwave for about 40 seconds, until it gets good and soft. Mmm. All right, so the butters melted, and you can see the Peanut Butter is very soft in consistency, making it very easy to work with. Now were going to stir in a cup of confectioners sugar. And of course you use confectioners sugar because it melts really nicely. If you used granulated sugar, youd taste those grains. All right, and thats it. Here, you want to try a little . I know you do. Oh, no, i dont want any. Its good, i warn you. Isnt that good . All right, so what were going to do is using a tablespoon measure, or again this number 60 scoop, which we happen to have, youre going to put it on the bottom of one cookie. And instead of spreading it around with a little offset spatula or a butter knife, we found it easy just to press it flat like that. Oh, this has major cooking with the kids appeal. Mmhmm, it does. All right, so were going to have a Little Assembly line going. Im going to scoop the filling, and you are going to press it. Once again, i have to do the hard work. Mmhmm. Now, be gentle, because again, these cookies are very thin and crisp, and you dont want to snap them. All right, so after these cookies are all filled and sandwiched, were going to let them sit and set for about an hour before we taste them. Except for the odd cookie that might go missing. Yeah, that always happens. All right, so these cookies have been setting for about an hour. Oh. Im just going to eat. You can. You provide the audio, ill provide the visual. Mmm. Mmm. Thats a good cookie. Oh, man. That was really good. Mmm. You know most Peanut Butter cookies that are not sandwich cookies, theyre so dry. And they end up not having a lot of peanut flavor. Theyre moisturesucking. Thats right, yeah. This has real peanut flavor, and i love that creamy peanut layer in the middle. Ive never had a Peanut Butter cookie half as good as this. So the secret to Peanut Butter sandwich cookies that taste like Peanut Butter, starting with a thin batter and some ground peanuts, baking them until nice and crisp, and then doing a filling with butter and Peanut Butter, and warming it in the microwave, then adding the confectioners sugar so its nice and spreadable. So there you have it, from americas test kitchen to your kitchen, a great Peanut Butter sandwich cookie that is worth its name in every bite. It would seem to me that designing a toothbrush or a springform pan would be relatively simple, because they have fairly limited uses. But it turns out that is not the case. Over the years weve tried many springform pans. They leak, they dont have flat bottoms, after a while they dont actually go together very well. So im back in the equipment corner with mr. Ried to see if we actually have one that is well designed and does what its supposed to do. If only, chris, if only. Springform pans are the goto pans when youre doing a cheesecake, a mousse cake, some tortes, some coffeecakes. And the reason is that the sides attach to the bottom, and theres a buckle that will release the side. So you can lift it up and off, and your cake is left right on the pan, easy to get out. Its been about a decade since we last tested springform pans. This pan here was our winner from the last round. We gathered four new competitors. The price range was 13. 50 to about 50. St testing that they were all leaking is because you bake a cheesecake in a bain marie, which is a water bath. We tinted the water with green food coloring, baked the cheesecakes, unmolded them, and inspected the bases. The worst pan had a green ring around almost the entire base of the cheesecake. Even the best pan, there were spots that added up to about a third of the cake. So they all leaked. Im going to cut to the chase. This time we tested cheesecakes again. They all leaked again. Because they all leaked, we decided to judge them just on the design. And there were a couple of features that made a difference. One is how the bottom is designed. Im going to take this off again. We like to have a nice flat plane on the bottom so that you can slide a spatula under the cake and slide the cake off onto a cake plate. Sometimes you can even cut the cake into wedges and serve it right from the base. The alternative there is to get a base like this that makes it really hard to get neat slices of cake off, or the whole cake off. So thats not good. Another thing that we really liked were the handles on this one. Makes it easy to lift in and out of the water bath. We also liked that it had a clear bottom, so that if we wondered how the browning was going, we could just lift it up and look and see how deeply it was browned, whether it was ready to go or not. In the end, it was our old winner that won this round also. This is the frieling handleit glass bottom springform pan. Not inexpensive. Its 50 bucks. But, you know, the leaks were minimal, its got all the right design features. If you want to spend a little less money, we have a runner up, a best buy. Thats this one, which is the nordic ware nine inch springform pan. Its only 13. 50. You dont get the handles, but it did a pretty good job. Its got a nice flat bottom. We did learn something during this, though. We have a new little trick for keeping the leaks and the water out of your cheesecakes and your bain marie. What we do now is we take the springform pan with the cheesecake batter in it, put it in a slightly larger cake pan, and then put this whole thing in the bain marie. And that ensures that no water gets in. So even though they still leak, we do have a workaround. The winner was the frieling, at 50, glass bottom with handles. But for 13, you can buy the nordic ware, which seems to me a great best buy. I love carrot cake. Ive always loved carrot cake. Its probably the ultimate sheet cake. But what happens when you want to take a sheet pan cake like carrot cake and dress it up into a nice fourlayer cake, make it worthy of a special occasion . Turns out you cant do that. The cake is so moist, and its got all these carrots in it. Sometimes it has raisins or nuts. You try to cut it, especially horizontal cuts to make multiple layers of cake, its just going to catch every single nut, every single piece of fruit, every single carrot. Its going to be a mess. And then youve got the cream cheese frosting, which is super soft and delicious to eat. The frosting is so soft it falls off the sides. Its not good. So. This is a big mountain to climb. This is actually a huge mountain to climb. But we think carrot cake is worth it. And what we found out was pretty amazing, okay . Im just going to use a grater here. You can also use the slicing disc on your Food Processor. Were going to use four carrots for our recipe. Now, the problem with the carrots is their shape. When you try to slice through the cake, you always end up getting these hunks of carrot that stick to the knife. All right. Now, we need to measure out two and twothirds cup carrots. So were not going to skimp on the carrot. And these are fairly substantial slices. Thats right. So two and twothirds cup. We tried a few Different Things with the carrots. We tried cooking them until we were basically making baby puree. But we really liked those nice pieces of orange in our cake. We also tried grinding the carrots, but you really couldnt tell there were carrots in there. So theres a magic ingredient in our dry mixture thats going to solve all of our problems. Were going to start off with one and three quarter cup of allpurpose flour. Thats one and a half teaspoons of ground cinnamon, three quarter teaspoon of ground nutmeg. Got a little bit of ground clove, a quarter teaspoon. And ive got a half a teaspoon of salt. This is our leavener. This is two teaspoons of baking powder. And this is a pretty heavy cake, so it needs quite a bit of leavener to really lift it up and make it a nice light cake, suitable for layers. But thats not the only leavener were going to add. This is a teaspoon of baking soda. Now, baking sodas going to do a couple of things. Its going to help really color the cake. Its also going to provide an environment in the batter that helps to soften the carrots. A lot of heavy lifting going on. Thats right, a lot of heavy lifting. So im just going to mix all this together. So bridget had mentioned that she added baking powder and baking soda, which is a little unusual, especially that amount of baking soda. It has another benefit in the cake. That is, it softens the carrots. All vegetables have cells, and theyre bound together by pectin. By adding baking soda, which is alkaline, the opposite of acidic, it creates and environment where that pectin starts to break down, and the cell walls break down, too. So during baking, in an alkaline environment, you actually get soft carrots, which makes it much easier to eat, and also much easier to cut through. So now we can make the rest of our batter. This is one and a quarter cup of packed light brown sugar. And darker brown sugar has a lot of molasses flavor. Its going to kind of mask the spices. So well go with the light here. And ive got three quarter cup of vegetable oil. Pretty traditional for carrot cakes. Thats what gives it nice moisture, too. Three eggs for structure. And a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Just whisk all this together, get out any lumps from the brown sugar. Now we can go ahead and add the carrots in there. Again, that was two and twothirds cup. And were going to add, instead of raisins, twothirds cup of currants. Currants are tiny. Theyre going to slice nicely. Were not going to have to worry about them tearing as we cut the cake. Were going to switch over to a spatula here. Just mix these in. Thats a lot of carrots. I was going to say, this looks like a surfeit of carrots. A heyday of carrots. We put the carrots in carrot cake. All right, chris, if you wouldnt mind, go ahead and dump that dry mixture in there for me. Thank you so much. We just want to fold this until its nicely incorporated. All right, so now we need to put this in our pans. And we want to make a fourlayer cake, nice and dressy. Well, we could put it in two nineinch round cake pan layers, and then try to cut it horizontally. But thats pretty much a living nightmare. We dont want to cut this cake horizontally. It still is going to catch the little pieces of carrot, still going to catch the currants, and its just a really tender cake. So we dont want to do that. But what we are going to use here is our standard rimmed baking sheet, which is perfect. Its going to create one giant thin layer that we can just cut to make multiple layers. And this measures about 13 by 18. And ill use an offset spatula just to smooth this out into an even layer. Since its a nice thin even layer, its pretty much going to bake evenly. So were not going to get that giant dome right in the middle. All right, so that looks beautiful. Time to put this in a 350 degree oven. And because its so thin, its only going to take about 15 to 18 minutes to bake. All right, so i think it is time for the cake to be checked. Its been about 15 minutes. When i put light pressure on the top, it springs back, so i know its done. What i want to do is let this sit here on a wire rack for about five minutes. Let that firm up just for a few minutes. And then after that, im going to invert it onto a wire rack, and then ill reinvert it onto a second wire rack. Well let it cool completely before we frost it, and thats going to be at least 30 minutes. All right, chris, this is the reason were here. Its cream cheese frosting. Its one of my favorite frostings. Its so tangy and soft and creamy. But for a special occasion cake, that provides a few problems. Its too soft, and if we cut back on the amount of cream cheese, its not tangy enough. Were going to fix all that, and youre going to love this frosting. This recipe has more problems to overcome than anything weve ever done. I love recipes like that, though. All right, so were going to make a pretty traditional cream cheese frosting up to a point. Now, this is 16 tablespoons of unsalted butter, three cups of confectioners sugar, two teaspoons of vanilla extract, and a quarter teaspoon of salt. And were actually going to use 12 ounces of cream cheese. So thats a reduction in the amount of cream cheese that were adding. Because cream cheese gets softer and softer the more you mix it and the more you add. So we were looking for something a little bit tangy. We tried adding yogurt or buttermilk or other things to up the tang, but they were all too wet. Of course, they made the frosting too runny. But buttermilk powder, a third cup of it added, is going to add lots of structure to this frosting and give that great almost cream cheesy tang. All right, so im going to put this on low, were going to mix everything until there are no more butter lumps, no more sugar lumps. Thats going to take about two minutes. All right, so that looks great. Nice and smooth. Now its time to add the 12 ounces of cream cheese, a piece at a time. Cut it into 12 pieces. This is cold cream cheese, and thats also going to help us with frosting the cake. If its too warm, itll actually become almost liquidy. So you dont want that. And the reason we didnt start the frosting with the cream cheese, the more and more that you mix cream cheese, it loses frosting. So were going to add it towards the end here. What do you think, chris . I think im here for a reason. That looks beautiful. And well need to eat that. Oh, yeah. There you go. Really . Yeah. For me . Yeah, just for you. You care, evidently, after all these years. Thats right. All right, so im going to switch sides over here for you, because its time to assemble the cake. Its all nicely cooled. Important to cool the cake completely before you frost it. So we want to cut this into four layers. We want to keep the parchment on the layers. Thats going to make it easier for us to move it around. So we need to score through the top, and then im going to make a deeper cut to get through that paper backing. And this way, all right . So we scored it. Make sure we get through that paper. All right, so ive got a little cardboard square here. Actually its a rectangle. Its six by eight. We cut it up from a round cake round. I want to anchor the back. So ive got a little piece of masking tape. That kind of sets things in place. Were going to take one of these cake layers and put it right on that bottom rectangle. Now we can peel off parchment. We want twothirds cup of frosting. And these plunger styles measuring cups make it so easy. And goes right on top. Just going to take an offset spatula, and ill work this frosting out into a nice even layer. Now, see, if we wererying to make a layer cake with just regular frosting, i wouldnt even be able to do this. It would almost be soupy. Well keep moving, placing the second layer on. Each time you just want to make sure that the cake is lined up and even. So im just going to press gently. Another twothirds cup of frosting. And because there are four layers, were not putting a huge amount of frosting in between each layer. Even for me, that would just be too much frosting. Another layer, even it out. Im just going to put a little smidge here where i had a low point in the cake. Thats all right. Last one on top. I do want to frost the top, make it look nice and pretty. So were going to need a full cup. Oh, mommy, this looks so good. All right, so well just make some pretty swirls and swoops on top. Thats another reason to love these kinds of cakes if you mess up, nobody knows. All right, so now im going to use the rest of the frosting to get on the sides of the cake. Now, i could not do this with a regular frosting. And heres the other good news. It doesnt matter if i get any crumbs on the sides there. All right, so obviously we need to cover up the sides. And heres where the nuts come in. So these are two cups of toasted and chopped pecans, and im just going to lift this up over a sheet pan. That way any of the nuts that dont stick to the cake will fall back into the pan, and we can continue to use them. So im just going up in an upward motion here. So we could really call this, i think, special occasion carrot cake for idiots. Its very easy to do, but it ends up looking great. Spectacular. Yeah. Now weve got to let this chill for an hour. Im just going to let the layers become a little bit more solid, the frosting become a little bit more solid. So were going to put this in the fridge for an hour. Youve been a really good boy. Youve waited for an hour. Well, actually, i havent been. Well, i ate a good part of that frosting. Thats true, but i still had enough for the cake. So are you ready to eat it . Im ready. All right. So. Mmm. All right, and then well make nice thick slices. Thats beautiful, and you can still see all those layers in the cake. You know, ive been doing this now 32 years. Yeah . And there are moments like these, make it all worth it. All worth it, yep. Absolutely. Mmm. sighs theres nothing left to say. I mean. The cake is so moist, but that cream cheese frosting knocks it out of the park. So now bridget has reinvented the carrot cake, and the secret was to start with big pieces of carrots and some baking soda, which softened them during baking. And bake it not in round cake pans, but in a big sheet pan and cut it into four layers. And the cream cheese frosting was also unique. We cut back on the cream cheese, but added some buttermilk powder for tang and also for giving it some substance. So there you have it, from americas test kitchen to your kitchen, a carrot cake good enough for a wedding or a birthday. Or your birthday. Or every day of the week. Delicious. By the way, you can get this recipe, all the recipes from this season of americas test kitchen, testing results, tasting results, and watch selected episodes of this program. Simply go to our web site, americastestkitchentv. Com. And youll definitely want this recipe. Heck, yeah. Let us help with dinner tonight. Visit our web site any time for free access to this seasons recipes, taste tests, and equipment ratings, or to watch current season episodes. Log onto americastestkitchentv. Com. The complete americas test kitchen tv show cookbook includes every recipe, tasting, and testing from all 13 years shows, including this season. With over 850 recipes, its our most comprehensive collection ever. The cost, 29. 95 ten dollars less than the cover price. You will also receive this four dvd set, a 39. 95 value, featuring all 26 episodes from this season, at no additional charge. To order, call 18008318315, or order online at americastestkitchentv. Com. Americas test kitchen is brought to you by dcs by fisher paykel. Americas cooks rely on innovation and culinary precision. Dcs by fisher paykel, offering premium indoor and outdoor Kitchen Appliances. Cooking. Com, an online retailer for the kitchen enthusiast. If if its not in your kitchen, try ours. From our family to yours, fresh from the field, foxy organic vegetables. Kohler. Diamond crystal salt, the gourmet choice. Wente vineyards. And by lee kum kee. Welcome to skyweek. Lets see whats happening in the sky from monday, july 22, to sunday, july 28. Two fine constellations are sidebyside in the south hooktailed scorpius on the right, and sagittarius to its left. Modern star charts usually show sagittarius as a teapot. Its an eyecatching pattern, even though none of its stars is super bright. But sagittarius means archer, and the bow and arrow are easy to picture if you visualize the stars that way. According to ancient greek tradition, the bowman was either the centaur chiron, or the satyr crotus. This is Tony Flanders from sky telescope magazine, wishing you clear skies and great views. Brought to you by. Manufacturers of telescopes and binoculars. Maybe you have some Energy Saving appliances, like an Energy Starrated washer and dryer. But what about your tv . Chances are its on more than your washer, dryer, and Kitchen Appliances combined. Did you know that if half of us in the u. S. Replaced our regular tvs with an energy star model, the change would be like shutting down a power plant . You can find the energy star on everything from standard to high def to the largest flatscreen your heart desires. Ow that makes sense. Gcgcww hi, im rachel. Come and join my friends alex, leah, and hopkins for signing time leah uses american sign language. Well teach you some. Come sign with us. Theres singing time and dancing time and laughing time and playing time and now it is our favorite time signing time its signing time with alex and leah