Because it's make with a box of cake mix, this dough is softer, stickier and often needs to be chilled before baking.

So, before you add extra flour and create mini hockey pucks, here’s what cake mix cookie dough should actually look and feel like.

What Should Cake Mix Cookie Dough Feel Like?

Cake mix cookie dough is supposed to feel softer and stickier than regular cookie dough.

It will be pliable and hold together like Play Doh.

Cake mix cookie dough also looks shiny, that's from the vegetable oil or canola oil.

Why Is Cake Mix Dough Sticky?

Cake mix cookie dough is usually stickier than traditional cookie dough because boxed cake mix contains more sugar and finer ingredients than a typical homemade cookie recipe.

There’s also less flour, which provides structure, so the dough tends to feel softer and tackier.

When Should I Chill the Dough?

If you're having trouble forming the dough into cookie balls, either with your paws or a cookie scoop, put it in the fridge to chill for an hour.

Even after chilling, the dough will still feel softer than traditional cookie dough. That’s normal. You haven’t done anything wrong.

Signs You May Have Forgotten An Ingredient

• The dough is so thin it's impossible to form a ball, even with a cookie scoop.
• You see streaks of dry cake mix.
• The dough won't hold together at all.
• If the dough looks more like cake batter than cookie dough, double-check that you didn’t follow the directions on the back of the cake mix box. Those instructions use much more liquid than cake mix cookie recipes do.
• Cake mix boxes have gotten smaller over the years. If your box is less than 15.25 ounces, add ¼ cup flour so the dough isn’t too sticky.

A Test Cookie

When you have cookie dough insecurities, bake one test cookie first. Seriously. It’s the fastest way to figure out whether the dough needs more chilling time or whether you’re just spiraling for no reason.

Easy Cake Mix Cookie Recipes to Try

Strawberry cake mix cookies

Snickerdoodles made with cake mix

Kentucky butter cake cookies

The post Cake Mix Cookie Dough Texture appeared first on Kitchen Serf.

We are not here to shame the brownie mix. We are here to honor it. Respect it. Maybe throw a little eyeliner on it and take it out for the evening.

Because sometimes you want to spend three hours browning butter and separating eggs and folding chocolate like you’re auditioning for The Great British Bake Off.

And sometimes you want brownies in under 30 minutes while wearing sweatpants and emotionally recovering from your Monday.

Both are valid.

Here are my favorite ways to turn a plain box brownie mix into something that tastes better, a little more special.

1. Dust the top with powdered sugar

This is such an underrated move.

Even a light shower of confectioner's sugar makes brownies look instantly fancier, like they suddenly got their life together.

You can keep it simple or get decorative with it.

Lay a doily over the brownies before dusting for a lacy pattern, or place a cookie cutter on top of each square to make shapes. Tiny hearts for Valentine’s Day? Very cute. Tiny stars? Also adorable.

It takes about 14 seconds and makes people think you tried harder than you did.

2. Frost them

There is no law that says brownies can’t wear frosting.

Use canned frosting. Use homemade frosting. Use chocolate frosting, cream cheese frosting, peanut butter frosting, or even a simple cookie glaze.

You can also flavor your frosting with extracts. Try:

• Almond extract
• Coffee extract
• Lemon extract
• Peppermint extract

Brownies are basically wearing a tiny edible blanket at this point. Everybody wins.

3. Add extra chocolate

You know what improves brownies?

More chocolate.

Fold chocolate chunks or chocolate chips into the batter before baking.

Semi-sweet, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate—there are no wrong answers here.

Personally, I love chopped chocolate because you get those uneven puddles and melty pockets throughout the brownies. It feels a little bakery-ish without requiring bakery effort.

4. Throw in candy

Brownies are extremely accepting of candy.

Chopped peanut butter cups? Fantastic.

Crushed toffee bars? Excellent.

M&Ms? Always invited.

You can stir candy into the batter or scatter it over the top before baking.

5. Add Nuts and Make It A Meal

Walnuts and pecans are classic, but use what you like, pistachios, cashews, anything really. Toasted nuts are especially good because they add crunch and a deeper flavor.

Do you know what it means if you add nuts to your brownies? It's no longer dessert, it's a high protein snack. #winning

6. Add espresso powder or coffee extract

This is one of the best tricks for making chocolate desserts taste richer.

A little espresso powder or coffee extract deepens the chocolate flavor without making the brownies taste like coffee.

Even people who don’t like coffee usually love what it does to brownies.

It’s the culinary equivalent of dim lighting. If you don't understand dim lighting, ask your menopausal neighbor.

7. Add extra vanilla extract

Simple? Yes.

Effective? Also yes.

A little extra vanilla makes boxed brownies taste more homemade and rounds out the flavor. It’s not flashy, but neither is salt and we’d all notice if it disappeared.

8. Lean into flavor combinations

You can take brownies in a million different directions depending on what you stir in.

One of my favorite combinations is chocolate and cherry.

Add:

• A splash of cherry juice
• Dried cherries
• Extra chocolate chunks

Suddenly you’ve got a whole black-forest-adjacent brownie situation happening.

Chocolate and raspberry would also be incredible. Try swirling raspberry jam into the batter before baking.

9. Swirl In Something Extra

Swirls make brownies look fancy and taste better with almost no effort.

I'm thinking cookie butter or peanut butter or pistqchio butter.

If you want a thicker swirl that won’t disappear into the batter, stir together:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• ½ cup powdered sugar

Then dollop it over the brownie batter and swirl it with a knife.

10. Cut them into shapes

Brownies do not have to be squares.

Cookie cutters work surprisingly well once brownies cool completely. They'll cut better if cold so maybe put the pan in the fridge for an hour.

Try:

• Hearts
• Stars
• Circles
• Triangles

This is especially fun for parties, holidays, bake sales, or moments when you simply want your dessert to have a stronger personality.

11. Make brownie sandwich cookies

Basically brownie whoopie pies.

Or just brownie sandwiches if you’re not from Maine and don’t immediately start a regional dessert debate every time somebody says “whoopie pie.”

Bake thin brownies or cut brownies into small rounds and sandwich them with frosting or whipped filling.

Dangerously good.

12. Let them get a little stale

I said what I said.

Slightly day-old brownies? Incredible.

Especially chewy brownies with those firmer edges that hold together better and somehow taste even fudgier the next day.

Fresh brownies are wonderful.

But brownies that have had 24 hours to gather themselves emotionally? Also wonderful.

13. Don’t Be Precious About the Brand

Some of the best brownies I’ve ever had came from the cheapest grocery store mixes imaginable.

Fancy brownie mix is fine.

Budget brownie mix is also fine.

So now I want to know: what’s your favorite way to doctor up a brownie mix?

Are you Team Frosting? Team Candy? Team “accidentally ate half the pan while cutting them”? Leave me a comment.

More brownie recipes to try: my favorite brownie mix cookies.

How to freeze brownies.

The post 12 Ways to Make Boxed Brownie Mix Better appeared first on Kitchen Serf.

And your cookies? Eh, they're okay.

Meanwhile, your friend pulls out a tray of cookies that look like they belong behind glass at a bakery.

Thick, soft centers, just the right amount of golden edges, somehow perfectly round like they went to finishing school.

It’s enough to make you wonder if she knows something you don’t.

Here’s the truth: she probably does.

But it’s not magic and it’s not talent. It’s a handful of small, fixable details that make a big difference.

The Butter Temperature Problem (why your cookies spread)

If your cookies are coming out flatter than you’d like, butter temperature is usually the culprit.

Too soft (or borderline melted) butter = dough that spreads too fast before setting.

What you want is room temperature, not “sat near the oven while you preheated.”

When you press a stick of butter, it should slightly dent not collapse.

Your friend? She’s probably nailing this without even thinking about it.

If she's slightly unhinged, she may even check the temperature of her butter with a digital thermometer like this writer. We're looking for a temperature of 65F° to 67F° (my fave digital cooking thermometer).

Measuring Flour

This one is sneaky.

If you’re scooping flour directly out of the bag, you’re likely packing in more than the recipe intended. That leads to dense, dry cookies.

Too little flour? Your cookies will spread.

The fix: fluff the flour, spoon it into your measuring cup, then level it off.

This feels fussy, but it’s the difference between “meh” and “wait, these are actually good.”

Your Oven Is Lying To You

Most home ovens run hotter or cooler than the number on the dial. Even being off by 10 to 15 degrees can change how your cookies bake.

Too hot = edges set fast, centers don’t develop properly.
Too cool = cookies spread before they develop round cookie structure.

An inexpensive oven thermometer can improve everything you bake.

Chilling: The Step Your Friend Doesn’t Skip

If a recipe says to chill the dough, there’s a reason.

Chilling:

• firms up the fat
• reduces spread
• deepens flavor

Skipping it doesn’t necessarily ruin cookies but it does keep them from being great.

Your friend? She’s probably patient. Annoying, but effective.

Ingredient Brands Matter

For consistency if nothing else.

Butter fat percentage, flour protein levels, even different sugars all behave slightly differently.

You don’t need to go full baking scientist here but consistency matters.

If your friend uses the same brands every time, she’s eliminating variables without realizing it.

Your Baking Surface Is Working Against You

Dark pans, thin pans, silicone mats, parchment paper: they all affect how cookies spread and brown.

• Dark pans = faster browning
• Thin pans = faster burning
• Silicone mats = more spread
• Parchment = more balanced results

If your cookies are consistently too flat or too pale or bake too quickly or burn on the bottom leaving the top level of the cookie raw, your pan setup might need to be rehauled.

Why Your Friend’s Cookies Look Thicker (and How to Fix It)

Those tall, bakery-style cookies?

They’re usually the result of:

• slightly more flour
• properly chilled dough
• and sometimes shaping the dough balls taller instead of wider

Try rolling your dough into vertical mounds instead of perfect spheres. It feels weird but it works.

Your Friend Isn’t Better at Baking, She’s More Consistent

This is the part nobody says out loud.

It’s not that she’s “better.” It’s that she does the same things the same way every time. Same butter temp. Same flour method. Same pan. Same bake time.

Consistency is what turns decent cookies into reliable cookies.

And once you lock in a few of these details, yours will start looking suspiciously like hers.

Quick Checklist Before You Blame the Recipe

If your cookies aren’t hitting the way you want, check these first:

• Butter is truly room temperature, not melty
• Flour is measured correctly
• Dough is chilled if the recipe calls for it
• Oven temp is accurate
• You’re using a consistent pan + lining setup

Fix those and you’ll be surprised how quickly things turn around.

If you want to level up your cookies even faster, check out these guides:

• Why are my cookies flat?
• Why are my cookies puffy?
• Room temperature butter for cookies
• Cookie scoop size chart

The post Why Are My Friend's Cookies Better Than Mine? appeared first on Kitchen Serf.

And they taste like absolutely nothing or worse, slightly sour.

Or you were planning strawberries and whipped cream. But now you’re standing in your kitchen realizing you forgot the whipped cream.

Before you give up and shove the whole container in the back of the fridge to become a science experiment, here’s how to fix what you’ve got.

How to Make Strawberries Taste Better

Toss them with granulated sugar.

Slice them, sprinkle with sugar, and let them sit for 10–15 minutes.

Or not.

My favorite way of eating strawberries is to dip them in a bowl of granulated sugar and eat immediately. The sugar adds a teensy bit of crunch in addition to sweetness.

Add a splash of something acidic

A little lemon juice can wake up flat strawberries fast.

Not enough to make them sour just enough to make them taste like strawberries again.

Even better, drizzle the berries with a bit of balsamic vinegar. That turns them foot-stomping good.

Roast them.

If they’re really meh, roasting concentrates the flavor.

Throw them in the oven at 350F° with a little sugar and let the heat do its magic.

Slice them and Add To Red Wine

You can do this with red wine that's fantastic or sub par. You'll improve both of them. (This idea comes from Chez Panisse Fruit). (affiliate link).

Things to Dip Strawberries In

• Vanilla ice cream
• Greek yogurt
• Cream cheese (sweetened a bit or not.)
• Mascarpone cheese
• Fluff or marshmallow whip
• Chocolate pudding
• Melted chocolate

If you need help, here’s exactly how to melt chocolate without making a mess of it.

Sweet Spreads for Dipping or Drizzling

These spreads are thick so it will probably be easier to warm them slightly in a microwave so they're drizzling consistency.

• Nutella
• Peanut butter
• Peanut butter + chocolate
• Peanut butter + fluff
• Cookie butter / Biscoff spread
• Almond butter
• Jam (slightly warmed)

More Strawberry Sweetener Ideas

• Honey
• Maple syrup
• Powdered sugar (a light dusting over sliced berries)
• Stuff with cheesecake filling.

DIY Strawberry Sandwiches 

Graham cracker + butter: Spread a layer of butter over a graham cracker, line with sliced strawberries, top with another graham cracker. Bonus if you're use cinnamon or chocolate grahams.

Graham cracker + Nutella + strawberries

Graham cracker + peanut butter + strawberries

Graham cracker + fluff + strawberries

Graham cracker + cream cheese + strawberries

How to Use Up Excess Strawberries

You can:

• Make my strawberry cheesecake pie (easy, not fussy, not your typical cheesecake situation)
• Turn them into chocolate-covered strawberries (holiday lights version if you’re feeling festive)
• Add them to Fruit Kabobs
• Make S'mores Dip and use them alongside graham crackers
• Or make my favorite, Mascarpone Cream Dip

Or just keep slicing and sugaring your way through them like a normal person.

I usually just slice the green stems off with a paring knife but I've got this strawberry huller in my cart (affiliate link). You can also use the huller for tomatoes.

The post What To Do With Strawberries appeared first on Kitchen Serf.

But I took one for the team and tested it so you don't have to.

Spoiler alert: I have thoughts. And they're skeptical.

First Impressions

This is a big roll of paper.

• Size: 22 yards by 18 inches
• Basically: a wide sheet meant to cover your countertop while you bake

And sure, it looks nice on the packaging. There’s a whole cookie-decorating scene—rolling pin, sprinkles, icing, cutouts—the works. It’s clearly marketed toward baking projects where things get messy.

But here’s my immediate reaction sitting in the Walmart pickup lane:

You can already do this with stuff you have at home.

What It Claims to Do

According to the packaging, this paper:

• Covers countertops to protect from mess
• Is nonstick
• Has a “non-slip” feature (activate with a damp surface)
• Can be folded to contain mess
• Is disposable for easy cleanup

Also very clearly labeled:

• Do not use in oven, air fryer, microwave, or grill

So this is strictly a countertop-only product.

The Big Question: Do You Need This?

Short answer: probably not.

Longer answer: let’s talk about what most of us are already using.

1. Wax Paper (My Ride or Die)

This is what I’ve been using forever.

• Cheap
• Easy to find
• Already in your kitchen
• Works just fine

If I need more surface area? I just overlap sheets. Done.

2. Newsprint (If You Can Find It)

Old-school, but effective.

• Great for covering large areas
• Disposable
• Harder to find these days, but still around

3. Just…More Paper

If your issue is size, not function:

Use more of what you already have.

Double it up. Overlap. Move on with your life.

The “Non-Slip” Feature

This product sticks to your counter if you dampen the surface first.

Bu you can also do that with wax paper.

So this isn’t exactly groundbreaking technology.

Where It Might Make Sense

To be fair, there are a couple situations where this might appeal:

• You want one large, continuous sheet (no overlapping)
• You like the idea of a thicker, sturdier surface
• You don’t mind paying for convenience

That’s about it.

My Take 

This is a nice-to-have convenience product.

If you’re already using wax paper or anything similar, you’re not gaining much here. You're just spending extra money for a slightly wider roll.

If you’ve ever rolled out sugar cookie dough or gone all-in on decorating cookies or gone the sanding sugar route you already know how fast things get messy.

This is a skip for me and I suggest for you too. Save five or six dollars and buy wax paper instead.

I’d rather put that money toward better ingredients, looking at you Fiori di Sicilia, or tools I’ll actually use over and over again.

What to Use for Easy Countertop Clean Up

• Wax paper (my favorite)
• Parchment paper
• Newsprint or newspaper

If you’re setting up your baking space, these will help:

• How to use wax paper (and when not to)
• How to roll cookie dough evenly
• What sanding sugar actually does (and when to use it)

The post Reynolds Countertop Prep Paper Review appeared first on Kitchen Serf.

The acid in the lime juice helps thicken the filling, similar to how citrus is used in dishes like ceviche.

That said, the FDA does not recommend eating raw egg yolks because of the risk of salmonella. Pregnant women, young children, older adults and anyone with a weakened immune system should be cautious.

For a safer version, bake the pie at 350°F for 10 minutes.

Authentic Key Lime Pie Ingredients

Key lime juice or the juice of Eureka or Persian limes-adds flavor and color

Lime zest (key lime or Eureka)-adds flavor.

Egg yolks (large, room temperature)-provides color, structure and creaminess.

Sweetened condensed milk-adds structure and sweetness.

9-inch graham cracker pie crust (storebought or homemade)

What Makes This Key Lime Pie “Classic”

This is the original method with no baking.

Early versions of Key lime pie relied on the acidity of the lime juice to thicken the egg yolks and condensed milk. It’s simple, it works, and it’s the reason this pie has the silky texture everyone expects.

If you want the shortcut version, try my Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Pie, for the same classic flavor with even less effort.

Step by Steps

Recipe

Yield: 9-inch pie

Classic Key Lime Pie

Print

A classic key lime pie made the old-fashioned way, where lime juice thickens egg yolks into a smooth, creamy filling. Tangy, rich, and naturally set  with an optional baking step for peace of mind.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Additional Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

• ½ cup key lime juice or (juice of regular limes, usually Eureka)
• 3 teaspoons lime zest (key lime or Eureka)
• 4 egg yolks (large, room temperature)
• 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 9-inch graham cracker pie crust (store bought or homemade)

Instructions

1. Zest limes
2. Whisk egg yolks and zest in a mixing bowl.
3. Add sweetened condensed milk and stir until combined.
4. Add lime juice and whisk until combined.
5. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
6. Make graham cracker crust if using homemade.
7. Pour filling into pie crust and chill for four hours or overnight.
8. Slice and garnish with whipped cream and additional lime slices.

Notes

If you’re uneasy about eating uncooked egg yolks, after letting the pie rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, bake it at  350F° for ten minutes.

Nutrition Information

Yield 6 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 43Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 2gCholesterol 124mgSodium 6mgCarbohydrates 2gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 2g

Nutrition information is an estimate because I am not a registered dietician.

Did you make this recipe? Please give it a rating

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

The post Classic Key Lime Pie appeared first on Kitchen Serf.

Pillsbury S'mores Cookie Dough Review

First Impressions

]Right out of the gate, I was skeptical.

The package says something along the lines of:
“Big cookies. Makes 6 big cookies.”

And I thought, okay, but are they actually big? Because we’ve all been lied to before.

Surprisingly they are big.There are also instructions for shaping them if you want even bigger cookies, which initially confused me.

The packaging says to “push the ends together,” and I briefly pictured Frankenstein-ing two cookies into one mega-cookie.

That’s not it.

What they actually mean is: form the dough into more of a rounded, semi-circle shape so it bakes up thicker.

You bake these like any standard refrigerated cookie dough:

• Place dough 2 inches apart.
• Bake at the recommended temperature--350F°.
• Timing: about 17–21 minutes (longer if you go for thicker cookies)

I used parchment paper (always do—less mess, no regrets).

In my oven, they needed a full 20 minutes and even then they were still just a teensy bit underdone in the middle.

So plan on the longer end of the bake time.

How They Bake

Good news, if you're a fan of the flat, chewy cookie, these are for you. No puffy cookies here.

The Flavor (Here's Where Things Fall Apart)

These are not really s’mores cookies.

They’re also not really chocolate chip cookies.

They’re kind of in between but not in a good way.

The flavor is:

• overly sweet
• vaguely graham-y
• slightly almond-y (??)

But the cookies never actually land on that classic s’mores punch. No strong marshmallow flavor or chew, no oozy pockets of chocolate no “oh wow, this tastes like a campfire dessert.”

What I’d Do Instead

If you want s’mores cookies without baking from scratch, you’ll get a better result doing this:

• Grab a solid chocolate chip cookie dough you already like
• Add extra chocolate chips
• Toss in some mini marshmallows
• Sprinkle crushed graham crackers or crumbs over the tops of cookies.

Final Verdict

Big cookies? ✔️
Easy to bake? ✔️
Tastes like s’mores? ❌

Skip these.

There are better ways to get your s’mores fix and they’re just as easy as these slice and bakes.

One Thing to Know

To Pillsbury's credit, this cookie packaging is labeled safe to eat raw.

They use heat-treated flour, pasteurized eggs and a “ready-to-eat” manufacturing process, whatever that means, to make the raw dough safe.

So if you’re someone who likes sneaking cookie dough straight from the package this might be a selling point.

Want Real S’mores Flavor?

If these didn’t hit the mark for you either, try one of my s'mores recipes instead:

• S'mores Bars: gooey, chocolatey, actually tastes like the real thing
• S'mores Cereal Bars Made with Golden Grahams: no bake and dangerously easy
• S'mores Mini Pies: great when you want something a little different and you can make these either in the oven or air fryer.

More Reviews

Does this Duncan Hines easy brownie mix live up to the hype?

The post Pillsbury S'mores Cookie Dough Review: Buy or Skip It? appeared first on Kitchen Serf.

Make Quick & Easy Strawberry Cookies

These easy strawberry cookies are perfect for Valentine’s Day, Easter, baby showers, or anytime you want a quick, no-fuss dessert that still feels special.

If you're a fan of cake mix recipes, try Easy Cake Mix Snickerdoodles.

What You Need

Recipe Tips

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling into balls. Chilling the dough will help you form the balls because the dough will be sticky.

Use a scoop so your cookies bake evenly. I like to use a #40 scoop.

Roll balls in granulated sugar first before rolling the balls twice into powdered sugar. The granulated sugar will help the powdered sugar stick.

Make Ahead and Storage

Package cookies in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to five days.

Or wrap cookies in plastic wrap or wax paper and put them in a freezer safe container for up to three months.

See how to freeze cookies for more information.

Recipe

Yield: 24

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

Print

Strawberry cake mix cookies are soft, chewy, and easy to make with just four simple ingredients. They’re perfect for quick desserts, holidays, or whenever you need a fast cookie fix.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 28 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 box Strawberry Cake Mix (13.25 )
• 2 large eggs
• ⅓ cup canola or vegetable oil
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together cake mix, eggs, oil and flour if you’re using it.
3. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes.
4. Roll dough mixture into 1 inch balls and roll in a small bowl of granulated sugar, then roll the balls twice in powdered sugar.
5. Place powdered sugar balls on parchment lined baking sheet.
6. Bake 5-8 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges. 
7. Store in an air-tight container and enjoy within 5 days.

Recommended Products

This post and/or recipe may contain affiliate links, which means if you click through and make a purchase, I'll earn a commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See Disclosure policy.

• 
  Reynolds Kitchens Stay Flat Dispensing Parchment Paper for Baking and Roasting, Parchment Paper Roll, Great for Baking and Rolling Dough, Non-stick, Reusable Up to 3x, 45 Sq. Ft.
• 
  Nordic Ware Naturals Half Sheet - USA Made Aluminum Commercial Quality Sheet Pan for Baking or Roasting, Encapsulated Galvanized Steel Rim Prevents Warping, 2-Pack
• 
  Winco Ice Cream Disher with Purple Handle, Size 40, Stainless Steel

Nutrition Information

Yield 24 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 89Total Fat 5gSaturated Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 20mgSodium 19mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 0gSugar 10gProtein 1g

Nutrition information is an estimate because I am not a registered dietician.

Did you make this recipe? Please give it a rating

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

The post Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies appeared first on Kitchen Serf.

I’m going to show you how to make a really cool thing for your Easter table: a plate full of real Easter grass.

This is the perfect backdrop for Easter eggs your kids have decorated, Peeps, chocolate bunnies, or bowls of Easter candy. You could even do this project inside a lined Easter basket and make a little spring centerpiece.

Anyway, I’m just giving you the idea and the steps. You put your own spin on it.

What You Need

• A dish or two or three
• Potting soil or honestly any soil you can get your hands on. (I’ve done this with soil from dried out Christmas plants before.
• Grass seed of some sort

I’m used red winter wheat that I bought at the co-op three or four years ago. This stuff lasts forever. I wasn’t even sure if it was going to grow this time but it did.

If you can’t find winter wheat, or you don’t live near a food co-op with bins of grains like I do, just grab a little packet of grass seed from the hardware store.

I’ve never done that because I live in hippieville (I say this with affection, I’m the love child of OG hippies), but surely grass seeds will work for you.

How to Grow Easter Grass 

Start by putting about a half inch of soil in whatever dish you’re using.

Lightly dampen the soil. Ideally you’d use a little spray bottle, but I don’t own one of those, so I just used a cup of water and tried not to dump it all in one spot.

If your container has drainage holes, this part is easy. My dish was a serving plate with no holes, so I had to be a little careful not to drown the whole thing.

Next, scatter your grass seed evenly across the soil.

You don’t have to be super precise. Just try to cover most of the surface.

If I were doing it again, I’d use a few more seeds and leave less space between them. Mine came up a teensy bit sparser than I imagined, but it was still super cute.

After the seeds are scattered, sprinkle a very thin layer of soil on top. Just enough to lightly cover them so they can do their little germination magic.

Then give the top another very light spritz of water.

Seeds like damp soil, light, and warmth. They’re pretty low-maintenance that way.

Create a Warm Growing Environment

Once everything is planted, cover the dish with something clear to trap warmth and moisture.

Plastic wrap works great for this. If you’re in an anti-plastic household, wax paper would probably work too. You might just want to tape the edges down so it stays put.

The idea is to keep things warm while still letting light through.

You can put your dish near a sunny window, but it doesn’t have to be in direct sun. Just don’t stick it in a dark closet and expect miracles.

I kept mine next to a sunny window for the first couple of days because I was impatient and wanted it to get going. After that, I mostly left it on the kitchen table where it gets indirect light.

What Happens Next

Now you wait.

It may take a week or two before you have actual grass. Check on it every couple of days.

If things start looking a little moldy, take the plastic off for a bit and let some air in. My house is pretty damp, so that’s something I keep an eye on. If you live somewhere super dry like Colorado, you may not have that issue.

I use Colorado as my reference point because that’s where my son lives. By young son I mean twenty-three. And wow is it dry there.

At first it will look like absolutely nothing is happening.

Then you’ll check it one day and suddenly there are little green sprouts everywhere. A couple of days later you’ll have a whole plate of grass. It’s pretty cool.

Improvising With What You Have

If you don’t have plastic wrap or wax paper, don’t worry.

I ended up using one of those green plastic produce bags from the grocery store. The kind your lettuce comes in.

My plate was small enough that it fit right inside the bag, and that worked perfectly.

Once the Grass Grows

When the grass gets tall, you can trim it if you want.

Or you can leave it wild and grassy. Both look great.

Then decorate your plate however you like. Add dyed eggs, candy, little chocolate bunnies, Peeps, whatever makes you happy.

It’s a really fun thing to do with kids, too. I did this with my son when he was younger and he especially loved trimming the grass and making it look nice.

Also, if you have cats, they may handle the trimming for you.

My cat had a blast chomping on the grass yesterday. Oddly, he ignored it while it was sitting on the kitchen table, which is strange because normally he takes his meals on the kitchen table so he doesn’t appreciate clutter.

But once he noticed it, he was very interested.

If you have cats, they will think you are the best cat parent ever.

And honestly, isn’t that what we’re all striving for?

The post How to Grow Easter Grass appeared first on Kitchen Serf.

If you bake even occasionally, you’ve probably run into the same problem I have: the recipe calls for softened butter and your butter is as hard as ice.

Softened butter isn’t just a suggestion.

Butter that’s too cold won’t cream properly with sugar and butter that’s too warm can wreck the structure of cakes and cookies.

Room-temperature butter for baking is technically about 65 to 67 degrees, which means the butter should bend easily when you press it, but it shouldn’t look greasy or melty.

Five Ways to Soften Butter Quickly

If you’re in a hurry, here are two fast ways to soften butter quickly, courtesy of Cook’s Illustrated.

Pound it Flat

Put the stick of butter in a resealable plastic bag and grab a rolling pin. Give the butter a few good whacks and roll it flat.

Flattening the butter dramatically increases the surface area, which means it softens within seconds instead of sitting on the counter forever waiting to cooperate.

However, the pounding method is easier said than done. You really have to let the butter sit out for at least 30 minutes, probably close to an hour if you're in a cold state like me.

Cut the Butter Into Small Pieces

Another fast method is simply cutting the butter into small chunks.

By the time you’ve preheated the oven and measured the rest of your ingredients, the butter pieces should be right around that ideal softened temperature.

My favorite way to do this is with a bench scraper.

I take a stick of butter and slice it lengthwise into four long strips.

Then I turn those strips and cut them crosswise into small chunks. In the end you’re left with a neat little dice of butter pieces that soften much faster than a whole stick.

Grate the Butter Like Cheese

Grab a box cheese grater and the butter you need softened. Unwrap the butter and grate it into tiny shreds.

Be sure to put a piece of wax paper or parchment underneath the cheese grater so you're not scraping it off the cutting board or worse your kitchen counter.

Don't love this method because in my experience, the butter gets warmer than room temperature pretty quickly, what with the heat from your hand and all.

The Classic Method: Let It Sit on the Counter

Of course, you can always just let butter soften naturally on the counter.

Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, this might take 30 minutes, an hour or sometimes longer.

I live in a drafty house in Maine. In my kitchen it usually takes at least an hour. I also keep my refrigerator extremely cold, which means the butter coming out of it is basically ice.

You could also put the butter on top of your fridge to speed up the softening a bit. The top of my kitchen appliances is always ten degrees warmer, at least.

If your fridge isn’t cranked to maximum cold like mine, your butter may soften a little faster, especially if you're in a hot state like Georgia or Alabama or Texas. Or it's summer time.

Warm Water Bath

Here’s another option:

Place the butter in a resealable plastic bag and then put the bag in a bowl of warm water for about 10 to 15 minutes. The warmth of the water gently brings the butter up to room temperature.

However, sometimes the outside of the butter gets too soft while the inside remains icy.

Using the Microwave to Soften Butter

You can also use the microwave, although this is my least favorite method.

The reason is simple: butter can go from “perfectly softened” to melted puddle in about two seconds flat.

And if butter melts, even partially, it can affect the rise and texture of your cakes and cookies.

If you do use the microwave, follow these tips:

• Place the butter on a plate.
  
• Heat it for 1 minute at 10% power.
  
• After the first minute, press the butter gently with your finger to check how soft it is. If needed, microwave it for another 10 to 20 seconds at 10% power. You may need to flip the stick over to ensure even heating.

For a full stick of butter, you may need up to about 1 minute and 40 seconds total at that low power setting.

The low power setting is crucial. If you microwave butter at full power, you’ll almost certainly end up with a melted buttery mess.

And if you really want to be precise, the best way to check butter temperature is with a digital cooking thermometer.

This is my favorite digital thermometer.

A Method I’ve Heard Of (But Haven’t Tried)

There’s also a method floating around the baking world that involves putting a stick of butter in a plastic bag and… sticking it in your front pants pocket.

Apparently the heat from your body softens the butter perfectly in about 10 to 15 minutes.

Have I tried this? No.

Am I recommending that you walk around with a stick of butter in your pocket? Also no.

But it’s out there.

How to Tell When Butter Is Perfectly Softened

When butter is the correct temperature for baking—around 65F° to 67° degrees you should be able to bend the stick without it breaking.

The butter will give slightly when you press it but it won’t collapse or feel greasy.

If the butter is too warm, it will look shiny or oily and will completely give way when you push on it.

One Last Butter Tip

When baking, stick with butter sold in sticks, not the tubs of spreadable butter.

Tub butter is formulated differently and often contains added oils that change how it behaves in baked goods.

Unless a recipe specifically calls for it, it’s best to avoid using it for baking.

The post How to Soften Butter Quickly appeared first on Kitchen Serf.