RECIPE: Dusting your baking pan? Read this first.
“Prepare the pan” is usually the least interesting part of a recipe. I blast my dish with cooking spray and move on. But my family’s recent baking obsession left me with an empty can and an opportunity to rethink my technique. I was curious: Does dusting the pan with different fats, flours and flavors improve your favorite recipes?
The fat prevents food from sticking. Sure, you can grease the pan with vegetable oil, but butter will reward you with a delicious golden crust. Standard butter or higher-fat European butter? For pan dusting, it makes no difference. What does matter is the application technique. If you want to leave no crumb behind, melt a tablespoon of butter and apply it with a pastry brush and a heavy hand.
Dusting the pan with all-purpose flour prevents the butter from seeping into your batter. I made my own flavor-packed “flour” by grinding a quarter cup each of nuts and oats in a food processor until it became the texture of cornmeal. Brownies dusted with almond-oat flour offered nuanced toasted notes, as well as a sturdier crust that kept crumbs off the table. Coconut-oat flour made a sweet, crunchy foundation for my sheet pan blueberry muffins.
I tweaked the experiment again, skipping the “flours” and dusting the buttered pan with cocoa powder for banana bread and smoked paprika for cornbread. In both cases, the additional flavors improved the overall taste. However, they both darkened during baking, giving the bottoms of the baked goods a burned appearance. The final verdict: For food that doesn’t stick to the pan, stick to butter and your favorite flour or “flour.”
- ¼ cup rolled oats
- ¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 5 tablespoons melted butter, divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup 2% milk
- 5 ounces plain 5%-milkfat Greek yogurt
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh or defrosted blueberries
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (optional)
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a food processor fitted with the S-blade, process oats and coconut until mixture is the texture of soft cornmeal, about 1 minute. Use a pastry brush to spread 1 tablespoon melted butter a thin layer along the bottom and sides of a rimmed sheet pan. Dust the bottom and sides of the pan evenly with oat-coconut mixture, tapping to remove any excess. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer, combine remaining 4 tablespoons butter, milk, yogurt, egg and vanilla on low speed. Add the wet mixture to dry ingredients and beat again until smooth. Batter will be thick. Gently fold in blueberries with a spatula.
- Pour batter onto prepared baking pan, using a spatula to smooth batter to the edges. Sprinkle top with turbinado sugar, if desired.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until edges are brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool before slicing. Makes 12 servings.
Nutritional information
Per serving: Per serving, without turbinado sugar: 212 calories (percent of calories from fat, 32), 4 grams protein, 32 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 8 grams total fat (5 grams saturated), 30 milligrams cholesterol, 248 milligrams sodium.Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
