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Yesterday — 31 May 2024Lifehacker

All the Ways I Like to Eat Pop-Tarts

✇Lifehacker
By: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
31 May 2024 at 17:00

The simple Pop-Tart has come a long way since its inception in the 1960s. Although they don’t look different, the way they’re eaten has undergone some whimsical experimentation. This tracks for the colorful, jam-filled, toaster-friendly treat with teeny tiny sprinkles on top. If it’s been a while since you’ve dipped your toes into the jam-filled breakfast pastry pool, this is your sign to take the plunge. Here are some of the best ways to eat Pop-Tarts.

Eat ‘em frozen

Out of respect for the warmer temperatures approaching, the first few Pop-Tart suggestions will be a treat to cool you down. I’d never recommend a hot toaster oven when it’s 80°F; I just wouldn’t stand for it. Instead, gift yourself a frozen Pop-Tart. Take the foil sleeves out of the cardboard box (the cardboard gets humid and takes up extra space) and keep them stashed in the freezer until you need it most. The pastry gains a crisp texture and the jam never gets icy—instead it ends up pleasantly chewy.

Pop-Tart ice cream.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Crumble them into ice cream

Plain flavor ice cream is fine, but I’m much more likely to get a pint of ice cream loaded with stuff. I like caramel swirls, chocolate bits, cheesecake blobs, you name it. So when I tested out a no-churn ice cream, you better believe I crumbled Pop-Tarts into it. It’s easiest to fold it into the soft-serve-like stage when you’re making your own ice cream at home, but you can do it with store-bought too. Leave the ice cream in the fridge for 30 to 45 minutes to soften. Scoop it into a bowl and mix in the pastry chunks. You can return it to the pint to freeze it hard, or just start chowing down. 

Stack up an ice cream sandwich

Ice cream sandwiches are inherently fun, and when the “bread” is Pop-Tarts, the lucky eater is bound to crack a smile. I enjoy Pop-Tarts ice cream sandwiches because you can really take liberties with flavor combinations. At any given time, Pop-Tarts will have classic flavors (like strawberry, blueberry, and brown sugar cinnamon) but I constantly see the shelves stocked with weirdo-beardo flavors too, like Apple Jacks, Boston Creme Donut, or Frosted Strawberry Milkshake. Pair those with any of the numerous ice creams in the freezer section and you’ve got a delightful treat. Here’s how to make a Pop-Tart ice cream sandwich.

A pie crust on a wire rack
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Use Pop-Tarts for pie crust

Usually graham cracker crumb crusts are the standard for chilled pies and tarts, but why not switch up the crumb for something a bit more nostalgic (not to mention colorful). The best part is, it’s a one-ingredient crust. Throw a few Pop-Tarts in a food processor and blend it down into small crumbs. Press the pieces into a pie dish and the jam particles will help bind the crust together. Read this for the full method. 

A spoon scooping a Pop-Tart trifle.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Make the world’s laziest trifle

Cookies and milk are inextricably linked, which is why I think Pop-Tarts and heavy cream are easy friends. Make a perverted trifle of multiple flavors of Pop-Tarts layered with whipped cream for a quick crowd-pleaser when you have no energy or will to go buy the custard and cake for a “proper” trifle.

Crumble topping for muffins and cakes

The main thing that makes a crumb cake so irresistibly good is the streusel topping. And yet, my least favorite thing about making a crumb cake is taking the extra time to whip up that very same topping. Here’s an easy work around: Top your cakes with crushed Pop-Tarts. I use crushed ginger snaps in this recipe but the same method applies for your breakfast pastries.

Zhuzh up your milkshakes

I don’t have to convince you that a milkshake is a good idea, but you should know that any milk shake you make can be a lot more fun if it’s loaded with Pop-Tarts. That’s correct, you can drink your Pop-Tarts, and you should. It’s easy with a blender too. Simply add your favorite brand of vanilla ice cream, a sleeve of tarts, and a bit of milk. Buzz away, and grab a straw.

Replace toast with tarts

When you eat Pop-Tarts straight out of the foil package, or even gently toasted, you’re shorting yourself. Sure, they have flavor already, but that sweet filling is more like a nudge. Pop-Tarts are actually great toast replacements. Slather on a layer of jam, Nutella, or fluff. Why not add a schmear and some fresh strawberry slices? Spread on a thick coat of peanut butter and top it with sliced bananas for a snack that’s fit to rival any slice of 12-grain. The flavor combinations are endless, and if you haven’t already, now’s a good time to add a box of Cherry Frosted to your grocery list. 

How to Make Cold Brew Coffee

✇Lifehacker
By: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
31 May 2024 at 12:00

You don’t have to be a complete coffee nut to make a bold, refreshing cold brew coffee concentrate at home. Of course it doesn’t hurt if you are obsessed, but the simplicity of the process and rewarding results make it worth a try for even the occasional iced coffee drinker. Here’s an easy step-by-step so you can jump into summer with an extraordinary amount of energy.

What is cold brew coffee? 

Cold brew is coffee brewed without heat. Typically when you make coffee—whether it’s drip, pour over, or espresso—the coffee grinds make contact with near boiling water and this leads to a much faster extraction. You can go on to pour hot brewed coffee over ice, and this would simply be iced coffee. Instead, cold brew is a slow, hands-off extraction process of basically two steps: combine the coffee grounds with water, and wait.

Assorted tools for making cold brew coffee
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Why you should make cold brew

Hands-off brewing. One of the reasons cold brew is worth making is what I just mentioned: you can just walk away. The brew happens overnight, so after you combine the coffee and water, you don’t have to think about it until tomorrow.

It lasts a while. Usually when you embark on making cold brew, it’s a concentrate. While it might look like a small amount, it’s incredibly strong. So a measly 12 ounces of concentrate might last you a solid three mornings of caffeination. If you’re a sometimes-drinker, you’re in even more luck. The general consensus among coffee roasters is that cold brew can keep for seven to 10 days, if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

It’s smooth as heck. Don’t misunderstand, I like hot brewed coffee too. The hot water extracts flavors and oils from the bean that display the entire spectrum of flavor. That said, cold brewed coffee has a round, mellow flavor, and a pleasant viscous consistency that you just don’t get with hot coffee. 

Catered to you. Packaged cold brew from the supermarket or cold brew purchased at a cafe is made the way the company likes it. At home, you can experiment with ratios and roasts to make your perfect blend.

No special tools needed. Yes, I’m literally about to list tools that I used to make my cold brew at home, but technically none of this is needed exactly. You only need a container with a lid, coarsely ground coffee, and filtered water. Then you can strain it in any of the ways that I list in Step 5.

Here are some helpful tools to get started:

How to make cold brew coffee step-by-step

Hand holding coffee beans
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

1. Pick your beans

Coffee beans and roasts span a broad range of flavors and notes akin to the influence of terroir in wine making. Whichever bean you like is the one you should use. However, I do recommend you choose a coffee that comes in whole bean format, at the very least. This time I used Café Grumpy’s Momentum roast. Freshly ground coffee will give you more flavor, so even if you pick a more affordable brand you should freshly grind the whole beans at the store or at home. Which brings us to our next step.

Two small bowls with ground coffee inside.
Left: a medium grind, Right: a coarse grind. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

2. Use a coarse grind

The size of the grounds is mostly about logistics. After the coffee brews, you’ll have to strain it, and while smaller coffee bits lead to a stronger flavor, they’ll also leave muddy sediment in your drink. Set your grinder to a medium-coarse grind, leaning slightly more to the coarse side.

A French press on a kitchen scale.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

3. Break out the scale

Cold brew concentrate ratios can range anywhere from a 1:2 ratio to 1:8 parts coarse coffee to water. I usually land somewhere in the middle with a 1:4 or 1:5 ratio because I think this amount of water makes better contact with the beans. Plus, this amount fits best in my French press. 

You’ll add water to the concentrate when you serve it, so even if your ratio isn’t perfect, you’ll be able to adjust it later. Once you’ve decided on your ratio, you can do some gentle math. Don’t worry, it’s not too bad, but a kitchen scale helps. 

Since I like to use my French press for cold brew and it has a four-cup liquid capacity, I aim for about five ounces of beans and 20 to 25 ounces of water. Combine the beans and filtered water in your vessel of choice and give it a good stir with a spoon or a chopstick.

If you don't have a scale, and you adamantly refuse to buy one (even though every kitchen should have one—they're small, and incredibly affordable now) you can use volume measurements. You'll probably need to adjust your dilution at the end to nail your perfect mix every time. For my 1:5 ratio I used two cups of ground beans and a hair over three cups of water.

Coffee brewing in a French press.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

4. Steep

Put the lid on your cold brew vessel if there is one. For a French press, Press the plunger down until the mesh meets the water line, which will prevent any grounds from peeking out of the water. Leave the brew to steep on the counter at room temperature for 16 to 18 hours. If you think you can’t make that time frame, maybe you’ll be out of the house or you started your cold brew at a weird time of day, brew it in the fridge instead. This lengthens the brew time to about 20 to 24 hours.

Coffee pouring into a strainer
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

5. Strain and decant

I started my brew at 3 p.m. yesterday and strained it this morning at 8 a.m. into a mason jar lined with a nut milk bag. The French press already has a mesh strainer but inevitably little bits make their way around, so a second, finer sieve helps catch those wayward bits. I like the nut milk bag because it's reusable, but if you don't have one you can use a regular paper coffee filter, a few layers of cheese cloth, or even a sheet of paper towel in a multi-purpose sieve. 

You can decant the mixture into any container or jar you’d like as long as it has a tight fitting lid for storing. 

Cold brew with milk in it.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

6. Dilute and enjoy

Now comes the moment we’ve all been waiting for: drinking! You’ve probably noticed you used a heck of a lot of beans for a seemingly small amount of coffee. Concentrate is deceiving like that, but don’t be dismayed. I like to fill a glass halfway with ice, and add 50/50 concentrate and water. Depending on the strength of the concentrate you made you’ll dilute the brew a bit more or less than I did. Add a splash of milk if you like and get on your way. Now there's no need to hit the cafe first thing to get that perfect summer cold brew.

Before yesterdayLifehacker

Make This Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint Dupe

✇Lifehacker
By: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
30 May 2024 at 16:00

It’s a shame that Girl Scout Cookie season is so short. Although it gives me something to look forward to at the end of March, once May rolls around I’ve completely cleared out my cookie stash. If you missed Girl Scout Cookie season (or you just miss it emotionally), I’d like to help you work through these tough months before the next one rolls around. For the next few weeks, I’ll be testing out copycat recipes for the most popular flavors so you can make them at home. Let’s start with the superstar of simplicity: Thin Mints. 

All GSC fans know that the thin mint sets the standard for mint cookies. It’s a small bite. A crunchy, no-frills chocolate cookie on the inside with a thin chocolate shell. Then the cool breeze of mint passes through. It’s always best to buy at least two boxes: one for the first 10 minutes, and the second to pace yourself. 

Tips on making Thin Mints at home

Imitating this famous cookie is relatively simple. The cookie itself can be made with any reliable chocolate pâte sablée recipe (essentially a mixture of butter, sugar, a bit of egg, cocoa, and flour) with the addition of mint extract. The dough is easy to roll out, and baking them is a breeze. To make the cookie dough, I modified this recipe from Baked by an Introvert. 

The site above mentions “cookies are best when served cold,” which is true—many of us enjoy thin mints out of the freezer—but that’s less a nice tip here and more a necessity. That's because the coating is too damn soft at room temperature, due to the recipe's inclusion of vegetable oil. To get around this, I recommend using melted chocolate morsels only, which will still be tacky at room temperature but not gooey. Alternatively, you can use chocolate melting wafers (like the one below), which are designed to set without tempering.

When rolling out the cookies in this recipe, try to take the dough down to shy of a quarter-inch in thickness for a more accurate copycat (they’re Thin Mints after all). If the dough is too hard to handle at that thinness, it’s okay to make thick mints. Just make sure to bake them for a minute or two longer so they’re crisp after they cool. 

Thin Mints Copycat Recipe 

Ingredients:

For the dough

  • 1 ⅓ cup all-purpose flour

  • ¼ cup cocoa powder

  • 1 stick butter, room temperature

  • ⅓ cup sugar

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

  • ½ teaspoon peppermint extract

  • 1 egg white

For the chocolate coating

  • ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels, melted (or melting wafers)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet tray with parchment paper.

2. Use a rubber spatula and mix the soft butter and sugar together in a medium bowl until well combined. There’s no need to make it fluffy. Add the salt, egg, and extracts. In a small bowl, whisk the flour and cocoa powder together to disperse the cocoa evenly, then mix it into the butter mixture in two installments. This will help ensure you don’t end up wearing the cocoa powder. The dough will be thick but workable. 

2. Place the dough on plastic wrap or parchment paper. Flatten the dough into discs with the wrap, and pop them into the fridge for about 30 minutes. 

3. Dust the countertop with a bit of flour and unwrap the dough. Roll it into a thin sheet, rotating it after every pass with the pin to ensure the dough isn’t sticking. Use a round cookie cutter, 1.5-inch or 2-inch is fine, and cut out circles. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet an inch apart. Bake them at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, or until firm and matte. Cool them completely.

4. To make the chocolate coating, gently melt the morsels in the microwave in 30 or 15 second bursts. Dunk each cookie in the coating and fish it out with a fork. Use the flat edge of a rubber spatula to swipe off most of the chocolate so the coating is thin. Put the cookies on a wire rack to cool, and you can even pop them in the fridge for ten minutes to speed up the cooling.

Enjoy out of the fridge or freezer for a chilled treat, and you can thank the Girl Scouts for this inspiration by donating if you like.

Try This Breakfast Mac and Cheese

✇Lifehacker
By: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
30 May 2024 at 08:00

I have great news, pasta fam: Contrary to what you may have been told, mac and cheese can be breakfast. Not even as a throw-caution-to-the-wind statement of “I do what I want,” but as a hearty start to your day, and a smart way to use up leftover pasta. I should also mention it takes mere minutes to make. Start your day like a responsible adult, with a heaping bowl of breakfast mac and cheese. 

At first glance, the star of this dish seems to be loads of cheese to make a heavy sauce. You're not wrong—cheese is indeed a key player—but soft scrambled eggs are actually the unsung hero, making up a good portion of the sauce and bulking up the consistency. The eggs paired with the right combination of cheeses blend together into small curds that coat the pasta. When you scoop it up, the cheese pulls and melts, and it tastes like a creamy indulgence—just like mac and cheese should—with the added bonus of protein from the eggs. 

How to make breakfast mac and cheese

To start, prepare your combination of cheeses. Just as a grilled cheese sandwich relies on its dairy, so does a good mac. Different cheeses act differently under heat—some are more stretchy, others are ideal for melting, and some don’t melt at all. I like a lot of melt and a little stretch, so I reached for a soft havarti, some cheddar, and a spoonful of cream cheese to create a saucy base. 

Whisk two eggs in a bowl with a pinch of salt. In a frying pan, melt a teaspoon of butter over medium-low heat. Add in the cold leftover pasta and let it develop some crispy spots. If your pasta has congealed into an indestructible brick, add a teaspoon of water and cover the pan with a lid for a few minutes. The humidity will help loosen up the pasta. 

I cut up a chicken sausage and added it to the pan at this stage. Once the eggs go in, the dish finishes up in a snap, so if you want to add any veggies, meats, or seasonings, add it now while the pasta heats up. Stir the mixture with a rubber spatula. When you see some crispy brown sections show up on the noodles, add the cheeses. Stir them in with the other ingredients, and then pour in the eggs. 

Turn off the heat right after you add the eggs and stir to combine. Cover the pan with a lid and leave it on the warm burner for two or three minutes. This will continue to cook the eggs gently and melt the cheeses thoroughly. If you leave the heat on, the eggs will cook (and probably overcook) before the cheese warms through. It’ll still taste good, but you won’t get the same creamy texture. 

Take the lid off and stir the mixture again. I topped it all off with chopped chives (because, vegetables), and heaped the golden mass into a bowl. This is a great breakfast to make if you have a container of leftover pasta, but you can also just boil up some fresh noods real quick if you have a hankering. Feel free to personalize the add-ins beyond sausage chunks. Add frozen peas, chopped peppers, or cooked bacon instead.

Breakfast Mac and Cheese Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 teaspoon butter 

  • Pinch salt

  • 1 cup of leftover, cooked pasta

  • 1 sausage patty, chopped (or other add-ins)

  • 1 ounce of havarti cheese, roughly chopped

  • ¼ cup shredded cheddar

  • 1 tablespoon cream cheese

  • Garnish with chopped chives

1. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and set aside. Heat a frying pan over medium-low and add the butter. Add the leftover pasta and chopped sausage (or whatever add-ins you’re using) with a pinch of salt, and stir with a rubber spatula. 

2. Once the pasta begins to brown in areas, add in the chopped havarti, shredded cheddar, and cream cheese. Stir briefly before pouring in the whisked eggs. Turn off the heat and stir the mixture for a moment.

3. Cover the pan with a well-fitting lid and let it sit on the warm burner for 2-3 minutes. Uncover and stir the mac and cheese. The cheese should all have melted through and the eggs should be cooked and blending in with the cheese. If the mixture is more wet than you prefer, cover it again and you can even snap on the heat for another minute or so. Garnish with chopped chives and enjoy while warm. 

The Easiest Way to Liven Up Your Cold Brew

✇Lifehacker
By: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
17 May 2024 at 13:00

For coffee enthusiasts like myself, a quality cup is always a good beverage option. In the morning, it is the only choice. Winter tries to push tea into my life, but coffee is always there to right my ship. And summer? Well, we might as well change the name to simply “cold brew season.” Now that I’ve switched out my sweaters for my cold-brew-season wardrobe, it’s time to focus on how to zhuzh up my favorite bev. My advice to you: Try making your brew with whole spices.

Set up your cold brew materials

The truth is, the best way to make a better cold brew is to buy great beans. Good coffee is not cheap—I can’t bring myself to tell my Folgers-sipping parents how much I spend on beans—but you’ll be stunned at the difference in the quality of your cup. (I’m a Café Grumpy girl, myself.) Once you’ve found a bean and roast you like, it’s time to begin the overnight cold brew process. 

If you’ve spent the money on good beans, go get yourself a coffee grinder, too. I know, I know, you can buy them pre-ground, and I love that. However, you’re about to enter a realm where you can use your beans for espresso, drip, and cold brew. Those all do best with differently sized coffee grinds. Plus, a great coffee grinder will last you for years. 

Spice up your cold brew

The whole notion of cold brew is that it's a slow extraction process with no heat. The components—ground coffee and water—sit together for 12 to 24 hours in a chilly place—your fridge, ideally. The resulting chilled beverage features a smoother texture with less acidity and fewer bitter notes. Since your coffee grinds are sitting there imbuing the liquid with their flavors, this is a great time for other such things to do the same. Specifically, hunks of complementary and flavorful spices.

1. Set up your brewing container

Brewing cold coffee in your fridge overnight does require some sort of container apparatus, but I just use a basic French press to take care of business—it has a reusable filter and plunger and makes my life easier. (You could also use a nut milk bag in a jug, or a container designed for the job.)

2. Grind the coffee

Set your coffee grinder to the coarse or medium-coarse setting. You’ll need to filter out the pieces at the end and that’s much harder to do with fine particles floating around. Grind as much coffee as you need and add it to the filter, bag, or French press. 

3. Add the water and spices

Add as much cold water as you need for your cold brew ratio. Now for the fun part: Add whole spices. Depending on your batch size and how you like your concentrate (do you add milk too?), you may prefer quite a few of everything—like four cinnamon sticks and a tablespoon of cloves—or a smaller amount. When you dilute it later the flavors will mellow out considerably. Give the mixture a stir, or a light plunge, to mix things around. Put the lid on and set it in the fridge to brew for 12 to 24 hours. Strain the mixture when it’s ready and prepare it as you like. 

I've found that baking spices work well. Try whole cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, black peppercorns, or add in some citrus peel. If you’re not sure where to start, check the packaging. Many coffee roasters will write the flavor profile on the label of that particular blend. If you see “floral, citrus, silky” on the label, add some strips of lemon peel to bring out those flavors. If you see “candied pecan and milk chocolate” then I could see cinnamon going quite nicely.

I added star anise and cloves to a medium roast I had and the flavor was present and playful, but not crowding out the basic elements of the cold brew at all. So go ahead, take your time and enjoy trying out some different combinations; there’s no need to rush. Cold brew season is only just beginning. 

This Chicken-Crust Pizza Is Better Than It Has Any Right to Be

✇Lifehacker
By: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
16 May 2024 at 17:30

With all the decent pizza dough substitutes out there, I did not expect to enjoy this one nearly as much as I did. I knew it would be pretty good—it’s like a big chicken nugget after all—but I thought that much chicken would quickly become overwhelming. Nope. Chicken crust pizza is simply stupendous. So go on and grab a pound of ground chicken: It’s pizza night. 

One thing I’d like to get out of the way is that this is not chicken parm. While it has the components of chicken parmesan—breaded chicken, tomato sauce, and cheese—it’s made differently (using baked ground chicken instead of fried cutlets) and it’s eaten differently (like a pizza). Chicken parmesan is a dish with a history, and generations of Italian-American parents passing on very specific family recipes. While chicken crust pizza is damn good, it’s not exactly worthy of the same title. Would you dub a chicken nugget dipped in ketchup next to a string cheese "chicken parmesan"? I rest my case.

How to make chicken crust pizza

Now then, back to our chicken nugget—I mean, our high-protein, super satisfying pizza crust replacement. Essentially, you need to bread both sides of a very large chicken patty. I use the help of two sheet trays to do so. They also come in handy during baking.

1. Make the chicken mixture

I seasoned a pound of ground chicken with salt, garlic powder, black pepper, and added an egg. Mix everything together thoroughly. It’s a mixture akin to a chicken meatball, but without any bread crumbs inside to tenderize the structure. There’s no need to over-mix, but at the same time, you also don’t have to worry about keeping it tender. It’s a pizza crust, so you want the meat to slice and hold up when it’s time to eat.

2. Shape the patty

On an upside down sheet pan, place a silicone baking mat, or a piece of parchment paper. Spray it lightly with oil (I used canola, but any cooking oil will do), or daub it on with a pastry brush. Dump the chicken mixture into the center and, using your fingers or a rubber spatula, press and shape the meat into a circle about a half-inch thick. My crust ended up about nine inches in diameter. 

Fingers patting breading onto crust
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

3. Bread the chicken

While you could leave the bread entirely out of this recipe, I think it’s much more attractive and texturally pleasing with a crunchy, knobbly panko breading. There are a lot of accessible wheat-free options these days, so if you have gluten sensitivities, maybe opt for a gluten-free panko instead of forgoing the breading entirely. 

Make a 1:1 mixture of fine bread crumbs and panko in a bowl. Sprinkle half of the mixture over the chicken patty and use your hand to spread it out and gently press the crumbs so they adhere to the meat. Don’t forget the edges. Spray a light layer of oil onto the crumbed-side. It’s time to flip it. 

Two sheet trays sandwiching a breaded chicken patty.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

Put another silicone mat or piece of parchment on top of the chicken. Put another sheet tray, bottom-side down, on top of the mat. Grab both sheet pans firmly with both hands and flip them at the same time so you can bread the other side of the crust. Carefully peel the baking mat off (a spatula can help you if the meat is sticking a bit). Bread the other side and oil it. Replace the mat on top of the chicken and the sheet tray, bottom-side down. 

4. Bake the crust

Put the crust, sandwiched by the two baking mats and the two sheet trays, in the oven. Place a weight on top. (This can be another sheet pan or a heavy skillet.) This weight will force good contact with the metal tray to conduct heat to the crust, and keep it from shrinking or bubbling up. Bake the crust at 400°F for 25 minutes. Remove the weight, top tray, and top liner, and bake the crust for another 10 minutes.

Spoon spreading tomato sauce on a chicken crust.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

5. Add toppings

Remove the pizza but keep the oven on. Leave the chicken crust on the pan and add a few spoonfuls of pizza sauce (it doesn’t have to be tomato), shredded cheese, and any pizza toppings your heart desires. Return the pizza to the oven and broil the pizza for three to five minutes. My oven has a “lo broil” option, and it took four minutes for the cheese to bubble. Cool the chicken crust pizza on a wire rack (there’s a lot of steam trapped under there) for five minutes before slicing and serving. 

Chicken crust pizza on a cutting board.
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

The crust slices beautifully, and stands up to being held in-hand, as a pizza should. The breading crisps up nicely in the oven and, surprisingly, the chicken crust never feels too heavy despite that it’s, well, mostly a plank of chicken. If you’re trying to increase your protein intake, or just add some pizzazz to your pizza routine, this crust is a must-try. 

Chicken Crust Pizza Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound raw ground chicken

  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • A few cracks of black pepper

  • 1 egg

  • ½ cup panko

  • ½ cup bread crumbs

  • Pinch of salt

  • A few spritzes of a neutral cooking oil

  • 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce

  • ½ - 1 cup of shredded mozzarella

  • Pizza toppings (*optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. In a small bowl, combine the panko, bread crumbs, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, thoroughly combine the first five ingredients.

3. Place a sheet pan upside-down and lay a silicone mat on it. Spray it with some neutral oil, or if you don’t have any spray oil, rub a teaspoon-ish of oil on the mat. Pile the chicken mixture into the center of the mat and pat it into a circle, about 9 inches across and a half-inch thick.

4. Pour half of the bread crumb mixture onto the chicken patty. Spread it around the surface, pressing gently, until it evenly covers the chicken top and sides. 

5. Spritz more oil onto the breaded chicken and onto a second silicone mat. Place that mat, oil-side down, on top of the chicken patty. Place a second sheet tray, bottom-side down, on the mat. Holding both sheet trays, flip the chicken crust over. Take the tray and mat off so you can bread the other side. Spritz more oil onto the newly breaded side and replace the mat and sheet tray.

6. Place the double tray-ed, double matt-ed chicken into the oven and place a heavy skillet or a third sheet pan on top to weigh down the crust as it bakes. Bake for 35 minutes, taking the top pan and top mat off for the last 10 minutes to brown the crust.

7. Take the crust out of the oven and add the pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings (if using). Broil the pizza to brown the cheese and toppings lightly, about 3-5 minutes. Cool the pizza on a wire rack for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving. 

This TikTok 'Cottage Cheese Wrap' Recipe Is Bad, Actually

✇Lifehacker
By: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
16 May 2024 at 11:30

There’s a viral cottage cheese wrap making its way around the internet and it’s being touted as a high-protein bread replacement for sandwiches and wraps. Well, I love cottage cheese and I do love a sandwich, so how bad could it be? Well, folks, it’s not great. 

I don’t know if I’m surprised that the internet misled me, or just disappointed. I’m one of those weirdos that actually really likes cottage cheese—the 4% fat variety, of course. It’s one of my go-to warm weather snacks when paired with fresh fruits, so I was eager to buy my first tub of the season and enjoy it in this new application. It's not weird to try and pack in the protein and reduce carbs, but this creation really falls short. Not only does the wrap replacement suck in a practical sense, but I actually think it messes up the cottage cheese flavor too. 

What is the viral cottage cheese wrap?

The main idea seems to be that you can blend cottage cheese with some egg parts to make a loose batter of sorts. Spread the mixture in a flat rectangle on a sheet tray and bake it in the oven. Et voilà: A perfect, high-protein, gluten-free wrap that you can pack with many leafy greens, cold cuts, and maybe even more cottage cheese. There are many variations of this cottage cheese wrap including this one which only uses egg whites, this one which uses whole eggs, one that fries it all in a pan instead of baking it in the oven, and I even came across another that uses flour (which I can’t find at the moment)—so what exactly are we doing, then? 

On TikTok, this process takes 12 seconds from blend to bite. What you don’t see is how damn long it takes to bake, and quite frankly, how you actually need to over-bake it for this to work at all. Throw out everything you know about cooking eggs with this “wrap.” Egg whites begin to set at 140°F, which is usually what we aim for because the proteins build tender bonds that you can easily break with a fork or with your teeth. 

The bread replacement, however, requires the proteins in the eggs to cook at high temperatures—some recipes instruct for 400°F—and form many strong, rubbery bonds. You know how sometimes when you fry an egg for a few minutes too long, and the edges of the white turn crispy and brown, and you struggle to break it even with a fork? Yep, that’s what’s required here. The high-moisture cottage cheese in the mixture interrupts some of the egg’s bonds, so the ones that are connecting need to cook until browning, or else the whole thing falls apart into a mushy, and quite unappealing, mess. 

The uneven results

I actually don’t even have a problem with cooking the “bread” until browning. Eggs are an incredibly versatile ingredient, and if you can cook them until they’re chewy enough to mimic bread, well, what wonderful innovation! I take issue with the wrap in practice.

Batter on a sheet tray
The batter looks smooth and promising before baking. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

I saw multiple TikTok videos that seem to have run into the same problem I did—my layer of cheese-egg batter spread out in the oven and became uneven. (This is almost guaranteed to happen if you have sheet pans that warp under higher temperatures.) The thin side burned and the thicker side was okay.

Irregularly cooked egg white batter on a sheet tray
My batter creeped over to one side and part of it died. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

The burnt and crispy section broke off when I tried to fill the wrap, and the thicker section was flexible but borderline mushy in parts. I ate half of it, generously offered the other half to my boyfriend (he declined), and tossed the other half. 

The second time I tried it with whole eggs instead of just egg whites, and the flavor improved slightly. Nonetheless, I still encountered the same issues with irregular cooking—burnt sections and mushy spots. If you chose to make this high-protein “bread,” I would recommend a recipe with whole eggs, and ditching a sheet pan to use a parchment-lined casserole dish instead. Then you don’t have to deal with warping. That said, I won’t be making this again. 

Make these high-protein options instead

Baking something for 35 to 45 minutes to get a product you might very well chuck is pretty much my definition of not worth it. You’re better off keeping it fast, simple, and—most of all—delicious. Make a stunning, fluffy omelette with some cottage cheese inside, or a frittata (which is an omelette for lazy people) which only takes about 10 minutes in the oven. These options are also high-protein and gluten-free, and you can fill them with veggies and meats too. If you must have a wrap, try pan-frying some plain ol’ egg whites, like with these dumpling wrappers, but use a larger pan. It’s way faster (we’re talking one to two minutes per wrap), about as high-protein and low-fat as you can get, plus you don’t have to bake these to hell and back just so they’ll hold some ham. Happy bulking, everyone. 

This Air Fried Pork Tenderloin Is an Easy Work Week Dinner

✇Lifehacker
By: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
16 May 2024 at 08:00

Hands-off dinners are a valuable part of any home cook’s bag of tricks. That’s usually where the instant pot and slow cooker step in, but I’m not always in the mood for something that needs hours of stewing or a lot of ingredient prep. My current easy favorite is a main course that gives me the freedom to go do something else—like heat up leftover rice, or sit and rest my weary bones—and it requires very little else from me. It’s air fryer roast pork tenderloin, and you should add it to your weekly rotation. 

The whole reason I bought the pre-trimmed package of pork tenderloin from Trader Joe’s was that I wanted a lean cut of protein on a tight budget. This pound of pork fit the bill. It was only five bucks, has low fat content, and it’s a mild protein that loves to be seasoned. On the subway ride home, I was pretty stoked to roast it. But then I thought of how long it would take in the conventional oven—45 to 60 minutes—and how that length of time in an arid environment would surely dry it out. This is where the air fryer saved me. 

Air fryer roast pork tenderloin cooks in a jiffy, browns nicely on the outside, and stays tender and juicy in the center. The key is the convection heating of the air fryer: The fan whips hot air around the pork, rapidly cooking the protein on the outside while gently heating the inside. The typical air fryer basket, about ten inches square, is also the perfect size for a pound of pork tenderloin, perfectly fitting diagonally across. With almost no fuss (just a single flip halfway through the cooking time), you’ve got your main event set up for any accompanying side dishes. 

How to roast pork tenderloin in the air fryer

1. Season the pork

I like to marinate pork for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking, but if you only have time for a heavy sprinkle of salt, pepper, and oil, so be it. If you’re marinating it, set the loin in a deep container and add the seasonings. A simple mixture of soy sauce, a spoonful of sugar, MSG, and a bit of cooking oil is usually plenty. Use your hands to thoroughly coat the meat and leave it to sit in the fridge for 30 minutes or a couple hours. Flip it halfway through the marinating time.

2. Set it and forget it (but remember to flip, and then forget it again)

Set the air fryer to the “roast” setting for 350°F degrees. Arrange the pork in the basket and cook it for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping it halfway through. I recommend checking the internal temperature after 20 minutes to see if you’ve reached your desired temperature. The USDA recommends a temperature of 145°F with three minutes of rest time. 

While your pork is cooking, prepare other parts of the meal, or delegate those tasks to someone else and kick up your feet for a spell. A pound of pork makes about three comfortable servings with sides. (A real boss move would be to make two roasts in the air fryer and save one for some mean Cubano sandwiches the next day.) 

Air Fryer Roast Pork Tenderloin Recipe

Ingredients:

1. Marinate the pork for 30 minutes, or a couple hours, in a deep container with all of the other ingredients. Make sure to flip the meat around to thoroughly coat it in the seasonings.

2. Preheat the air fryer to 350°F on the “roast” setting. Arrange the tenderloin in the air fryer and cook it for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping it halfway through the cooking time. Check for doneness with a probe thermometer. Let the meat rest and cool for at least 3 minutes before slicing and serving. 

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