Lets try a little pop quiz, shall we? 1) Are you one of those people who is terrified of making real old fashioned pie crust? 2) Do you simply not have time to make a pie crust, roll it out, and prepare a proper pie? 3) Do you have an over-abundance of delicious fresh apples this fall, and need a great way to use some? 4) Do you enjoy simple, easy and seasonal desserts? If you answered yes to one of more of the above questions, you will love this recipe. It's as simple as buying some puff pastry, peeling and dicing some apples, and making a simple crumb topping. Really, it's that simple. Besides, who doesn't love single serve desserts? Puff Pastry Apple Pie Cups with Crumb … [Read more...]
Bakery Style Cookies
A recent comment on Twitter by my friend pointed out that the last three cookie recipes I posted involved rolling the balls in something before baking. "Too complicated", she complained. "How about a cookie recipe that uses 4 or five ingredients?" As soon as she said that, I knew I'd be posting these delicious cookies. The dough involves just three ingredients, and takes minutes to throw together. The end result is a soft, almost flaky cookie that will make you nostalgic for the sprinkle covered bakery cookies of your childhood. These cookies are endlessly versatile. While they are hot out of the oven, they are soft and somewhat pliable, so you can press something into the cookies (as I … [Read more...]
Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies
Y'know when you bite into a cookie and think "yeah, I know what this is gonna be like" but then you take that bite, and instead, you're greeted with a delightful surprise? No? Well that's because you haven't tried these cookies yet. From the outside, they look like chocolate cookies. Good chocolate cookies, mind you, but that's pretty much it. Then you taste them and... a surprise is waiting for you! A chocolate cookie is definitely a nice thing. But even a very good chocolate cookie is "just" a chocolate cookie. We've all had those. I originally saw this recipe on Recipe Girl, and just from the look of it, I knew it was going to be one of the best cookies I had ever made. Bite … [Read more...]
(Not Your Bubby’s) Honey Cookies
Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) is coming, and it's traditional to have honey to symbolize our hopes for a sweet new year. In past years, I have made various honey cakes- for tradition's sake. The problem? My family isn't big on honey cake. So this year, I went a different route. Instead of the traditional heavy honey cake or cookies, I made a delicious and more modern style of honey cake. It's light and modern, yet still has that honey taste: i.e. it's the best of both worlds. I've been planning to make these cookies ever since I got this cookbook- almost a year ago. The dough is one of the most interesting I've ever worked with, so I have to admit I was skeptical from the moment I … [Read more...]
Healthy Orange Carrot Muffins
When I posted the recipe last week for my Healthy Chocolate muffins, I received a far better reception than I'd have dreamed. I mean, post some kind of decadent cookie recipe and you know people will like it, but it's a surprise- albeit a pleasant one, to discover that people are so fond of delicious yet healthy recipes. At work too, people loved my muffins. And why not? They are delicious, and they don't make you want to avoid your scale. So I decided to take those muffins and make some other versions. Why should chocolate get all the fun? Let's invite some other flavors to the party! I'm not sure why, but I've always been tempted by the non-dietetic carrot muffins I made for my family … [Read more...]
Pretzel Coated Chocolate Cookies
It was a situation I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. A couple of week's after starting a new food blog, most of which I intended to be baking recipes, my trusty mixer died. Horrifying, I know. That wasn't the worst part though. The truly devastating aspect of this tragedy was that due to circumstances beyond my control, I was unable to get a new mixer for a week. Yep, an entire week without baking...for a gal who absolutely loves to bake. Needless to say, it was a tough week. All week I was dying to pull out some sugar and flour and get baking, but instead I was stuck thinking about the lovely things I would bake when I finally got my hands on a mixer. One idea really stood out. I … [Read more...]
Honestly Healthy Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
I've been baking for years now, but have never tasted any of my baked goods. Until Thursday. Yep, you read that right. Tray after tray of mouthwatering cookies coming out of the oven, fresh hot aromatic garlic bread, delicious potato knishes...and I don't taste it. I enjoy them through the enjoyment of my family and friends, but not on my own. It's kind of sad, really, but I have been dieting longer than I have been baking. Occasionally, even a hard core dieter needs a dessert, and that's when I would turn to my local bakery. They sell whole wheat, sugar free, low fat muffins that are... well, ok. Barely. I didn't buy them often, so I wasn't all that concerned. Until last week, when I went … [Read more...]
S’mores Brownie Bites
A couple of weeks ago, an idea popped into my head. S'mores. In a brownie. Yum. Yeah, I can be simple that way. My idea was simple: keep the original format of the smore, but swap out the chocolate for some rick gooey brownies. So I googled it and googled it, but I couldn't find anything like that. Sure, folks made smores brownies, but they usually entailed a mix of graham crackers and marshmallow on top of a brownie. That isn't what I am looking for. So I made my own version. In the interest of full disclosure, it took me a couple of tries to get the recipe perfect enough for my liking. I did it though. So effectively that my coworkers all get this dreamy look in their eyes when they think … [Read more...]
Strawberry Chocolate Cream Cups
I am the kind of person who will spot a beautiful little cup, buy it, then try and come up with something to use it for. That's not an example; it's what I did last week. I saw these gorgeous little pedestal cups, and couldn't leave the store without them. They will look so good on the buffet table at the party I am making in honor of my sister's new baby. So I bought a couple packages, and started to think. The party being for a little girl, I decided to strawberry would be the way to go. Then I decided to go for the contrast- so chocolate would have to be involved. At first I thought I would crumble some leftover chocolate cake I had stashed in the freezer, but I didn't have enough, so … [Read more...]
World’s Best Blueberry Crumb Muffins
Last summer I took my two nieces (then 2 and 4) blueberry picking. They had an amazing time, and amazingly learned to tell the difference between a blueberry that was ripe and one that wasn't. One problem: they enjoyed themselves so much that I didn't have the heart to stop them once we had we had enough berries. So they kept picking until we finally drove off with about two thousand pounds of fresh blueberries. (Slight exaggeration. Slight.) We got home and I came up with a great way to use up some of the surplus: "Who wants to bake blueberry muffins?" And so we did. And even the blueberry-muffin-haters among us loved them. I made a triple recipe, thinking I'd freeze a bunch. That wasn't … [Read more...]