Chocolate almond spice cookies

One day I felt like baking, but didn't want to run to the store to buy any ingredients. I found this recipe for chocolate spice cookies, and I had just enough chocolate in the house to make a half batch.

The great thing about this recipe is that it's made entirely in the food processor, which means less dishes to wash. The dough is flavored with ground almonds, cocoa powder, bittersweet chocolate and allspice.

This is a slice and bake cookie, so the rolls of dough need to chill for a while before they're ready to bake. I added a sliced almond to the top of each cookie to make them more attractive.

I really liked the cookies - the cocoa and chocolate contribute a rich, complex flavor, and the allspice makes these unique. I put half of the dough in the freezer for another day, so I'll be baking these the next time I need another chocolate fix.

Mini cornbread puddings

I pulled this recipe out of Everyday Food magazine a few years ago, and I haven't made another cornbread recipe since. I find that sometimes cornbread can be dry - not these muffins. They're actually called cornbread puddings because they come out so moist.

The recipe starts out with typical cornbread ingredients - flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.

The dry ingredients are mixed with an egg and sour cream. The sour cream adds all the moisture, there's no butter involved. I use light sour cream, it works just fine. A generous amount of corn kernels are also stirred into the batter.

The batter is spooned into muffin tins to bake. You can use mini muffin or regular muffin tins. If you go with a regular muffin pan, add a few more minutes to the bake time. Here I used a mini muffin pan, but I almost always go with full sized muffins.

These bake very quickly, and are out of the oven in less than 15 minutes.

I tend to serve the muffins with jam, but they're also great with butter or honey. If you wanted a more savory muffin, you could probably add some minced bell pepper or jalapeno to the recipe.

Brownie pudding cake

This cake recipe has been in my family for a long time. I can’t believe it took me 2 and a half years to write about it – maybe because it’s not the most photogenic of dishes. However, it tastes amazing, I always have all the ingredients in my pantry, and the whole recipe only contains 3 tablespoons of fat. How can you go wrong with that?

So where does the pudding come from? A thick layer of cocoa powder and brown sugar goes on top of the cake batter. Next, a few cups of boiling water are poured over the whole thing.



When the cake bakes, the base layer of batter rises to the top to create a cake topping and the pudding sauce ends up on the bottom.

This cake can be eaten hot, at room temperature, or chilled. The consistency of the pudding sauce will vary depending on what temperature it’s served at. If you serve it right out of the oven, the pudding is more of a thin chocolate sauce. As the cake cools, the pudding layer starts to thicken. The cake is great served with ice cream, or simply eaten as is.

Brownie pudding cake
Serves 4-6

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cups boiling water
powdered sugar, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch square baking dish or round souffle dish. Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and 1/3 cup cocoa in medium bowl. Add milk, butter and vanilla, stir until just blended. Spoon the batter into the prepared dish.

Combine brown sugar and remaining 1/4 cup cocoa in small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over batter. Pour boiling water over entire mixture; do not stir.

Bake 35 to 38 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the top layer comes out clean. Cool at least 10 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Almond jam bars

I'm still trying to use up almonds over here. I am happy to report that I am down to the bottom of the can, I only have about a cup left. These almond jam bars helped to make a dent in my supply.

The dough for these bar cookies is very simple; it's a standard flour-butter-sugar combination with the addition of cinnamon and sliced almonds.

Half of the dough is pressed into the bottom of a pan. I lined the pan with foil to make for easier removal of the bars. A layer of jam goes on top of the dough. I went with a mixed berry jam, but you can use whatever type you have on hand.

The other half of the dough is gently pressed on top of the jam to form the top layer. The bars are then baked until golden brown.

I loved these bars - they're not the most unique creation I've ever made, but they were quite delicious and so simple to make.

Cheddar pecan flowers

Most people don’t think to make their own crackers. If you haven’t tried it before, you should. The process is fairly simple, and the results are so much better than store bought. I combined extra sharp white cheddar cheese with ground pecans to get a cracker with a bold flavor.

The ingredient list is minimal for this recipe, and the dough comes together quickly in the food processor. I added some chipotle powder for a touch of heat and a smoky flavor.

The dough is rolled out and cut into shapes. I used a 2.5 inch flower cookie cutter. You can use a different shape, but the cutter should be at least 2 inches. Otherwise, you can simply cut the dough into squares. The crackers are sprinkled with fleur de sel before heading into the oven.

The crackers bake until crisp and golden brown. These crackers are great on their own, but could also be served as an accompaniment to dips and spreads.

Cheddar pecan flowers
Makes about 2 dozen
Adapted from the Martha Stewart Living Cookbook

½ cup all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¾ cup pecans, toasted and finely ground
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons cold water
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
fleur de sel for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, pecans, kosher salt, black pepper and chipotle powder. Add the butter, pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the cheese, pulse until the cheese is thoroughly incorporated into the mixture. With the machine running, gradually add 2 tablespoons of cold water; process until the dough comes together.

Gather the dough into a ball, dust with flour. Put the dough on a plate and cover; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness. Cut the dough into shapes using the cookie cutter. Place the crackers onto a baking sheet lined with a silpat. Sprinkle a little fleur de sel over the tops of the crackers; lightly press the salt into the dough.

Bake for 17-20 minutes, until the centers are firm and the crackers are lightly browned. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Rhubarb raspberry crisp

A few years ago, my in-laws brought us some rhubarb plants from their yard in San Diego. Most of the plants couldn't handle the Bay Area winters, but we do have a few that are still standing. I had enough rhubarb in the yard to put together this rhubarb and raspberry crisp.

This recipe is similar to most other fruit crisp recipes that you'll find. There are a few ingredients that make this one a little more unique. The raspberries and rhubarb receive a healthy dose of orange zest, and toasted hazelnuts go in to the crisp topping.

The end result was delicious, with a perfect topping to fruit ratio. I served this with black raspberry ice cream. I was out in the yard yesterday and noticed that our largest rhubarb plant has grown some more stalks, which means I can make another rhubarb dessert in the near future.

A healthier take on blueberry muffins

Last weekend I had a couple of different things cooking at the same time, including a loaf of bread. My husband came out and asked if I was baking muffins, because that’s what he smelled. When I told him that there were no muffins in the oven, he was a little bit disappointed, so of course I had to remedy that. I put together this recipe for blueberry yogurt muffins for a healthier take on an old classic.

I think that sometimes muffins can be so sweet that they’re almost like a cupcake. To me, that’s fine for a snack, but I don’t usually like to eat an overly sweet breakfast. These muffins are just slightly sweetened, which really lets the flavor of the blueberries come through.

I used vanilla sugar to sweeten the muffins. If you don't already have a jar in your pantry, I encourage you to get one started. After you scrape the seeds from your vanilla beans, don't throw the pods away. Instead, store the pods in a jar of sugar. When the sugar gets low, just refill the jar and add new vanilla bean pods as you use them.

I made these muffins a little healthier by keeping the butter to a minimum, and instead relied on Oikos greek yogurt from Stonyfield Farm to add moisture. I also used half white whole wheat flour.

I was quite happy with the end result – you get all the goodness of a blueberry muffin with a much better nutritional profile. If you like your muffins on the sweeter side, you may want to increase the sugar by 2 tablespoons or ¼ cup, but I think these are great as is.

Blueberry yogurt muffins
Makes 12

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 eggs
8 ounces of vanilla greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
cooking spray
coarse sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the first six ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl combine the butter, lemon zest and juice, eggs, yogurt and vanilla extract. Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle the coarse sugar over the tops of the muffins. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until golden.

Chocolate almond macaroons

I’ve mentioned a few times that I’m trying to use up a 3 pound can of sliced almonds. Even after this recipe, I’m only halfway through the can! Luckily I have a long list of almond recipes to try, it’s just a matter of finding the time to make them.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much with this one. The recipe caught my eye because it had a short ingredient list, didn’t require any grocery shopping, and made a fairly small yield (I wasn’t in the mood to bake 6 dozen cookies). It’s simply ground almonds mixed into a chocolate meringue.

The original recipe calls for making very small cookies, then sandwiching them together with chocolate. I decided to make my cookies a little bigger, using a tablespoon of dough rather than a teaspoon, and adding another few minutes to the bake time.

I was definitely surprised when I tasted these – they were really, really good. The outsides were crispy, and the insides were moist and fudgy. Even though there’s not much fat in recipe, the cookies tasted very rich and decadent from the cocoa powder. In fact, I thought making cookie sandwiches would be overkill, so instead I just drizzled some melted chocolate over the top.

I will definitely be making these again, probably sooner rather than later.

California brittle brownies

I got a box of california brittles in the mail from See's Candies and decided some brownies were in order.

My favorite brownie recipe is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, so I started there. This is a very fudgy brownie recipe, comes together quite easily, and only uses one bowl! I spread half of the batter into a square baking pan and added a generous layer of chopped california brittles. I spread the second half of the batter over the top, and placed the whole thing in the oven.

I loved the end result - the california brittles partially melted into the dough, so these don't have a strong toffee flavor. Instead, every bite is a little bit different - sometimes you get a chunk of almond, other times you get a piece of milk chocolate. These brownies have a crackly top, which adds great texture but can be difficult to cut neatly. I chill the brownies thoroughly before cutting, which takes care of the problem.

California brittle brownies

Makes 16

1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus more for the pan

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 and 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup almond toffee such as See's california brittles, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Set aside. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside. Let the chocolate cool for about 7-10 minutes.

Stir the sugar into the cooled chocolate until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Add the vanilla, and fold in the flour and salt.

Pour half the batter into the pan, spread in an even layer. Sprinkle the toffee over the batter. Add the second half of the batter to the pan, spread in an even layer over the toffee.

Place in oven and bake until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with only a few crumbs attached, 45-50 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack - after 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges of the pan, then cool completely, transfer to refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours.

Using the parchment overhang, lift the brownies out of the pan and onto the rack. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into squares.

Blueberry crumb cake and cheddar dill scones

Be sure to enter the See's Candies giveaway if you haven't already!

Thursdays are breakfast days in my office, which means that each week, one of us is assigned to bring breakfast for everyone. It’s almost always bagels, with doughnuts thrown in now and then. When it’s my turn to bring breakfast, I like to do something a little different if I have the time. This was my week to bring food, and I decided to do some baking. I don’t really like to eat sweet things in the morning, so I made both sweet and savory options.

The sweet option was blueberry crumb cake, from the Everyday Food cookbook. I thought it would be a more unique take on your typical blueberry muffin. This cake was quite simple to make, and benefited from a delicious streusel topping. I used frozen blueberries, which worked out well. The blueberries are tossed in a bit of flour first so that they don't sink to the bottom of the cake. A small amount of allspice adds a nice background flavor.

For the savory option, I made cheddar dill scones from the Barefoot Contessa cookbook. I can’t even remember the last time I made scones, it’s probably been years. I had no trouble with these, and tried to put up my blinders when it came to the fat content. So. much. butter. cream. and cheese. But let’s not think about that! These scones are full of fresh dill, which is one of my favorite herbs.

The verdict? I would definitely make the coffee cake again. The scones were good, but in my opinion, not worth the calories. That being said, the scones disappeared faster than the cake. I think that people were a little relieved not to see bagels for the 5th week in a row!

Apple and pomegranate tart tatin

A few months ago, I pulled this recipe for apple and pomegranate tart tatin out of Bon Appetit. It's a classic tart tatin with one twist: a pomegranate syrup is added to the apple mixture. I filed the recipe away and added it to my never ending recipes-to-try list.

When the nice people over at POM Wonderful sent me a case of pomegranate juice, I knew it was time to make this recipe. I reduced a few cups of pomegranate juice to make a thick and tangy syrup.

The apples are cooked on the stovetop in butter and sugar, then seasoned with a touch of allspice and the pomegranate syrup. A simple tart dough is laid over the top of the pan and the whole thing goes into the oven to finish baking. I would recommend placing your pan on a baking sheet to catch the juices that might bubble over the top.

The recipe called for golden delicious apples, which I normally never buy. We tend to eat granny smith apples from our tree in the summer and braeburns during the rest of the year. I bought the golden delicious apples as specified, and they were delicious. The pomegranate syrup turned the apples a beautiful shade of red and added a great flavor. The sweet and tart nature of the pomegranate really tamed the richness of the apples, sugar and butter.

Orange almond cookies

Last month, I mentioned that someone gave me three pounds of blanched sliced almonds. You may be wondering, what did I end up doing with all those almonds? Well, I haven’t done much with them yet, but I’ve been busy collecting recipes to try.

I have made one recipe so far, and it was for these orange almond cookies from the Martha Stewart Living cookbook. I don’t always have a lot of patience when it comes to baking, which is why you don’t often see complicated baked goods on this site. Well, that’s one reason I don’t bake as much as I’d like, the other reason is the caloric implications. These cookies are so simple to prepare, but they look and taste like you spent a lot of time and effort on them.

I did make some changes to the original recipe – I like my almond cookies to taste like almonds, so I omitted the anise and cut the orange zest down to about 1 ½ tablespoons. I also added a drop of almond extract. These cookies have a great chewy texture. The orange and almond flavors work really well together. If you were to use the amount of orange zest in the original recipe, I think it would be quite overpowering, so I’d stick to 1-2 tablespoons. If you’re an almond fan like I am, try this recipe!

Pignoli cookies

When I was a kid, I was always intrigued by those brightly colored marzipan fruits. People would tell me that they were for decoration; that they looked much better than they actually tasted. When I finally got my hands on some, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I love marzipan - I've been a fan ever since.

These days, I don't eat many marzipan fruits, but I do have a weakness for cookies made with almond paste. Now, marzipan and almond paste are not the same thing - generally speaking, marzipan contains more sugar than almond paste. However, the flavors are quite similar. I was bringing dessert over to someone's house and decided to make something with the tube of almond paste sitting in my pantry. I flipped through a few cookbooks and settled on a recipe for pignoli cookies from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. The recipe looked like my favorite almond paste cookies with a fun twist - the balls of dough are rolled in pine nuts before baking.

I really like pine nuts, but my husband? Not so much. Our conversation went like this:

Me: I'm making cookies. You're not going to like them.

Him: Cookies? How could I not like cookies?

Me: (flips through cookbook, holds up the picture)

Him: Pine nuts? You're making pine nut cookies? Why don't you just make sawdust cookies? Or perhaps some cookies that contain gravel?

Yeah. He doesn't like pine nuts. So, in the spirit of compromise, I rolled half the cookies in pine nuts, and half in pearl sugar.

These cookies were really good, and very simple to make. There was a big difference between the cookies rolled in pine nuts and the ones rolled in pearl sugar, but I liked them both.

Pignoli cookies

Makes about 18 cookies

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

7 ounces almond paste

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, plus more for dusting

2 large egg whites

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 T all purpose flour

a pinch of kosher salt

1 cup pine nuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with racks in the center and lower third. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

Crumble the almond paste in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat the almond paste and both sugars on medium speed for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg whites and vanilla; beat on medium speed until a smooth paste forms, about 4 minutes. Add the flour and salt; beat until combined, about 2 minutes. The dough will be very soft and tacky.

Spread pine nuts in a single layer on a plate. Scoop out a tablespoon of dough; using dampened fingers, drop the dough onto the pine nuts, coating one side. Transfer rounds, coated side up to the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges of cookies and pine nuts have turned golden brown, about 15-17 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to a wire rack to cool completely. Using an offset spatula, carefully loosen the cookies from the parchment. Dust cookies with confectioner's sugar. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Meyer lemon cake

There are some recipes that are just classics – they’re not particularly fancy or complicated, but delicious nonetheless. I think the lemon cake recipe from Barefoot Contessa Parties falls into this category. I make this cake every year during meyer lemon season, and it’s definitely the best lemon cake I’ve ever had.

The recipe is pretty straightforward, but what elevates this cake to the next level is the use of lemon syrup. Equal parts of lemon juice and sugar are cooked together, and then drizzled over the warm cake. The syrup soaks into the cake and adds an extra layer of lemon flavor and additional moisture.

I made two changes to the recipe. The obvious change is the use of meyer lemons in lieu of regular lemons. In addition, I added some zest from a buddha’s hand citron to the batter. I didn’t notice a major difference in the flavor of the cake from the citron, it just added to the overall citrus flavor.

My only caveat with this recipe is to make sure you butter and flour your pans well, and don’t skip the parchment lining on the pans. The first time I made this I decided to forgo the parchment, which was not a good idea!

Meyer lemon and chocolate tart

When I look out my window, this is what I see...
Meyer lemons, and lots of them! Meyer lemons are sweeter than your standard lemon and have a more complex flavor. They're great in most applications where you'd normally use a regular lemon. I decided to take advantage of my bounty and make this meyer lemon and chocolate tart recipe from Sunday Suppers at Lucques for my dad's birthday. I do have a confession to make: this was my first time making a tart. I was pretty happy with the way it came out.

This is a fairly traditional tart with two unique characteristics - the use of meyer lemons and a thin layer of bittersweet chocolate between the crust and the filling. You could use regular lemons to make this, but you may need to increase the amount of sugar in the lemon curd. I made some candied lemon peel to decorate the top.

So, I'd say that my first attempt at baking a tart was successful. Now I just need to decide what kind of tart to make next.