Chocolate Chunk Cookies with a Toddler Tweak

My young friend, Meria was about 3 years old when I recorded her instructions for baking cookies. That was a couple of years ago. She had just finished helping her mom make chocolate chip cookies and I asked her to tell me the recipe so I could record it. She was exuburant in the telling, to say the least. I love listening to her on this recording. Keep reading for ideas on really bumping up the flavor of traditional chocolate chip cookies.

Old Fashioned Less-Sweet Pecan Macaroons

I listen to the Splendid Table on our local public radio station.
Love that show!
Anyhoo.
Awhile back I heard a segment that included a recipe for coconut macaroons, and decided to save it for the inevitable sweet-tooth-attack.
Well, this morning I wasn’t really having a sweets craving, but … I wanted to bake something in case anybody with a sweet tooth came into the gallery today.
These are a really easy treat to make — leave out the pecans, or substitute a different kind of nut if you want.
They’re low-fat too!

Peanut Butter Cookies with a Twist

What’s the twist with these peanut butter cookies? Candied ginger and hand-chopped super-dark chocolate chunks. Plus less sugar than most cookie recipes call for. This gives you a deliciously crisp, buttery peanut butter cookie with little surprises of sharp chewy ginger and morsels of the best chocolate ever. And they’re not too sweet. The cookies will be soft and chewy at first, but after totally cooling, they’ll be perfectly crispy/chewy. Lovely with a cup of Darjeeling tea or a glass of cold milk (or whatever milk-alternative you like.)

Creamy Pumpkin Chai Soothie

I made these for lunch today, though the Creamy Pumpkin Chai Soothie would be just as happy at your breakfast table, or being sipped around a fire after dinner. It’s a little bit sweet. A lot healthy. Smooth and creamy. And if you aren’t into being as healthy as all that — bake up some French Breakfast Puffs to serve with it. Yummo!

Harvest Plum Cake

Faced with a large box of freshly picked, incredibly fragranced red plums, I had to think of something to bake. I settled on a variation of an upside-down-cake from my childhood. I used brown butter because Joy Wilson — Joy the (awesome) Baker — inspired me by waxing poetic about it’s virtues in this post. I used the plums. Of course! And we had blueberries, so I added some of those. If you have alot of plums to use up, this will barely make a dent. Still, it’s worth the small effort. Quick. Easy. Beautiful. And the finished cake makes you look like you worked on it for hours. Yummo!

Best Pie Crust Ever

Does your pie crust recipe usually end up in pieces on the kitchen counter when you try to roll it out? Do you get frustrated because your pie crusts are heavy and thick and uninspiring? Try my pie crust recipe and see if it makes a difference. This post also includes a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a “woven” lattice pie crust. It’s way easier than it looks! Check it out.

White Peach Pie

Sweet juicy peaches. Late summer lazy afternoons. Thunderheads building in the blue, blue sky. Perfect time for a peach pie. Especially if you are having a cooler-than-normal day when you can have the oven on and not bake yourself out of the house! Try this delicious peach pie and check out the Best Ever Pie Crust recipe too.

Peach Raspberry Buckle … or is it a Cobbler?

Growing up I made this recipe for peach cobbler from the Gasparilla Cookbook. I think we (my family) were all so inured to sugar that my memory of the cobbler is warped. I’ve made it twice in the last couple of weeks trying to get back to that way I remembered it. In my memory, this “Prize Peach Cobbler was not as sweet as this one turned out. So, I made it again this time using less sugar and butter. I like my version better.