This Gluten Free Granola is super easy mix, Bake, Yum.
Count Chocula Crispies
We are taking it to the next level with these Count Chocula Crispies
Candy Cane Crepe Cake
Candy Cane Crepe Cake
Standing Snowglobe Cookies
I wanted to cap by 2021 Royal Icing Cookie journey with these standing snowglobe cookies. The WOW factor for these cookies is that they stand up! I made a regular decorated cookie then propped the design up with a triangle piece of cookie to keep it upright like a real snowglobe. Consistencies and colors: Flood …
Pecan Praline Cookies
Tis the season to eat your weight in pecans. These Pecan Praline Cookies are pretty simple, easy and straightforward as far as pecan desserts go. And no need for the messy corn syrup like most pecan desserts call for. These cookies are chewy, and the chewiness offsets the pecan bite! In order to make the …
Gingerbread Biscotti
Biscotti is a fan favorite in this house. I always love trying different ways to make biscotti fun throughout the year. So for the holidays I’ve been playing around with some Christmas flavor. And nothing says Christmas like gingerbread. There is something about gingerbread that warms you up from the inside. Perfect for the start …
Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
Tis the season for spice!! I wanted to spice up my breakfast literally and figuratively, in a healthy way. The ingredients has a healthy balance of fiber, protein and fat to start the day off on the right foot. Plus I usually have oatmeal in the morning, I can’t start my day without it. And …
Apple Cider Donuts
I love apple cider donut this time of year. But who has time and heart health to eat fried donuts? Not me. I opted for baking my apple cider donuts using a donut pan. I know, I know, another specialized kitchen tool you will use at most once a year. But let me tell you …
Condensed Milk Cookies
Low on ingredients, but craving cookies? Or looking for a way to use up some condensed milk? This chocolate chip cookie recipe is only 5 ingredients (aside from the baking powder and salt)! No eggs or fresh milk and it gains its substance from sweetened condensed milk, which you probably have an extra can of …
Halloween Cut outs
For Halloween I made some cute Bats and Cats cut out cookies and followed by classic cut out cookies and royal frosting. The mummies are pretzel rods dipped in white chocolate, with a candy eye and some white chocolate drizzled on top.
Matcha Crepe Cake
The matcha crepe cake is the original crepe cake and it has a reputation for a reason. This cake is incredibly delicious, but seems like a daunting task for most home bakers. I’m here to tell you that scary reputation is unfounded. This cake simply takes some patience to assemble and it’s definitely worth the …
Easy Peach Cobbler
Peach cobbler is a quintessential summer dessert. Quicker than a pie, but just as decadent, this super simple recipe will quickly become one of your favorites! You could even do this with fruits when its not peach season.
Halloween Trash Cookies
Leftover candy and snacks? Look no further, chop it all up and throw it into these cookies, the sweet and salty combo makes for a playful and resourceful dessert. Check out our recipe for details.
Coffee Cheesecake Oreo Pie
I made this Coffee Cheesecake Oreo Pie for my brother’s birthday. He loves coffee and cheesecake is such a classic and refreshing dessert. So I thought I would merge the two and make coffee flavored cheesecake. For this cheesecake we used regular coffee. But if you wanted a stronger taste, you could also use instant …
Double Chocolate Chip Chocolate Biscotti
My family LOVES biscotti. Normally I make my trusted and true Cranberry Orange Biscotti. But Today I wanted to mix it up and go a little sweeter….. and chocolate-i-er. Making a normal dessert in a chocolate flavor peaks pretty much everyone’s interest. Sure I’ve had biscotti… but chocolate biscotti!? Now this I have to try. …
Chocolate Banana Shake
Are you ever in the mood for a milkshake but don’t want the calories? Well the Chocolate Banana Shake takes care of that for you . The Banana gives this drink a ice cream texture without the sugar and calories. Its very simple to make too. Just stick an unpeeled banana in the freezer a few …
Savory Cornbread Biscuits
I wanted to take a break from the sweet treats this week, and make something savory that I could have with dinner. But I still had the urge to bake. So I landed on biscuits. These biscuits are SAVORY which makes them the perfect addition to dinner. Sweet Corn, Cheese, Garlic, Green Onion, all combined …
Strawberry and Blue Cheese Flatbread ( Gluten Free)
Don’t call it a Pizza or you will have soooo many people hating before they try it!! For this reason we are going to carefully call this a Strawberry Blue Cheese “Flatbread” . Aka a non traditional “pizza”. Or better yet, just make it, and put it out for guests to try without a label. …
Blueberry Lemonade
There is nothing more refreshing than Blueberry Lemonade on a hot summer day. Why add blueberries to a classic lemonade? It reduces the dryness of regular lemonade, and adds flavor without adding sweetness. The added complexity of blueberries makes this drink a little more robust and gives off mock-tail vibes! (I’m sure you can add …
Banana Oatmeal Breakfast bars
These breakfast bars are gluten free, filling and healthy! I usually have a bowl of oatmeal in the morning with some sliced banana. For some reason not having oatmeal doesn’t keep me as full through the day. So I wanted to make a “mobile” version for those days when I’m on the go and can’t …
Strawberry Short Angel Cake
Angel food cake is ALL about the technique! Unlike most cakes, angel cake does not include any leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder. Instead it relies on the whipped eggs to and an ungreased pan to raise the batter. The most difficult part of this cake is getting the eggs whipped into soft …
Banana Split Pie
As a part of Christina Tosi’s Milkbar class we were challenged to make our own original pie recipe. We had to create a flavor story and mine was as a child eating banana splits on a warm summer day. So I thought of a flavor combination that reminded me of that experience. I created a …
Easy Cherry Pie
Cherry pie is a close second to apple pie in the race for classic American pies. This recipe, using frozen cherries, is fast and easy, especially using premade uncooked pie crusts. Full of flavor and ten times better than any filling from a can, you’ll be wondering why you haven’t always been making this from …
Gluten Free Vegan Banana Bread Muffins
If I didn’t tell you these muffins are gluten free and vegan, you’d never know. Moist, flavorful, fluffy and decadent, it’s hard not to go for seconds! Easy to pull together with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Don’t worry about the oat flour, you can easily make it yourself by blitzing rolled …
Lemon Blueberry Cake
I decided to take some principles that I learned from Christina Tosi’s Milkbar class and applied it to this delicious Lemon Blueberry Cake. I wanted to make a fruit based cake for my grandmother’s birthday. Growing up she always had raspberries and blueberries in her garden and we would pick them all summer long. Last …
4 Ingredient No-Bake Protein Bar
Love protein bars, but hate the options in the store, or can’t find exactly what you want? We’ve got you covered. Mix and match your desired nut butter and protein flavors with a rolled oat base to get the perfect combination. I prefer vanilla protein and peanut butter, but feel free to mix it up …
Peach and Blueberry Yogurt Cake
I had some leftover Peaches and Blueberries from this summer and decided to make a summer cake as a pick me up. This Cake is dense almost like a bread which made it perfect for a hardy breakfast snack. But also a nice complimentary dish to have with milk after dinner. For this cake, I …
Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Any combination of peanut butter and chocolate and I’m there! I’ve always wanted to try to make a vegan cheesecake and this peanut butter chocolate rendition was the perfect first try. Creamy and rich, it’s got all the sensations of cheesecake that you love, without the dairy, eggs or gluten and no need to bake!
Tropical Passionfruit and Papaya Pie
I feel like I really went for it for this final recipe and I’m so glad I did! I really wanted to do passionfruit and papaya and this combo turned out just delectable. That tart punch of passionfruit curd topped with a creamy papaya mousse that’s just sweet enough and finally just a bit of …
Banana Foster Cake
Part of the Milkbar class I took this past January taught us the principles of combining flavors and choosing ingredients that are complimentary. We were challenged to take what we learned in making the famous birthday cake and make our own creation with the help of the given base recipes. I always liked the show …
Popovers
I was chatting with some folks at work about our quarantine baking and how its difficult to divide recipes to reduce the baking scale. When my senior VP mentioned that he makes popovers since they are delicious and you can make 2 at a time. Naturally I had to find out for myself exactly how …
Italian Easter Bread
I love easter time, Spring is in the air, it’s no longer quite as cold, and of course the Easter Bunny brings lots of treats! While the Easter bunny doesn’t bring Easter Bread, it’s another sweet treat that’s perfect to enjoy with the family. Easter bread is common in Italian communities and has a lot …
Easter Cut-outs with Royal Icing
One of my goals for 2021 was to work on my Royal Icing skills and learn new techniques. First step in getting any royal icing cookie is to get get a solid foundation cookie. This cookie recipe is PERFECT. They are stable, not crumbling and retain their shape with crisp edges in the oven. I …
Whipped Coffee Dip
I stumbled upon this recipe as I was prototyping another recipe that didn’t quite make the cut. I wanted to make a pie with a biscoff crust, chocolate layer and a coffee mousse filling. Unfortunately the chocolate layer was too overpowering and I decided to go in another directions. However I used the rest of …
Barstool Cookies (with a gluten free version)
These Barstool Cookies I made as my individual project in the cookie section of Christina Tosi’s Milkbar class. Taking the principles we learned from the class we were instructed to create a recipe of our own to reflect a point in time. I wanted to make a cookie that is a complimentary late night snack …
Valentines Candy Heart Cutout Cookies
One of my goals for 2021 was to work on my Royal Icing skills and learn new techniques. First step in getting any royal icing cookie is to get get a solid foundation cookie. This cookie recipe is PERFECT. They are stable, not crumbling and retain their shape with crisp edges in the oven. I …
Tortilla Chip Corn Muffins
Love corn muffins? Have leftover tortilla chips and beer? Make these! I devised these corn muffins after hosting a Sunday football party when I had a bunch of leftover tortilla chips and cheap beer I didn’t want to drink. Let me tell you though, this was one of my best recipe experiments. The chips add …
Espresso Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
These espresso banana chocolate chip muffins are a whole new twist on the classic banana bread muffins. What I like about this recipe is that every special ingredient has a role in making this a super flavorful muffin. The chocolate chips make it sweet and gooey, the banana makes it soft, the espresso makes it a …
Nutella Stuffed Brownies
I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like Nutella. Its delicious. Creamy, rich, nutty, there is nothing better. Which is why this is the perfect twist to add to a classic brownie. This recipe is more of a baking hack than a recipe. I shortcut the time and ingredients by using a box mix. Don’t get …
No Yeast Seasoned Pizza Crust Salad Bowl
I’m all for simplification, so when I learned of this super simple no-yeast pizza crust I was sold! When I can’t get pizza dough or I’m craving something pizza-like this recipe is my go-to. Inspired by a pizza dough bread bowl I saw on instagram I knew I had to try it with this recipe. …
Gingerbread Cookies
Gingerbread Cookies are probably THE classic Christmas cookie. Dating back to the 16th century these cookies have been widely popular in Europe for a while now. And it seems like every culture has adopted a variation of this cookie. Which is a testament to how iconic these cookies are. Its common that now a days …
Hot Chocolate Cookies
There is nothing better than curling up with some hot chocolate on a cold day and watch some Christmas movies on TV. There is something so warm and cozy about it all. These cookies have all the warm and cozy feels in cookie form. Light and chewy chocolate cookies with fluffy light marshmallows topped with …
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies are one of those recipes where they aren’t fancy, but they are unique enough that they are a hit at parties. Especially at Christmas the allure of a green cookie gets the best of everyone’s curiosity. For this recipe I use the classic Andes Mints which are a thin layer of …
Not Your Grandma’s Fruitcake
I’ve never been a big fruitcake person, but I’ve always loved dried fruit and panettone, which is the Italian version of fruitcake. What I love about panettone is that it’s lighter than regular fruitcake, it doesn’t have that heavy dense feeling. My mom was craving fruitcake, and with a plethora of dried fruit in the …
Coconut Macaroons
The coconut macaroon is a harmonious cookies prominently featured at the big two December holidays: Christmas and Hanukkah. I love making Coconut Macaroons cause they are soo easy to make. With only 5 ingredients (6 if you choose to coat the bottoms with chocolate), this recipe is sooo simple. And its also naturally gluten free, …
Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
Peanut Butter Blossoms is a holiday classic. This recipe has been made for generations and generations. And I’m not one to break tradition. So I’m honoring the classic recipe below. What I love about this recipe is first and foremost the peanut butter cookie, secondly the melted chocolate kiss on top. And lastly, the left …
Pecan Pie Cheesecake
This Thanksgiving is different than most. COVID has made it difficult to gather together with family without the fear or possibility that we could be exposing our loved ones. With all the changes we made to be able to gather safely, I knew I needed a dynamite dessert to make everything seem alright again. So …
Apple Cider Spritz
The holidays always call for a celebratory drink. In honor of the flavors of fall and thanksgiving apple cider is the perfect base. Livened up with a splash of spumante and decorated with a cinnamon sugar rim this simple apple cider spritz is sure to spice up your holiday meal.
Maple Walnut Cinnamon Rolls
Ooey gooey cinnamon rolls are the perfect treat on a lazy weekend morning and trust me, when you’ve had them homemade you’ll never be able to go back to the ones out of the can! Yes, there is some extreme time and effort involved, but it’s oh so worth it. As much as I love …
Pumpkin Cheesecake Crepe Cake
The last few years it’s become a tradition of going apple picking each fall with my friends and family. The farm we usually go to not only has traditional apple picking, but pumpkins, a farm stand, activities, live music and an array of food stands. One of these stands serves up samples and slices of …
Classic Apple Pie
This is a classic apple pie recipe. We are using Pillsbury pre-made pie crust for this recipe. Of course you can make your own crust. But after making it several times myself, I can tell you its not worth the time. Simply because its tough to get the right consistency with the dough, then it …
Baked Hush Puppies
Hush puppies, corn bread, corn muffins, I’ve always got to have one of these to go with a big bowl of chilli or some southern BBQ. I’m always testing out new variations and these baked hush puppies are a great savory corn option that is a bit lighter than the traditional fried version. They’re also …
Pumpkin Chip Muffin Tops
“Top of the Muffin to you”! As Seinfeld said it best, the best part of a muffin is the top. So lets skip to the chase here. These baked goods are cake-like and moist inside, making them the perfect consistency for a muffin top. And best of all, no wasted muffin stumps! I used a can …
Apple Crumb Shortbread
I went apple picking this past week which left me with a lot of apples and a lot of baking possibilities. Apple Crumb and Apple crisp are by far my favorite. I love the taste of the apples with the cinnamon and spices. I decided to put a twist on a classic apple crumb by …
Green Monster Pistachio Cupcakes
Scouring my mind for a fun halloween recipe I knew I wanted to do something green and spooky. I opened my cupboard and saw a few extra boxes of pistachio pudding mix. Bingo! I love pistachio and of course it’s perfectly green for halloween! This was my inspiration for my monster cupcakes. To make them …
Peach Almond Pastry
I had a few peaches left over from peach picking this summer. And was going to meet some friends for an outdoor BBQ and wanted to use up the rest of them to make a dessert for the party. I ended up having some puff pastry in the freezer, so I decided to make these …
Gluten Free Pizza (Garbanzo Bean Crust)
The pizza crust is made with garbanzo bean flour (chickpea). Not only is this gluten free, but the Garbanzo bean flour adds 20 grams of protein to the crust. The recipe for the crust is simple, flour, water, salt and a little oil. That’s it! With this recipe there is no need to knead or …
Butternut Squash Pie
I’m a big fan of pumpkin pie, but I also love all of the different varieties of squash available in the fall. That got me to thinking, why not try squash pie? They’re similar in taste and consistency, I bet it would be delicious. I had an extra butternut squash, so I roasted it up …
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes
I used to love eating raw cookie dough and any dessert that had cookie dough in it. Im not sure if I have ever met some who didnt like Cookie Dough. Which is why both the cupcakes and frosting are both cookie dough flavored. You can never have too much ! These have been a …
The BEST Falafel
In my hometown there was a Greek restaurant that I grew up going to. I absolutely loved their food, especially their falafels. They were different from falafels I would get anywhere else. They were light, not overly spiced, not greasy, covered in sesame seeds and a beautiful shade of green on the inside. After the …
Banana Pudding
I was never a big pudding person, and I was never big on banana desserts or candies because I hated that artificial banana flavor. That is until I had Magnolia Barkery’s banana pudding. That was the day my perspective on banana deserts completely changed! This banana pudding was out of this world and I was …
White Chocolate Raspberry Honey Corn Muffins
One of my favorite places for brunch in New York City is Sarabeth’s. With their brunch they offer these delicious muffins, one of which is a raspberry corn muffin that I absolutely love slathered with lots of butter! Recently, while visiting my mom I had a hankering for muffins and thought it would be a …
Key Lime Pie
Key Lime Pie is something I have always seen in movies. In my mind it was an all american dessert that cools you down on a hot summer day. But I never had a chance to try it. And I figured this food blog is the perfect excuse for me to try new recipes. As …
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
I love banana bread and I’ve made hundreds of recipes over the years. My coronavirus baking adventures brought along continued experiments and I’ve landed on this version as my new go to. This recipe is great because its simple ingredients that you’ll have in your pantry and contains, what I call the banana bread trifecta, …
Classic Pound Cake
Pound cake is called pound cake because it requires a pound of each ingredient. A pound of flour, a pound of butter, pound of sugar, pound of eggs. Which makes this one of the most literal desserts, and possibly the heaviest dessert. At first I was very intimidated. I wondered if all the ingredients would …
Easy Strawberry Bundt Cake
It’s summertime and that means lots of fresh fruit! My mom and I are both big fruit fans, especially berries. When I was visiting recently and she requested I make a special dessert for dinner I knew I could whip something up with the fresh strawberries she had in the fridge. Since I was in …
Gluten Free Chocolate Croissants
Croissants are one of my favorite breakfast treats and I also love experimenting with puff pastry. Recently, while picking up some frozen puff pastry I noticed a gluten free version next to my usual Dufour variety. Knowing a lot of people with gluten issues and or wanting to go gluten free so I decided to …
Cinnamon Roll Braided Sweet Bread
I’ve had limited experience with yeast, but was feeling adventurous while cooped up inside during coronavirus quarantine. I figured it was the perfect time to begin experimenting and finally learn to work with yeast baked goods. I devised this recipe as a spin on a traditional italian easter bread, something I enjoy with my family …
Simple Mango Lassi
This Mango Lassi is a famous Indian yogurt based drink. This smoothie is full bodied, tasty and is super simple to make. This recipe only has 3 ingredient. Yogurt, Milk and Mango. The yogurt and milk gives a good amount of protein and calcium while the mango provides fiber, vitamin A and vitamin C. There …
Lemon Poppy Glazed Brownies
Lemon Poppy Glazed Brownies! I never thought that you could make a brownie without chocolate in it. But here we are. I suppose one could call these bars, but I like the brownie reference since it perfectly describes the consistency to be like a fudge-y cake . This is the perfect summer treat. The lemon is …
Cranberry Orange Biscotti
Biscotti is one of the more versatile coffee shop snacks. Is it a biscuit? Is it a cookie? Is it a pastry? There seems to be no rules and no boundaries with biscotti. You can basically add in any flavors, fruit, nuts, chocolate to it. The dough is relatively neutral and takes on whatever flavors …
Classic Tiramisu
Is there a better combination than coffee and rum? I wanted to try a classic tiramisu with a shortcut of using store- bought lady fingers. By using premade lady fingers, this recipe becomes more about assemble rather than baking. Which is perfect for those who either don’t have an oven, or use their own to …
Vanilla Bean Raspberry Cake
A few days ago was my grandmothers 95th birthday. I wanted to make her a giant birthday cake which would be a show stopper. She loves raspberries and grows them in her garden at home. So I knew I had to incorporate raspberry filling in the cake. I decided to go with a standard vanilla …
Everything Mini Bagels
I love bagels! There’s nothing quite like a fresh bagel with cream cheese and a hot coffee. Especially on a weekend morning. For me, that ideal bagel would be an everything bagel and I’d be sitting on a park bench in Central Park. Well, when I can’t have that perfect moment, or a fresh bagel, …
Souffle Pancakes
These fluffy jiggle pancakes have been roaming around pintrest and instagram for some time now. They are light, fluffy and full of flavor. I had to try to make them. These pancakes are famous for being soft, light, tall and fluffy. The trick to get these pancakes fully is to whip the egg whites and …
Funfetti Cupcakes with Simple Cream Cheese Frosting
Sprinkles make everything feel fun and like a cause for celebration. Birthday or not this super moist cupcake recipe will make any desert time feel fun and festive. This recipe comes together quickly and is paired with a simple cream cheese frosting, which doesn’t require the finesse and expertise of preparing a typical buttercream. It …
Easter ‘Trash’ Brownie Bites
Easter’s just passed and I don’t know about you, but I’ve got an awful lot of leftover candy that I’m not sure what to do with. Especially the marshmallow peeps. I like marshmallows and smores and peeps are fun to look at, but I don’t have a burning desire to eat them out of the …
Classic Fruit Tart
This recipe is great to make in advance for a party. In order to make a proper fruit tart you need to have the proper fruit tart pans. I know what you are thinking. Ugh another specialized pan I need to make something? Not necessarily, you could use a regular pie pan, BUT it just …
Easy Easter Oatmeal Cookies
I love the chewy satisfying flavor of oatmeal cookies, and wanted to make something festive for spring and Easter. While shopping at my local target I came across a delicious looking spring trail mix with nuts, dried fruit, chocolate & butterscotch chips and adorable pastel candy coated chocolate pieces. I was inspired and knew it …
Carrot Cake Muffins
Carrot Cake is my mom’s favorite cake, so every year I try to make her carrot cake for her birthday. Typically I go all out with the cake, cream cheese frosting and decorations. However, a whole cake can be a lot to finish, especially if it isn’t for the big party. This year I decided …
Blueberry Protein Donuts
I absolutely love blueberry donuts, but I also know your traditional blueberry donut is loaded with sugar, fat and probably not the best thing to have for breakfast or a snack. I wanted to create a treat like blueberry donuts that I’d feel less guilty eating. Luckily, my favorite protein brand came out with a …
Banana Pancakes (3 Ingredient)
I love this recipe because it is super simple to make, and it’s fast with only 3 ingredients. Yes that’s right. Banana as the content, Egg as the binder and to make it fluffy and cinnamon for taste. You don’t even need a mixer for this one. Just mash a ripe banana with a fork …
Shamrock Cutouts
It’s time for St. Patrick’s Day and what better way to celebrate than with some adorable shamrock cutout cookies. Our no fail cream cheese cutout recipe is perfect for this and easily adaptable too. To liven up the traditional recipe we thought we’d match a shamrock’s minty hue by adding peppermint extract into our cookies …
Shamrock Shake
The Traditional Shamrock shake is classic St Patrick’s Day dessert. Made famous by McDonald’s. Its essentially a vanilla shake with some added peppermint flavoring and some holiday color. Here I break down a simple recipe to make at home that is even better than the classic Peppermint shape that McDonald’s offers. The secret here is …
Buttered Rum Brittle
I found myself with extra corn syrup and pecans after making our delicious pecan pie bars. And I found this recipe for Buttered Rum Brittle. I know what you are thinking… brittle? really? bye. Bare with me here, this is NOT your grandmas brittle. This recipe elevates the typical sugary brittle to be more complex …
Brownie Cheery Cherry Bombs
This recipe was a quick hit! With the help of a grocery store brownie mix you can elevate the normal, boring brownies into a taste explosion. More over deborah, with your store bought brownies. These are the hot new dessert on the block. And its rather simple to make. First we make the traditional box …
Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
Chocolate, peanut butter, these are my dessert kryptonite! As a kid I always loved ‘buckeyes’ the sweet peanut butter balls covered in chocolate. I could easily eat five or six, no questions asked. Now, as an adult, I could definitely do the same, but I know it’s not the healthiest option. In a quest to …
Savory filled Pastries (Ukrainian Pyrizhky)
The secret to this? Patience. This recipe is complicated because it takes a while for the dough to rise. A great baking activity for a rainy afternoon. There are several variations of this pastry most of which is with savory fillings. Sweetened Sauerkraut, Rice/Mushrooms, Cinnamon Cheese. The same dough also makes a sweet poppy seed …
Super Simple Cinnamon Rolls
There’s nothing quite like fresh warm cinnamon rolls on a weekend morning. The ooey gooey sweet goodness brings back great memories of watching Saturday morning cartoons or holiday breakfasts with my family. I was home visiting my mom recently and she really wanted to have cinnamon rolls. Our town doesn’t have a bakery where we’d …
Classic Cream Cheese Cutouts
This is by far my favorite cookie recipe. Cutout cookies aren’t necessarily my absolute favorite all the time, I love me a good chocolate chip, but this recipe is fool-proof. It comes out perfect every time, it can be adapted, and it’s always wowed my friends and family. I’ve been making these classic cream cheese …
Kolaczki Cookies (Jelly Filling)
I like these cookies because they are quick, easy and uncomplicated. With only 4 ingredients this recipe is a breeze and it makes you wonder why all other cookies recipes require any more ingredients. The jelly sets them apart from any other cookie on the cookie tray. Traditionally they are made with sour cream (as …
Ginger Cookies
For Christmas I have a few “classics” in my repertoire. This is one of them. What I like about these cookies is that they are chewy and soft, without being too sickly sweet, which is surprising for a cookie. Its dangerous how much you can eat because of this. I also love how the spices …
Peppermint Patties
The Christmas season brings with it a series of quintessential flavors, one of the primary ones being peppermint. Candy canes, peppermint mochas and one of my personal favorites, peppermint patties. The flavor epitomizes the season – fresh and crisp like the air yet somehow comforting and calming like a warm toasty fire. I’d always loved …
Peppermint Pretzel Salted Caramel Snaps
Being a baking lover and a New Yorker, it’s hard not to be a fan of Milk Bar. Milk bar is famous for their birthday cake & cereal milk soft serve, but they also have a ton of other extremely creative and out of the box desserts. One in particular that caught my eye last …
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
These are one of my favorite Christmas cookies to make and eat (even though I’m not suppose to). They are chocolate, with a secret burst of cherry which adds as a refreshing pick me up. The frosting is a 3 ingredient wonder that reminds me of homemade truffles. These are the first Christmas cookies that …
Pecan Pie Bars
To me Thanksgiving is always about tradition. Every year we gravitate to the same kind of dishes, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes. The dessert table always features the classics, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. Sadly between these strong front runners, the classic pecan pie can sometimes get lost in the pie mix. Not. This. Year. This …
Maple Walnut Cutouts
I grew up in upstate New York, close to the Canadian border. We had long, cold, extremely snowy winters. Some of my best memories were during those snowy winter weekends when I’d make blueberry waffles with my mom. Of course those waffles would be smothered in maple syrup. Now, if you’re not from upstate New …
Mini Apple Pies
I have a not so small addiction to apple picking. I would go all weekend every weekend of harvest season if allowed. Now hear me out, Apples are SUPER healthy. It has more fiber than a bowl of oatmeal. Of which is Soluble Fiber which reduces bad cholesterol levels, thereby improving heart health. The pectin …
Pumpkin Spice Popcorn Crispies
Rice crispy treats will always be one of those great nostalgic childhood treats. To help ring in fall and pumpkin spice season I thought I’d do a fun sophisticated seasonal twist on the classic. Instead of puffed rice cereal I opted for popcorn and for some extra pizzazz and protein I threw in chopped pecans. …
Pumpkin Spice Cutouts
It’s fall and naturally it’s pumpkin spice season. I’ve been going crazy with pumpkin recipes and that means I was bound to run out of actual pumpkin. I also wanted to do a batch of fun, cute fall cutouts. Cutouts are great, but it’s usually more for the look than the taste. To get in …
Pumpkin Tiramisu
Silky, Creamy Tiramisu but make it Fall? Say no more, I got the perfect recipe to satisfy the basic witch in you. Pumpkin Tiramisu. The great thing about tiramisu is that you don’t have to mess around with actually baking anything. This is a no oven recipe. Using the pre-made lady fingers saves you the …
Matcha Monster Cutouts
Continuing in the halloween holiday spirit I wanted to make some spooky green cutouts. Of course they couldn’t be just regular cutouts dyed green, I wanted to get some flavor in them. Trying another adaptation of my classic cream cheese cutouts recipe I opted to add in some matcha to get that green color and …
Halloween Brain Cupcakes ( Chocolate Raspberry)
This Halloween I wanted to make something festive yet delicious. Is it possible to make a cupcake scary? Well I don’t know about that, but its definitely gory and gross (in a festive way). I thought the color of the raspberry puree would work well as fake blood, and would perfectly color and flavor the …
Halloween Bats – Chocolate Cutouts
Happy Halloween! I love fall and Halloween. I think it’s because I have great childhood memories driving though farm country in upstate New York. We’d buy fresh fall produce from the farm stands and make the annual trip to Kights giant pumpkin patch to pick out our giant pumpkin. By giant I mean giant, 30+ …
Creamcheese Stuffed Pumpkin Pecan Cookies with Pecan Streusel
If you wanted to put all of fall into a cookie, this is it! Pumpkin, pecans, spiced cream cheese, brown sugar and streusel topping! I’ve been feeling extra festive for fall this year and these cookies were my expression of my excitement for the season. A decadent brown sugar oatmeal cookie base dressed up with …
Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cupcakes
Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes! Do you remember eating cinnamon toast crunch on a crisp Saturday morning as you watched cartoons? You were THE coolest kid on the block. For this reason, I decided to make a recipe that blends my love of being a kid and cupcakes. These cupcakes are great because they are individual sized. …
Savory Oven-Baked Brie
Cheese, it should really be its own food group. I love cheese and it’s even better when hot and melty right out of the oven! Appetizer or side with steak. For Steak recipes, check out our post on how to get the perfect steak. This is an easy recipe to jazz up the typical boring …
Cookies and Cream Cupcakes
Cookies and Cream is one of the best dessert combinations ever. So its only natural that we turn this classic combination into a cupcake. I tend to make cupcakes as opposed to cake because its easier to portion out based on number of people. Additionally it doesn’t carry the guilt of taking too big of …
Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Frosting
Ever since I was about 12 I loved Starbucks. Growing up, on any given weekend you would find me and 10 of my closest friends there for hours sipping on frappachinos. Well not much has changed, we still do that when we get together. Although these days we sometimes choose an espresso or latte instead. …
Homemade Pretzels
Nothing is more irresistible than fresh out of the oven pretzels. Nothing. Every Aunties Anne’s shop is proof of this. Today I made Homemade Pretzels. The trick with this recipe is having patience to let the dough properly rise, and having a trusty thermometer to ensure that the water for the yeast is the proper …
Lemon Cake Crinkle Cookies
Its summer and there is nothing more summer-y and refreshing than lemon cookies made with cool whip! This is an easy recipe using box cake mix as a quick shortcut. Cause if you are like me, you want to be outside as much as you can and measuring ingredients will only slow you down. Just …
3 Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies
I was looking for a recipe to jazz up my boring morning oatmeal when I came across this recipe that only called for banana, oatmeal and chocolate chips. What could be easier! Although I did cheat and add in some raisins on my second attempt so technically there is 4 ingredients. But I argue that …
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
I love cheesecake, but having a whole cheesecake lying around in my fridge means I’d probably be eating way more than I should. I wanted to find a way to give into my cheesecake craving for a little less calories. To cut the sugar and avoid having to turn the oven on I figured I’d …
Pineapple Dream Muffins
Another recipe inspired by my desire to create something super simple, low-cal and use up extra items in my pantry. I’d been wanting to make a pineapple cake or dessert for months and the can of pineapple and box of pineapple jello in my cupboard kept staring at me begging to be transformed. I couldn’t …
Skinny Chocolate Orange Carrot Cake
This is going to be your new favorite guilt free chocolate indulgence. Simple, cheap and convenient ingredients all combined to create an extremely flavorful, moist and decadent chocolate dessert that you’d never guess is low-fat, low-calorie and not too sweet. This recipe came about because I had some extra carrots in my fridge (the whole …
Classic Meringue Cookies
When I was making the Marshmallow icing for the S’mores Cupcakes, I had a lot of left over Meringue. Everyone that knows me knows I hate wasting food. Instead of throwing out perfectly good meringue that I worked so hard to get correct. I decided to make Classic Meringue cookies. The difficult part of making …
Raspberry Swirl Sour Cream Topped Cheesecake
Cheesecake! If you don’t like cheesecake I don’t know if we can be friends (just kidding). But, in all seriousness, I’ve said it before, I love cheesecake and this particular recipe is a twist on a family treasure. This is my great aunt’s recipe for sour cream topped cheesecake, with the addition of a raspberry …
S’mores Cupcakes
Countless summer’s at Girl Scout camp have taught me the ancient art of the S’more. Slightly melting chocolate and a slightly charred marshmallow between two crisp graham cracker makes for the perfect combination of flavor. This summer I wanted to transform the classic wilderness dessert into a dainty cupcake. This is the perfect dessert to …
American Pie
Today is the 4th of July, also known as Independence day. The day where we honor the independence of our nation by overeating at BBQs and decorating everything in red, white and blue. Can you think of anything more stereotypically American ? Joking aside, this pie is the perfect dessert for the fourth of July …
Raspberry Oatmeal Walnut Mini-Pies
I love oats and oatmeal, they are always satisfying and create great moist chewy cookies.Taking inspiration from some old cookbooks while I was visiting my mom I devised this spin on oatmeal cookies. I figured if oatmeal cookies, especially oatmeal thumbprint cookies with jelly, why wouldn’t oatmeal mini-pies be even better! Also, adding in some …
Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
It’s finally summer !! To celebrate we are making Strawberry Lemonade cupcakes. These cupcakes are the definition of refreshing, balancing bitter and sweet. So basically it is the perfect cupcake to make to impress your friends at the summer BBQs. The key to this recipe is ingredients so fresh it could bite you. Along with …
Very Berry Jello Mold
Yes, another Jello mold, but hear me out! Jello sounds boring, old-school and might remind you of your grandma, but after giving it a try I have to say these 1950’s housewives were on to something. Jello by itself is a little boring, but replacing some of the water with creamy yogurt and adding in …
Orange Creamsicle Jello Slices
Technically these are orange jello molds, but I just couldn’t call them that. Calling them jello molds makes them sound like grandma food from 1950 and these treats are way cooler than that. In fact, these orange creamsicle jello slices are my new breakfast obsession. They are low calorie, transportable, fun, tasty, and maybe environmentally …
Garlic Butter Beer Rolls
Who doesn’t love bread? Also, who doesn’t love fresh, warm dinner rolls? Yes to both! I love bread, especially garlic bread. But as I’ve said before I also don’t usually have the patience to deal with yeast. So I’ve been perfecting my beer bread, or in this case, beer roll recipes. I was preparing dinner …
Peanut Butter Stout Beer Bread
Who doesn’t love bread? But, who doesn’t know what to do with yeast, it scares them, or it sounds like too much effort? I typically answer yes to all of these. I love bread, as most people do, but I also don’t usually have the patience to deal with yeast. So what’s the answer to …
Strawberry Upside Down Cake
This cake looks super fancy and complicated, but is secretly simple. Made with box cake mix and requiring no frosting this recipe will impress your guests with minimal effort. The most challenging part of this cake is slicing and arranging the strawberries. I love fruit, especially berries, so I’m always finding ways to incorporate them …
Ukrainian Easter Bread (Paska)
Easter was so nice we decided to celebrate it twice! This year Ukrainian Easter falls on the sunday after Easter. Which lends itself to discounted Easter chocolate and jelly beans. Score !! It also means we have another week to take our time in making Paska. Also known as Easter Bread. A lot of cultures …
Lemon Coconut Daisies & Cookie Cups
I’m a big fan of lemon flavored anything and I also love coconut. So why not combine the two for the perfect spring dessert! That’s where these cookies originated from. I wanted something that felt like spring. To make these cookies look like spring I chose to use a daisy shaped cookie cutter and place …
Easter Bunny’s “Carrot” Garden
Jesus turned water into wine and I’m turning Strawberries into Carrots. Well, sort of. For Easter I wanted to make something simple, easy, and fun. This is one of those posts where its not the recipe that is complicated but rather how you present it. Sure anybody can make pudding. But its how you transform …
Salted Caramel Krispies
Snap. Crackle. Pop. Sweet. Salty. What I love about rice krispies is that they are simple, easy, fast, naturally gluten-free and versatile. There is no baking involved. No oven. No waiting. And you can serve them for any occasion just by modifying the color via food coloring drops and molding into different shapes. Valentines day? …
Man Buns – Maple Bacon Peanut butter Morning Buns
Yes, you read that right, ‘Man Buns’. I named these delectable breakfast pastries after the ubiquitous hipster male hairdo. Why exactly? Well, for one, they are ‘buns’ and their signature swirl and inspiration from traditional ‘morning buns’ lends them to the name and ‘man’ because they are filled with ‘manly’ ingredients like bacon and peanut …
Matcha Cheesecake Brownies
Matcha isn’t just a faze, it’s here to stay. There is something to be said for a tea that gives you just as much caffeine as coffee, but without the jitters. As well as a whole host of health benefits. Matcha has been linked to support heart health, support brain health, prevents cell damage, support …
Classic Crème Brûlée
Crème Brûlée when translated from French to English literally translates to burned cream. Hmm maybe we will stick to the exotic sounding name Crème Brûlée for now. The beautiful part of this recipe is that it looks impressive yet it is very simple to make and naturally gluten free. Plus you have the option of …
Palmiers
Years ago, I was invited to dinner at a friend’s house. For dessert the host served Palmiers (also known as elephant ears). I almost fell off my chair when she said she made these buttery, flaky, crispy, sweet Palmiers all in about 15 mins. I always regarded these pastries as being so incredibly intricate. Little …
Strawberry Cheesecake Eggrolls
This contemporary take on a classic dessert combines my love of chinese food and cheesecake. And honestly I couldn’t think of a better combination. This is the ultimate comfort dessert! The eggroll sized portions also makes it easier to transport and share (if you have any left after trying these). I ended up making …
Chocolate Molten Lava Cake
Valentine’s Day- Happy couples may call it an occasion to express their love and devotion. While cynical singles may call it an over-hyped “Hallmark holiday” . However I personally think the most overlooked part of this day is the fact that it is socially acceptable to consume an obscene amount of chocolate. Now that’s a …
Cheese and Spinach Puff Pastry Pockets
Do you have a last minute get together with friends where you have to bring an appetizer or snack? These spinach puff pastry pockets are sure to wow in taste and in ease (but, you don’t have to tell anyone that). They are a good treat to reheat and you can prep and bake in …
Orange Cardamom Scones and Blueberry Scones
This past weekend I went skiing with some friends in Upstate NY. As the song goes, the weather was frightful (about 2 feet of snow and temperatures in the negatives, to be exact). We spent the weekend digging out the cars from the snow, skiing and sitting by the fire at night. But one thing …
