2021/01/09
This was my second year participating in the CA Grown Agritour. Last year, we met up in Santa Barbara and toured a bunch of local farms and ag businesses and sampled everything from passionfruit and tomatoes to wine and cheese. You can read more about the trip here and get my recipe for Cherry Jam Streusel Muffins. This year, we had…
2020/12/23
With this Foolproof Vanilla Orange Madeleines recipe I’ll share how to make perfect madeleines every time! Super easy to make and made for make-ahead (LOVE). This dough can sit in the fridge for several days letting you make madeleines on demand – how fabulous is that?!? When I first started baking madeleines I was so completely annoyed and frustrated with…
2020/12/10
Brace yourself for the most delicious streusel bar cookie that has a layer of heavenly five-spice prune jam sandwiched between a vanilla bean shortbread crust and a crunchy, buttery layer of streusel. YUM! As promised, these Delicious Five-Spice Prune Bars are the second recipe using a spiced prune jam (you can see the first one here); both done in collaboration…
2020/12/01
This is THE BEST spiced prune danish recipe! The dough is surprisingly easy to make (and make-ahead) and the spiced prune jam comes together in minutes. Lots of tips to get warm, flaky, buttery danishes on your breakfast table asap! If you haven’t had prune danishes before you might breeze past this recipe…but let me tell you, homemade danishes are…
2020/11/28
Here is a collection of my current favorite holiday cookies! There are shipping tips throughout PLUS info on whether each cookie is suitable for shipping. Go forth and bake friends! For many of these cookies the dough can be frozen ahead of time (this is a great tip for drop cookies). Some cookies, such as macarons, are best gifted the…
2020/11/27
These chocolate French macarons are crispy, chewy and perfectly chocolate-y — this is the best recipe for chocolate macarons! The filling is one of my favorite marshmallow fillings with an added (and optional) slightly spicy chocolate glaze for Mexican hot chocolate vibes (or leave it plain). Lots of technique tips for easily making these in your home kitchen! When I…
2020/10/31
Where to start on the deliciousness of Pumpkin Bars with Salted Caramel and Toasted Marshmallow Meringue?! This pumpkin base is pulled from the pages of The Cookie Book. I had forgotten how delicious it was/is…and it is beyond words. Soft, airy, beautiful crumb. Everything you’re looking for in a bar cookie that’s really a cake…if we’re being honest here. Next…
2020/10/30
First, let me just say these candy cookies are life changing. Who else always has a ton of leftover Halloween candy? If I don’t buy too much candy to hand out, then my kids bring home ridiculous amounts of candy that haunts us for weeks and sometimes months. Dentists say it’s better to OD on candy over a few days rather than…
2020/10/28
I hope this banana espresso cake finds you rested and well, ready to tackle the weekend. I have been dreaming about this cake for some time…a super moist cake, loaded with heaps of banana, dotted with bits of dark chocolate and teeming with the taste of espresso throughout. We bake this cake low and slow. I’m talking, at 275 F…
2020/10/10
I dropped everything to show you how to make vanilla extract when I recently saw the price — holy moly, is it expensive these days (I’ll get into why further down in the post!). In the photo above you’ll see the bottle of vanilla extract that I’ve been using for years — I originally put it together back in 2017. That…
2020/10/06
Brace yourself for The Best Pumpkin Streusel Muffins. I know, it’s a big assertion. But these gems are super simple to throw together, super moist, super fall spice-y, have a heady lid of streusel (my fav) and a drizzle of the most delicious boozy, bourbon drizzle (that you can make booze free if you’re not into it!). Whew. Are we…
2020/10/03
Your fall NEEDS this Apple Cinnamon Roll Pull-Apart Bread!! It starts with an enriched dough, stuffed with finely chopped apples (unpeeled!) that have been tossed in cinnamon and brown sugar and the whole thing is smeared in a cream cheese glaze. CAN. YOU. EVEN? I wanted it to be like the lazy person’s cinnamon rolls: super easy, minimal effort needed.…
2020/09/26
I’ve been digging into the blog archives and baking + cooking a lot of my sweet + savory fall favorites! I wanted to share a quick collection with you here. There are soooo many more (more pumpkin stuff, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin gnocchi, scones, etc etc etc)…but I narrowed it down to a reasonable list for you. Will this become a…
2020/09/23
First, let me say that I’m using the phrase ‘marinated olive’ very lightly in the title of this Marinated Olive Beer-Crust Pizza. When CA Grown sent me olives to futz around with for this post, I had several ideas. The first one was to create olives like my favorite sweet-hot peppers (that I love on pizza) which sounded fun in…
2020/09/19
Mega Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookie — say it loud and proud because you’re about to fall in love with this cookie. This beauty has it all… Heaps of vanilla flavor? Check. One bowl? Check. Small batch? Check. Only ten ingredients? Check! Ready in under an hour? Check check check!! There is zero rest time, DELICIOUS DOUGH, I don’t know what…