How To

Easy Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe (for Cut-Out Cookies)


So many things to swoon about these Easy Soft Sugar Cookies Recipe for Cut-Out Cookies! These soft sugar cookies have aΒ texture thatΒ is soft, crumbling and perfect. The flavor is buttery, sugary vanilla goodness. This is a streamlined version of the sugar cookie recipe in The Cookie Book and has been my go-to recipe for years!! So let’s get right to…

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Easy Vanilla Glaze Recipe for Cookies, Scones & Cakes


This Easy Vanilla Glaze Recipe for Cookies, Scones & Cakes is the easiest glaze & icing recipe (all in one!). Use the thick, opaque recipe below for cinnamon rolls, breakfast cakes, scones and loaf cakes where you’re looking for a nice thick, bright layer of glaze. It’s the perfect finishing touch. Instructions are included for thinning the recipe for more…

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Several pieces of askew coffee cake on white background

The Best 5-Minute Streusel Topping Recipe (Easy)


This is The Best 5-Minute Streusel topping, my favorite go to for The Best Pumpkin Streusel Muffins, Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake and more! It comes together in less than five minutes and uses four simple ingredients: flour, brown sugar, salt and butter. I have added spices, cinnamon and nutmeg, for additional flavor (these are optional).…

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Strawberry Glaze for Cookies, Scones & Loaf Cakes


The hunt is over for the perfect Strawberry Glaze! This berry glaze or icing can be used on your favorite sugar cookies, these awesome Fresh Strawberry Scones (or any scone recipe), drizzled over a lemony cake (such as this Lemon Olive Oil Cake), citrus loaf cakes, donuts and more! It’s super versatile and after macerating your berries (see the Q&A…

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How to Make Perfect Whipped Cream


Super excited to share my favorite recipe for perfect whipped cream every single time! Whipped cream is the perfect topping for almost all of your favorite desserts. It’s perfect on top of pie, pavlovas, puddings, hot chocolate, cream puffs, cakes, with a bowl of fresh berries… Name the dessert and it will probably be better with whipped cream! I even…

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How to Properly Measure Flour (Without a Scale)


I’ve got all of your tips on How to Properly Measure Flour (without a scale) so that your bakes turn out perfectly every time! As the author of The Cake Book and The Cookie Book (as well as hundreds of other recipes), my number one goal is your baking success and it all starts with the humble process of measuring…

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5-Minute Chocolate Malt Buttercream


This 5-Minute Chocolate Malt Buttercream is ALL THE THINGS. Chocolate-malt flavor combos are one of my most favorite things (see these Malty Cupcakes!). This particular recipe was created specifically for my Chocolate Guinness Cake which is a beautiful, light, simple chocolate cake…and together they make magic. However, this buttercream is delicious on any chocolate cake, yellow cake, as well as…

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How To Make Perfect Brown Butter


Knowing how to make perfect brown butter can take your baked goods from really good to fabulous with one easy step! I love using brown butter in recipes: Fudgy Brown Butter Brownies, The Best Banana Skillet Cake with Chocolate Chips, Brown Butter Snickerdoodles, Small Batch Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chewy & Fabulous Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (full batch),…

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A close up photo of chocolate bars on a white background

Soft & Chewy Chocolate Granola Bars


Behold a homemade Soft & Chewy Chocolate Granola Bar that tastes just like a candy bar! Dipping them in bittersweet chocolate makes them a bit more decadent than your typical granola bar, without adding too much to the sweetness profileβ€”LOVE. Did I mention that these are gluten free? And depending on what chocolate you use, they can be dairy free as well.…

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Quick Homemade Brown Sugar Caramel


Welcome to my favorite caramel for the past decade: Quick Homemade Brown Sugar Caramel for the win! I love this recipe so much for its rich flavor *and* its simplicity in throwing together. It doesn’t get less fussy than this (no candy thermometers needed!). Something magical happens when you mix sugar, cream and butter together and nothing demonstrates this better…

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25-Minute Buttery Graham Cracker Crust


This easy, 25-minute buttery graham cracker crust recipe is perfect for cheesecakes, mini cheesecakes, tarts and basically any recipe that needs (WANTS) a graham cracker crust! I’m not always in the mood to fuss with a regular pastry crust and an easy graham cracker crust comes in clutch when I want something quick and fabulous. I use graham cracker crusts…

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Overhead shot of chocolate cake with white icing and colorful sprinkles on top

My 10 Favorite Easy Baking Tips for Perfect Cakes


I’m super excited to share my 10 favorite EASY baking tips for perfect cakes, EVERY TIME! I love cake so much that I wrote a book about it: The Cake Book! And I’m super excited to share all of my favorite cake baking tips and secrets, for perfect, beautiful cakes, every time. These cake tips focus mostly on classic one-layer…

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Secrets to Perfect Cookies: My 10 Favorite Tips For Better Cookies Today


I’m spilling the secrets on all of my favorite perfect cookie tips so you can bake better cookies starting today! When writing The Cookie Book I had an entire section dedicated to helping you bake perfect cookies every time. Unfortunately, that section was cut by my editor (as often happens in publishing: it was either that or cut some recipes…

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Classic chocolate French macarons are paired with a dreamy marshmallow filling. Each macaron is smeared in a mexican hot chocolate glaze for mega flavor!

Chocolate French Macarons with Marshmallow Filling


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…

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Two bottles of homemade vanilla extract; one bottle is lighter in color and the other is an amber color.

How to Make Homemade Bourbon Vanilla Extract


Homemade bourbon vanilla bean extract will add jazz hands to all of your baking projects! So many desserts use vanilla extract to elevate their final flavor (hellooo Mega Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cookies!) and I used a ton of it when I was recipe testing The Cookie Book and The Cake Book! I use it liberally in many, many (most?!) recipes!…

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The Best Overnight Sourdough Bagels


As I write this post, my sourdough starter is sitting on the counter in the kitchen growing and getting bubbly so I can mix together the dough for The Best Overnight Sourdough Bagels to bake off in the morning. Heaven. I love breakfast baking recipes (they’re my jam). Check out all of my breakfast baking recipes and also my How…

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How To Make a Sourdough Starter

How To Make a Sourdough Starter


I have been dying to write a ‘how to’ make a sourdough starter post/guide while simultaneously avoiding it!! It’s been in my queue of things to do for well over a year and so here we finally are! The desire to make bread from scratch is REAL. The process is so soothing + satisfy…and NOT having to run to the…

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Pecan Manchego Multigrain Crackers


Why haven’t we all been making our own crackers? This is the easiest (dare I say, foolproof?) dough that you will mess around with. It’s completely flexible…you pick the nuts, the cheese, the flours and make it your own. Crackers are one of those things that I never seem to have a fresh box of when I want them (does…

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