Pillowy Peanut Butter Cookies

As has been mentioned on other posts, I find many recipes because I get an idea and I go searching online. In this case, I had some sunflower seed butter that I needed to use up and so I went looking for a basic peanut butter cookie recipe to adopt. After finding my recipe, I realized I needed to check Smitten Kitchen and stumbled on the Ovenly three-ingredient peanut butter cookie.

I made a test batch with real peanut butter, just a half recipe, and I really enjoyed it. However, the molasses flavor was so prevalent that I thought the cookie was too sweet and the peanut butter a little bit muted.

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Strawberry White Chocolate Shortcake Cake

I got a call last week to make nice desserts, with two days’ notice. I quickly brainstormed some ideas, two of which I’d made before (lime bars, using my friend’s wonderful lemon bar recipe, and mini black bottom cupcakes) and a third which became this dessert.

I’ve made these Seven Layer Cookies many times before, which look so elegant. I was thinking of something that would be similar but a little less fussy, with a nut free cake and alternating sandwich layers of white chocolate and strawberry, to make it more spring/summery.

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Chocolate Macaroons

 

As you could tell from the top photo in this post, I usually make both raspberry macaroons and chocolate macaroons for Passover. They have the same characteristics – easy to make, moist, and truly delicious.

These macaroons get their flavor from two sources of chocolate – cocoa powder and melted chocolate. The melted chocolate helps keep them moist, and the cocoa gives a good depth of flavor.

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Raspberry Macaroons

Like many Jewish kids, my family always had a can or two of macaroons during Passover. I certainly enjoyed them, and as an adult I continued to buy them in addition to the sweets I would make.

In 2012, I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, and it totally transformed my thinking. It had never occurred to me a) how easy it is to make macaroons* and b) that I could make my own macaroons for Passover!

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Earl Grey Sandwich Cookies

Some time in middle school, I discovered English Breakfast tea, and it became one of my favorite beverages. On and off for years at a time, my day has started with a large mug of dark-brewed tea, with milk and sugar added.

As I mentioned in this post, I found a recipe several years ago for Black Tea Cardamom Cookies and was instantly intrigued. The first year I tried them, the cookies were so crumbly as to be almost impossible. The flavor seemed good, and I decided it was worth tinkering with the recipe. The second year I adjusted the dough, I believe by adding an extra egg and reducing the flour. The cookie definitely worked better, but the tea wasn’t necessarily the highlight. It was a decent spice cookie, but didn’t make a huge impression on myself or my friends.

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My Mother’s Apple Cake

Apples and honey are common symbols of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. Apples are dipped in honey to symbolize wishes for a sweet new year, and both feature prominently in traditional dessert recipes (see honey cake truffles and apple honey cake).

Growing up, my mother made this amazing apple cake every year for Rosh Hashanah. When I moved to Texas, I usually don’t cook meals for Rosh Hashanah, so I started making it for Yom Kippur’s break fast. Apple cakes like this are incredibly common, and so associated with Jews that many recipes are called “Jewish Apple Cake”.

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Loaded Candy Bar Brownies

Everyone has a couple of go-to dessert recipes, things that are easy to whip up and crowd favorites. For many of us in America, this includes chocolate chip cookies (usually the Toll House recipe with or without slight variations; personally I follow the recipe except use only one stick of butter – recipe gets raves and it’s a little healthier) and brownies.

There is a lot of debate when it comes to brownies, mainly between whether melted chocolate or cocoa is better. There are good reasons for both, and many recipes actually call for both to take advantage of those reasons.

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Peach Pecan Bread

Most Saturdays I head for the farmer’s market as soon as I wake up, as a lot of things sell out early. For the last year or so, I also treat myself to a couple of pastries from Black Rooster Bakery – including my favorite croissant, which is a very traditional Parisienne style that I crave. Twice in the last couple of weeks, they didn’t have my croissant, and I opted instead for a peach pecan scone.

Tuesday nights I play mah jongg with a group of women, and sometimes I like to bring dessert. Last week I made this Cannoli Pound Cake. This week, I was trying to decide what to make and I think the scone popped in my head, because as soon as I thought “Peach Pecan Bread” I was filled with a sense of wonder, and excitement.

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