I know that my calendar says that it’s going to be March tomorrow, but that can’t be right … can it?  What happened to February?  I distinctly remember having a conversation with a co-worker near the end of January commenting on how I predicted that my February was shaping up to be nothing but a giant blur.  Looking back on the past four weeks, I remember (1) work, (2) snow, (3) eating things that can be made in 30 minutes and (4) more work.  Everything else is a blurry haze.

Blurry haze aside, I do remember making this Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake in my favorite mini-springform pan and, given it’s low-guilt factor, wishing that I had made two more!  A crust made from low-glycemic whole wheat crackers is filled with a luscious (sugar-free!) cheesecake filling swirled with raspberry preserves.  Even in the midst of a month that was a complete blur, this cheesecake is utterly memorable.

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Consider these clementine cakes my apology for throwing that heaping pile of indulgent deliciousness in your direction last week.  When I tell you that these mini cakes are guilt-free, I mean they are completely guilt free.  They also happen to be gluten-free, refined sugar-free and flour-free (ok, flourless but I was on a roll there!). Did I forget to mention that they are also packed with protein and fiber?  I know, it’s too good to be true.

These mini beauties are adapted from a recipe made famous by the Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella.  As strange as it sounds, you puree whole clementines (after boiling the heck out of them!), mix that with ground almonds, a couple other baking staples and you have the most incredibly moist, flavorful mini cakes around.  Dip them in dark chocolate (packed with antioxidants!) and you have all the indulgence without the waistline impact.  Like I said: Guilt. Free.

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Am I the only person who finds the thought of making batches and batches of Christmas cookies intimidating?  There is so much rolling of dough, cutting of intricate shapes, hoping those shapes don’t spread into unrecognizable blobs while in the oven, whipping up batches of different colored icing that will likely be the wrong consistency and run all over the place like a bad finger painting experiment.  Plus, everyone has a “sure fire” “perfect” sugar cookie recipe, which inevitably ends up being less-than-perfect and far from sure-fire when tested in your own kitchen.

Let me introduce you to your new best friend in a sea of holiday craziness.  They are delicious, they sport the traditional red and green holiday colors and they look terribly fancy.  The brown sugar base blends with orange zest, tangy cranberries and salty pistachios for a flavor explosion that just gets better with time.  The best news, they are beyond simple to make.  The whole batch will be finished in less than an hour, which should leave you plenty of time for the requisite shopping/present wrapping/partying/celebrating.

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I wish that I could take credit for these ridiculously cute, ingenious bites of pumpkin pie goodness.  I can’t, but I can give credit to the brilliant Bakerella who is the creator of these too-cute-for-words mini-bites of deliciousness. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? If you don’t know Bakerella yet, consider this your official introduction.  Did I mention that Bakerella was the creator of the now-omnipresent cake pops?  Oh yeah, she’s that good.

Starting a new job (and tackling a 90 degree learning curve) has left me exhausted and totally out of time for cooking, baking, blogging and all things fun.  Luckily, this crazy-simple recipe takes almost zero brain power.  I’m fairly certain I wasn’t even paying attention when I made these little guys and they still came out perfectly!  I added some allspice, cloves and ginger to give the filling some extra zest.  I suspect that these will become a quick standby at holiday parties and potlucks.  Next time I’m going to serve these beauties with a little dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon. Come on, how can you resist that level of cuteness!

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What makes a cupcake a cupcake?  Is it merely a muffin with frosting?  Or it is a small cake topped with an oppressive amount of sugary buttercream frosting?  To each, his own definition, I suppose.  Your opinion of these cupcakes will depend entirely on your personal definition of what the essence of a cupcake should be.

These cupcakes fall closer to the frosted muffin end of the spectrum.  They are mildly sweet, flavored with toasted sesame seeds, dense and crumbly.  Where you would normally find mountains of powdered sugar-laced buttercream, there is a zippy white chocolate cream cheese frosting.  With no added sugar, the frosting is tangy, mildly sweet and a pleasant companion to, what I’ve determined is the Perfect Breakfast Cupcake.

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Anything that has the word curd in its name is fighting an uphill battle.  Just the word curd evokes images of rotten milk and bad cheese.  Tell someone you made them a jar of curd and they will probably widen their eyes and politely refuse the gift.  This will be before they taste the delicacy know by the worst name ever … Lemon Curd.

This spread is rich and lovely when spread atop a fresh scone or muffin.  It is fragrant beyond belief and you’d think you were eating the pure, sweet insides of a lemon from Candyland.  Tangy, sweet, aromatic, and nothing resembling a curd in sight.  Therefore, given the difficulties presented with the name, I am giving you permission to call this heavenly concoction a lemon spread, a lemon glaze, a lemon anything-other-than-curd.

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Ice cream sandwiches are the pinnacle of summer food.  They evoke images of hot, sticky afternoons spent lounging outside in the company of good friends without a care in the world.  Obviously, some incarnation of these summer goodies needed to make an appearance at my Mini-Urban Cookout.

The outside of an ice cream sandwich needs to have a little crunch to it, in my opinion.  It needs some strength to hold up to all the soft ice cream in the middle.  While a brownie would taste divine, it may become overly mushy when sandwiched against ice cream.  To get the best of both worlds, the flavor of a brownie with the staying power of a cookie, I pulled out an old favorite recipe for brownie roll-out cookies.

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