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.

Keep reading …

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure you subscribe to receive free updates by email or RSS feed!

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.

Keep reading …

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure you subscribe to receive free updates by email or RSS feed!

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.

Keep reading …

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure you subscribe to receive free updates by email or RSS feed!

Brownie bites generally fall into one of two categories: (1) dry and cakey or (2) fudgy and mushy.  Bleh.  Rarely do you come across a brownie bite that manages to retain all the best elements of the brownie’s larger, full-sized self: a crisp outer crust with a warm, gooey center.  When I set about finding a recipe that would live up to this dream, I went straight for the Big Book.

Having read some mixed reviews of the actual recipe for brownie bites, I decided to experiment with the infamous Tribute-to-Katharine-Hepburn Brownies.  The story has it that Katharine Hepburn’s rules to live by were (1) Never quit; (2) Be yourself; and (3) Never put too much flour in your brownies.  Well, ok then.  If it works for Katharine Hepburn, then it’s good enough for me!

Keep reading …

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure you subscribe to receive free updates by email or RSS feed!

Ok, I’ll admit it … I’ve been on a bit of a chocolate/peanut butter binge lately. Unlike the heavenly, yet potentially sugar-coma inducing, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes, these cookies produce the same dynamic flavor combo yet are lighter and decidedly more snackable.  Consider these cookies the slightly less mature, more rough-around-the-edges younger sibling of the (arguably) elegant cupcakes.

With a crisp outer shell and a chewy center, these can become rather addicting.  Made with oatmeal, whole wheat flour and all-natural peanut butter, the recipe was right up my alley.  The salted peanuts smash right up against semi-sweet chocolate chunks for a true flavor explosion in your mouth.  Get thee to a kitchen, pronto!

Keep reading …

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure you subscribe to receive free updates by email or RSS feed!

When I see chocolate and peanut butter paired together I immediately start humming “We Go Together” from the classic movie/musical Grease.  Aren’t they simply the most perfect flavor duo?  They would clearly be voted the Prom King and Queen of the dessert world.  We go to-ge-ther like shoo bop shoo wadda wadda yipitty boom de boom … !

Oh lovely friends, how I’ve missed you!  I am happy to report that I took The Exam and came out alive.  I can now return to my regularly scheduled life.  I’m sure you are all relieved.  I imagine you were all just waiting at your keyboards with bated breath for my triumphant return.  Wait … you weren’t?  Aw shucks, well … a girl can dream, right?  Anyway, to make up for my absence, I give you this moist, tender tribute to the eternal Cool Kids of the sugar kingdom … Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes.

Keep reading …

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure you subscribe to receive free updates by email or RSS feed!

I was fortunate enough to grow up within driving distance of the Happiest Place on Earth.  I was even more fortunate to have the chance to work during my teen years.  One of the best perks of the job was the fantastic discount on all things bought within the Park … including the homemade candy and fudge!!  Along with my dear friend Josh, I would trek down Main Street to the Candy Palace and buy a tray of freshly made Rocky Road.  Oh, chocolate!  Oh, marshmallows!  Oh, walnuts!  This was heaven in a plastic wrapper and, as we all know, there are no calories in anything consumed at the Happiest Place on Earth (wink!) so we happily indulged.  Frequently.

It has been years since I had the benefit of that discount, but when I had an opportunity to celebrate Josh’s birthday with him, I couldn’t resist a dessert that would bring back those Oh-So-Magical memories of Main Street.  Hello, Rocky Road Brownies!!  Come to mamma!

Keep reading …

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure you subscribe to receive free updates by email or RSS feed!