I’ve made these cookies countless time and made a few adjustments each time to get from the cookbook recipe to here. Straight from the cookbook, cookies were too flat and didn’t have enough chew. I’ve added more flour and baking soda, plus coated the cookie in a sugar crust for that extra crunch. You can omit the sugar coating to be more true-to-bakery, depending on your preference. I prefer using the scale for any recipe that uses molasses, so I don’t lose any to the measuring cup, but either works.
dessert
banana bread
I wanted this post to be prettier so I could really let the glory of my new mini loaf pan to sing, but alas, I haven’t used my digital camera in months, and I really need to start documenting my recipes again. Searching through my browsing history just isn’t cutting it anymore. But. Whatever. I made my first banana bread earlier this summer and I was unnecessarily shocked at how tasty it was. Finally made it again, with a few modifications. Also, a new CATEGORY: “vegan” !
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real pumpkin pie
I got my hands on some pumpkins much too early for a traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, but… whatever! Let’s do it anyway! Also I forgot to take process pictures because I’m an amateur blogger now 🙁 Oh well.
Cut pumpkin(s) in half, remove seeds, and roast flat-side-down for about 20 minutes in a 400 deg oven, until soft. Let cool.
Separate flesh from skin and mash with a fork. Measure out filling weight needed.
7 oz pumpkin (roasted)
7 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 large egg
big dash cinnamon
small dash nutmet
small dash allspice
small amount grated fresh or powdered ginger
Mix all ingredients together until uniform. Pour into par-baked pie pan(s).
Bake at 400 deg for 5 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 deg for remaining bake time (ranges from 20~40 additional minutes). If crust is getting too toasty, tent with foil.
costco double chocolate cake copycat
I had a Costco double chocolate chip muffin last weekend for the first time in multiple years, and it was so nostalgic that I needed more. But not 12 more. I tried to search on Google for a copycat recipe, but they all started from box cake and instant putting, which is just too much work for me.
Instead, I started from my ever-so-reliable moistest chocolate cake recipe, bumped up the flour by 1/4 c, and added 1/2 c of cocoa powder covered chocolate chips. I baked it in a parchment-lined loaf pan, since I don’t have larger muffin tins, but will say that it was an absolute hit. The loaf pan took over an hour to bake through, so I may try a cake pan next time.
Will definitely make again! Sorry no pics – disappeared into our bellies in a quick minute.
boccone dolce bites
For July 4th last year (yes, I’m 6 months behind on posts) I made bite-size boccone dolce. I hadn’t remade this recipe since I posted it in 2015, but did recall that the meringue moistened up really quickly, so I made the components ahead of time and had a DIY boccone dolce set-up when dessert o’clock rolled around. These were little bite-sized red, white and blue desserts with a simple, sweet kick. Not sure how feasible these are for a larger potluck (typical of July 4th) but might work fine if you skip the whipped cream entirely.
cookies and cream cake
A cake that looks like a baseball! Sports! Heh. Made this for a friend’s birthday a few months ago, a small cookies and cream cake, with swiss buttercream frosting (separate post). The cake was pretty moist. Cookies and cream buttercream was good, but I think could be a bit sweeter like a real Oreo. Overall, I thought it was delicious!
ricciarelli
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Ok, so. Josh says these are his favorite cookies that I’ve ever made. I think that’s saying a lot, considering. These ricciarelli (not sure how to pronounce this… “rich”-ee-uh-relly? “rick”-uh-relly? Any Italians in the house?) were inspired by Arizmendi’s, but chewier, with more orange zest. These are gluten free!! Super chewy because of the nut flour and egg whites, with strong aroma.
HBD! cake (no recipe)
I made myself a (fake) birthday cake, and liked the decoration so posting it here! My forever go-to moistest chocolate cake recipe, with whipped chocolate ganache frosting. Not for the feint-of-heart chocolate lovers. One more pic after the jump.
method – roll cake
A roll cake! My favorite treat from an Asian supermarket is the coffee flavored roll cakes. But I try not to buy them because that means finishing the entire thing in a few days… I think this was pretty successful! Maybe overbaked the cake just a tad, but relatively easy assembly with fun serving 🙂 This was also my first chiffon cake! Which I haven’t tried in a regular cake shape, but plan on doing soon as the search for a white cake recipe continues.
strawberry almond muffins
This is off-season, but that’s what I get for archiving a bunch of half-finished posts. Well, you get what you get, readers! (All two of you. Hi.) To be honest, I feel like these muffins were too moist. Maybe I should have baked them a little past set. I mostly needed to find something to use up my overripe strawberries with, so found this recipe. Will probably try something else next year. (Or buy fewer baskets of strawberries…)