Monthly Archives

March 2019

Cookies, Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Really Big White Chocolate Macadamia Nut
Bakery-Style Cookies

A few weeks ago, I made these Really Big Chocolate Wafer Mega-Cookies and they were really yummy. Precisely because they were actually really big. It gave them both chewy and crunchy bits. So I decided to make a variation on those, with somewhat traditional white chocolate and macadamia nuts. Equally as delicious as the original. This recipe makes about 35-38 really big cookies — like the size of my hand. And don’t skip the chilling part; it really makes the cookie what it is!
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Breads, Sandwiches/Paninis, Sides

Rustic Rosemary Olive Loaf

So, if you’re noticing a tread in the last couple of weeks, yes, I am indeed really getting into this “bread baking in a dutch oven” thing. In fact, so much so that I bought a second — smaller — enameled cast iron pot. I really wanted the Le Creuset one, but the 3 1/2 quart one there was $290 so I bought a “knock off” which was only $50. My standard 6-quart dutch oven makes amazing loaves, but I am a single person and I would die of carb overload if I ate that much bread. So I am making smaller loaves, for now, by cutting the recipes in half. You can do the math to get it back to “normal sized”.
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Cookies, Sweet Snacks

Chocolate-dipped Apricot Shortbread, with Pistachios

It’s been a while since I did one of my “stranger” flavor combination type cookies so I felt inspired to combine dried apricots, pistachios and chocolate. For some reason, it seems like a bit of a Middle Eastern combo to me, but I don’t really know why. At any rate, these shortbread cookies definitely deliver on taste. Not too sweet but very flavorful!
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Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Hasselback-Style Pear and Walnut Tart

Today is of course Pi Day in the US…. yes, we silly people who put month, then day, so … 3.14 aka Pie Day. Just to be silly, I did make a pie. Hasselback-Style Pear and Walnut Tart… OK, I guess it’s a Tart not a Pie. Oh well. It doesn’t look might much because the custard drowned the hasselback-style pears, but it still tastes good.
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