It’s been a rough week for a lot of people. That’s maybe an understatement. I guess that it goes along with it being the worst year of my life, so I almost expected this. But, in my attempt to be ever optimistic, I know there is one thing that I can do, and that is bake and baking makes me happy. In the midst of cookie madness, here I am baking crumble bars.
My “biggie” cookies seem to be popular. You know the type: bakery-style BIG cookies that you buy individually and may not be able to eat in one sitting. Or maybe you can. I’m not judging. This time, I decided to go with a new type with coconut in and on the cookies, as well as coconut white chocolate wafers in addition to the dark chocolate wafers. They are big. They are delicious. They are worth the effort to make. nom nom!
It wouldn’t be Easter if I didn’t make some variation on the Hot Cross Bun. Everyone has their own, there are literally thousands of styles, combinations and variations. This year, I went for the somewhat rustic Cranberry Walnut Whole Wheat Sourdough Hot Cross Buns version. It’s an enriched sweet (but not too sweet) sourdough brioche dough, fruit and nuts added. Eat with sweet jam or honey or make into a bacon sandwich. nom nom nom.
Switching gears…. Easter is really early this year. Or at least it feels earlier than normal. I don’t recall it usually being this close to St. Patrick’s Day. At any rate, as with so many holidays, I feel the need to make something. As if I ever need an excuse, right? So this year’s Easter season is starting off with these Cardamom Carrot Cake Oatmeal Nut Cookies. They might be healthy, if it weren’t for the 3 sticks of butter and the almond candies. They are delicious and the nests actually turned out quite cute.
Despite the fact that I am in snowy New England it’s February, here is a little bit of tropical sunshine to warm you up, still on the topic of “Citrus” : Coconut Key Lime Pie Cheesecake, that I made as a birthday present for a friend whilst I am visiting up in the Bangor/Orono, Maine area. I have to say that the result came out phenomenal. It’s light, it’s fluffy, it’s sweet and tart, and has a lovely, clean finish. Almost all cheesecakes are quite a bit of work but the result here was great. I am very pleased.