Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

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Healthy Oatmeal Cookies

Ok so these cookies aren’t your typical kind of cookie. They are actually healthier than normal cookies! They are not sweet. Yes, yes I know it is a crazy concept to make a cookie non-sweet, but hear me out. Instead, these cookies are source of energy thanks to their wholesome ingredients, such as whole wheat flour, rolled oats, coconut oil, honey, and superfoods like seeds and raisins. I don’t know about you, but during the holiday season - a time that is filled with sugar cookies, fudge, gingerbread men, etc - it’s nice to have a break from the sweetness and instead have a healthy treat. This dessert (or should I say snack) recipe is incredibly easy to make, and takes minimal time to do so!

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Sweet Potato Gnocchi with a Brown Butter Walnut Sauce

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Sweet Potato Gnocchi with a Brown Butter Walnut Sauce

This gnocchi recipe is a labor of love! But cozying up at home with Christmas music in the background, and maybe even a fire going, creating these homemade gnocchi makes for the perfect hygge day! The sweet and nutty flavors from the sauce beautifully complement the earthy tones of the potato based gnocchi. Perfect for a romantic night with a loved one or a dinner party with friends!

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No Bake Reese's Tart

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No Bake Reese's Tart

In this season of pies, here’s a super easy to make tart. A Reese’s Tart, to be exact. Personally Reese’s cups are one of my favorite candies, right behind peanut butter M&M’s (see a pattern here...lol). I mean, you can’t go wrong with the classic pairing of peanut butter and chocolate, am I right?? So the fact that this tart tastes just like a Reese’s Cup is a major win in my book. The base is a simple Oreo crust, which is topped with a whipped peanut butter and chocolate ganache layers. This dessert recipe is no-bake, which means that as your oven is full with dinner entrees and side dishes for your holiday gatherings or with all of your holiday baking, this dessert won’t require an oven space…

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Savory Mint Chocolate Icing

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Savory Mint Chocolate Icing

Alright, so CUPCAKES! Surprisingly this is the first time that I have made cupcakes for my blog. Naturally I wanted to something special, so I went with my favorite holiday flavor combo - chocolate and mint. The cupcake is a classic chocolate cupcake. It has a rich and moist consistency, and the flavor is enhanced thanks to my favorite chocolate cake “secret” ingredient - fresh coffee! It is topped with a savory mint chocolate icing. The mint flavoring comes from fresh mint leaves, so it has an authentic taste to it. The savory mint is well balanced by the sweetness of the powdered sugar and creaminess of the butter…

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Homemade Baklava

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Homemade Baklava

Baklava is a Middle Eastern pastry comprised of a walnut cinnamon mixture sandwiched between countless layers of phyllo and soaked in honey. It is my absolute favorite thing to get at the annual Greek Festival in Minneapolis because it is so amazingly good. It is incredibly rich too, so you don’t need much to feel satisfied. It isn’t difficult to make - it can just tedious in the preparation when creating all of those layers. But trust me, it is definitely worth the effort!

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Ginger Chai Whoppie Pies

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Ginger Chai Whoppie Pies

These ginger chai whoppie pies are the perfect fall treat! The cookies are rich with the flavors of ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and molasses. Sandwiched between is a maple buttercream frosting. The taste reminds me of eating a gingerbread cookie while enjoying a cup of chai - a combo that I have never done before, but it’s something I can imagine. The recipe is easy to make, and the aroma that the cookies emit as they bake is heavenly!

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Orange Cardamom Coffee Cake

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Orange Cardamom Coffee Cake

I have now come to realize that orange cardamom is my new favorite fall flavor. The orange’s fresh citrus taste beautifully balances the cardamom’s sense of warmth and richness. The cake has a streusel center, which is like a little surprise of sweetness! This cake works great for a brunch or as a dessert. The recipe is easy to make, and will serve a large group of people…

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Mini Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cakes

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Mini Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cakes

The lemon and blueberry are such a  classic flavoring pair, and are so light and refreshing in taste. The cakes are super moist, thanks to the Greek yogurt inside. Despite being made in mini loaf pans, I am calling these cakes because they are much too sweet to be called bread! (Though I wouldn’t mind calling them bread so that I can pass them off as an acceptable breakfast item!). There are two different toppings for these cakes, both used to enhance the citrus lemon flavoring. The first is a lemon syrup that is poured over the top and inside the cake via poked holes. The second is a lemon powdered sugar glaze, which could be poured over or drizzled on in a fun pattern…

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Iced Maple Oatmeal Cookies

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Iced Maple Oatmeal Cookies

These Iced Maple Oatmeal Cookies have a similar taste to the store-bought ones, and yet are very different. Unlike the store-bought ones, these cookies are not hard and crunchy, but rather, they are soft and moist. The maple flavoring is distinct without being overpowering, and works wonderfully with the cinnamon and nutmeg spices to create the PERFECT spiced, fall treat. Once baked, the cookies are dipped in a powdered sugar icing to add additional flavoring and sweetness. These cookies are easy to make, and makes 3 dozen cookies - so this recipe works great for large groups…

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Baked Apple Cider Donuts

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Baked Apple Cider Donuts

These donuts are made with reduced apple cider to give them their distinct taste. Unlike most donuts, they are not fried, but rather they are baked (read: healthier than regular donuts). Once baked these donuts are coated with melted butter and cinnamon sugar. They are very easy to make, and are PERFECT for these upcoming crisp days.

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Orange Chocolate Scones with Toasted Hazelnuts

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Orange Chocolate Scones with Toasted Hazelnuts

So to celebrate the transition into Fall, I made these Orange Chocolate Scones with Toasted Hazelnuts. These scones are rich, satisfying, and packed with flavor. The hint of orange comes from a few teaspoons of orange zest, and it is the perfect amount for balancing the sweetness with citrus without being too overpowering. I doubled the chocolate flavoring by having both cocoa powder and chocolate chips in the batter. After baking, the warm scones are dipped in a powder sugar glaze, drizzled with melted chocolate, then, finally, topped with toasted hazelnuts. The chocolate drizzle and hazelnuts will certainly have you dreaming of nutella…

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Homemade Cronuts with Lemon Glaze

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Homemade Cronuts with Lemon Glaze

Like croissants, these cronuts consist of buttery, flakey layers. (I enjoyed eating these cronuts layer by layer!) Deep fried, these cronuts have a crisp exterior, while the inside remains soft and delicate. The donuts are rolled in sugar and topped with a lemon glaze. Each donut is rather tall as you can visibly see from the exterior the endless number of layers within. And of course, don’t forget about the donut holes! In reality they look nothing like traditional donut holes because the numerous layers expand as they cook, creating a caterpillar like shape. But they are just as delicious as the cronut.

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Peach Raspberry Galette

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Peach Raspberry Galette

Back to school time also corresponds to nearing the end of peach season. But before that season passed, I squeezed in this Peach Raspberry Galette. A galette, or crostata, is a freeform pastry, or as I like to describe it, it is a flat pie. They are easy to make, and have a beautiful presentation. Making the dough can be the difficult component to the recipe, but if you have a food processor, it is significantly easier. If you don’t though, don’t worry, I don’t either (because girl doesn’t have any more space in her tiny kitchen) and I was still able to make it by hand without issues. After rolling out the dough into a large circle, you will top the middle with the fruit, fold up the sides, and then toss it in the oven. And that's it! The galette crust is flaky, while the inside is filled with sweetness from ripe peaches and raspberries. To balance out some of the sweetness, the fruit is tossed in a dash of cardamom, which adds a level of richness and depth to the dessert. This summer dessert pairs perfectly with vanilla ice cream, or you can keep it simple with a dusting of powdered sugar!

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Chocolate Red Wine Truffles

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Chocolate Red Wine Truffles

The truffles are rich (seriously, you only need one to feel satisfied), truly so easy to make, and only have a handful of ingredients. You start by making a ganache (which is just a fancy way of saying melted chocolate and cream). Once the ganache has solidified after refrigeration you will scoop out the truffles. Next, coat the truffles with your desired coating, whether that be cocoa powder or chopped nuts. And that's it! The truffles can become soft at room air, so I like to store them in the freezer to help keep their shape…

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German Chocolate Millionaire Bars

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German Chocolate Millionaire Bars

Alright let’s talk about these German Chocolate Millionaire Bars. So, if you don’t know what a millionaire bar is, it is essentially a Twix bar. It has a shortbread cookie base, with a caramel middle, and topped with chocolate ganache. I made a few adjustments to this combo though by moving the chocolate ganache layer to the middle, and switching the caramel for the coconut pecan filling of German Chocolate cake. And it turned out, GREAT. The cookie base provides a nice crunch, while the chocolate and topping will simply melt in your mouth. The chocolate ganache is made with evaporated milk, which helps keep the chocolate soft and easy to bit into. I added a sprinkle of sea salt onto the chocolate ganache layer, providing the perfect amount of sweet and salty to the overall taste. To be extra fancy, I added a chocolate drizzle on top…

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Tiramisu Sandwich Cookies

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Tiramisu Sandwich Cookies

These cookies have more chocolate flavor than traditional tiramisu. The cookie base is largely made up of melted chocolate, which leads to a brownie like taste and texture to the cookies. Layered in between is the mascarpone filling. Beaten together with butter, powdered sugar, and a touch of brandy this rich, yet light, mascarpone filling perfectly complements the chocolate-espresso sandwich cookies. For added fanciness, I sprinkled cocoa powder over the mascarpone filling…

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Simple Fried Egg Sandwiches

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Simple Fried Egg Sandwiches

This simple fried egg sandwich recipe is layered with fresh ingredients, included avocado, lettuce, and tomato, and is balanced with the savoriness of crispy bacon. I chose whole grain bread for my sandwiches, but really any type of bread will do, from bagels to artisan bread. And let’s not forget out my favorite part - the lemon garlic aioli sauce. Slather the sauce on both the bottom and top slices of bread to add more flavor depth to the sandwich! And the best part about fried egg sandwiches, is that you can have them for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

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Easy Overnight Blackberry Challah French Toast

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Easy Overnight Blackberry Challah French Toast

The challah bread, moist and infused with a hint of honey, is soaked in a vanilla/almond/orange egg mixture, then drizzled with blackberry jam. Fresh blackberries are added for additional sweet and tangy flavor. I made the dish in a round baking pan, but you can choose whatever dish shape you please, as long as the bread can stand up straight without falling over. I served the french toast with syrup and a sprinkle of powdered sugar, but you could also add whipped cream or even more blackberry jam and fresh blackberries!

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Brown Butter English Toffee and Pretzel Cookies

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Brown Butter English Toffee and Pretzel Cookies

If you read last week’s blog post, you would already know that we have been having car troubles. We took our car to the Subaru dealership where we normally service the car, and found out that the transmission needs to be replaced, which would cost more than the car is worth. WHYYYYYYYY (insert all sorts of angry and sad emoji faces)?! So naturally after hearing this news we started frantically thinking about how we would get my car out here from California. We found cheap one way tickets to…

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Tuscan Kale Salad

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Tuscan Kale Salad

Thank goodness it’s summer! But probably not for the reason that you are thinking. Last week our car started malfunctioning in that it wouldn’t go above 20 mph, sometimes even 10 mph. Obviously this makes it near impossible to drive in a city. But thankfully because it is summer and not snow-covered winter, we have been able to get around via our bikes. And we are even more thankful that we live close enough to our places of work that riding our bikes is easy. We carefully drove our car to a nearby Autozone to have the “check engine” code read. Unfortunately, while there were codes that they could pull, none of the codes would transfer to the computer to be read. We tried a different car shop, and the same issue occurred. Our only other option was to…

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