Tag Archives: baking

These 4 flavor-packed recipes will cozy up your fall season

The summer sun may still be bringing the heat, but those of us who love the crisp, cool days of autumn, fall can’t come soon enough.

The fall season invokes images of flannels, pumpkin spice, apple picking, hay rides and just an overall feeling of “coziness.” We seek out warmth and comfort in everything around us, especially our food.

Fall is a wonderful time for trying new recipes and for sharing meals with family and friends. This post includes four recipes that would make a great addition to any meal. They all are vegetarian friendly and can be adjusted to fit gluten-free and other dietary needs.

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White and dark chocolate chip cookies with WAFFLE CONE pieces

My son turned nine years old this week, and we will be celebrating with a small group of his friends this weekend.

I purchased a bunch of snacks (more than enough, according to my son), yet I couldn’t resist adding another fun treat to the mix.

My family loves chocolate chip cookies, and I often make the classic favorite we all know well. This time, however, I wanted to have some fun, so I swapped out half of the chocolate chips for the white chocolate version and added some waffle cone pieces for a crunchy, sweet surprise.

Note, I used the Keebler-brand waffle cones, as that’s what I had on hand. I would be curious how this would work with other brands, or even other types of cones.

Let me know if you try this recipe and share what you think in the comments.

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5 Kid-friendly foods you can make at home

Feeding kids is expensive and never-ending. You buy a box of snacks at the store, only to find them wiped out by the end of the day.

Sure, it is easier, to whip up a box of mac ‘n cheese or open a package of cookies, and believe me, I do that often, but, if you have a little time, there are plenty of kid-favorite foods which can be made easily, while saving you a few bucks at the grocery store. Continue reading

Nutella, white chocolate bring fun twist to traditional hamantaschen

Purim is almost here, and that means hamantaschen.

Yum!

So what is Purim anyway?

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Well the story is a bit more complicated than this, but essentially the holiday celebrates the freeing of the Jews of Persia from a hateful decree by the king’s advisor, Haman.

Haman? Hamantaschen? Are they related?

Yup!

Hamantaschen are filled, triangle-shaped cookies, which, supposedly look like Haman’s hat.

Why would we want to eat a cookie shaped like the hat of a man who wanted to destroy the Jewish people? I’m not sure. But, they are delicious and super fun to make. Continue reading

Elevate your cookie game with these Nutella ganache-filled hamantaschen

Jews around the world are preparing for one of our faith’s most fun holidays. Purim is the celebration of the Jewish people’s triumph over an evil tyrant, hell-bent on our destruction (yes, I realize this sounds like most of our holidays).

Purim is often celebrated with costumes, games and, of course, food.

Elevate your cookie game with these chocolaty hamantaschen

Traditionally,  on Purim Jews will consume a triangle-shaped treat known as hamantaschen. These delicious cookies are commonly filled with apricot, strawberry or other fruit jams. However, if you are chocolate lover like me, ordinary jelly isn’t going to cut it.

This year, I wanted to take my hamantaschen to another level, so I decided to experiment with a Nutella ganache filling. I won’t lie, there was a lot of trial and error, but I think the final result turned out delicious (even if not every cookie turned out picture perfect). Continue reading

Fall for these chocolate chip, butternut squash muffins

I am basic enough to admit that, while you will never catch me with a pumpkin-spiced latte, I do love the fall, and cooking with my favorite seasonal produce — squash.

Because butternut squash is aplenty, I have been experimenting with various muffin recipes. A quick Internet search yields dozens of versions, many of which I have tested. I realized, however, that I was always adding my one tweaks, so I decided to finally give my own recipe a go.

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What I love about this recipe is its simplicity (most ingredients are likely already in your pantry) and that it is lower in sugar than comparable muffin recipes. If you have more of a sweet tooth consider going with a 1/2 cup of sugar instead. Continue reading