I pretty much refuse to drink eggnog each year when it rolled out in grocery stores. But I never pass up an opportunity to bake with it. (more…)
White Chocolate Cranberry Almond Biscotti
I have almost fully recovered from my food coma of Christmas 2014. I had 3 family dinners in the span of 4 days. All of them were filled with Ukrainian food that consisted of dough, butter, onions, more butter and the odd slice of turkey. Don’t even get me started on the sheer volume of chocolate that was also consumed. It was all worth it. But, I am already dreading my triumphant return to the gym next week. (more…)
Brown Butter Fruit & Oat Cookies
I had to travel to Toronto last week for a work conference. Over the past 10 years Toronto has become one of my favourite places to visit. Not because I actually love the city (I’m still on the fence) but because Denise, my best friend in the whole wide world, lives there. Since I was a little late on sending her a birthday present (it was in February), I decided to bake her some delicious treats to give to her in person. Denise is one of my biggest baking supporters. Although the distance doesn’t really help her taste most of my baking, she continues to encourage me to create delicious treats in hopes she will one day try them. This past weekend was now her time to enjoy!
I was inspired to make these cookies after a visit to my local Starbucks. I was famished and needed a quick pick-me-up. I tried their Fruit & Oat Cookie, fell in love with it, and immediately needed to replicate it. As I have previously stated throughout this blog, I love baking with brown butter and I wanted to do the same with these cookies. They have great texture with the oats and a nice blend of sweetness with the dried cranberries, apricot and raisins. Most importantly, they are Denise approved. You can’t get a better endorsement than that.
Cranberry Bliss Cookies
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Canada. The image below is what I woke up to this morning. Our first big snowfall of the year:
It seriously made me want to watch one of my favourite holiday movies, Elf, and put up my Christmas tree. I decided it was a little too early for that, given it was only mid-November. I did however get a jumpstart on my holiday baking with these amazing Cranberry Bliss Cookies! I love Starbucks and their classic holiday pastry – the Cranberry Bliss Bar. I thought these cookies were a perfect modification. These cookies are decadent, with a yummy layer of cream creese, dried cranberry and white chocolate icing. They really do taste like the holidays!
Recipe adapted from: Gimme some oven
Cranberry Peanut Butter Granola Clusters
Since we have been featuring a lot decadent desserts lately, our goal over the next few weeks is to post more healthy recipes. After all, we only have 3 more months until official bathing suit season!
The challenge of featuring healthy food alternatives is that we still want them to be flavourful. I always look to the experts in healthy, delicious recipes – Janet and Greta Podleski of “Looneyspoons” and “Eat, Shrink and Be Merry” fame. I love their cookbooks. If you recall, we featured their Peanut BETTER Gingersnap Cookies on our blog not too long ago! This recipe was adapted from their Looneyspoons Collection cookbook recipe. These pumpkin-flavoured granola clusters are simple, packed with deliciousness and perfect as a healthy treat.
Edamame-berry Salad
Yesterday Claudia showed up at my house with, what looked like, 17 recycle bags full of food. She wanted to cook. She wanted to cook BAD. After a few hours and painful cramps in my feet, we were able to crank out a few great recipes for the blog! This salad is a newer addition to Claudia’s rotation. She was very eager to share it with you all. Not only is it super pretty, but it’s super healthy, fresh and delicious.