Butter Cut-Out Cookies... First, HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!  Second, I need to apologize to you all. I realized this week, while making 15 dozen of these cookies that I have never shared the recipe with you.  I am a bad blog friend, but I plan to make amends today!  As with many of my recipes, this is a modification of an old family favorite.  The original recipe was clipped from a Land O’ Lakes holiday cookie book many, many...

Brown Butter Sour Cream Cookies... So, I am not very good when it comes to grocery lists. I often forget that I already have something and end up buying it a second time.  This happened a few days ago.  While at the store, buying the ingredients I needed for some lovely Chicken Enchiladas with Chipotle Sour Cream Sauce (recipe coming up on Wednesday next week), I forgot I already had a pint of sour cream at home and bought a second.  When I got home...

Cheddar Bacon Muffins... Go check out TasteStopping to see my guest post about inspiration and comfort zones.  I was their very first guest blogger, and I am so excited to share this with you!!  Go, now.  The muffins will be here when you return! I love breakfast. After dessert, it is my favorite meal of the day.  (And, yes, I consider dessert a meal, and not an add-on to dinner.)  Where else can you combine sweet and savory so neatly? ...

Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Scones... I might have been thinking of cookies when I made these scones. I was craving chocolate chip cookies the other day when a picture of some cream scones caught my eye. Why couldn’t I take the best flavors of a chocolate chip cookie and combine them with some scones? So, I did just that! I used brown sugar in the dough and added a full cup of chocolate chips. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla. The results are...

Orange Almond Chocolate Cookies... This cookie is not what I set out to make.    This was supposed to be a simple almond cookie.  I was craving almond cookies last week and decided to come up with a recipe that incorporated ground almonds into the cookie for some texture.  Things went astray when I saw a lonely orange sitting on my counter.   It only went further off track when I remembered I had a bag of chocolate disks from New York in my pantry.   These...

Black and White Cream Pie... Ready for some new shenanigans?  How about we start with pie?    When I first started cooking I used to make something called “Oreo Pie”.  It was made with an Oreo crust, chocolate and vanilla instant pudding, and whipped topping.  It was easy, it tasted pretty good, and when sliced it looked fairly impressive.  That pie was my beginner attempt at recipe creation and it was always popular.   Now, many...

Chocolate Cream Filled Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with ... I have discovered the secret to world peace. Ok, maybe not world peace, but at least momentary joy and happiness.  I have been toying with the idea of a chocolate filled vanilla cupcake for a while.  As it happens I have a soft spot for cream filled cupcakes, considering one is now my logo, and it made sense that I try to make a reverse version.    The results were far better than I could have hoped.  The vanilla...

Jalapeno, Bacon and Cheddar Cornbread... Growing up in Texas, cornbread was something we ate almost weekly. Mom would almost always make her cornbread in a well-seasoned cast iron skillet.  That skillet gave the the cornbread a lovely crust on the bottom and I would always pick off the crusty bottom before eating the tender center.  We never got fancy with the cornbread.  We usually had regular cornbread, but on occasion we would have sweet. Now that I...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies... Before we get started with the Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies a couple of fun news items ….    First, as many of you know I am participating in an event sponsored by Electrolux in New York City to help raise awareness for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.  It is a fantastic organization and you can help by donating here.  Part of the event is a cake decorating competition.  We have been placed in groups...

Southern Banana Pudding... Nothing is quite like homemade, from scratch, banana pudding.    Sure, you can make a passable banana pudding with instant pudding mix, but if you really want to taste something special make your custard from scratch.  Once you do you will never use a box of pudding again.  Besides, taking about ten minutes to cook the custard and four hours to chill, it is so easy.   Many traditional recipes for banana pudding...

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies... I love old family recipes.  I also love cookies. My mom makes some pretty fantastic oatmeal cookies.  They are my grandmother’s recipe, handed down on a butter stained note card, and they are lovely.  Crisp throughout with a hint of cinnamon and a lovely nubby texture makes them instantly craveable.  They are mom’s go-to cookie and the most frequent dessert offering at her house.  In fact, there is...

Chocolate Swirl Pound Cake... When I was a child swirled pound cake was an utter mystery to me. I wondered how they were able to get the chocolate batter to make such intricate designs in the finished cake.  Now that I am older I understand that the oven does nearly all the swirling because as the cake bakes the batter shifts and swirls naturally.  Just like snow flakes, they are all unique.  So, maybe the mystery is solved, but I must admit I...

Banana and Chocolate Mascarpone Crepes... The combination of chocolate and banana is highly underrated.   Aside from some frozen bananas dipped in chocolate, and chocolate chip banana bread, the combination is largely overlooked.  Well, break out your bananas because we are going to make something that will make chocolate lovers rejoice.    The crepes are chocolate but they do not have any sugar in them.  Before you say I am mad consider that the crepes...

Apple Carrot Maple Cakes with Maple Cream Cheese F... Nothing makes me happier than when I can combine two things I love into one thing I really love! I love apple cake and I love carrot cake.  While looking at some apples in the market I noticed carrots on sale also, and inspiration struck!  Why not combine the two?  Tart apples, sweet carrots, warm spices, moist cake … how can that be anything but good?   To increase the yum factor I added a bit of some...

Pecan Tassies (aka Pecan Pie Cookies)... I have a love affair with little pie shaped cookies. This time it is cookies that are in fact tiny pecan pies!  I adore them, with their little nubbly tops and their gooey centers.  These are lovely for dessert with a cup of coffee, make a lovely gift wrapped in a pretty bag, or are perfect for a dressed up gathering drizzled in a little dark chocolate.  They also freeze very well making them a great make-ahead cookie. I...

Peanut Butter Cinnamon Blondies with Peanut Butter... The other day I was craving blondies and peanut butter at the same time. It often happens that I get dual cravings, and in this case it was easy to satisfy both with these incredible tasty blondies.  To amp up the peanut butter flavor, and because I like a frosted blondie, I whipped up a very quick peanut butter frosting.  The blondies were nice alone, but with the frosting they are something special and would make...