Note: I was sent Northwest Cherries in order to write this post and recipe for Chocolate Cherry Banana Bread. All opinions are mine alone.
My husband and I were recently invited to go down the shore with our friends, and I wanted to bring something as a thank you for a weekend at the beach. Luckily, I had some overripe bananas sitting on my countertop, so I made this chocolate cherry banana bread to bring with us.
As I mentioned in my recent post, I have quite a few cherries in my house at the moment, so I decided to snazz up the banana bread with some fresh chopped cherries and chocolate chips.
Note: I was sent Northwest Cherries in order to write this post. All opinions are mine alone.
July is peak cherry season, which means I have A TON of cherries in my fridge! I was sent quite a few bags of cherries from Northwest Cherry Growers, and had to dive right in to using them! Fun fact: Northwest Cherry Growers is a group of 2,500+ farms that produce at least three-quarters of the nation’s entire sweet cherry crop.
Source: nwcherries.com
Northwest-grown sweet cherries tend to boast the highest fruit sugar content of any cherries. The naturally high sugar content makes them such a yummy snack on their own, or great in baked goods and other recipes. They are also one of the lowest fruits on the glycemic index. (In case you’re wondering, a general rule of thumb is that the darker the cherry, the sweeter it is.)
Cherries are also a superfruit and have been credited with reducing the risk of some serious diseases. Published research points to the health benefits of sweet cherries, including a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The study discovered consuming sweet cherries can help prevent chronic inflammatory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis and cancer. These powerful superfruits also contain melatonin, which may increase your quality of sleep and reduce jetlag.
Cherry season is pretty short, from July to mid-August, so I’m excited to have the opportunity to use these beautiful cherries in a bunch of different recipes. Fresh cherries keep for approximately two weeks when refrigerated in a sealed bag or container. If you want to enjoy them year-round, you can also freeze cherries by rinsing, drying, and packing them up in freezer bags.
Source: nwcherries.com
I’m kind of in a canning state of mind after making my Blueberry Chia Seed Jam a few weeks ago, so I wanted to can some of these beautiful cherries. You may have noticed I’m a fan of cocktails, so I just had to make homemade maraschino cherries!
Maraschino cherries are named for the Marasca cherry grown originally in Croatia, which when distilled, produce a liqueur. Whole cherries that are preserved in this liqueur became known as Maraschino Cherries.
These maraschino cherries are not those bright red guys you’ll find in a Shirley Temple. No no, these are the adult, more refined version. There is no artificial coloring, and much less sweetener added. And they are perfect for cocktails and adult ice cream sundaes!
I mentioned in my Blueberry Chia Seed Jam post that you’d see it pop up in a recipe shortly, and here it is! This No Bake Blueberry Lemon Icebox Cake is a great make ahead dessert that’s a beautiful end to a barbecue or summer dinner party.
If you’re not familiar with icebox cakes, they are layered frozen cakes traditionally made with whipped cream and chocolate wafers. This Bon Appetit version incorporates some of my favorite flavors, blueberries and lemon, to create a beautiful Blueberry Lemon Icebox Cake!
This isn’t a cake that involves much precision or patience, and looks pret-ty darn good even when giving off that “homemade” vibe, like mine does. You also don’t need any special tools – just a 9×5 loaf pan, some plastic wrap, and a hand mixer. An offset spatula would also come in handy if you have one.
Ingredients:
1 (8 oz) container mascarpone, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
the zest of 1 lemon
2 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream (leave in the fridge until ready to use)
These super chocolatey Devils Food Cupcakes are most certainly going to be a favorite of the chocoholic in your life.
There isn’t anything that specifically determines a chocolate cake as devil’s food cake, but they do tend to be a bit more airy and have quite a bit of chocolate in them!
This moist and fluffy recipe for Devils Food Cupcakes also uses coffee extract to further enhance the chocolate flavor.
A lot of people are pretty wary of vegan and gluten free baking. It seems like it would be difficult, but it’s surprisingly easy! Vegan baking can also be rich and decadent, like these oh so fudgy Peanut Crunch Brownies.
This recipe for Peanut Crunch Brownies is adapted from Heather Saffer’s well-named cookbook Crazy Easy Vegan Desserts. Heather Saffer, founder and CEO of Dollop Gourmet, has been featured on Shark Tank and Cupcake Wars for her delicious vegan desserts that can be enjoyed by anyone. I was sent a review copy and have loved paging through the recipes, they really are crazy easy!
The cookbook begins with a review of some dairy free and gluten free alternatives that can be used in baking.
So let’s dig into this recipe for Peanut Crunch Brownies, because, well, it’s delicious!
I make more frosting (and desserts!) than I probably should. Luckily, I have friends, family, and coworkers more than willing to help me out with my baking experiments, and this recipe for Chocolatey Buttercream Frosting is definitely a favorite!
So it’s about time I shared my ultimate chocolatey buttercream frosting!
The secret to this frosting is a hint of coffee to really enhance the chocolatey flavor. I use Nielsen Massey’s Pure Coffee Extract to bring out the best chocolate flavor.
Ingredients (makes enough for 12 cupcakes):
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
My mom and I just had a weekend of cookie baking. We ended up making ten different types of cookies!
We actually ended up making these thumbprint cookies because I misinterpreted what type my mom wanted to make. She mentioned wanting to make cookies with hard candies in them, and I decided that meant thumbprint cookies. Oops.
Anyways, who doesn’t like thumbprint cookies? They are really easy to make, and the shortbread combined with preserves is so tasty!
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus more for rolling
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
2 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
your favorite preserves, jam, or jelly (I used apricot and berry preserves)
Every year, I have two responsibilities for Thanksgiving: make Bloody Mary’s as everyone arrives and show up with a dessert that is chocolate and/or pumpkin.
This year, I decided to make a dessert that is both pumpkin-y and chocolatey: Chocolate Pumpkin Cake!
This recipe for Chocolate Pumpkin Cake is adapted from a Country Living recipe, and uses my cinnamon cream cheese frosting from my Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes recipe.
Ingredients:
Chocolate Pumpkin Cake:
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ tablespoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
¾ cup low fat buttermilk
1 (15 oz can) pumpkin purée
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (2.25 sticks), at room temperature
Note: Bob’s Red Mill and OXO provided items for this giveaway. All opinions are mine alone.
Seven years ago today, I started this blog. How crazy is that? It started as a way to archive recipes I tried and what I liked about them, and eventually morphed into a way for me to learn how to cook and experiment along the way. 780 posts later, I’m still at it!
Bob’s Red Mill and OXO are helping me celebrate this milestone in style. They were generous enough to provide some goodies for a giveaway! Bob’s Red Mill is my favorite company for grains, flours, beans, and baking mixes. Their commitment to quality products makes any recipe better. Similarly, you can find OXO products throughout my kitchen. They are my go-to for kitchen and household gadgets.
Naturally, I used a bunch of OXO and Bob’s Red Mill products to produce this recipe. With the holidays fast approaching, this giveaway is filled with all the goodies you need for your holiday baking!
This giveaway includes baking ingredients from Bob’s Red Mill:
Details on how to enter the giveaway are at the end of this post.
I decided to make a very “me” cookie to also celebrate. These cookies are made with some of my favorite flavors – lemon, almonds and chocolate! Meet Dark Chocolate Dipped Lemon Almond Sugar Cookies!
Ingredients: (makes 2 to 3 dozen cookies)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar, such as Bob’s Red Mill Cane Sugar
This past Sunday was crum-my. It rained ALL day. So I was in comfort food mode. Along with making another batch of Lemony Red Lentil Soup, I decided to make a rice pudding recipe in my slow cooker, heavily inspired by Phyllis Good’s Stock the Crock recipe for Coconut Rice Pudding.
My version for Slow Cooker Coconut Rice Pudding uses a different flavor profile, so be sure to check out the original in the cookbook as well as the below. (I made another recipe from this awesome cookbook as well. Go check my post on Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala here.)
Rice Pudding is found in different forms around the world. It is eaten as a breakfast, dessert, or sometimes even dinner. Many countries have a version of rice pudding that is traditionally served for Christmas.
My version adds some of my favorite flavors to one yummy dish: coconut, rose water, cranberries, and pistachios.
I almost always have pistachios in my house, they are a favorite of my husband and me. We both love them on their own, as a garnish, or incorporated into different recipes.
The flavor of pistachios is buttery and sweet, so they work really well in a number of different recipes. They are great in savory recipes sprinkled on top of a meal, or added to baked goods.
October is National Cookie Month, so what better time to try out a new cookie recipe?
This Pistachio Sugar Cookies recipe incorporates one of my favorite nuts into a chewy sugar cookie.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup shelled pistachios, divided
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Note: I was sent a Non-Stick Pro 12 Cup Muffin Pan, Silicone Baking Cups, and a Baker’s Decorating Tool from OXO. All opinions are my own.
September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, so I’m sharing this recipe a bit ahead of time. Every year, OXO donates up to $100,000 to support an organization called Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. The organization was founded by two OXOnians (OXO employees) who were inspired by their son Liam’s battle with pediatric cancer, a disease which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer provides inspiration and support to allow anyone to easily get involved in fundraising to find a cure for pediatric cancer.
To help reach their goal, OXO donates $100 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer for each blogger who posts a recipe to bring awareness, up to their $100,000 commitment. I’ve posted twice a year for the last few years to help bring awareness to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer. Click here to see some of my past posts.
This year, OXO sent me Silicone Baking Cups, a Non-Stick Pro 12 Cup Muffin Pan, and a Baker’s Decorating Tool to make this post.
Here’s a little about each product:
The Non-Stick Pro Muffin Pan (paid link) features a unique micro-textured pattern that ensures even baking and adds structural rigidity. It’s made with a ceramic-reinforced, two-layer, commercial-grade coating that provides ultimate non-stick release and is scratch-, stain-, corrosion- and abrasion-resistant.
The BPA-free Baking Cups have handy tabs to help remove them from muffin tins without making a thumbprint, and the inside of each Cup is smooth and non-stick to release your treat easily. With a fill line, your cupcakes will be consistent every time.
Our easy-to-use, easy-to-fill Baker’s Decorating Tool is designed to give you complete control while decorating. The unique trigger provides a smooth stream of icing for clean lines, and the comfortable handles ensure a steady grip and protect icing from warm hands.
I wanted to make a new, fun, and different cupcake to try out all of these cool tools. My husband and I are huge fans of Old Fashioned Cocktails, so I decided to turn those flavors into Old Fashioned Cupcakes! Note: the frosting contains alcohol so this is not a kid-friendly recipe.
To bring in the flavors of an Old Fashioned, I made a Vanilla-Orange Cupcake and topped it with Bourbon-Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. To finish it off, I added a maraschino cherry and some orange peel.
Note: I was sent some coupons for Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk in order to make this Blackberry Peaches and Cream Cake. Opinions are mine alone.
Last weekend, I had friends over for dinner. Planning what to eat dinner was pretty easy, until I realized I hadn’t thought of a dessert!
Luckily, I had picked up some Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk the last time I was at the supermarket and had the remaining ingredients on hand as well so that I could make this Blackberry Peaches and Cream Cake.
Not only is this Blackberry Peaches and Cream Cake super tasty, it can be made with pantry items without needing to make another trip to the supermarket. So it’s the perfect “just in case” recipe to make when needed!
It’s no secret that I love dessert, especially ice cream. And I love toppings on my ice cream: sprinkles, chocolate chips, and most of all, hot fudge!
When I was young, my family and I would vacation in Vermont. There is a confectionary store (Mother Myrick’s) in Manchester, VT that makes THE BEST hot fudge. I love it so much that from time to time, my family will still buy it for me when they visit Vermont. Last time they brought me some, I dropped it and the jar broke into a million pieces. Sigh.
So. I’ve been craving their fantastic hot fudge sauce for a while now. I didn’t necessarily try to recreate Mother Myrick’s, but this Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce is pret-ty darn good. Best part? It only takes 15 minutes to make!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk)
My husband absolutely loves peaches, specifically peach desserts. However, peeling and slicing a bunch of peaches is kind of a pain. So, hooray for frozen cut peaches! Also hooray for slow cookerdessert recipes, like this Blackberry Peach Slow Cooker Crumble!
This recipe, adapted from a Cooking Light recipe, is really simple. Just mix together a few ingredients, add to your slow cooker, and wait.
Three hours later, your house will smell fantastic, and you’ll have enough Blackberry Peach Crumble to feed a crowd! Just top with ice cream and dig in!
