I am quite the fan of Eggnog (as well as its coconut-y cousin, Coquito), so once it hits December, I am up for any excuse to have a little sip of it!
The Mixer, a website with recipes for cocktail making for all occasions, must know of my affinity for eggnog, because they sent me a recipe for an Eggnog Martini that I just had to try and share!
This recipe is quick and easy because it uses store-bought eggnog. To make it even more simple, stir up a large batch so when you’re ready to enjoy with friends, all you have to do is pour it into glasses!
Eggnog is synonymous with the holidays, so I wanted to share The Mixer’s recipe ASAP so you can enjoy it with friends and family as well!
Note: I was sent some baking tools from OXO in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
Every December, I love to share a recipe to support Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, which is why I’m bringing you this delicious Frozen Key Lime Pie!
Every year, OXO supports Cookies for Kids’ Cancer and the fight against pediatric cancer. To date there have been 14,000 grassroots fundraising events in all 50 states and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer has granted more than $18 million to the leading pediatric cancer research centers across the country. Cookies for Kids’ Cancer (CFKC) is a nonprofit founded by two OXO employees after their son, Liam, was diagnosed with pediatric cancer. Through grassroots bake sales across the country, CFKC raises funds to develop new, improved and less toxic treatments for childhood cancer. Liam Witt’s legacy lives on as the organization works toward a cure for pediatric cancer, helping children and families everywhere.
Here are some of my old cookie swap and Cookies for Kids’ Cancer posts, in case you’re in a baking mood (this is my tenth year participating!):
Inspiration for new recipes to share on this blog can come from almost anywhere – local restaurants, family traditions, cravings, and sometimes even mystery novels. The latter is where I found inspiration for this recipe for Ube Crinkle Cookies!
I have been reading a mystery series written by Mia P. Manansala. The first book, Arsenic and Adobo (paid link), introduces the protagonist and narrator of the series, Lila Macapagal. Lila, an avid baker, has recently moved back to her hometown, and is helping out at her Tita Rosie’s struggling restaurant. When her ex-boyfriend, a local food critic, dies suddenly, Lila becomes the top suspect and has to start her own investigation to prove her innocence. Throughout the story, Lila bakes up delicious desserts, infusing Filipino flavors into some seriously amazing sounding baked goods.
One in particular stuck out to me: Ube Crinkle Cookies. I’ve made a few crinkle cookie recipes on this blog so you know I love a good crinkle cookie. I’m sure ube crinkle cookies isn’t a new idea, but it’s new to me, and I knew I had to make these!
Ube is a sweet purple yam with a slightly nutty and vanilla flavor which lends itself perfectly for desserts. The bright purple color of ube makes it particularly wonderful for use in crinkle cookies. The contrast with the white powdered sugar makes these cookies a real showstopper!
I couldn’t get the idea of these Ube Crinkle Cookies out of my head, I had to make them! These cookies are made with Ube Halaya and Ube flavor. Ube Halaya is mashed purple yam combined with condensed milk. Ube flavor, or extract, obviously adds more ube flavor, but it also contains purple dye in it to amp up the color. Both ube halaya and ube flavor can be found at most Asian grocery stores.
There are a couple of tools that I suggest using to make this recipe:
I have been making this chocolate chip cookie recipe for years, and I always get compliments on how soft and chewy these cookies are. So yes, I am hereby declaring these the BEST chocolate chip cookies!
I’m actually surprised I haven’t posted this recipe before. Recently, I made a batch of these chocolate chip cookies, and one of my friend’s kids liked the recipe so much that she asked me for the recipe, and I realized my mistake. So, I am finally rectifying that issue!
This recipe is really easy to make, and the dough doesn’t need to rest in the fridge before baking! I do strongly suggest that you let the butter and egg come to room temperature though, it will make for a better cookie texture.
Note: I was sent a copy of Muffins (paid link) by Cyndi Duncan and Georgie Patrick in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
One of the best perks of being a food blogger is the ability to receive and review cookbooks. Not only are they a great source of inspiration for me and my cooking journey, but they also provide a little peek into other fellow passionate cooks and bakers.
This latest cookbook, Muffins (paid link) by Cyndi Duncan and Georgie Patrick, focuses on one of my favorite foods. Muffins are one of my go-to choices for food prepping for the week.
From comforting favorites to spicy surprises, Muffins cookbook includes delicious recipes for more than 70 nourishing breakfast staples, fruity bites for brunch, and savory morsels that go great with soups and salads. The cookbook also includes ingredient substitutions, helpful baking methods, and other useful kitchen tips.
As my husband was paging through the cookbook, their recipe for Spicy Peach and Nut Muffins caught his attention. I used that recipe as inspiration to make these Spiced Walnut Peach Mini Bundt Cakes. Mini Bundt Cakes are essentially fancy muffins anyway, don’t you think?
And, if you have no interest in my fake fancy muffins, no worries! I’ve included info below to make these as normal muffins by using a cupcake pan.
Ingredients (makes approximately 12 mini Bundt cakes or 18 cupcake-sized muffins):
I originally made this Chocolate Coconut Cake for my dad for his birthday a few years ago. Since then, my parents request it any chance they get!
The recipe is a chocolate cake that substitutes coconut milk for regular milk in the recipe. It is then topped with a coconut cream frosting and some coconut flakes for extra coconut-y goodness!
Cake:
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened (or margarine to make dairy free)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
Frosting:
4 sticks (2 cups) unsalted butter, softened (or margarine to make dairy free)
One of my favorite things about having a blog is the opportunity to try new recipes and learn new cooking methods. I have never made Panna Cotta before, but it seems to be a relatively simple dessert to make.
Panna Cotta, which means “cooked cream” in Italian, is an Italian dessert traditionally made with sweetened cream and gelatin. Because of the gelatin, it maintains the shape of whatever vessel it is in.
It would have probably made sense to try to make a class panna cotta first, but my husband and I love all things pistachio, so I decided to try to make a Pistachio Panna Cotta as a treat for us!
Lemon and blueberry is such a solid combination. I’ll basically eat any baked good with those two flavors together, which might be why I already have shared a lemon blueberry pancake, cupcake, and icebox cake on here already! So when I saw a recipe for Lemon Blueberry Drop Scones on Taste of Home, I wanted to try them. I messed with the method of their recipe and adding a bit more lemony goodness through lemon extract because I really wanted that flavor to come through.
These are super easy and rustic looking scone recipe. The more misshapen they are, the better they look!
I have been trying to get back in the habit of making a few make-ahead meals on weekends to make weekdays a bit more manageable. While looking through old recipes, I came across a recipe I made nearly a decade ago for Coconut Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. I decided to revisit the recipe, adding a bit more lemon flavor through the addition of lemon extract (paid link). These yummy little guys are the result!
Ingredients (makes 12 cupcake-sized muffins or 6 large muffins):
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and allowed to cool slightly
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature, or 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce to make vegan
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 cup whole milk, or coconut milk to make dairy free/vegan
Note: I was sent ingredients from Plugra Premium Butter in order to make this post. Opinions are mine alone. Ingredients included: 1 bar unsalted Plugra Premium Butter,1 container of the Spice House’s Vietnamese Saigon Cinnamon, Valrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate, and Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.
Do I have a tasty recipe for you today! I was contacted recently by Plugrá Kitchens with a delicious sounding brownie recipe (these Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies) using some of my favorite ingredients, so I knew I had to share it. This brownie recipe is based off the flavors of Mexican Hot Chocolate, which is a hot chocolate that is spiced with cinnamon and sometimes a little bit of chili to bring additional warmth and heat.
Plugra Kitchens was nice enough to send me a package with the best goodies to make these brownies, including (of course) Plugrá Premium Unsalted Butter, Spice House Ground Saigon Cinnamon, Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, and Balrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate.
Plugrá Butter is an awesome ingredient to use for baking. Made by Dairy Farmers of America, its slow-churn and extra creaminess has the perfect balance of moisture and fat for use in baking. The Spice House‘s Vietnamese “Saigon” Cassia cinnamon is the strongest and sweetest cinnamon in their collection. The Vietnamese cinnamon bark is ground in house to produce a dark, rich texture that is fiery and fragrant, making it perfect for these brownies. My love of Nielsen-Massey‘s Madagascar Bourbon is well known to those that frequent this blog. Their Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla extract is made from premium, hand-selected vanilla beans cultivated in Madagascar, the world’s leading supplier of high-quality vanilla. It then utilizes a slow, cold extraction process to gently draw out and preserve all 300 natural vanilla flavor notes to create the richest tasting vanilla. Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla has a flavor profile that is full, sweet, creamy, and mellow with velvety after-tones. Valrhona Chocolate has been a partner of artisans of taste since 1922 and is a pioneer and reference in the world of chocolate.
With ingredients like that, you know this recipe is going to taste good! I adapted the recipe a bit, but the overall gist is still there. These Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies are soft and chewy, with a subtle warmth and heat that pairs really well with the richness of the chocolate.
Ingredients (makes 18 servings):
1 (8 oz) bar unsalted butter, like Plugrá® European Style Butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, like Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, like Saigon cinnamon from the Spice House
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 cup dark chocolate, like Valrhona Manjari 64% Dark Chocolate, chopped
I can’t believe I’ve never shared a pumpkin roll recipe on this blog! For someone as pumpkin-obsessed as me, I’m happy to finally rectify that!
This recipe is a mostly classic recipe, with the addition of chocolate chips into the cream cheese filling. I made this for Thanksgiving, and my aunt who hosts it enjoys pumpkin-chocolate combinations, so I made this one for her.
This pumpkin roll recipe has been developed to be made in a half sheet pan (paid link).
Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus more for sprinkling
For those that follow me on Instagram or Twitter, it comes as no surprise that I am a huge fan of pumpkin recipes. In fact, I have over 30 recipes that use pumpkin on this blog!
So hopefully you’ll allow me to add another one to the list: Frosted Pumpkin Brownies!
So when I had a nagging sweet tooth recently, I figured it was time to also feed my pumpkin need. This recipe for Frosted Pumpkin Brownies is comprised of a chewy, chocolatey brownie topped with a nice thick layer of pumpkin buttercream frosting, resulting in a decadent treat for the chocolate and pumpkin lovers in your life.
Early fall is my favorite time of year. I love that it’s still warm enough to enjoy the outdoors, the selection of produce available is awesome, and the back-to-school vibe fuels me to get things done.
It’s also an awesome time of year to can some jellies and jams, like this delicious Spiced Fig and Pear Jam!
Figs and pears are in season at the moment, two of my favorite fruits, so what better time to make (and can) this Spiced Fig and Pear Jam?
Ingredients (makes about 6 8oz cans):
1 1/2 pounds Bartlett pears, peeled, deseeded, and cut into small bite sized pieces
Some mornings, I wake up and want to treat myself to something a little bit more special than my typical morning coffee.
Now that I’ve been working from home full time for 18 months, I don’t really go to coffee shops anymore, so in order to have a fancy coffee treat, I have to make it myself!
A frappe is perfect for those mornings where you need a pick me up. It is a blended coffee drink served cold, typically topped with a nice dollop of whipped cream, and is surprisingly easy to make. This Mocha Frappe recipe uses just 7 ingredients to make a chocolatey, frothy coffee concoction.
I suggest preparing the espresso the night before so that you can make it and enjoy it quicker the next morning.
Ingredients (makes 2 servings, multiply as needed):
This may sound silly, but I woke up a few days ago and realized that summer is nearly over, and I had not cannedanything! Blueberries have been particularly lovely this year, so I wanted to make a fruit butter using them as the main ingredient. I added in some plums I had and then spiced them with some autumnal flavors to mark the impending change of seasons.
The result is this Slow Cooker Spiced Blueberry Plum Butter!
Fruit butter is a jam-like product that doesn’t use any pectin, so it spreads easier than a normal jam or jelly. Fruit butters are best made by cooking the fruit low and slow, so a slow cooker is the perfect tool to make them! Although you are using a slow cooker, this recipe does require you to stir it every now and then, so you still have to stay close by.
I adapted this recipe from Food in Jar’s recipe for Slow Cooker Blueberry Butter. There are a few tools I find super helpful when canning, so I will link to those throughout this recipe, in case you wanted to know what I use.
Ingredients (makes about 5 pints, or 10 half pint jars):
