Cinnamon Pecan Swirl Monkey Bread
Happy Leap Day! February has been one bitch of a month for me personally, so to celebrate the end of it I decided to bake something really, really naughty. I was inspired by monkey bread, a heavenly concoction of cinnamon sugar covered dough that is baked in a sticky brown sugar and butter sauce. The end result is sweet, buttery, and perfect for sharing. Most of the recipes I found on the interwebs for monkey bread used a short...
Glazed Yuzu Pound Cakes
Last week I discovered that my local specialty market carries fresh yuzu when they are in season. I have never seen it fresh before, we usually only get the bottled juice if we are lucky, so I snatched up a few for experimenting. When I got them home and presented them to my husband, who is usually only mildly interested in my culinary finds, there erupted something of a yuzu controversy. I contend that the aroma of the yuzu...
Apple Cherry Oat Bars
So, the New Year is well underway and so many people I know are keen to eat healthy. I have nothing against eating a well balanced diet that incorporates healthy ingredients and cooking techniques with occasional indulgences thrown in to keep cravings in check. In fact, that is how I try to live my life everyday (with various levels of success … damn you bacon!). What I don’t like are those who think they can start a new...
Chocolate Mint Filled Shortbread Snowballs
Get ready, I am going to get my whine on. I know it is the holidays, but I am not feeling it. First off, my tree is 99% decorated. I am afraid of heights, and my tree requires the use of a ladder to decorate the top. I have not screwed up my courage (or the energy if I am truthful) to get the ladder out and brave what will be almost certain death. Second, I have only one batch of cookies baked. Usually they are all packed up in...
Cranberry Bourbon Christmas Cake
I’m not going to lie … this is a highfalutin fruit cake. Every year I make a fruit cake. I find I really like them around the holidays. There is something comforting about a booze soaked slice of cake which has been festooned with fruits and nuts. (Yes, I said festooned. It is a great word and we do not use it often enough I think.) I know they are not popular and are usually derided as inedible, but that is the kind...
Chocolate Chip Coconut ‘Awesome’ Bars
I was kind of half joking on Twitter when I said that I would call these ‘Awesome Bars’. It turns out they are really quite awesome so I felt no qualms about adding it to the title. So, what are ‘Awesome Bars,’ you might ask?. Well, they are a dense, buttery cake bottom with a VERY rich cream cheese topping loaded with coconut, chocolate chips, and some crisp rice cereal. The cereal does not really add any...
