dessert

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are super soft and pillowy and packed with pumpkin pie flavor! Bonus: this recipe makes a BIG batch of cookies.

My mom has a saying about cooking / eating / observing an overly ambitious amount of dinner table food. “This could feed an army!” is the exclamation I’ve heard from her more than once in my life. It’s her way of noting how lucky we are, to live and enjoy such bounty with our family and friends.

It happens most every year when we cook to excess at Thanksgiving, or when I get a wild hair and decide I need to add just a bit more to the BBQ with a few more side dishes, plus another dessert, and oh heck, why not have hot dogs PLUS hamburgers. Just so nobody goes hungry.

These pillowy, cakey, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies fit that bill. This recipe is perfect. Especially if you’re baking for a crowd. Like for my mom’s invisible army. Or better yet, for a party! Now, that’s an idea I can get behind. Or better yet, I’ll lead the charge.

So hop to it soldier (I’m looking at you, Mom), and let’s get this cookie baking party started.continue to the recipe… about Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

How to Make the BEST Peach Cobbler

This easy peach cobbler is sweet, jammy, and just a bit caramelized with a perfectly tender-crisp topping making it the BEST comfort food dessert, like, ever.

The BEST Peach Cobbler Recipe

I took one bite of this homemade peach cobbler and melted. My eyes closed and my shoulders dropped just a bit as I exhaled a loud “mmmm” that literally escaped my lips. I.was.sold. It was one of those bites that was like a warm hug where whatever happened during the day that didn’t go quite right, POOF! just didn’t even matter.

God save the peach cobbler.

This peach cobbler recipe is totally delicious and absolutely addictive. My husband claims he could eat it ’til he’s sick, and I might be right there with him. It’s crispy. It’s gooey. It’s perfectly sweet and caramelized in the middle with a magically tender crunch on top.

It tastes amazing warm with melty vanilla ice cream pooling its edges, at room temp spooned straight out of the pan, or eaten as a stolen bite while nobody’s looking with the fridge door swung wide open—to that I can attest.continue to the recipe… about How to Make the BEST Peach Cobbler

The Best Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

I’ve searched for the best homemade cinnamon roll recipe forever. Perfectly fluffy and slathered with a buttery cream cheese frosting, this is it.

The BEST Cinnamon Rolls Ever

Finding the best homemade cinnamon roll recipe has been my mission for more years than I can count on two hands.

Strike that.

Finding the best homemade cinnamon roll recipe and actually making it, now THAT is what has been my mission for that number of years.

I’ve Pinned hundreds of recipes on Pinterest, and liked all of them on Facebook. I’ve torn out every recipe from every magazine that’s shared cinnamon rolls deemed fit to bake. And it seems that just about every week of Friday Faves has one more recipe for the perfect cinnamon roll included in it.

Not that I’ve ever made any of them.

For some reason, the notion of baking homemade cinnamon rolls has always intimidated me. I blame it on my childhood. That’s when my early cinnamon roll baking adventures relied on using the pre-made dough from the can that came out of the oven tasting like they’d been baked 3 days before and then quickly turned into 5-day-old rolls as soon as they cooled.

It ruined the notion of cinnamon rolls for me until I had a REAL cinnamon roll from a true blue bakery and realized just how many light and fluffy pillows from cinnamon and brown sugar slathered with glaze bundles of heaven I’d been missing out on all those years.

Now THOSE rolls are the ones I want to bake. The homemade cinnamon rolls I want to be known for. The rolls that when family and friends take one bite they blissfully roll their eyes in satisfaction as they slowly absorb each sweet, flaky bite, and then look to one another in agreement and say, “Heidi makes THE BEST cinnamon rolls.”

And now, I have that recipe.

continue to the recipe… about The Best Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

How to Make Classic Tiramisu

This classic and authentic tiramisu is comprised of ladyfingers dipped in espresso and Kahlua that are then layered with a mascarpone custard lightened up with fluffy whipped cream.

This post is in partnership with Kroger

Easy Tiramisu Recipe

It started out as just another photo shoot for the health publication I was the creative director for when we lived in Los Angeles. It was years ago but it’s one of the few I harken back to with a wee bit of envy. Not because of the beautiful model we were shooting that day, nor the perfectly celebrity-styled home in the Hollywood Hills we had rented as our location for the day.

No, it was actually because of a small-talk conversation I had with my wardrobe stylist. She was leaving the next day for Italy. For a month. And she was staying in a villa in Florence. Not just any villa, but a villa she had been invited to by restauranteur and chef Nancy Silverton of Los Angeles’ famed Campanile and Mozza empires. Their plan was simple: to cook together (with the amazing Nancy as chef!), eat amazing Italian dinners, drink local wines, and do all the things one’s imagination dreams up while envisioning an amazing vacation in Italy.

I have been jealous of that trip for the last 15 years.

I’ve never been to Italy. Let me rephrase that. I’ve yet to visit Italy. Putting it that way sounds more like a plan of action than a major case of FOMO (fear of missing out). Not that I’m looking for a life-changing experience ala Under the Tuscan Sun, but I’d be happy to take my stab at strolling through those rolling Tuscan hills and venturing through the Italian farmers market.

Until then, I’ll savor my Italian adventure with my own taste of Italy right here at home.

Italian food very well could be my favorite of all cultural foods. From the fresh and fast pastas to the slow roasts and braises. The savory and the sweet. For a while, I was making this authentic tiramisu recipe just about twice a month. We couldn’t get enough.

So when Kroger asked me to share a recipe for their Taste of Italy event, this one immediately rose to the top of the list.

continue to the recipe… about How to Make Classic Tiramisu

Lighter Caramel Seven-Layer Bars Recipe

Greek yogurt, egg whites, unsweetened coconut and fat-free sweetened condensed milk make these caramel bars a lighter version of the classic 7 layer bars.

Healthier 7 Layer Bars Recipe

Typically when you hear the words “baking” and “healthy,” they’re not in the same sentence, especially when it comes to the holidays. It seems like a bit of an oxymoron, eh? The holidays are the time to just let go, to overlook better choices. Or is it?

Luckily bloggers like Amy Atherton, of Amy’s Healthy Baking are changing the way people think about virtuous sweets.

With simple substitutions like alternative flours, healthier oils and natural sweeteners (and less of them), baked goods can in fact be healthier and tasty at the same time, and this is something Amy has undoubtedly figured out. So to all of you skeptics out there, her mindset is for you.continue to the recipe… about Lighter Caramel Seven-Layer Bars Recipe

Easy Crème Brulee With Spoon Fork Bacon

Don’t be intimidated by this classic egg custard dessert’s fancy perception. With these easy rules, crème brûlée really is one of the simplest desserts to master.

We’ve had eggs on the brain lately, but we’re not the only ones. Jenny Park and Teri Lyn Fisher — the lovely ladies behind one of our favorite blogs, Spoon Fork Bacon, recently published their second beautiful cookbook, and it’s all about eggs.

The Perfect Egg includes 70 recipes that celebrate eggs in every from. It features snacks, entrees, and of course, desserts like this surprisingly easy crème brûlée.

“Eggs are such a versatile ingredient and something we eat and use almost everyday of our lives so we were immediately drawn to the subject,” says Jenny.

Since Jenny and Teri Lyn’s blog never fails to spur recipe inspiration and adoration, and since we think eggs are definitely all they’re cracked up to be, we couldn’t help but be drawn to “cracking” the covers of their book.

Oh yes, I did say that.

continue to the recipe… about Easy Crème Brulee With Spoon Fork Bacon

Blueberry Buckle Recipe With Lemon Glaze

This award-winning blueberry buckle recipe is studded with sweet, juicy blueberries and topped with a crumbly streusel and lemon glaze for a sweet breakfast or dessert.

You could say I never got my thrill on blueberry hill. Unless it was baked in a decadent blueberry muffin or my favorite blueberry quick bread.

I’m okay with admitting that fresh blueberries have never been a favorite of mine. They were always the loose marbles of the fruit salad that I would pick around in favor of fresh strawberries, chunks of cantaloupe, and definitely give me all of the pineapple.

Times have changed.

The nutritional values that blueberries possess were drilled into my head back when my job was designing health food magazines. Every issue had an article or blurb about their merits as a driving force in lowering blood cancer, fighting off the elements due to their antioxidant powers and strengthening bones to keep osteoporosis at bay.

Now, I can call myself a lover of the fresh, sweet, juicy blueberry. But I’ll forever be a fan of a good dessert (or breakfast?) treat with blueberries baked right in.

continue to the recipe… about Blueberry Buckle Recipe With Lemon Glaze

The Berry Best Four Berry Pie Recipe

This mixed berry pie is made with four kinds of berries and a buttery homemade pie crust. It’s the ultimate summer pie recipe!

If you live in the great state of Utah, you know that today, the 24th of July, carries nearly the same celebratory weight as the king of patriot days, July 4th. It’s the day Utahns celebrate statehood with parades, fireworks and a nod to the pioneers who walked thousands of miles until they stopped in our little valley and declared, “This is the place!”

Happy Pioneer Day! Or as us heathens who prefer to center all holidays around food prefer to call it, Happy Pie & Beer Day!

I’ll take a slice and a swill of both, please.

After posting my round up of 20 Classic Summer Pies to Love, I got the pie bug. I had the homemade pie fever. I had the lust to bake. So I set myself to task. I armed myself with a summertime selection of fresh berries: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

Then I turned to my favorite pie crust recipe, which I have come to realize is nearly as soft, sweet and supple as sugar cookie dough. Cookie as a crust? Not officially, but it strikes a resemblance.

There may have been a little inspiration for the cutaway crust thanks to the cover of this magazine. They used a cookie cutter. I used a big mouth straw, and ate the little roundie cutouts as I went.

A double crust pie loaded with fresh berries is nearly as patriotic as parades, firecrackers, and a side of beer with your pie.

continue to the recipe…

Key Lime Pie

This fresh, tart, authentic key lime pie recipe is the same one you’ll remember from when you were a kid, and it’s a breeze to make — all you need are a few ingredients to blend together!

One word of advice: Do not put lime rinds down the disposal. If you do, the result will be:

1 day of dirty dishes drying with caked-on, day-old food.
$67 rental for snake at Home Depot.
1 argument with the husband.
$234 fee for Roto Rooter to clear the drain.
17 minutes of scrubbing caked-on, day-old food from plates.
But an awesomely delicious key lime pie.

We’ve learned our lesson the hard way. Don’t put lime rinds down the garbage disposal. My sister-in-law learned it too. But with potato peels right before everyone showed up for Thanksgiving dinner.

There are a lot of things that seem indestructible. Garbage disposals aren’t one of them.

continue to the recipe… about Key Lime Pie

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Whiskey Cream Sauce

Skip the traditional pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving and make this decadent pumpkin bread pudding with whiskey cream sauce instead!

When it comes to Thanksgiving, my brother-in-law has the right idea. His take on dessert? “You need a little sweetness to take away the fullness.” Truer words may have never been said, especially when it comes to Thanksgiving day dessert.

But, I can almost see you shaking your head, “no. way.”

There’s no way you’re going to forego your favorite pecan pie for T-day dessert. And don’t even think about me suggesting you skip the classic pumpkin pie flavors that reel in childhood recollections of fall’s favorite holiday.

Take a deep breath. There’s no need to despair, you can have all of those flavors and more, because bread pudding is here.

But is bread soaked in drippy goodness really a worthy of this hallowed day dessert? You bet! I’ll take it in my favorite baked french toast, or baked in the bird’s turkey day stuffing, or even as a hot roll dipped in mashed potatoes and gravy.

Bread pudding always reminds me of cajun and creole flavors thanks to a waitressing job I had in college at a New Orleans flavored restaurant that served it for dessert. I’d never tried it before working there, and how I got to college without ever doing so is a shocking mystery to me. Because once I tried it, laced with a dripping whiskey sauce, I was a goner.

continue to the recipe… about Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Whiskey Cream Sauce

Caramel Apple Pie

This caramel apple pie features an ultra flaky pie crust, a sweet-tart apple filling, a chewy crumble topping, and it’s finished with a drizzle of caramel sauce.

In Ree Drummonds’s signature style, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays: 140 Step-by-Step Recipes for Simple, Scrumptious Celebrations replicates the recipe style that’s made legions of The Pioneer Woman fans melt with each blog post.

Plus it features this recipe for Caramel Apple Pie. I mean, what’s not to like?

If you’re looking for a cookbook that introduces fancy cooking techniques and intricate recipe stylings, keep on looking through those bookshelves, because this is NOT that book. And that’s exactly why it’s so good, because it’s a treasure trove of family favorites and other scrumptious excuses to gather around the table for a year of holiday celebrating.

With regular appearances by her basset hounds Charlie and Walter, plus photos and stories featuring life on the ranch with her two-legged family members, A Year of Holidays features real-life food for the family with hundreds of step-by-step photos. There’s so much in there it’s sure to turn even the most novice chef into a confident cook in the kitchen.

And as with everything Ree does, it’s delivered with a humorous twist.

Along with holiday do-ahead game-plans—what to do the day before, and the day of the big day to make your celebrating easy for even the hostess— here’s why, in Ree’s words, you need to make the recipes in this book:

For New Years Day, Ree says her Coconut Ginger Baked French Toast is, “So wonderfully tropical you’ll be struck with the sudden urge to rub zinc oxide all over your nose.”

Huevo In the Heart is a tex-mex version of Frog In the Hole using tortillas and salsa to create a bleeding heart, which Ree says, “May not be terribly romantic at all. But at least it tastes good.”

Peach Cobbler heads up the summertime cookouts where Ree declares cobbler to be a very controversial subject. “I don’t care which cobbler is the correct version! I’ll eat it however I can get it!”continue to the recipe… about Caramel Apple Pie

Creamy Tropical Fruit Slushies

Trade in your handheld popsicles for this frozen slushie treat that’s iced, creamy, and a total tropical flavor delight made from real fruit and almond milk, making it more delicious AND healthier than what you’ll find at the local snow cone shack.

This recipe is brought to you by Almond Breeze

Who else has stood in line at the little wooden shack on a hot summer day sweating bullets but so totally not moving because you’re finally next in line for a cold, frozen slushie/snow cone/ icy treat?

Or rather, who hasn’t?

Once we hit the dog days of summer, the summertime slurping ritual of savoring a brain freeze/Slurpee/shaved ice is at an all-time high. But here’s the deal, do you really know what’s in those things? Basically, it’s just a lot of sugary syrup made from weirdly manufactured ingredients over chunks of ice. And if you get the creamy version (because it tastes SO much better!) it’s doctored with heavy cream and/or sweetened condensed milk.

Talk about a calorie load!

But you do have options! Instead of piling on the unnatural sugared syrups and heavy cream options, it’s so easy to make healthier iced slushies at home. And you don’t even need a slushie machine to do it. Instead, just a good quality kitchen blender will totally do.continue to the recipe… about Creamy Tropical Fruit Slushies

Easy 3-Ingredient Chocolate Sauce for Ice Cream

Homemade chocolate sauce is so much easier to make than you might think, and with just three ingredients (plus a pinch of salt) your ice cream, cheesecake, fruit fondue, or even chocolate cake will be dripping in chocolatey goodness in no time.

This recipe is brought to you by Kroger and Tillamook, which is heading East ya’ll!

My husband is an ice cream lover through and through. He’s just like my dad who nearly every night has a scoop or two while we binge watch our favorite TV shows. But when I was a kid, my dad never ate the ice cream naked on its own, and neither does my husband. These boys always have their ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce — or as my husband calls it in his best British accent that sends our daughter into a reels of laughter “a bit of CHOCK-OH-lut taaaahhh-ping.”

“Really dad? Chocolate TOPPING??,” she fights to dispute. “It’s called chocolate SAUCE, dad!”

Personally, I’d rather have chocolate sauce or hot fudge rather than a mysteriously labeled “topping” on my ice cream because what the heck is in “topping” anyway? That’s why this super easy, 3-ingredient sauce is now a standard at our house.

continue to the recipe… about Easy 3-Ingredient Chocolate Sauce for Ice Cream

Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookie Pops with Nutella®

These chocolate chip cookies are made into cookie sandwich cookie pops filled with creamy Nutella® hazelnut spread for a totally different take on Christmas cookies.

This recipe is brought to you by Nutella®. All opinions are my own.

The holidays have never tasted so good. And these cookies are one reason why.

Every year I gear up to make something unique to share at my holiday cookie exchange. Coconut Snowball Cookies, My Mom’s Famous Homemade Fudge, and even White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn and Cashews have all made the cut.

This year I decided to take everyone’s favorite standard cookie (chocolate chip), dress them up, and add a little fun to the cookie exchange game.

This recipe for chocolate chip cookies marries two unique ways to show off your mad cookie making skills by bridging the gap between a cookie sandwich and a cookie lollipop bound together as one with a slathering swirl of creamy Nutella® hazelnut spread spread.

You can either bite ’em from the cookie outside or lick em’ from the Nutella® creamy center, there’s just one thing you HAVE to do. Make ’em.

continue to the recipe… about Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookie Pops with Nutella®

31 Pumpkin Recipes to Carve Into This Fall

This round up of 31 favorite sweet and savory pumpkin breakfast, pasta soup, and dessert recipes will get you in the fall spirit.

What ingredient is a better beacon of fall than the pumpkin? The seasonal return of this dimply, round squash is marked by PSL’s on coffee shop menus, and neat rows of Libby’s, prominently displayed on endcaps in groceries everywhere. It’s a sure sign that autumn is here, which means full-fledged pumpkin mania can now ensue.

Like stores racing to put out Valentine’s Day paraphernalia as soon as Christmas ends, hardcore pumpkin fanatics start tinkering with recipes in August, if not sooner. Pumpkin cinnamon rolls on a 90-degree day? That’s love. The general consensus seems to be that late September is when it’s socially acceptable to open up that can of pumpkin (in case you were asking for a friend).

While our Thanksgiving tables would be pretty lackluster without the appearance of that classic slice of whipped-cream dolloped pumpkin pie, there are so many more ways to enjoy pumpkin. We love roasting it for salads, puréeing it into soups, and baking it up into sweet morning treats.

Here are 31 sweet and savory ways to enjoy it this fall.

continue to the recipe… about 31 Pumpkin Recipes to Carve Into This Fall

German Chocolate Banana Bread

My favorite banana bread recipe gets a nutty chocolate chunk upgrade, making this quick bread a dessert lovers dream.

To say I have a fetish with German Chocolate anything and everything is a severe understatement. Proof in the chocolate pudding is right here.

I could try and blame it on my German heritage, but let’s just say it like it is: I am a load-it-up-with-all-the-nuts-chocolate lover and I have no willpower when this flavor-bomb combo is in sight. I mean, have you ever had Baskin Robbins German Chocolate Cake ice cream?

Has chocolate ever been considered a part of our DNA? Apparently so! Who-da thunk that someone (not me) was likely to investigate?

My favorite part of this banana bread is all the additional fixins, but the secret is what lies under the toppings, and proof that beauty is more than skin deep.

continue to the recipe… about German Chocolate Banana Bread

No-Bake Cookie Bars with Chocolate, Cherries and Chia Seeds

I’m shortening this recipe title to be known as Triple CH No-Bake Cookie Bars, making it easy to remember the main ingredient list thanks to it’s title: chocolate, cherries and chia that create a healthy cookie bar for breakfast, snacking, or even dessert.

If a photo could sway a viewer into diving into a style of eating they don’t necessarily need to follow, Alanna Taylor-Tobin of the food blog The Bojon Gourmet will likely be the one to create it. That’s exactly how I first became a fan of Alanna’s and the blog she started during a stint of what she calls “funemployment”, including the word bojon in her blog name—a term that’s backward for “no job”.

Through her sumptuously styled photography and original gluten-free recipes, Alanna’s talents as a classically trained pastry chef inspire thousands to live a gluten-free lifestyle and still cure their sweet tooth.continue to the recipe… about No-Bake Cookie Bars with Chocolate, Cherries and Chia Seeds

Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake

Flipping through the glossy pages of Irvin Lin’s baking book, Marbled, Swirled, and Layered: 150 Recipes and Variations for Artful Bars, Cookies, Pies, Cakes, and More, puts those famous images of Wonka’s spectacular chocolate factory to shame. And as the creator of the blog Eat the Love, Irvin has many reasons to be chuffed at the success of his baking book, including the fact The New York Times recently included it on their list of the Year’s Best Baking Cookbooks — excellent work, Irvin.

From whimsically imaginative treats like hazelnut cocoa linzer cookies with blackberry-mint jam, to vanilla and peach-bourbon ice cream pie with honey-cornflake crust, each page is a dessert lover’s delight.

Just make sure you’re armed with a sleeve of cookies or something when you settle down with a copy, because it’ll definitely cue the sugar cravings.

With my birthday coming up next week, I knew a cake should be in the making and this Classic Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake immediately spoke to me. And there’s no reason to wait for someone else to bake one for me when I have a book like Irvin’s to guide me along the cake-baking way. continue to the recipe… about Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake

No-Bake Dulce de Leche Pie Recipe With Beyond Frosting

White chocolate and cream cheese mix with dulce de leche to create a light and airy no-bake caramel filling for the chocolate sandwich cookie crust.

There’s always a reason to appreciate a no-bake dessert. In summer, it’s our craving to soak up all the summer sun that keeps us out of the kitchen and at the pool or shopping for sundresses. Come holiday season, no bake sweets save the day when oven time is at a premium with all the Thanksgiving turkeys and all the Christmas pies.

But you can still have your dessert, and eat it too, even when there’s no room at the inn.continue to the recipe… about No-Bake Dulce de Leche Pie Recipe With Beyond Frosting

Cherry and Almond Quick Bread

Dark, sweet cherries are added to an almond flavored batter for an easy quick bread recipe that’s a sweet treat to eat and share with friends.

Good is easy if you just start small. A little can change it all. Learn more from Land O Lakes®

As a food blogger, I make a lot of food. With the amount of recipe testing and random menu combinations I create on any given day, in today’s society I am beyond lucky to say that sometimes it becomes just too plentiful to consume for my small family of three. We are very fortunate, and we know it. We are thankful. That’s why today’s post sponsored by Land O’ Lakes highlights one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen: Spread the food love!

Cooking, baking and creating is my job. And one of the best parts about it is sharing the results with friends and family. Let’s just that say if you’re my neighbor, you very well could receive a text that says to check your front porch (and if we’re really good friends, your fridge or counter) because there’s going to be something good waiting for you when you come home from work that day. Or better yet, stop by my house and let’s share it together.

It’s my way of saying thank you for being there. And for putting up with all those times I took your photo as a reluctant hand model when all you really wanted to do was dig into dinner or dessert on the table.

See how well that works out for everyone?

Today I’m sharing this Cherry and Almond Quick Bread. It’s perfect for sharing any time of year. Plus, I’m giving my 3 tips to help you share your own bounty with family and friends, and add a little good to their day.

Perfection Is Not the Point

Do you know how awesome it is to receive a warm plate of cookies delivered to your door…just because? I would love that. I mean, what could possibly be better? Unless there was a jug of super cold milk sent along with it? Oh shoot. But do I have enough milk to share? What if they don’t like chocolate chips and prefer snickerdoodles? Oh, man! These cookies look a little flat, misshapen and now after all this fretting they’re not even warm anymore.

Really? Are you going to do that to yourself? Don’t. Don’t overthink it. Don’t over analyze. The point is not perfection. It’s about showing you care by sharing. Your recipient will get it. And love the gesture in all it’s imperfect intention.

Just Enough is Just Right

I often determine who my food-loving recipient is going to be depending on how much food I have to give.

If it’s a big batch of my favorite Lemon Chicken Stew or a party of Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks, I know it’s going to go to one of Smudge’s friends’ families with plenty of hungry mouths to feed. If I’ve photographed and thus picked apart something like my favorite Tomato, Zucchini and Caramelized Onion with Feta Tart so that now my portions have dwindled, the untouched remains are going to be claimed by my vegetarian neighbors, who are a party of two if you don’t include the cats.

With this Cherry and Almond Quick Bread, I made it a few times to get the recipe right. My last two loaves were divided and delivered to a couple of different families who could enjoy one slice per person. Smudge claimed a whole half to herself. I couldn’t blame her for it.

Spreading the love. That’s how we do. You should too.

Made to Deliver

It used to be that I’d be ready to share my food treats with others, standing by to plate them up for delivery, and BAM! I was suddenly yanked from the stage with the hook like a bad comedian because I had nothing to put them in.

Not anymore. Now, I’m prepared.

I’ve found there are a few easy vessels to keep on hand for take home/to go/and food delivery. They’re not fancy, but they do the job.

For soups, pastas, salads and mains, I keep a small number various sizes of inexpensive store-bought plastic containers with lids around. I also recycle my cottage cheese and sour cream tubs on hand for packing food in. I’ll fill a large canning jar with a screw top lid if it’s a larger portion of soup or pasta or even just load it into a gallon freezer bag if it fits the bill. The best part of using these containers is I don’t ever worry about getting them back.

Give and keep giving is my motto.

For cookies, cakes and brownies or bars I keep a stack of heavy duty paper plates on hand and simply wrap the with aluminum foil. At holiday times, I’ll keep an eye out for sales on nondescript cheap plastic platters or plates to use all through the year.

For quick breads like this one, paper lined trays are readily available at most supermarkets. I debated on using one or two for today’s blog post, but I just went with my good old bread pan. It’s dependable. And bakes a really good bread.

Let’s get to this bread!

About the Recipe

I was gifted a whole box of these dark, sweet cherries and knew I wanted to pay it forward. A simple quick bread was the perfect showcase to share them in.

This bread has an almond flavoring that goes oh-SO-well with cherries. Rather than go the simple route of adding almond extract to the batter, I created a deeper, more intense flavor by using almond paste blended into Land O’ Lakes Super Premium European Style Butter. The European style butter is super creamy and rich thanks to a higher fat content that makes it perfect for baking. I usually use unsalted butter for baking so I can control the amount of salt myself.

The result is a bread that rises well yet isn’t too dense or heavy, with just the right crumb. My husband’s favorite part is the crispy crust. It’s the result of the almond paste butter mixture that creates a crisper shell as almond paste will do.

Of course you can enjoy a piece of this quick bread hot from the oven and slathered with butter. It’s so good that way. But don’t rule it out as the base of an ice cream dessert like Smudge created 3 nights in a row.

She even gave me a bite. It looks like sharing is in her genes.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #foodiecrusheats.

3.13 from 8 votes

Cherry and Almond Quick Bread

Dark, sweet cherries are added to an almond flavored batter for a quick bread that's a sweet treat to eat and share with friends.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

¼ cup LAND O LAKES® Super Premium European Style unsalted butter at room temperature
4 ounces almond paste
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup sweet cherries pitted and sliced or quartered

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a bread pan with baking spray.
In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and the almond paste until well blended. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until incorporated. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the sugar mixture alternating with the milk. Gently fold in the cherries.
Pour the batter into the bread pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until the bread has pulled away from the sides of the pan and the top is golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Here’s to getting into the kitchen and cook something fresh and seasonal now.

As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. All opinions are always my own.

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Strawberry Cheesecake Cream Puffs With Barbara Bakes

A no-bake cheesecake filling tops strawberry jam in these light and airy cream puffs that are a surprisingly easy dessert to make at home.

There are a handful of baking recipes I excel at. Like my German Chocolate Cake and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. They’re my basic classics, recipes handed down to me from my mama and grandma.

Luckily, there are also a handful of baking sites I refer to time and time again, sites that move the needle past my comfort zone. When I go to these sites I KNOW I am going to get a rock star result.

So when it comes to baking desserts and breads like Samoa Macarons, the best crunch rolls, the flakiest crescent rolls, or a sugar-spun, towering Croquembouche, I know exactly where to turn. I head to one of my favorite bloggers, Barbara Schieving of the food blog Barbara Bakes, and the creator of these Strawberry Cheesecake Cream Puffs from her new book Simply Sweet Dream Puffs, with the recipe at the end of this post.

continue to the recipe… about Strawberry Cheesecake Cream Puffs With Barbara Bakes

4-Ingredient Pretzel Turtles Treats

Store bought caramels pretzel bites are dipped in chocolate and topped with nuts for a super fast, no-bake gooey caramel treat.

“You need to try one of these.”

“Mooooom! You know I can’t eat pretzels. Or caramel. Or nuts.”

“But, you’ve been helping me make them. Your braces will be fine. The warm chocolate totally softens the caramel. You still need to try one. They’re insane.”

“Oh. These are really, really good, mom.”

Yes, yes they are good. And easy. And there’s nothing better than that combo when you’re in a race against Santa’s sleigh.

continue to the recipe… about 4-Ingredient Pretzel Turtles Treats

Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Krispie Treats

Rice Krispie treats get jazzed up with creamy peanut butter, a layer of smooth dark chocolate, and a sprinkling of flaky salt, for the ultimate marriage of chocolate and peanut butter!

My family has a favorite quote from The New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast. It’s become our mantra for how to lead life.

“One day your hair dryer is working just fine. The next day it’s sending out sparks to beat the band.”

Basically, things are going just swell. Swimmingly even. And then in the blink of an eye…everything changes.

That’s what happened to the food blogging community when we learned this past week of the passing of a much respected member, Chocolate Chocolate and More’s Joan Hayes.

In celebration of her life, and somehow symbolically coinciding with National Chocolate Day, food bloggers are joining together to toast Joan and her influence the only way we can. With recipes from near, far, and everywhere in between. With recipes featuring chocolate. It’s what Joan’s wishes would have been and what we’re here to fulfill.

continue to the recipe… about Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Krispie Treats

Raspberry Peach Hand Pies

Store-bought pie crust, fresh raspberries and sweet peaches make these simple hand pies an easy dessert made extra yummy when served with vanilla ice cream.

Even as little tow-head, I had a very special relationship with my Grandma Frieda.

Because she lived just outside San Francisco and we lived in Utah, we only saw her twice a year, sometimes three. But the times we did see her, either at our house or hers, it was all about spending time with her granddaughters. She taught us old old German children’s songs (hoppe hoppe reiter!), taught us the finer points of eating cottage cheese with jam on toast, and squired us in her 1968 VW Beetle that she and Grandpa brought over from Germany up and down El Camino Real to Safeway for treats.

We didn’t let the distance stop our relationship from growing because my grandma and I were die hard pen pals. My grandmother and I wrote letters back-and-forth, forth-and-back. She had the most beautiful penmanship, unlike any I’d ever seen thanks to her schooling as a youth in Germany, and no matter how mundane, she was always keen on receiving my letters.

I’d tell her about the weather, or my latest soccer game or that we gave the dog a bath. Whatever the topic was that either of us wrote about didn’t really matter. It’s the fact that we wrote one another at least once a month, and the anticipation of getting that familiar looking addressed envelope in the mail. That was always the most exciting part.

I’m trying to instill that same love and connection in my daughter for her grandparents. But it’s not easy.

It’s a lot harder today because letter writing just doesn’t happen as much anymore. It’s more about the immediacy of texting and seeing each other in person thanks to FaceTime. But I’m okay with that. Because no matter if it’s with a pen and paper or a device and a video, it’s really just about keeping in touch.

And that makes it even more special when Smudge gets one-on-one time with her grandmothers, like cooking lessons from her Grammy Pat.

continue to the recipe… about Raspberry Peach Hand Pies

4 Ingredient Ice Cream Pie with Peanut Butter Krispie Crust

Use whatever store bought or homemade ice cream you desire to fill this crispy, peanut butter crust for a super easy dessert.

The note with an asterisk at the bottom of the recipe reads, “*green peppermint choc. chip is gram’s fave.”

Apparently my grandma had some pretty wild taste buds. Green peppermint chocolate chip with peanut butter? She had cravings too.

I copied this from my grandma’s recipe book at an early point of my cooking career, it must have been when I was a teenager. I later transferred it to my master recipe book, handwritten at least 25 years ago. By the way, that book is now about 5 inches thick, with a broken bind and is a hot mess of recipes, some written but most of them torn from magazines, newspapers or written on scraps of random paper. It’s where I store all of my family favorites.

I’ve wanted to share this recipe for oh…say…ever since I started the blog. Somehow or another it would always get pushed to the back burner, but with summer in full swing and my wish for easy on the brain, it popped right to the top of this week.

It’s time to indulge in the easiest of ways.

continue to the recipe… about 4 Ingredient Ice Cream Pie with Peanut Butter Krispie Crust

Skillet Cherry Pie

Sweet, plump cherries scented with vanilla and almond make up the filling of this easy and classic, lattice-topped pie, baked in an iron skillet.

There’s something about a pie that brings people together. It’s comforting, it’s made with love and it takes more than one to fully enjoy it.

Pies are a lot like babies that way.

Babies bring people together. They need, and give, the ultimate comfort. They’re made with love and give back more than one could ever anticipate. And it takes a lot more than just one person to nurture a baby…that baby who becomes an incredible gift to all.

Today’s post is in honor of a new baby who will soon be welcomed into the extended blogging family, to Catherine and her family of the food blog Weelicious.

I’d say nibbling on those new baby toes is the perfect excuse to nibble on pie. Oh forget the nibbling, let’s eat the whole dang thing!

continue to the recipe… about Skillet Cherry Pie

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

These dense and chewy macaroons are dipped in dark chocolate for the ultimate decadent treat, and they also feature a fun crunchy surprise in the center!

Chocolate. It’s one of my favorite ingredients in the kitchen. This post is part of series of partnered posts with Hershey. As always, thank you for reading and for supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you.

She dunks everything she eats.

She takes after her great grandmother, and her grandfather—whom she never met.

Toast in eggs. California rolls in her ramen broth. And last week? Her cheeseburger in milk. Things might be getting out of hand. But, I must say, I appreciate my daughter’s adventurous palate.

It was no surprise then, that when I was telling her about my cravings for coconut macaroons, her head went straight to dipping my favorite cookie into chocolate.

It was a no brainer in my head, too.continue to the recipe… about Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

German Chocolate Brownie Pie

An easy, from scratch, fudgy brownie is baked into a tart pan and topped with a classic coconut-pecan German frosting for a decadent dessert you won’t be able to resist!

It was my birthday last week and that makes me an Aquarian. And like all water-bearing astrological believers, that means I have an affinity for chocolate.

I know! I didn’t know that was an astrological trait either. But just look it up online. That fact is sure to be attributed as truth out there somewhere. Or at least…it is now.

I get it from my mom. We’re both chocolate lovers. I can pass all day long on vanilla cupcakes and caramel dripping anything. But slip a piece of chocolate in front of me, and I melt.

So it makes complete sense that when the stars align, this Aquarian’s all-time favorite birthday tradition is a toast of German chocolate flavored anything and everything. Cake. Jars. Heck, toss me a bite size ALMOND JOY bite-size bar and look at me go all weak in the knees like a lovelorn 13 year old who just set eyes on her crazy crush. continue to the recipe… about German Chocolate Brownie Pie

Pear and Plum Puff Pastry Tart with Blue Cheese

So much for the peaches I’ve been hoarding in my crisper. Those babies sadly saw the heave-ho, because while they looked blushed and perfectly ripe on the outside, the inside told a very different story. So much for saving the best for last.

But they made way for another farmer’s market fall favorite. Four F’s in one sentence, that must be a sign. A very good sign.

This phyllo recipe with baked pears and stone fruit has multiple personalities. One day it thinks it’s a dessert, the next it shows off as an appetizer. And watch out Nelly, because it also has the chops for breakfast, lunch or dinner (+ pancetta or bacon perhaps?)

While my sister-in-law Ginni has the very sad condition of not being able to stand the mere mention of baked fruit, let alone eat it, I’ve pick up her slack, and have always been a fan.

Fresh fruit baked on a bed of puffed crust is a favorite dessert for entertaining. Most likely because when I’ve finally gotten to the end of planning my entertaining menu, I’ve lost my mojo and need something simple and fast to pull together.

Honey sweet fruit with blue cheese fits the bill in all the right ways.

continue to the recipe… about Pear and Plum Puff Pastry Tart with Blue Cheese

Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Almond Streusel

Things around here have floated back into a familiar groove.

Smudge is back in school so sleeping in is saved for the weekends and random mommy daughter excursions during the day have come to a halt. The one thing that stays constant is my little girl’s request for an after school snack as soon as her backpack hits the floor. I wish she’d learn to pick that up. But then, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

We have our routine when she walks in the door. I tell her to wash her hands. She heads straight for the kitchen in search of sustenance.

This sweet after school treat is a mash-up of two food bloggers’ recipes I’ve had the luck to taste for myself straight from their sugar laced ovens.

The result? I think you can tell for yourself by Smudge’s reaction below.

continue to the recipe… about Apple Blondies with Cinnamon Almond Streusel

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About the Recipe

Cherry and Almond Quick Bread

Ingredients

Instructions

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