Pistachio Cake with Lemon Glaze

I recently hosted people for the first time in forever, so I allowed myself to go a bit overboard. Too much food. Too many drink options. And definitely “too much” dessert for the number of people I invited.

But if ever there’s a reason to go overboard, it’s when you’re hosting friends. I was delighted to go a bit nuts and baked three separate desserts… for 12 guests.

After many rabbit holes, I decided to go with a pistachio cake as the centerpiece dessert. I originally picked a recipe that sounded delicious and pretty simple to make. But the night before my party, I noticed a lot of commenters repeating that dreaded phrase: “This whole account is AI.”

I noticed the same comment on every recipe from this account. Whether it was true AI slop or not, I suppose we’ll never know. What gave me actual pause was the utter lack of comments saying people had made these recipes. No comments either way—successful bake or not. That made me feel less confident, so I decided to find a different option that used the same ingredients I already had.

Enter Smitten Kitchen.

There’s a reason Deb is one of the stalwarts of the baking community. Her recipes are reliable, thoroughly tested and absolutely delicious. I’ve written about many on this blog, and made even more than that. I knew she wouldn’t lead me astray in my moment of pistachio need.

And whew, was I correct. This pistachio cake is delightful, like a dense nutty marzipan that somehow also has a light crumb to it. The lemon drizzle is optional, but I was glad I did it: The lemon/pistachio combo is a lovely complementary duo. The recipe is also rather simple, coming together especially quickly if you have a food processor.

My guests loved this cake, and I did too. Deb said it’d taste better on the second day so I decided to test her theory. Right again: This was a lovely, morning-after-the-party breakfast.

P.S. I truly apologize for the horrendous photos. My decision to blog came after my decision to cake so… we have what we have.

Original recipe: Smitten Kitchen. I’ve rewritten things a bit and added commentary.

Yield: 1 loaf, using a standard loaf pan

Suggested equipment: Food processor. You can make it without one, see Deb’s original recipe for tips.

Total Time: ~3 hours

Cook Time: ~65 minutes

Ingredients

For the cake

• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp roasted, shelled and unsalted pistachios
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 10 tbsp unslated butter (5 ounces/145 grams if that’s easier to measure)
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 tsp baking powder, slightly heaped
• 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp flour

For the glaze

• 1/3 cup roasted, shelled and unsalted pistachios
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Finely-grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

Make your cake

1. Heat your oven to 325 degrees so it’s ready to go. Now’s also a good time to prep your pan. You’ll want a standard loaf pan for this one, and it’s best to line the pan with parchment so the cake doesn’t stick.
2. Using your food processor, grind the pistachios, sugar and salt. They should start to look powdery, but stop pulsing before it reaches a paste.
3. Cut your butter into small chunks, then blend it into the pistachio mixture. It’ll start lumpy, but you want to keep the processor going until it looks shiny. It’ll sort of resemble frosting—thick and smooth. I included a photo below.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the machine between each egg.
5. Add milk and pulse for a few seconds, just to combine it in.
6. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract and baking powder. Blend to fully combine.
7. Finally, pour in the flour. Pulse the machine just until the flour disappears—do not overmix!
8. Your batter is ready to go, so pour it into the pan. Start checking around 60 minutes to see how things look. Mine took 65 minutes but ovens vary, so your best bet is to try a toothpick near the top of the cake to see if it comes out clean. Make sure you poke deeply enough to catch any underbaked batter lurking right below the top crust!
9. Let the cake cool before icing it. You can leave it in the pan for about 15 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make your glaze

1. Combine the pistachios, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a small saucepan.
2. Simmer the mixture for 2-3 minutes. It’s a bit hard to tell when it’s done, but you just need a syrupy consistency.
3. Drizzle over the cooled cake.

Like Deb said, this cake does store very well. Keep it covered if you’re going to leave it out or freeze it to keep the party going even longer.

Halvah Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hellooooo, readers. It’s sure been a minute. I’m here to share a very important message: You absolutely must try these cookies. These cookies are nuts, with an amazing combo of textures and flavors. You fold halvah, a sesame paste, directly into the batter, providing the perfect complement to a browned butter base. In every bite, you get that hint of browned butter, a little pocket of sesame, the sweetness of chocolate. Truly a 10/10 recipe, and a huge hit with everyone I gave them.

So grab some halvah—you can probably find it at bigger grocery stores in the “international aisle” or at a Middle Eastern specialty store. And let’s get back to baking together, ok?

Original recipe: Butter and Brioche. I’ve rewritten things a bit and added commentary.

Yield: ~2 dozen

Suggested equipment: Mixer. I’d also recommend using a kitchen scale if you have one so you can follow the original measurements in grams. I converted the recipe into cups but grams are more precise because many of the conversions come out to non-standard cup amounts and might be tough to calibrate.

Total Time: ~2 hours, but a lot of that is inactive time for you. This recipe isn’t technically difficult, but it does require a few extra steps to make your cookies extra flavorful. You’ll need to plan ahead for a couple breaks in the process for best results.

Cook Time: ~11 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature(250g)(probably 2.5 sticks for standard American butter)
• 1 1/5 cups light brown sugar (250g) (if you’re using cups, you could try measuring 1.25 and then leaving a little behind to make it easier on yourself)
• 0.7 cups sugar (110g) (you could measure 3/4 a cup and leave a bit out)
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups flour (350g)
• 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (~175g) (I tend to reduce the amount of mix-in vs. recipes so feel free to add more chocolate and walnuts if you prefer more mix-ins!
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup halvah, broken into chunks (100g)
• Flaked salt for finishing

Instructions

Brown your butter

1. First we’re gonna brown some butter. Place about 2/3 cup (150g) of your butter into a saucepan, set over medium heat. Keep an eye on the butter, stirring from time to time, until the butter is golden and melted.
2. After this, you’re looking for an amber color and a bit of a nutty smell. Keep an eye on the butter, and swirl the pan occasionally. It will start to foam, which just means it’s transitioning to the next phase. You’ll see some burnt solids start to form and if you start noticing brown specks, it’s time to take the butter of the heat.
3. Pour the butter into another container. Then, put the butter in your fridge to help it set. It should be soft, like room temp butter, before you move to the next step of the recipe. This should take about half an hour.

Re-measure butter

Ok. Hang with me here. We need to get our butter up to 225 grams, which means adding some of the plain butter you set aside to the browned butter portion. If you have a scale—well, this is easy.

If you don’t have a scale, it requires a bit more math. First, you need to assess how much browned butter you have. You can use tablespoons or cups to do that. Every 115 grams of butter can also be measured as 1/2 a cup, or 8 tablespoons. So measure out your browned butter. That is X. Subtract X from 225 grams. That is Y—aka the amount of butter you still need add.

Now, dip into your extra stash of plain butter and using the same formula for cups/tablespoons, add what’s needed to get you to 225 grams.

Did we make it through this math? I hope so! And hey, great endorsement for kitchen scales—they open your world to lots more recipes!

Make your dough

Now that we completed the math test of this recipe, we’re onto the dough!

1. Put your butter in a bowl, and add the light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat, until light and fluffy. If you’re using a mixer, this takes about 5 minutes on medium.
2. Scrape the bowl a bit, then add your egg and beat again.
3. Add the vanilla, and beat an additional minute. At this point, your dough should look like lighter.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
5. Set your mixer to medium-low, and add half the dry ingredients until it’s just combined. Add the rest of the dry ingredients, until the mixture is just combined.
6. Now, measure in your chocolate chips and walnuts. Use a wooden spoon to mix those in by hand.
7. Finally, use the wooden spoon to fold in the halvah chunks. Do this gently so the halvah stays in chunks—this is what brings the lovely puddles later.
8. Now we’re going to cover our bowl with plastic wrap and set it in the fridge to firm. This will take about 30 minutes.

Bake those cookies

1. First, preset your oven to 350F and line your cookie sheets.
2. Roll your dough into tablespoon-sized balls, or use a small cookie scoop. Make sure to allow space between the dough balls since the cookies spread a bit while baking.
3. Sprinkle a bit of flaky salt on each dough ball before putting the sheets in the oven. I tried some cookies with and without salt—I definitely preferred the cookies with salt on top, but it’s not the end of the world if you skip it, either!
4. Bake your cookies for about 10-12 minutes. Keep an eye on them through the door if you can—the cookies should have set middles, and crisp golden edges.
5. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

These cookies keep well in an air-tight container or Ziploc for several days. I also froze them and found the reheated cookies just as flavorful!

Mixed Berry Cookies

Look. I know what you’re thinking. It’s not even remotely berry season. But hear me out: Most the time, it’s actually better to bake with frozen berries. So you can indeed have berry cookies all year round.

And my friends. You absolutely should.

I made these for a birthday party to add some variety to the dessert selection. We had a triple chocolate cake. We had tiramisu. We had a fruit plate. And then we had these brown butter berry beauties.

This is a pretty easy recipe altogether. As mentioned above, you should definitely use frozen berries. Try to leave them in the freezer until you’re ready to scoop your dough, because they’ll release water as they defrost… and that can make scooping dough balls real messy.

The original recipe also adds chocolate chips but I omitted them for the reasons above. A raspberry chocolate chip cookie truly does sound divine, so I might try that another time! You have a lot of flexibility here overall since you can swap in all kinds of fruits or fruit/non fruit combos.

Fruit does tend to make both the dough and final cookies a bit wetter so think about that when you do your prep and baking. For transport to the party, I made sure to pack the cookies in a single layer on parchment… I was worried that stacking multiple layers might turn the cookies too soggy. They were definitely fine for a full day, but after that I froze the few leftovers to try and keep the texture better.

Original recipe: Broma Bakery. I’ve rewritten things a bit and added commentary.

Yield: ~24, depending on how big you scoop the dough!

Total Time: ~45 minutes

Cook Time: ~11 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooked
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg, plus an additional egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup frozen berries—I used a strawberry, blackberry and blueberry blend
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, if wanted

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F
2. Mix together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat until mixed. Then, add in your egg, egg yolk and vanilla, and mix again.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda.
4. Add the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients. Mix lightly until the ingredients are combined, and no streaks of flour remain.
5. At this point, add in your berries and chocoalte if wanted. Make sure they’re evenly distributed, but be careful not to overmix the dough.
6. Line a cookie sheet, and place your dough balls on it. I used a 2 tbsp cookie scoop for mine. Remember, the dough gets wet as the berries defrost, so move fast! You can leave extra dough in the fridge until you’re ready to bake if your oven requires multiple rounds of baking sheets to finish the batch.
7. Bake for about 11 minutes, or until the edges look golden and the centers puff up a bit. This recipe calls for your cookies to be a bit underdone so you’ll still see some softer spots when you pull them out. Definitely give them time to cool so the cookies stay intact!

Pumpkin Spice Black and White Cookies

I know, I know, it’s been six months. Those six months were full of adventures around my new home… and I really wasn’t baking much. Now that the temps are dipping, the baking’s back on. And boy do I have a fun recipe to share today: Pumpkin Spice Black and Whites.

I’ve long been a fan of the classic black and white. They’re pretty hard to find in California, and I’m delighted to see them all over NYC. Though, to be honest—most of them aren’t that good. I suppose one could call me picky when it comes to cookies, and black and whites are no exception. I’m looking for a specific flavor, texture and frosting type… and it’s kind of hard to come by THAT kind.

After a few experiments over the years, I’ve dubbed this recipe my favorite for the classic combo. But when I saw a pumpkin spice variation from Joy the Baker in my, I quite literally gasped. I love a good pumpkin spice riff, and Joy is a very trusted source for stellar recipes. Honestly, I can’t believe it took me three years to notice this recipe from her site. I feel like a Pumpkin Spice failure! But now that I found it, it’s definitely a keeper.

These cookies have a perfectly cakey cookie base, with a great pumpkin spice flavor. I swapped in vanilla icing from the classic black and white recipe instead of the maple in Joy’s version—I’m just not much of a maple gal. I did make her chocolate icing though, and it was phenomenal. Icing texture/flavor makes a big difference for this kind of cookie, and I can confidently declare this one a winner.

Original recipe: Joy the Baker. I’ve rewritten things a bit and added commentary.

Yield: ~15 cookies

Suggested equipment: None needed

Total Time: ~80 minutes

Cook Time: ~15 minutes

Ingredients

For the cookies

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice blend
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 canola or other flavorless oil
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the chocolate glaze

• 4 oz dark chocolate, in chunks or chips
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp light corn syrup

For the vanilla glaze

• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 1/2 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of fine sea salt

Instructions

Make your cookies

1. Preheat your oven to 325F. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together. They should be lightened in color—takes about a minute
4. Add the oil, pumpkin and vanilla to your sugar mixture. Whisk until blended.
5. Stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture until it’s incorporated.
6. Now it’s time to scoop your cookies! You can either use a 1/4 cup measuring cup or an ice cream scoop to do it. Make sure to allow space between your cookies, as they expand in baking.
7. Before putting the cookies in the oven, use a smooth flat surface to flatten the rounds a bit. These cookies need to be mounds—flat on one side, and domed on the other. This ensures you get the right shape.
8. Bake 14-16 minutes. They should feel firm on the top flat side, and a toothpick inserted should come out dry.
9. Cool your cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

Make your glazes

1. Bring your water to a boil so it’s ready for the vanilla.
2. Then, make the chocolate glaze. Melt your butter and chocolate in the microwave. Stir in corn syrup, and the pinch of salt. Your frosting should look glossy and smooth. If it seems too thick or starts to harden, loosen it up with a few seconds in the microwave on low power.
3. Using a butter knife or icing spatula, spread chocolate glaze over one half of each cookie. Try to get your icing line as straight as you can in the middle so it looks nicer in the end.
4. Now it’s time for the vanilla glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, salt and 3 tablespoons of your boiling water. You might need to add more water to get the frosting to the right spreadable texture. Err on less water, rather than more—thicker is better than thin.
5. Using a clean knife or spatula, ice the second half of each cookie.
6. Let the cookies set on a cooling rack for about 20 minutes, then dig in!

These cookies keep ok for a couple days at room temp. Make sure to store them in an airtight container, as this kind of container can get soggy pretty easily. You’ll need to store the cookies in single layers so they don’t stick together. I don’t recommend refrigerating these—some recipes recommend it so the icing sets, but I found it hardened the icing more than I wanted (see the last pic in the gallery for evidence!)

Soft Batch Funfetti Cookies

I normally try to post a good variety of recipes. Brownies one time, cookies the next. A fruity flavor, then something with chocolate.

But my friends: any sort of content calendar-ing goes out the window when you move across the country. And yes: that’s what I’ve been doing lately. Since my last post, almost three months ago, I decide to move, packed up my stuff and headed right on across the country to the grand old land of NYC.

I haven’t gotten to bake anything new in a while, as my stuff is still in storage and I’m currently without an oven. Howevvver, I had always meant to blog about these delicious Soft Batch Funfetti Cookies eventually. And so, why not today?

These are the funfetti cookies of your dreams. Slightly chewy edges, very soft inside. They have a perfect ratio of sprinkles and a lovely almond flavor. I had planned to pass them out to friends but admittedly, ate most for myself. They’re easy to make, freeze well, and generally brighten up your day.

This was one of the last things I baked in San Francisco as I scrambled to use up all my flour, chocolate, sprinkles and such. Once I settle in here I’ll get back to trying new recipes and playing around in the kitchen. Until then: let’s all raise a funfetti cookie and toast to new chapters, ok?

Original recipe: Averie Cooks. I’ve rewritten things a bit and added commentary.

Yield: 16 cookies

Suggested equipment: Mixer

Total Time: ~2.5 hours, with chill time

Cook Time: ~8 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1.5 tsp vanilla or imitation vanilla extract
• 1.5 tsp almond extract
• 1.5 cups flour
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup sprinkles

Instructions

Make your dough

1. Use your mixer to cream the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Use the medium-high speed and beat until it’s light and fluffy. This should take about 5 minutes.
2. Scrape your bowl, then add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Mix until just combined.
3. Add the sprinkles, and fold them in with a wooden spoon.
4. Scoop the dough into large, two tablespoon mounds. Flatten each mound slightly, then cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You can leave it in the fridge a few days if needed.

Bake your cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until edges look firm and tops are just beginning to set. They might look a bit undercooked or pale in the center—that’s fine! They will continue to firm up as they cool. Let cool completely, then enjoy!
3. These cookies store really well at room temp or in the freezer.

Brown Butter Sprinkle Cookies

I’ve been in a real sprinkle mood lately. They’re simply so joyful: little bursts of color and sugar, bringing some extra fun your way.

At first glance, these cookies sound rather simple. Unexciting, even. But trust me—they’re a million times better than you could possibly imagine. Sometimes, the simplest recipes wow the most.

In this case, you’ve got the depth of browned butter combined with a simple sugar dough. It’s a rich, subtly sweet cookie base that tastes almost too good to be true. The sprinkles add a bit of crunch, and a whole lot of flair.

These cookies use simple ingredients, but make sure to allot enough time for multiple steps. You have to brown the butter, chill the dough and finally, bake. These are freshest and most flavorful on day one, then harden up a bit after that. They still taste good for a few days after baking, but I preferred them at their softest on day one. You can also freeze the baked cookies, and microwave or defrost at room temp to enjoy later on.

Original recipe: Sally’s Baking Addiction. I’ve rewritten things a bit and added commentary.

Yield: ~3 dozen cookies

Suggested equipment: Mixer

Total Time: ~1.5 hours

Cook Time: 12-14 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temp
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Sprinkles (you can technically skip them but… why would you?!)

Instructions

Brown your butter

1. Cut the butter into smaller pieces, and place it in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Whisk the butter occasionally as it heats up. First, the butter melts. Then it starts to foam and eventually, it will start to brown. You should keep whisking throughout the entire process. It’ll take about 5-8 minutes for the butter to start browning, and you’ll see little brown specks form. Once you see the specks and smell a nutty aroma, remove butter from heat.
3. Pour butter into a separate bowl to cool. Let it sit for 5 minutes before mixing it with other ingredients.

Make your dough

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda and salt.
2. Pour your browned butter into a mixing bowl. Then add the sugar and brown sugar. Beat on medium-high speed for about a minute.
3. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat again.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on low speed, until it’s combined. It will be sort of thick and a bit greasy.
5. Roll dough into balls, about 1 tbsp large. Dip each ball into sprinkles.
6. Place your dough balls onto sheets or plates and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Bake your cookies

1. Preheat your oven to 350F
2. Place dough balls about 3 inches apart on lined baking sheets.
3. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until lightly browned on the sides. Don’t overbake, or they won’t be as delightfully soft.
4. Let cool on your baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

The 2021 Baking Roundup

2021 was a year of baking experimentation. I picked recipes with lots of steps, twists and turns, unusual ingredients. I tried a lot of recipes I’d saved ages ago—sometimes to great results, and sometimes not. But for me, baking is a form of creativity. It’s a process, and much of the fun comes from experimentation itself. Except for the days when I’m on “deadline,” baking for an occasion where I’ve promised to bring treats… it’s just for kicks, just for myself. So when the twists and turns dead end, or an intriguing ingredients turns out to be a dud—I typically just shrug. I still tried something new and had fun doing it, after all.

And it’s good I have that mindset. Because this year, I made a LOT of duds. Going back through my notes, I recorded that 23% of the recipes I tried weren’t really that great. Either the recipe didn’t bake up right, or the ingredients didn’t feel balanced, or I just didn’t enjoy it very much. Of course, I could have messed up here or there. But I’m a pretty confident baker, really. It’s just that I try a lot of unusual things, and bake from all over the web. Most recipe sources don’t really test recipes multiple times before posting (including this site, to be honest). So it’s not too surprising when things don’t quite work out.

But hey: that means 67% of recipes I made this year got a thumbs up. And that’s still quite a lot of yummy treats! This year, I baked 31 different recipes, 87% of which were new to me.

What I made

I pretty much always make more cookies than anything else because they’re such a versatile treat. You can go classic or complex—and I certainly did both in 2021. This year, cake took the second spot, followed by a tie between bread, brownies and buns. Overall, my baking was a bit more skewed to cookies and cake than in 2020, with a slight decrease in breakfast foods like muffins and scones.

I really mixed it up with flavors this year. I made less with chocolate than usual, and only 39% of recipes included chocolate as a flavor. When it comes to dominant flavors, that percentage goes down even further. In fact, most the recipes I made in 2021 were characterized by some kind of herb, spice, nut or seed. That fits with the whole experimentation phase I’ve been in, as these recipes tend to call for less common ingredients and require a bit more effort. And then once you buy something for one recipe—say, a giant container of sesame seeds—you kind of have to keep playing around with it!

What I loved

My favorite recipes from 2021 that you’ll find on Sugarsmith: Peppermint Bark Brownies, Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies and these Saffron Cupcakes. My favorite recipes I did not blog about include Rainbow Cookies, Black Sesame Cookies with Lemon Curd Filling and Tahini Hawaj Cinnamon Rolls (I might post the recipe for these eventually!).

Where it went
I managed to do a few treat drop offs in 2021, so I actually shared more with friends than in 2020. It was mostly one-off hand-offs when I happened to see someone, but I also got to bring special treats to a birthday, a housewarming and a holiday party.

2021 on Sugarsmith 
I posted 9 times in 2021, meaning 8 new recipes on top of the 2020 baking report. My most popular new recipe was Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, but the most popular recipe overall was these M&M Bars from 2017. The gooey butter cakes also drew lots of clicks, with both the Biscoff and Pumpkin versions bringing in some serious traffic. On a more personal note, one of my friends texted me last year to say she was making the Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake for her family, and it turned out great. I LOVE texts like that—please let me know when you try recipes on here!

Best new-to-me dishes in 2021

I did quite a bit of dining out this year, of the outside variety. I probably ordered from my fave Moroccan place more than anything else, but here were some new-to-me favorites:

• The squash bowl from Cafe Reveille in San Francisco
• Parpadelle al ragu at Fiaschetteri Pistoia in NYC
• The Lamb Memelitas at Cocina de Barrio in San Diego
• Black and White Cookie at Moishe’s Bake Shop in NYC
• Umami Toast from SPRO Coffee Lab in San Francisco
• Coffee from Suited in NYC (coffee counts as a dish, ok?)

Logging off for now, dear friends. But I’ll be back soon with some new cookie recipes. I promise they’ll be worth the wait.

Peppermint Bark Brownies

I was supposed to host a holiday treats party last weekend, and wanted to come up with a dessert menu that felt right for this time of year. A little bit of gingerbread, some festive sprinkles… and definitely something with mint.

I’ve tried a few different permutations of mint cookies and brownies over the years, but wanted to try a new take. Originally, I was planning to mix chopped candy canes into the brownie batter and swirl some more on top. But: I couldn’t find candy canes! After trying three stores near my house I gave up and went for a new angle: Ghiradelli Peppermint Bark.

Readers, I am so glad for this plot twist. Because these brownies turned out divine. I swirled some of the bark into the batter, and crumble the rest on top during the last few minutes of baking. It gives the brownies almost Thin Mint vibes, with a mint flavor throughout the entire brownie and an extra dose of minty chocolatey goodness on top.

If you’re the opposite of me and can’t find Ghiradelli bark, you could copy this same approach with candy canes, mint M&Ms, Andes Mints, another kind of bark… any minty chocolate candy would probably have a similar effect.

I used the Smitten Kitchen “favorite brownie” recipe as my base here because it’s the perfect chewy brownie. If you want to use a mix or have a different favorite recipe, go for it!

Original recipe: Base brownie comes from Smitten Kitchen

Yield: ~36

Total Time: ~45 minutes

Cook Time: ~25 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 oz unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cups flour
• 1 package of Ghiradelli peppermint bark, broken into small pieces (each package has 12 pieces. I technically used 15 when I first tried this recipe but you could absolutely get away with just 12 pieces and a single package)

Ingredients

1. Preheat your oven to 350F
2. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a microwave safe bowl, in thirty second increments. Stir the mixture in between each increment to help it along. Stir so it’s completely melted and smooth before you move on.
3. Whisk in the sugar.
4. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Whisk in the vanilla and salt.
6. Pour in your flour, and stir it all with a wooden spoon.
7. Sprinkle in ~3/4 of your peppermint bark pieces so they’re evenly distributed throughout the batter.
8. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper or foil. Pour in the batter and make sure it’s evenly distributed in the pan.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, then sprinkle your remaining peppermint bark pieces on top. This helps them bake right into the top without fully melting into the batter.
10. Bake another 5-10 minutes, depending on your oven (so it’s 25-30 minutes total). You’ll know the brownies are done when the edges are set, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. There might be a couple spots of melted chocolate from your bark!
11. Let cool for a few minutes at least before digging in. You can totally enjoy these warm, but they’ll be easier to cut if you let them cool down completely beforehand.

Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can never have too many chocolate chip cookies in your baking bag of tricks. There’s a time and place for the classic, of course. But when you really want to wow people, pull out these Spiced Chocolate Chip Cookies instead. They’re perfectly and uniquely flavored, with a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and a real secret weapon: cayenne.

But these aren’t just any old cookie: they’re perfectly spiced, with a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cayenne. Yes, you read that right. Cayenne! The combo is totally unexpected, and add flavorful depth to an otherwise classic cookie. You get a bit of warmth, spiciness and sweetness in every bite.

This recipe is easy to make, but I definitely recommend chilling your dough to help the flavors intensify before you bake. The final cookie is so perfect: crispy on the outsides and chewy in the centers. Don’t skip the chips on top either—they’ll give you lovely little chocolate puddles on top. And you don’t want to miss out on that!

Original recipe: The Practical Kitchen. I’ve rewritten things a bit and included volume measurements in case you don’t have a kitchen scale. If you DO have a scale, I definitely recommend using it—the slight variation in cup measures can make a difference in cookie texture! The volume measurements listed here are based on what I measured after weighing out ingredients.

Yield: ~3 dozen cookies

Suggested equipment: Mixer, kitchen scale

Total Time: ~40 minutes of working time, plus at least a couple hours to chill the dough

Cook Time: ~9 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (240 g)
• 1 tsp Diamond kosher salt (if you use another brand, use 1/2 tsp instead, as the flakes are a different size than the Diamond brand)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1.5 cups dark brown sugar (200 g)
• 1/2 cup sugar (100 g)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips or chunks to mix into the dough
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips or chunks for finishing
• Flaky finishing salt

Instructions

Make your dough

1. Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cayenne and nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.
2. Use your mixer to cream the butter, dark brown sugar and granulated sugar until they’re light and fluffy. This will take about 2-3 minutes, and you should make sure to scrape down the bowl a couple times so it all mixes together properly.
3. Add your eggs one at a time, and beat to incorporate.
4. Add your dry ingredients in two batches, stirring on low speed. When just a few flour streaks remain, add in your cup of chocolate chips. Stop mixing as soon as the flour is fully incorporated—don’t overmix!
5. Scoop your dough into rounds and place them on a lined cookie sheet. Squash each ball slightly so it has a domed top and flat bottom.
6. Use your reserved 1/3 cup of chocolate chips to help with those chocolate puddles. Just push a few chocolate chips or chunks into the top of each cookie ball.
7. Chill the dough for 2+ hours before moving onto the baking step. This helps with both texture and flavor.

Bake your cookies

1. Preheat your oven to 375F.
2. Bake for ~9-10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned on the edges. The centers won’t look fully set when you take them out, but they’ll firm up as they cool.
3. Immediately sprinkle each batch with flaky salt while they’re still warm.
4. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

These will keep well at room temp for a few days, and also freeze nicely.

Lemon Ginger Cookies

As we round the corner from Halloween to Thanksgiving and beyond, it’s time to start talking about ginger.

I’m always on a quest for the best ginger cookies. From my many failed attempts at recreating the Williamsburg gingerbread (I still haven’t found a good recipe) to these Nutella-stuffed gingersnaps, I’ll try anything that promises pillowy, ginger-y goodness. There’s just something so satisfying about that combo of spices, especially when you get a good kick from the ginger.

This specific cookie recipe caught my eye when I found myself with far too many leftover lemons. A bit of rabbit hole-ing down my Pinterest boards later landed me on this very delicious solution. The cookies definitely lead with the ginger, and lemon is more of a complementary flavor. It’s a really satisfying flavor combo, warm and spicy with a slight tart finish. The cookies turned out with perfectly crispy edges and soft centers, making these an all-around winner.

Original recipe: A Foodie Stays Fit. I’ve rewritten things a bit and added commentary.

Yield: ~3 dozen

Suggested equipment: Mixer

Total Time: ~35 minutes

Cook Time: ~10 minutes

Ingredients

For your dough

• 2.5 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 tbsp lemon zest

For your topping

• 1/4 cup sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F
2. In a bowl, sift your flour, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon.
3. Use your mixer to combine the butter and brown sugar.
4. Then, beat in your egg until the mixture is light and fluffy.
5. Add your molasses and lemon zest into the mixer bowl. Mix until combined.
6. Pour your flour mixture into the liquid mixture, and stir it together. I did this last step with a wooden spoon to make sure I didn’t overmix the dough.
7. Scoop the dough into balls, and roll each ball in the sugar topping. Smush each ball slightly after you place it on your cookie sheet.
8. Bake about 10 minutes, until the outside is very lightly browned. They’ll firm up more as they cool, so resist the urge to overbake.
9. Let cool on the sheet for 10 minutes or so, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.