Coconut Shortbread

For someone who loves food, loves to think about food, loves to talk about food as much as I do, I'm really bad at recording and remembering all the things I've loved. Sure, it's easy enough to forget failures and dishes gone wrong, but horrifyingly enough, it seems to be just as easy to forget the triumphs, those fabled, beloved dishes we vow to make again and again.

In an effort to remember better - and also to keep some sort of record of my life - I've started keeping two little notebooks in the kitchen. One is a catalog of my weekly CSA deliveries and what I've cobbled together with the bounty, and the other focuses on the dinners I cook for others. What did I make? Who attended? Did anything especially salacious occur? The answer to that last question is almost always a resounding YES.

I know these notebooks will be of little interest to anyone but me, but even now, just a year after I started jotting it all down, I find myself flipping through them from time to time. Sometimes, I'm seeking inspiration. Sometimes, I simply want to be transported back to another time. Most of the time, I'm just trying to remember what the f**k I ate.

Recently, I started to feel a little despondent that there is this gaping hole in my culinary history. There are years and years worth of wonderful things I've made that I cannot for the life of me remember. But a conversation with a dear old friend bemoaning just this reminded me that, in fact, that was not quite the case. Because after all, I had this blog.

It may have lain mostly dormant (much like my 'love' life) over the last decade, but occasionally, I'd pop back in to share a recipe. So while it may be just a loose skeleton, scrolling down the homepage here gives me little flashes of memory, little indications of what I was eating and what I was cooking. And I like that.

I'm certainly not going to promise I'll post on here more (also, apart from a few robots, I'm pretty sure no one is reading this stupid thing anymore), but I will make small efforts to keep on recording. I hope that somewhere down the line, I'll be able to look back and say, "Damn, I ate well."

Now for what you're probably here for. If you're here at all, that is. Without further ado, I present these toasty, sandy little fellas. I give you: coconut shortbread.

Coconut Shortbread

2 ¼ cups spelt flour

1 cup desiccated coconut

½ teaspoon salt

200 grams good unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup toasted sugar (you’ll need to toast it in the oven ahead of time – I recommend doing a bigger batch so you have it on hand. You simply put it in a glass baking dish at 300 degrees and toast for about 2 hours until it’s golden and fragrant. You’ll need to stir it every 30 mins to make sure it isn’t burning)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

Crystal sugar for sprinkling

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a square baking tin with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together spelt flour, coconut and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and toasted sugar until light and fluffy and the sugar has dissolved somewhat. Add vanilla and almond extracts and beat to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to mixer, beating until just combined. It will be a bit crumbly, but that’s ok. Press the dough into the prepared baking tin until it’s snug and the surface is more or less level. Cover and let rest in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. Once it’s chilled, score the dough with a sharp knife into desired shortbread shapes. Prick the top of the dough with a fork. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top has browned slightly and you can smell that delicious scent wafting from the oven. The top of the cookies will also feel firm to the touch. Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, slice along the scores you’ve made and allow to cool completely. Enjoy with a nice milky cup of tea!

Earl Grey Cookies with Cardamom White Chocolate Ganache

My oven has staunchly refused to bake anything properly for nearly a month now, and I've just about had it. As soon as I slide a cake or tart in, ready to bake, the lady doth protest too much. The sides are elegantly charred, the top is like volcanic ash. It's almost as trendy as blackened chicken.

Same same, but different.

The only things the oven doesn't set fire to are cookies. Inevitably, the past few weeks have been an endless parade of the little guys: chocolate chip, oatmeal (sans raisins, as my flatmates are not sultana-inclined), lemon bars, and on and on and on.

I'd wanted to make a Malted Vanilla Bundt Cake, a perfectly sweet, tender backdrop for this ganache. However, I knew if I tempted fate and gingerly pushed a beautiful bundt cake into the inferno that is my oven, we would end up eating a hockey puck draped in Cardamom White Chocolate Ganache. For fear, I went for these crisp cookies delicately flavored with Darjeeling Earl Grey tea. So, my friends, feast your eyes (and feed your grumbling stomachs) on these cookies.

Earl Grey Cookies with Cardamom White Chocolate Ganache
Makes 2 dozen

For the cookies:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons Darjeeling Earl Grey tea leaves, ground in a spice grinder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Beans scraped from 1 vanilla pod
8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into cubes
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the ganache:
14 ounces white chocolate, roughly chopped
1/3 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons ground cardamom

To make the cookies: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, both sugars, tea leaves, cinnamon, and vanilla beans. Add butter and cream until mixture starts to come together. Slowly, pour in the heavy cream. Add vanilla extract and beat until dough comes together in a ball. Divide dough into two balls. Roll each ball into a log and wrap in parchment paper. Freeze for 30 minutes. Slice into 1/4-inch rounds and bake on prepared baking sheets for 10 minutes, until edges are lightly golden and tops are firm to touch. Let cool on a wire rack.

To make the ganache: Place the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat gently until white chocolate has melted. Stir in icing sugar, heavy cream, and cardamom. Once cookies are cool, ice them with the ganache. Sprinkle extra tea leaves over top, if desired.

More Tea Recipes
Green Tea White Chocolate Brownies
Raspberry Earl Grey Cake
Thai Iced Tea Ice Cream

Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

Filling out countless applications for jobs and post-grad programs, you come across the same questions over and over again. They're all looking for someone different, someone who stands out, but their applications are all the same. It really feels like they're all looking for the same person.

One thing that everybody wants to know, apparently, is how you would describe yourself in three words. Let me tell you. It is not an easy question to answer. So, while I'm still not sure that I can tell you about myself in three words, I can give you three for this post and these cookies: short and sweet.

Double Chocolate Almond Cookies

Makes about 15 cookies

1 1/4 cups oat flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup smooth almond butter

1/4 cup almond milk

6 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1/4 cup Marcona almonds, roughly chopped

1/4 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate

2 tablespoons cacao nibs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together oat flour, rolled oats, salt, and baking soda. In a measuring cup, whisk together almond butter, almond milk, maple syrup, and coconut oil. Make a well in the center of the oat mixture and pour liquid mixture into well. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Gently fold in almonds, chocolate, and cacao nibs. Scoop dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form into a disk. Place in freezer for 30 minutes until firm. Once firm, scoop out using a 1/4-cup ice cream scoop onto lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes until firm and golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

Matcha Shortbread

Everyone loves matcha, right? Not exactly. What I didn't know until very recently is that there's another  type of creature that may very well look human, but looks can be deceiving. These 'people' may walk and talk and may even sip a bit of green tea every now and again, but, scandalous as it may sound, they don't like matcha.

It seems that matcha is an issue almost as divisive as cilantro, Wikileaks, and Justin Bieber. Personally, I love the stuff. There's something about that electric green powder that has me hooked. I just can't get enough. Give me matcha-whiskey macarons, matcha lattes, matcha anything, really (well, maybe not matcha-scrambled eggs), and I'll be a happy gal.

 My roommate, Blair, falls into the other camp. She wrinkled her nose at the mere mention of the slightly bitter, slightly smokey stuff. While I'm more than happy to appease my friends' cravings- I can't tell you how many times I've made peanut butter blossoms for my friend Taylor- I decided to forge ahead with my one-track-matcha-mind. I deserve cookies too, don't I?

So, for those of you who fall at the feet of the matcha gods, I have a recipe for matcha shortbread. It's a lovely accompaniment to a mug of green tea, and they keep for ages. And, if your roommates are like mine, you might get more to yourself.

  Matcha Shortbread
Makes about 4 dozen

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons matcha powder
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar, to coat the dough

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together powdered sugar and matcha powder. Beat in butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time. Mix in vanilla extract. Shape dough into a large, flat disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Once dough has chilled, roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Use a small cookie cutter to cut cookies into shapes (because I have a ghetto, ill-equipped kitchen, I used a water bottle to roll out my dough and the top of a nutmeg jar to cut them, and it worked just fine). Roll each round of dough in granulated sugar. Place on baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes until firm to touch and beginning to turn golden at edges. Let cool on a wire rack.

  More Matcha Recipes
Matcha Cake with Spicy Ginger Ice Cream
Matcha Mousse with Honeycomb
Matcha Macarons with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm such a cookie monster. It's kind of awful. I honestly blame Sesame Street. I mean, they basically taught a love of cookies along with the ABCs, right? Right. So who am I to blame for my undying affection? I wouldn't be surprised if some celery-wielding, health-nut mother started a petition to pull Sesame Street off the air because it inspired an affinity for a certain sweet, round little number (or perhaps because it turned her child into a sweet, round little number).

While I surely won't be banging on Bert and Ernie's door recommending they try a juice cleanse any time soon, there are times when my cookie-mania leaves me feeling a bit more like Oscar the Grouch than I'd like to admit. But then again...

There are those other moments, those glorious, sugar-fueled moments, when only a cookie will do. Cookies like these are my half-hearted solution to my moral dilemma. I'm going to be perfectly frank here. These aren't little nuggets of health, by any means. But a few steps in the right direction (no butter, no dairy, whole wheat), at least leaves me with a semblance of virtue.

  Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup virgin coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg and 1 yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
3/4 cup unsweetened, dried, shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together coconut oil and brown sugar. Beat in egg and egg yolk and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips and dried coconut. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until dry to the touch and golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

  More Coconut Recipes
Coconut Cake
Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread
Bill Granger's Coconut

Vanilla Sablés

Oh my god. I actually think I have ADHD. I've been 'writing my essay' since about noon today, but I keep finding myself doing anything but. I've checked my horoscope on at least three different websites. I've taken a number of online quizzes- in case you were wondering my patronus would be a fox, I'm most like Charlotte York from Sex and the City, and I'm going to die October 31, 2013. Who knew, right? I've even made a few wildly entertaining (well I think they're funny, anyway) photos on Face in Hole.

 Basically, I'm procrastinating. As thrilling as Fabergé eggs are, I'm just not sure I can take another second of them tonight. I feel like I've watched every episode of every t.v. show ever made. I've sent some pretty artful snapchats. Ok, ok. You get it. I'm bored. 

Whenever I get bored or restless, I generally venture into the kitchen. I'll set my iTunes on shuffle, preheat the oven, and get going. Though I'm avoiding the things I really should be doing, at least I feel like I'm doing something productive when something tangible results from my dilly-dallying. So if any of you, like me, have caught a serious case of ennui, I leave you with this recipe for Vanilla Sablés. They'll keep you occupied, and they'll keep you full- a winning combination, if you ask me. I'm off to my own kitchen to make something tasty.

  Vanilla Sablés
Adapted from Serious Eats
Makes about 3 dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter until light and fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until smooth and fully incorporated. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time until combined. Beat in vanilla extract. Divide dough in half. Place each half onto a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into logs. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer for 30 minutes, until firm. Once firm, slice logs into 1/4-inch slices and place on baking sheets. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until firm to touch and just beginning to brown at edges. Let cool on a wire rack.

  More Sablés
Intensely Chocolate Sablés
Matcha Sablés
Citrus Sablés

Peanut Butter Blossoms

I suddenly realized that summer is almost here. I was sitting in my garden last night at seven, and it hit me. It was still light outside. What??? I swear that only a few days ago the sun was dipping under the horizon in the late afternoon and would refuse to rise until well into the morning. Getting out of bed was pretty difficult.

Now, my favorite pastime, napping, is looking a little less appealing. Forget the fact that the sun is pretty unforgiving in shining through my window, leaving my room awfully bright. I'm just so excited to be outside. Don't get me wrong, it's not warm here yet. But mark my words- if the temperature rises even a few more degrees, we'll all have a hard time dragging ourselves back inside.

So, I say make some cookies, pack a picnic, and enjoy the sun.

  Peanut Butter Blossoms
Makes about 20 cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1 egg at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Granulated sugar, for rolling
Chocolate, for pressing into cookies

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, beat together peanut butter and egg. Add brown sugar, baking powder, and vanilla extract and mix until thoroughly combined. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on baking sheet and press fork into each ball of dough to create a cross-hatch pattern. Press one piece of chocolate into each cookie. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden and firm to touch. Let cool on a wire rack.

  More Peanut Butter Recipes
Banana Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Muffins
Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Layered Peanut Butter Brittle Ice Cream Pops

Chewy Salted Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chewy Salted Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now that was a mouthful, huh? And, if you're lucky, you just might get a mouthful of cookie too. A mouthful of ooey-gooey, robustly sweet, chocolate-studded cookie. Sound pretty good, don't they? Well, let me tell you, they most certainly are.

I have this compulsion. I don't like to publish blog posts with mediocre photos (don't get me wrong, I am fully aware a number of my photos haven't been exactly glorious), but these cookies were just too good not to share. I'm currently in Amsterdam visiting my dad. In rushing out of the house to catch my plane last Friday, I simply forgot to grab my camera. 

This left me snapping photos left and right on my shiny, new toy- my iPhone 5. While it doesn't have quite the same satisfying heft or take nearly as lovely photos as my trusty Nikon, I have to say, it takes pretty decent pictures. So, here is my disclaimer. These photos were taken with Instagram. But Instagram's cool, right?

Chewy Salted Molasses Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon table salt

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips

Sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In another small bowl, stir sugar and molasses together until no lumps remain. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse sugar mixture and butter. Add egg and pulse to incorporate. Add egg yolk and vanilla extract and pulse until just combined. Add dry ingredients and pulse until fully incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips. Scoop dough by the heaping tablespoon onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes, until golden brown and the tops are dry to the touch. Let cool on a wire rack.

More Molasses Recipes

Ginger Molasses Cookies

Pumpkin Molasses Cupcakes

Overnight Molasses Granola

And, in case you were wondering, here's a photo of Daen HQ Nederland

Peanut Butter-Nutella Swirl Cookies

So my flatmate Cokie has been dying to get on the blog. I can honestly say I'm surprised this has enough cache for someone to actually want to be mentioned. But I guess her deep-seated desires could stem from the fact that both of my other flatmates have been mentioned. Or we could chalk it up to her incessant need to be the center of attention. Just kidding.

 Cookie, I mean Cokie, has provided a lot of fodder for jokes around our flat as of late. Someone, and I certainly won't say who, created a Facebook for Cokie's alter ego. Cookie George Morphis Halitosis swiftly stormed the St Andrews social scene, making friends with people the real Cokie could only dream of befriending. A short while after, a Twitter feed, known as Rich Cokie of Twitter,  sprung up, detailing the ridiculous things that come out of the mouth of this Buffalo-native.

After placating her with promises that she would 'one day' grace the homepage of Baking the Book, I thought it was finally time for Cokie to be formally introduced. So, here she is. Cookie Cokie Hasiotis. And, what more fitting way to celebrate this internet debutante than a batch of what she has dubbed "the best cookies in the world."

  Peanut Butter-Nutella Swirl Cookies
Makes about 5 dozen cookies

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
16 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 jar Nutella
1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and peanut butter until fully incorporated. Add sugar and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat to combine. Beat in vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Drop Nutella by the spoonful over dough and fold in, careful not to overmix. The Nutella should remain streaky. Fold in chocolate chunks. Drop dough by the tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool on a wire rack.

  More Nutella Treats
Mini Salted Nutella Tarts
Banana Nutella Cake with Nutella Frosting
Nutella-Stuffed Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches

Summer is finally winding down. And while I'm probably more excited than I should be that Fall is coming and that I get to go back to school (ask me in a month and a half, and I certainly won't be quite this thrilled to be at school), there is one thing I'm definitely going to miss. Ice cream. Now I know you can eat ice cream any time of year really, but it's just not the same.

 So in a final salute to the warmer months, I have ice cream sandwiches for you. Don't get me wrong, I think the good old store-bought ice cream sandwiches with the chocolate wafer sandwich really can't be beat. It's so hard to improve upon a classic, so I was happy these went in a slightly different direction. Almost whoopie pie-like, these sandwiches are a nice balance of sweet and salty, cakey and smooth.

There's a greater cookie-to-ice cream ratio in these than in traditional ice cream sandwiches, but that's ok. The cookies are so good on their own, that I'm sure no one will complain. The oats add a nice heft to the cookies, and there are just enough chocolate chips to keep things interesting. So, for nine months, I will say farewell to the ice cream sandwiches of summer, ready to hunker down with gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate for a little while.

P.S. For anyone who's still rattling around Charleston, my freezer is full of these babies...

 Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Ice Cream Sandwiches
Makes 1 dozen sandwiches
Adapted from Sprouted Kitchen

1 1/3 cups oat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup natural peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Fleur de sel, for sprinkling
1 pint vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together oat flour, salt, and baking powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and beat to incorporate. Add honey and peanut butter and beat until smooth and fully combined. Beat in dry ingredients. Fold in oats and chocolate chips. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop scoops of dough onto lined baking sheets. Sprinkle Fleur de sel on top of cookies. Place baking sheets in oven and bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned and dry on top. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Once cookies have cooled completely, scoop vanilla ice cream onto one cookie and sandwich with another. Repeat with remaining cookies. Wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap and freeze until ready to eat. Remove from freezer 5 minutes before eating.

More Ice Cream Sandwiches
Chocolate Doughnut, Nutella, and Coffee Ice Cream Sandwiches
Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Sandwiches
Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches

Sombrero Cookies

Can we pretend it's still Cinco de Mayo? And can we pretend that I had some divine inspiration to create these cookies in honor of that blessed day instead of admitting that I really just messed up? No? Well, I gave it a shot. I guess I'll just have to own up to the fact that these cookies weren't my idea. If I could, I would take credit, but, unfortunately, I feel obligated to tell you that these cookies were all my friend Sophie's idea.

 I think she had seen a post on Bakerella for pillow cookies (correct me if I'm wrong, Soph) and couldn't shake the idea of a brownie-stuffed cookie. I mean, can you blame her? So after minimal pestering, I caved. Sophie and I rounded up the ingredients and set to work making these over-the-top cookies.

We used the technique from Bakerella, but we decided to use a homemade brownie recipe. Because I was in a hurry and had to run to a meeting, we didn't let the cookie dough chill long enough, which left us with cookies that spread a little more than we would have liked. So, while they didn't really look exactly how we'd imagined, they were still pretty damn good.

  Sombrero Cookies
Makes 2 dozen large cookies

1 batch Baked Brownies, cooled and cut into small squares
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs, plus one egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and yolk, one at a time, and mix until combined. Beat in vanilla. Add in dry ingredients and beat until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips. Chill dough in freezer for 30 minutes. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of cookie dough. Make an indentation in center of each ball of dough and press a small square of brownie into indentation. Place on baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool on wire rack.

  More Chocolatey Cookie Recipes
Salted Caramel Almond Thumbprint Cookies
Chocolate Hazelnut Baklava
Chocablock Cheesecake Squares

Snickerdoodles

I've come to the conclusion that I am a magpie. If it glitters, I want it. If it's sparkly, I need it. Sequins, studs, and spikes. I'm obsessed. Even now, I have rainbow glitter nail polish on my fingers and sparkly turquoise polish on my toes. I have a pair of black leather boots with spikes up the back en route to my apartment as I type. I just can't resist a bit of flash.

 This mild...ahem...obsession doesn't stop with clothes and accessories. If I could, I would have glittering chandeliers in every room in my house. I would wallpaper my house in glitter. I would only eat beautiful, colorful things. Macarons? Check. Marshmallows? Definitely. And snickerdoodles? Absolutely.

Pulling a warm and fragrant batch of snickerdoodles out of the oven is a truly sensory experience. I mean, you make a batch and try not to become entranced by their sweet cinnamon scent and lovely, subtle shimmer. Not to mention, snickerdoodles are pillowy soft and wonderfully moreish. Once a batch is made, it's nearly impossible not to gobble it down in a split second.

Snickerdoodles
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes about 40 cookies

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla extract. Slowly add flour mixture and beat until just combined. Do not over-mix. In a small bowl, mix remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon together. Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of dough and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on baking sheet, pressing down each ball with back of hand to flatten. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool on a wire rack.

  More Sparkly Recipes
Rose Water Glitter Cake
Blueberry Jam Doughnuts with Lavender Sugar
Funfetti Marshmallows

Orange and Almond Biscotti

Did I tell you I'm trying to learn Italian? I took Italian as one of my three classes last semester, and this semester I'm continuing with an evening course. Luckily, having taken Spanish for years and having a bit of a Latin background really helps. Obviously, Italian is different, and I'm trying to nail the hand gestures that seem to go along with each phrase, but there is one thing that I have had no trouble learning.

 Biscotti means twice baked. Maybe this little tidbit of information stuck in my brain because I made the connection that 'bi' means two (bicycle, bilingual, etc...hey turns out I was paying attention in high school English after all!) But I think the more likely reason is that biscotti just so happen to be incredibly delicious cookies. I have this feeling that my brain focuses harder than usual and that my ears perk up at any mention of food, which could explain my oh-so-useful ability to recall the name of a dish with such ease.

So whether or not you speak Italian, whether or not you even care what biscotti means, I can guarantee that you will want to bite into one of these wonderfully crunchy cookies. They're sweet and crumbly, in the best way, and you won't even feel that guilty if you sneak another cookie, or two, or three from the cooling rack before you invite your friends over for coffee to help you finish off the rest. So come on, facciamo biscotti!!

  Orange and Almond Biscotti
Adapted from Homemade by Clodagh McKenna
Makes 3 dozen

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of one orange
2 tablespoons orange juice
5 ounces almonds, toasted and roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides in between. Add zest and juice of orange and beat to combine. Fold in almonds. With floured hands, divide dough in half and shape each half into a log. Place logs on a cookie sheet, patting them down until they are about 3 inches wide. Bake for 30 minutes, until dough is firm to the touch. Transfer loaves to a cutting board, and, using a serrated knife, cut each loaf crosswise on the diagonal into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange slices on baking sheet and return to oven, baking for 10 minutes more. Turn biscotti over and bake for 10 minutes further. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

  More Biscotti Recipes
Chocolate and Hazelnut Biscotti
Brown Sugar and Almond Biscotti
Double Vanilla Pistachio Biscotti

Victoria Sponge Macarons

Do you ever just feel sort of grey? Like there's not much sparkle in your life? Sometimes, especially during the darker months, work seems to pile on, socializing feels like a chore rather than something to look forward to, and it feels like an extra effort to cook a delicious meal.

 My roommates can attest to the fact that I settle into a habit of having Tesco's finest Puy lentil and vine-ripened tomato soup for lunch everyday, with little variation. I get into a habit of hoarding my money instead of going out for meals. Food just gets a little boring. Hopefully I'm not alone here. I mean, I can't be the only one who gets into a food rut, can I?

So, if any of you found yourselves nodding along, you need to get your hands on some ground almonds, get into the kitchen, and start making some macarons. Nothing adds a bit of flair, a little sweetness to life than a light, lovely macaron. There is a reason that Laduree has become so popular. Sure, they have delicious macarons, but there is just something so glamorous about those teeny tiny adorable little cookies.

Victoria Sponge Macarons

Makes about 20

Ingredients

For the macarons:

155 grams icing sugar

113 grams finely ground blanched almonds

3 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature

Pinch of salt

56 grams caster sugar

For the vanilla buttercream:

200 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

500 grams icing sugar

2 tablespoons milk

Beans scraped from ½ vanilla pod

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Raspberry or strawberry jam

To make the macarons: Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. If you have a pastry bag, fit it with a 3/8-inch #4 tip. If not, cut the tip off of a corner of a small sandwich bag. In a small bowl, whisk together icing sugar and ground almonds. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites with salt on medium speed until foamy. Increasing the speed to high, slowly add caster sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in almond mixture until just incorporated.

Fill pastry bag or plastic bag with batter. Pipe 1-inch disks onto parchment paper, leaving an inch between cookies. Allow macarons to sit for 15 minutes at room temperature. Bake for 13 minutes, until surface of macarons is completely dry. Place on a wire rack to cool completely before removing from baking sheet. Gently peel from parchment paper and set aside until ready to fill.

To make the buttercream: Cream butter using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add icing sugar and beat, starting at a low speed, and gradually increase speed until icing sugar is completely incorporated. Beat in milk, vanilla beans, and vanilla extract.

To assemble the macarons: Spread buttercream onto half of the cookies. Spread jam onto the other half. Sandwich together the halves with buttercream and those with jam. Refrigerate for an hour, until firm.

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