Easy Cocoa Meringues

Last week, while in a dessert frenzy, I made David Lebovitz’s award-winning Creme Brulee.
Not the easiest recipe, but if you’re in the mood to make a dessert that is on the fancy side (reminiscent of one you'd find in a Parisian brasserie), you won’t be disappointed.
A rich and creamy vanilla-laced custard covered in a crisp sugar shell. I actually gave myself a pat on the back, because it was spectacular.

Soft Apple Crinkle Cookies

During this quarantine we seem to be discovering our ovens for the first time. We’re all craving something sweet and soothing, so why not try out that Cinnamon Pecan Banana Bread or those Salted Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies recipes that have been hanging on the fridge for the last thousand years?
I mean, the thirty pounds flour, twenty bags of sugar, and ten boxes of eggs (also known as the Covid-apocalypse hoard) aren’t going to bake themselves. Am I right?

Mom’s Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

This week has gotten away from me a little. I haven’t had many home cooked meals and I’ve put my recipe testing on hold for a few days.
I’ve been finishing up my holiday to do list — okay, I started and have almost finished up my holiday to do list. Luckily, I’m taking Friday off and plan to wrap things up, because on Saturday and Sunday I’ll be cooking for the family for Christmas.

(Gluten-Free) Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles, why are they called snickerdoodles?
No one knows where the name comes from. According to Wikipedia these cookies are probably German in origin, and the name is a corruption of the German word Schneckennudel.
I’m not fond of the name, to tell you the truth. I almost wish they had another name.
I do love the cookie though.
Mouth watering and blasting with cinnamon flavor, hard on the outside and chewy on the inside, and once you bite into the crisp you can’t get the cinnamon out of your tongue. Awesome.

(Gluten-Free) Almond Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Since it’s the holidays, I’m all about cookies. And today I’m going to share one of my very favorite cookie recipe: Almond Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies.
Insanely delicious, super easy to make, and great for holiday parties and cookie exchanges (if you’re into that). And you know what? They are also gluten-free and can be made vegan and/or paleo if you want.
Awesome, right?

The Best (Paleo) Chocolate Chip Cookies

Would you believe me if I say that these cookies are the real deal? That despite being paleo and grain-free they don’t just look appetizing but they are actually delicious? And that you won’t be disappointed when you take the first bite?
You don't?
That's too bad, because these (Paleo) Chocolate Chip Cookies will exceed all your taste and texture expectations.
In fact, I genuinely believe that they are actually better than the original (you know, the cookies made with white flour and sugar).

Salted Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies

I have, for a very long time, looked for a chocolate cookie I could award with what I considered the highest honor in the baking world, declaring it the best brownie cookie (aka brookie) ever.
I just didn’t expect it would take me so long to find what I was looking for.
Along the way, I encountered cookies that promised fudgy but delivered cakey; those that were chocolatey in name only; and even versions that were a perfect chocolate cookie, but have little to do with brownies.

Lemon Almond Crinkle Cookies

February is always the time of the year when most of us get caught up in what I like to call the “winter produce stagnation”. The lack of flavorful fruit and the glut of starchy vegetable are enough to kill any enthusiasm.
Still, I find that if I set my mind on citrus I can sail through the winter months with relatively no problems.
Even when the deepest, darkest winter has set in and I’m all fogged in by the relentless grind of being indoors, a bright pink grapefruit, a sunny orange, even a gleaming lemon, reminds me of summer days, warm breezes, and skies as blue as the ocean.
I’ve got an archive full of lemon muffins, lemon chicken piccata, lemon pound cake in mug, raspberry-grapefruit smoothie, orange chicken, and orange glazed salmon that should be enough for me to feel I’m not missing out just because strawberries, peaches, and apricots are still in hibernation.

(Paleo) Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

This time of the year, I’m thankful for memories of family and food that I loved as a kid.
For me, Mom’s Caramel Apple Blondies and cookies like these chocolate crinkles are a trip down memory lane.
Chocolate crinkle cookies were, and definitely still are, one of my favorites, especially during this time of the year.
There’s something about the dense, chewy, chocolate loaded goodness that I just can’t resist.
And the powdered sugar on my fingers and face reminds me of good ‘ol times.

(Paleo) Gingersnap Cookie Sandwiches

 As we are already in a festive mood with Thanksgiving approaching fast, it’s time to bake some cookies.
If there was ever a good time of the year to get busy in the kitchen, this is it.
And arguably gingersnaps (or ginger cookies, or ginger crinkles, whatever you want to call them) are the best cookies to make from scratch during the holidays.
They literally scream “HOLIDAYS!”

Pistachio Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Look, I know what you’re thinking. Cookie sandwiches on a (supposedly) healthy food blog?
Are you serious about it? How can you keep a straight face?
What can I say?
Sometimes a guy just needs his cookies and it was at such a moment on a recent afternoon that I made these Pistachio Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.

Flourless Double Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies

I made us some cookies.
I know, how kind of me.
It started as a quest for cookies that tasted like Nutella, if, say, you were the type of person who may or may not have bragged with his 7-year old niece that he could bake any cookie ever known to mankind. Including, but not limited to, a “cookie that’s as awesome as Nutella but does not have Nutella in it!”

(Paleo) Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares

Today I have one question for you guys: Why aren't most cookies square-shaped?
Or to put it differently, why are most of the cookies round-shaped?
It’s one of those questions that has troubled me most and I’ve always wanted to know the answer to — but I was too afraid to ask.
When I was a kid I thought that all cookies begin as squares, but then people always nibble off the corners because they're so tasty. Hence, round cookies.
Was I onto something?
I dunno, I dunno…

Almond Flour Coconut Sugar Cookies

I guess I consider myself not a cookie kind of guy.
Since I was a kid, while my sisters would all line up for the first batch of fresh cookies out of the oven, I couldn’t have cared less.
Sure, I would put up a pretty good fight for a second serving of vanilla ice-cream; but cookies? Nah.
Don’t get me wrong I appreciate an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie just as much as the next guy but I’m not one of those people that goes crazy over cookies.
Still, for someone who’s not a cookie-holic I have to admit that I have a fair amount of cookie recipes on my blog.
Nothing crazy, but still you would need more than one hand to add it all up: Chocolate chunk, almond butter, gingerbread, thumbprint, stick, hazelnut, and shortbread, just to name a few.

Chewy Gingerbread Cookies (Paleo and Vegan)

For many in America Christmas season begins as soon as the turkey, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie have digested.
Often, the very moment our self-induced food comas begin to subside, we grab our coats to make our way to a few big box stores or to haul the big boxes of Christmas decorations in from the garage.

Almond-Walnut Thumbprint Macaroons

In spite of its faults, the New York Times is arguably one of the best all-purpose newspaper in America and probably in the English-speaking world (I know some Londoners might argue this, but still.)
It takes itself seriously, it’s taken seriously (sometimes too much so), and it’s undeniably my favorite newspaper.
Amidst all the media that I consume, The New York Times holds a disproportionately influential place in my life.
Even if trying to read it all feels like climbing Mt. Everest sometimes. Honestly, it’s (almost) impossible to read it from the first page to the last — especially the Sunday edition.

Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies

I respect fellow bloggers and each person's choices.
I respect fellow bloggers that keep it real and honest all the time.
I respect fellow bloggers who donate their time and talents to publish beautiful pictures, wise words, great recipes and innovative ideas.
Fellow bloggers who educate, entertain and enlighten me daily.
I’m very proud of being part of this immense community, because it allows me to do something that I thought it was not possible to do: share my passions.
But today allow me to rant a little about something that is currently happening in the food blogosphere.
I just need to get it off my chest.
What’s up with these ridiculous brownies/cookies/bars/cupcakes, that seem to appear everywhere and that are basically an amalgam of multiple desserts smushed together?
Like cupcakes stuffed with cheesecake, topped with oreos, topped with refrigerated cookie dough, with some crunched up pretzels, topped with dulce de leche and sprinkle of caramel popcorn.
I’m not sure how this trend took off, but it’s a trend, and I don’t think it’s for the greater good.