Recipe #35: Cornmeal Rosemary Cake with Lemon Glaze

Recipe #35: Cornmeal Rosemary Cake with Lemon Glaze

Posted by Unknown

I was very excited to make this recipe simply because it's cake and I love me some cake. There are fun ingredients in this like mascarpone, rosemary, and lemon zest. I followed the instructions carefully and slid the cake in the oven, set the time for 40 minutes and checked out the result. It appeared to be fully baked but when sticking the toothpick in there was still some batter clinging so I set the time for 5 minute increments until done. I let it rest and then inverted the cake twice.

Then, as instructed, I took a wooden skewer and poked a few dozen holes in the cake to allow for the lemon syrup to be evenly distributed. I noticed that I had been brushing the cake quite a bit with the syrup and yet there was still so much left and the middle of the cake was starting to sink. I focused on getting the syrup more on the outside edge of the cake and decided I could not possibly use up all of the syrup. I also checked the syrup recipe again just to make sure I had done things correctly and all looked good.

I moved onto the lemon fondant and started with blanching the rosemary leaves. Then I completed the rest of the recipe and poured the fondant over the top of the cake. It was very challenging for me to get the fondant to not pool in the middle of the cake since it was sunken in. I held the plate up that the cake was on and tilted it side to side in hopes the fondant might run over the sides of the cake a bit more but it wasn't working, the fondant was thickening up. I let the fondant dry and then cut into the cake.

The result: the outer edges of the cake were fine but the middle of the cake was pretty much mush and inedible. I also felt the rosemary that was in the fondant was not blanched enough. The flavors of the cake and the fondant together sure took my tastebuds for a wild ride - the lemon being sour and paired with the cornmeal rosemary cake was interesting. It wasn't my favorite recipe thus far but that said I do need to make it again so I can truly experience what it's meant to taste like.

For full recipe see page 291 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook.

Recipe #34: Chocolate Heartland Bundt Cake with Chocolate Honey Glaze

Recipe #34: Chocolate Heartland Bundt Cake with Chocolate Honey Glaze

Posted by Unknown

I chose to make this recipe in celebration of my very first Mother's Day. There are lots of steps to this recipe and since I am not the best cake maker I made sure that my husband was taking care or our son so I didn't mess this thing up.

Here is a little tidbit that might blow your mind - there is a russet potato in this cake! Say what? I have never added a potato to a cake but it is the secret ingredient. The step I almost forget at the end was mixing in the cold water so pay close attention to step #6.

I added the mix to the bundt pan and crossed my fingers.

I baked for 65 minutes, check the cake, and it was absolutely perfect! I patiently waited the 15 minutes recommended to let the cake cool and then flipped it out of the bundt pan (this is always the scariest part). I poured the chocolate glaze over the cake (I placed the cake on a wire rack that had a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper underneath to catch all the extra glaze).

I then had to wait one full hour to set the glaze, it was torture, I think I even left the house so I wouldn't cut into it. The wait was well worth it - I savored every bite. It was moist, full of flavor, and was so good just on it's own. I wouldn't dare pair this with ice cream but I suppose you could for ultimate decadence.

My husband offered to make me breakfast for Mother's Day which was the following day after making this cake but I decided I would just indulge in a big slice - why not?

For full recipe see page 285 in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook.

Recipe #31: Toasted Pine Nut Amaretti

Recipe #31: Toasted Pine Nut Amaretti

Posted by Unknown

This is a traditional Italian cooked that I decided to make for my friend's birthday since she is Italian. This is a very easy cookie to throw together but there are a couple steps to pay attention to like toasting the pine nuts and dicing up the almond paste. The cookies are ready to bake once the batter is done. Scoop them out on silpat if you have it and then bake for about 50 minutes.

The result: a very flavorful chewy cookie. The almond paste taste almost overpowered the cookie for me but the more I ate the more I liked them. My husband was addicted to them so that's always a good sign. Next time I will cook them about 5 minutes more in hopes they are not so chewy. 

For full recipe see page 139 in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook.

Recipe #30: Rustic Olive Oil Cake with Honey Syrup

Recipe #30: Rustic Olive Oil Cake with Honey Syrup

Posted by Unknown

I was in the mood for cake but I have had such bad luck with cake I decided to stay away from vanilla or chocolate and do something completely different to see if I could gain my confidence back in the cake department.

The best ingredient in this cake is Grand Marnier - always a treat to cook with a little alcohol. Other interesting ingredients included orange juice, lemon zest, olive oil (hence the title) and whole milk.

As always there are several steps that go into this recipe so get all your ingredients ready and follow each step carefully. The most crucial step is the cooking time. Tom suggests overbaking vs. underbaking which was a relief to me being that my oven typically takes quite a long time to bake things so I just kept it in there until I knew it was completely baked. Surprisingly, it ended up baking pretty much exactly to what the recipe called for.

I pulled it out of the oven, let it cool, and carefully flipped it over onto a plate and then had to invert it once more - the SCARIEST part! I let it cool and then took a bite.

The result: WOW! This cake is just bursting with flavors. You can taste the grand marnier, the orange juice, and a hint of lemon. And ofcourse you can taste the olive oil which is so fun in a cake. The best thing about this is it lasts for several days and stays very moist. The top if the cake has a hard crust so the difference in textures is a nice touch. I actually preferred the cake without the honey syrup you can make to accompany the recipe.

For full recipe see page 295 in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

Recipe #27: Parsley Chive Scones

Recipe #27: Parsley Chive Scones

Posted by Unknown

This is by far my favorite scone recipe I have made from this book. Who knew I would like the savory scone over the sweet ones? This also smelled up the house with the most amazing aromas. I decided to make this recipe because I thought it would the perfect treat to bring to a cheese making party. My friends attended a class where they learned how to make blue cheese and fresh mozzarella and we were invited to finish the mozzarella process as well as be the taste testers.

Scone recipes are truly very simple to throw together. I would say the biggest challenge is just cutting them into equal sized wedges. I am getting better at it but it definitely takes practice. These turned out the best out of all the scone recipes in terms of flakiness. There were beautiful layers showcasing the chives and parlsey along with lemon zest and black pepper sprinkled throughout.

The cheese party was a success! It was so fun to finish the mozzarella process and taste the blue cheese they had made. They inspired me to take a class and learn the cheese making process. We then took the cheese and made homemade pizza's which was so fun! Pizza is one of my top five favorite foods; I would eat it everyday if there were no consequences.

Everyone enjoyed the scones, or atleast they told me they did to my face. They make a great pairing to eggs in the morning or with any type of meat at dinner.

To top off the cheese making party my girlfriend, Angela, surprised me with an early birthday cake from the Dahlia Bakery! Guess which kind? Ofcourse it was the Coconut Cream Pie, DELISH!

For full recipe see page 86 in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook 

Recipe #26: Serious Biscuits

Recipe #26: Serious Biscuits

Posted by Unknown

I think these are called serious biscuits because of the serious amount of butter and buttermilk in them. These go straight to your thighs - the scale went up a few lbs after just eating a few of these.

Our family has a tradition every year of eating biscuits and gravy on Christmas morning. Christmas also happens to be my brother's birthday and this is his breakfast request. I am so excited to replace the store bought biscuits my mom "makes" every year with these amazing buttery flaky biscuits.

I was fortunate enough to have homemade raspberry jam on hand from my friend Katie. In college my roommates and I literally lived off homemade jam made by Katie's grandmother. All we ate was toast and jam, it was our staple. Katie has since learned how to make this amazing staple and I am so excited to have it back in my fridge (although it's almost gone already).

After reading through the recipe they seemed very easy to make. I mixed everything together and was very careful to not over mix because I didn't want the biscuits to be tough. However, the dough was very sticky when I was kneading it and I knew that it wasn't right. I continued to add flour until the dough had the right texture to roll out. I can only assume that I did not add the right amount of flour from the get go which is why I had to add almost a cup at the end. (Being that I am easily distracted by my son or husband this was likely the case).

I put the biscuits in the oven and hoped for the best!

The result: They did not rise as much as I had hoped, they ended up turning out a little flat and I know that's because I had to knead the dough quite a bit and add the flour at the end. I am still happy with how they tasted especially when adding the homemade jam.

I am excited to try this recipe again and will report back on how they turn out. 

For full recipe: See page 89 in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook 

Recipe #24: Fresh Corn Cornbread with Cornmeal Crumble

Recipe #24: Fresh Corn Cornbread with Cornmeal Crumble

Posted by Unknown

This recipe has made it into my top five of all the Dahlia Bakery recipes I have made thus far. If I had to pick five today they would be: buttery cupcakes with sour cream frosting, grandma douglas's schnecken, peanut butter sandwich cookies (ofcourse), intense chocolate cake and now this cornbread.

I've never experienced cornbread with fresh corn in it, what a treat!! I prepped most of this recipe the night before so I could make it first thing the following morning. All I had in my house at the time were girl scout cookies and I have to say since starting on this baking journey and eating the most amazing baked treats nothing compares to these recipes. I really don't enjoy store bought cookies anymore and now even girl scout cookies don't taste good to me!! What the heck?

I pulled everything together fairly quickly but there are a few steps in this recipe you need to plan for like blanching the corn and melting the butter and letting it sit just long enough to get to room temperature before mixing in.

Once the batter is done you top with the cornmeal crumble which I will write about in a separate post. The only thing I probably could have done here is add just a tad more butter to make the crumble form bigger clumps. I was able to get some on the batter but it could have used a handful more as most of it I just had to sprinkle on top. Then you want to pat it down with your fingers to make sure it doesn't separate from the batter when baking.

The result: OMG. So good! It is dense, moist, and filling and you only need one slice. We had it as breakfast, a side with dinner, and a dessert. You can taste the sugar in it so it is a nice blend of sweet and savory. 

For full recipe: See page 98 in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

Recipe #22: Chocolate Butter Pecan Sandwich Cookies

Recipe #22: Chocolate Butter Pecan Sandwich Cookies

Posted by Unknown

Much like the peanut butter sandwich cookies these take some time to make. I made these in celebration of the 4th annual girls weekend with my longtime best girlfriends. We get together one time a year away from our kids and husbands and shop, get our nails done, do yoga, go to dinner, and eat sweets.

The filling was easy to make so I thought. I didn't pay enough attention to the consistency of the filling. Basically you are taking pecans, brown butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla and combining it all in a food processor until a thick paste forms. For some reason I decided that the filling still needed to be a bit crumbly and some of the pecans should still be in tact. This proved to be an epic fail when putting the cookies together.

I then moved onto the cookie dough and chilled for one hour as instructed. The reason you do this (as far as I can tell) is once you scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet you have to press it down and make a flat cookie - if the dough is too warm it sticks to your hard. They recommend pressing down with your fingers but I found that awkward so I used my palm.

Here comes the epic fail part: When I went to put the sandwiches together I pulled out the filling from the fridge and it did not spread on the cookie. It ended up being very crumbly and chunky and so when I would press the cookies together the cookies ended up falling apart because I had to press too hard to try and get the filling to stick to the cookies. What I will do differently next time is make sure to really process the filling so the nuts and the rest of the ingredients form a thick paste.

Although the sandwich cookies did not turn out as I had hoped it doesn't mean we didn't eat them. In fact, my girlfriends were more interested in the filling more so then the cookie so they would leave the poor cookie behind and just eat the inside.

For full recipe see page 127 in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook

My girls...

Recipe #19: Intense Chocolate Cake

Recipe #19: Intense Chocolate Cake

Posted by Unknown

We had a little birthday get together for my husband this past Saturday night. I attempted to make him a cake that ended up overflowing in the oven like a volcano (more on that later). So I ended up making him the buttery cupcakes which I knew were amazing along with vanilla buttercream frosting. We also had another friend coming over who just celebrated her birthday a few days prior and she can't eat gluten so I thumbed through the dahlia bakery cookbook and found this gluten free cake.

I haven't baked anything like this before (not just because there is no flour) but because it sits in a water bath when you bake it. I was sure the cake would turnout to be a flop based on the technique and the fact that I was making this Saturday morning before taking my husband out to a lunch and movie for his bday. My backup plan was to run up to the met market and pick up a cake if this didn't turnout.

Oh and I forgot to mention I finally got my KitchenAid!! What a world of difference it makes. For this recipe you have to whip up egg whites for about 5 minutes so I was able to wash some dishes while the mixer just went to town. So awesome!

Warning: if you plan to make this you will need most the day. Making the recipe and baking the cake doesn't take much time but once it's baked you let it sit in the water bath for about an hour and then you let it sit on a wire rack for another 3 hours.

Then you carefully flip it over onto a plate and it should slide right out (and luckily mine did). Presentation on this can be a little tricky because it's rather flat. So I sprinkled it with some powdered sugar and then sliced it into pieces which made it look a little more appetizing.

The result: a velvety moist cake and packed with chocolate. You would NEVER know this was gluten free. I have tried many gluten free desserts and they are quite dry. Everyone enjoyed a piece of this and I am continuing to enjoy it several days later (and it's still so good). I picture myself making this when my husband goes out of town, renting some chick flicks and eating the entire thing.

You can serve this with whipped cream and I imagine some fresh berries would be a nice compliment. I ended up passing around a bowl of leftover vanilla buttercream from the cupcakes and that was a hit. Enjoy!!

For full recipe see page 288 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook.

Recipe #17: Cranberry Apricot Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe #17: Cranberry Apricot Oatmeal Cookies

Posted by Unknown

Who knew a cookie with fruit could taste so good? I have to admit I am not typically a fan of fruit in cookies until now. These tasty morsels have cranberries, pecans, and golden raisins mixed in but I think what my taste buds responded to most were the spices - cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. The mix of these spices reminds me of the holidays and instantly gives me the warm and fuzzies.

The cookies were pretty easy to make. The only difficulty I had was scooping the batter onto the parchment paper. It was hard to get the dough to fit just right in the ice cream scoop so some of the cookies were not perfectly round when baked. 

There is also a fine line during the baking process of them being perfectly baked to going just a minute too long and them turning out too browned and crispy so my rule of thumb with cookies is when in doubt pull them out. My oven is always so tricky anyway so I did end up baking these a total of 6 minutes past the recommended max baking time and they turned out perfect. It took me a couple tries to get the time just right.

For full recipe see page 125 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook 

Recipe #14: Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Flake Buttercream

Recipe #14: Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Flake Buttercream

Posted by Unknown

We hosted a little Superbowl gathering at our home this past Sunday and I decided to make a couple different kinds of cupcakes for the dessert. I chose this recipe and the buttery cupcakes (which I will write about in a separate post).

The recipe is a bit daunting and the most complex cupcake recipe I have ever made. I honestly thought they probably wouldn't turn out. After sifting the dry ingredients you take egg yolks and mix with brown sugar and then slowly drizzle in oil as if you are making mayonnaise. I know this in itself is an art form and you have to be patient and make sure to not add the oil too fast. Once again, I am reminded that I need a KitchenAid mixer.

And then things got tricky for me... you whip up some egg whites to the point where they form soft peaks which went well and then fold them into the batter - being very careful when doing so as you don't want to deflate the whites. You fold the egg whites in 3 parts so I folded in the first 1/3 and then got distracted by my adorable 8 month old son. I came back to my whites and thought maybe they lost some of their "umph" and decided to place the beaters back in the bowl to re-whip to soft peaks. #EPICFAIL. The egg white mixture fell apart and turned back into a liquid. So... I quickly took 2 eggs out of the fridge, added the whites to the bowl with sugar, and whipped up but nothing happened! I was just beating the mixture for what felt like days. I looked back at the recipe and realized the eggs needed to be at room temperature which I had done the first time around so I took out 2 more eggs, placed them in warm water for a few minutes to bring to room temp, and then whipped up the whites again. This time they whipped up quickly and now I had to fold in the whites two more times and guesstimate approximately 2/3 of the remainder of the whites the recipe called for since I already folded in 1/3. I finished up and scooped the batter in the cups, shut the oven door, and hoped for the best.

The result: They could not have turned out better and they even look just like the picture in the book. Even though they are packed with chocolate they are not overly chocolatey (if that's even possible). I topped some with vanilla buttercream and some with chocolate flake buttercream (which was amazing and will write up in separate post since I am considering it a separate recipe). Both devils food and buttery cupcakes pictured below.

Recipe #13: Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Crackly Crust

Recipe #13: Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Crackly Crust

Posted by Unknown

I made these cookies last week as I had about 30 extra minutes on my hands before relieving the nanny. Instead of throwing in some laundry I decided to cruise through a recipe and bake these cookies. These have been haunting me ever since we went to the Book of Mormon as they were being served at the Paramount.

I hurried through the recipe and was in awe of the amount of chocolate that goes in these bad boys. A pound plus 4oz of bittersweet chocolate AND then 2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips get mixed in at the end.
I read that whipping the batter well as you incorporate the eggs will give that crackly top - in hindsight I would have spent more time on this step.

Baking the cookies took the most time because as I've mentioned in previous posts I can only bake 6 cookies at a time in my small oven and in this recipe you turn the cookie sheet halfway through plus you can't refrigerate the dough so you need to commit to the baking process once the dough is made.

The result: A packed with chocolaty goodness cookie. Not all of the cookies turned out to have the crackly crust that makes the cookie so desirable. The taste was still there but next time I really need more then 30 minutes to whip this up and I need to use a bigger ice cream scoop.

Recipe #11: Prizewinning Pecan Brownies

Recipe #11: Prizewinning Pecan Brownies

Posted by Unknown

Well it's been over a week since I have been able to bake something due to catching the worst flu that is spreading like wildfire over the nation. Now that I have fully recovered it is time to get my bake on! I am baking a couple recipes today and have chosen two that do not require a mixer since I am still bitter about my KitchenAid mixer getting stolen.

I had a run in with a Dahlia cookie yesterday when my husband and I attended the Book of Mormon at the Paramount. They were serving a couple of different cookies and the infamous coconut cream pie. I asked my husband to pick what we would share and he chose the chocolate chunk cookie. I secretly wanted him to go with the chocolate truffle cookie because I knew I was going to attempt that recipe soon but I respected his choice. I was happy to discover the flavor profile matched the cookies I made recently.  A couple of differences I noted which I will make sure to change next time is the size of the cookie and the size of the chocolate chunks (the difference being the size and chunks need to be bigger next time).

We have a great view of the water and ferry boats from our place in West Seattle and this morning is unusually foggy. Definitely a great day to bake up some goodies and turn on some Radiohead (The King of Limbs Album - so amazing). But first things first - I read over the recipe, cleaned the kitchen, and prepped my ingredients (including all cookware and utensils). I cannot stress the importance of doing this - it just makes everything so much easier along the way.

I put my new apron on that my husband bought me for Christmas from Anthropologie - they have the cutest aprons and he selected the exact one I wanted without even pointing it out. This one to be exact: http://anthrpl.ge/UIPbzh. Hilarious to discover it's supposedly a "kids" size.

The best part of making this recipe was stirring in the melted chocolate and butter. The mixture was so shiny and mouth watering - it reminded of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I just zoned out on the chocolate and imagined myself basically bathing in it.

The only snafu I had with this recipe was my oven.... yep, hate my old ass oven. I ended up baking the brownies about 20 minutes longer then the recipe called for but followed Tom's advice and was waiting for the top to appear dry. In the end I probably could have gone 5 minutes less.

The result: very rich and chocolatey (not sure if that's a word but I like to make up words sometimes so there it is).  And you better like pecans because there are a lot of them. Next time I make the recipe I think I will opt for topping the brownies with the pecans but not mixing them in. They were also so rich that they reminded me of fudge and the first or maybe second taste to hit my tongue was salt. All in all a success.


For full recipe: See page 141 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook.





  

Recipe #9: Sparkling Sugar Cookies

Recipe #9: Sparkling Sugar Cookies

Posted by Unknown

Our family tradition around Christmas has always been to roll out some store bought sugar cookie dough, gather around the table, and frost away for hours. This year I decided to make sugar cookies from scratch and wow what a difference! The dough was simple and quick to make. I don't typically like sugar cookies but I think it's because I was always eating the store bought stuff, I could eat these cookies all day long.

For frosting my mom mixes together powdered sugar, butter, and food coloring. My siblings don't exactly enjoy frosting all the cookies but it is a tradition that we follow through on each year. As you can see from the picture we aren't exactly gifted at decorating cookies but we do our best and all that really matters is how they taste. 

Now that my husband and I have a son we will start our own holiday traditions with him and this recipe will be made year over year.


For full recipe: See page 148 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #7: Double Chocolate Layer Cake

Recipe #7: Double Chocolate Layer Cake

Posted by Unknown

When I first thought about starting a food blog the one thing I was most nervous about was making cakes. It is definitely not my strong suit. I can eventually get the recipe right however I am not a skilled cake decorator so this is a something I hope improves over the next year.

It's the day after we put our dog down and we are going to my brother's house tomorrow for an early xmas celebration and I decided to make him a cake (unfortunately for him his birthday is Christmas day). I want to keep myself distracted and this looks like just the recipe to challenge me and keep my mind off losing my sweet dog.

I got my mise en place together and started in. I got all the way to step #7 and realized I skipped ahead and did step #8 before completing step #6 and #7. I had added in a 1/2 cup of oil and then added the buttermilk, then the chocolate, and then the rest of the oil. Based on my limited experience with cakes I already knew the cake would not turn out but I had come so far so I treated it as an experiment. I completed all the steps, baked it, and pulled it out of the oven. Within 20 minutes the cake fell in the middle. Ugh! Time to start over.

I prepped all the ingredients again and this time I realized the I had left out a couple tablespoons here and there of ingredients on the first round so basically the first cake didn't have a chance. My brain was distracted by sadness, my son, and family that was visiting at the time. Note to self: Cakes need 100% of focused attention.

The result: The cake turned out ok... actually the presentation turned out quite poorly. I could have cooked it about 5 minutes longer and I really didn't let it cool long enough either. Time was not on my side and I wanted to get it frosted as I knew I would not have time to decorate the cake the morning of. Because I took the cake out of the pan too soon the cake was not stable enough for me to split it. It was quickly falling apart and so I decided to just cover it with a bunch of frosting and call it good. The flavor was good but it was not a success overall.

No picture included on this post for obvious reasons. I will try this recipe again but not for awhile. It was time consuming and having made it twice I don't want to attempt it again for several months.

For full recipe: See page 258 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #8: Fluffy Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Recipe #8: Fluffy Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Posted by Unknown

The most important step in this recipe is to be sure that some of the ingredients are at room temperature and as always use good quality chocolate. I never knew how important it was to spend the extra money on good chocolate (and all ingredients really) until I started baking these recipes. If you are going to spend the time to get everything just right then doesn't it only make sense to spend the money on good quality ingredients? At this point every time I hit up the grocery store I cruise the baking aisle and check for sales on King Arthur flour, softasilk cake flour, extra fine sugar, chocolate, etc. even if I already have it stocked I know eventually it will get used up.

Now back to the recipe... it turned out great! I love the tanginess the sour cream provides and it was the perfect compliment to the buttery cupcakes as well as the double chocolate layer cake. The consistency also made it easy to decorate with. Just be prepared to use it right away as it can't be refrigerated.

For full recipe: See page 256 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #6: All American Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Recipe #6: All American Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Posted by Unknown

It's been a tough day - my 10 year old Boxer dog, Amy, is unexpectedly very ill and it's time for some emotional eating and one of my favorite things in the world is chocolate chip cookies. I was a little nervous to make these cookies - not because the recipe looked daunting or anything but because I was recently introduced to the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever had so wasn't sure how these would compare.

I had no problems making the recipe and at this point I have purchased 3 different sized ice cream scoops and they have changed my life. It's so easy now to scoop the dough and get uniformed shaped cookies.

The result: There is a good amount of chocolate in every bite! They easily compare to my other favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe which I will post separately.  In fact, it would be hard for me to choose a favorite. They are chewy in the center and a little crisp around the edges. They definitely helped make me feel better temporarily.

Later in the week we had to put Amy down so this post is dedicated to her. If she had wanted to eat in her final days I would have shared a chocolate chunk cookie with her. Her favorite food was apples and I know she is having an abundance of them now. 

For full recipe: See page 123 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #4: Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, aka “the Nora Ephron”

Recipe #4: Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, aka “the Nora Ephron”

Posted by Unknown

My son had his 6-month shots this morning at the doctor so to ease “our” pain I decided today was the day to make the peanut butter sandwich cookies. It’s been about 3 months since I have experienced the joy that comes from eating one of these decadent cookies.  I am excited and scared all at the same time – excited because I will now have these tasty morsels in my home and scared for the exact same reason.

I have never left the Dahlia Bakery without purchasing one of these cookies (and if I had it was an oversight that I later regretted). I would go pick up treats from the bakery any chance I got. If there was a birthday on my team or if I just wanted to surprise my co-workers with a special treat I would go to Dahlia and pick up an assortment of cookies – always making sure to get myself a peanut butter sandwich cookie.  I really had a hard time trying anything else in the bakery because this became my favorite purchase. When I was pregnant these were definitely a regular part of my diet.

Now that I have made these cookies it’s no wonder why they are a few bucks a pop. They take a lot of time to make and since my oven is so small I was only able to cook 6 cookies at a time so it took me half the day to complete the process. It wasn’t until after dinner that I had the pleasure of scooping the peanut butter onto one cookie and smooshing the two cookies together. That was the definitely the best part of making the cookies – that and the fact that I knew it was only a matter of minutes before the moment I had anticipated all day.

I have two of the cookies in front of me… my husband picked one up and said “Oh my god!! Tears of joy!!” so I guess he was impressed. Just took a bite – DANG! These are amazing. The cookies turned out perfectly… just done enough, not too soft or too crunchy, and the peanut butter gooey goodness in the center makes me want a big glass of milk. Success.

Here are my notes on making the cookies. Like I said – they were time consuming so be ready for the commitment. I didn’t have enough Skippy peanut butter so I used Adams Natural Creamy Peanut Butter. It was pretty hard to stir and get the consistency I desired but I managed to make it work and I prefer the taste of Adams to Skippy (I will try Skippy next time though since that is recommended). I didn’t have the 1-ounce ice cream scoop so I used a tablespoon scoop and the cookies turned out pretty uniformed. Some turned out bigger than others so I just paired them up the best I could to make the sandwiches. I did manage to make 48 cookies just as the recipe said. I had some leftover peanut butter filling only because I did not make 3 sandwiches due to overcooking a batch… well that and I ate 3 cookies in the process (hey! I had to taste the goods along the way).

All in all, I am very satisfied with how this recipe turned out. I think I will still enjoy getting one of these cookies from Dahlia because I find that when I cook or bake something it never tastes as good as when someone cooks for me.


For full recipe: See page 130 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Coconut Macaroons: Take 2

Coconut Macaroons: Take 2

Posted by Unknown

 Well well well… it sure does help to have an accurate temp when baking. I made the macaroons again and they turned out much better. They were crisp all around and had a yummy chewy center. They were more evenly browned and delicious. I shared them with a few close friends and they were pining for the recipe.


For full recipe: See page 137 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #1: Coconut Macaroons

Recipe #1: Coconut Macaroons

Posted by Unknown

I decided to start with Tom’s favorite, the coconut macaroons, on page 137. I took Tom’s advice and separated the eggs when they were cold. I let them sit out at room temp for about an hour and a half  (even though it wasn’t necessary for this particular recipe however it worked out this way because I was in the middle of getting Nash down for his nap).

I used regular old beaters to whip the egg whites since I don’t have a kitchen-aid. I put it on my Christmas list for Santa and really hoping he comes through with a silver kitchen-aid (hint, hint).

The coconut was a bit tricky to measure, I didn’t pack it down and I ended up adding a couple additional tablespoons in the end just to make sure I had enough in the recipe.

I let the batter sit overnight in the fridge.

The next day I scooped the batter with a tablespoon; I did lose one tablespoon of the precious batter on the floor. The recipe made 21 cookies (counting the one that fell on the floor).

My oven is old and the temperature never seems to be quite right which is essential when baking. I took a risk and cooked the macaroons for 10ish minutes at 325 degrees and then turned the cookie sheet and cooked for 15 minutes and checked them. They were not like the picture in the book so I kept baking for 10 additional minutes. They were lightly browned and I decided to pull them out for fear I would overcook them. For the second batch I noticed the batter spread when I put them on the cookie sheet – next time I will be sure to put the batter back in the fridge until I am ready to cook the second batch.

The result: a crispy outside with a chewy inside of heavenly sweet coconutty goodness.

I was bummed they did not turn out exactly like the picture in the book so I will try them again at some point.  And… I went out and bought an oven thermometer so I can’t blame the oven temp going forward. 

As I write this I am enjoying my fourth macaroon for the day with a cup of tea, a perfect way to end the evening.


For full recipe: See page 137 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook