Food Diary

As those of you who follow Baking Bites on Facebook might already know, Craftsy is now Bluprint. I’ve been a Craftsy contributor for a few years now (time flies!) and have shared lots of great recipes and tutorials over there. You’ll still be able to find those older recipes and I’ll be contributing new content to the new site, which has some expanded offerings over the original. You can get your first taste with my latest post,  6 Things to Do With a Watermelon This Weekend ! Over in the full post, I outline several ways to enjoy summer watermelon and I am sure that you’ll discover at least one new idea you haven’t tried yet. In fact, I recommend picking up a full size watermelon instead of one of the individual size melons so that you have plenty of melon to work with. That said, opt for seedless so you can maximize the amount of watermelon you can eat (and the amount of prep that you have to do to get to it). Need more watermelon inspiration? Try these recipes! Watermelon and St

Stuck on an app idea that is not a cheese plate or veggies and hummus? Look at these cute little guys! So cute. I much prefer to entertain outside than in (I think we've sat at our dining table maybe twice?), so we've been inviting friends to join us for dinner more often. The appetizer is not the part of the meal I wish to put effort towards, and these little numbers take all of 10 minutes to put together and can totally be prepped ahead and dressed last minute. If you don't find yourself needing tiny things on a skewer, I put the extra bits of watermelon and cucumber over some arugula, add some salmon, the following feta vinaigrette and wa lah, dinner.  I recently worked with 31 Bits on a shoot featuring some of their new kitchen line. I've been using the indigo plant-dyed napkins for summer dinners and a handful of other pretty items are up on their homepage at the moment. You can read more on their company on the about page, but the they're pretty awesome as

Chocolate and coffee are always a good combination and this Espresso Brownie Cake is the perfect dessert if you want to enjoy both together. It is made with a very generous dose of dark chocolate and plenty of espresso, along with a splash of coffee liqueur. The cake evenly delivers intense coffee and chocolate flavors that really compliment each other. Brownies are known for their dense, chewy texture and deep chocolate flavor, but this cake isn’t as dense as a brownie is. Instead, it has brownie in the name because it also delivers an intense chocolate flavor. It is lighter in texture than a classic, chewy brownie, however, and has a tight, tender crumb that almost melts in your mouth as you eat it. I used brewed espresso in this cake for a very strong coffee flavor. If you don’t have espresso, you can substitute strong or dark roast brewed coffee. The coffee should be warm or at room temperature, but it does not need to be extremely hot. The coffee is added to a warm mixture of m

Hello friends,  It’s been one of those weeks I’ve been eyeing on the calendar for a few good months thinking… yeeeeks I better not stack anything else into that week or I’m sure to blow a gasket.  Low and behold, the week was packed to the gills, it came, I worked my ass off, it went, and here I am to tell you about it from the other side.   The past few days I’ve worked with my dearheart Cara Nicoletti , real life friend, incredible sausage maker, and now, I’m happy to say – my favorite friend to cook with in the kitchen. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 182! at Joy the Baker.

I am a big fan of everything and anything s’mores, from breakfast to dessert , and I’m always looking for new ways to enjoy the combination of graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows. While I was shopping at my local supermarket the other day, I spotted a box of Honey Maid S’mores Cereal that sounded right up my alley. The cereal is made with crisp graham cracker squares, chocolate cereal puffs and marshmallows. Pour some milk on a bowl full of the cereal and you have a breakfast-friendly s’mores treat, but I decided to turn the cereal into a batch of S’mores Cereal Bars. The cereal bars follow along the same recipe that your classic Rice Krispy treats do: melting together butter and marshmallows, then stirring in cereal. It’s easy to make in a large microwave-safe bowl or in a saucepan on the stovetop. I added a pinch of salt, due to the fact that the cereal is already a bit sweeter than your average puffed rice cereal. The s’mores cereal has a great graham cracker flavor and

Not to be bossy, but you need to read the notes and the recipe all the way through. Lots of words, but I've messed this up enough times that I want to pass down everything I've learned by trial and error of making pizza at home. I typically don’t do fussy, but there are a few steps here and the wait times between them are worth noting before you start. Nothing is difficult, but it's worth a heads up before you jump in. I know, I’m asking you to plan ahead a day, ideally two if you can stand it... As it sits, the dough ferments, which is the element that adds flavor to a simple mixture of flour, water and yeast. The only way to impart flavor into something as simple as plain pizza dough is time, so while it will still work if you use it a few hours later, it tastes better, and there are more air bubbles the next day and it is best the day after that. The upside of that wait time is how quickly it comes together in the first place. Prep it Sunday, for pizza on Tuesday nigh

Chocolate and coconut are always a delicious combination. Sometimes, they meed in the form of a chocolate-dipped coconut cookie and coconut is the star. Other times, coconut is added to chocolate for texture and the chocolate takes center stage. In these Coconut Macaroon Brownies, both of these flavors share the spotlight: fudgy chocolate brownies are packed with shredded coconut and topped with a crisp-chewy coconut macaroon topping. To make these Coconut Macaroon Brownies, you’re going to start with my recipe for Fudgy One Bowl Brownies and add chocolate chips and shredded coconut to the batter. Chocolate chips are an addition that I usually make, just for even more chocolate, and the shredded coconut adds a nice texture and subtle coconut flavor to the mix. The brownie batter is divided into individual muffin cups – I recommend lining them with paper liners – before being baked. You could bake the brownies in a square pan (following the directions for the original brownie recipe

Compound butters are delicious and easy ways to add extra flavors to your food. A compound butter is a butter that has additional flavorings added to it, including honey , herbs and spices. Once the butter is made, it only takes seconds to turn bread into garlic bread or toast into cinnamon toast with a one-step spread. I noticed that Trader Joe’s recently introduced two new products to their refrigerated case: Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Butter Spread and Roasted Garlic & Herb Butter Spread. These are both compound butters, one sweet and one savory, and they offer an easy way to amp up the flavor in your cooking. The spreads are made with real ingredients – including garlic and brown sugar – and start with real butter, just like a compound butter that you might make at home. They are packaged in relatively small 3.5-oz containers that make them a better choice for smaller projects where you don’t need a huge quantity of butter and might be better off making your own. The Brown S

There are a few things I think of as secret weapons in the kitchen.  You know, skills that are pretty simple once we get a few things right and inspire self-confidence in the kitchen.  A rich, chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie is on this list of kitchen secret weapons, as is a simple Roasted Chicken .  Both inspire comfort and confidence.  Also on our list of kitchen secret weapons is homemade caramel for its secret ease and definite versatility. Continue reading Cinnamon Harissa Caramel Corn at Joy the Baker.

Cherry cobbler is a classic summer dessert that just might be even more popular than cherry pie, due to the fact that it is much easier and faster to put together. Cobblers are known for being comfort food, a dish that you can enjoy at home with family, and they are not known for being easy to eat on-the-go. These Cherry Cobbler Streusel Bars are inspired by a traditional cherry cobbler, but baked into a bar form with a buttermilk cake base and a brown sugar streusel on top. They’re simple to put together and are still packed with the flavors that you love from cherry cobblers and crisps. There are three different components to these bars: the base, the cherries and the topping. The base is a buttermilk cake with a pound cake-like texture. It is spread over the bottom of a rectangular baking dish and then topped with cherries and dried cherries. I oped for a buttermilk base because buttermilk is frequently used in cobblers and it gives a warm buttery flavor and subtle tang to the cak

Hi sweet friends! I’d count this as a good week as there was sweet quality time with girlfriends AND I was in a bathing suit AND I dodged a sunburn.  In terms of summer happenings, we can count this one as a win.   In the next few days I have the distinct pleasure of sharing my New Orleans kitchen with our girl Cara Nicoletti to make some truly indulgent summer sausage and a Baked Alaska dessert that we’re going to light all the way on fire. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 181! at Joy the Baker.

Watermelons are a real treat during the summer because they both satisfy your sweet tooth and help you rehydrate. I find that I buy smaller watermelons more often than the jumbo melons, since you really need a crowd to finish off a large watermelon quickly. If you can’t eat your way through a whole melon when you cut into it – and they’re always best when they’re fresh – you can turn your leftovers into this Watermelon Strawberry Sorbet. This sorbet is extremely straightforward to make. It uses lots of watermelon, a few handfuls of strawberries and some sugar, along with a dash of lemon juice that is just enough to help brighten up the fruit flavors. You’ll notice that the recipe doesn’t call for an exact amount of watermelon and that is because it is difficult to cut or spoon watermelon chunks out into pieces that are easy to measure in a standard measuring cup. A little extra – or a little less – isn’t going to have a negative impact on the finished sorbet. The ingredients are ble

For the next few months – let’s just call the refrigerator the new oven, and the grill the new stovetop.  Really, unless you’re asking me to fry baby pies – I really want nothing to do with the ovenstove until maybe Thanksgiving.   Listen… it’s going to be ok.  We’ll have pudding, and popsicles (oh my gosh I made pickle juice popsicles YOU GUYS!), and we’ll have the dessert freezer section at Trader Joe’s, and have banana bonbons , and you’re damn right we’ll have cake – ICEBOX CAKE. Continue reading No-Bake Tres Leches Icebox Cake at Joy the Baker.

There are times during the summer when I have more ripe fruit available than I can eat. When your kitchen is overflowing with ripe fruit, you can bake as much of it as you can, freeze some and turn some into preserves. I have friends who make outstanding jams and jellies, filling up pantries with huge batches of delicious preserves. I tend to make preserves in smaller batches and then eat them up within a week or two. This Quick Blackberry Peach Jam is a easy recipe that takes full advantage of ripe, summer fruits to make a small batch of delicious jam – and that is exactly my kind of jam. You’ll need about 3 large peaches and 1 1/2 cups of blackberries. I use more peach than blackberry because blackberries have such a dominant flavor that I wanted to ensure you could still taste the peaches. The peaches should be peeled and cut into large chunks, while the blackberries can go into the pot whole. The fruit is gently mashed while it is cooking to release the juices and break up the la

At a glance, this may look like a lot of steps, but once you go through the trouble of making this dip/sauce, it can be used in a handful of meals or as a delicious sandwich spread. It is so so delicious and great to have around, especially during grilling season. It is typically thickened with breadcrumbs, but I've found that oats can stand in to keep it wheat free. Use whichever you prefer and season to taste. The sauce can be made a few days in advance.  GRILLED MUSHROOM BOWLS WITH MUHUMMARA Serves 4 Ingredients muhummara: 1 large roasted red bell pepper (from scratch* or jarred, so 2 if those are small) 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, plus more for garnish 2 cloves garlic 1 Tbsp. tomato paste 1 tsp. smoked paprika 3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 2 tsp. pomegranate molasses or honey 2 Tbsp. old fashioned oats 1/2 tsp. sea salt, to taste pinch of red pepper flakes pinch of fresh ground pepper 4 skewers: 16 oz. baby mushrooms (white or cremini)

Cherries are a wonderful ingredient to bake with when they’re in season, even though I admit that I sometimes have fewer fresh cherries on hand than I would like for baking, since I tend to snack on them when they’re in my kitchen. Fresh cherries are an excellent option for pies, muffins and other baked goods. When it comes to cookies, however, dried cherries are the way to go because you can bring in lots of cherry flavor without excess moisture that will compromise the texture of the cookies. These Lemon Cherry Sugar Cookies are inspired by cherry pie and are a great twist on a more traditional sugar cookie. The dough is infused with lemon zest and generously studded with dried tart cherries. Tart cherries are the type that are often called for in baking pies, too. There are enough cherries that you should get at least one in every bite, but not so many that you can’t appreciate the chewy-on-the-inside and crisp-on-the-outside buttery sugar cookie dough that they’re packed in. You

Hi sweet friends. My morning ritual of The Daily Podcast with my phone perched precariously in the one dry spot in my shower has become unsettling in a way that is hard to just have a fine day after.  You know?  Now in the morning I listen to early episodes of My Favorite Murder because somehow it’s much more soothing than the Supreme Court shuffling.   We’re ok.  I’m headed to Ojai for a few short days this week where I’ll spend some mellow time with a few lady friends and hopefully a hotel pool. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 180! at Joy the Baker.

You can find some delicious items in the frozen section at Trader Joe’s. Their orange chicken is their best seller year after year, but I tend to be drawn to the pastry section of the aisle. A few weeks ago, I enjoyed some brioche pastries , but decided to switch to something savory and put Trader Joe’s Ham & Cheese Flay Croissant Dough Squares to the test. These pastries start out with squares of croissant dough that are topped with chopped, uncured ham and shredded swiss cheese. Each one is individually packaged – there are four in each box – so you can prepare them as needed and don’t need to wait for a crowd if you want to treat yourself. They can be baked from frozen, so all you need to do is preheat your oven and pop one inside on a baking sheet. I love the casual look of these mini tarts, which could be served for breakfast, a snack or paired with a salad for lunch. While there was a little bit of variation from pastry to pastry, they tended to be generously topped with

Can we put that in a bowl? A bowl gives me license to settle into my favorite corner of the couch, cross my legs up under each other, cozy back, flip on the television, and lightly judge people who have chosen to put themselves on reality television shows.   It’s the bowl, thank goodness. It’s the gateway to settling back and in.  It’s cozy and not matter how hot it may be outside, I’d still like my moment of daily coziness.  I do my best to have a pot of something or other in the refrigerator every week. Continue reading Cornbread Topped Three Bean Chili at Joy the Baker.

Daquiris are one of my go-to summer cocktails. I’m not talking about blended strawberry daiquiris (although those are good , too), either. I’m talking about the classic daiquiri cocktail that is made with lime, sugar and rum. This Daiquiri Tart is inspired by that classic cocktail, with a rum-spiked lime filling on top of a buttery shortbread crust. The tart has two components: a crust and a filling. The crust is very easy to make, as it is a press-in crust. This means that you mix it up and dump the mixture into your tart pan, then press it into place with your fingertips. While traditional pastry crusts would still be delicious with this filling, this style of crust means that you don’t need to do very much advance planning before you bake it. You can mix up the crust while the oven preheats and you’re ready to go. The filling is also prepared while the crust is baking, then poured into the still-hot crust. The hot crust technique is a favorite of mine (as regular readers will kn

Peach cobbler is a classic summertime dessert. It’s easy to make and a great way to showcase fresh, ripe peaches – even though I will freely admit to making cobblers with frozen peaches during the winter. Cobblers tend to be rustic and honey desserts, something that you make to share with family. Cobblers usually need to be spooned into a bowl for serving, but these Peach Cobbler Oatmeal Bars are a way to make fruit cobbler a little easier to share. This recipe uses the same mixture for both the base of the bars and the streusel topping. The peaches are sandwiched between the two layers, along with a buttermilk cream that really gives the bars a great texture and plays up the sweetness of the peaches nicely. That creamy addition is a nod to the fact that peach cobblers are typically served with ice cream, and since these are designed to be a bit more portable, they’re a bit more difficult to top with ice cream when serving! The oatmeal mixture is packed into the bottom of a rectangu

Here is an unconventional but yet great taco recipe that we want you to try. It includes making tortillas from grated zucchini/courgette and filling them with a creamy and crunchy yogurt, cucumber and potato salad. Think of it as a light and summery take on tacos that probably will drive taco conservatives mad but make the rest of us happy. Because one more way to eat taco is not a bad thing. The zucchini tortillas is a recipe we have been making for the past couple of months, using egg, almond flour and parmesan to bind them together. We first saw this idea floating around on various Pinterest boards. If you have been making our vegetable flatbreads, this is a thinner version that is much more elastic (mainly because of the cheese) and therefore works great as a soft tortilla shell or flatbread. The creamy yogurt salad is our version of a Danish summer salad (sommersalat). It is traditionally made on  smoked fresh cheese , creme fraiche, radishes, cucumber and chives and it is a cl

Hello dear friends! I’m grateful that you’re here – I know there are all sorts of other ways you might choose to spend your Sunday morning.  Have you felt like a success this week?  Oh… we’re measuring our success in sweat these days, so…. let’s just say we’re all really quite successful this week.   It’s been one of those weeks where it appears that most everyone went on vacation without us… unless you’re one of the folks on vacation to which I say… hey, you went on vacation without me. Continue reading Let It Be Sunday, 179! at Joy the Baker.

Peaches and bourbon are two classic Southern ingredients that pair exceptionally well together. You’ll see them in everything from barbecue sauces to cocktails to desserts. The rich sweetness of fresh, ripe peaches is a good match for the oaky, vanilla flavor that is prominent in many bourbons, so any dish that has both flavors is bound to be complex, with a great depth of flavor. This Caramelized Bourbon Peach Ice Cream is no exception. It’s a delicious way to enjoy both of these ingredients and to make good use of ripe peaches when they are in season. This ice cream starts with fresh peaches, which are cooked in brown sugar until they are tender and caramelized. During cooking, the peaches give off quite a bit of juice, which blends with the sugar and becomes concentrated. To this mixture, I added a generous measure of bourbon and a splash of vanilla extract. I let the mixture cool, then pureed it and combined it with milk and heavy cream to make the ice cream base. I also added an

Here’s a thought that might have just popped into you mind re: baked beans – You know they come in a can right? YES I DO THANK YOU VERY MUCH. My most embarrassing dinner that I enjoy on the regular and that I also swore I’d never ever tell a soul about is (here I go breaking my rule) a can of baked beans and… nothing more. Continue reading Root Beer Baked Beans at Joy the Baker.

One of my pet peeves when ordering a blueberry muffin from a bakery is discovering that there aren’t all that many blueberries inside of it. I like it when blueberry muffins are bursting with sweet, fruity berries – and I want to have at least one in every bite. These Blueberry Almond Muffins are bursting with blueberries, all packed inside a delicious almond muffin that is just dense enough to hold them up without letting them sink to the bottom. The key to successful blueberry muffins is having a good batter. This one incorporates ground almonds to give the batter a little extra substance, allowing it to support the berries. While it might be a bit denser than other batters, the muffins still feel very tender and light because there are so many berries packed in there, held together with just the right amount of batter. The batter is flavored with almond and vanilla extracts to highlight the jammy berries, and you can add in a handful of chopped almonds if you prefer to bring a li

I've been on a muffin kick this week, which is a byproduct of me buying too much produce. My eager zucchini purchase ended up in these muffins (also in her book ), which are AMAZING, teetering towards dessert but with the perfect amount of moisture from the zucchini that melts away into all that delicious chocolate. I halved the recipe to get a dozen muffins and couldn't believe there were two full cups of zucchini in there. Then there are all the peaches, nectarines and plums; my favorite summer fruits, right behind ruby red strawberries. They smell so delicious and carry nostalgia for me of summers on the beach with my family, but I am the only one in our family who will eat a ripe one over the sink or chopped up in a green salad. What is not to like?!?! I question Cleo as she meticulously picks every trace of fruit from these muffins. Alas, a lot of extra stone fruit in the kitchen. These are not nearly as sweet as cake, but have a lovely almond essence and jammy fruit bit