Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter together, with an electric mixer, until smooth and well blended. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat until combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract in 3 separate additions, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined.
In a small bowl, toss the chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon of flour then fold them into the batter. Transfer the batter to the baking pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bars comes out with a few moist crumbs on it, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool in the pan. Spread the chocolate glaze over the cooled bars.
Glaze
Combine the glaze ingredients in a heat-safe bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth.
I couldn’t decide whether to call these cookies or pies, so I made a compromise. They’re about the size of cookies, but they taste like little peach crumble pies. The base is tender like shortbread or pie crust and the filling is made with fresh peaches. I’ve seen people make something similar with jam and call them cookies, but since I used fresh fruit for these, they deserve to be elevated to pie status.
The peaches are macerated to draw out the excess juices, to help avoid making your cookies soggy. If you’re impatient, don’t be tempted to skip this step. It’ll go by fast as you prep the crumb topping and the remaining ingredients.
When I first made these, I used cupcake liners because I was worried that they might stick to the pan. It turns out that they stick to the cupcake liners more than the pan. So the next time I made them, I opted to lightly spray the pan with nonstick spray instead of using liners. I ran a small thin offset spatula around the perimeter of the cookies to loosen them from the pan and they popped out nicely.
I love topping these little peach delights with caramel sauce. Salted caramel is also a delicious addition. Or you can simply sprinkle them with powdered sugar if you prefer.
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Peach Crumble Pie Cookies
Tender, peach-filled cookies with crumble topping and caramel drizzle
In a medium bowl, toss the peaches with lemon juice. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir gently to combine. Let stand 30 minutes.
Drain the peaches, reserving 1 tablespoon of the juices. In a small bowl, whisk together the reserved peach juice with the corn starch. Mix with the drained peaches.
Crumble Topping
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.
With your fingertips, work the butter into the flour mixture until it looks like wet sand. Press the mixture together to form chunks.
Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Lightly spray a 12-serving muffin pan with nonstick spray. (If you're concerned about the cookies sticking to the pan, see notes below.*)
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Mix in the flour mixture on low speed or by hand, just until combined.
Press generous tablespoon size (about 20g each) portions of dough into the bottoms of the muffin pan cups with a pastry tamper dipped in flour. You can also use the bottom of a flat shot glass.
Top with the peaches, then the crumble topping mixture. Bake until the cookies are set and the topping is golden brown, about 15-17 minutes.
Cool the cookies completely in the pan. Once cool, remove the cookies from the pan by running a small offset spatula or paring knife around the inside perimeter of the muffin cups to loosen them. Drizzle with caramel sauce.
Recipe Notes
*You can line the bottoms of the muffin cups with 2-inch parchment circles to make sure your cookies release. I don't recommend cupcake liners because the cookies stick to the ridges of the liners. You can, however, cut the circles from the bottom of the cupcake liners if you don't have parchment paper.
In a large light-colored saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until golden brown and fragrant. When you start to see golden brown specks forming in the bottom of the pan, immediately turn the heat down to low and add the marshmallows. Stir until the marshmallows are melted, then stir in the rice cereal.
Using a sturdy buttered spatula, press the mixture into the baking dish.
Melt the hazelnut cocoa spread and the chocolate chips together in a heat safe bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the pan. Stir gently until melted and smooth. (Alternately, you can use the microwave to melt the mixture in short spurts.) Spread the melted chocolate mixture over the rice cereal treats. Sprinkle with hazelnuts.
The texture and flavor of these cute Blueberry Lemon Crumb Cakes is immaculate. You’ll love them so much, you won’t want to share, but this recipe makes six 4-inch personal crumb cakes, so you’ll have one all to yourself. You’ll understand once you taste the soft, fluffy lemon scented cake with juicy blueberries, a generous amount of sweet crumb topping and a lemony cream cheese icing. I was a bit hesitant to share this recipe. But I was taught to share recipes by my two grandmothers who were amazing cooks and bakers. They shared their knowledge and recipes with anyone who asked. Recipes are a legacy that should be passed on to family and friends. If you’re reading this, I consider you a friend. So enjoy this recipe that’s especially dear to me, because it’s based on my Grandma’s Apple Crumb Cake recipe.
I used a six serving shallow jumbo muffin pan to bake the cakes. The muffin cups are 4 inches across by 1 inch deep. To find the pan, click here. A hamburger bun pan for 4-inch buns will work too. If you happen to have six 4-inch cake pans, those work nicely. I used jumbo muffin liners to line the muffin cups, which fit perfectly by pressing them in around the inside bottom edges.
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Blueberry Lemon Crumb Cakes
Fluffy, soft lemon cakes with blueberries, crumb topping and lemon cream cheese icing
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, brown sugar and salt together.
Work in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like the consistency of wet sand. Press the mixture together to make chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Crumb Cakes
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a 6-serving shallow jumbo muffin pan* with jumbo muffin liners.** Jumbo muffin liners will fit by pressing them around the inside bottom edges.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy.
Beat the egg and egg yolk into the butter mixture in 2 separate additions, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next. Beat in the extracts until combined.
In a small bowl, whisk the milk and sour cream together.
On low speed, mix the flour mixture into the batter in 2 additions alternating with half of the milk mixture after each addition. Beat just until combined.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan, evenly distributing the batter and filling the cups about half full.
In a medium bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 teaspoon of flour and place them into the cups on top of the batter, about 1 ounce (28g) in each. Top each one with crumb topping.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Icing
In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, melted butter, powdered sugar, salt and 1 tablespoon (30ml) of lemon juice. Add additional lemon juice, a little at a time until your desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over the cooled cakes.
Blueberry cookies remind me of a time when I was little. Every year my family would take a road trip up to Northern California. My parents loved stopping at roadside stands to buy fresh produce on the way back. One year my dad bought an enormous box of blueberries. When we got home, for the next couple of weeks, we ate far too many blueberry pancakes. My dad also used the blueberries in his famous cobbler, which was delightful. Then he made biscuits which turned out like rocks and we all laughed. My favorite blueberry creations that year were the blueberry shortcake and blueberry cookies. I’m sharing my version of the blueberry cookies, with the addition of lavender to make them a little more special.
My Blueberry Lavender Cookies start with butter and homemade lavender sugar. The original cookies had fresh blueberries plopped into the dough, which is perfectly fine if you’re making muffins. To reduce the soggy spots that form as the fruit releases its juices while baking, I typically macerate or cook fruit before it’s added to many of my recipes. The extra step makes a big difference. A quick, cooked blueberry compote is folded into the batter of these cookies, making pretty blueberry swirls. I finished these cookies with a sprinkle of sparkly sanding sugar in a lilac shade. This is optional, but very pretty. You can also make extra lavender sugar to use for sprinkling on your cookies. Sprinkle the sugar on before baking or after the cookies bake, while they’re still warm.
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Blueberry Lavender Cookies
Chewy lavender scented sugar cookies with crisp exteriors and swirls of blueberry compote.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon of water, stirring until the blueberries soften and start to release their juices. Smash the blueberries slightly with the back of the spoon. Stir in cornstarch mixture. Turn the heat down to low. Simmer until thickened to a jam consistency, about 1-2 minutes.
Transfer the blueberry compote to a small bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Lavender Sugar
In a small food processor or a clean spice grinder, combine 1/4 cup of the sugar with the lavender. Pulse a few times to chop the lavender into smaller bits. Add the remaining sugar and pulse a few more times to combine.
Blueberry Lavender Cookies
Preheat your oven to 350ºF (180ºC) Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and lavender sugar with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy.
Add the the egg white and vanilla and beat until well combined.
On low speed, add the flour mixture in two additions and mix just until combined.
Add dollops of the blueberry compote to the batter. Fold in gently, but don't completely combine it. You want to see swirls of blueberry.
Place 2-tablespoon size portions of dough about 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. I used a #30 portion scoop.*** Sprinkle with decorative sugar if desired.
Bake until tops of cookies are set and bottom edges turn light golden brown, about 10-14 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Do not over bake. Test one cookie before baking the entire batch if you are unsure about how to determine the doneness of cookies.
These rich, fudgy, coffee scented brownies, with caramel and whipped cream topping are inspired by one of my favorite coffee shop drinks, a caramel latte. I was thinking about how to get the caramel inside the brownies. With some methods, the caramel ends up over baked and chewy. Then I remembered poke cakes from my childhood. You poke holes all over a baked cake and pour whatever you like on top to soak into the holes. It worked beautifully with these brownies. To finish them off, I topped them with fluffy cream cheese whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel.
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Caramel Latte Brownies
Rich, moist coffee scented brownies soaked with caramel, topped with fluffy cream cheese whipped cream and drizzled with more caramel.
Preheat your oven to 325ºF. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches of overhang.
In a large heat safe bowl, melt the butter together with the chocolate, in the microwave or on the stovetop over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until smooth.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder, hot water and espresso powder until smooth.
Whisk the cocoa powder mixture, sugar and salt into the warm melted chocolate mixture until well combined.
Add the eggs, egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to the chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth.
Stir in the flour just until combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl as needed.
Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with moist crumbs on it, about 25-28 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool completely.
Once cool, remove the brownies from the pan and place on a serving platter. Using a chopstick, poke holes in the brownies, about 1 inch apart, to within 1 inch from the edges.
Spread caramel sauce over the surface of the brownies with a small offset spatula.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, with an electric mixer, until smooth. Gradually add the heavy cream and beat to stiff peaks.
Spread or pipe the whipped cream onto the brownies. Drizzle with additional caramel sauce.
If you like tropical flavors, you’ll love this spring dessert from my childhood. We used to call it Pineapple Coconut Snack Cake, but I would consider it more of a bar, so I changed the name to Pineapple Coconut Cake Bars. We would enjoy it on Easter or Mother’s Day because it was my mom’s favorite. It’s buttery, moist and rich. It’s also kind of addicting, because everyone always asks for seconds. You can double the recipe if you need to.
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk melted butter, sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla until smooth.
Stir in pineapple until well combined. Stir in flour mixture just until combined.
Transfer batter to prepared baking pan. Bake until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.
Topping
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter with sugar, brown sugar and salt. Whisk in heavy cream.
When mixture starts to bubble, turn heat down to low and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in coconut, pecans and vanilla. Spread over warm cake. Let cool at least 15 minutes before cutting cake.
This is the ultimate chocolate chip bread! There are no cookies in this recipe, but it tastes so much like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies that Chocolate Chip Cookie Bread is the perfect name for it. Brown sugar, vanilla and semisweet chocolate chips really help to mimic that beloved chocolate chip cookie flavor. I love the big pockets of chocolate that come from using jumbo chocolate chips, but of course you can use regular or mini chocolate chips if you prefer.
I typically wait until a loaf is cooled off before slicing it, but in this case, I wanted to capture the melted pools of chocolate for the video. The fresh baked chocolate chip aroma was so heavenly, that it took all of my willpower not to immediately devour the entire loaf! It’s easier to slice a fresh baked loaf when it’s cooled off. But if you want to experience the melty chocolate chips, warm your slice in the microwave for 8-10 seconds.
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bread
A moist, tender loaf cake with brown sugar and chocolate chips that tastes just like chocolate chip cookies
Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Line the bottom of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the 1 3/4 cups (223g) flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla in 3 separate additions, making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding the next.
In a small bowl, whisk the milk and sour cream together.
Add the flour mixture to the batter in two additions, alternating with half of the milk mixture after each addition. Beat just until combined. Do not over mix.
Set aside a handful of chocolate chips for the top of the loaf. In a small bowl, toss the remaining chips with 1 teaspoon flour, making sure to coat them all, then fold them into the batter. This will help to prevent them from sinking. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Top with the reserved chocolate chips.
Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 325ºF (165ºC) and continue baking until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 45-50 more minutes. Cool the loaf in pan for 10 minutes then turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes
*If you want to use mini chocolate chips, use one cup (6 oz or 170g)
One of the reasons I love baking is because of the joy it brings. In this case it’s joy and sunshine. These vibrant, lemon tarts are pure sunshine. With only four ingredients, they’re so easy to make that you’ll be surprised at how silky and delicious they are.
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place six 4-inch tart pans with removable bottoms* on a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, mix crushed cookies with melted butter until well combined.
Press crumb mixture firmly into tart pans with the back of a spoon or the bottom of a small cup. It's important to press firmly, especially on the sides.
Bake tart shells for 8 minutes. Let cool completely.
In a medium bowl, stir mascarpone cheese with a spatula until smooth. Fold in lemon curd until well combined.
Fill cooled tart shells with mascarpone mixture. Refrigerate tarts until set, about 2 hours.
Carefully remove tarts from tart pans. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.
Whenever I walk into a bakery, my eyes are always drawn to anything pink. Pink cupcakes, cookies, donuts or anything with pink icing will inevitably come home with me. This probably started in childhood. Most bakeries back then, including the bakery my aunt always took me to, had pink boxes, so I associate it with delicious, freshly baked treats. Maybe pink desserts do taste better or maybe our minds just tell us that. Either way, if you love pink treats, you’ll love these cookies.
Pink velvet is similar to red velvet, but without the cocoa powder and red food color. The texture should be somewhat velvety, like red velvet cake. I have yet to taste a velvety red velvet cookie, but I think the texture of these cookies is pretty velvety as long as they’re not over baked. Pink velvet desserts are typically vanilla flavored. I upgraded the flavor by adding a touch of cherry flavoring. It’s not enough to give you cherry flavored cookies, but it will add depth to vanilla flavored treats. It’s an old bakery trick that I learned years ago that adds a fruity note in the background.
For best baking results, I recommend using a scale to weigh your ingredients, especially your dry ingredients. If you love baking, you should invest in a food scale if you don’t already have one.
To watch the Pink Velvet Cookies TikTok video, click here. To watch the Pink Velvet Cookies Instagram video, click here.
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Pink Velvet Cookies
Pink vanilla flavored crinkle cookies with chewy exteriors and soft, velvety centers
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and oil until light and fluffy.
Beat egg whites into butter mixture in two addition, until well combined.
Beat in extracts until well combined.
Add gel food color, a little at a time with a toothpick, until desired shade of pink is reached. (Adding remaining ingredients will lighten the color slightly.) Beat until evenly distributed.
Add flour mixture to batter and beat just until combined. Mix in white chocolate chips if using.
Roll dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons each. I used a #30 portion scoop.*** Roll dough very generously in powdered sugar. Place two inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake until cookies are puffed and tops are set, about 11-13 minutes. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes
*The cherry flavoring in this recipe is not intended to make a cherry flavored cookie. The addition of cherry flavoring adds a subtle fruity note. You can also use pure cherry extract. Use a bit less (scant 1/2 teaspoon)  because extracts tend to be stronger than flavorings. DO NOT use imitation cherry extract. It has a medicinal flavor that will disappoint you. If you want your cookies to be cherry or strawberry flavor, reduce vanilla extract to 1/2 teaspoon and  use 1- 1 1/2 teaspoons of natural cherry or strawberry flavoring.
**To find the pink gel food color I used, click here.
A cute little, stress-free, perfectly pink heart cake is my gift to you for Valentine’s Day. The vanilla cake is soft and fluffy. The frosting is super easy and delicious, with only two ingredients. It all comes together with fresh strawberries and it’s so good, you won’t want to share.
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Little Strawberry Heart Cake
A six inch heart shaped vanilla cake with fresh strawberries and two-ingredient frosting
In a small bowl, combine strawberries and 2 teaspoons sugar. Set aside to macerate for about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line the bottom of a 6-inch heart shaped cake pan*** with parchment paper. Grease and flour the sides.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and oil with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla in two separate additions until well combined.
In a small bowl, whisk together milk and sour cream.
Beat flour mixture into batter in two additions, alternating with milk mixture.
Transfer batter to prepared cake pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let cake cool in pan 10 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool.
In a large bowl, stir cream cheese with a spatula to smooth out lumps.
Add marshmallow fluff and beat until well combined. Add food gel color with a toothpick and beat until evenly distributed.
Split cake into two layers. Top the bottom layer with frosting. Drain strawberries and spoon onto cake. Top with second layer, then more frosting.
Optional Decor
To make sugared strawberries, mix 1 part meringue powder with 3 parts water. Dip strawberries in meringue mixture, cover with sugar, then let dry. Alternately you can dip the strawberries in pasteurized egg whites, cover with sugar, then let dry.
