We heralded the brilliance (and tartness) of cranberries in last week’s post (cranberry clafoutis) so we’ll refrain from repeating ourselves here. Instead we’ll just rave about the moistness (sorry) of this yogurt cranberry bread, which, yes, also contains bright crimson pops of color and fall crispness, but which also is a comfort food of the season and deserves to be your next baking adventure. If you’re celebrating turkeys and pies and all the drowsy effects of tryptophan in two weeks, this is another recipe to add to the Thanksgiving dessert table. Quick breads have a sort of humble elegance to them: rustic and simple, but with often more heightened flavors…
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Cranberry Clafoutis
Cranberries are the deceivingly beautiful but unfortunately tart fruit of fall. I grew up on Costco bags of dried Ocean Spray cranberries, grabbed by the handfuls for after school snacks or tossed together with almonds or cashews for a between-class snack. I remember the revelation that took hold of my sister and I the first time we witnessed the marvel of a cranberry harvest on PBS: millions of marvelously smooth rubies floating in washes of flooded fields. It was practically the red sea, waters parted by wader-clad farmers in checkered flannels and baseball caps. As a proud Pacific Northwesterner, it was another shining example of the quiet gloriousness of the…
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Pumpkin Chocolate Snacking Cake
And, after a short break, we’re back with the scheduled programming of pumpkin, pumpkin, and more pumpkin this October. For those of you outside of the US, the pumpkin craze may seem a bit strange. If you do have access to a fresh squash or canned pumpkin, though, give it a try and see if it doesn’t grow on you. This pumpkin chocolate chunk snacking cake is one of the easiest pumpkin desserts out there, and I wouldn’t even count it as a full dessert! It’s only a touch sweet, heavy with pumpkin (a vegetable), and a scattering of chocolate chunks, making it the perfect snack for after lunch, after…
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Gluten Free Rose Gold Financiers
In Paris, and apparently in shops in London and LA as well now, you can enjoy the epitome of floral delicacies in the shape of small, perfect French macarons. Ladurée is my go-to source for these bite-sized almond-flour clouds, and the rose flavor is by far my favorite. Whoever thought of putting the intoxicating perfume of roses into baked goods was struck by genius – who would have thought that a flower could translate so well into an other-worldly flavor sensation in addition to being one of the better fragrances known to humankind. Thanks to that first person who decided rosewater or petals or syrup was destined for a cake…
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Spiced Apple Crisp
Apple crisp is one of my enduring fall favorites. It exudes warmth (quite literally but also figuratively), the coziness of spices, the sweet, soft abundance of homey apples, and the crunch of an earthy, deeply spiced crumble. It’s a humble dessert that melts me back into worn couches, a cracking fire, and cousins and family members teasing and laughing over plates and plates of food. Or to after dinner instant apple crisps that my grandma would whip together in about 10 minutes (without measuring a single ingredient much to the lament of me, who wanted her recipe) and that we would dig in to once the dishwasher was rumbling away…
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Gluten Free Vanilla Raspberry Pancakes
I’ve tried a million different gluten free pancake recipes. It seems like pancakes should be one of the simplest breakfast items to make gluten free, but you’d be surprised how sneakily dense or crumbly some turn out. Or that telltale taste of rice flour just is a bit too noticeable and you need a different combination of starches, powders, and flavorings. These are not the end all be all gluten free pancakes, because there are so many different variables to optimize for in pancakes: fluffiness, taste, chewiness, size, etc. But! These are some of my new favorite pancakes, and they have a twist that most other recipes do not: the…
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Chewy Almond Cookies
Being gluten free can lead to strange cravings – I never knew I could miss the sensation of chewy so much! Or flaky! Or fluffy! And while most of these textures can be replicated, with some effort, in gluten free baked goods, it can just seem daunting to try. Why not just plop down on the couch with a a bucket of highly unsatisfying store bought GF cookies to temporarily numb your sweet tooth? Because you deserve better! And these cookies are better! Honestly though, these chewy almond cookies are divine. If you’re not an almond extract fan, take it out and you should still enjoy the light, delicate, but…
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Graham Cracker Toffee Bars
I have vivid memories of laying out trays full of graham crackers (glutinous ones at the time – this was pre-Celiac-diagnosis and pre-anything-other-than-cardboard-gluten-free-snacks) to make these heavenly graham cracker toffee bars. Toffee has always been that guilty pleasure treat for me – though the real stuff always sticks in my teeth or just about breaks them with that first glass-shattering crunch. That’s why these graham cracker toffee bars are the answer to my life-long desire and the most dangerous cookie-sheet full of goodness you could put in front of me. I definitely almost ate the entire bowl of butter+brown sugar while making them, every time. Now that I’m an adult…
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Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread
Shortbread always used to puzzle me – as a kid it seemed far more exciting to go for something richly chocolate or raspberry or creamy, not a dry square of short bread (what a name!) with no added flavor. Who in their right mind would choose such a thing over a brownie? Very very recently, upon the discovery of incredibly good butter (once you taste it you can’t go back), I reneged on my avoidance campaign of the crumbly British dessert and jumped on the shortbread train. This was particularly helpful as well because shortbread is remarkably easy to make gluten free. Many recipes, Scottish shortbread specifically, even add in…
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Gluten Free Matcha Swirl Pound Cake with Matcha Glaze
Swirls are the name of the game, especially so in this gluten free matcha swirl pound cake. If you’re a fan of the earthy-sweet verdant powder, then you’ll be a big fan of this easier-than-it-looks cake. If you’re not, then forego the green addition and keep it simple with a pound cake bundt cake, or toss in a powder you have more affinity for (say, blitzed up freeze dried raspberries or strawberries?). Up to you – this is a fool-proof pound cake recipe by our very own Kendra Farber, so use it as your buttery, sugar-heavy foundation for whatever flavor pairing gets you saying “thank goodness” at the end of…
