Chocolate Pistachio Matza and Chocolate Almond Toffee Matza

Tags

almonds, caramel, chocolate, matza, matzah, matzo, pistachios, toffee

While this treat may be the perfect dessert for a Passover dinner, I think it’s a great dessert all year round. Maybe since I never grew up eating matza on a regular basis, when I first tried these crackers plain I thought they were tasty. It reminded me of the saltines I used to get when I was little. However, I learned that when you can really only eat matza for a few weeks every year, you need to find ways to jazz it up. And this is the perfect way. I made these desserts for a Passover dinner and they were a huge hit! People were so excited to have something that wasn’t macaroons. Chances are I’ll be making these again this summer, just because they were so tasty the first time.

Below are the recipes for (1) Chocolate and Toffee Matza and (2) just Chocolate Covered Matza. For some reason, these desserts come out looking like you spent hours on them and they consisted of this incredibly complicated recipes. However, this may actually be the easiest recipe I’ve ever posted.

Bacon and Cheddar Scones

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bacon, biscuit, bouchon, cheddar, cheese, savory, scone

I just came back from a lovely time in Napa, with delicious wine, a beautiful wedding, and fantastic food. Right outside of Napa is home to two of Thomas Keller’s most famous restaurants: French Laundry and Bouchon. While I would have loved to have visited both during my trip, reservations at both are like Christmas miracles. So I settled for the Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, right next door to the Bouchon restaurant. While of course everything was good, I have to be a slight critic and say that not everything that we got was as amazing as I had expected. However, there were two golden stars that I will never forget. The Strawberry Croissant and the Bacon Cheddar Scones. And so inspiration was born. I came home and immediately started checking to see how I could try to imitate these delicious treats on my own. While of course they are no Thomas Keller bacon and cheddar scones, I did get calls just about how tasty they are.

Pumpkin Scones

Tags

fall, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, scone, spiced, starbucks

I always see scones available at coffee shops and random bakeries. And I have to admit that sometimes I like them (raspberry and cranberry being my favorite), but other times I think they just taste hard and dry. With October coming around, I figured it was only right to make pumpkin scones and I was pleasantly surprised. They are soft and moist. Suddenly, I think I’ve been eating bad scones my whole life! And my world is just opening up. Now I have to start making all different types of scones to experiment! Try this lovely pumpkin recipe.

Spiced Pumpkin Frappuccino

Tags

coffee, drink, frappuccino, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, starbucks

As I’ve said a million times, October is my favorite month. I owe part of that to Starbucks. I’m not that big into coffee, instead I’m much more of a tea type of gal. But I do treat myself to the occasional frappuccino when I’m feeling wild, or in October a pumpkin spiced latte. However, I recently walked into my Starbucks and asked if they could make me a pumpkin frappuccino. To my delight it was possible and was just as tasty as I had dreamed. I was hooked. I wanted them every day. But the steep price of Starbucks just isn’t practical. So I decided to make my own, and they came out delicious!

Pumpkin Ice Cream

Tags

bourbon, fall, ice cream, ice cream maker, KitchenAid, non-alcoholic, october, pumpkin

So I’ve been a bad baker. I’ve had my KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment for months and months. And I haven’t made any ice cream. I didn’t realize how bad I was, until my friend pointed it out. I have to admit, I think I was a little afraid of ice cream. In my mind, it just sounds scary and a bit overwhelming. Even sometimes looking at the recipes can be a bit intimidating. But let me tell you investing in the ice cream maker may have been the best and worst decision I ever made. Great, because I see it isn’t that hard and I do love ice cream. But bad because I LOVE ice cream. Ughh it’s such a hard life I live!! =)

One of my favorite types of ice cream is pumpkin ice cream. First, because it’s plain delicious. Secondly, because I come from what may be the pumpkin capital of America. And lastly, I think I crave it so much because really I can only get it in September and October. Not anymore! Keep reading for this yummy recipe.

Sweet Apple Challah

picture from Sweet as Sugar Cookies

With Rosh Hashanah gone and passed and Yom Kippur quickly approaching, it’s the perfect time for some sweet challah bread. This has been on my top 26 list for a while. But when it came time to make it, I didn’t want to do the traditional challah. While quite tasty, I wanted something that had a bit more pizzazz. So I saw this recipe for harvest apple challah, from one of my favorite blogs to check out, and thought it was just right. While I always think I can improve, I think it came out pretty darn good. Next, pumpkin challah. Yummmm.

Almond Toffee

So the peanut brittle was just the start to my candy making. And as delicious as I thought the peanut brittle was, the toffee was even better. I had to beg my mother to save me a few pieces so I can take pictures of it for here. Also, it checks off another thing on my Top 26 List. It’s slowly getting checked off, but one day it’ll be done and I’ll have to start a new list! Keep reading for the almond toffee recipe….

Roasted Corn & Green Onion Wontons

I haven’t done so well with my new year’s resolution of cooking more regular food. I just really love baking. And regular dinners taste so good when I eat them out some place else. One thing that I do love are any form of wontons or potstickers. My favorite are crab wontons. Yummmm. So I decided I would have to make my own version for a party with a mix of meat eaters and vegetarians to see how they turn out. Despite the fact that they have no meat in them, everyone loved them (the guys especially). I even had one ask me if he could take some home with him. Of course!!!

Peanut Brittle

Tags

candy, corn syrp, peanut brittle, peanut butter, peanuts

Peanut brittle was always a staple on both sides of my family. It was my grandmother on my mother’s side favorite treat and I would love going to her house and finding a new container of peanut brittle. My aunt on my dad’s side actually worked for See’s candies (a popular chocolate store out in the West), so if there was ever a damaged container, she got to bring some home. Overall, peanut brittle is a dream to any child who just likes straight sugar and nuts (so just about every child). To appease the children of the world, I encourage all parents to make this recipe immediately!

Peach and Raspberry Cobbler

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almond, cinnamon, cobbler, crisp, crumble, peach, raspberry

I don’t think I ever stop being honest with all of you, so before I start this post I feel like I should tell you that I don’t really like eating peaches. I’ve tried. I like peach smoothies. And I like peach and raspberry cobbler. But just peaches, not cooked and with no delicious raspberries next to it makes me grimace. Don’t worry, I don’t understand it either. What I do understand is that this cobbler is delicious. I must say that the topping on this was amazing. I was upset that I only stole one piece before giving the rest to my mom. She’s one lucky lady.