SMiLes by Meg

Viscotti

I have a new theory in the kitchen: cinnamon belongs in everything. Perhaps controversial, but I’m pretty sold on the stuff. It’s amazing what the addition of some cinnamon does to what would otherwise just be a cakey sugar cookie in this recipe. Literally game changing.

Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

Happy birthday, Mom! Though last weekend we had your surprise party, this Friday was the real deal, so of course, despite our emergency trip for coconut cake, I had to make one more coconut recipe. This week, a Kathy Muncey special: chocolate coconut macaroons.

Morning Glory Muffins

Happy birthday week, Mom! Yesterday, we kicked off the festivities with a surprise party for her. I think, miraculously, we actually pulled it off, and it was great to see so many people come out to celebrate such an amazing woman. Today, we kept the party going with some coconut baking: Morning Glory Muffins.

Eclairs

Happy Mother’s Day! This year, we started a new tradition – my cousin Kim and I cooked brunch for all the mothers on my dad’s side of the family – my mom, her mom (hi Gail!), our grandmother, and my godmother (our aunt). Brunch is my favorite meal to cook, but terribly difficult to make dessert for – it’s already pretty sweet, and everyone tends to feast and get full since it’s the first meal of the day.

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Brownies

I think this is the first time I’ve been home in Duxbury without a deadline in a very long time. I’ve got two weeks until my summer internship starts, and literally nothing required of me between now and then. I plan on reading, playing through all of my TSwift piano books, and, of course, baking delicious things in my mom’s nice big kitchen.

Spiced Oatmeal Cookies

As you’re reading this, I’m either driving up to New Hampshire or already there, spending four days in the mountains and 100% off the grid to celebrate finishing my second year of law school. So when deciding what to bake this week, I wanted some kind of treat we could bring with us, but still felt hearty enough to eat on the trail. That’s how I landed on spiced oatmeal cookies.

Clementine Cake

Happy Easter! I just got back to Cambridge from a great 24 hours at home, and had the best time hanging out with family, playing with little kids, and eating chocolate for every meal.

Braided Nutella Bread

I have been on a big yeasted bread kick this year, which is really quite a step forward in my baking life. I used to be terrified of recipes that included yeast. You invest so much time up front in making the dough, that the fear of it not rising often scared me off from starting at all.

Croissants

Get ready for a marathon: croissants may be the most time-intensive (and exciting) thing I have made in a very long time. It’s not often I have a weekend where I can pull this off, but I am so glad that I did.