SMiLes by Meg

Tag: cookie

Gluten Free Coconut Cookies

Snuck up to Duxbury for the weekend, which of course means my mom and I baked something coconut. Her birthday is this week, and Mother’s Day was two weeks ago ish, and I’m now officially fully vaccinated, so visiting this weekend made a lot of sense. We had a great time and laughed a lot and generally enjoyed what felt like a return to almost normal. Plus, we made some cookies that “are a cross between coconut macaroons and oatmeal cookies and SO GOOD.” (Quote from my mom.) Start by mixing together the coconut oil, brown sugar and egg in …

Matcha Snickerdoodles

These cookies have been on my “I want to try that” list since I got Weeknight Baking for Christmas a couple of years ago. I just never was able to find matcha at Whole Foods, which is where I assumed I would be able to find it, and I didn’t want to order it from Amazon, even though there are actually a couple of specialty items I should just order at this point since I haven’t been able to find them anywhere. Then, last week, I found matcha at Whole Foods! I never go down the aisles full of random …

Almond Horn Cookies

This weekend I started a two week vacation, and so far it’s been lovely. Yesterday, Erik and I went for a bike ride around Antietam Battlefield, and this morning I baked cookies and read a book that has been taking me way too long to read. However, we are yet to find matzo in DC, so if anyone has any leads (or boxes to spare) we would be very grateful. The cookies are Passover-friendly, which also means they’re gluten free. They come together quickly, are relatively easy to shape, and look like something you’d find in a real bakery (not …

Small Batch Magic Bars

If you’ve known me at any point in my life, you know that a constant is my all time favorite dessert: magic bars. I’ve shared my favorite recipe for them before, and even tried some seasonal variations, but I haven’t made any since COVID started because I know myself and my complete lack of self control. If I made a full pan of magic bars, I would eat a full pan of magic bars. Then, this weekend, Alexandra sent me a recipe for a salted caramel pretzel version that looked great, and reminded me that I was really missing a …

Peppermint Oreos

Looking back over the years, I’ve tried to make Oreos a few times. When I first moved into my apartment in Boston after law school, I gave them a go with this recipe. Then, a couple months later, I tried to recreate the Trader Joe’s candy cane Oreos with this recipe for my Christmas cookie boxes. Both seem to have been successes at the time, but they also both pale in comparison to the ones I made for my cookie boxes this year, a much more impressive looking and subtly peppermint variety out of BraveTart’s cookbook, of course. Christmas for …

Checkerboards

Week 2 of cookies from my cookie boxes this year is checkerboards! When polling friends who got a box, this was a big favorite, which I think is probably more due to the fact that they look really impressive than anything else. Oh and also the butter. I first made checkerboards in my pre-blog life sometime in college. Cate was visiting my parents’ house with me, and I remember making them at the kitchen counter while she made wedding cookies. Or maybe I’m totally making up this memory but I think that’s when I first made them. I was surprised …

Nutmeg Teddy Bears

If you follow my Instagram (@smilesbymeg), you know that I made a LOT of cookies this weekend. If you don’t follow my Instagram, you really should start. I’ll post the recipes over the next couple of weeks, but first up (by vote of my Instagram followers): Nutmeg Teddy Bears! Every year in my cookie boxes, I like to make at least one with my cookie press. And every year when I do make a cookie press cookie, I remember that i have presses for every season of the year that isn’t Christmas, too, swear I’ll make more, and then don’t. …

Gingerbread House

Like everyone else on Instagram, I decided this was the right weekend for a gingerbread house. Next weekend is Cookie Weekend (if you live in DC and want a box of cookies, please let me know!) and the weekend after that is Ravioli Weekend and the weekend after that is Christmas, so there really was no other time to do this. I’ve had a set of gingerbread house cookie cutters for a couple of years now, but hadn’t yet successfully baked the components in a way that they would fit together to make a house. I decided I needed a …

Brookies

Continuing my small-batch kick this week with some brookies (brownie/cookie combo, for those not in the know) made in my cute little 1/8 sheet pan! We’ve been having a nice lazy stay around the house day, and these were a good little midday snack. And, even though it’s a small batch recipe, we’ve got lots of them to get us through to Thanksgiving! Speaking of, planning a Thanksgiving meal for two is strange. We’re not traveling (thanks, COVID), but will be doing virtual Thanksgiving with each of our families at various times during the day. That still leaves food for …

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

It’s a rainy day in DC today, and I’m very happy about. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the weeks on end of perfect Fall days, but sometimes you just need an excuse to curl up in cozy clothes all day, drink coffee out of your biggest mug and refuse to leave the apartment. This will be that day. Yesterday was not that day – it was mid-70s, and we had some friends over for pre-dinner roof drinks. After last week’s experiment in keeping the blog post’s baked good for ourselves all week, I was more than ready to …