SMiLes by Meg

Tag: sweet

Sunflower Oat Cookies

I’m currently sitting in an airport in Seattle, on a layover heading back to Boston after an absolutely perfect week with Erik in Alaska. We skied on two lakes, spent a night in a dry cabin in -20°F weather, ate a lot of pizza, went climbing, and played a lot of board games. But mostly, we got a lot of much-needed hangout time, which is what I miss the most when we’re apart. Because I’m feeling sentimental, here’s a gratuitous picture of us doing fun things: One day this week, we had two of Erik’s friends over for dinner (Jake …

Father’s Famous Flying Flapjacks

I don’t know how I have other pancake recipes on this blog but not the most important pancake recipe in the world: my dad’s. He makes them for us maybe twice a year (Christmas and New Year’s), but they have always been my absolute favorite, and the standard by which I judge all pancakes. The recipe is simple – dump a bunch of stuff in a bowl, whisk it, and fry them up. Serve with plenty of butter and real maple syrup. Perfect for a family of four! This week, I’m in Alaska, and hadn’t done a blog post yet, …

Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies

I recently discovered the blog Hummingbird High when she was featured on another blog I like, Cloudy Kitchen. I feel like there’s this network of real baking bloggers that are all friends and go to each other’s places in New York and make really amazing and beautiful desserts and generally live pleasant lives. Michelle Lopez, behind Hummingbird High, recently released a cookbook, Weeknight Baking. The entire concept appealed to me – ways to bake delicious things in minimal time. And, the star recipe that seemed to be all over Instagram was Better-Than-Supernatural Fudge Brownies, so obviously I started with those. …

Grasshopper Tart

For New Year’s Eve last week, I wanted a lighter dessert that would go somewhat well with a heavier main course of mushroom risotto. I also wanted that dessert to include liquor, since I was baking for friends. So, obviously, I turned to Boozy Baker. I’ve made a version of this in the past as Grasshopper Pie, and I think my baking skills have come a long way since then. That pie looked kinda weird, was not a good green, and I thought I could effectively make a tart in a pie pan. This time around, I decided to actually …

Homemade Pocky

I saw these on the New York Times cookie spread and knew I had to make them. I love pocky, and can never eat just a few. They’re crispy, chocolate, and are cookies, so there’s not much not to like. The best part? These ones are easy. They don’t actually make good cookie tin cookies (they break kind of easily and therefore shouldn’t be packed with lots of other cookies, but I think they’d look great out on a platter for dessert at one of the eighteen holiday parties you’re probably going to this week. In my cookie marathon weekend, …

Triple Chocolate Cookies

This is it. It’s cookie baking weekend. And it has been a GREAT cookie baking weekend. I made my standards (Sugar Cookies and Gingerbread Men), but also made some new ones. This week I’m sharing with you the triple chocolate cookies, because they should 100% be the cookie you bring to parties for the next couple weeks. I also made some crystallized ginger sugar cookies and homemade pocky, but you’ll hear more about those later. Other than baking cookies, I surprisingly fit a lot in. My mom and I went to a craft fair, and then had wine and cheese …

Salted Caramel Thumbprints

Guys, it’s Christmas cookie season. And, if you’ve been reading my blog anytime in the last six years, you know that every year, I dedicate one weekend to making an absurd amount of Christmas cookies, which I then put in boxes or tins and distribute to friends and family and coworkers. This was not that weekend. But I did make some Christmas cookies anyway, because The NY Times Cookie Spread on instagram was way too perfect not to get an early start. So these will go into the office, not in bags, and hopefully next weekend I’ll actually dedicate the …

Cardamom Coffee Cake

Sunday Scaries are a weird thing. I had the most perfect weekend, and in particular a great Sunday, mostly because we turned the clocks back, and I had a full extra hour to be productive, which gave me extra time to be lazy. But it’s that time of year where, as corporate lawyer, clients start wanting things done by end of year, and there’s a general impending sense of a storm. So as Sunday has worn on, I’ve gotten that pit of dread in the bottom of my stomach. Fortunately, I know the perfect way to combat Sunday Scaries: Cake …

Gingerbread Snickerdoodles

Big soft ginger cookies and snickerdoodles have always felt like related cookies to me. It’s probably the cinnamon and the texture and the sugar on the outside. But because I think of them as similar, I’m kind of upset that I never thought to combine them before. Alas, the New York Times beat me to it, and rubbed it in my face by including the recipe in a compilation of Fall recipes I was looking at to find something to make for dinner. Cookies can be dinner, right? So start by whisking together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, …

White Chocolate Peanut Brittle Ice Cream

Photographing ice cream continues to be one of my weaknesses in the food blog world. I really enjoy eating ice cream, but usually do so out of a mug, which is not really the best presentation. I could probably start keeping cones around for this purpose, but who, sitting on the couch late at night with a glass of wine, wants to eat an ice cream cone? It also didn’t help that I was making this ice cream on a rush basis before heading down to Rhode Island for a wedding, so didn’t actually get to take a picture of …