SMiLes by Meg

Tag: sweet

Chocolate Banana Pecan Cookies

Do you work with me? If so, these cookies will be in the kitchen tomorrow morning, and you should definitely try to get there before they’re gone. Plus, with banana as the first ingredient, they’re basically breakfast cookies. I’ve been at work for about a week and a half now, and still haven’t brought in any baked goods. It’s very unlike me, really. So hopefully this recipe makes up for it. They’re gooey, chocolatey, crunchy, and just a little banana-y, which is a combination I’ve never really thought of putting in cookie form. Fortunately, Ottolenghi did think of it, and …

Hazelnut Crumble Cake

This weekend, I’ve reached the end of my funemployment traveling and am spending some much-needed time with my college roommate, Cate, her partner, Jonathan, and their corgi puppy, Giles. Cate was a baker before I ever thought to start this blog, and last time I was visiting her I gave her the cookbook Sweet by Ottolenghi, which we baked out of together. At that point in time, we were hosting a brunch and wanted to make a Rum Raisin Cake. I asked Cate if she had everything we needed to make it, and she assured me that she did.

Peanut Butter Brownies

When I first started this blog, I think I envisioned myself making a lot more brownies than I actually do. In creating categories for my recipes, I apparently didn’t think “Bar Cookies” was specific enough, and made a whole separate category for “Brownies.” But now I have 23 recipes under Bars and only 11 under Brownies. Let this recipe be a first attempt at remedying this situation.

Individual Tiramisu

So I know I said I would be making sourdough starter, and I will, but it would be really mean of me not to pass along this recipe to you all first. On Friday night, which was our last night staying with Barb and Randy, Erik and I cooked dinner. Or, more accurately, Erik cooked dinner (Bucatini all’Amatriciana) and I put together an easy, but impressive looking, dessert. Because we were going to be serving a pasta dish, I wanted a lighter, but still Italian, dessert. And, surprisingly, I had never made just a regular tiramisu for the blog. 

Nutmeg Tart

Another rainy weekend, another baking adventure. Since I’m still thoroughly enjoying funemployment, I spent the weekend in Duxbury with my parents. I love being able to hop on a train and be with my family in about an hour, and nothing beats running to the beach and back, even if its pouring rain while you do it. Plus, I’m very into the series of books I’m reading right now (The Wheel of Time – no spoilers, please!), and my favorite place to read is the wood paneled room in their home, snuggled up on the recliner with a big fluffy …

Homemade Oreos

This week, I baked for the first time in my new kitchen! Spoiler alert: it was awesome. Plenty of counter space. Pretty new toys to play with (read: stainless steel mixing bowls). And a whole new group of people to eat the end product! Plus, central air conditioning, which means turning on the oven was not the horrific experience it could have been in this insanely hot summer we’ve been having.

Flourless Coconut Cake

This post is going to be a buzzer-beater. I made it yesterday, finally at home in Duxbury enjoying summer vacation, and then spent today moving into a new apartment with my mom’s help. There is nothing like moving into a new place – full of fresh starts and exciting decorating opportunities. And, of course, a new kitchen! But in all my excitement, I definitely was a bit rushed in baking this last night. And maybe had a pretty catastrophic baking fail. I do not blame the recipe – this one was all me. So if you do try this post, …

Sesame Seed Cookies

To be honest, I did NOT want to turn on the oven today. It is ridiculously hot. And while we have AC in the bedroom, there is not AC in the rest of the apartment. The thought of taking a kitchen that was already 90+° and turning an oven up to 375° seemed insane. But after spending a lot of time looking through no-bake and icebox recipes, I just couldn’t find anything I was actually excited about. And I’ve been meaning to make these cookies for weeks, since I found them and thought they sounded interesting. So I sucked it …

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

There really isn’t a whole lot better than baking a pie with fresh ingredients from a farmer’s market. You’re supporting local businesses. Everything is super ripe and perfect. You get to buy the ingredients outdoors. Even someone who doesn’t like pies or fruit-based desserts (that would be me) can appreciate how good it feels to do this. So when we were walking through the farmer’s market at Harvard and a vendor had both strawberries and rhubarb, I couldn’t just not buy them. And, as luck would have it, strawberry rhubarb is Erik’s favorite pie!

Saffron Ice Cream Sandwiches

Law school is over! And as we always do when finals are over, Erik and I spent the weekend off the grid in the mountains, camping and hiking. That means I had to get something made before I left, since I wasn’t sure when I’d be back today. I came up with (yet another) Ottolenghi recipe, though this one didn’t go so well.