Recipe Experimentation Archives | Page 2 of 26

Tahini Brownies (gluten-free, but adaptable)

January 22, 2018

One of the things I love about traveling is when I run across a food or flavor that is totally new to me. And in this case, I was able to come home and start experimenting with it right away in my own cooking.

My dad and I took an awesome trip to Israel and Jordan last May, an epic week exploring tons of historical areas in the north and Negev Desert, Tel Aviv and Old Jaffa, Jerusalem, Masada, the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum, and Petra—and much more. One of the constants on every part of our journey was tahini, a paste made from ground sesame seeds. It is omnipresent in the Israeli and Jordanian diets, taking both sweet and savory forms.

It was one of the first things we ate upon landing (on that delicious falafel pita below) and one of the last things before taking off (that delicious sweet halva that looks like cheese wheels below). We ate halva in a Bedouin camp in Jordan and tahini on our Yemeni malawach in Jerusalem. So tahini kind of got its hooks in me, and I’ve been experimenting with different recipes since returning (like this Chickpea Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl with a tahini dressing). But this is my first dessert recipe using tahini, and it’s super delicious.

If you’re interested, you can read more about our travels in Israel and in Jordan!

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Bourbon Pear Crumble Pie

December 28, 2017

“This is the best dessert I’ve ever had”. Actual quote from my dad.

I don’t know that I can disagree. As I was trying to figure out what to make for Thanksgiving this year, I knew I wanted to make something fruit-based (because no one else was, and that’s my jam), and since my mom had about 17 pounds of fresh pears sitting around—and I loooove pears—figured it would be pear-based.

This wasn’t my first pear rodeo—I made a super delish caramel pear pie with oat crumble one year (a bit sweet for me but still soooo good) and one of my go-to recipes is a healthy pear-apple pie with streusel topping. But I wanted to try a new recipe out, so with that in mind, I pored over my Pinterest dessert board and hit upon this recipe. I knew I had a winner…bourbon pear pie was already going to be amazing, but add that crumble topping and there’s no way it won’t be amazing.

I ended up accidentally making quite a bit more filling and topping than could fit in my pie crust (I should have used the deep-dish pan), so I just poured the extra filling into a small pyrex dish, threw the extra topping on, and baked it as its own little bourbon pear crisp. It was amazing, so if you have extra I highly recommend going that route.READ THE POST

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Butternut Squash with Dijon Vinaigrette

December 17, 2017

I am obsessed with this side dish. It is one of the few things I went back for seconds on at Thanksgiving, and has become one of my go-to side dish recipes—particularly when I need to feed a big group.

The hands-on time is minimal, just prepping and chopping the veggies. After that, you briefly toss in olive oil, season, and pop it in the oven. The vinaigrette takes all of two minutes to put together, so this is a perfect dish to make when you need to focus on other things in the kitchen.

One of the best things about this dish is that you can easily make it ahead, and it warms up and travels well. The flavors feel indulgent, but it’s still really healthy…which was one of the things we needed this Thanksgiving. I looked at our family’s Thanksgiving dish list and realized there were no green vegetables (no, green bean casserole doesn’t count!). So I whipped this bad boy up, and it got rave reviews.

You can also easily increase or decrease the amounts to feed only a few people or a horde. Basically, this is the perfect side dish and you need it in your life right this minute.READ THE POST

Chocolate-Almond Tartine with Jam Swirls (gluten-free)

December 10, 2017

I have a well-documented love for a moist chocolate almond cake (I’ve written rhapsodies about this fancy loaf cake thing). One of the downsides of that recipe is that it it has to bake for almost an hour, so it’s difficult to just whip up or fit into the line-up when you’re needing the oven for other things.

Enter *this* cake.

It’s a similar idea as the fancy loaf cake, with a few key differences. One is that you don’t have to whip the egg whites (great for a lazy person like me) and the flavor profile is a bit different (this doesn’t have the cinnamon and coffee). But the best part is it bakes in about half an hour, so if you’re asked to bring a gluten-free dessert to a party in a few hours (ahem, not that that’s happened to me…) you can whip this bad boy up.

This got rave reviews from adults and kids alike, my friend even mentioned to me that her kids were asking about it a week or two later.

This cake is especially perfect for people who can’t decorate cakes (*raises hand*). One thing I will say, if you’re taking it somewhere else, I would wait to assemble the cakes and put the whipped cream on til you’re ready to serve. That’s simple enough, just wrap up each layer in plastic wrap and stick in the fridge, and bring the whipped cream in a container.READ THE POST

Dark Chocolate Stout Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting + Happy Birthday to Me!

October 29, 2017

My tradition of ugly but delicious birthday cakes continues…

A cake decorator I will never be.

This cake, however, is suuuuuper delish. I really wasn’t feelin’ it this year. I was so tired and stressed that I didn’t even know if I wanted to bother making something. My birthday was on a Tuesday (blah) in a super crazy week (among other things we were moving offices, had big deadlines, and I was getting ready to leave the country), and I knew it would be a super long day.

So looked for something simple but that really tugged at me. And, man, peanut butter and a dark chocolate stout cake can get me every time.READ THE POST

Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl

September 17, 2017

So…I’ve been chastising myself lately for my diet. Between crazy work schedules, travel, and being on crutches, I’ve just been a bit too reliant on Uber Eats and definitely lacking in fruits and veggies. It’s kind of amazing I don’t have scurvy.

Then this morning as I was working I decided to finally get around to watching “What The Health?” on Netflix, which talks through a lot of the things wrong with our diets and how that’s impacting our health, and the medical establishments and lobby groups that are set on keeping it that way.

Its basic conclusion is that we’re meant to eat plant-based diets, and that anything else is unhealthy. It’s definitely an interesting watch, and while I don’t completely agree that meat is the devil—I grew up on a family-run cow farm, after all, and I also believe that God designed us to eat some meat—I 100% agree that we’ve totally screwed up our food chain in so many ways and that a heavier plant diet is a good thing, and overall it guilted me REAL HARD into really putting on my adult pants today.

So I did some digging on plant-based diets and found some recipes that I want to try to rotate into my everyday routine. This was the first one I came across that made me go “Hmm!” The flavor combos are awesome, it’s easy to make, I’m a sucker for a good tahini sauce, and I’m hoping it’ll make an awesome lunch for a couple days this week as well. For a non-pasta vegetarian meal, I’m totally on board with this one!

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Lemon Raspberry Cake with Raspberry Frosting

August 27, 2017

I want to eat this cake all day, every day. Lemon + raspberry is a match made in heaven. Add those to a light, buttery cake and you’ve reached something truly sublime.

When I first made this recipe, it was actually as lemon cupcakes with a raspberry frosting, for my friend Casey’s birthday. But even as I was making it, I was mentally adapting it into a cake. Because let’s face it, cupcakes are a pain in the rear.

And then as I was making the cake, I had the idea of adding some jam swirled throughout. 1) Because I’m a huge fan of jam, and 2) because it does add a lovely moistness and complement to the lemon.

Jam is my jam.

This dessert is perfect for the winter months, because it tastes of springtime and warm days and lemons are usually plentiful. But it would be just as appropriate in summer for a light group dessert. Basically this is a year-round winner. YOU’RE WELCOME.READ THE POST

Banana Bread with Espresso Glaze

August 19, 2017

Oohhhhhh look at that warm, sweet, gooey glaze!

I’m not really into icings or glazes, but this espresso glaze takes something as simple as banana bread to a whole other level. This banana bread is fairly straightforward, albeit with a little topping of crunchy turbinado sugar and a hint of cinnamon and espresso powder. But add that glaze and you have a bona fide hit on your hands.

What’s great about the recipe is that it can feel really special, or just be an everyday sort of thing. I’m not hugely into banana bread, but I am hugely into this. Seriously, what are you waiting for? It can be in the oven in 15 minutes. Go. Go now.

You might also like: Chai Spice Banana Bread

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Meyer Lemon Syrup Cake with Jam Swirls

July 23, 2017

I’m on a one-bowl cake train right now due to laziness and lack of time. Nothing fancy here.

And you know what? It’s summer and we don’t need fancy. We need fast, delicious, easy, and having the oven on for only a minimum amount of time.

This actually came about because I was at the grocery store (a rare occurrence for me lately) and they had meyer lemons. I’ve been obsessed with the idea of meyer lemons for a long time, but have never made anything with them or I think even HAD anything with them. They’ve been on my “to try” list for a while, so I threw them in my cart, not knowing exactly how I planned to use them.

After tons of searching (particularly taking into account the amount of time I could really devote to something), I decided to try this syrup cake. I’m hit and miss on cake as a dessert, they’re often a bit underwhelming to me, and often dry as well. I love the idea of the syrup cake because it would keep it much more moist. The batter also comes together in one bowl, so less dishes and it’s all very fast (about 10 minutes to pull everything together).

At the last second, I decided that it needed something extra, so I added some jam swirls to provide a complementary flavor and some extra texture. I had a jar of apricot jam open, and knew that the sharp, sweet apricot would be a great pairing with the sharp, sweet meyer lemon. But strawberry or raspberry would be great as well, or you can leave the jam out if you prefer. This was a hit at work, gone within an hour of putting it out.READ THE POST

One-Bowl Yogurt and Honey Olive Oil Cake

June 17, 2017

It’s been…quite a while since I’ve baked. Or cooked. Or gone grocery shopping, to be honest. Life’s been a bit nuts.

And last Sunday I had every intention of actually cooking a real meal that I could use for lunch all week, but as the hours flew by on Sunday I lost all my motivation. I ended up getting Uber Eats and actually getting to sit and read for a half hour, which was lovely, but then I decided that I needed to bake something to prove that I wasn’t entirely lazy.

Yes, I realize that’s a weird justification, but it was very compelling so I went with it.

The key was, it had to be super easy and fast. I had just found this recipe on The Kitchn and it checked a lot of boxes for me. One bowl (and not even the mixer), yay. Lemon, check. Add some herbs, check. Super moist because of the yogurt, check.

I literally threw it together in about 15 minutes, while a hair deep-conditioning treatment was soaking in. It was fast, easy, and tasted amazing. My house smelled divine, and it made for lovely leftovers.

The flavor combination is very subtle (very much my style), and a bit of homemade whipped cream or mascarpone cream provides a great texture counterpoint. I’m looking forward to taking this base recipe and trying some different flavor combos…I’ve got my eye on orange and rosemary next.READ THE POST

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