Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
This rustic chocolate cake is made with two surprising ingredients: olive oil and lemon juice. Extra-virgin olive oil lends fruity, peppery flavor notes. For a less prominent flavor, use light olive oil (“light” indicates the oil is refined, not lower in fat). You could even use a combination of oils—for example, a robust extra-virgin olive […]
Venetian Cornmeal and Currant Cookies (Zaletti)
Zaletti are buttery, crisp Italian cornmeal cookies studded with raisins or currants. The dried fruit usually is first plumped in grappa, a fiery Italian brandy, but we opted instead to use orange liqueur for its more nuanced flavor. We then upped the citrus notes with grated orange zest. The cooled cookies will keep in an […]
Snickerdoodles
There’s nothing quite like the smell of cinnamon sugar wafting from the kitchen, except perhaps discovering its source: a warm tray of snickerdoodles. Their crinkled tops and pillowy thickness come from a blend of butter and coconut oil—a natural alternative to shortening. Historically, snickerdoodles were actually a type of coffee cake, which is why […]
Peanut Butter Miso Cookies
These sweet-salty, chewy-crunchy treats are our adaptation of the wildly popular peanut butter–miso cookies from Falco Bakery in Melbourne, Australia. Umami-rich white miso makes the cookies taste full and complex. Because misos can vary in sodium content, look for one with about 300 milligrams per 12 grams of miso. Turbinado sugar is a coarse sugar […]
Chocolate-Orange Tart
The ricotta cheese in this tart—inspired by one in Rose Carrarini’s book, Breakfast, Lunch, Tea—creates a deliciously creamy yet surprisingly light filling that highlights the orange and chocolate that flavor it. The crust, made partly with almond flour, has a sandy crispness that contrasts well with the filling. For do-ahead ease, the tart shell […]
Salted Butter Caramel-Chocolate Mousse
With butter-and-cream richness, bittersweet notes from the chocolate and caramel, and sea salt to cut through the sugar, this simple six-ingredient dessert from “My Paris Kitchen” by David Lebovitz is far greater than the sum of its parts. You can whip the egg whites by hand using a whisk, or use a handheld or stand […]
French Apple Cake
This simple dessert is less cake than sautéed apples set in a thick, buttery custard encased in a golden crust. We liked using two varieties of apples here, one tart and one sweet—the variation in the apples’ sweetness gave the cake a full, complex flavor. The cake is delicious served unadorned, but it’s equally […]
Chocolate Biscotti with Pistachios, Almonds and Dried Cherries
The late Maida Heatter has about a dozen cookbooks to her name, all of them focused on baking sweets. These biscotti, our adaptation of a recipe from “Maida Heatter’s Best Dessert Book Ever,” are made with a combination of cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate. With a flavor boost from instant espresso powder, they’re dark and […]
Chocolate Cream Cupcakes (Hostess Cupcakes)
You can keep your Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, and Ring Dings-our heart belongs to Chocolate Cream Cupcakes!Cream-filled Hostess cupcakes conjure memories of lunch box envy and beloved after-school snacks. But fond reminiscing aside, we knew America's most iconic cupcake could stand some improvement-starting with the weak chocolate flavor. We prefer stiffer marshmallow crème in this […]
Braided Lemon Bread
There's just something about lemon that brings a smile to even the dullest of days: its bright yellow color and zippy taste can't be beat. This Braided Lemon Bread is a sweet, egg-enriched dough surrounding a sweetened cream cheese filling with a luscious layer of lemon curd and a sprinkling of pearl sugar. The […]
Easy Microwave Lemon Curd
Ah, lemon curd — creamy, tangy, wonderful spread on scones and toast and muffins, superb used as doughnut and pie filling, delicious mixed with whipped cream and served with cookies… So who knew it was this easy to make lemon curd? No standing over the stove stirring a pot… just several minutes in the microwave […]
Chocolate Birthday Cake
This tender, dark chocolate cake, layered with a fluffy, not-too-sweet, white Ermine icing, also known as boiled-milk frosting, is inspired by the memory of a Chuck E. Cheese chocolate birthday cake from the early 1990s. This style of devil’s food cake is also a staple of the refrigerated cases in supermarket bakeries, and starts […]
Coconut Macaroons with Chocolate Chips and Almonds
Because coconut macaroons are gluten-free and unleavened, they have been a long-standing staple in Jewish communities, especially during Passover. This version dresses up the classic coconut-based sweet treat with milk chocolate chips and slivered almonds. By using egg whites and sugar as the base of our macaroons, along with sweetened shredded coconut, we created […]
Triple-Oatmeal Cookies
These buttery brown sugar cookies may be loaded with crunchy pecans and tart cranberries, but they’re all about the oats: rolled for the heartiness of a granola bar, steel-cut for a toothsome chew, and flour for a tender crumb. Pick up a bag of oat flour online or in stores, usually in the baking […]
Baci di Dama (Italian Hazelnut Cookies)
These Lilliputian Italian hazelnut-chocolate sandwich cookies are utterly charming—but only if they're perfect. Our approach makes it easy to get them just right.These tiny Italian hazelnut-chocolate sandwich cookies are typically made from a very rich, fragile dough that easily softens and crumbles when you roll it. Reducing the amount of butter and nuts in the […]
Noche Buena Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
These Christmas Eve chocolate sandwich cookies are infused with the rich flavors of Dutch-processed cocoa, coffee liqueur, and dulce de leche.The secret to the distinct flavor of these Noche Buena Chocolate Sandwich Cookies is the dulce de leche filling. Sandwiching the rich dulce de leche between two cookies ensured the bold flavors of the […]