Brunch at Moksa a couple of weekends ago was my last big hurrah before I went gluten-free, dairy-free, and all-around diet crazy. Saturday night I ate stinky cheeses and loads of bread, and then Sunday morning I headed to Cambridge and filled myself up with delicious dim sum from Central Square’s new Pan Asian Izakaya (Izakaya meaning  a kind of Japanese drinking establishment that serves food to accompany the drinks). Moksa is quietly unassuming from the street, adorned with a simple black awning, and a rather barren front room (where we dined). This visit was my first at Moksa, and I was eager to see what it was all about.

The space is very unique, housing two dining areas as well as a night club space in the back. The decor in the front dining room is bright and colorful – along the back wall of the bar there are red and green lights, and many windows to let in a lot of natural light. The floors are concrete and give a bit of an industrial feel, but in a pleasant way. The second dining area is much darker and very modern – I only passed through that area briefly but was surprised at the amount of dining space.

We gathered to dine with Michael Natkin, author of the new vegetarian cookbook Herbivoracious. Michael was in the Boston area for a stop on his book release tour, and we were lucky enough to have some time to dine with him, pick his brain, and learn about how he turned blogging into cookbook writing.

At Moksa, Chef Patricia Yeo serves up a wide variety of Japanese small plates for lunch, dinner and late night dining, as well as a weekend dim sum brunch, and some unique and inventive cocktails. In fact, Moksa was the first place I’ve ever been to that has a table-side drink service. What a fun idea! Despite meeting shortly after noon, we all ordered cocktails from the expansive menu – must’ve been 5 o’clock somewhere, right?!

I started with the Peking Sailor, a drink made with Gin, Campari, Elderflower Vinegar, Bubbly and Cucumber. I ordered it because I love Elderflower and was intrigued to try a drink with vinegar in it. I was pleasantly surprised to find the cocktail perfectly  balanced, slightly bitter and slightly sweet. It was a delightful to start the meal.

Adorable table-side beverage cart 

At the recommendation of our friendly and patient server, we let the chef pick a variety of dishes to bring out to us, including many of the smaller plates as well as a couple of the larger noodle-based dishes. Once the food started coming out, it all came out pretty quickly, so I snapped as many photos as I could but missed a few bites along the way. We had a variety of both meat and vegetarian dishes to suit the preferences of all of our guests, and I was surprised to find my favorite dish – actually not pictured here – was a vegetarian mushroom noodle dish!

Five Spiced Chicken Spring Rolls

 Tea Smoked Duck Breast

Duck Confit Shao Bing

Pork Shumai

 Char Siew Bao (we also tried the Miso Eggplant Bao, not pictured here)

Edamame Potstickers

The combination of dishes we ended up trying gave us a really wonderful array of flavors and textures, and painted a good picture of all that Moksa has to offer. I’m a bit sensitive to spice (though I try so hard to tolerate it!) and I found even the spicier dishes to be very approachable, the flavors all very well balanced. The red sauce on the pancake below was very spicy sauce, but the pancake itself was so wonderfully flavored I didn’t mind the spice at all.

Kim Chee and Shrimp Pancake

Vietnamese Beef & Rice Noodle Egg Pho

Silver Pin Noodles

The silver pin noodles above were hollow, unlike anything I’ve ever tried before. They had an interesting texture that made them really fun to eat. After all of the savory dishes has been mostly wiped out, our server came back out and offered a variety of dessert options – and I’m sure this will come as a surprise, but we ordered one of each. The churros below – my favorite dessert of all (followed very closely by the ice cream sundae) – were extremely fresh, delicate and so amazing. The cinnamon coating was nice and thick, with  a bit of spice and just the right amount of sweet. The chocolate dipping sauce was none too sweet on it’s own, and really complimented the buttery flavor and crispy texture of the churros. Yum!

Cinnamon Churros with Chocolate Sauce

Homemade Ice Cream (Pistachio, Green Tea)

Spice Cake with Pears

Lemon Jello Cake with Strawberries and Rhubarb

The lemon jello cake was another highlight, because I absolutely adore lemon, but also because it involved jello and I just thought that was so strange/fun! Typically you don’t expect to find jello on a restaurant menu, but it was utilized perfectly here, and I found the creativity refreshing. The desserts we tried were all desserts of the day – at Moksa the dessert menu is ever-changing depending on what the Chef feels inspired to do on a daily basis. I love that.

I also loved this sundae below – traditional brownie and ice cream sundae with inspired spice flavors and a whole lot of deliciousness. Seriously wonderful – great last bites.

Five Spice Ice Cream Sundae

I don’t frequent the Central Square dining scene, but I’d venture a guess that Moksa is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Their inspired and tasty drinks are a great way to ease into a meal, and the food is fresh, clean and delicious! I would love to go back to try some new dishes, and of course for another daily dessert.

Thanks to Moksa for the complimentary brunch, Renee for organizing, and for Michael and Adam taking some time away from the book tour to dine with us!

Moksa
450 Massachusetts Avenue
Mid-Cambridge, MA 02139
http://moksarestaurant.com/
617-661-4900

No related posts.

Welcome to post 2 on gluten-free baking! Gluten-free AND dairy-free. I sound like a whole lotta fun now don’t I?! But the good news is I met a GREAT dietitian who inspired me and made me feel hopeful for the first time in nearly two years, and most importantly made me believe that this crazy stupid elimination diet just might make me feel better. For those of you who feel fine every day it’s probably hard to imagine what it’s like to have pain 24/7/365, but for someone who’s had that for nearly two years, the idea that I might be able to lead a mostly pain-free life is hugely exciting!

So I’ll ask again that you bear with me through this transition – I’ve got a MINIMUM of 6 weeks gluten and dairy free, but chances are this is going to a lifestyle change that impacts how I eat for the rest of my life. Maybe I’ll end up tolerating some amount of gluten and/or dairy, but for the next couple of months, I won’t be making anything with gluten or dairy. I do hope you’ll try some new things along with me, because I promise you, it’s not all bad! It can actually be pretty darn good. I’ve made four gluten-free recipes to date, and they get better each time. Lots of trial and error and learning, and guess what – fun too! Plus, whether you want to believe it or not, gluten is hard for every body to digest, so my new recipes are actually lots more belly-friendly. The aim now is just to make them as delicious as they were before. Got it?! Ok. Enough preaching – let’s get to the good stuff!

So full disclosure: after my first couple of bites of these muffins I told Kevin I thought they were disgusting. They had an unfamiliar taste, a dense and crumbly-almost-grainy texture, and they weren’t really sweet at all. I wrote them off thinking there was NO way this whole gluten-free thing was going to work out for me. And wouldn’t you know – over the course of the morning Kevin and I both kept going back to these muffins over and over, until we’d polished off a few between us! What made all the difference is reminding myself that these are NOT gluten muffins, so I had to see them for what they were, and only that. Once you open your mind, it’s amazing how your tastes can change! Ultimately I ended up really enjoying these muffins – they are very dense and only mildly sweet, but pretty healthy and just felt good to eat.

I’d originally chosen to make this recipe because the photos of the muffins made them look like REAL (read: gluten) muffins. How could they be bad?! But since I’d just acquired some fun new flours, I wanted to play with them, so I took my own creative liberties and used 2 completely unknown to me flours in the mix. I think that’s how I got dense, crumbly muffins as opposed to the beautiful, almost fluffy muffins I was aiming for, but it was a good learning lesson. The icing on the cake was that Kevin kept requesting more of these throughout the week, even though we have PLENTY of gluten-filled baked things in our house. I think that means success!

Strawberry Basil Almond Flour Muffins – Gluten-free, Dairy-free
adapted from Tasty Yummies

Ingredients
3/4 cup blanched almond flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 local farm fresh large brown eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup (or honey)
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray.

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour sorghum flour, brown rice flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2) 
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Add in the honey, vanilla and oil and whisk until well combined.
 Add the dry mixture to the wet, stirring until combined. Carefully fold in the strawberries and basil. (For me, I did not “fold,” I had to mix pretty strongly, as the batter was very dense.)

3) Scoop the batter into the muffin tin, filling almost to the top (they won’t rise a lot). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

4) Cool the muffin pan on a wire rack for just five minutes. Gently pop the muffins out to continue cooling on the rack, and enjoy right away, or let cool and then refrigerate in a tightly covered container.

Related posts:

1. Strawberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins
2. Lemon Cream Flax Muffins
3. Peach Tea Muffins

Today I have something a bit different to share with you, as a segue into a new time in the life of me, and by association, Sweetly Serendipity. I have battled some pretty awful stomach pains for the past almost two years, and despite lots of tests and doctors visits and second (and third) opinions, all results say I am “healthy.” But being myself and living with the daily pain, I know I’m not okay, so I’ve decided to try out a new diet with the help of an experienced dietitian, to see if I can’t reign in the pain with some eating changes and work towards a pain-free life.

As such, I am eliminating a LOT of things. All of the things that I love, that I understand and can navigate and know like the back of my hand – the things I find comfort in, well, we’re having a trial separation. For now, I’m not eating gluten or dairy or a smattering of different fruits, veggies and legumes. So what can I eat? Well, not much! At least that’s how it feels. Certain fruits and veggies, and protein in the form of meat are all okay – this is as about as un-processed a diet as you can imagine. I am eliminating high-FODMAP foods (FODMAP stands for “Fermentable, Oligo-,Di-, Mono-saccharides and Polyols”), which are foods that contain a certain short-chain carbohydrate that is difficult or impossible for bodies to digest. Hopefully, I can add back in some of my beloved gluten and dairy after the initial elimination period, but only time will tell.

So that long winded explanation means things have to change for me. I can’t continue my same diet, and I can’t continue to cook and bake like I used to. Baking has taken on a whole new meaning to me in the past week, and proves to be quite a learning experience. Xanthan gum, sorghum flour, tapioca starch – these are just a few of the new ingredients I’ve been introduced to, and that I am adding to my kitchen pantry. It makes me sad and it’s more than a little bit scary to navigate into this gluten-free unknown, but there’s also an aspect to this whole experience that is exciting and inspiring. I’ve tried a small handful of gluten free recipes, and so far so good. One big thing I’ve learned is that you cannot compare gluten-filled to gluten-free pastries, which is like comparing apples and oranges. They are not one in the same – definitely two very different breeds of goodies, so I’m trying to learn to appreciate gluten-free for what it is, not what is isn’t.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be sharing gluten-free and dairy-free recipes, and I do hope you’ll stick around and see how they come out. I know I didn’t start this blog to be a source for gluten-free and dairy-free creations, but life changes and apparently bodies change and develop aversions to things you used to tolerate just fine, so what can ya do?! Not a whole lot, except make some lemonade out of all those lemons.

This tapioca recipe was my first attempt at a gluten-free dish. It was approachable in that it includes a lot of familiar ingredients, but is still gluten- and dairy-free. It’s not the most exciting or flavorful dish I’ve ever created, but it did offer comfort at the beginning of this uncertain time, and it was something very different than the heavy brownies and butter-laden cookies I’m used to.

I followed the original recipe pretty closely, except that I omitted the fennel seeds (I’m not a fan).  Being myself and always having to make some sort of silly mistake, I put the tapioca in before the water boiled, which I think made my tapioca have a bit of a different texture (the pearls looked less plump than in the original recipe). The strawberries add a wonderful bright, fresh flavor, and the coconut milk gives a sort of tropical feel to the whole dish. I used light coconut milk, so I’m sure my coconut flavor was much more mild, but it was very refreshing. I’d definitely like to try this again soon with some new flavors!

Strawberry Tapioca Pudding
adapted from Gourmet Magazine

Ingredients
2 cups water
1/3 cup small tapioca pearls
1 cup coconut cream (I used canned light coconut milk)
6 tbsp sugar, divided
1 qt strawberries, trimmed and coarsely chopped

Directions
1) Bring water to a boil in a heavy sauce pot and add tapioca pearls. Stirring occasionally to prevent the pearls from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook until tapioca is mostly clear, about 15 minutes.

2) Add the coconut cream and whisk to combine, then add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/8 tsp of salt and simmer, uncovered, until tapioca is cooked through (about 3 minutes). Stir often to prevent the tapioca from sticking. Turn off the heat and cool in an ice bath. Stirring occasionally.

3) Puree strawberries and the remaining 2 tbsp sugar in a food processor or a blender. Divide among six glasses. Spoon tapioca over strawberries and chill until cold. Enjoy.

Related posts:

1. Toasted Coconut Meyer Lemon Curd Layer Cake
2. Chocolate Chip Coconut Macaroons – SRC
3. Carrot and Coconut Bread and Mini Muffins

The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake. I opted for the Nazook, finding it similar to rugelach which I’ve never made, but have always wanted to. I changed up the filling a bit to add some of my beloved chocolate flavor, and to that even added some chopped walnuts to about half the batch.

I’m feeling a bit all over the place today, so please excuse the lackluster post. I’m about 5 days late posting these – too much else going on (like lots of cooking and eating – and recipe testing – that has been going un-blogged) – so just bear with me, please! I promise to hop out of my funk soon!

The nazook came out very yummy – the pastry is flaky and buttery, which I loved, and the chocolate flavor is deeply chocolately and not too sweet. The cookies that had the chopped walnuts had a nice added crunch, though I do think the walnut flavor got a bit lost with all of the chocolate and butter going on.

The recipe was a bit fussier than I’d expected, but still rather simple to execute, and the resulting cookies are very pretty looking. This may be a novice baker comment, but I still can’t figure out why exactly there’s yeast in these little beauties. You never activate the yeast, it sits in the fridge overnight, and it never proofs when you take it out of the fridge! They don’t taste yeasty either, they taste like sweet butter and flaky pastry, which is of course okay by me, but I just like to figure out the science behind how this all works. Maybe when I finally make it to pastry school someday, I’ll figure it out.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from these, but I was happy with the result. They are pretty, the perfect little accompaniments to a big ‘ol mug of coffee or tea, and a wonderful (pre!) or post dinner snack to satisfy your sweet tooth. I’m still a big brownie or chewy chocolate chip cookie girl through and through, but these were a nice change!

Nazook

Ingredients, Pastry Dough
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2½ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
1 cup (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) sour cream
1 cup (2 sticks) (240 ml) (225 gm/8 oz) softened butter (room temperature)

Ingredients, Filling
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1½ sticks) room temperature butter
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
1-2 egg yolks (for the wash; alternatively, some yogurt, egg whites, or a whole egg)

Instructions: Pastry Dough
1) Place the sifted flour into a large bowl. Add the dry yeast, and mix it in.

2) Add the sour cream and the softened butter, and using your hands or a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, work it into a cohesive dough.

3)  If using a standing mixer, switch to a dough hook, and let knead until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl. If making manually, knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. If it remains very sticky, add some flour, a little at a time.

4) Cover the dough and refrigerate for 3-5 hours, or overnight if you like.

Instructions: Filling
Mix the flour, sugar, softened butter and vanilla in  medium bowl until the filling looks clumpy, like damp sand. Set aside.

Assembly
Preheat the oven to moderate 350°F.

1) Cut the refrigerated dough into quarters. Form one of the quarters into a ball, and roll dough into a large rectangle on a floured surface. The dough should be thin, but not transparent.

2) Spread 1/4 of the filling mixture across the rolled-out dough in an even layer. Try to spread the filling as close as possible to the edges on the short sides, but keep some of pastry dough uncovered (about an inch) along the long edges.

3) From one of the long sides, start slowly rolling up the dough. Be careful to make sure the filling stays evenly distributed. Roll all the way across until you have a long, thin loaf.

4) Lightly pat down the loaf with your palm and fingers to flatten it very slightly. Apply your egg yolk wash with a pastry brush.

5) Use a crinkle cutter (or knife) to cut the loaf into 10 equally-sized pieces. Put onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until the tops are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool, and enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Homemade Oreos

Yet another month has come for the Secret Recipe Club, and another great recipe discovery. This month I was assigned a great blog called Gastronomical Sovereignty, written by Kristy, who says through her blog she’s “blindly stumbling through the ethical considerations of culinary deliciousness.” Pretty neat huh? It took me a while to settle on just one of her many recipes, but once I came across these brioche buns it was settled. I love brioche, and her rolls looked fantastic!

Brioche has always been really hard for me – I’ve never really mastered it. I’ve made loaf after loaf, but they are typically a bit too dense, and just don’t have the magic that a perfectly executed brioche loaf does. This recipe for brioche requires limited raising time, which was appealing, and also skips the refrigeration step – they can be made in one 3-hour block of time! Definitely right up my alley. Since I can never leave well enough alone, I decided I would add some whole wheat pastry flour to the mix, just to see what the implications would be. I also halved the recipe, which is always an interesting (read: potentially hazardous) choice, and managed to almost make it through the entire recipe without making a mistake. Almost.

After putting the dough together and plopping it onto the counter to knead, I realized it was WAY too wet. It made this pathetic little puddle on the counter, so I went back through my steps, and of course I’d missed something. I forgot to cut the egg in half… Since everything was already mixed together, I just decided I’d work the dough adding as much flour as it needed, until it came together and was the right consistency. I added a LOT of flour, and even still when I set the dough aside to proof, it was very moist.

When the dough had more than doubled in size, I divided it into 4 pieces (should have been and let it proof for another hour. Again, I missed the instruction to divide the dough into EIGHT pieces, so when I came back to check it after an hour, the “buns” were enormous rolls… oops?! At that point, there was nothing I could do except laugh, so I slathered them with egg wash and popped them in the oven.

One last thing – I baked them on a silpat because it was handy when I was dividing the dough, but next time I would do parchment paper as I was supposed to. The bottoms of my rolls developed  a crust – and more of one than I would normally like. BUT – the moral of this long winded story is that the rolls came out wonderfully. They are slightly sweet, a bit denser than typical brioche (likely due to the wheat flour, and extra flour added while kneading), but still mildly buttery and perfectly eggy. I loved them! I ate one straight out of the oven, as Kristy has instructed to do, and was so glad I did. Absolutely fab. We also made breakfast sandwiches with them (pictured above), and they were the PERECT vehicle for that. If I made these again, I would absolutely keep the whole wheat flour in there – I think it enhances the flavor but also makes them slightly more nutritious – but I probably wouldn’t cut the recipe in half. Best not to take chances where I can make silly mistakes! Still, I was really happy with how these came out, and they gave me the boost I needed to try tackling traditional brioche again soon.

Quick Whole Wheat Brioche Rolls
adapted from Gastronomical Sovereignty

Related posts:

1. Brioche success
2. Lemon Cream Cheese Sticky Buns
3. Oatmeal Wheat Boule

Last week, I finally tried my hand at French Macarons. I’ve been scared of them since practically forever, but figured a mark of a good baker is being able to execute these little beauties, so I gave them a try. Twice. I did some reading beforehand, just to make myself comfortable with the process and different tips and techniques, so once I got going I’d have the best shot of executing accurately. I decided to start with a basic chocolate macaron recipe from David Lebovitz. He had also done some research and tried various macarons recipes, and stated that after trying several different recipes, he’s developed this particular one and promised it would work out well. I figured if he’d done the research and ti worked for him, well, must work for everyone!

One thing I should have paid attention to is that his recipe notably omitted the resting time most recipes call for, after the macarons have been piped and before they go into the oven. He said with his recipe, you didn’t need to let them rest, so once I had the batter prepared, into the oven they went, and within minutes I knew they weren’t right.

To back up a bit, the batter came out beautifully. It was thick and glossy, and also piped easily into perfect little circles. Looking back,the only thing I didn’t do right with my first batch was let them sit and dry out before baking them – I wish I had tried one pan that way, so at least I could have compared the end results. Unfortunately, none of the first batch of cookies grew the characteristic foot… instead some of them imploded or some of them were just flat and dense.

Feeling a bit discouraged, but more so motivated to get them right, I tried a second recipe right away, this time using a recipe from Tartlette for violet macarons, but I substituted vanilla bean for the violet. The batter came out very much the same as the first batch, except this time I let the macarons sit uncovered at room temperature for about 35-40 minutes before baking them, and also baked them at the recommended temperature of 280 degrees F (as opposed to 325 degrees F for the first batch. Again within minutes I knew the fate of these macarons, except this time I was ecstatic – they came out perfectly! They puffed up beautifully, and grew wonderful little feet. I felt like a proud momma, I managed to execute something I thought was so difficult with relative ease! After they finished baking and had cooled, I filled them with some leftover strawberry buttercream and salted caramel sauce. They were heavenly. I later on made a ganache filling (not pictured) which was my favorite combo of all – with both the chocolate macarons and the vanilla bean macarons.

After processing the whole macaron making experience, I was surprised to find that macarons really aren’t that difficult to make. Sure, they may be a bit finicky, but if you pay close attention to the batter – making sure not to over mix it, and give them the proper time to air dry before baking, they seem almost foolproof, and that’s an exciting discovery. After my first attempt, I found the instructions on Tartlette to be the most comprehensive and helpful. Her macarons come out perfectly every time, and it seems she always uses the same basic method to achieve that perfection. I already can’t wait to try these again, and plan on doing something with lots of fun, fruity flavor. Excited to add another pretty little baked package to my baking repertoire!

Have you ever tried making French Macarons before?

Related posts:

1. Chewy Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
2. Homemade Oreos
3. Giant Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

I just finally installed my new Lightroom software, and this is my first post with photos edited using Lightroom. So far, I’m liking what I see! It seems I have lots of learning to do, because it took me about an hour to edit, upload and then insert just the 3 photos I used in this post, but hopefully I’ll start to pick it up as I go? Either way, I think the photos look great using the new software, so I’m excited to learn more. If you’re a blogger and you use Lightroom, do you have any helpful hints?!

Anyway, onto why we’re really here. Chocolate Oat Dulce de Leche Bars!! This year I’ve gotten really into learning to make normally store-bought things at home. There’s a serious sense of satisfaction I get when I make something myself that I’m used to plucking off a store shelf, and I’m hoping I can continue to reduce my store purchases and increase my homemade goodies. I’d been wanting to make homemade dulce de leche for a long time, and finally took the plunge last week. It really is one of the simplest things to make, but it’s time consuming, and I always struggle to find the time to sit myself down and wait while it cooks. Fortunately, I finally found the time to make it (using this recipe from Bakers Royale – option #1 in the oven), and it was easy as promised, but also so incredibly delicious.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t know if I’d ever really tried dulce de leche before, at least not on it’s own. I’m sure I’ve had it incorporated into a handful of desserts in my time, but I’ve never stuck a finger into a fresh pot just to give it a taste. It’s sooo good. The dulce de leche retains a lot of it’s condensed milk flavor, but it’s totally caramelized with a much deeper flavor. I made it with the express purpose of baking it into these oat bars that Jen from Beantown Baker shared last month, and I had been dying to recreate myself.

Once you’ve made the dulce de leche (or picked up a can from the store!), the chocolate oat bars are super simple to make. They come together in almost no time, and they even turn out okay if you turn the kitchen timer off and forget to take them out of the oven for a good 10-15 minutes after they should have been done. Not that I tried that myself or anything…

Reading back through the recipe when writing this post, I realized I (accidentally) skipped the cup of chocolate chips that are supposed to adorn the tops of these bars… sometimes I just don’t know about myself and my baking abilities! Fortunately, I didn’t even miss the chocolate chips – these bars are really quite delicious without them (thought they’d probably be even more delicious with them). The crust has a wonderful deep chocolate flavor and a great texture from the oats. The dulce de leche adds a sweet and creamy caramel flavor that pairs with the chocolate so perfectly. I imagine the addition of chocolate chips would just put these bars over the top… if you’ve got dulce de leche on hand right now I suggest you give these a try!

Chocolate Oat Dulce de Leche Bars
barely adapted from Beantown Baker

Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 13.4-ounce can dulce de leche (homemade or store bought)
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Heat oven to 350F.

1) Place both flours, oats, brown sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and mix well to incorporate.

2) Place butter and unsweetened chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute or until butter and chocolate are melted, stirring after 30 seconds. Mix chocolate and butter mixture into dry ingredients thoroughly until uniformly crumbly.

3) Reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture. Place remaining crumb mixture in a greased 8×8-inch pan and press down evenly. Bake crust for 10 minutes.

4) Mix dulce de leche and milk in a small bowl until smooth. Evenly spread dulce de leche over partially baked crust.

5) Sprinkle remaning 1/2 cup crumb mixture and chocolate chips over the dulce de leche. Bake an additional 12 to 15 minutes or until set.

6) Cool 1 hour at room temperature and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours or until filling is set. Cut into 16 bars and store in the refrigerator.

Related posts:

1. Chocolate-Dipped Pecan Pie Bars
2. Repeat: Oatmeal Chocolate Almost Candy Bars
3. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

I LOVE cookies, but have never been a huge fan of snickerdoodles. For some reason they’ve always bored me in the past, something about the lack of chunks and texture made them pale in comparison to a chunky chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookie. That’s certainly not to say I wouldn’t eat them, just that they weren’t my first choice. Recently however, Kevin requested them specifically, and I figured they’d be easy enough to throw together, so I whipped out my Flour Bakery cookbook, and set to work.

Well wouldn’t you know I found my new favorite cookie of the moment! These snickerdoodles were SO AMAZING, if you can’t tell from the photos. I guess there’s just something about the simplicity I found boring that is actually quite endearing, and makes them just the homiest, most comforting and delectable little bundles of sweet buttery cookie dough you’ve ever tasted.

The cinnamon sugar crust is just the right amount of sweet and spice to give the delicate interiors a kick of flavor, and a lovely little crunch. Snickerdoodles are inherently crispier than I prefer a cookie to be, but these are just too delicious – I threw that rule right out the window.

If you hit the sweet spot on baking time, when the edges are just starting to turn golden and the centers are barely set, the resulting cookie is so tender and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. If you let them go a little bit longer, the result is more firm and crispy, but the incredible flavor is still there. I made the dough on a weeknight and we kept it in an airtight container for the whole week, baking off fresh cookies every evening. What a treat! Towards the end I baked off the rest of the dough and froze the remaining cookies, which also worked just as well.

And if you happen to have some dulce de leche hanging around… well, it’s great as a cookie spread or sandwiched in between. You can thank me later

Snickerdoodles
from Joanne Chang and the Flour Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients
2 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. table salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 ¾  cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350°F.

1) In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar to blend. Set aside.

2) Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment beat the butter and 1-1/2 cups of the sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the eggs until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl again.

3) With the mixer on low speed, slowly blend in the flour until incorporated, about 30 seconds.

**Baking note: These cookies are best if the dough has time to chill completely. I stored my dough in the refrigerator for about 3 hours before baking. If you don’t have the time (or simply can’t wait for your cookies), you can proceed from here.

4) In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon and remaining 1/4  cup sugar. Drop the dough by rounded tablespoonfuls into the cinnamon sugar and roll around to coat. Set the coated balls of dough about 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheets.

5) Bake until golden brown on the edges and slightly soft in the center, 15 to 18 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 1 minute before transferring them to a rack to cool.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days or frozen for a month.  The dough can also be refrigerated/frozen for use at a later time. We kept our dough in the fridge for about a week and had fresh, warm cookies every night.

Related posts:

1. Giant Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
2. Chewy Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
3. Homemade Oreos

Easter for me marks the real beginning of spring baking. It seems a fitting time to bust out lots of lemon and berries and lighter desserts, to welcome the impending warm weather and seasonal fruits. This year was no different – I made this lovely lemon berry trifle, loaded with fresh berries, lemon mousse, and buttery lemon yogurt cake. It was the perfect Easter dessert, nice and light and springy after having a big, heavy meal.

I used a recipe from the Food Network for the trifle, and made my own cake to use in place of necessary pound cake. I liked the flavor of the homemade lemon yogurt cake, and appreciated not having quite as many calories as the pound cake would have provided. The cake bakes up like a simple loaf cake, and is very sturdy but still plenty moist. The lemon flavor was bursting in each bite, complemented by a slight buttery flavor. So delicious!

I made a lemon curd recipe, which I folded together with some whipped cream, and ladled that over slices of lemon yogurt pound cake. It was smooth and creamy and cool, with lots of lemon zest peeking through. Then, I piled berries on top for the finishing touch. Together the flavors melded so well – the lemon and the berries, all so fresh and zesty. The textures are pretty fun too – spongy lemon cake and silky lemon mousse, with tangy fresh berries. I can’t say enough good things!

Since it’s Marathon Monday, and I’m itching to get out to watch the race, I’m leaving you with a few links today, which you can follow to the recipes I used to make this wonderful trifle!

Lemon Yogurt Cake,  la Ina Garten. I substituted this cake for the pound cake noted in the recipe below. You could easily use any pound cake, homemade or store bought, or any other sturdy cake that will hold up in a trifle.

Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries, thanks to Tyler Florence. I followed this recipe for the lemon curd, lemon mousse, and assembly instructions.

Related posts:

1. Toasted Coconut Meyer Lemon Curd Layer Cake
2. Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Cake
3. Maple Yogurt Pound Cake

Strawberries and bananas are a winning combination. I went on a fruit-hiatus for a couple of weeks last month, and when I finally added fruit back into my diet it all tasted SO good. I added it to my breakfasts and snacked on it during the day, and baked it into some goodies! I had a banana that was going bad, and a container of fresh strawberries, so when I came across this recipe I wanted to make it immediately.

This is really just glorified baked oatmeal, which I’d never made before but will definitely be making again. It’s extremely easy make (you just throw everything into a bowl and mix it up), and super delicious AND nutritious! I have overnight oatmeal nearly every morning for breakfast, so this recipe was kind of just a variation of my norm. It doesn’t use any flour, just rolled oats, and only has 1/3 cup sugar. Otherwise, it’s pretty darn good for you! That’s my kind of baking.

We tried this for breakfast one morning straight out of the oven, and it was creamy and delicious. When it’s warm it doesn’t hold together well, but once it cools you can slice it into into squares, which are portable and great for a snack or an on-the-go breakfast. It kept in the fridge for a couple of days, though I’d not sure how I managed to keep it around that long.

(One of my fluffy little munchkins was VERY interested in participating in this photo shoot, and since she’s the cutest, I decided to feature her today too.)

I added a bit extra (1/2) banana to the recipe just because I had it, and also a couple of extra handfuls of strawberries. The resulting oatmeal squares were pleasantly chewy and fruity – I really liked them. These would probably be great with other fruit, especially berries. If you’re looking for a quick breakfast or anytime snack, I highly recommend these, for their ease, nutrition, and wonderful flavor. Yum!

Strawberry Banana Cream Baked Oatmeal Squares
adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/3 cup loosely packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 medium ripe banana, mashed (I used 1.5 bananas)
3/4 cup chopped strawberries (about 4 large berries)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray – I used a 10×7 dish, but an 8×8, 9×9, round cake pan or another size close to that will work too.

In a large bowl, combine oats, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, mixing until combine. Measure out the cup of milk, then whisk in egg and vanilla extract. Add half and half to the milk mixture, then stir it into the dry oats. Mix in mashed banana and melted butter, then chopped strawberries, then scoop the batter into the baking dish. Bake for 30-33 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the top is set. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Top with strawberries, bananas and milk or half and half infused with vanilla extract.

Note: If served immediately, squares may not hold together perfectly. If they are left to cool, they should hold together fine and be able to be eaten with your hands.

Related posts:

1. BBB: Blueberry Banana Bread
2. Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins
3. My all-time favorite: Banana Bread