Although I missed the actual date, this little blog is now over a year old!

And what a year it was. Since last fall, I’ve posted over 150 recipes, mastered dishes and techniques I would have thought inconceivable until lately, and, of course, loved every minute of it (except this one).

I have also run a marathon, gotten engaged, moved, and started a new job, in that order. I’ve made cakes, cookies, breads, crackers, souffles, salads, pastries, puddings (ok, mousses), ice creams, sorbets, soups, pancakes, and eggs.

I have cooked a lot with figs. Also with mushrooms (a lot!).

My photos have gone from blindingly horrific to I think, quite lovely.

This site’s readers started out as 1) myself, constantly hitting refresh, 2) my loyal food-loving sister, and 3) my parents and fiance, whom I subscribed to the feed without their permission (which left them with no clue of how to unsubscribe on their own — devious!). It now gets thousands of visitors every day, and about half a million over the year (!).

And the part that I love the most: thousands of comments from you guys, not counting the countless twitter messages and emails with questions and thoughts. I’ve gotten to know so many new people, and even had my real-life friends and colleagues make these recipes! I have had so much fun, and thank you, thank you, thank you guys for reading! I promise that in the coming year, there will be even more great recipes, and hopefully, some exciting changes. This blog has a neverending learning curve, but I am up to the challenge.

So, happy birthday, Sugarlaws. And to celebrate, some delicious, colorful, and shockingly sweet, frosted sugar cookies.

Frosted Sugar Cookies

For the Cookies

INGREDIENTS
2 sticks butter, softened (1 cup)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp heavy cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 generous tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla and heavy cream. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix them into the wet ingredients.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, roll out to 1/4 inch in thickness (roll in two shifts if your counter isn’t big enough). Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly browned. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Icing

INGREDIENTS
4 cups confectioners sugar (1 box)
1 stick butter
1/3 cup milk, or more as needed
1 tsp vanilla extract
Food Coloring

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners’ sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired. Spread icing on the cookies with a pastry bag or squeeze bottle, or dilute with additional milk for a pouring consistency.

• Pumpkin Pie Cookies
• Oatmeal Currant Cookies
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Fig and Wafer Pastries

Oh, the Thanksgiving season is upon us. Last year at this time, I was somewhat obsessed with tarts. This year, I am just obsessed with pumpkin.

So here are my awesome pumpkin pie cookies. They taste like amazing little pieces of pumpkin cake, they’re so moist they stick to your fingers, and they have a whopping dose of vitamin A from the pumpkin. For a dessert, they’re actually pretty good for you.

And I will add a soft-cookie secret: instant pudding mix. I don’t know how it happens (because as far as I can tell, instant pudding is just sugar and cornstarch), but adding a few tablespoons of pudding mix makes the softest, greatest cookies. I usually like flatter, less cake-like cookies personally, but when I’m doing big, soft cookies, this is the way to go.

So if you don’t feel like making a full pumpkin pie, these are a unique, easy alternative to satisfy your pumpkin cravings till next year.

Pumpkin Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup butter, softened (1/2 stick)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 box french vanilla instant pudding mix
2 tbsp milk
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix butter, sugar, pumpkin, egg, spices, salt, vanilla and milk. In a second bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and pudding mix until evenly distributed. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, stirring until smoothly incorporated. Spoon batter onto a greased baking sheet, using heaping tablespoons for portions.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until a knife inserted into a cookie comes out clean.

Makes about 20 cookies.

• Sesame Ginger Cookies
• Oatmeal Currant Cookies
• Frosted Sugar Cookies
• Raspberry Squares

How many of you have expensive little jars of saffron in your cabinets?  Maybe you made paella, once, and then it sat around for months afterwards, untouched.  Maybe you were just curious about it, but then never had a real use for it, once it was purchased.

But you can put saffron in so many recipes for a little extra, unique flavor — it really shouldn’t go to wastse.  The saffron flavor in these muffins is subtle but unmistakable, and it adds a little depth to an otherwise traditional muffin recipe.

And here’s what I love about banana muffins: they can be so much lower fat than other types of muffins, because the bananas add moistness that you would otherwise have to get through butter or oil. 

(Does anyone remember that old show on the Food Network, Calorie Commando?  I always feel like htat guy when I talk about recipe nutrition). 

But these are really good, and incredibly easy.  They’re a great breakfast on the run, or just an anytime little snack.

And finally, the winners of the Spice Depot samples are Comments #12 (stephchows) and #34 (Kasey)! I’ll be emailing you guys today for your addresses!

Banana Saffron Muffins

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 tsp saffron threads, chopped or crushed with a knife
1 egg
2 tbsp butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line six muffin cups with papers. In a large bowl, mix together bananas, sugar, egg, cream, lemon juice, crushed saffron and melted butter. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 6-8 muffins.

• Snickerdoodles, Revisited
• Strawberry Banana Muffins
• Snickerdoodles
• Cinnamon Muffins

Sometimes the best desserts are the simplest.  Just a few ingredients, no fancy technique, just really good, simple flavor. 

And what better way to show off the apples that will be ubiquitous at the farmers’ market for the next six months?  They’re fresh, delicious, and so easy to cook with.  Just slice, bake, and taste (I’m actually not even kidding — the recipe *is* that easy)!

And maybe (dare I say?) this might even be a good addition to a Thanksgiving table!  Sure, everyone loves apple pie, but if you’re looking to do something a little different this year, an apple tart is a pretty delicious substitute.

Last but not least, I haven’t done a giveaway in a while, but I have several planned for the upcoming weeks! To get things started, I have two lovely jars of grindable seasonings from The Spice Depot you can win! I have potato and salad seasonsings — they’re made with sea salt, peppercorns, herbs and spices, which you grind yourself using built-in grinders in their containers. To win one, just leave a comment to this post, and I’ll announce two randomly selected winners on Thursday!

Apple Tart

INGREDIENTS
1/2 sheet frozen puff pastry
2 jonasgold apples, peeled, cored, halved and sliced 1/8-inch thick
3 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry until it measures about 14″ by 6″. Place it into a rectangular fluted pan, trimming the excess. Arrange the apples decoratively on the pastry, overlapping them. Brush the melted butter on top of the apples, and sprinkle the sugar over it.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes or until the crust is cooked through and the apples are golden. Serve warm or allow to cool.

• Apple, Honey and Goat Cheese Tart
• Apple Onion Tart
• Mushroom and Carmelized Onion Tart
• Asparagus Gruyere Tart

This site is not meant to be exclusively vegetarian, but if you were browsing through it quickly, you might think it was.  I was a longtime vegetarian, and now I’m a cheating pseudo-vegetarian who always asks for a bite of her fiance’s cheeseburgers, but rarely would think to ever saute a chicken breast in her own kitchen.

That being said, when I do cook meat, I want it to taste good.  And this recipe satisfies that indispensible requirement really, really well.  I actually ate the mushroom and sundried tomato mix as a topping on a toasted roll, and that was great too, but Chad informs me that the full chicken version was better.

I will also admit that I set off our fire alarm not once, not twice, but three times while pan-searing these chicken breasts.  After the second time, I finally learned how to turn on the exhaust fan above the stovetop (new kitchen — we’re still getting used to each other).  After the third time, I learned how to silence the smoke detector.  So if I burn our building down making dinner at some point in the future, at least it won’t be to the tune of incessant, annoying beeping.

(Just kidding.  I think it resets itself after you silence it.  In any event, don’t try that part at home.  Just make the recipe, and keep the windows open.)

Pan-Seared Chicken with Mushrooms and Sundried Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:
2 medium size chicken breasts (about 3/4 pound total)
5 tbsp olive oil
10 sundried tomato halves (about 1/2 cup), sliced thinly
6 large buttom mushrooms (about 1/2 cup), diced
2 large shallots, diced
Salt
Pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Heat 4 tbsp olive oil on medium-high heat in a nonstick saute pan until just short of smoking. Add chicken breasts to the pan and saute for 5 minutes, then flip the breasts and saute for about 4 additional minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, place the shallots and mushrooms into a smaller saute pan on medium heat, along with 2 tbsp water. When they have softened (about 3 minutes), add 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.

When the chicken is finished cooking, place it on a serving platter. Spoon the vegetable mixture over the chicken breasts, and serve.

Serves 2.

• Marinara Sauce
• Cucumber Gazpacho
• Braised Carnival Squash
• Sauteed Ramps and Shallots

Go vote!

If you do, I will share with you the recipe for these amazing, intensely coconut-y, delicious little cupcakes. And trust me, that is a very nice thing I’m doing for you.

What’s that? Election day is tomorrow? You can’t vote today? Oh, ok. Well, on to the recipe, then, I guess.

I made these for my little sister’s birthday, because she *loves* coconut. As much as Chad loves cinnamon, or I love caramel (and chocolate, and ice cream, and vanilla buttercream frosting)… well, let’s just say she loves coconut.

So I made the most overwhelmingly coconut-y cupcakes I could imagine. They’re made from coconut cake, they have a coconut cream cheese icing, and they’re topped with toasted coconut flakes. If you love coconut, these are the cupcakes for you.

In addition, they earned one of my dogs a new nickname, because her name is Coco, and she is a total nut. This beats her old name of Coco Puffs, which was also pretty cute. So it’s a good nickname, and an even better cupcake.

Now go vote (tomorrow)!

Coconut Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS
For the cupcakes:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

For the icing:
8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
1 stick plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp coconut milk
3 cups confectioners sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla and salt and mix well. Add the buttermilk to the batter and mix again.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the bowl, a little at a time. Mix until incorporated evenly. Add the coconut and mix briefly.

Line a muffin pan with cupcake wrappers, and fill each to just below the top with batter. Bake for 30 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Set the cupcakes aside until the pan cools, then remove them to a baking rack to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are baking and cooling, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and coconut milk. Sift the confectioners sugar into the mixture and mix until smooth.

On a stovetop, toast 1/3 cup of coconut in a nonstick skillet for about 90 seconds on medium heat, or until the coconut starts to brown. Remove from heat and set aside until the cupcakes are ready to be frosted.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, frost the cupcakes and sprinkle them with the toasted coconut.

Makes 14-16 cupcakes.

• Raspberry Squares
• Oatmeal Currant Cookies
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Cinnamon Muffins

Homemade pizza is really, really good. In fact, I’m going to be making this a lot more.  And I’m not just saying that because there are two more balls of pizza dough currently sitting in my freezer.

I’ve tried to make pizza once before, as one of my first forays into breadbaking. And it was before I knew what I was doing, and in retrospect, I know now that my yeast was dead (poor yeast!), because the dough barely rose and was completely inelastic. Not surprisingly, then, I couldn’t roll it thin enough to make a delicious thin-crust pizza.

This dough, though, was perfect. A little wet, which made it a little tricky to work with, but it was perfectly thin and baked up crispy. I used my favorite shortcut tomato sauce (tomato paste, water, parmesan cheese and spices), grated mozzarella, and grilled chicken, and YUM!

The dough takes a lot of resting, but once you’ve made it, it’s freezeable for months. I can’t think of any reason why you wouldn’t have a few pizza crusts ready to go at all times — can you?

Grilled Chicken Pizza

INGREDIENTS:
4 1/2 Cups bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 3/4 cups water, ice cold
1 tbsp sugar
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting
1 6-ounce can of tomato paste
3/4 cups water
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 chicken breast, rubbed with olive oil
Mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a large bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer). Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper. Turn the dough out onto the counter and cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Gently round each piece into a ball. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

Make the tomato sauce by mixing together tomato paste, water, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, smoked paprika. Grill the chicken in a grill pan for 10 minutes on high heat, flipping halfway through, and allow to cool. Chop the chicken into small pieces and set aside.

At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

When the dough has the shape you want, top it with the tomato sauce, chicken and cheese. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven and bake for about 5-8 minutes. After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

• Pizza Margherita
• Parmesan Wheat Bread
• Sage Ciabatta Rolls
• Baguettes

I did not make up this recipe, but the moment I saw it, I knew I was going to make it.  After my very successful foray into eclair-baking a few months ago, I knew I wanted to adapt the choux dough into something savory, and soon.

So when we decided to have a housewarming party to celebrate (finally) being unpacked, I thought of gougeres. And amazingly, I also thought of my actual hardcover, made-of-paper cookbooks, of which I have a fairly good number, but which I literally never turn to. Usually, if I want to make something, I’ll just kind of make it up as I go along, based on 1) my own past recipes, and 2) internet research. But this time, in part just for inspiration, I dragged a stack of cookbooks over to the couch and started to look through them.

And I found these elegant little finger-sanwiches (in a Williams Sonoma Christmas Entertaining cookbook, very randomly). But they were surprisingly easy, and called for ingredients I already had on hand — the only thing I had to buy was proscuitto. And, I will say, although proscuitto is definitely an expensive ingredient, it’s really used as a garnish here, and I made about 20 appetizers with about three slices of proscuitto — not even a quarter pound.

I also have a secret to share there — sliced proscuitto in grocery stores is ungodly expensive. But there’s an italian market on a street right near where I live, and they were able to give me exactly the amount I needed, freshly sliced, for only a few dollars (for those of you in New York, it’s called Faiccio’s). But even for those of you who aren’t in New York, it’s another reminder that we shouldn’t assume that smaller, local vendors are more expensive than big, chain grocery stores!

Gougeres with Prosciutto and Shaved Parmesan
Inspired by Williams-Sonoma “Christmas”

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 eggs, at room temperature
3-4 large slices of proscuitto (about 3 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.

In a medium sized saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter and salt to the boil. Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to low and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Stir for 2-3 minutes, and then transfer the dough to the bowl of your mixer.

Add the parmesan and mix using a whisk attachment until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs.

Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a large star (or plain) tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in small circle-shaped puff shapes. Leave about 2 inches between each puff to allow them room to expand.

Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the gougeres have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 10 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20-25 minutes.

Allow the gougeres to cool, and then slice each one in half with a sharp knife. Place a small (2-inch) slice of prosciutto and a shaved slice of parmesan (shave a block of parmesan with a vegetable peeler to get this effect!) into each one. Replace the tops, and serve!

Makes about 20 gougeres.

• Asparagus Gruyere Tart
• Éclairs
• Sesame Ginger Cookies
• Mushroom and Carmelized Onion Tart

Do you ever go to a restaurant and fall so hopelessly in love with a particular dish that you attempt to recreate it at home? This dish was a product of one of those impulses. At a dinner a month or so ago, Chad and I both ordered the same dish: corn soup.

Chad and I never order the same dish — I’m a former vegetarian with an entire mouth full of sweet tooths, he’s a Texan at heart who gags when I mention tofu. So when we both order, and both like, the same dish, that’s a big deal.

A big enough deal that I had to attempt this soup at home. I went into the recipe armed with a secret weapon — when I asked the waiter if the soup was cream-based, he told me the base was actually corn stock.

So corn stock I made. And corn soup. And I will be making it again, because it was fantastic. Light, healthy and incredibly flavorful, this is a perfect dish to celebrate our last few weeks of fresh corn this season. Make it now, before they’re gone!

Corn and Chive Soup

INGREDIENTS:
3 ears of corn
2 cups milk
1 cups water
1 small shallot, diced
2 tbsp chopped chives
3 large shrimp
1/4 cup heavy cream
Salt
Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the corn kernels from the cobs and reserve. Heat the milk and corn cobs to a simmer and let them simmer for ten minutes. Remove the corn cobs, and add the water, corn kernels, chives, shallot and salt. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Transfer the soup to a food processor or blender and puree it in batches until smooth. Stir in heavy cream, pour into bowls, and serve. Garnish with sliced shrimp and additional fresh chives.

Serves four.

• Corn and Carrot Chowder
• Thai Lemongrass Soup
• Curried Cauliflower Soup
• Cardamom Ice Cream

I do not share my kitchen well.

If you come to a dinner party of mine early, do not expect to be handed a knife and asked to chop.  You may open a bottle of wine.  You may pick the itunes playlist.  You may, in an emergency, be handed a ten dollar bill and sent out to the nearest grocery store when I realize that I am out of, oh, say, sugar, just as I am about to make dessert (sorry, Kristen).  But as for help in the kitchen?  No thank you.

My mother is more or less the same way.  So when I asked, last Christmas, how to help her in the kitchen, she delegated dessert to me.  With one nonnegotiable caveat: chocolate.

And this was the result (yes, this post is really old — it sat in my drafts box for an embarrassingly long time — but just in time for *this* coming holiday season!). These are extra molten, easy on the cake, which to me is perfection defined.  Just break the outer layer of cake, and the inside is warm, chocolate molten-ness.  If that’s not dessert heaven, I don’t know what would be.

Chocolate Molten Cakes
Adapted from The Joy of Baking by Julia Child

INGREDIENTS:
8 onces semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup butter, plus extra for ramekins, softened
3 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar, plus extra for ramekins
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp strong black coffee

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter four 3/4 cup ramekins, and dust the insides with sugar. Place the prepared molds on a baking sheet and set aside.
2. On a double-boiler, melt chocolate until smooth, stirring only once the edges of the chocolate pieces start to melt, and as little as possible. Add butter, cream, vanilla, and salt, and whisk until smooth and chocolate cooled.
3. Add egg yolks to chocolate mixture and whisk until incorporated.
4. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and sugar to form soft peaks. Fold 1/2 the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, and then fold the incorporated mix into the remaining egg whites.
5. Gently pour chocolate batter into ramekins. Bake for 10 minutes, and serve.

Makes four individual cakes.

• Banana Soufflé
• Pumpkin Soufflé
• Chocolate Mocha Mousse
• Chocolate Fudge Frosting
  (Or, Chocolate Mousse Gone Very Wrong)