Chocolate and vanilla are classics for a reason, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t think outside of the box a bit when it comes to cupcakes. And I’m not refering to boxed cake mixes here. I’m talking about using more unusualy flavors, like Cupcake Bakeshop does, to really let cupcakes shine, not just act as pacifiers when we’re in the mood for a little nostalgia.

You have probably never had a margarita cupcake before, let alone heard of one. This recipe comes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World, a book that I recently got to try a few recipes from. Not only are they creative, but they taste great. This batch of cupcakes, for example, was served to a group of omnivores and I didn’t even mention that they were vegan. They were a huge, huge hit. It could have had something to do with the taste of tequila in the outstanding frosting, but even so, there were no complaints about the texture or the flavor of the cake. And yes, I mean this as a complement because anyone who has tried vegan baking will tell you that the flavor is not the problem, it’s the texture. This cupcake has it all - excellent flavor, nice moistness and even crumb, and a great frosting. The lime/tequila flavors really shine.

Because they’re modeled after a cocktail, these are kind of “adult” cupcakes. Make them for a party - how about New Year’s?

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I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas (Hanukkah, etc.) with their families and friends this year. I know I did.
I feel that I am a bit late with these rugelach because they are a traditionally Jewish cookie and very popular during Hanukkah, especially at parties. This doesn’t preclude them from being eaten the rest of the year, of course, but I must say that these were a huge hit as holiday gifts this year.
This rugelach is made with a lightly sweetened cream cheese dough that is very rich, but very easy to work with. The dough is spread with a filling that can include fruit, spices, preserves, nuts or - as in this case - chocolate, then is cut into thin triangles and rolled into individual crescent shapes. The finished cookies look quite impressive, but they are surprisingly easy to make because the dough is, as I said, very easy to handle.
The pastry is soft and tender without being crunchy, brittle or flaky, unlike shortbread and other types of pastry dough. The filling is has a nice balance of chocolate, fruit and nuts that has been ground almost into a paste. It is lightly sweetened and very flavorful, but not overwhelming to the dough. Like so many other cookies, these go perfectly with a hot cup of tea. If you have never had rugelach, I highly recommend giving them a try.

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If you haven’t noticed by now, I reallly, really like oatmeal cookies. Past favorites include Banana Oatmeal Cookies, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Maple Pecan Oatmeal Cookies, Coconut Oatmeal Cookies, Heart Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and Oatmeal Cookie Biscotti - and even with a list of recipes that long, I don’t feel the need to stop yet.

This recipe was a spur of the moment idea and is a variation on one of my favorite lowfat oatmeal cookie recipes. I decided to jazz up the regular cookies with a splash of rum to give them some holiday spirit and it worked beautifully. The rum flavor was present, but subtle. You could tell that there was something different about the cookies, but until you knew that there was rum, it was hard to pinpoint the source of that flavor. The result was delicious and slightly adult.

The cookies, although they are low fat, still have a nice chew to them and stay moist when you store them in an airtight container, although they don’t have the same light texture that a really buttery cookie will have. Frankly, I don’t mind in the least. These still taste great and I’m not going to complain when I can eat an extra cookie or two without feeling guilty.
If you don’t want to go with the low-fat cookies, just make the run raisins and use them in this recipe instead!

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Meyer lemons, the non-bitter lemon hybrids that are growing in popularity with cooks everywhere by leaps and bounds, are in season right now. It is much easier to find them at stores and markets than it was only a few years ago, and more people are familiar with them as an ingredient. Even if you’re not, the only thing you need to know is that they seem sweeter than the average lemon but no less lemony.
I’ve used them in scones, quickbreads, cakes and risottos, but they can be used in place of lemons in any recipe. With this in mind, I didn’t hesitate to substitute them in for the regular lemons in this recipe for a Foolproof Lemon Tart from the LCBO magazine, Food & Drink, which is one of my favorite recipe sources.
The tart is, as promised by the name, pretty foolproof. The “hardest” part is the crust because it needs to be prebaked. Prebaking basically means that you bake the crust after filling it with pie weights or dried beans to prevent the crust from getting soggy once the filling is added and to stop it from puffing up during baking once the filling is added, which could ruin the look of the finished tart. Prebaking a crust like this one is no different from prebaking a graham cracker crust, so there is no need to be intimidated by it in a recipe even if you’re a novice baker.

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Every year I try to make one “different” cookie recipe around the holidays. I’m not saying that I go for something extreme, like chocolate chip bacon cookies, but I do like to have one thing on the Christmas cookie plate that isn’t just chocolate chip oatmeal, gingerbread, shortbread or a sprinkle-laden butter cookie. Bright with orange zest and packed with chewy dried cranberries, these cookies fit the bill perfectly. They’re delicious.

The cookies themselves are light, with an excellent texture, and are very buttery tasting. They get crisp at the edges after baking, but are left with a soft chew by the next day. The orange zest is not overwhelming and it gives the cookies a light flavor that makes you reach for another straight away. I think that cranberries are a good match for the orange, but dried blueberries would probably also work out very well if you want something different. And, of course, you can always toss in either white or dark chocolate chips.

Don’t overbake these cookies. They should only be ever so slightly colored at the edges when they are done baking. Leave them to set up on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool, or you could end up with cookie crumbs, instead of whole cookies.

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I’ve been working on a lot of gift lists to suit various themes, but I still feel like I haven’t hit upon some of the best gifts that are out there. So, I’ve decided to make up a little list for fans of bakingsheet that has some of the best gifts that I can think of. These are all things that I have, have used, want or otherwise recommend and are pretty much guaranteed to please anyone who is a fan of this blog. Now, you might not want to get them for yourself (buying presents for yourself right before major holidays is a major no-no), but you can forward this post to friends and loved ones to nudge them in the right direction:

The Good Home Cookbook - I was one of the recipe testers for this brilliant collection. My name is even listed in the back of the book - true, it’s with all the other testers, but it was exciting for me to see regardless. The recipes are easy, work well and it covers just about everything the home chef might possibly want to make. The pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, cheese bread and black walnut cake are all great.

I think that Beth Hensperger is a brilliant baker and The Bread Bible is one of my favorites, although all her books are excellent. The range of breads, from Dutch Crunch Bread and Orange Cinnamon Swirl Bread to whole grain breads, tortillas, scones, quick breads and even bread-machine breads, you can find everything in here. Other bread books I highly recommend are Paul Hollywood’s 100 Great Breads and Baking with Julia for breads and other things.

For non-breads, I really enjoyed Dorie Greenspan’s new cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours, which has tons of great recipes, great photos and great ideas. Just about every recipe in the book sounded appealing. I already made Chewy, Chunky Blondies and Cinnamon Chocolate Squares and am planning on trying the Cranberry Lime Galette and Apple Cheddar Scones in the not-too-distant future. I also, as always, highly recommend anything by Maida Heatter. Other top authors in my book are Donna Hay, Bill Granger (yes, I know he’s not primarily a baker) and David Lebovitz, to name but a few.

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