While everyone has their favorite, the Swiss chocolate maker Callebaut is widely considered to be the gold standard of chocolate around the world. Hershey’s, by contrast, is - to put it as delicately as possible - usually not mentioned in the same sentence, though the brand is a big seller and has many fans. Chocolate aficionados may therefore be surprised to hear that The Hershey Company and Callebaut have just formed an innovative partnership and intend to spend the better part of the next decade working close together.

Company spokespeople say that the companies will be focusing on “driving innovation in new chocolate taste experiences, premium chocolate, health and wellness, and ingredient research and optimization” - or in simpler terms, just about everything. Callebaut intends to open a new facility to provide chocolate for Hershey’s Monterrey, Mexico plant and to supply chocolate to the Robinson, Illinois plant, as well. This means that there will be a huge influx of Callebaut products onto the market, most of them in the Hershey’s name.

Whether the partnership of the two chocolate powerhouses will have long term effects on consumers remains to be seen, but the increased emphasis on R&D is certain to lead to some new taste and flavor experiences, and will hopefully lead to an overall boost in quality.

After I pulled this batch of muffins out of the oven, I immediately thought that I should have made muffin-tops instead of the whole muffin. The tops were perfectly domed, rising up nicely over the top of the muffin tin, and had a slightly crisp top, thanks to some sugar sprinkled on before baking.

Then I tasted one of the slightly cooled muffins and was glad that I hadn’t. While this recipe probably would make excellent muffin tops if you have a specialty muffin top tin, even the “stumps” of the muffins are tasty. They have a good cherry flavor and a slightly dense, but tender, texture. Combined with the little crunch of sugar on top, the muffins had a coffee cake-like feel to them.

To ensure that you get a good rise, make sure your muffin cups are about 3/4 of the way full. This will provide enough batter to lift above the rim of the muffin cup. Also, don’t worry if your batter has a pink/purple hue to it. The cherry juice is responsible, but the muffins will take on a more normal look during baking.

I recommend using a food processor to “pulse” the defrosted cherries. This will give you some variety of size and saves a lot of the time that would be needed if you were simply to try and chop them.

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I don’t do too much wheat free/gluten free baking because I don’t have much call to do so. None of my close friends or family members have a gluten intolerance and only a few avoid carbs, so I tend to bake ordinary, wheat-filled breads, cookies and cakes almost exclusively.

Note the word “almost”.

These cookies are wheat free, made especially for a friend whose new dietary regimen calls for the elimination of carbs. I can’t quite remember if it was a specific diet (possibly the New Millenium diet) or one of her own design, but whatever the reason behind it, let’s just say that she was disappointed to miss out on so many of my regular cookies. Throwing caution - and no doubt her diet - to the wind, she accepted a big plate of Wheat Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies happily.

Because they have no gluten, these cookies are slightly more crumbly than ordinary oatmeal cookies and have something of a melt-in-your-mouth quality to them. They have a nice oaty flavor and are neither cakey nor dense. The chocolate chips are the finishing touch and will win over even dubious critics. I used an egg replacer to make this recipe entirely vegan, but you can substitute a whole egg if you choose.

Incidentally, there is a difference between wheat free and gluten free. Gluten free things are suitable for celiacs (those with a gluten intolerance) as they contain neither wheat nor gluten. Wheat free things contain no wheat, but may still contain gluten. These cookies, for example, are wheat free but main contain some gluten as oats can contain trace amounts. For the vast majority of people the distinction isn’t a crucial one, but these cookies would be better suited for those with no dietary restrictions or those to stick to a low-carb diet, than to those with health problems associated with gluten. (Note: I have heard that some companies sell rolled oats that are certified gf. If you can find and use those, these cookies will also be gluten free.)

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There is something to be said for the old staple cookbooks, like the Joy of Cooking, Fanny Farmer, Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, all of which have been cited (repeatedly) as must-haves for the home cook because they are books that you can turn to again and again. But just because these books have been around for quite some time, that doesn’t mean that they were the first cookbooks you encountered. I know that they weren’t the first books that piqued my interest as a kid, but fortunately, there were cookbooks out there geared directly towards children - by which I mean that they were illustrated.

One of the first cookbooks I had that I can remember using was , embarrassingly enough, the Care Bear’s Party Cookbook. Illustrated with the characters from the very early 80s cartoon show, it was filled with brightly colored illustrations that made the simple, no-bake recipes look very appealing. I definitely made “Funshine Fizz” (a punch made with orange sherbert), Ants on a Log and Rainbow Fruit Sticks/Kebabs time and time again. Far from gourmet cooking, it was perfect for a kid who wanted to experiment with food but had very limited experience with the kitchen. I loved it and still have the book to this day, although I generally pass it over on the shelf in favor of my more “grown-up” cookbooks.

Do you remember your very first childhood cookbook, or the first one that really made an impression on you?

Bananas are not exactly an exciting fruit, although seeing cartoon characters slip on banana peels can be quite funny. That said, there is one fun trick out there that involves a banana and can be used to impress your friends, family and coworkers. It involves slicing a banana into pieces while it is still completely encased in its peel. Preslicing just takes some careful work with a needle and thread, but after you practice on a few fruit, it shouldn’t take too long to made each one. And it’s worth it to see the look one someone’s face when he or she peels the banana and discovers that it is already in pieces.

The complete instruction sheet (with illustrations) is below:

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Baking Bites was nominated for the “Best Food Blog” in this year’s Blogger’s Choice Awards!

As of writing this, the blog with the most votes in the food blog category has just under 250 votes, and I know that we can do better than that! So, I’d like to take a moment to encourage all of you readers to head over and vote by clicking this link or the button in my sidebar!

The polls close on June 2nd.