Bites from other Blogs

I’m in a nutty mood this week and that means that all of the recipes in this week’s Bfob feature nuts in some form or another. While the easiest nut option is as  a mix-in for cookie dough, nuts can bring a lot of flavor and texture to a wide variety of baked goods.

•  Sweet Cannela‘s Baklava Muffins are inspired by the traditional baklava recipe and are loaded with walnuts, pistachios and honey. The fluffy muffins have a swirl of baklava filling through their center, as well as a generous crumble on top. They’re drizzled with honey to replicate the flavor of the traditional phyllo dessert, giving them a sweet and sticky finish.
• The Banana Nut Cinnamon Rolls from Eating Elsewhere combine two desserts: banana bread and cinnamon rolls. The recipe starts with a yeasted dough that is flavored with chai tea, cinnamon, and mashed banana. Once risen, the dough is rolled out and lined with pecans, cinnamon sugar and banana slices before being rolled back up. The finished rolls have just the right amount of gooey cream cheese frosting to compliment the bananas and spices.
• If you can still get your hands on fresh rhubarb, you’ll want to try the Rhubarb and Almond Cake from Living Tastefully. The tender cake uses almond meal in the batter to create a cake with a dense, tender crumb. It’s flavored with cardamom, orange and vanilla, then packed with rhubarb and topped with a mixture of sliced almonds and coarse sugar for crunch.
• I happen to be a big fan of Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream, so Lito Supply Co‘s Jamoca Almond Fudge Cupcakes jumped right off the screen at me. The mocha almond cupcakes are topped with a velvety coffee buttercream and topped with roasted almonds. The almonds give the cupcakes a little bit of crunch, just as they do in the ice cream flavor that inspired the recipe. This is one that coffee lovers will definitely enjoy.
• Recipe Throwback: I’m sure that you’ve had peanut butter cookies, but did you know that you can use other types of nut butters to make some pretty delicious cookies, too? These Vanilla Cashew Butter Cookies are one of my favorite variations. The cookies have a buttery, nutty flavor that is much more subtle than that of peanut butter, and you can add crunch by stirring in chopped, toasted coconuts