I am a big fan of coconut and try to use it in recipes whenever I can. Coconut milk and coconut cream are great, but really I like the taste and texture of shredded coconut and that is generally the type of coconut that I - and probably most of you bakers our there - use most. The most commonly found in grocery stores in my area and in most of the US is sweetened shredded coconut, but unsweetened shredded  coconut is also easily available and I often get asked which is better for baking for use in a certain recipe or if the two can be substituted for one another.The simple answer is that the two are pretty much identical in how they behave in recipes, mixing in easily and adding a nice, chewy texture. You can use these two types of coconut interchangeably in a recipe and get good results. That said, if a specific type is called for in a recipe, I would try to stick with it because the two coconuts taste a bit different and will give you a different result. If no specific type is called for, you can use what you have on hand or whichever type you prefer.

The sweetened coconut has sugar added to it before drying, so it tends to be a bit sweeter and more moist from the outset. The sugar actually helps to bring out the flavor of the coconut, but since most baked goods will have sugar in them anyway, this isn’t necessary to ensure a good finished result and unsweetened will still perform well. There is a small chance that sweetened might be slightly too sweet in a recipe that calls for unsweetened, but the sweetened coconut is not so sweet on its own that it should really throw off a recipe in that way.

• The first lemons on my tree are starting to ripen and Jules Food’s Lemon Almond Bundt Cake is a great way to use up just a little bit of lemon. The bundt is has a tight, moist crumb and has a combination of almond and lemon flavor in it. The almond flour, or ground almonds, used to make the cake give it a little bit of denseness, like a pound cake, but do not make it too heavy. I suspect that this is a cake that would keep well for a couple of days in the kitchen.
• A very easy, but extremely festive, recipe for the holiday season is the Salted Gingersnap and Hazelnut Bark at Bitchin’ Camero. I tried some chocolate covered gingersnaps last year that were ok, and this combination of ingredients sounds so much better. Store bought gingersnaps - the crisp kind - are combined with melted chocolate, spread into a thin layer and topped with chopped hazlenuts and sea salt. It’s easy and makes a great gift or holiday snack.
• My Recession Kitchen made some Pear and Chocolate Scones, using a basic scone dough with a filling of fresh pears and chocolate chips. This is a great idea for incorporating fresh fruit into a scone, especially something juicy like a pear, to get a good texture from the dough without introducing too much extra liquid during baking. The post also has some good tips that make the process of rubbing butter into the flour mixture incredibly easy.
• Aside from banana bread, one of my favorite things to do with bananas is to make honey-sweetened Crunchy Banana Pops. A great variation on this is Bell’alimento’s Banana Nutella Pops Dipped in Coconut. For these, bananas are spread with Nutella and rolled in coconut, then they are frozen. The bananas take on an ice cream-like texture when frozen, but the whole pop is more flavorful (and a bit healthier!) than your average ice cream bar. You can use chopped nuts or sprinkles on these pops in place of coconut for a little variety.
• I thought that I had made rice krispy treats a little more fun by using bright-red Franken Berries cereal to make them for Halloween. Smitten Kitchen made the popular cereal treat a little more gourmet with a batch of Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats. These marshmallow treats aren’t any more difficult to make than regular treats. The secret is taking a few minutes to make browned butter - melted butter that has been cooked to intensify its flavor - to give the bars a rich, buttery, nutty flavor that both kids and adults can enjoy!

Anyone who has been in a Starbucks lately has seen Starbucks Via. The coffee company has been promoting their new instant coffee like crazy, so it’s pretty hard to miss. If you were lucky, you might have even gotten a free sample or two in a promotional taste test. I say “lucky” because Via is actually excellent for an instant coffee (and quite a bit better than some regular coffees). Starbucks came up with a new process to produce it, so it is not the same as the freeze-dried instant coffee that populates store shelves, nor does it taste anything like that watery, bland stuff. Via comes in two flavors - Colombian and Italian roasts - and tastes fresh and strong. It also dissolves easily in both hot and cold water, thanks to that new production process, so it can be used any time.

While I actually have taken a big like to taking a few packets of Via when I travel, I have found that it is an excellent baking ingredient in the home, too. Adding it into a recipe that calls for coffee flavoring is like adding a whole cup of  coffee with just a little bit of powder. It definitely packs in much more flavor than regular instant coffee and incorporates much more seamlessly. This means that there is no need to dissolve it in a bit of hot liquid before adding it to a batter; you can stir it into dry ingredients just as you would with any ground spice, and it will blend perfectly into your finished product. The Colombian is good, but the Italian has a darker and stronger flavor, more like espresso. Via is a little more expensive than a generic instant coffee, but definitely well worth the price for the flavor and the convenience. I think that it is actually easier to use than the instant espresso powder that I usually use, and pretty much ties with Trablit coffee extract for flavor. Definitely worth keeping a box around the pantry if you like to use coffee flavoring in your baked goods or other dishes.

• Pumpkin and maple are two classic fall flavors and Erin’s Food Files uses both of them together in Maple Ice Cream with Pumpkin Pie Fudge. This dessert came together a bit unintentionally, mostly as a way to use up some leftover fudge, but the flavors of pumpkin and maple go so well together that it sounded like a hit as soon as the idea came up. This could also be a good way to use up any fudge received as a holiday gift, adding chocolate to chocolate, coffee or vanilla ice cream for another treat.
• The Pumpkin Pie Spiced Chocolate Truffles at Megan’s Cooking are another seasonal candy recipe. Easy to make, these truffles are made with a simple dark chocolate ganache that is kicked up with pumpkin pie spice. I can’t help but think that milk chocolate might go well with the pumpkin pie spice, too. The decorative transfers that were used to finish off the truffles really make them look professional, and they’re easy to find at many online chocolate/baking suppliers.
• Shortbread is usually a very simple cookie, made primarily with butter, sugar and flour. They are light and crisp. 101 Cookbooks‘ Apple and Carrot Shortbread doesn’t quite fit the standard mold, for although they are light and buttery, they are sweet from the addition of grated apples and carrots. They are also slightly less crisp because of it. That said, while they may not be the most traditional, they certainly are a good flavor combination and a great twist on a classic recipe.
• Annie’s Eats made some Banana Caramel Cupcakes that sound like they would be an even better use for some ripe bananas than a batch of banana bread. The cupcakes are moist and tender, made with mashed banana, buttermilk and lots of butter. They are frosted with a caramel buttercream and drizzled with extra caramel sauce before serving.
• Finishing off with a Halloween recipe, Almost Bourdain’s Macaroni and Cheese Bake in Coffin Toast is a really fun one to serve the kids. A classic macaroni and cheese is spooned into a small, square loaf of bread that has had the center carved out to resemble a coffin. The mac and cheese is finished off under the broiler, melting some extra cheese and toasting the coffin before serving. A decorative skull (ceramic, hard plastic or something that won’t melt) reallly finishes off the dish and makes it fun to eat.

I love a good Halloween recipe as much as anyone, and there are plenty of great recipe ideas out there that are both spooky and sweet - perfect for the holiday. But there are lots of behind-the-scenes tips that can help make your Halloween celebrations go a lot more smoothly and even add a bit of extra flair to your tricks and treats. Here is a list of helpful how-to’s that should really get the holiday prep off to a good start.

• If you’re going to try making Vampire Cupcakes or Slime-Filled Cupcakes this year, take a look at the how to make a filled cupcake tutorial, which will streamline the process and ensure that you have as much filling in there as possible to give the cupcakes a nice, juicy center.
• Caramel apples are another good seasonal treat. Starting out with the best apples for making caramel apples will make the treats perfect. Sweet-tart apples are usually the best choice. Pippins and Jonagolds are both well balanced. Opt for Granny Smith if you like them really tart.
• Chocolate-Covered Witch Hats are easy to make and make a great addition to edible Halloween displays. Use them to top off cupcakes, cakes or even just a simple scoop of ice cream.
• Carving pumpkins is one of the key elements of Halloween. Pumpkins can have a foodie aspect to them, as well as a frightening one, like this Creepy Cupcake Pumpkin, which features a skeleton hand clutching a glowing cupcake!
• After carving your pumpkin, put the seeds to good use and make some homemade toasted pumpkin seeds
• You can also make your own pumpkin puree for baking pies and cupcakes, but I would recommend using a sugar pumpkin or other small winter squash, as the larger carving pumpkins tend to be quite fibrous.
• If you want to go all out for the occasion, consider staging a Scary Halloween Dinner party. A little bit of gelatin, some creative naming and a good use of textures results in a menu that includes Chilled Brain Spread and Eyes in Blood Sauce. They look ghoulish, but taste great, and you get to play with your food while you prepare everything!

You can get creative with recipes for Christmas and decorations for Fourth of July, but no holiday is quite as fun as Halloween when it comes to looks. You can have all manner of decorations, from simple carved pumpkins to full-sized haunted house displays, and can take your holiday treats from snack sized candy bars to more elaborate, homemade treats, like Vampire Cupcakes. The food, like the decorations, should be fun and there is no real limit to how creative you can be. It’s a great time to experiment. After all, in the even that a treat doesn’t turn out looking the way you hoped, you can always say that it was just supposed to be an extra-scary zombie version of the cookie, cake or cupcake, right?

Here are some great, fun ideas for Halloween recipes. Don’t wait until the night before the holiday - some of these are too good to give away to trick-or-treaters!

• Vampire Cupcakes and Vampire Cookies are two of my absolute favorite Halloween recipes, both “bleed” fruity red fillings when you bite into them. They’re also perfect for non-Halloween occasions, like a Twilight movie viewing party.
• Speaking of vampire treats, a big batch of raspberry jam-filled Vampire Pancakes is a great way to get Halloween off on the right foot.
• Slime Filled Cupcakes from the Black Lagoon are another creepy cupcake, filled with oozing, bright green lime curd!
• Franken Berry Cereal Bars and Spooky Peanut Butter Puff Truffles are fantastic for making with kids because both are easy and start with boxed cereal. Kids can pretty much do everything themselves, with just a little adult supervision.
• The recipes for both Halloween M&M Cookies and Leftover Halloween Candy Bundt Cake incorporate regular Halloween candy. The cookies get a festive look from dark, creepily-colored seasonal M&Ms, while the cake is best made the day after Halloween when you have a bag of leftover mini chocolates that needs to be used up.
• The cookies pictured at the top are part of a batch of Skeleton Gingerbread cookies, decorated to look like carved pumpkins. Mummy Cookies with White Chocolate Wrapping are a good alternative if you prefer to start out with a chocolate, rather than spice, base.
• Candy apples are another classic recipe. Make sure to start out with some good apples, and either dip them into melted caramels or make a batch of Salted Maple Caramel Apples for a variation with a little extra fall flavor.
• Not everything needs to be themed. Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes and Pumpkin Brownies with Pecans are both good choices, getting pumpkin in to make them Halloween-appropriate, but perfectly appropriate for other fall and winter occasions, too.
• If you see a bag of Halloween Oreos, you might want to pick it up to try out some black and orange Halloween Oreo Cheesecakes