• I am not someone who usually grinds her own flour, but reading about the Crunch Hippy Fresh Ground Whole Wheat Chocolate Cranberry Cookies at Nikas Culinaria makes the idea seem very appealing. Grinding your own flour gives your recipe a nice nutty, whole wheat flavor and a coarser texture than it is going to get from regular whole wheat flour - and definitely a big change from all purpose. You will need a wheat grinder, but using a coarse stone ground flour that can usually be found at a natural foods market will give you a similar approximation.
• I am a big fan of the rich and slightly tangy flavor of buttermilk pie, but often make them quite plain to get the most buttermilk flavor out of them. The Maple Buttermilk Meringue Pie from Dinner with Julie looks even better than the classic version. The filling uses a lot of maple syrup for sweetness and many egg yolks to enrich the custard. The whites don’t go to waste, however, because six of them are used to make the towering meringue that finished off the pie.
• If you have a couple of oranges in the kitchen, a great use for them is in an Orange Infused Cake with Candied Oranges, like the one that Our Chocolate Shavings made recently. The cake is similar to a pound cake, with egg whites beaten and folded into the batter for lightness. Juice and zest from one orange go into the cake, and juice and zest from another go into the glaze. The finishing touch for this cake really is the candied orange slices that top it. They take the cake from looking plain and simple, to remarkably elegant. They’re not as difficult to make as you might think, taste lovely and are worth the little bit if effort to turn this cake into a star.
• You don’t have to be a vegan to appreciate a good vegan cookie, or eat only gluten free to appreciate a gf recipe that really works. Manifest Vegan has been working on a version of a favorite cookie from before she started eating gluten free. These Almondy Chocolate Chip Cookies are the result. The cookies use a blend of buckwheat and almond flour for a nutty, buttery (using butter-flavored Earth Balance in the recipe) finished product. When making these, you can use “vegan” chocolate chips, but keep in mind that lots of semisweet and dark chocolate is already nondairy, so you can also chop up a favorite (probably much higher quality) bar to use.
• A chocolate muffin is not the same as a chocolate cupcake, as Once Upon A Chef points out with some Chocoholic Muffins. These muffins aren’t too sweet and have a nice open crumb, but are still packed with cocoa flavor and a lot of chocolate chips. They’re a good way to start the day off with a little chocolate fix, especially if you can get your hands on one while the chocolate chips are still just a bit warm and melty.

This week (and this upcoming week of Jan 31- Feb 5) was restaurant week in Los Angeles. This means that some of the restaurants around the city are participating in an event called DineLA where they offer special, three-course set menus at a special price. I took advantage of this to take in a lunch at Spago. The restaurant was lovely, the food was delicious, but I have to say that the highlight of the meal was meeting Wolfgang Puck himself. He made the rounds of the dining room and patio several times, shaking hands with guests and even sitting down a few times to chat. I think that I was the first to break out a camera, but I was certainly not the only one in the restaurant who wanted to capture the moment and many cameras popped out as he posed with diners. I was a little flustered (perhaps the food blogger’s equivalent of being slightly starstruck), but found him to be nothing by incredibly friendly. Also, for the record, I think that he looks much younger in person than he does in photos and on TV. Lest you think that he was only making a show, he also went back to the kitchen (my table shared a glass wall with the kitchen) to work on the food.

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• It’s hard to go wrong with a contest-winning recipe, so when Cookie Madness came across the winner of the grand prize (and $10,000) in the 1977 Pineapple Growers recipe competition in an old cookbook, she had to try them. Trade Wind Muffins are made from a cream cheese and sour cream-enriched batter and are packed with pineapple. The sides of the muffins are coated with sliced almonds, adding an unexpected crunch to each bite. Anna said they taste like a cross “between pineapple cake and a dense Twinkie,” which is a good thing.
• Brown butter can enhance just about any recipe that you can squeeze it into, and it is a major player in Yumsilicious Bakes s‘ Cherry Brown Butter Bars. These bars have a shortbread crust topped with a clafoutis-like filling. There is a generous amount of browned butter incorporated into that filling, along with lots of fresh cherries. Although it looks very gourmet, these bars are actually quite easy to mix up, and you can experiment with using other berries in the same recipe for variety.
• Since I was just doing a little baking with Coca-Cola myself, I couldn’t help by notice the Chocolate Cola Cake at Amanda’s Cookin’. This cake is a classic two-layer chocolate cake topped with chocolate frosting. There is Coke in the cake batter, adding that slightly spicy flavor of Coke and making the cake very moist. There is also a bit of cola in the frosting. This is definitely a great way to use up a spare can of Coke, or to finish off a 2-liter bottle that has been sitting in the fridge.
• The only drawback to cinnamon buns is that they take a little bit of patience and planning to make - making them a less-than-perfect breakfast option if you don’t want to spend some time baking when you first wake up! Ice Cream for Dinner’s Less-Than-An-Hour Cinnamon Buns offer a solution, because these little buns use no yeast and can be ready to eat in less than an hour. They’re not as light or flaky as big, yeasty rolls, but they are still buttery, gooey with frosting and make a very satisfying morning treat.
• I really enjoy gummy bears, but they’re not a food that I’ve thought about incorporating much into recipes. That is, until I spotted the Gummy Bear Martini at Grin and Bake It. While it’s not a baked good, it is very hard to resist the appeal of this fruity, multi-colored cocktail. There is even a set of bonus instructions along with the recipe for making vodka-soaked gummi bears, which make a great garnish.

• Filled cupcakes are, perhaps, the best type of cupcake for frosting fans who just don’t think that there is enough to go around when the frosting is only on the top of a cupcake. But how about improving a basic filled cupcake recipe with a jolt of caffeine? 17 and Baking made up a batch of Caddeine Spiked Mini Hostess Cupcakes. These chocolaty little cupcakes have espresso in the batter and also have an infusion of coffee flavor in their filling, and they’re covered in a rich ganache. They’re bite sized, too, and perfect for snacking.
• Any fan of pecan pie is going to love a batch of Ina’s Pecan Squares, which ButterYum recently made. These buttery bars have a shortbread base and a topping made with honey, brown sugar, pecans and both orange and lemon zest. The only tricky part of the recipe is choosing the right sized pan, because the pan recommended in the original recipe was no where near tall enough to hold all of the cookie mixture! Try breaking this down into two 9×13-inch pans. You’ll have a lot of bars, so save this recipe for an occasion where there will be lots of people around - like a bake sale or the Super Bowl.
• Another interesting bar recipe takes its inspiration from a favorite candy bar. Mangio da Sola made some Millionaire Bars that are very similar to homemade Twix candy bars - only with a much more interesting twist on the flavors in the bar. It starts with a buttery shortbread base that is topped with homemade dulce de leche, rather than a plain caramel. Each bar is cut into sticks and dipped in chocolate, completing the candy bar look.
• I’m a big fan of s’mores, so naturally any recipe that involves them is going to catch my eye. The Reeses S’mores Cookies at Une-deux senses were no exception. These cookies definitely capture the flavor of s’mores, and have the added indulgence of included chopped up peanut butter cup candies in them! The cookie dough has graham cracker crumbs added to it, giving them a chocolate chip cookie-look, but a rounded honey graham flavor. Mini marshmallows, peanut butter chips and, of course, peanut butter cups complete the cookie. For the best looking cookies, try to make sure that some of the marshmallows make it to the top and don’t end up buried beneath the rest of the cookie dough.
• Food Gal’s Cinnamon Apple Yogurt Muffins will fit the bill perfectly if you like your muffins packed full of good things like apple chunks and nuts. The muffins get a lot of moisture from Greek yogurt, which is used instead of buttermilk or sour cream (which appear frequently in muffin recipes). They also have a crunchy topping made from brown sugar and cinnamon. These muffins will keep well for a couple of days, and I imagine that they’ll toast up nicely in an oven or toaster oven, so even leftovers will make a warm morning treat on a winter day.

• Since I just baked myself a batch of German Chocolate Brownies, it’s not surprise that Playing House Blog’s German Chocolate Cupcakes jumped right out at me. These are chocolate cupcakes that are frosted and filled with a chunky, coconut pecan frosting. Actually, the frosting is so thick that I’m not sure that the word does justice to the topping. Maybe we should call it sweet, gooey, nutty over-the-top topping that goes well with chocolate cupcakes - just to be a little more accurate.
• Many bakeries have a signature dessert or two that keeps customers coming back and Bourke Street Bakery (which I’ve visited in Sydney, Aus.) has a flourless chocolate cake on their list of must-have’s. Fortunately, the recipe is included in their cookbook, so Almost Bourdain was able to make Bourke Street Bakery’s Flourless Chocolate Cake at home. Unlike some flourless cakes, this one is light and mousse-like, although it has a lot of chocolate flavor to it, both from cocoa powder and dark chocolate. It takes a little time to put it together even though the steps are striaghforward, but the results are worth it.
• I’ve played poker by betting everything from chocolate candies and pretzels to real poker chips, but I’ve never played with cookies - let alone anything as impressive asBaking Obsession’s Chocolate Match Poker Chip Cookies. These carefully crafted cookies look like poker chips, can be used as poker chips (if you don’t mind people putting their fingers all over your cookies, that is) and taste a heck of a lot better than the real thing. Follow the instructions carefully and take your time to get the same poker-perfect look in your cookies if you try this recipe. Patience will ensure that your chips come out looking just like the originals, and once you’ve mastered the technique, you can use different cookie dough flavors for different chip values!
• For a little bit of indulgence, a pot de creme is the perfect dessert choice. They’re very rich custards that are served in very small portions. They’re baked in an oven to set up, but most of the cooking is done on the stovetop. I see chocolate variations quite often, but the Butterscotch Pot de Creme that Cannelle et Vanille tried sound like a lovely flavor contrast to the more common chocolate pots. The butterscotch flavor is achieved with a caramel made of muscovado and demerara sugars, enriched with cream, milk, vanilla and sea salt.
• The Harvest Grape Bread from The Italian Dish Blog doesn’t use any grapes in the recipe. The name comes from the fact that the bread is shaped like a cluster of grapes. The design is stunning, but it also makes the bread easy to eat, since roll-sized “grapes” can be plucked off the main loaf and eaten. The bread is slightly sweet and flavored with orange liqueur, along with a bit of nutmeg and cardamom, and it will go well with a wide variety of both sweet and savory accompaniments. It’s also ideal for serving with wine, cheese and other appetizers because it is so easy to eat.

• New Year’s Eve may have come and gone for the next three hundred and sixty-some days, but there is no reason that the Champagne Cupcakes with Sweet Champagne Buttercream Frosting from Gimme Some Oven should wait until the next time it rolls around even though they’re the perfect dessert for a New Year’s celebration. The cupcakes, which have a full 3/4 cup of champagne in the recipe, are perfect for any occasion. Since you won’t use the whole bottle to make one batch of the recipe, it might be best just to celebrate the fact you’re making the cupcakes and have a toast with the rest of the bubbly while they bake.
• Sometime you just want a couple of cupcakes instead of a dozen, especially if you have a small household or are trying to stick to that New Year’s resolution of only eating one cupcake for dessert instead of two. The Cookie Shop’s recipe for Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream is the perfect solution. The recipe makes just four decadent cupcakes so that you can indulge in the rich cupcake and sweet, creamy frosting without worrying about how you’re going to stop yourself from eating the whole batch.
• Fudge is surprisingly easy to make if you haven’t tried making it at home before, and Steph Chows‘ Captain Morgans S’more Fudge is a good place to start if you don’t mind a little bit of a kick - in the form of a splash of spiced rum - to your fudge. The recipe is very easy to make because it only has two ingredients, sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips. Once the fudge has cooked, you can stir in mix-ins to customize it. In this case, miniature marshmallows and graham cracker pieces are added to give these chocolaty bars a s’mores feel.
• Speaking of spiced rum, another recipe that infused a splash of it this week is Not So Humble Pie’s Spiced Rum Cream-Filled Donuts. These donuts are bite-sized and round, like donut holes, and have a generous dollop of creamy filling in them that makes me think of cream puffs more than donuts! The recipe makes a really big batch, so it’s perfect for a party or for sharing with a big group of friends and family. And with a batch of these waiting, I don’t think it’ll be hard to attract a crowd to share them with you.
• Putting a slice of cheese on top of an apple pie is the only way to go for some people who can’t get enough of the sweet-salty combination of pie with cheese. I’ve even made an Apple Pie Coffee Cake with Cheddar Cheese before. Honey and Jam recently tried a recipe for Apple Cobbler with Cheddar Biscuits that uses the same concept, using a savory buttermilk biscuit that is rich with cheddar cheese to top off a sweet apple filling.