- Olive oil can be great for baking, especially if you start with a complex, fruity extra virgin olive oil. Eating SF made some Maple Olive Oil Granola, lightly sweetened with maple syrup and flavored with olive oil, cinnamon and nutmeg. The olive oil will give the granola a slightly savory note, making this a great snacking granola, or one that can be paired with sweet summer fruit. As with all granolas, you can mix up the nuts in the base recipe, which in this case are pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and pistachio nuts.
- A homemade chocolate chip cookie is one of the best treats out there, but double, triple or quadruple its size and you have the perfect treat for a celebration. Take this Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, for instance. The cookie is baked as one huge, round cookie right on a rectangular baking sheet – no special pan needed – and it comes out as big as a small pizza at about 9-inches across! The giant cookie can be sliced and served just like a pizza, and it can be festively decorated for any occasion just as the cookie “cakes” that you can find at some bakeries. Still, I think that a big glass of milk is all you really need.
- It is easy to see the appeal of making Mini Rhubarb Pies, like the The Arugula Files did with some fresh rhubarb just recently. They take less time to bake than full-sized pies, and are easier to put together. The filling is placed in a small ramekin and the crust is draped on top of the filling. Since the crust only covers the top part of these pies, a novice pie baker can turn out a fantastic dessert without worrying about how the crust might turn out, and a experienced baker can enjoy the simplicity of the recipe and wait for pie to come out of the oven!
- Though they look pretty, it is hard to really enjoy a towering banana cream pie when each slice is so heavy you fill up after only a few bites. You won’t have that problem with Slow Like Honey‘s Banana Cream Tart. This tart packs all the flavor of a big banana cream pie, but in a much more compact form. My favorite thing about it is that there is fresh banana incorporated into the whipped cream topping, as well as into the filling, giving each slice a lot of banana flavor and a lightness that you won’t find in a more traditional pie.
- I’ve had plain popovers and herbed popovers, but Soup Belly‘s Cheesy Popovers are just a little more flavorful than your average popover and make the perfect complement to a savory dinner. This batch uses cheddar cheese and herbs, including chives, sage, thyme and basil. This is a good mix, but the best thing about this recipe is that you can customize it to suit any dinner. For instance, you can use any kind of cheese you like and change the herbs to a more Italian mix to complement a pasta dinner and a spicier mix, perhaps with chipotle peppers, to match a spicy chili dish.
mary
May 26, 2010Thanks for the link. I will definitely check out your blog and add it it my RSS. Looks good so far!
Katherine
May 26, 2010I always enjoy when you do this segment – I hope you keep posting it 🙂
Melanie
May 26, 2010I love this segment on your blog, too, and am honored the giant cookie made the cut! I agree with you that a big glass of milk might be all you need. 🙂
Kerry
May 26, 2010I am drooling over the giant cookie. When I was eight, my best friend wrapped my birthday gift in a box made from giant slabs of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. I wish I had the directions for doing that!