Messy Baker

11/01/2024

02/02/2023

Rainy day? Great day to bake palmiers!!! Recipe by Erin Jeanne McDowell in “The Fearless Baker”. They were delicious and a hit with everyone I shared them with!!!! The recipe was incredibly straightforward and easy to follow (though, puff pastry is still tricky to make- even the best recipe won’t change that).

01/22/2023

Garlic and rosemary sourdough!!!! Yum!!! Recipe from Emilie Raffa’s Artisan Sourdough Made Simple and starter from Rose Levy Berenbaum’s Bread Bible. Just look at that oven spring!!!!!

01/04/2023

Macaroons!!!!! Delicious pillowy clouds of coconut! https://preppykitchen.com/coconut-macaroons/

01/03/2023

Macaroons! These surprised me. I always thought I didn’t like coconut, but these little cookies proved me wrong! These were little incredibly delicious clouds of joy, were super simple to make, and have already become one of my new favorite cookies.

People confuse macarons and macaroons all the time. For clarification, a macaron is a small sandwich cookie traditionally made with almond flour, sugar, and meringue. A macaroon, on the other hand, is a drop cookie made with sweetened coconut.

This particular recipe is courtesy of Preppy Kitchen and is incredibly easy if you have access to a hand or stand mixer to whip up the egg whites. It produces a tender, chewy cookie, and is a recipe I’ll be repeating multiple times in the future.

Recipe: https://preppykitchen.com/coconut-macaroons/

12/28/2022

Fudge for cookie boxes! Recipe courtesy of Preppy Kitchen. https://preppykitchen.com/fudge-recipe/

12/27/2022

Let’s talk about fudge! I made 6 batches of fudge for cookie boxes I handed out to friends and family for Christmas. The fudge only took about 4 hours for all 6 batches and is super customizable. With one recipe, I made chocolate, rocky road, and chocolate orange. The possibilities are endless. You could add some peppermint extract and some crushed candy canes for a Christmas flavor or some caramel swirls, just to name some other possibilities!

The base recipe is from Preppy Kitchen and is super easy. There are three distinct ways to make fudge. this one uses sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and a bit of salt and vanilla melted together over low heat (The other methods are a marshmallow fluff base and a traditional approach using corn syrup, sugar, and a candy thermometer). I added marshmallows and peanuts to make the rocky road flavor and I added orange extract and orange zest to make the orange flavor. (The orange was my favorite- it tasted like a Terry’s chocolate orange!) Any additions you choose to incorporate should be added with the vanilla extract after everything is melted together. Stir in extracts and zest first then larger additions like nuts or marshmallows.

I love this fudge recipe and highly recommend it to anyone wanting an easy recipe to try making fudge for the first time!

Recipe: https://preppykitchen.com/fudge-recipe/

12/25/2022

Ready for Christmas!!!!! :) Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!!!!