One of my readers, Carol, sent me a chocolate chip cookie recipe to convert. After taking one look at the recipe, I realized it was the famous "Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie" recipe from Cook's Illustrated magazine. However, this recipe was the original recipe. They've since updated it to use browned butter and this version did not include it. 

When made with wheat flour, this recipe makes chewy chocolate chip cookies. After converting the recipe, my cookies were not chewy or soft or tender. They were undoubtedly crispy. I was bummed. Then a funny thing happened. I brought a plate of them to my mom's workplace and people gobbled them up. "But they are all wrong," I kept thinking. Only they weren't. They might not have the chewy texture I was looking for but, as is, they are delicious. And I couldn't keep a delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe to myself, could I? . . . keep reading

Maple + rice pudding. How could this recipe not be delicious? I took my favorite rice custard pudding recipe and replaced the sugar with maple syrup. I also swapped my square baking dish for individual custard dishes. The resulting dessert has a delicate flavor with a craggy top thanks to the grains of rice. . . . keep reading

I live in an area with an abundance of tiny Italian restaurants. One of the most popular meals served at these places is Chicken Parmigiana. If you aren't familiar with Chicken Parmigiana, you've been missing out! It's a chicken breast pan fried and then topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella. (In my neck of the woods, Parmesan cheese is always missing from Chicken Parmigiana. )

Now this meal is always, always, always served with a side order of pasta and broccoli. So, of course, I've included those elements in my meal. Is this "hip and trendy" Italian food? Nope. But, I promise, it's really good! . . . keep reading

I know lots of folks make pancakes to celebrate "Fat Tuesday". Here is one of my favorite pancake recipes. It makes huge pancakes that are cooked in brown butter. The edges are delightfully crunchy while the center is tender. If you don't want a pancake the size of a dinner plate, just use less batter to make smaller pancakes. . . . keep reading

It's Valentine's Day! Time to make some whoopie (pies)! What's a whoopie Pie? Um, it's heaven in your hand! Seriously, a whoopie pie is two chocolate cakes sandwiched together with a fluffy vanilla frosting. I think of if it as a cross between a cake and an Oreo.

And since they are really easy to make, you can whip up a batch for your Valentine. I promise this recipe will make them swoon! . . . keep reading

A plate of warm pancakes, a mug of coffee and the New York Times is my favorite way to spend Sunday morning. Lately, I'd been avoiding the pancake part of the ritual because, frankly, I was bored with pancakes. So I began to tinker with a new recipe. This is the result.

The recipe combines whole grains, brown sugar and a pinch of ground cinnamon to create what might be my favorite pancake recipe to date. . . . keep reading

I've been a little quiet since 2010 began. So today I come bearing "World Peace Cookies." The original recipe for these cookies was created by Dorie Greenspan, food writer, cookbook author, and all-around baking goddess. For the start of a new year, I thought it would be fun to make them gluten-free.

Dorie created a chocolate sable (French buttery-sugar cookie) recipe that's salty. If you've ever enjoyed the amazing combination of salt and sweet (kettle corn, chocolate covered pretzels, fleur de sol caramels) you know how salt can wonderfully enhance the flavor of sweet foods. And if you've never had a "salty sweet", this is a great recipe to introduce you to the fun of this flavor combination!

To make this recipe gluten-free, I needed to tweak it just a bit. My version contains a little more salt than the original. Gluten-free baking often needs a flavor boost and I found that the original 1/2 teaspoon of salt simply faded into the background. This is not what we wanted. I also use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar. Again, this is a flavor issue. Light brown sugar, while good, didn't have enough "oomph" to make an impression on the cookies. Dark brown sugar, in contrast, was just perfect.

One last word about the salt. Dorie uses fleur de sol. And while I love this salt, I realize that you might not have it kicking around. Since gluten-free bakers don't need another expensive ingredient, I swapped out the fleur de sol for Kosher salt. Even with all of these tweaks, I think my gluten-free version stands up to the original.

So, World Peace cookies. Share these with someone you love. And, in the spirit of peace, maybe share them with someone you don't. Who knows what will happen after a bite of these cookies? . . . keep reading

The addition of cream cheese in this spritz recipe makes for tasty little cookies! Since you don't need to chill the dough, this is a quick holiday cookie recipe to make. And, as always. I am completely smitten with how cute spritz cookies are! I like to sprinkle mine with coarse sugar. The added color and crunch add just a little something extra to the cookies and, for me, pretty cookies are fun for the holidays! . . . keep reading