Pumpkin Bread Muffins with Chocolate and Walnuts

 I’m finally writing my first post from the lovely confines of my dorm. Unfortunately being in college means crappy kitchen and no time, so I’ve barely been able to bake. Since the beginning of October though, everyone has been jumping on the pumpkin bandwagon and every blog post I read is about something pumpkin . I thought I’d join in and share these pumpkin bread muffins I made with some pumpkin puree that was left over in my fridge. The muffin’s turned out absolutely lovely, and  they’ll make a great breakfast for the rest of the week.

Pumpkin Bread Muffins with Chocolate and Walnuts

Classic Brownies

One of my favorite recipes for a perfect classic brownie comes from none other than Cook's Illustrated.  Tomorrow I am headed off to France to study abroad for a semester, so I decided my last baking endeavor before I leave would be this homey treat. I stumbled across this recipe when Sachi and I first became friends and have loved it ever since. It is truly the perfect brownie, not too cakey or too fudgy; it is just right! Feel free to add your favorite goodies to this recipe, such as peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, nuts, candies…..

Classic Brownies

Lavender-Honey Iced Latte

Way way back at the beginning of the summer, Sachi and I went to The Mud House in St. Louis. We sipped on our honey lavender latte’s and fell in love with the little café.  A while back I found this pin from Off Beat and Inspired and it looked lovely but I did not have any fresh lavender...so I put it on the long list of “Someday I’ll Make This.”  That someday finally turned into today after visiting my aunt and discovering that she had fresh lavender in her lush gardens! After making this, I realized how simple it is to make barista-worthy drinks at home. All you need is your own simple syrups flavored according to your current inspiration.

Lavender-Honey Iced Latte


Berry Burst Flower Cookies

I had a picture in my mind of cute, playful, flower shaped sugar cookies. But I didn’t want those rock hard sugar cookies with a million types of sprinkles, that lacked taste but had frosting carefully piped upon them. I wanted some delicious soft whimsical summer cookies. In my quest to find a basic sugar cookie to build upon, I first went to my favorite cooking site bon appetite. I was scrolling through recipes and wasn’t finding what I wanted. It wasn’t the recipes that were the problem; it was the absence of a story that went along with the cookies. I missed feeling the excitement and love from other blogger about the creations they had made. So I stumbled across a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction and went with it. I made a few altercations to it and ended up with a delicious, easy, and fun sugar cookie.

Simple Vanilla Maple Granola

This is the first recipe that I have produced upon request, so a big thank you to Alison who requested it! I was more than happy to make this granola because it meant that I could use up all of the random assorted nuts and seeds that we have lying around the kitchen. The great thing about granola is that you really can put whatever you want in it to suite your own taste—nuts, seeds, coconut, chocolate—whatever your little heart desires!

I used olive oil in this recipe because I think it accentuates the nutty flavors. Pure Grade A maple syrup is my go to sweetener for granola because it is all natural, subtler than honey, and I just think it tastes better.

I wanted the flavor of the nuts and oats to shine on their own, so I didn’t use any spices. If you’d like, a teaspoon or two of cinnamon and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg would surely be delightful.

 I didn’t add any chocolate chips or dried fruit, but like I said, throw it in if you’d like!

A side note--after I made this granola, I was eating it up by the handful…oops. All I’m saying is that this recipe is so delicious and easy you cannot help but stuff your face. I can’t wait to have this on top of some yogurt tomorrow morning!

Simple Vanilla Maple Granola:

Berry Pavlova!

I can’t believe it is already August! I haven’t posted in a while, because I’ve been so busy. Sara and I just got back from Lollapalooza in Chicago and we pretty much had the best time of our lives. (Side note if you’re reading this go look up the song Bone Digger by Bear Hands—it has been on repeat for the past 72 hours.)  Anyway I baked for the first time in a while last night, and the result was a berry pavlova. I’ve never made a pavlova before, let alone ate one, but goodness me this probably is one of my favorite desserts. (It might have to do with my abnormal obsession over whipped cream, I don’t know.) But you should try it! This dessert is so easy and so delicious. I say use all the summer berries you can while they are still in season!

Berry Pavlova!

Recipe adapted from Summer Berry Layered Pavlova by Donal Skehan

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

My friend Shannon doesn’t like cupcakes. She thinks they are too sweet, too icing-y, and too hyped up. Really though, I bet you have at least one bakery where you live dedicated to selling only cupcakes--cupcakes, where the frosting is taller than the cake itself. And although I do love baked goods, I kind of agree that the cupcake obsession that is taking over TV shows and bakeries is a little much. Cupcakes are great, but there are so many other baked goods to be obsessed about. Anyway, just as I am sitting here bashing cupcakes, Sara came to my house the other day and said that all she was craving was a fluffy delicious cupcake. That got me thinking, and seeing as all of Sara’s cravings/food ideas inspire me, I had to make the perfect cupcake, to my standards. This meant a fluffy moist cake, with just enough frosting to make it slightly sweeter than it should be. As far as flavors, this cake was my initial inspiration for these cupcakes because it looks simple but elegant.