108 ASIAN COOKIES

Posted in Cookies by sallybr

I am totally in love with this cookbook! I have a soft spot for baking that is not overly sweet, which might sound strange, as I bake so many sugar cookies, macarons, and cupcakes. But a recipe that calls for adding miso to a cookie gets me dreaming. Salted caramel? Same thing. This is actually my second cookbook from Kat Lieu, and I think both would be a great Christmas gift for bakers (wink, wink).

To order 108 Asian Cookies, click here

To order Modern Asian Baking, click here

Without further ado, here is a wonderfully delicious recipe for Masala Macaroons…

MASALA MACAROONS
(published with permission from 108 Asian Cookies)

One 14-ounce (396 g) can sweetened condensed milk
1 ripe small banana, mashed
1 teaspoon red miso
One 14-ounce (396 g) bag unsweetened shredded coconut
2 teaspoons garam masala
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground ginger
About ⅓ cup (60 g) semisweet chocolate chips, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon neutral oil
Sea salt flakes, for garnish
Sprinkles, for garnish (optional)

Heat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, mix the condensed milk, mashed banana, and miso until combined. Add the shredded coconut, garam masala, cardamom, and ginger and mix until well combined and the dough can hold itself together.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of batter for each macaroon and place on the prepared baking sheet. Keep their rounded mound shapes and give each about 1 inch of space. Bake all the macaroons until the edges are crispy and golden brown and the tops are lightly toasted, 16 to 18 minutes.

Let the macaroons set on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the macaroons are cooling, combine the chocolate chips and oil in a medium heatproof bowl and microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring after each interval, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Dip the bottoms of the cooled macaroons into the melted chocolate. Place them back on the parchment-lined baking sheets to set. Drizzle additional melted chocolate on top of each macaroon. Before the chocolate sets completely, sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt and sprinkles on top of each macaroon.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: These were superb, I confess to stealing one from the donation box and being happy that I did… If you don’t like coconut, of course these are not for you, but if you love them, be ready for a treat! Easy to make, rich and luscious, one will satisfy your sweet tooth, but the spices and miso tone it down substantially. Truly special… You need them in your life.

As a teaser, these are chocolate chip cookies described by Kat as Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever. They take Ovaltine, molasses and miso. To die for, honestly. You need these cookies and this cookbook in your life.

Big thank you to Kat for allowing me to share this recipe today!

ONE YEAR AGO: Three Little Cookies for the Holidays

TWO YEARS AGO: Two Festive Cakes, Part One

THREE YEARS AGO: Broccoli Slaw Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

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TEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate on Chocolate

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Double Chocolate and Mint Cookies

TWELVE YEARS AGO: The Story of my first Creme Brulle’

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FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Focaccia with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Gorgonzola

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26Oct2025

GRAVEYARD CUPCAKES

Posted in Cake by sallybr

Sometimes I see something that grabs my heart really hard… Check out this recent post by Karen, and you will understand I simply had to take matters into my own baking hands…. I opted for cupcakes, so I share with you today the recipes for cake and frosting. The use of Milano cookies for the tombstone is just brilliant!

CHOCOLATE GRAVEYARD CUPCAKES
(from The Bewitching Kitchen, inspired by Karen’s Kitchen Stories)

for the cupcakes (makes 10):
100g all-purpose flour
20g cocoa powder
140g granulated sugar
40g butter, softened
1/8 tsp salt
1 large egg
120mL milk, full-fat
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder

Heat oven to 350F and line a tray with cupcake liners.

Mix the milk with egg in a small bowl, whisk, reserve.

Put the flour, cocoa powder, butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until the butter forms a sand consistency. Pour half the milk mixture into the bowl and mix on low-speed for a minute. Increase the speed to medium-high for a couple of minutes. Add the remaining milk mixture, and mix on low-speed until fully incorporated.

Increase the speed for a few seconds, then add the batter to the lined cupcakes. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes clean when inserted in the center.

Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
210g confectioners’ sugar
20g Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon heavy cream
pinch of salt

With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, heavy cream and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for a full minute Add 1/4 cup more confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder if frosting is too thin or adjust with heavy cream if too stiff.

For decoration:
Milano cookies
Piping consistency black Royal icing
crushed Oreo cookies for “dirt”

Frost the cupcakes using a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Immediately cover the surface with Oreo cookie crumbs. Insert a Milano cookie with the RIP message written on it. Add any decorations you desire.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: Totally smitten by these little cupcakes! Big thank you for Karen, a very cute concept made very easy with the Milano cookies. Of course, you can always bake some sugar cookies and do the whole thing from scratch, but why not make life a little easier without compromising flavor? Milano cookies are delicious!

ONE YEAR AGO: Muertos Rancheros

TWO YEARS AGO: Scary Skull Bakes

THREE YEARS AGO: Spicy Citrus Peanut Salad

FOUR YEARS AGO: Shrimp Stir-Fry, Kung Pao-Inspired

FIVE YEARS AGO: Cauliflower Steaks with Olive and Caper Salsa

SIX YEARS AGO: Twice-Cooked Eggplant

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Turkey Burger, Japanese-Style

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Pumpkin Macarons

NINE YEARS AGO: Slow-Cooked Whole Chicken

TEN YEARS AGO: Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Frosting

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Pecan-Crusted Chicken with Honey-Mustard Dressing

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Bewitching Kitchen on Fire!

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps

FOURTEEN YEARS AGO: Chiarello’s Chicken Cacciatore

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Donna Hay’s Thai-Inspired Dinner

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Panettone

18Oct2025

FRIENDLY GHOST CUPCAKES (NO FONDANT!)

Posted in Cake by sallybr

The idea for these cupcakes came from this recent post in a blog I love… She added the disclaimer of “NO FONDANT” in her title and I decided to do the same because the first thing that comes to mind when you see these babies is… wow, that is A LOT of fondant! No, friends. The ghost “clothing” is made of modeling chocolate! How cool is that?

The road to make these babies was full of trepidation. I opted for cupcakes after exchanges with Haniela, the Cookie Goddess who is also an amazing baker in all fronts. She had made cupcakes covered in fondant (check them out here) so my adventure was a cross between two ideas.

First things first. I made chocolate cupcakes using this adorable pan from Wilton, the same that Haniela used in her bake. The result was a complete disaster. I forgot to spray the cavities (can you believe it?) and the cakes did not release. I was left with a mess of cake crumbs. I was ready to bag the project for that day, but Hani gave me the brilliant idea of making cake pops in the pan. I gathered the crumbs, mixed with a simple American chocolate buttercream, and pressed into the cavities. Froze for 1 hour.

That worked like a charm. Brought the pan to room temperature, dipped the bottom in hot water for 5 minutes, and they all came out perfectly domed. After that, I gave them a light coating with chocolate buttercream and placed back in the freezer while I worked on the modeling chocolate.

MODELING CHOCOLATE USING WILTON CANDY MELTS

Melt 15 oz WHITE WILTON candy melts gently in the microwave

Heat 1/3 cup light corn syrup in the microwave for just 10 seconds until barely warm

Mix corn syrup with melted candy, stir. When it forms a dough, stop immediately.

Allow it to sit at room temperature, covered in plastic for 2 hours or overnight.

Roll out between two sheets of parchment paper, cut circles large enough to drape over the cakes.

Cut circles for eyes using a small piping tip. Glue sprinkles, and if desired, spray with diamond dust or another type of glitter of your choice.

I am so in love with this project! Maybe one day I will be brave enough to do the large cake from Sprinklebakes blog, but for the time being I am happy with these. Huge thank you to Haniela for saving my day after the baking fiasco.

ONE YEAR AGO: Semolina Sourdough

TWO YEARS AGO: Incredibly Simple, times three

THREE YEARS AGO: Chile Rellenos

FOUR YEARS AGO: Vietnamese “Pizza”

FIVE YEARS AGO: Chocolate Bonbons with Mango-Ganache Filling

SIX YEARS AGO: Giant Cookie Meets Mousse

SEVEN YEARS AGO: The Brazilian Battenberg

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Salzburg Sourdough

NINE YEARS AGO: If I had One Hour

TEN YEARS AGO: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cake

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Sourdough Rye Bread with Flaxseeds and Oats

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Apricot-Raspberry Sorbet: A farewell to Summer

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Marcela’s Salpicon

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FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Fondant au Chocolat

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Got Spinach? Have a salad!

20Sep2025

CAMPFIRE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Posted in Cake by sallybr

I cannot take credit for the design, it is from a cookbook I highly recommend: Cupcakes for Any Occasion, by Rachel Lindsay (click here to order it). She used lemon cupcakes for her version, I opted for chocolate, going for a reverse creaming method that is so simple and easy to bake.

CAMPFIRE CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES
(inspired by Rachel Lindsay)

for 10 cupcakes:
100g all-purpose flour
25g unsweetened cocoa powder
140g white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
50g unsalted butter, room temperature, soft
1 large egg
120ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 + ½ tsp baking powder

for the buttercream:
226g butter, very soft
452g powdered sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream (or more to adjust consistency)
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
6 Oreo cookies, crushed fine
orange, red and yellow food gel coloring
Pretzel sticks (four per cupcake)
mini marshmallows (1 to 2 per cupcake)

Heat oven to 350F. Prepare a muffin type pan with cupcake liners.

Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Reserve.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt, butter and sugar into the stand mixer
bowl with the paddle attachment. Mix on a medium speed until all the butter looks like small pieces of sand. Add half the milk mixture, mix to incorporate until smooth. Give it a final minute mixing in high-speed. Add the rest of the milk, and whisk until fully smooth.

Add to the lined pan, a little more than half full. These cupcakes rise a lot. Bake until a toothpick comes clean, about 16 minutes. Let cool completely before icing.

Make the buttercream. Whisk the butter in high speed for five minutes. Add half the powdered sugar, mix at medium-speed until fully smooth. Increase speed to high for 30 seconds. Add the other half of the sugar, pinch of salt, vanilla and heavy cream. Whisk in medium to high-speed until smooth. Adjust consistency if needed.

Keep half of the buttercream in the mixer. Add to it the Oreo crumbs. Transfer that to a piping bag fitted with a round tip. Divide the rest of the buttercream (around 110g portions) to smaller bowls. Dye each portion red, yellow and orange. Place them over plastic wrap as straight lines side by side. Make a sausage with that plastic wrap and insert into a piping bag fitted with a medium size leaf tip.

Decorate the cold cupcakes first with “stones”, using the Oreo buttercream. Add “flames”, stick Pretzels to make the decorations, using small marshmallows for additional touch.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I love the way the addition of Oreo cookies make the buttercream perfect to mimic stones. That could come in handy for Halloween designs in the future. I made a little mistake and used Pretzel sticks to insert the marshmallows, but in the cookbook she advises using toothpicks, and they will work a lot better, so keep that in mind if you want to try these. I am so happy with the way they turned out!

One extra bit of advice: when you pipe the “rocks”, smooth the surface with a brush to make them more round and smooth. I did not do that to some of them, and wish I had. Once the buttercream hardens you cannot quite smooth things out.

ONE YEAR AGO: La Couronne Lyonnaise, Two Ways

TWO YEARS AGO: Have a Heart

THREE YEARS AGO: Chocolate-Hazelnut Tartlets

FOUR YEARS AGO: Turkey Taco Salad

FIVE YEARS AGO: Cheese and Pesto Emmer Roll-ups and Elaine’s Cookbook Review

SIX YEARS AGO: Mango-Hazelnut Entremet Cake

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Lebanese Lentil Salad and a Cookbook Review

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Cottage Loaf

NINE YEARS AGO: Sourdough Loaf with Cranberries and Walnuts

TEN YEARS AGO: Sichuan Pork Stir-Fry in Garlic Sauce

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: Our Green Trip to Colorado

TWELVE YEARS AGO: Ditalini Pasta Salad

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO: Celebrate Wednesday with a Thai Seafood Curry

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FIFTEEN YEARS AGO: Semolina Barbecue Buns

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO: Lavash Crackers

23Jul2025

A TRIO OF BROWNIES

Posted in Cake by sallybr

I cannot pick a favorite. Ok, one is not technically a brownie, but a blondie. Tomatoes, tomahtoes… They are all delicious, luscious, satisfying, rich, borderline decadent.

BISCOFF BLONDIES

If you are a lover of Biscoff cookies, these will bring a huge smile to your face. The recipe comes from thebiteofthebakes.com but for some reason it is unavailable, so I will cut and paste it from the file I had previously saved. I linked to the main site, but for some reason it won’t work in Safari, only in Chrome.

BISCOFF BLONDIES
(from biteofthebakes)

170g butter
170g white chocolate
110g brown sugar
110g granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 egg yolk
30ml heavy cream
250g all-purpose flour
25g cornstarch
200g chocolate chips
150g chopped Biscoff cookies
200g Biscoff spread

Heat your oven to 350F. Line a 9×11″ rectangular baking dish with baking paper.

In a microwaveable bowl, melt together unsalted butter and white chocolate. Melt in short bursts stirring well each time until smooth. In a large bowl or stand mixer add your melted chocolate, butter and sugar and mix until combined.

Add the eggs, egg yolk and double cream and stir until combined, then add the flour, cornstarch, fold gently. Add the chocolate chips and Biscoff pieces. Pour the mixture into your lined baking tin and swirl on some melted biscoff spread and top with more biscoff biscuits.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Once baked, let the blondies cool completely in the pan, then place the blondie (still in the tin) in the fridge for a few hours or overnight before slicing.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

RED VELVET OREO BROWNIES

RED VELVET OREO BROWNIES
(from cakemehometonight)

½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs room temperature
1 large egg yolk room temperature
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp red gel food coloring
½ tsp white vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups roughly chopped Oreo cookies
8 Oreo cookies

Heat the oven to 350℉. Prepare a 9×9 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and cover with parchment paper.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the unsalted butter and brown sugar. Microwave for 90 seconds until the butter is melted, and then whisk until the mixture is well combined and smooth. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar, eggs, and egg yolk. Use an electric hand mixer to whip the eggs and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes until light and pale. While mixing on low speed, slowly drizzle in the brown sugar mixture to temper the egg mixture. Add in the vegetable oil, vanilla extract, red gel food coloring, and white vinegar and mix until well combined.

Add in the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, and salt, and mix on low speed until combined and smooth. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Fold in the roughly chopped Oreo cookies.

Pour the red velvet brownie batter into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Add additional broken Oreo cookies to the top of the brownie batter. Bake the brownies for 24-26 minutes until set. An inserted toothpick in the center of the brownies should come out with moist crumbs. Remove the pan from the oven and cool the brownies to room temperature. Cut the brownies into 16 squares.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

S’MORES BROWNIES

S’MORES BROWNIES
(from Eric Kim, by New York Times)

½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
135 grams honey graham crackers (about 9 whole crackers)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
113 grams semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
½ cup (100 grams) packed dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup (60 grams) all-purpose flour
170 grams marshmallows

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Grease a 9-inch square metal baking pan with ½ tablespoon of the butter. Line the pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang to make it easier to remove the brownies after baking. Use another 1/2 tablespoon of butter to grease the paper.

Line the bottom of the pan with a single layer of graham crackers, breaking them as needed to fit, then crush the rest of the crackers over and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.

Melt the remaining 7 tablespoons butter and chocolate gently in the microwave at 50% power. Stir in the brown sugar and salt, then let the mixture cool slightly until the bowl is no longer hot to the touch. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla, then continue whisking until smooth and shiny, about 1 minute. Whisk in the flour until no white streaks remain. Pour the batter over the graham crackers lining the pan.

Top the brownie batter with the marshmallows in a single layer and bake until the top is toasted and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the brownie comes out smudged with a little chocolate, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely, then refrigerate in the pan until ready to serve.

To serve, lift the brownie out of the pan and slice into squares or bars. Enjoy chilled, or at room temperature.