Desserts

Food & Wine's Best Chocolate in the U.S. What a spotty list!  It's good that they have Askinosie, French Broad, Dandelion, and Woodblock on their list.  But other top quality b2b makers like Rogue, Fresco, Manoa, Ritual, and Dick Taylor are conspicuously absent while Lindt makes the list!  Makes one question the experience and the judgment of the editors. For me it is just another in a long string of examples showing why the "quest for the best" is doomed to failure.

I usually have all sorts of baked goodies waiting for my family when they come home for the holidays. No matter how fancy the other cookies are, these are usually the first to go.

When I first shared these crisp cookies with folks at the hospital where I work as a cook, everyone's palate was pleased! German sweet chocolate gives them a unique twist.

I developed this recipe for a crisp cookie as a way to satisfy my sweet tooth. Peanuts and pecans are abundant here in Louisiana, so I bake with them often.

Every time I come out to San Francisco people tell me I have to review It’s Its. They are a chocolate covered oatmeal raisin cookie ice cream sandwich that is a San Francisco tradition since 1928. Some people feel these things are the best thing ever. Others feel that it is super overrated. The Frozen Food Master will tell you for sure!

[By Nick] Last but hopefully not least from Homemade Brand is their Butter Pecan ice cream. Now I’m not going to lie, this was easily the flavor I was most excited about trying when I received my free shipment. Homemade describes this as butter roasted pecans that have been mixed into their brown sugar ice cream. I know what you’re about to say “but Nick, you always complain when companies

My fellow CTTC Contributor Betsy, and I were part of a Cupcake Couture Blog Party that went live yesterday. We were sent fabulous cupcake wrappers from Bella Cupcake Couture and were asked to create a recipe based on the design we received.I received these gorgeous Hannah wrappers decorated with a Pink and Citrus floral design. For some reason, these wrappers just brought me into a Summer state of mind which got fruit on my brain which made me think of smoothies. I wanted to see if I could get those same bright, fresh fruity flavors from a smoothie into our favorite portable dessert and it was actually a great success!These are also semi-diet friendly and totally semi-homemade, but you wouldn't be able to tell that these cupcakes started from a box and a can of frosting. The recipe is super easy to follow and you can find it on my blog, Chronicles of a Foodie, here!PS. Don't forget to enter the Cupcake Couture Blog Party giveaway if you haven't already!

Baking Chic‘s Orange Cupcakes with Sweetened Condensed Frosting are a simple dessert that deliver some delicious flavors in a small package. The fluffy cupcakes are flavored with a generous amount of orange zest – two whole tablespoons – for a very fresh citrus flavor along with a little hint of vanilla. The sweet, orange-laced frosting is the kind that you casually spread on to your cupcakes, not the kind that you pipe elaborate decorations with. It ties in with the cupcakes perfectly in terms of flavor and also marks these as an everyday treat to bake, not one that you have to save for a special occasion. There are a lot of great elements packed into these Coffee Heath Bar Crunch Swirl Cookies from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. The swirled cookies have two different flavors of cookie dough rolled into one. Half the dough is spiked with instant coffee and the other half has melted chocolate and cocoa powder added to it. These doughs are rolled out together and topped with a generous sprinkling of finely chopped Heath bars before being rolled up and cut into buttery, swirling cookie rounds and baked. Cinnamon rolls aren’t the only bun option at breakfast. Averie Cooks made some Strawberry Sweet Rolls that offer a fruitier option for summertime brunch. The rolls start with a soft yeast dough and are filled with strawberry jam. Use a high quality jam that features pieces of fresh fruit for the best effect. The jam intensifies in flavor as the rolls bake, leaving you with buns that are sweet and fruity, as well as fluffy and tender. They’re finished off with a drizzle of vanilla cream cheese glaze to take them over-the-top. Gluten Free Canteen paired some summer fruit with a hint of apple in this Blueberry Apple Pie. The filling is mostly made with bright, sweet blueberries. There is a small amount of applesauce, which acts as a kind of binder for the filling in addition to providing a hint of apple flavor, and just enough cinnamon and lemon zest to make the berries pop. The rich filling is a great match for the pie’s crisp crust – which just happens to be completely gluten free! You could also package this filling in a traditional pie crust for those who don’t need to watch their gluten intake. The Fudgy Fluffernutter Swirl Brownies that Chocolate Moosey baked recently are a slice of decadence. The rich chocolate brownies have peanut butter chips in them and are topped with a layer of marshmallow fluff and peanut butter – which give the brownies their fluffernutter name – before baking. The sweet-salty effect is delicious on its own and just might be even better with chocolate. It might get a little messy when you’re applying the marshmallow and peanut butter toppings to your brownie batter, but that is just part of the fun.

I would have to say that the popularization of gummies in the 1980's might be the reason I'm writing this blog (and these reviews) right now. When I was a little kid, gummies hit the market with a huge bang, every kid wanted a bag of gummy bears. Gummies were the catalyst towards a time in candy when strange and gross treats started to really bloom. This meant that the world was being creative with the textures and flavours of candy available. At that very time, I started to really gain a respect for candy, I loved all of the candy variety that was around me. And now look at me, I'm writing a blog, traveling the world, and tasting flavours I could only imagine. Thanks gummies, you made my life pretty cool. And thanks sugarfina.com for reminding me how cool gummies actually still are.Click here to read the latest gummy review.CC

If you’re looking for a recipe that makes a dense, chewy granola bar and doesn’t call for peanut butter or eggs, this one is perfect! Loaded with walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chocolate and cranberries, these bars are held together by a paste made of apricots, butter and honey. The recipe, Chewy Walnut Granola Bars, is originally [...]