Fall Leaf Sugar Cookies

These are traditional sugar cookies cut out using leaf cutters. They are painted with edible luster dust.

Halloween Finger Cookies

Halloween is almost here. The boys and I started celebrating by making these spooky witch finger cookies. We used the traditional shortbread recipe and shaped the dough into fingers. We used a knife to add the lines and sliced almonds for the fingernails. After baking, we took off the almonds and added some red gel for a bloody effect.

Pumpkin Cranberry Walnut Muffins

Flavors of fall abound. Creamy pumpkin and tart cranberries come together for a hearty breakfast that fuels a full day of stomping around in the autumn leaves.

Apple Custard Tart with Caramel Sauce

I intended to make an apple custard tart for Thanksgiving dessert. But oops, forgot to thaw the puff pastry in the fridge the night before.  Yes, this tart is made with frozen puff pastry. After making my own once, I realized just how time consuming it is so this time I went with store bought. However, I did make my own vanilla bean pastry cream which is just beneath the cooked Granny Smith apples. And I made my own caramel sauce which consists of light brown sugar, butter and heavy cream. It was a challenge to drizzle it on the dessert before it set. This tart was flaky, creamy, tart, sweet, buttery and warm right out of the oven. The boys loved it for dessert and also for breakfast the next morning. It was still surprisingly flaky and delicious.

Chocolate Sherbet

I wanted to make a dessert for Thanksgiving that was cold, creamy, and refreshing but not too heavy. This course followed a yummy non- traditional dinner of 16 spice rub chicken with roasted red pepper and cilantro sauces, gruyere potatoes gratin, cornbread, and sparkling apple cider. This chocolate sherbet is made with milk and cocoa powder, milk chocolate and dark chocolate.  I liked that it was a bit lighter than the traditional ice cream which has eggs and heavy cream. It was softer and therefore easier to scoop but it did melt a lot quicker and was hard to photograph before turning into a chocolate puddle.

Browdies (Brownie Blondies)

Are these Browdies? Blownies? Blowdies? Most people will call them brownie topped blondies. The bottom layer is a soft cookie studded with dark chocolate chunks. The top layer is a fudgy brownie. This treat is great when you can't decide between brownies and blondies. Make them both!

Zucchini Apple Muffins

 The boys and I made these for breakfast. I often like to put carrots or zucchini (actually a fruit) into muffins for them since they don't eat veggies very often. They had fun grating, mixing, filling the muffin wrappers and eating their hard work.

Zucchini Apple Muffins

Makes 12

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups grated zucchini (water squeezed out)
2 apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 egg
1 egg white
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin tins or line with paper liners. Grate zucchini and apples .

2. In large bowl, beat egg, egg white, sugar, honey and vanilla. Stir in oil, applesauce and grated zucchini.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir until combined. Fold in walnuts and grated apples.

4. Spoon batter into muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Store in airtight container for up to 3 days.

Matcha Shortbread Cookies

These cookies were easy to make. They are basically shortbread with green tea powder added to the batter. I rolled the dough into balls and baked them. I did not like that they cracked while in the oven perhaps because the batter is quite dry once the powder is added. I decorated them with white candy melts.

Dorayaki (Azuki Bean Filled Pancakes)

I always see these for sale at H-Mart. Since we are studying Japan I decided to make my own. The pancakes are much stickier and sweeter than normal pancakes. I think it's due to the honey in the batter. It is hard to get them a uniform color. The recipe says to wipe a thin layer of oil onto the pan. I ended up using more oil than that as they still stuck to the pan. I bought the azuki bean (sweet red bean) filling already made from H-Mart. The boys ate the pancakes faster than I could make them though they did not like the filling.

Turtle Bread

I baked these to take to a girls' night get together. I wanted to bake something that was cute but not sweet. These are made with just a plain bread dough. I rolled pieces into balls and attached them together. The eyes are dried blueberries.

Coconut Custard Mochi

Our studies of Japan continue. We made coconut custard mochi. This dessert is made with mochiko (sweetened rice flour), evaporated milk, butter and eggs. It is really rich, creamy and chewy. It is really similar tasting to butter mochi. My mother often made mochi for Hinamatsuri (Girls' Day) when I was growing up.

Matcha Kasutera Cakes

We are studying Japan this month. We got the idea to make these little loaf cakes from watching a video on youtube. Kasutera cakes are what they call castella cakes in Japan. They are sponge cakes made from flour, eggs and sugar and have a light, cottony texture. They were not too sweet and had an earthy flavor to make them great for an afternoon snack served with a cup of green tea.

English Nectarine Cobbler

The little pastry chefs helped me to make this nectarine cobbler. We were studying London and had an abundance of nectarines so we thought we'd use them instead of going with the traditional apples. Cobbler is fruit cooked in sugar and topped with a biscuit dough. Sugar and cinnamon are sprinkled on top. I usually make crisp, pie, tarts or crumble but this was my first cobbler attempt. The sweet and tart of the fruit was a great complement to the soft, fluffy biscuit dough. The cinnamon provided just the right amount of spice.