• Gingerbread men and pumpkin dip

    I know the holidays are technically over… but since most of the U.S. is buried under a thick blanket of snow and we’re not even a full week into January, I think it’s still perfectly acceptable to eat some gingerbread men with pumpkin dip. These gingerbread men are pretty easy to make — though you […]

  • Purple sweet potato pie bars

    Thanksgiving is full of browns and oranges, with the occasional pop of red. But if you’re looking for a shock of color to wake up the dessert table, these tropical pie bars with bright purple filling and creamy coconut topping may be just the thing. It’s certainly not the traditional option; I’m pretty sure the […]

  • Camouflage cookies

    I wanted to make some Marine Corps birthday baked goods for Toby’s Marines last week, but I ran out of time — so I thought I’d make some camouflage cookies today, for Veterans Day, and have Toby take them to the Marines tomorrow. I love baking (and eating) sugar cookies, but I haven’t made them […]

  • Chocolate-cinnamon cherry blossom cookies

    Since this is our last spring in DC (at least for a while), we knew we had to go see the cherry blossom trees when they were in bloom. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. The peak blooming time is very hard to predict, the trees really only bloom for a week or two, and […]

  • Beer and fish cookies

    Y’all. I totally forgot to share these cookies with you, and for that, I’m sorry. Here’s the story: My former neighbor’s sister was getting married to a guy whose last name is Weintraut. Naturally, he called the fiance “beer catfish.” And so, for her wedding shower, I made these cookies: and these: A little random, […]

  • Brownies with marshmallow-mint frosting

    I’ve made more thematic St. Patrick’s Day items in past years. There were the Guinness/Bailey’s/Jameson cupcakes, the beef and Guinness pies, the soda bread, the Irish coffee sundaes, the Guinness chocolate cake. But this year, I went a slightly lazier (and Guinness-free) route and just dyed some frosting green. I’d say I’m sorry… but once […]

  • Strawberry blondies

    I have to confess: I don’t think I had ever had a blondie before about a year ago, when my former neighbor made some. And I was totally missing out, y’all. Blondies are like brownies without chocolate — perfect for my former neighbor, who’s not big on chocolate, or for my friend Olga, who’s allergic […]

  • Bourbon brown sugar shortbread

    We have a lot of bourbon in our house. It’s in our bar, in our pantry, on display and even in a painting on our wall. Apparently that’s normal for someone from Kentucky whose family runs a distillery… but it still seems a bit strange to me. I try to embrace it, though. I’ve made […]

  • Triple chocolate cookies with sprinkles

    OK, so it’s almost Christmas and I haven’t posted any cookies yet. I’m really sorry. I do have some fabulously delicious cookies for you today, though. I have made them twice, once with rainbow sprinkles and once with red, white and blue sprinkles. Red and green sprinkles would make them perfect for Christmas. Even though […]

  • Frankencookies

    I had this great idea: Chocolate chip cookies with candy corn. Yum, right? And there are recipes and photos out there of such a cookie. Then I realized they might be overly sweet, so I decided to add some crushed potato chips for balance. Um… it didn’t work out quite how I planned. The cookies […]