It is the ultimate sugar holiday coming up. And as a love of all things sugar, I’m highlighting…sugar! Domino sugar to be exact.

While looking through their website last week I noticed Elegant Tiramisu Cookies. Otherwise known as, cookies that had mascarpone cheese in them. We all know how that I have an unnatural love for mascarpone cheese, so I was all over these! And they did not disappoint.

I really love just the cookies themselves and don’t think that you have to go the extra mile if you don’t want and make them into sandwiches. But of course, if you do, whenever you are adding more mascarpone cheese to anything, you are by definition making it better. There was a chocolate layer that I skipped (I know, clearly there is something wrong with me…oh yeah, I’m lazy) and I went with just sprinkling powdered sugar and cocoa powder on the filling instead.

I am seriously considering making these be my cookies for cookie exchange this year. So yummy, and quite unique. If you are not a tiramisu lover, there are several holiday cookie recipes (as well as a ton of recipes in general) over on the Domino site. If they are all as good as these cookies were then I may be making everything off of that site!

Hope everyone had a nice American Thanksgiving. I promise I will be around more in the coming weeks.

Tiramisu Sandwich Cookies

¾  cup plus 1 tablespoon *Domino® Granulated Sugar, divided
½  tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
4 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1 egg
½ tsp powdered espresso powder
2 tsp coffee liqueur
1 ¼ cups plus 2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp baking soda
¼  salt

Filling:
4 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
3 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup  *Domino® Granulated Sugar
1 tsp coffee liqueur

To sprinkle:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine 1 tablespoon sugar and cocoa in small bowl; set aside. Beat cheese and remaining sugar until fluffy. Add egg, espresso powder and coffee liqueur. Stir together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in small bowl; gradually add to cheese mixture; beat until well mixed.

Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets (I chose to pipe mine out for more consistency). Sprinkle with sugar/cocoa topping. Bake 10-12 (I only went 9 on mine) minutes until lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets while warm. Cool on wire rack.

For the filling:

Using a stand mixer, or a bowl and electric beaters, beat together the mascarpone and cream cheeses, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and coffee liqueur, and beat for an additional 2 minutes.

In a small bowl, sift together powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

Spread cheese filling on bottom half of cookies (I used a piping bag). Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cocoa powder mix.  Top with the remaining half of cookies and press together to make sandwiches. Store in refrigerator.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Adapted from the Domino Sugar website, to get the full recipe of the one I adapted, go here.

*Domino Sugar graciously gave me a $20 gift card to buy baking supplies to make a recipe from their website.

It’s been several years now, I’m not even sure how many to be exact (gee I’m getting old) that Tanna (My Kitchen in Half Cups) came to visit the Seattle area and we decided to meet up for lunch. She said, “can I bring Cookie Baker Lynn?” “The more the merrier,” was my reply.  And so we lunched.  Who knew from that I would end up with such a delightful friend and baking buddy.

We were out for coffee (though we both had tea…so very not Seattle of us) and the idea of us baking in each others home came up. And I am so glad it did. The baking days we have had have been two of my favorite days in the 09 year.
The first time around Lynn came up my way back in September. We were suppose to meet at her house in October, but my husband was switching jobs at the time and needed the car. Which worked out anyway because Lynn thought she would be trendy and get the flu and would have been out that week anyway. So we finally got to do it in November.

I think this picture pretty much says it all.

Her house definitely has more bustle than mine, though she does not have a crazy cocker spaniel trying to kill her at all times by hiding down by her feet. What she does have is an amazing family that you can tell love each other very much. And I must admit that I had a moment of really wanting to go back to teaching junior high after spending the day with her youngest daughter. But then I had to remind myself that her daughter was the exception and not the rule to the children we had when I taught junior high. One can dream.

In case you are wondering, we ended up making a Fall Brioche Coffee Cake (get recipe here). Using the pumpkin brioche recipe from Sherry Yard ( it’s such a great recipe). Well, Lynn ended up making. I mostly watched and talked. I know it’s hard to believe I am a talker.

The cake is very moist and the struesel was a little confusing when we made it(wet and sticky) but it made for a yummy topping so we must have done it right! The key though is to have the right size pan with this baby as we found that out the hard way. You can go read over at Lynn’s what the hard way was. You can also get the recipe there.

Thanks for the fun day Lynn. I look forward to many more!

I live in the land of Starbucks. I visit one often. I don’t think they are corporate scum like some people do. They provide me with yummy pumpkin latte’s and baked goods. So gladly throw me on the corporate sell out list. Plus I have several friends who work for Starbucks and are happily employed, so they can’t be that evil.

This time of year the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin comes out. If you don’t think about the calories it is a yummy treat. Though while others eat them, I find my self starring off into space thinking what other kinds of muffins could I do this with the cream cheese center concept. A carrot cake type muffin would go nice of course with a cream cheese filling, as would a spice muffin. But me being the lover of all things hot chocolate and our area having hot chocolate weather, I decided to focus on those flavors.

I originally was going to go with a Candy Cane Hot Chocolate but some people are refusing to do holiday stuff yet until American Thanksgiving and so I am putting that on hold. I personally make my own, or if I am going powdered, I am a Stephen’s Hot Chocolate girl.

These turned out pretty darn good. A little too good says the extra pound being carried around in my thighs. I think next time I might use a little more marshmallow cream. It didn’t have that much marshmallow flavor. But I didn’t really know what the marshmallow cream was going to do since this was a bit of an experiment. But since I know who it reacts in the oven, I might throw in more next time. 

Don’t be confused by the pictures, these aren’t baked in cups. They are just regular muffins. I just happen to have a cup that the muffin fit perfectly into. Oh, and that cup is from Starbucks.  

Hot Chocolate Muffins with Marshmallow Cream Cheese Center

Hot Chocolate Muffin:

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 ounces hot chocolate (powdered)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½  tsp baking soda
½  tsp salt
2 large eggs
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup sour cream
4 ounces unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Marshmallow Cream Cheese Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup marshmallow cream (fluff)
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375F.

Spray two muffin pans with baking spray, or butter and flour them. This only makes about 16, but you need two pans, since a standard one only holds 12.

Using a stand mixer, or a bowl with electric beaters, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until eggs become pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Add vanilla and beat another 30 seconds.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, hot chocolate, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together sour cream, butter, and buttermilk.

Add half of the flour mixture to the egg/sugar mixture. Mix on low until just combined.

Add the sour cream/buttermilk mixture and mix on low until just combined.

Add the remaining flour mixture and again, mix until just combined. Don’t over mix.

Using a spoon or a piping bag, divide batter evenly, filling the cups ½ way up.

If using stand mixer, clean bowl. If using electric hand beaters, just get a new bowl. Beat the cream cheese and marshmallow cream together on medium-high for about 2 minutes. Until it is nice and smooth. Add sugar, egg, flour, and vanilla and beat an additional 2 minutes.

Spoon into piping bag (this will be the easiest). Place tip into the middle of the muffin and fill until you see the cream cheese on top. Repeat with all of the muffins.

Bake for 16-18 minutes. Insert a knife or wooden skewer to make sure they are done. Be sure to not insert the knife or skewer where the cream cheese is, that will give you a false reading of whether the muffin is done or not.

It’s a funny thing when you run a blog, people think they know you. On some level of course they do, but in many ways they don’t.

I have disappointed many a person when they write to ask me what we are having for dinner and turkey meatloaf is what I write back. I think they have some fantasy about how I am making lavish dinners every night drenched in cream. In fact, I’m sure some people might even go as far to think I take baths in cream (which for the record I stopped years ago, I only bath in hot chocolate now ). People think I eat dessert every night. Which if you count a little chocolate or a piece of licorice dessert, than yes, technically I do eat dessert every night.

So it might come as a bit of a shock to those people who think I sit around eating fattening food all the time that I eat raw vegan until 5pm every day. Yep, you read that right. I eat raw vegan every day until 5pm. I have a condition that I care not to go into and my naturopathic doctor suggested going raw vegan for part of the day. Now come 5pm I can eat whatever I want, but I usually stick to a vegetarian diet…with limited dairy. I have a slight dairy allergy that since I never had a reaction to I assumed was never really a problem. Well, when I started eliminating it from my diet, I felt better. Much better. And so I only eat dairy on special occasions (aka dessert). I still eat bacon. I could not give up the pig. And I am not one of those obnoxious people who tell other people what they should be eating (like the idiots who are always commenting to poor Veggie Girl).

At first it was pretty darn hard, especially since I don’t do soy products either as it interacts with my thyroid. But as time went on I discovered more and more things to make and products that could help me in my new adventure. I, like Veggie Girl, am a big fan of all things coconut based. Switching to coconut based ice cream (like Coconut Bliss) has been a lifesaver.

Now I still eat the white devil, sugar. But I tend to also only save that for my baked goods. Most of the time I use agave syrup. Have you picked your mouth up from the floor yet?

Branching out into this world means you have to start looking for places that cater to you style of eating obviously. Luckily, vegan/vegetarianism is becoming more mainstream. As is gluten free. Now luckily I don’t have a gluten issue, but a lot of people do and it is nice that there are alternatives for them.

So when I was asked to look at a vegan, gluten free, wheat free baking book from Seattle’s own Flying Apron Bakery I was all over it. I will admit that I don’t usually bake vegan as I save my non vegan stuff just for after 5pm. And I don’t really bake gluten free all that much either. But I love getting to highlight this book for those who do fall into the full time vegan or gluten free category. Or if you just want to give it a try.

Now the one downfall is of course that they use a lot of different types of flour. Buckwheat, corn, brown rice, garbanzo beans, etc…So the start up cost might be a little much. But once you have them in your pantry you will use them more and more. I personally use corn and rice flour a lot. As well as garbanzo bean flour of coating veggies for baking.

The most awesome thing about this cookbook is that basically what they make in the bakery is now available in this book. So if you are like me and live almost an hour north of Seattle and can’t get down there this is a great alternative!!!

I chose to make something with some slightly more mainstream ingredients. I know to a lot of people hazelnut flour isn’t that mainstream, but it is to me as I always have it in my freezer. The original recipe called for fresh cherries, just one per cookie on top. But I have dried and this isn’t exactly cherry season right now. I also used some local honey from Kent, WA….so these cookies really represent the Pacific Northwest. I also skipped the 1 tsp dried lavender or dried rosemary, just wasn’t feeling that at all. I under-baked mine to make them more chewy. Mine had the texture of a coconut macaroon.

It’s been an interesting switch in my life. All for the good ,for the most part. The hard part is people. People not understanding and thinking you are a freak. The people who get offended if they make something I an choose not to eat it, this is mostly during the daytime. The thing is that, when I deviate, I feel it. I feel like crap. And I would rather feel good than eat a cookie.
But if I piss a few people off a long the way, so be it. It’s what is working for me. And they don’t live my life. Just like I don’t live theirs.

P.S. No worries…this is not becoming a Vegan blog. Just letting my peeps who are, and who are gluten free, know there is a new book out there for them to enjoy.

Hazelnut Honey Cookies

2 cups hazelnut flour
1 cup honey
¼ tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine the hazelnut flour, honey, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl. I used a stand mixer as this dough is sticky and doesn’t like to come together at first. Mix until smooth and then fold in dried cherries.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop cookie dough into ping-pong sized mounds. Press slightly with your hand to flatten a little.

Bake until firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Personally, I like these a little chewy, more like a macaroon (not French, the coconut kind) so I only went for 16 minutes.

Adapted from Flying Apron’s Gluten-free & Vegan Baking Book by Jennifer Katzinger