How do you take your coffee in the morning? I prefer my coffee to be a dark roast blend and I drink it black.  I like jet fuel.  Sometimes I add some cream or milk if I have more coffee later in the day, but most days I simply drink a wee too much black coffee.  Why so much coffee talk? Well, it turns out that these cookies are incredible with a piping hot cup of jet fuel.  The flavor is rich and the texture is decadent.  I used all brown sugar to add a deeper flavor and I used a local whole wheat flour from Upingil Farm.  They're the kind of cookie that I can have one and feel very satisfied, not that I'd mind having more.

So here's what you'll need:

Ingredients
-1 cup brown sugar
-1/2 cup almond butter
-1/2 cup butter
-1 egg
-1 1/4 whole wheat flour
-1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
-3/4 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-additional white sugar for dusting

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cream the butter, almond butter and brown sugar together.  Add in the egg and mix.  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder.  Mix with the butter mixture.  Using a small spoon or cookie scooper, shape a small amount into approximately 1 inch balls and roll the cookie ball in the white sugar. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.  Allow to cool on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy!

It's cake season around here! Most of our family birthdays and our wedding anniversary are between May and June.  Add in Mother's Day, Father's Day and a First Communion and it's sort of a lot of cake. I'm good with that!

I love 6 inch layered cakes.  I find that they're the perfect size for most of our celebrations so that everyone gets a piece and there's a modest amount of leftovers.  I like modest leftovers....too much cake sitting in my fridge is dangerous.

I've tested this recipe using a stand mixer and mixing by hand.  Both methods came out beautifully.  Frost and fill the cakes with your favorite frosting, whip cream and/or toppings and you're done.  You can get my vanilla buttercream recipe here (you will need a separate bowl for frosting and a hand or stand mixer). Buttercream is my favorite!

Here we go!

Ingredients
 -1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-3/4 cup vegetable oil
-2 eggs
-1 cup sugar
-1 TBS vanilla extract
-1/2 cup whole milk
-sprinkles (optional)

Directions
Prepare two 6 inch baking pans with parchment paper and/or non-stick cooking spray and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the vegetable oil and sugar in a large bowl.  Mix together.  Add your eggs and combine.  Add the vanilla extract and stir together.  Place all of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt) on top of the wet ingredients.  Use a fork to lightly combine the dry ingredients together.  Then slowly begin to stir the dry ingredients into the oil/egg/vanilla mixture.  Slowly add half of the milk.  Stir.  Add the remaining milk and stir all of the ingredients together until just combined.  Use a rubber spatula to run around the side of the bowl to make sure all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.  Don't over mix.  Optional: fold in a couple of handfuls of sprinkles!

Pour into your cake pans and give them a gentle tap on the counter to work out any air bubbles.  Bake for 27-30 minutes.  Check the cakes frequently at 25 minutes.  The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted to the middle comes out clean.  Remove from the oven.  Allow to cool in the pan for 20-30 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to finish cooling.  

​Once fully cooled, frost, serve and enjoy!  Store in the fridge.

I wanted to take some chocolate dipped strawberries up a notch with Mother's Day right around the corner.  Queue Nutella Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries with melted chocolate drizzled all over them.  They are very decadent and a little bit messy, but they're messy in all of the good ways.  You can make these in 1 bowl and done!

Here we go:

Ingredients
-1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
-3/4 cups cream cheese at room temperature
-2-3 TBS Half and Half
-1/2 cup Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-8-12 large strawberries
-chunks of chocolate or chocolate chips for melting/drizzling

Directions
Place the cream cheese, powdered sugar and Nutella in a large bowl of a stand mixer.  Use the paddle attachment or a hand mixer to beat the ingredients together.  Add in the vanilla extract and slowly add in the half and half while beating the whole mixture together.  Once everything is combined, use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover and place in the fridge to chill for approximately 30 minutes.  

Wash and remove the green leaf tops from your strawberries.  Use a sharp knife to hollow out part of the insides of the strawberries.  Remove the chilled "cheesecake" mixture from the fridge and place into a pastry bag.  (Optional: Use a 1M piping tip or you can simply use a bag to fill the strawberries).  Pipe the cheesecake into the strawberries and immediately return to the fridge.  Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the strawberries and again return to the fridge to set.  Store the strawberries in the fridge until ready to serve.

​Enjoy!