Reindeer Speculoos Cookies

speculoos cookies from Bouchon Bakery cookbook

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It isn’t the holidays without a spice cookie. Gingerbread is probably the most common one, but I reserve that for constructing houses. I like the more cinnamon-y flavor profile of speculoos cookies. Every year, I turn to my baking bible, the Bouchon Bakery Cookbook, for the recipe. I added a little ginger and cloves for a bit more punch. For the cut-outs, I was inspired by adorable round reindeer faces found on Pinterest, but I decided to go with a rectangle to resemble their slender frame.

My favorite part about making these cookies is decorating! I was snacking on chocolate from my friends at Kellermanni Chocolate (dark milk is my favorite) and broke off a few chunks from to use for the reindeer’s facial features. To finish, I used red candies for the signature Rudolph nose.

Pecan Cardamom Snowball Cookies

snowball cookies

I love making snowball cookies during the holidays! They’re also known as Mexican Wedding Cookies or Russian Tea Cakes but snowballs feels more Christmas-y. Typically raw walnuts or pecans are used, but I was given the loveliest basket of assorted candied nuts from Santé Nuts and chose my favorite, candied pecans.

The toasted nuts add warmth to the cookies, and to account for the sugar coating, I adjusted the amount of powdered sugar in the dough so it wouldn’t overpower the nutty flavor. With the sweet, there’s also a little spice, in the form of cardamom. A dash of it makes these cookies very festive. Happy holidays!

Cheesecake Bars with Fresh Figs and Honey

cheesecake bars with figs and hon

They say you should never grocery shop without a list but at the farmers’ market anything goes. I browse and taste until I’ve found sweet, ripe fruit that I like and figure out what to do when I get home. On a recent trip, I was drawn to a table blanketed with green and purple figs. The Kadotas (green ones) had the most beautiful pink interior and they were perfectly sweet. I knew I wanted to use them fresh vs. cooked, so they ended up being the topping for these cheesecake bars.

Chez Panisse Plum Galette

Chez Panisse plum galette baked


I went to Chez Panisse for my 30th birthday and it was the most wonderful experience. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend going, regardless of whether or not you have something to celebrate. They really showcase what’s in season, which is how I get inspired to bake. The kitchen is connected to the restaurant and the staff encourages you to walk through as they’re cooking. I got up several times throughout the meal to check in on what they were doing, lingering mainly by the pastry station, of course. It was fall at the time (shout-out to fellow November babies!), so the chefs were making an apple version of their signature galette.

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