Passover Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Passover isn't exactly the easiest holiday to bake for. You can't use flour or leavening, which cuts out pretty much all of my recipes. But just because it's Passover doesn't mean you have to stop eating desserts. It's pretty much impossible to anyway, and this recipe makes it much easier to bake, eat, and keep Passover.

The cookies are really simple to make; you don't even need a mixer! Just grind up the almonds with some sugar and matzo cake meal, essentially very finely ground matzo that works as a substitute for flour. You can buy it anywhere, especially when it's close to Passover. After you mix the dry ingredients together, mix it into some butter, an egg, and some flavoring. The dough needs to be chilled for a little while to help it set, and then you can roll it into balls and make a small indentation in the center of each one. It's a little pit that you can fill with any jam you like; I prefer strawberry or raspberry since it pairs well with the almonds but really any type works. You could even make a few of each type  to satisfy everyone.

3/4 Cup Almonds, Toasted
2/3 Cup Sugar
2/3 Cup Matzo Cake Meal
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Stick Butter, Melted
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/4 tsp Almond Extract
Strawberry or Raspberry Jam

Pulse the almonds, sugar, cake meal, and salt in a food processor until fine. Whisk the egg, butter, vanilla, and almond extract together, then fold in the almond mixture. Chill until firm.

Heat oven to 350F and line cookie trays with parchment.

Scoop the dough into 24g balls. Place on the prepared trays and make a small indentation in the center of each. Spoon some jam into the dent and bake for 10 minutes.

Makes 20
Recipe Adapted from Gourmet

Beer & Bacon Bread

It's that time of year again: St. Patrick's Day. Time to drink a lot and eat a lot of Irish food. Given the success of my Beer, Bacon, & Pecan Bars, I decided to try the combination again, this time with just the beer and the bacon in bread form. Yes, that's right. This is acceptable breakfast food.

In terms of difficulty, this bread couldn't be easier. Usually you have to proof and knead and proof again, but for this one you just mix the ingredients together and bake it off. It takes less than an hour, and you'll be glad it's so fast because it smells SO good.

First, you get the bacon aroma; I recommend making some extra because you'll find yourself eating a lot of it and you want the full amount in the bread. Then, when the bread is baking, it smells boozy and yeasty and even more bacon-y. It's so hard to wait the full 40 minutes, but it's much better if it cooks all the way through. Trust me, you'll be making this constantly, even if it's not St. Patrick's Day.

1/4 lb Cooked & Crumbled Bacon, Fat Reserved
3 Cups Bread Flour
1 T Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Sugar
12 oz Beer
1 T Butter, Melted

Heat oven to 375F and grease a loaf pan.

Whisk the butter and 1T bacon fat together.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Stir in the bacon bits, then whisk in the beer.

Press the dough into the prepared pan. Drizzle with the butter and bacon fat mixture and bake for 40 minutes or until golden.

Makes 1 Loaf
Recipe Adapted from www.thepastryaffair.com

Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Biscotti

Biscotti is pretty much the perfect dessert. It's sweet, healthy, crunchy, and can suit any taste. You can make it chocolaty, nutty, fruity, or a combination of all three and more! This recipe happens to have all three; there's the slightly bitter mini chocolate chips, tart but sweet candied orange, and nutty roasted hazelnuts. And as if the combination of flavors wasn't enough, these cookies really aren't that bad for you. There's hardly any fat - just two tablespoons of oil in the whole batch - and not much sugar as well.

Of course you can alter the recipe and use a different type of chocolate or dried fruit or nut since the base recipe can be altered to fit what you are in the mood for, but I happen to love this combination. I first tasted it when I was shadowing the pastry chef at Pricci, a local Italian restaurant. I was lucky enough to try the gelato of the day, a rich, creamy chocolate base studded with candied oranges and hazelnuts. I loved the layers of flavors, so I decided to put it in a crunchy cookie. Actually, the two would be delicious together, so you may see my interpretation of the gelato recipe soon!

3 Cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup Sugar
3 Eggs
2 T Oil
2 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 Cup Chopped Toasted Hazelnuts
1/3 Cup Diced Candied Orange Peel
3/4 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips


Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large cookie tray with parchment paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl to blend. 

Using a stand mixer, beat sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla  until well blended. Add flour mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in hazelnuts, orange peel, and chocolate chips.

Shape dough into two logs. Bake until lightly browned and almost firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Cool logs on sheet for 30 minutes and reduce oven temperature to 325F.

Once logs are cool, transfer to a cutting board. Slice logs into 1/2" thick slices. Place the slices back onto prepared trays and bake another 20 minutes or until golden. The cookies will harden as they cool.

Makes 35
Recipe Adapted from Bon Appetit