Peach Crisp

This is the recipe that almost didn’t come to be. I feel like I’ve been working on it all summer and only now have I circled around to something I’m happy with. It began with an old family recipe, one I’d made many times, a cobbler that I remember adoring as a child. But whenContinue reading “Peach Crisp”

Lemon Pudding Cake

I remember loving this dish from my childhood. It was a standard familiar enough to be included in the scrapbook of recipes my mom made for me and my sisters after we’d left home, but not so ever-present that I had made it for my own kids. My girls and I baked it this week as a springtimeContinue reading “Lemon Pudding Cake”

Nana’s Pound Cake

Pound cake was a regular in our dessert line-up when I was a child. It’s so versatile — great plain, even better topped with pureed berries or homemade chocolate sauce or scratch-made whipped cream. My copy of this recipe is one of my favorite kinds: hand-written in my grandmother’s loopy cursive. It’s in my hands becauseContinue reading “Nana’s Pound Cake”

Classic Lemon Bars

I love cookies. I really do. More than cupcakes or cheesecakes or pies or … well, maybe not more than doughnuts. The point is that if you love cookies as much as I (and, thankfully, my children) do, then you need a long list of cookie recipes to choose from. These lemon bars are aContinue reading “Classic Lemon Bars”

Simple Snickerdoodles

Sometime since becoming a mom, I was introduced to the joy of Snickerdoodles. They’re a sugar cookie, but with cinnamon, too. The best versions are light and buttery, the perfect after-school snack or end to a lovely meal. Over the summer, I sampled oh-so-many recipes, in search of my absolute favorite. In the end, IContinue reading “Simple Snickerdoodles”

Ginger Crinkles

Looking back through my mother’s cookbooks, I can find at least three dog-eared Ginger Cookie recipes plus one for Gingerbread Cake, oh and there’s a Spice Cake recipe as well. I distinctly recall each of these desserts and I remember loving them all. So this year, as winter set in and I began craving the homey, holiday tastes ofContinue reading “Ginger Crinkles”

Carrot-Chip Sheet Cake

Some of my kids’ favorite muffins are chock full of carrots, pineapple and coconut. So it stands to reason that they’d like carrots in their desserts, too. This recipe is one part sheet cake, one part quick bread. It’s carrot cake without the cream cheese icing. Any way you slice it, though, it’s all around delicious. MakesContinue reading “Carrot-Chip Sheet Cake”

Easy From-Scratch Brownies

I think I was in my 20s before I realized a person could make brownies without a mix. They were a dessert I fixed often in my teens, following the instructions on the back of the box. And they were good. Today’s boxed brownies are even better — a vast array of flavors, layer options, organic versions, youContinue reading “Easy From-Scratch Brownies”

Crispy Peanut Butter Cookies

  These cookies are among my most requested — both by my own kids looking for a favorite lunchbox treat and by friends who taste them and then want the recipe. A basic recipe (no chocolate or other fancy add-ons), the proportions create a cookie that is crunchy and flavorful. For the best results, choose a peanut butterContinue reading “Crispy Peanut Butter Cookies”

Panda Bear Cookies

These brownie-like treats were staples of my childhood, made from my mother’s favorite cookbook, Farm Journal’s Best Ever Recipe Book. Their dark dough with confectionary sugar patches has led my kids to call them “Panda Bear Cookies.” My mom’s cookbook names them “Chocolate Macaroons,” but these days that means something entirely different. Whatever you call them, knowContinue reading “Panda Bear Cookies”