De Baking Psychopath

Every time we go to Philly to visit Jess, I come back with items from the Metropolitan Bakery that 1) are absolutely delicious, and 2) I want to recreate. You'd think it'd be easy to find the recipes to recreate these items since they have a cookbook published, but alas the bar cookie we were swept away by this time is not in the book. Jess and I went foraging in the day-old bin, and the two of us were like giddy little children in a candy store as we rifled through the unusually large selection of discounted items that early Saturday morning. Croissants! Frosted carrot cake! Muffins of all sorts! Loaves of bread! And fatefully, raspberry crumb bars. We didn't get a chance to eat the raspberry crumb bar whilst in Philly, but upon returning home and finding it packed into our food bag by a sneaky Jess, Michael and I shared the bar and liked it more and more with each passing bite. The shortbread crust was sturdy and crunchy on the base, the jam deep-flavo...

Yes. You read that title correctly. No, I'm not one of those crazy bacon-is-god sort of people.  ...But I do like my breakfast meats sweet and salty. I've always drizzled a little bit of maple syrup on my breakfast sausage or bacon, along with a healthy dose of black pepper. So when I saw this recipe in Joy the Baker's new cookbook , I thought it weird but intriguing...     (stroking imaginary beard in contemplation) Meanwhile, I have been on a mission to use up my insane Costco tubs of peanut butter, and I might not have so much trouble if I keep making these cookies!  When I first tried them, I went "Hmmmm...." (more imaginary beard stroking) The nutmeg flavor packed a big punch fresh out of the oven, and I was a little overwhelmed. My second response was "I am not sure yet what I think about these cookies...but I think I need to eat another cookie to decide!" (which is always an optimistic sign)  Once they had full...

This is one of those sort of cakes that I remember from my childhood, and I hope that everyone has something similar to look back upon as well. Simple, unfrosted, potentially eaten anytime from breakfast to snacktime to after dinner. My young palate was happy enough with box mix cake, but my adult palate is savoring this not-much-harder-to-make cake. The base is a super moist, slightly tangy, barely sweet buttermilk cake, and the juicy berries studded throughout just scream summer picnic and a need to be paired with some ice cream. I've made this with blackberries and strawberries, and both were delicious. Whatever variation you make, it is just simply yummy. Berry Buttermilk Cake (adapted from Gourmet via Smitten Kitchen ) Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 finely grated lemon zest (optional) 1 ...