Bread and Butter Ice Cream

Bread and butter is one of those things that’s so simple, yet so amazing. I’ve had the conversation with my mother-in-law before – we could probably survive on bread and butter alone for the rest of our lives. It’s something you can never resist at a restaurant no matter how much food you know you’re going to get after.

Chewy Almond Cookies

Alex and I went to Italy at the end of May. We started out in Sicily and then went up to Naples and Sorrento, finally finishing off in Rome. It was an amazing experience. While there, I definitely made it my goal to eat and drink as much local food as possible. I tried some things for the first time (snails) and I had the best of things I had tried before (ricotta).

But one thing I was disappointed in was the cookies. We bought cookies in a few places and they always just seemed like I was eating almond paste. Where was the chew? Where was the crunch? Maybe I’m just not into the cookies from the region.

So anyway, here is a recipe for chewy almond cookies that I love.

Chewy Almond Cookies

Adapted from Kitchen Sanctuary

3 egg whites

280 g almond meal

280 g sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp (30 mL) amaretto liquor

Pinch of salt

Extra sugar and powdered sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 325F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Prepare two small bowls: one with granulated sugar and one with powdered sugar. Set aside.

In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, begin to beat egg whites. Once whites are frothy, add the sugar in a slow steady stream. Continue beating whites to stiff peaks. Add vanilla and beat to combine. Add almond meal, salt, and amaretto and fold carefully into egg whites just until no streaks of flour remain.

Roll dough into golf ball sized balls. The dough should be slightly sticky, but still fairly easy to roll. If it is way too sticky, add more flour 1 tbsp at a time until you can roll it. Roll each ball in granulated sugar and then in powdered sugar. Arrange on parchment lined baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Once the sheet is full, flatten each dough ball slightly with your fingers.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until golden but still soft in the middle.

Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Cookies will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for at least a week. 

Korean Corn Chip Esquites Nachos

You can thank my friend Rachael for this recipe. She first introduced me to these corn chips and I was instantly hooked. You’ve never had a corn chip like this before (unless of course, you’ve had these). They actually taste like fresh, sweet corn! That’s why I immediately wanted to use them in a fresh corn recipe.

Rhubarb Almond Tart

Spring had a late start this year, but I think we finally made it. The farmer’s market on my way to work every Tuesday finally opened and I couldn’t resist the rosy bunches of rhubarb. In fact, I actually turned around about 50 metres after passing just to get my hands on one. I also couldn’t resist taking pictures of all the blooming things I’ve finally been seeing.

When I was younger, I used to suck on tart rhubarb stalks out of the garden or eat the crunchy stems raw dipped into sugar.

Froot Loop Cake

A while ago, after eating ice cream with cinnamon toast crunch, I had the idea of baking with cereal. Until today, I only got as far as this cereal milk white Russian. Now I’m adding this cake to our cereal repertoire.