Sugarcrafter

Chocolate Chip Jam Bars

Tracy — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:50:29 +0000

I made these bars last week when we had some friends over, and I still can’t get them out of my head (ask my husband, I’ve wanted to make them again every day this week). The chocolate is so rich and creamy, and the cookie dough has an almost nutty quality when paired with the jam. Simply put, these are little bites of chocolate heaven, and they are SO easy to throw together. Try them as soon as possible!

Also, check out my new spring header! Nicole at Nicole Underwood Design updated it for me once again, and I just love it. She always does an excellent job, so if you ever need her to design anything for you, check out her site and shoot her an e-mail!

...Read the rest of Chocolate Chip Jam Bars on Sugarcrafter.net

Giveaway Winner!

Tracy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:08:46 +0000

Congratulations to lucky number 26 – Alisa!

You’ve won the sourdough starter from KAF, and either Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (or, if you already have it, their new book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day) or The Bread Baker’s Apprentice – you choose! Contact me at prizes [at] sugarcrafter [dot] net with your choice of book and mailing address so that I can get your prizes out to you as soon as possible.

Also, thank you to all who entered – I had so much fun reading about all of your favorite breads! Stay tuned for future giveaways!

Delicate Meyer Lemon Squares

Tracy — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:30:58 +0000

I don’t know about you, but it’s practically summer here in upstate NY. We have temperatures in the mid-forties, and best of all, sunshine! The nice weather is definitely putting me in the mood for spring food. Today, I am very excited to be guest posting for Jen over at her lovely site, How To: Simplify. To read the full post and recipe, head on over to Jen’s site…and, don’t forget to take a look around while you’re there – she’s got a fantastic collection of delicious recipes for any occasion!

SunButter Cookies

Tracy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:49:56 +0000

On Sunday, I had the urge to bake with SunButter again. It’s been a while since my last SunButter creation, so I decided that it was definitely time to whip out a jar and get baking. While my hubby who loves peanut butter wouldn’t touch them, I took them to work and gave them to my co-workers – and one of them said that if I hadn’t told her, she never would have known the cookies weren’t made with real peanut butter. Success! If you’re allergic to peanuts/nuts, give these a try. And if you’re not, make them for your friends who are!

...Read the rest of SunButter Cookies on Sugarcrafter.net

My First Giveaway!

Tracy — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:29:11 +0000

Well, it’s about time – time for my first giveaway here on Sugarcrafter! As you may have noticed if you follow me on Twitter, tweets were flying back and forth about my recent order to King Arthur Flour. Basically, I placed an order for their sourdough and crock set – but when it arrived, there was a label on the starter container that said it was “produced in a facility that packages products containing eggs, milk, soy, tree nuts, and wheat.” I was really disappointed, because as you may also know, I am severely allergic to peanuts/nuts. Since this information was not available on the product page when I made the order, I asked KAF for a refund. Long story short, they did give me a full refund – but more importantly, they updated their website to include the allergen information so that those of us with allergies or sensitivities can be more informed about our purchases. So, I want to say a big thank you to KAF for great customer service!

Anyway, on to the giveaway! Because I can’t use the sourdough starter, I wanted to give it away – along with your choice of either Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (or, if you already have it, their new book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day) or The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, so that you can get started on baking delicious homemade bread right away! Here’s what you need to do to win:

Leave a comment on this post and tell me: what is your favorite kind of bread?
For a second entry, subscribe to my RSS feed, and then leave another comment letting me know.
For a third entry, follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway, and then leave another comment here.

Contest ends March 7th at midnight. One winner will be randomly selected using Random.org and announced Monday morning!

Prizes are courtesy of Sugarcrafter and are not sponsored in any way. Sorry, I can only ship to US mainland addresses.

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

Tracy — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:49:30 +0000

This month’s Flavor of the Month theme was chocolate, which I thought was perfect for February (and well, I thought it was perfect anyway because I love chocolate)! I wanted to share a recipe that I adapted from one I found on Hershey’s website a couple years ago, because whenever I’ve served it, it’s always been a big hit. Plus, it’s a relatively simple dessert, so you can make it in a pinch since you probably have most of the ingredients on hand already!

...Read the rest of Hot Fudge Pudding Cake on Sugarcrafter.net

Daring Baker Challenge: Tiramisu

Tracy — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:09:26 +0000

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

When I saw that the Daring Baker challenge for this month was tiramisu, I was absolutely thrilled! I’ve never had authentic tiramisu before – only tiramisu-flavored things like coffee creamer, and of course these incredible tiramisu cheesecake bars. I have to admit though that when I saw that this challenge would also involve making my own mascarpone cheese, I was a little nervous. But, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be, especially after I ditched the double-boiler method that just didn’t seem to work for me. This heavenly dessert definitely took a lot of time and preparation, but the result was well worth that effort…and everyone I served it to agreed!

...Read the rest of Daring Baker Challenge: Tiramisu on Sugarcrafter.net

Eggplant Parmigiana

Tracy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:45:51 +0000

This eggplant parmigiana was inspired by my favorite Italian restaurant. Hubby and I went there on a date together recently, and I decided to try their eggplant parmigiana. I’ve only had it once before; it was cooked exactly like chicken parmigiana and almost like a lasagna, with layers of eggplant and sauce. However, this eggplant parmigiana was nothing like that one. The slices of eggplant were light, pan-fried with a delicate crust so that they were firm instead of mushy, surrounded by a light tomato sauce, and covered with melted slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. After one bite, I knew I needed to replicate this dish at home. Hubby and I both agreed that I came pretty darn close to the original, so here it is – hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

...Read the rest of Eggplant Parmigiana on Sugarcrafter.net

Madeleines with Lime

Tracy — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:37:50 +0000

I asked for a mini madeleine pan for Christmas last year because I’ve always been intrigued by these delicate cookies. I finally just got around to making them this past weekend, and my only regret is that I waited so long! They’re easy to put together, especially on the weekend when you can do something else around the house while the dough is chilling. They’re perfectly fluffy with a light crunchiness, and there are so many ways you can change up the flavor. However, be warned that the mini ones are very dangerous – I think I ate half the pan myself!

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Dilled Carrots

Tracy — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:31:48 +0000

Okay, I’m not going to lie. When I saw that the theme for this month’s Tigress’ Can Jam was carrots, I was less than thrilled. But the truth is I’ve never pickled anything before, and this assignment gave me the little push I needed to learn how to do it. In that respect, it was a lot of fun. Since I didn’t want to experiment with acid levels on my own yet, I simply took Dori and Jilly’s advice to stick to a published recipe and tweak it a little from there. I used the dilled carrots recipe from The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, only I halved it – twice – because I only wanted to make one 8-ounce jar. (As you can see, I wasn’t very optimistic about how my carrots would turn out!) I shouldn’t have worried though, since they seem to have turned out well. Now I just have to figure out what to do with them!

...Read the rest of Dilled Carrots on Sugarcrafter.net