Category: Desserts

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

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I know there’s a million and one chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, but I’m picky about cookies. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I love a good chocolate chip cookie that’s chewy, nutty, and flecked with dark chocolate. Easy on the sugar, high on flavor. This recipe is my new go-to.

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you like your cookies
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 11.5-ounce package (about 2 cups) dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Finely grind oats in a food processor. Add flour, baking soda, and salt and blend for 5 seconds.
  2. Beat butter and both sugars in a large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Mix in walnuts and chocolate chips.
  3. For each cookie, form 2 rounded tablespoons dough into a ball and place on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten dough slightly. Bake until edges are golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely.

Banana-Chocolate Overnight Oats

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I’ve been on a make-head breakfast bender, mostly because mornings are hectic and I only have a few minutes to spare. Lately my favorite are these overnight oats, sweetened with bananas and topped with shavings of dark chocolate. A healthy breakfast masquerading as a decadent dessert. Not a bad way to start the day.

This recipe makes enough for two servings, but can easily be doubled (or tripled).

Ingredients:
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon shaved salted dark chocolate, for topping
  1. In a bowl, mash together the banana, maple syrup, and chia seeds with a fork, then stir in the yogurt, milk, and vanilla. Add the oats and mix again. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  2. To serve, spoon into two bowls and sprinkle half the shaved chocolate on top of each bowl.

Hawaiian Butter Mochi

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I’ve been making this Hawaiian butter mochi since I was a teenager. Adapted from a decades-old recipe from the now-defunct (endless sob) Gourmet Magazine, it’s the best (and easiset) butter mochi I’ve had to this day. Go ahead, try it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups (1 pound) mochiko (sweet rice flour)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 (14 oz) cans coconut milk
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350F degrees.
  2. Whisk together mochiko, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together coconut milk, eggs, butter, and vanilla in another bowl. Add coconut mixture to flour mixture, whisking until batter is combined.
  3. Pour batter into an ungreased 13- by 9-inch baking pan, smoothing top, and bake until top is golden and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan, about 1 1/2 hours. Cook cake completely in pan on a rack, about 2 hours. Cut mochi into 24 squares before serving.

Walnut-Pecan Maple Bars

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The two best pies I’ve ever had are my sister’s infamous pecan pie and San Francisco’s now-shuttered Mission Pie’s walnut pie. Sadly, I’m a little baking-challenged and my attempts to make pie always leave something to be desired, but these easy bars deliver all the satisfaction of pie without the fuss. A little bit walnut, a little bit pecan, these maple bars are the best of both worlds.

If you don’t have a square baking pan, you can substitute a 9-inch cake pan instead. Also, good luck getting these to last more than a day.

Walnut-pecan maple bars

Ingredients:

Crust:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted room temperature butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1. Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Butter 9x9x2-inch metal cake pan. Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and egg yolk in bowl to blend. Add flour and salt; beat until moist clumps form. Gather dough together. Press dough over bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan. Bake crust until golden, about 20 minutes. Cool.

2. Make the filling: Combine maple syrup, brown sugar, whipping cream, and butter in medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring until butter melts and mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat; mix in vanilla and nuts.

3. Pour filling into crust. Bake bars until filling is bubbling in center, about 15 minutes. Cool bars completely in pan on rack (filling will become firm). Chill 1-2 hours. Cut into 16 bars.

Crepes with Caramelized Bananas, Whiskey, and Walnuts

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These sweet and sticky bananas are begging to be piled atop fresh crepes for a decadent weekend brunch. Fortified with whiskey and walnuts, this dish is a pinch to make, especially if you cook the crepes ahead of time.

Crepes with caramelized bananas, whiskey, and walnuts

Ingredients:

One quantity crepes from this crepe recipe (minus the dark chocolate sauce)
2 tablespoons avocado or other neutral oil
5 bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup whiskey (bourbon works well here)
1/2 cup walnuts

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bananas, cut side down, and sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the top. Cook bananas until heated through and sugar is melted, about 5 minutes. Add whiskey and flip bananas over. Add the walnuts and cook until the bananas are caramelized and the whiskey has reduced to a syrup. Serve over crepes.