Category: Dessert

S’mores Cookies

It’s funny to see just how crazy people are about cookies. Me included. Recently, I posted a review of my day at Governor’s Island. I mentioned, in passing, what we brought along for our picnic, s’mores cookies included. I was so excited to receive lots of feedback on my post – but it was all in the form of a recipe request. “Did you say s’mores cookies?” Why, yes I did. “Can I have the recipe?” Well, of course.

So, here I am sharing my accidental recipe for s’mores cookies.

When it comes to cookie making, I’m always in sort of a dilemma. And I’m going to be frank here. So please don’t run away after you read my serious foodie confession, ok?

I don’t like butter.

There, I said it.

I don’t like butter.

Now before you close the screen and punish me for my culinary blasphemy, let me explain. It’s not so much that I don’t like it. It’s just that it doesn’t sit well with me. Anything too creamy or buttery just makes me feel sick.

And there’s something else too, which makes baking entirely difficult.

I HATE margarine.

If you’ve read up on it, you probably know just how bad margarine is for you. In fact, it’s just ONE molecule away from plastic! When I was in culinary school recently, we only had a meat kitchen (it’s a kosher school and under kosher dietary guidelines, milk and meat are not eaten or prepared together), so whenever a recipe called for butter, we used margarine instead. I had a habit of teasing my instructor about all the “plastic sauces” we were preparing.

So, back to cookies. When you can’t use butter or margarine, cookie-making becomes quite a difficult task. It’s hard to get that perfect crumb when using oil, but I try anyway. In this case, I succeeded. Filled with chocolate chunks, marshmallows and graham cracker pieces in every bite, these smores cookies have become a family favorite. And you know what the best part is? They’re not made of plastic.

S’mores Cookies

2 cups of flour
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of canola or melted coconut oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 graham crackers, lightly crushed
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1 3 0z. bar chocolate, cut into chunks

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix to form a dough. Add graham cracker pieces, marshmallows and chocolate chunks. Form balls with approximately 2 tbsp worth of batter and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet (8 per sheet). Try to form the cookies so that the marshmallows and chocolate chunks are mostly covered in the dough (you may need to press it together with your hands). Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Yield: approximately 18 cookies.

Related recipes:

Chocolate & olive oil Chanukah crinkle cookies
S’mores chocolate toffee bark
Cowboy cookies

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Fourth of July Tartufo

If you’re looking at the screen quizzically wondering what tartufo is, don’t worry. I didn’t know what it was until recently either! A few weeks ago, a few kosher bloggers and I went out to celebrate the anniversary of the Kosher Connection group. It’s a team of kosher food bloggers that joined together to help each other navigate the blogging world. If you follow my blog, you may have noticed our monthly link-up challenges.

We met at Siena’s restaurant in Brooklyn, to celebrate the partnerships and friends we have made over the past year. Siena served us a variety of dishes, sampling their Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. Some of the highlight dishes included their fried zucchini chips with homemade marinara, a medley of fresh salads, ravioli cooked to perfection and a standout tuna steak over white beans and spinach.

For dessert, we were served a tasting of their finest sweets including cheesecake, tiramisu and tartufo. I had to ask the waiter to repeat himself, as I’d never heard of it before. It was a layered ice cream dessert with marachino cherries and vanilla ice cream at the base and pistachio ice cream on top. It was served as a rectangular slice and drizzled with chocolate. The ice cream was delicious, but I couldn’t get over the pretty presentation. After a few hours milling over the tartufo concept (and browsing the internet for every tartufo recipe I could find) – I had a stroke of genius. Why not find blue maraschino cherries, and layer red and white frozen desserts in celebration of Independence day?

I was so excited about my idea that I went straight for the grocery in search of blue maraschino cherries. Little did I know that kosher ones are not that easy to find. So, I did what any idea-obsessed blogger would do…research. I found a kosher company that makes maraschino cherries in a variety of colors and I called them up. I asked where I might find the blue ones in Brooklyn, and they gave me two different locations. I was on it. The next day, I drove out to a shady little store on Coney Island and picked up my loot. I drove straight home, my ice cream already thawing on the counter.

When I uncovered my tartufo the next day, I never imagined it would turn out so pretty. Sure, it wasn’t perfect. The ice cream layers had sunken into each other, and the maraschino cherries peeked out a tad too little. But still. My experiment had worked. Wonderfully. Happy 4th of July!

Fourth of July Tartufo

1 12.5″ x 6.5″ loaf pan (3″ deep)
1 1/2 quarts vanilla ice cream
2 pints red sorbet (strawberry, cherry or watermelon)
1 10oz. jar blue maraschino cherries
1 bar dark chocolate
red, white and blue sprinkles

Method:

Remove the ice cream and sorbet from the freezer and thaw until softened. Drain the maraschino cherries and place on paper towels. Pat dry. Line the loaf pan with parchment paper. Add a thin layer of ice cream to the bottom of the loaf pan. Top with maraschino cherries. Continue to add more ice cream until cherries are covered. Place the loaf pan in the freezer until the ice cream hardens, at least 20 minutes (the longer the better). Top the ice cream with a layer of sorbet (about 1 1/2 cups). Return the loaf pan to the freezer so the layer can harden and set. Continue layering the ice cream and sorbet into the loaf pan, freezing in between each layer (this keeps the layers from sinking into each other). Once you have reached the top of the loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and/or foil and freeze overnight.

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Turn the loaf pan upside down onto a serving platter and remove parchment paper. Drizzle chocolate over the ice cream loaf and top with sprinkles.

If desired, you may drizzle each individual slice with additional chocolate and sprinkles.

Serve immediately.

Yields: 10-12 servings.

NOTE: You may halve this recipe and use a smaller loaf pan for a smaller ice cream loaf.

1 year ago: snap pea, corn & red currant salad
2 years ago: grilled chickpea burgers

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Moscato, Honey & Vanilla Poached Apricots


When the Kosher Connection team (a group of Kosher Food Bloggers that I belong to) decided on the theme of “cold soups” for this month’s Link-Up challenge, I was thrilled. I had made these poached apricots a few times already, and I knew I just had to share them. Granted, poached apricots in moscato, honey & vanilla bean syrup is a bit of a stretch for a soup, but I think we’re covered. Cold fruit soups are all the rage in the summer, and this elegant take on a fruit soup is the perfect way to celebrate apricots – summer’s sweet and tart bounty.


Fresh apricots are available from mid-June to mid-July and are best tree-ripened (it doesn’t ripen after it’s picked). Try to find them at your nearest farmers’ market for optimum flavor. Apricots should be purchased ripe or slightly under-ripe, yielding slightly to gentle touch.


Poaching is one of the best ways to prepare apricots, but they can also be grilled. The addition of honey helps to balance out the apricot’s tartness. Vanilla bean and Moscato wine add an amazing depth of flavor that complements the apricots perfectly. The syrup is so unique and flavorful, you’ll want to drink a cupful all by itself!

What is your favorite way to prepare apricots? Share your ideas with me in the comments below.

For more great cold soup recipes, check out the Kosher Connection Cold Soup Link-Up Challenge below! You can also view my recipe for cold strawberry rhubarb soup here.

Moscato, Honey & Vanilla Bean Poached Apricot

10 fresh apricots
2 cups Moscato wine
1 cup water
1/2 heaping cup honey
1/2 vanilla bean
juice of 1/2 lemon

Method:

Cut apricots in half and remove pits. Scrape the seeds off the vanilla bean and place the seeds and the bean in a pot. Add moscato, water, honey, and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring to make sure the honey and vanilla bean seeds are incorporated throughout. Add the apricots and reduce to a simmer. Cook for approximately 5 minutes (depending on ripeness) until apricots are fork-tender. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the apricots from the pot. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook over high heat until it is thick and syrupy (reduced by half). Set the apricots and syrup aside to cool. Add to a jar and refrigerate until chilled. Serve with frozen yogurt and chopped nuts.

NOTE: If desired, you may gently remove the skins of the apricots after poaching. I prefer to leave them on as they are quite thin and don’t bother me.

VARIATION: To make apricot sauce, do not remove the apricots from the sauce. Instead, let the apricots continue to cook until they fall apart and the sauce begins to thicken. If you prefer to peel the apricots for the sauce, poach for a few minutes, remove and carefully take off the skins. Return to the pot and continue to cook until apricots fall apart and sauce thickens.  Serve over ice cream or yogurt.

1 year ago: shlishkes
2 years ago: tuna salad with a twist

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Blueberry Frozen Yogurt Bites

When it comes to summer, especially here in Brooklyn, I think most people are about eating light and healthy foods that keep them from feeling heavy. Fruits are especially welcome on a hot summer’s day, as long as they’re cold, or my favorite way – frozen.

If you’ve ever bit into a frozen grape, you know just how a little time in the freezer can turn a simple grape into a sweet and creamy frozen snack. Chocolate-dipped frozen banana’s are another popular guilt-free delicacy. And then there’s the fruit-filled ice cubes, and the all-fruit Popsicle blends. But have you ever tried a Greek-yogurt-covered-frozen-blueberry?

Frozen blueberries are good enough on their own, but dipped in vanilla Greek yogurt, they’re simply outstanding. The yogurt freezes to form a creamy coating over the blueberries, making it the perfect snack on a hot summer day. Once you give these delicious frozen treats a try, you’ll be dipping everything from apricots to raspberries in your favorite Greek yogurt flavor. So have fun, get creative and enjoy the best that summer has to offer!


Blueberry Frozen Yogurt Bites

1 container vanilla Greek yogurt
1 pint blueberries (or your favorite fruit for freezing)
toothpicks or spiral dipping tool

Method:

Wash blueberries and drain. Working one at a time, dip the blueberries into the yogurt (with a toothpick or dipping tool) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If you are using toothpicks, you can use a second toothpick to help slide it off. Freeze the blueberries for 1-2 hours, remove them from the baking sheet and place them in a Ziploc bag. Return to the freezer and keep frozen until ready to eat.

1 year ago: loaded baked potato omelette
2 years ago: strawberry rhubarb soup

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Sachlav Rose Water Pudding

Sachlav (also pronounced sahlab, salep, or saloop) is a popular warm winter drink in the Middle East. Even though I spent an entire year living in Israel, this light rose water pudding made it past me somehow and my first taste of it was actually in a restaurant in Brooklyn, named Bissale. I was reminiscing about my Bissale experiences in this recent post, and the fragrant rose water drink just came back to me.

I thought a rose water scented pudding would be the perfect way to celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, when Jews commemorate the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. It is told that Mount Sinai was covered in roses at the time the Torah was received, so many communities have a custom to decorate their homes and synagogues (as well as Torah scrolls) with roses. Persian Jews even refer to this holiday as the Feast of the Roses and in some Sephardic synagogues, it is customary to sprinkle rose water on the congregants.

Rose water, which is made by steeping and distilling fresh rose petals in water, is featured in many Sephardic desserts and pastries. It can be purchased at most Middle Eastern and specialty food stores.

Sachlav was traditionally made with ground orchid tubers called sahlab. The tubers of the orchid were dried and ground up to create a fragrant powder that thickens the milk into a pudding. Nowadays, cornstarch, which is cheaper and easier to find, is used to thicken the drink. Sachlav is usually finished with a touch of orange blossom or rose water, but some prefer to forgo the fragrant waters and garnish it with coconut, cinnamon and/or nuts and raisins.

Sachlav is usually served in the winter, like a Middle Eastern hot chocolate. Personally, I have a weakness for hot pudding (I always eat chocolate pudding boiling hot, right out of the pot) so I’m good eating it all year long. If you prefer a cold pudding, you can set the sachlav in the fridge, and serve it up like traditional malabi.

So what’s malabi? It’s a cold rose-water-scented milk pudding, that is pretty similar to sachlav, except it’s usually garnished with raspberry syrup and pistachios. If you’d like to turn this recipe into malabi, simply pour into serving glasses, let cool and then refrigerate until set. You might want to garnish it with my strawberry rhubarb compote for a seasonal garnish that would compliment the rose water really well.

Sachlav (or Malabi) Rose Water Pudding

3 cups milk
4 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp corn starch
2 tsp rosewater
shredded coconut, chopped nuts and cinnamon, for garnish

Method:

Mix the cornstarch with 1/2 cup of the milk and set aside. Bring the remaining milk and sugar to a slow boil, watching that the milk doesn’t scald or boil over. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture, whisking to combine. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly to keep lumps from forming. When pudding starts to bubble, and it coats the back of a spoon, add the rose water. Stir again to incorporate and pour into individual serving glasses.

Garnish with coconut, nuts and cinnamon and serve hot.

VARIATION: To make malabi, pour the pudding into serving bowls and set aside to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set. Garnish with silan (date honey) and pistachios, raspberry syrup, or my strawberry rhubarb compote.

YIELD: 3 servings.

1 year ago: pesto & goat cheese crostini
2 years ago: sundried tomato olive tapenade

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