Notes about Recipes in this book

• Cranberry crumble pie

  • cespitler on November 29, 2018

    This was a huge hit at the Holiday Party where it was served alongside honey ice cream. It is nicely tart and has a great texture. The all-butter crust from the same book turned out great, too! This is a make-again recipe!

• Fennel seed snickerdoodles

  • Apollonia on July 08, 2021

    You've got to love fennel to enjoy these, but luckily we do. Fantastic.

  • anya_sf on June 24, 2019

    My cookies were a bit smaller, so half a batch yielded 24 cookies. Baking time was still 14 minutes. I baked half of them after just 4 hours of refrigeration and the rest after 2 days; both batches were good, with negligible differences. These cookies have a really unique flavor which we loved, but may not appeal to everyone. The texture was nice and chewy.

  • Jviney on June 14, 2019

    Mixed reviews on these. I made them for book club - two liked them, one didn’t finish hers, said it was too weird. The sugar crunch is delicious.

• Salted maple pie

  • nadiam1000 on July 01, 2019

    First recipe I made from this book. Delicious and less sweet than one would expect with maple syrup and brown sugar; the salt helps offset the sweetness perfectly. Like a pecan pie without the pecans (which actually might work well here) I have made the Salted Honey Pie from Four and Twenty Blackbirds and this is similar. the crust is very flaky (again, similar to the crust in FATB). I used bourbon barrel aged maple syrup which added to the depth of flavor. I was out of brown sugar so I made my own by combining the 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 T molasses. I ended up with extra filling - used a standard 9" pyrex plate and my pre-baked crust slumped a bit (my ceramic pie weights do not fill the shell completely - will be buying a couple pounds of dried beans to use next time!) I baked the extra filling alongside the pie in custard cups for about 25 minutes.

• All-butter hand pie dough

  • nadiam1000 on June 22, 2022

    excellent texture and flavor - came together easily by hand. I used it to make a full pie crust for salty maple pie as well as hand pies.

  • pattyatbryce on September 03, 2019

    So easy!!! I'm not a baker and this was very forgiving and came out great.

• Toasted marshmallow butterscotch pie

  • darcie_b on September 04, 2019

    A bit fiddly but not over the top difficult. The flavors all complement each other and the texture was terrific.

• Coffee chess pie

  • meggan on November 28, 2022

    I reduced the amount of espresso by a little because it's a lot with the cold brew. I would dissolve it next time but people seemed to like this and I ate it for breakfast.

• Brandy pecan pie

  • meggan on December 10, 2019

    A little too sweet for my business but super pecany.

• Blue-barb blossom pie

  • meggan on June 02, 2020

    I had no edible flowers and I subbed arrowroot for tapioca starch to fine result. I wasn't in love the crumble and, even though I followed directions, the blind baking did as it always does which is shlump into the pan and look terrible (but taste fine).

• Caper miso dressing

  • meggan on January 16, 2019

    I might cut back the garlic a little. I used two big cloves and they were a little much (and I love garlic).

• Two-way cauliflower and barley salad

  • meggan on January 14, 2019

    I do not like tahini so I used the caper miso vinaigrette from the same book. The recipe is good but that dressing might be a little garlicky for this recipe. My bad.

• Coconut drops

  • julesamomof2 on December 23, 2021

    Made these for the holiday cookie tray and they were delicious. Definitely for coconut lovers.

• Rhubarb blondies

  • bching on May 21, 2020

    Tasty although very sweet. The recipe calls for 4 kinds of sugar! As Anya Sf notes, it took about 35 minutes to feel set. (The recipe says 20-25). I wouldn't make this again.

  • anya_sf on September 14, 2019

    I used a bit more rhubarb and would do so again, as the tartness balances the super-sweet blondie dough and white chocolate. I substituted pecans for almonds. My rhubarb was frozen, which may have affected the baking time. The blondies only seemed "just set" after 35 minutes, although the top was still quite soft, but a toothpick came out clean, so I removed them from the oven. After cooling, the center was still too gooey for my taste, but the edge pieces were perfect (drier than I'd prefer in a regular blondie). My family loved these. Storage note: after 2 days at room temperature, they were getting quite soft from the fruit.

  • dprostrollo on July 28, 2019

    These were phenomenal. Award winning recipe... easy to put together, fantastic taste.

  • Jviney on June 25, 2019

    Tart and sweet and crunchy and delicious.

• Sunflower spelt scones

  • Lepa on May 12, 2020

    This dough was unusually easy to work with and the scones turned out well. I would sprinkle the tops with salt a bit more liberally next time. They were great with soup.

• Buckwheat, carrot, parsnip, and leek salad

  • Lepa on March 14, 2020

    This salad is so delicious and satisfying. It was spicier than I had anticipated, with the garlicky dressing and arugula. We loved the spiciness but I wanted to flag it because our kids didn't. This makes a huge salad.

  • Livia on December 16, 2020

    Used freekeh instead of the buckwheat as that is what I had and it worked really well.

• Buckwheat chocolate chip cookies

  • maestra on November 06, 2021

    I've made these twice now, and I will officially put them as one of my top three favorite ccc recipes. The coconut and coconut oil are subtle and play very well with buckwheat. I find these are best eaten out of the freezer, slightly defrosted. Don't skip the sprinkle of salt.

  • anya_sf on June 05, 2019

    I made half batch and got 12 cookies. Baking time was still 17 minutes, although it was hard to tell when they were done due to the dark color, so I may have overbaked them slightly. I had to microwave the coconut oil to soften it for mixing. The dough was one of the least appetizing I've ever seen - like wet, dirty sand. The cookies baked up crispy on the edges and soft/chewy in the middle, but with a sandy texture. The salt was a nice touch. My family enjoyed them, but I would have liked more chocolate chips. I'd make them again, although probably just as a good gluten-free option.

• Eggplant, summer squash, and lentil salad

  • lou_weez on February 05, 2019

    As I wanted an easy weeknight meal I used canned lentils and also threw in a tin of chickpeas to add bulk. The dressing is divine and this dish was greedily gobbled up by the whole family.

• Chocolate coconut pie

  • lou_weez on January 01, 2019

    OMG!!! Where do I start? Even though the recipe doesn't suggest it, I made my pastry in the food processor, which made it super easy and quick. I'm not sure what the addition of apple cider vinegar did but I ended up with a crust that was sturdy enough to withstand my haphazard hacking, yet flaky and tender to the bite. The filling and ganache topping was beyond delicious and I didn't even bother serving it with cream or ice cream. This was pie heaven.

• Apple cheddar rye hand pies

  • verorenee on October 07, 2018

    450f seems much too high for these little hand pies, or the suggested time frame is much too long. My oven runs hot so I put it down to 425 and they had completely burned by 25 minutes.

• Jasmine crème fraîche scones

  • verorenee on November 14, 2018

    I subbed in greek yogurt for the creme fraiche with success. I also blitzed the jasmine tea leaves with the sugar as I was using loose leaf tea and giant leaves aren't fun to eat in pastries. Will reduce sugar next time, as it was quite a bit sweeter than the average scone.

• Egg-on-top sweet potato and cheddar galettes

  • leighwhit25 on October 26, 2019

    The crust rolled out beautifully but I didn’t love these galettes. They came together well, the cook times were spot on, but the sum did not exceed the parts. Also the crust-flavor and amount of-was overwhelming. I’ve made many better galettes.

• Strawberry pistachio crumble pie

  • anya_sf on June 05, 2019

    The crust method was a bit awkward - specifically, cutting each piece of butter in half after they're in the bowl. Next time I'll just cut the pieces smaller prior to putting them in the bowl. I needed about 1/4 cup extra water.The crust turned out well - tender and flaky, with no soggy bottom. I only have glass pie plates, so I chilled the crust in the fridge prior to blind baking at 425, which took about 40 minutes. I skipped the egg wash on the rim - not sure what that's for, other than browning, which wasn't a problem with nearly 2 hours of baking time. The pie was not overly sweet. In hindsight, I should have added a couple of extra tablespoons of sugar to my supermarket berries, which seemed to lose sweetness upon baking. It was great with ice cream though. The crumble was delicious.

• Salted rosemary shortbread

  • anya_sf on November 22, 2020

    Simple and delicious. Definitely a cookie, but with savory notes from the rosemary and sea salt. Using a 2" fluted round cutter, I got 40 cookies, which baked in 16 minutes.

  • Melissa_427 on November 24, 2021

    Made these using a pastry stamp and one-for-one gluten free flour so I could share with a friend - a very delectable and enjoyable shortbread!

• Malted lime pie

  • anya_sf on June 28, 2019

    Blind-baking instructions worked perfectly in a metal pie pan, although the crimped edges did not retain their shape. Note that there is only enough filling for a shallow pan (mine was deep). The graham dust really did taste like graham crackers, even though I used whole wheat flour. It started to burn at the edges after 18 minutes, so watch it closely. There was way more dust than needed for the pie. The filling tasted like extra-zesty key lime pie filling. I'm not sure what the malted milk added, and surprisingly the cardamom did not come through. My family really enjoyed this pie, However, the crust, although flaky, was tough to cut through - not sure why - perhaps because this one was refrigerated overnight? In the future, I'll stick with a graham cracker crust, but would make this filling again.

• Blackberry peach coffee cake, for Jane

  • anya_sf on June 23, 2019

    I made half the recipe in an 8"x8" pan, cutting the cream cheese into 9 pieces. I used extra fruit (probably 1.5x the amount) to fully cover the top. Due to the fruit, streusel, and cream cheese, it was difficult to tell when the cake was done; I baked it 45 minutes and it seemed perfect. The cake was delicious - a perfect breakfast treat, since it's full of fruit and whole grains and isn't too sweet. Next time I would cut the cream cheese into smaller cubes to get some in every bite.

• Lemon poppy buns

  • anya_sf on June 29, 2019

    I shaped the buns the night before following the directions, except the instructions say to "remove the pan from the fridge about 1 hour before you want to serve the buns", but actually you'll need to remove them 2-2.5 hours prior to serving to allow time for proofing, baking, and cooling. 2/3 of the glaze was plenty to generously top the buns. These buns are huge! A decadent breakfast treat.

  • ChelseaP on August 08, 2022

    One word: yum!!!

• Golden oatie cookies

  • anya_sf on June 05, 2019

    I made a half batch and got 14 cookies, which baked in 15 minutes. The dough was supposed to chill overnight, but we couldn't wait, so we baked a few of the cookies after 6 hours of chilling and the rest the next day. Both batches tasted the same to us. The cookies were pretty standard (good) oatmeal raisin cookies: crispy on the edges and soft/chewy in the middle. The twist was the sprinkling of sea salt on top, which honestly I could skip.

• Double-and-by-double-I-mean-triple-chocolate cookies

  • anya_sf on February 08, 2020

    I made smaller cookies and got 16 from half a recipe. Baking time was 14 minutes. They didn't take too long to make and my son rated them 10/10.

  • Kag2020 on April 12, 2022

    Luscious, even without upscale chocolates. I’m not a fan of huge cookies so used a size 50 scoop, slightly chilled the dough, and baked for 14 minutes (thank you, anya-sf). Hard dough to manipulate but worth the exercise. A definite keeper.

• Blueberry plum balsamic pie

  • Kinhawaii on September 20, 2019

    Really loved the added balsamic vinegar. This was my first attempt at a lattice pie & their instructions really helped. Used some blackberries too since I was a little short on the blueberries, and green & dinosaur pluots instead of plums. I am partial to crumble top pies but would make this again- hopefully my lattice skills will improve. Liked their pastry recipe too.

• Buttermilk pumpkin streusel pie

  • Kinhawaii on November 26, 2019

    I really loved the streusel part. The pumpkin part was nice but I think I prefer creamier pumpkin pies - this was more for those who like less dairy. My oven usually takes longer when I try to bake at 325 degrees F, so ended up turning both parts to 350 when they looked uncooked at the maximum time. It would have been nice to have a final temperature noted for the pie because my pumpkin filling hardly changed in appearance - just puffed a tiny bit. I hope & don’t think I overcooked it but cooked it until it reached 180 degrees after looking at a Cook’s Illustrated finished temperature for a chess pie. I think I would like this best warm or at room temperature with some ice cream.

• Brown butter plum crumble pie

  • Kinhawaii on September 12, 2019

    Really liked this & will definitely make again. Used a mix of plums & pluots & only 2/3 of the crumble. I was worried that it might be too plain but I now think the crust & crumble just serve to highlight the plums. Sorry- I often forget to take a photo until there is 1 piece left-so not the most photogenic- it looks slumped in the middle but really the 7 cups of cut plums formed a slight mound & slumps just a little once cut. Juicy but no puddles of liquid. I don't have much fruit pie experience - but this was doable.

• Sweet potato, black bean, and feta hand pies

  • pattyatbryce on September 03, 2019

    Wow! This was great. Added a pinch of cayanne and a bit of extra cheese (oaxaca). Also blended it in food processor because of personal preference. So amazing and adaptable.

  • skvalentine on October 08, 2021

    These were delicious! Whole family liked them and I can see us putting them in a regular rotation.

• Ginger peach biscuit pie

  • dprostrollo on July 28, 2019

    Not wowed by this one. Cheated and used a ready-made shortcrust, which was a mistake. But even taking that into consideration, I didn’t love the peach filling. Maybe I used too much tapioca because it wasn’t a great texture. And the biscuit topping was a little bland.

• Peanut butter paprika cookies

  • dprostrollo on July 28, 2019

    These were lovely. Used sweet paprika because it’s what I had, could bump the paprika flavour a little bit but happy to leave as-is

  • Jviney on June 04, 2019

    I was skeptical - they’re delicious!

• Cream cheese, radish, and dill scones

  • Jviney on August 29, 2021

    These were so good! I thought the amount of dill called for seemed like a lot, but my CSA delivered a beautiful bunch to me, along with the radishes, and I trusted the recipe. Baked from frozen and delicious with a little salted butter. There’s a light sweetness to them. So glad to have more frozen to enjoy this fall!

• Fresh mint and lime shortbread

  • Jviney on June 03, 2019

    I like these; my husband doesn’t. They are not terribly sweet and the lime flavour perhaps overpowers the mint a bit. This is the first cookie recipe I’ve made from this book and I would try others before making this again...but points for being inventive with the recipe flavours.

• Sweet potato streusel muffins

  • skvalentine on November 19, 2022

    Pretty good! The struesel seemed a bit underdone, while the bottom of the muffin was a bit overdone-- but that could be my wacky oven. I liked the sweet potato and cream cheese combo.

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