Warning: This is not your father’s kringle. Or your grandma’s.

It’s not the kringle you’d buy in Copenhagen. Or in Racine, Wisconsin, home of Racine Danish Kringles – “Always the best.” Check out their 28 flavors at kringle.com.

THIS kringle is beyond decadent, a dense, moist pastry base covered with flaky layers of buttery dough, topped with a thick ooze of caramel, a heavy layer of toasted pecans, and drizzled with rich, thick icing.

This is MY kringle story, and I’m sticking to it. (more…)

So what’s up with this enormous baking sheet of unbaked chocolate chip cookies?

“Surely you’re not going to bake them like THAT,” you say.

You’re right. I’m not going to bake them like THAT. (more…)

To: The United States Department of Agriculture.

From: America’s Holiday Bakers.

Re: The Food Pyramid.

Dear Ag Folks: We know, we know. Whole grains, plus fruits and veggies, should form the solid (and often stolid) base of our daily diet. Meat, fish, dairy, and seeds & nuts should be seen as complementary, not main-course.

But what’s up with the pointy little tip-top of the pyramid? Crowded into a tiny triangle – with an ominous notation to “use sparingly,” instead of a number of daily servings – are two of the holiday bakers’ best friends: sweets, and fats.

Be sensible, now. Do you REALLY expect us to be good doobies and use sugar and butter “sparingly” from now till New Year’s?

Because I’ve got news for you, Pyramid Police – I’m about to throw all dietary caution to the winds. (more…)

Linzer cookies are for many of us the type of cookie we would buy in a bakery, but never think we could make at home. Often-tiny treats with impossibly small and delicate looking cut-outs, and a drifted dusting of confectioners’ sugar that miraculously never touches the jam filling, these can be intimidating cookies to look at. Have faith, dear reader, for I am here to tell you that the lovely linzer is within your reach.

(more…)

Chocolate, it’s time for you to take a break. You’ve been hogging the spotlight for weeks now. Even your biggest fans are becoming a bit jaded. So move to the back of the line, OK?

Gingerrrrrrrrrrrr… come on down!

If ever there’s a time for sweetSPICYhot ginger, in all its myriad incarnations, this is it. The fresh scent of balsam and the prickle of snow on your cheeks, overlaid with warm kitchen aromas of gingerbread cookies and eggnog, signal that the end-of-year holidays are upon us. (more…)

Psst! Here’s a quick-and-easy dessert for the Thanksgiving groaning board. And, since it’s served right from the pan it’s baked in, it’s incredibly easy to wrap and take to wherever your moveable feast is being held this year.

We posted a blog on a berry-topped cake back in September. Now that Thanksgiving is upon us, it’s time to take that same recipe and substitute fresh cranberries for the raspberries.

Take a look at our recipe for Late Summer Berry Torte. Make the following changes, and Bob’s your uncle: Thanksgiving Cranberry Cake.

Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 8″ round pan. Top with 2 cups fresh cranberries. Sprinkle the cranberries with 1/3 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons coarse sparkling sugar; or with 1/2 cup granulated sugar.

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes, until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and serve warm – as is, or topped with ice cream or whipped cream.

Bookmark this blog, and let the Thanksgiving countdown continue!

Whoa! It’s not even Thanksgiving, and the parade of holiday goodies has begun. The eggnog French toast. The chocolate-dipped vanilla cookies. And that butter-pecan kringle…

It may be time to add something a bit less disastrous to your dessert diet. (more…)

“Help!”

That was the cry coming from my colleagues on King Arthur’s merchandising team yesterday.

“We love these little bakers, but they’re only online, not in the catalogue; and no one is SEEING them! Could you…?”

“Do a blog?” I finished the sentence for them. “Well, you KNOW I’m not one of those fussy bakers. Ummm…” (more…)

Chocolate lovers rejoice – this one is SO for you.

Feast your eyes on these cookies. See the chunks underneath that thin skin of satiny chocolate cookie? Break one of these babies open, and you’re met with pure chocolate bliss.

Chocolate chips. Or chocolate chunks.

Or our new chocolate-coffee chunks, semisweet chocolate mixed with finely ground coffee, which gives this confection a compelling, super-light crunchiness.

Coffee chunks are my new best friend in the kitchen. And a perfect excuse to make these cookies. (more…)

What’s the ONE thing you simply have to bake for Thanksgiving every year?

You know, your signature dish; the pumpkin pie, or cranberry bread, or even the stuffing that everyone demands of you. You might get tired of making it – but show up at your brother-in-law’s without it, and I tell you, Mr. Man, you’re in deep… trouble. (more…)