What? ANOTHER pizza recipe?!

Hey, pizza is like chocolate layer cake, Chinese food, and macaroni and cheese: you can eat it your whole life, and somehow never get tired of it.

Still, variations on the theme are always welcome. And Pizza Sfincioni, with its thick layer of crunchy bread crumbs on top, is unusual indeed. read the rest of this entry »

From our kitchen to yours – happy holidays, and here’s to a bright and beautiful 2010!

Best wishes (and thank you) from your fellow bakers at King Arthur Flour.

From chestnuts roasting on an open fire to dreaming by the fire in a winter wonderland, the holiday season is filled with references to crackling warm fires and the comfort that they bring to young and old alike. So, how did the traditional (and necessary!) fires of winter come to be represented by a cake? Let’s find out… read the rest of this entry »

December 21, the official start of winter, is the shortest day of the year – the winter solstice. And for those of us up North, this means a scant 10 hours of weak daylight – and over 14 hours of darkness.

It’s no wonder that northern Europeans used to gather on December 21 and burn bonfires all night long, imploring the sun to return. In Scotland, the tradition was enhanced with the addition of oat shortbread – baked in a round, and notched around the edge to resemble the sun’s rays.

The buttery shortbread we serve these days is a far cry from that original oatcake. But it’s still just about the simplest cookie you can make: flour, butter, and sugar, enhanced with a touch of salt, maybe vanilla. That’s your basic shortbread. read the rest of this entry »

Ah, Christmas! The day so many of us have been preparing for lo, these many weeks. Now, believe it or not, it’s just 7 days away.

Do YOU have your Christmas breakfast strategy planned yet?

I mean, we’re talking a Big Issue here: how to enjoy Christmas with your family – the tree, the music, the kids’ explosive excitement – and still ensure everyone gets something yummy in the tummy before happy turns to cranky (as it’s wont to do, when breakfast is late).

Cornflakes? Too commonplace. An elaborate sitdown? Itchy kids can’t sit.

The solution? Make ahead, bake in the morning. read the rest of this entry »

Looking for a cookie that travels well? One that stays fresh for weeks, stands up to the rough-and-tumble of a UPS warehouse, and happily makes a cross-country (or transcontinental) journey without crumbling?

You’ve found it.

Biscotti are my favorite pack-and-send cookie, whether I want to surprise my mom in Florida, or treat my buddies in Maine.

Or my virtual friends in Australia. Or my in-laws right next door in Massachusetts – who over the years have been the beneficiary of many a test-kitchen goodie, including all manner of biscotti.

In casting around for a different biscotti flavor, one I hadn’t made in awhile, I found my thoughts drifting to cookbooks. My go-to source for recipes these days is the Internet. But before there was Google, there was Good Maine Food… read the rest of this entry »

Cake, cookies, fruitcake, chocolate, sweet sweet SWEET!

Let’s face it, the holidays are totally about sugar. If you’re not building a candy-laden gingerbread house or baking fancy iced cookies for a cookie exchange, you’re probably making chocolate truffles and buttercrunch to go in the goodie bags you’ll hand out to friends and neighbors.

Maybe you love every second of it, starting with the October fruitcakes, and finishing up with those Santa cookies you make with the kids on Christmas Eve day.

Or maybe, after cramming all the holiday baking into one carb-filled weekend marathon, you never want to look a cup of sugar in the eye again.

Are you there – just about ready to go over that super-sweet edge? This cheesy recipe’s for you. read the rest of this entry »

“Go nuts, MaryJane? I’m already going nuts trying to get everything done!”

Does this sound familiar to you during this busy time of year? Don’t worry, I hear ya! Between talking on the King Arthur baker’s hotline, teaching cookie decorating at our Baking Education Center, and blogging, work is pretty full right now.

Add to that my daughter Shannon’s birthday 6 days before Christmas (brilliant planning on my part… not), and finishing up gift giving for the holidays, sure, things can definitely feel a little nuts along the way. BUT, nuts can also be your saving grace for sweet, spicy, delicious last-minute gifts this year. Curious yet? Read on…

read the rest of this entry »

Sometime around August, we were planning our holiday email schedule.

Tracy:  What should we email on Friday, December 11?  It’s right after our free shipping offer, so maybe a 3-recipes campaign?

Me:  That’s the first night of Hanukkah!

PJ:  (silence)

We all understand the silence… none of us can forget the famous flourless chocolate cake that she blogged for Passover, or the No-Knead Challah for Rosh Hashanah. PJ, born and raised Catholic, has  eagerly researched traditional Jewish holiday foods for our blog.  But try as she may, there’s always something that’s not “kosher.”  So, this time I volunteered – after all, I’m Jewish, and I’m the one who’s always requesting these recipes. read the rest of this entry »

C’mon, admit it. You KNOW it wouldn’t be December without candied red cherries.

Never mind those icky green ones. I mean, where did THAT idea ever come from, that translucent, kelly-green cherries would be something you’d willingly put in your mouth?

As any self-respecting 4-year-old would say: EWWWWWWW. read the rest of this entry »