At this moment, there are still thousands of tiny hazelnut peels scattered across my kitchen. Nobody prepared me for how messy it would be to roast and peel your hazelnuts. But is it worth it? Abso-freaking-lutely.  Roasting hazelnuts before using them in a recipe such as this one really brings out their rich, nutty flavor, and thus intensifies the delicious factor of these cookies. It also makes it easier to grind them, as the heat of the oven will crisp them up and that's exactly how we need them to be to make our hazelnut flour. I used my mini food chopper/grinder which isn't as powerful as my food processor, so my flour didn't get as fine as I had hoped for. But I actually prefer the speckled look of the hazelnut meal throughout these cookies, so no worries if the same thing happens to you.  Just be sure to stop grinding as soon as you start to see the hazelnuts bulk up- we don't want to turn it into butter!  Now I am getting ideas for future recipes with hazelnut b...

Confession: I lived in New York for 13 years and never tried a Levain Bakery cookie. How sad is that? I've even visited the city multiple times after moving and still never got a chance to experience the ultra thick, rich and chewy deliciousness that is a Levain Bakery cookie. So, when I saw this recipe on Modern Honey , I figured I would bring the bakery to me. Now, I didn't go for the all original cookie recipe because, well, little old me invested in a bulk bag of pecans and I didn't want them to go to waste. I'm actually not even a fan of nuts in desserts at all. Like ever. I won't even put walnuts in banana bread. But something told me this was going to be an outstanding combination of textures and that something was absolutely friggin' right. Of course, in the mad rush I was in to bite into these cookies, I clearly didn't let them rest on the pan long enough to properly cool and firm up. These pictures truly don't do them any ...

It appears I missed the memo about it being cookie season. Sorry, y'all! This recipe is definitely four weeks late. And I know now that we're going into January, it's time for a healthy reset for our bodies but you MUST make these before you commit to any diet plans. They are amazing. I only recently became a peppermint mocha fan, and it was thanks to these cupcakes I made last year. I still won't order a peppermint mocha at Starbucks but the flavor combo in desserts is phenomenal. I won't say no to anything chocolate or coffee flavored so what's a little peppermint to spruce things up. Side note: my death by chocolate cookies were featured in an actual printed MAGAZINE. I know, CRAZY right? You can pick up a copy at your local Barnes and Noble OR purchase the digital version here . Now although I didn't add melted chocolate to this cookie dough, the cookies were still super rich, chewy, and bursting with flavor. A hint of cornstarch is the sec...

I have a confession to make. I am a bit of an ALDI fanatic. If my friends had a penny for every time I said "you should go to ALDI!", they would be millionaries. I can't help it. Their prices can't be beat. And their seasonal items are TO DIE FOR. Cue these mini cast iron skillets. Oh.my.god. The cuteness is unbearable. I secretly sometimes wait for the prices on seasonal items to be reduced (right before they are taken off the shelves)....but I grabbed these as soon as I saw them! They are worth every penny and my recipe wheels started turning right away. Since we are right at the peak of gingerbread season, I knew y'all would appreciate these gingerbread skillet cookies. Especially if they were brown butter gingerbread skillet cookies. And I won't judge what ice cream you choose to top them with, but Talenti caramel cookie crunch is a fiiiine choice. These come together so quickly and are perfect for entertaining. My signature go-to dessert...

Happy 2018 everybody! It's been 2018 for two weeks now and I must admit, 2018 has me feeling pretty uninspired in the kitchen. Forget about baking, meal planning for the week has even been a struggle. The same meals have been in rotation for a while now and I need some new ideas! These cookies are actually one of the regulars at my house, but I decided to spruce them up a bit and share the recipe so I don't leave y'all hanging for too long without some fresh content! Now that I think about it, it's actually the perfect time to share these with you all because they're so diet-friendly since they're paleo and don't have any refined sugar. They are the ultimate guilt-free chocolate chip cookie in my opinion. The ingredients are simple and so is the process. The original recipe comes straight from the healthy baking queen herself, Monique of Ambitious Kitchen . I could not have found a more perfect cookie base to work with. Consistency wise, they are th...

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Can you believe it's almost December? 2017 seriously just flew by us. Someone make time go by slower! I know one person who is definitely excited December is almost here, and that is Kayle of the blog, The Cooking Actress . Her little man is due to arrive 2 weeks from now...and we are throwing her a virtual baby shower today! Surprise Kayle! Kayle is one of the very few food bloggers I have met in person, and the crazy thing is, we met accidentally! We both moved to Ohio in the same year but we live an hour away from each other, so the odds of us randomly bumping into each other at a grocery store were crazy slim...but it happened! We were pretty mind-blown. She is totally the sweetest girl ever and deserves the best! One look at Kayle's blog and you could probably figure out that she loves cookies. So, what better way to celebrate her than with a slew of cookie recipes! I chose these turtle thumbprint cook...

So, if I said I'm back for good this time, would you guys believe me? Because I promise, this time I'm for real! Well, I was technically for real the first time. But at that time, I was thinking that a redesign would be a fairly quick and easy process. Boy, was I wrong. It takes a lot of time, a lot of coding, a lot of trial runs, and of course, it takes a truly understanding and talented web designer. I could not have done all of this without Lisette of High Note Designs  so a huge thank you to her for making all this possible and for being so patient with me. Now, let's get to the yummy stuff! Truthfully, I haven't made something this decadent in months. I can't resist sweets. I can't JUST eat one and I can't have a piece of fruit to satisfy the craving. So, I decided, I need to not have baked goods in the house at all,  period.  But obviously now that the blog is back in business, that's going to have to change! It looks like it's tim...

So, you know how I've been saying that I'm #shreddingforthewedding. Well, that was all talk and no walk. I mean, some effort was being put in but I wasn't giving my full potential.  NOW, I'm really going hard. I am T-minus 3 months away from the big day so it's crunch time! I've decided to take on a 30-day challenge of no bread, pasta, or rice AND I'm doing an hour of cardio 5 times a week at the gym. I even tried Spinning! And because I successfully made it through one whole week, I am celebrating today with these no-bake cookies that totally meet my challenge's guidelines :-) Since we're in the middle of Girl Scout Cookie season, I figure this recipe will be beneficial to many of you who are finding it hard to resist those sweet temptations! It's better for your wallet, and better for your belly!

Soo, my #shreddingforthewedding plan isn't going so well. In fact, it's going the opposite of well. Being a food blogger is one thing, and then being in the business of cake decorating is another. I feel like I'm basically being cornered by desserts telling me to eat them. Thankfully, I made these cookies and gave them away, as part of the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap ! If you don't already know, this nationwide cookie swap is hosted by Love & Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen to raise money for pediatric cancer. Donations from the hundreds of food bloggers who participate are matched by event partners and each year, thousands and thousands of dollars are raised! It's awesome. I had plans for a different more holiday-themed cookie but I succumbed to my deep love for chocolate and made these babies. They are SO good. They taste almost like brownies and they melt in your mouth.  Do yourself a favor and DON'T make these cookies if you are dietin...

Is it really December already? I feel like pumpkin season just started yesterday. Then again, I was basically MIA the whole month of November, so that's probably why I feel that way. I'm totally ready to jump into gingerbread season though. I've got so many gingerbread-y ideas cooking up in my brain, you have no idea. But first, let's kick things off with our classic gingerbread cookie. Soft, chewy, ginger-y and wait...there's no gluten? Oh yeah. I totally made this classic cookie gluten-free and with one simple step. I switched out all-purpose flour with Bob's Red Mill   Gluten-Free 1-to-1 baking flour. With this flour, you don't have to add any other specialty ingredients; the flour is perfectly formulated all on it's own to be substituted for the same amount of flour any of your recipes call for. The blend itself is made out of ground brown rice flour, sweet white rice flour, whole grain sorghum flour, potato starch, and tapioca fl...

I guess I'll just go ahead and address the elephant in the room. Yes, there are only two pictures of this recipe today. It's not a loading error. It's a I was racing against time sort of thing. You know how right before sunset, the sky starts doing all sorts of weird things? Well, when you're taking pictures during that time, every picture ends up with different lighting. And that is every food blogger's worst nightmare. Thankfully, two pictures managed to survive this debacle because I would have cried had I not been able to share these with you today. They are that good. They're essentially THE cookie to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall because they combine both pumpkin AND s'mores. I know, even I surprise myself with the genius ideas I have sometimes.