Carrot Cake
I've never made carrot cake before, but Simran and I love carrot cake, so I'm planning to make this one next Friday. The high number of positive reviews indicates it's probably a pretty reliable recipe, which is generally how I choose recipes.
Sourdough Bread
This is the recipe I'm currently using to make sourdough bread. My starter is on day two of five, so I can't vouch for any of this yet personally, but I have high hopes.
Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies
Simran and I made these yesterday. They're my go-to chocolate chip cookie because 1) they are delicious, and 2) the inclusion of peanut butter and oats makes them feel easier on my sugar-sensitive body than more buttery, sugary cookies often do. Note: The recipe calls for old-fashioned rolled oats, but they are a better texture if you use quick cooking oats or run old-fashioned rolled oats through a food processor until they are a little bit chopped up (i.e., hit the "pulse" button like 4-6 times).
Blueberry Muffins
One of my two favorite muffin recipes.
Mocha Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
My other favorite muffin recipe.
Cinnamon Rolls
The mistake I've made before on these (because I've made them many times) is lining my pan with aluminum foil, preventing the surface from getting hot enough to cook the rolls through. Don't do that. The part of the pan the rolls sits on needs to be very very hot so you don't end up with doughy rolls. Also, it's better to err on the side of using too large a pan rather than too small, again so you don't end up with doughy rolls. I also increase the icing by 50% because I'm an adult and no one can stop me.
Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread
This is my favorite quick bread recipe. You can replace up to half the oil with applesauce and replace up to half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour (not normal whole wheat flour -- the pastry part is important for the right texture) if you want to make it a bit healthier without affecting the taste.
Buttermilk Cornbread
I grew up with Jiffy Mix cornbread, which was pretty dry and crumbly, at least at my house. By contrast, this recipe is for a moist, cakey cornbread. Good enough to eat plain, but if you put butter and honey on it (something I got from trying to recreate the experience of eating at Tippins, though in retrospect, I think they just used honey butter there), it's basically a dessert.
Gingerbread Cookies
This is probably my all-time favorite cookie. I also used this recipe to make the walls and roof of a gingerbread house, which turned out much better than anticipated. I increase the spices and sometimes add cream cheese frosting in place of royal icing, but I have never written down my exact changes so I would advise making these according to the original recipe.
French Bread
I'm going to be making this bread this week for making po'boy sandwiches. It's just a basic baguette and great for a variety of sandwiches. I haven't bought eggs in ages, so I'm planning to try out aquafaba (which apparently just means the cooking liquid from chickpeas or the liquid from a can of chickpeas) in place of egg wash. I've also made this without egg wash at all and it's fine, but I did miss the golden sheen a finishing egg wash adds to the crust.
Cheddar Bay Biscuits
A rip off of the biscuits from Red Lobster. I made these because Sameer wanted to try them but had no other reason to visit a Red Lobster.
Cheese Herb Rolls
If you eat these warm from the oven with a pat of butter, they are the best thing ever. They are good later, but they are EXCEPTIONAL warm from the oven.
Pretzel Bread
I'm making pretzel rolls this week to use as sandwich and burger buns.
Scones
I usually omit the raisins and add Craisins and white chocolate chips. Some people have feelings about whether you use salted or unsalted butter (salted yields a cakier scone, while unsalted is flakier) but I've had both turn out fine and use whatever I have. It helps to freeze the butter and then grate it or food process it, or cut it into a tiny cubes and then freeze it for at least fifteen minutes before adding it to the dough. It keeps it from melting while you mix, which is important for the right texture, like with puff pastry.
Chocolate Cake
My go-to chocolate cake.
Black Magic Cake
A rich, mocha sort of cake that I personally like even better than my go-to chocolate cake.
French Macarons
If you want to try something really labor intensive and a bit temperamental, these are great. I rarely make them because they take an enormous amount of sifting and whipping and sitting. The only reason I even bother making them is because they are better than any macarons I've ever had from elsewhere, which had a lot less flavor probably because they were older than mine. Some people say you should let the flavors meld for a day before eating them, but I have found this to be a lie. They are good as fresh as possible. Like tiny clouds made of almonds and sugar. Before making them for the first time, I also watched a video on YouTube to see what the egg whites should look like and how to pipe the batter and what the cookies should look like before they go in the oven (they should have a little bit of a sheen to them from sitting out for a few minutes -- I don't remember which video I watched, but there are tons of videos on making macarons, some from professional chefs) because there is a bit of technique involved. I also totally use a food scale so I can measure by weight for these instead of volume. Not sure how vital that is because I've never done it without.
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