SMiLes by Meg

Brioche

I feel like I’ve been holding out on you. The past couple of months, I’ve been making a LOT of sourdough bread, using a recipe I haven’t posted here. It’s perfect and easy and we don’t buy bread anymore (except when I’m too busy to bake bread and we find our bread box empty mid week). But this will not be the week I share that recipe. Instead, I’m sharing a different sourdough recipe from the same book – one for sourdough brioche. This bread doesn’t taste sour or anything. Sourdough starter just serves as the leavening agent. It tastes

Magic Shell

Remember that time I said the busier I was at work the more complex my baking projects? There’s a limit to that, and I found it this week, so instead I’m sharing a very simple (very satisfying) recipe with you. As a kid, I remember loving Magic Shell. Erik didn’t know what it was when I asked him if he remembered it, and Madison remembered it at Dairy Queen but not as a store bought treat. I remember going to A&P and begging to get a bottle from the ice cream aisle, right next to the sprinkles I obviously also

Fudge Stripe Cookies

This week’s recipe is courtesy of Marj, who sent me a very exciting housewarming gift – the BraveTart cookbook! This book is so fun. It’s full of homemade versions of classic desserts you definitely grew up eating, and it’s making me want to redo many recipes on my blog, where I had tried to do the same based on recipes on the internet. So don’t be surprised if you see a new version of Nutter Butters or Oreos or Rice Krispies in the coming weeks. But to start, I went with a cookie that I always considered a treat when

Buttermilk Ice Cream

I’m having just the most lovely weekend. Our new apartment is starting to feel slightly more put together. I went for a long walk in my new neighborhood yesterday. Today I’ve been sitting on my balcony reading a book most of the day. I’ve cooked a bunch of good food for the week. Things are looking up! And maybe I have just slightly too much time on my hands, as evidenced by this week’s recipe. On Wednesday I was really craving ice cream. When I’m slammed at work, my response to that is to go to an ice cream shop

Homemade Pocky

I saw these on the New York Times cookie spread and knew I had to make them. I love pocky, and can never eat just a few. They’re crispy, chocolate, and are cookies, so there’s not much not to like. The best part? These ones are easy. They don’t actually make good cookie tin cookies (they break kind of easily and therefore shouldn’t be packed with lots of other cookies, but I think they’d look great out on a platter for dessert at one of the eighteen holiday parties you’re probably going to this week. In my cookie marathon weekend,

Triple Chocolate Cookies

This is it. It’s cookie baking weekend. And it has been a GREAT cookie baking weekend. I made my standards (Sugar Cookies and Gingerbread Men), but also made some new ones. This week I’m sharing with you the triple chocolate cookies, because they should 100% be the cookie you bring to parties for the next couple weeks. I also made some crystallized ginger sugar cookies and homemade pocky, but you’ll hear more about those later. Other than baking cookies, I surprisingly fit a lot in. My mom and I went to a craft fair, and then had wine and cheese

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

This week’s recipe was a request from Madison, and I am so glad she thought of it. Though I was a little late to the pumpkin game this year, Madison is a HUGE pumpkin fan, and thought that there must be a way to make cinnamon rolls pumpkin. She was right, and these are them, and you need them next Sunday morning when you’re looking for something a little sweet and very Fall for breakfast. Start by heating the butter and milk over low heat just until the butter melts. Set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle

Homemade Reese’s Cups

My Instagram followers were very excited about this recipe, so I wanted to get it up early enough in your Sunday that you would still have time to make them before the weekend was over! Also, if you don’t follow me on Instagram, but are interested in sneak peeks of what I’m making and gratuitous pictures of my cat sitting at the counter, you can find me as @smilesbymeg. Basically this came about through some mindless scrolling of my NY Times Cooking app, which I was really on to find a dinner recipe (I settled on pumpkin coconut curry). Then

Whopper Cookies

This recipe comes from a text Erik sent me (probably a month ago) saying that I HAD to make these cookies and how good they were. Well, he’ll be here in 3 days, and he wasn’t wrong – I just hope there’s still some left when he gets here! First, melt some butter. And by some, I mean quite a bit. Next, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, and brown sugar until no lumps remain. Add the eggs and vanilla extract

Olive Oil Ice Cream

A realistic snapshot into my life: It’s Thursday at 10:32pm. I’m sitting on my bed, having just finished up (kind of) work for the day. I’m doing laundry because I realized too late that I didn’t have any clothes to pack for a trip to Philly. I fly out tomorrow morning at 6:45am. I can’t finish packing until my laundry is done. But at least I’ve already made ice cream! When I told my mom I was making olive oil ice cream this week, she said, “That is the most disgusting thing you have ever said to me.” My roommate,