SMiLes by Meg

Category: Bars

Salted Pretzel Brownies

There aren’t many things that can compete with S’mores when you’re trying to decide what to bring as a dessert on a camping trip. They’re a perfect dessert, sweet, salty, gooey and crunchy, plus you get to play with fire. So when I was trying to decide on a recipe to make for Erik’s colleagues this weekend, who we just spent the last few nights camping with at Cape Henlopen in Delaware, my original thought was some kind of S’mores-inspired dessert. I wanted something easy to bring with us, so it couldn’t be too fussy, and I feel like I’ve …

Small Batch Olive Oil Lemon Bars

Happy Valentine’s Day! Erik and I just finished a feast and I’m writing this as I’m about to slip into a food coma powered by Schitt’s Creek on the couch. We ordered cook at home hot pot and it was perfect – lots of delicious food, a fun thing to do. Highly recommend. If you’re in the DC area check it out – Fat Choi Hot Pot. Also in the Valentine’s Day trend, Erik has been talking about how much he loves lemon bars for weeks now, and I thought it was probably a good time to make him some. …

Small Batch Magic Bars

If you’ve known me at any point in my life, you know that a constant is my all time favorite dessert: magic bars. I’ve shared my favorite recipe for them before, and even tried some seasonal variations, but I haven’t made any since COVID started because I know myself and my complete lack of self control. If I made a full pan of magic bars, I would eat a full pan of magic bars. Then, this weekend, Alexandra sent me a recipe for a salted caramel pretzel version that looked great, and reminded me that I was really missing a …

Brookies

Continuing my small-batch kick this week with some brookies (brownie/cookie combo, for those not in the know) made in my cute little 1/8 sheet pan! We’ve been having a nice lazy stay around the house day, and these were a good little midday snack. And, even though it’s a small batch recipe, we’ve got lots of them to get us through to Thanksgiving! Speaking of, planning a Thanksgiving meal for two is strange. We’re not traveling (thanks, COVID), but will be doing virtual Thanksgiving with each of our families at various times during the day. That still leaves food for …

Danish Puff

Last week, my mom suggested I try a recipe of Grammy’s that I hadn’t tried yet – Danish Puff. My aunt sent me the recipe, confirming that it was always a treat when Grammy would make it on Sundays. I’d never heard of it, but decided to give it a go this Sunday, since we all deserve a treat to keep celebrating yesterday. I love getting recipes of Grammy’s, because they often come to me like this: No nonsense, easy to find ingredients, minimal instructions assuming you know what you’re doing in the kitchen. And at this point in my …

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

It’s a rainy day in DC today, and I’m very happy about. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the weeks on end of perfect Fall days, but sometimes you just need an excuse to curl up in cozy clothes all day, drink coffee out of your biggest mug and refuse to leave the apartment. This will be that day. Yesterday was not that day – it was mid-70s, and we had some friends over for pre-dinner roof drinks. After last week’s experiment in keeping the blog post’s baked good for ourselves all week, I was more than ready to …

Mixed Berry Crisp

Hi all. Did this post come after midnight? Maybe. Was that because I was having a great Sunday hanging out with my family? Definitely. Don’t worry – Erik informed me I still have 4 hours (ish) Alaska time before this is late. Start by combining the berries, cornstarch, brown sugar, lemon juice and salt in a medium bowl. Spread into an 8×8 pan sprayed with cooking spray. In a large bowl, stir together the oats, almonds, almond meal, brown sugar and salt. Sprinkle in the olive oil and stir until combined. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit. Bake at 375°F …

Lime Curd Bars

Happy Father’s Day! My dad likes lemon meringue pie, but I’ve made that before, so I decided to try to make something in the same family. Boston is in a heat wave (it is so hot out), and I initially wanted to make something no bake. However, when I found these, they seemed perfect – quick to make, didn’t have to buy many ingredients, and in the general family of lemon squares (but lime!). Start by making the graham cracker crust. In a medium bowl, toss together the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar until the texture of wet …

Brown Butter Blondies

Week 2 of quarantine baking and I still haven’t come up with a good word for it. “Quaranbaking”? “Sugar isolation”? Those are both so bad. If someone has already figured this out, let me know. I’m also quickly realizing that baking treats when you don’t have a kitchen to offload them into is a different experience. This week, a friend in the building requested blondies, so that’s what I made, and now they aren’t in my kitchen! If you live in the Boston area and are looking for something sweet, PLEASE let me know – I will happily make it …

Caramel Peanut Brownies

“;.////////////////////////////////////p;//” – From Elwynn, who decided to walk across my iPad when I started typing this up. He did capture how I feel about this week though – I could use another 3 weekends right now. But I think that’s just February for you. Fortunately, I did get to spend some time making something new – caramel peanut brownies! Meg Fay, one of the other second years at my firm, has a birthday this week. She requested something “chocolate and peanut butter, or chocolate and caramel” and I was able to find something that was chocolate and peanut AND caramel. …