SMiLes by Meg

Category: Snacks

Coconut Popsicles

Guys, I don’t know if I’m ready for DC summer. It’s June 6 (the official kickoff of my birthday week) and over 90° out. It’s already too hot for me. So I obviously wanted to make popsicles this weekend. And the popsicles I wanted to make were cucumber elderflower tequila popsicles, because that sounded like the most refreshing thing I could have in this weather. Unfortunately, no one sells elderflower syrup around here, or at least I couldn’t get my hands on any fast enough to make popsicles this weekend. I have now ordered some on amazon, but that means …

Strawberry Lime Black Pepper Popsicles

Get ready. This blog is about to become very popsicle-focused. Also, more importantly, Happy Mother’s Day! Mom, when you come down to visit, I promise to have perfected a coconut version of these. Last week I saw popsicle molds at Whole Foods and, in possibly my best impulse buy of the current phase of the pandemic, decided I needed them. I like cold desserts for the summer, but ice cream is kind of fussy, mostly because of how many egg yolks it takes. Popsicles, however, are quick, require no egg yolks, and even get Erik approval (since they’re basically frozen …

Blueberry Cream Cheese Breakfast Buns

We had a very full weekend, and I’m very tired. We spent a lot of time biking around, in the sun, generally enjoying the outdoors, which means I’m sunburnt and ready to go to bed early. But also means I had so much fun, and there’s lots more to come – we’ve got camping trips planned for the next two weekends! So for baking, I was kind of craving some kind of breakfast sweet all weekend. I thought about making pancakes, but then realized this was a blog opportunity, and ended up pulling out my Magnolia Bakery cookbook to see …

Blackberry Lime Muffins

I really intended to make a pie today. It’s Pi Day, and it’s a Sunday, and Erik has been patiently waiting for me to make him a pie for six months. But then I remembered the important part about pie – you need to let the dough chill, preferably overnight, which wasn’t going to happen when I started looking at recipes at 1pm this afternoon. The plan had been blackberry pie, so instead I made blackberry muffins. These were quick, made a little more interesting with some lime zest, and will hopefully be a good breakfast/snack/treat for the week. Start …

Buttered Marshmallows

This is the last recipe from my cookie boxes! And just in time, honestly – I’m finally back to the point where I miss baking and want to try to make something fun again. Maybe some mini Bundt cakes? Gruyere thyme crackers? The peanut butter miso cookies I’ve been meaning to make for months? The possibilities are endless! These may seem like a weird concept (buttered marshmallows), but hear me out. I made marshmallows before, and became obsessed with homemade marshmallows. These ones are a bit different. Less gelatin, no cornstarch, more vanilla, and butter. The result is a unique …

Pecan Sticky Buns

Sundays are a lot better when they start with brunch treats. And today started with some pretty awesome ones – Pecan Sticky Buns. I’ve had my eye on this recipe from Hummingbird High for awhile. She calls them small-batch, though, which is what drew me to them. The idea of being able to make just a few pastries for me and Erik was appealing, mostly so I didn’t end up eating sticky buns for breakfast all week. However, I think calling these small-batch is misleading. I thought I was going to get to use my cute little 1/8-size baking sheet, …

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 …

North End Cannoli

Friends, another chapter of SMiLes by Meg is coming to an end – this is my last weekend in Boston! Tomorrow I move down to Washington, D.C., with a new kitchen and a new bakery scene to explore. Obviously, if I’m moving tomorrow, my kitchen is very much packed up already. And I didn’t think that just using a spare recipe would be a good way to mark my last weekend here (also, I didn’t have a spare recipe…) So, this week, I convinced Madison and my Mom to help me out with something a little different – a taste …

Vanilla Pudding

Long distance is tough. With Erik in Alaska, and neither of us able to travel since COVID started, it’s been extra tough. Sometimes I’ll mail treats up his way (he got last week’s lavender shortbread cookies), but most of the time I’m making things that don’t exactly ship well (let me know if you have a good way to ship strawberry sorbet – he definitely wanted to try that one). So this week, when I off-handedly asked him what I should make, and he suggested pudding, it felt like a way to kind of have him around while I was …

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 …