SMiLes by Meg

Salted Chocolate Caramel Tart

Alexandra always gets me to make the most fun things. Last year, I made one of the things I’m most proud of – a Rainbow Explosion Cake. This year, even though we aren’t in the office, I promised another birthday treat and the request was “something with chocolate and caramel.” So here’s a chocolate caramel tart! Start by making the crust. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, confectioners sugar and cocoa until smooth. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until creamy. Add the flour and beat until dough comes together. Press

S’mores Blondies

November might be a weird time to make s’mores-themed things, but I think campfires carry into the fall. Also, my running offer is that any first year (or I guess we’re now second years?) in the corporate group at work can request whatever they want for their birthday. Taylor wanted something s’mores, and these blondies looked like the best way to accomplish that. Start by pulsing the graham crackers in a food processor until they are finely ground. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and pulse a couple more times to combine. In a stand mixer fitted with the

Honeycomb and Chocolate Cookie Cake

So this weekend was a baking adventure x 100. I was out in Duxbury, hanging out with all of Team Muncey, and gave my mom the task of picking the dessert I should make for a dinner party we were hosting. She pulled out the Farmhouse Cookbook, which I like a lot, and picked the honeycomb and chocolate cookie cake, which I’ve had my eye on for awhile, so obviously I agreed immediately. My mom went out to buy ingredients, and when she came back, I started the process. And then I stopped, because she “didn’t even think we might

Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies

Happy Christmas Cookie Season! Every year, I dedicate one weekend to spending all of my time in the kitchen baking at least 5 varieties of cookies to put in tins and give out to friends and families. This year, that weekend will be next weekend, but when my roommate and I decided to host a Gingerbread House Party this weekend, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to get a head start. Because I’ve already posted my gingerbread cookies, which I was using for my house base, I decided to throw a new variety of cookie in the mix: salted chocolate

Peanut Butter Brownies

When I first started this blog, I think I envisioned myself making a lot more brownies than I actually do. In creating categories for my recipes, I apparently didn’t think “Bar Cookies” was specific enough, and made a whole separate category for “Brownies.” But now I have 23 recipes under Bars and only 11 under Brownies. Let this recipe be a first attempt at remedying this situation.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cookies

I’m usually pretty wary of gluten free recipes that seem to be making odd substitutions, or just eliminating flour and thinking the baked good will come out the same. If they don’t do that, they require weird ingredients (has anyone ever actually found xanthan gum?) before they’ll reach a kind of close-to-right consistency.

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Brownies

I think this is the first time I’ve been home in Duxbury without a deadline in a very long time. I’ve got two weeks until my summer internship starts, and literally nothing required of me between now and then. I plan on reading, playing through all of my TSwift piano books, and, of course, baking delicious things in my mom’s nice big kitchen.

Chocolate Pistachio Cookies

Fact: baking with friends makes Saturday afternoons infinitely more fun. Shout out to the wonderful Laura Bakst for indulging me in my last minute plea for company while I was pretending not to have real responsibilities.

Beer Profiteroles

Super Bowl can be a tricky thing to bake for. It’s a day of gluttony, with more warm, cheesy appetizers, heavy sports food, and beer than you actually want to consume in one sitting, but you do anyways because it’s always placed directly in front of the TV you can’t walk away from.

Dark Chocolate Truffles

Baking is amazingly therapeutic. If I’m stressed out, it calms me down. If I’m upset, it cheers me up. If I need some time with friends, it has a way of bringing them together. I can tailor the recipes I choose to the mood I’m in. Day already going pretty well? A short recipe with a quick result makes it even better. Day going pretty rough? I turn to something more involved that I can get lost in.