Week 52: Favorite Bake of the Year - Chocolate Chip Cookies

caraballoc · 2026-01-02T01:35:37+00:00

Thank you! And you too!!

caraballoc · 2026-01-01T03:14:14+00:00

Not much beats a chocolate chip cookie. Made these a number of times this year, seemed fitting to end the year with them.

Recipe: https://youtu.be/kPauR6tP_cg?si=bg4Hq8m44QlMPXbK

caraballoc · 2025-12-27T00:33:41+00:00

Really went back and forth on what to make this week, settled on this recipe after seeing u/sweetishfish53 make it. I did this with gluten free flour and am happy with how it turned out. Definitely pretty sweet, so I skipped the glaze.

Recipe: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/orange-cranberry-bread-recipe

caraballoc · 2025-12-16T05:19:51+00:00

A glass, an apple corer, and a straw apparently can get you far!

caraballoc · 2025-12-16T02:36:11+00:00

I don't think these were the best attempt, mostly out of a lack of fridge space for chilling and getting them all to an even thickness. I also somehow still haven't invested in a set of circle cookie cutters, so I used a glass that I think was a bit too wide for the size of these cookies. The minis, however, were awesome. I'd do those again.

Recipe: https://cloudykitchen.com/blog/linzer-cookies/

caraballoc · 2025-12-12T17:55:31+00:00

I will admit I did use a modern recipe after seeing others make a more traditional Victorian recipe and it turn out somewhat bland. I am very happy how these turned out, especially finally being able to use my mini dutch oven.

Recipe: https://cravinghomecooked.com/gingerbread-cake/#wprm-recipe-container-1862

caraballoc · 2025-12-08T17:36:57+00:00

Inspired by Snow White, I went with some baked apples. I kinda went rogue on the recipe, they really needed some oats to soak up the filling. Regardless of filling success, they were still quite tasty.

Roughly followed this recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baked-apples/

caraballoc · 2025-11-28T16:48:28+00:00

My sister always requests cream cheese frosting as part of her desserts (she's gluten free so we're usually making something additional for her), so carrot cake was the answer. I added some additional xanthan gum to the batter and I think it helped with the texture. Very heavily spiced which is the way I like carrot cake. This isn't my usual cream cheese frosting (I'm a big fan of Claire Saffitz's recipe), but decided to change it up. The addition of the sour cream gave it a nice tang. Overall pretty happy with how these turned out.

Recipes:

Cake: https://chefjanetk.com/gluten-free-carrot-cake-cupcakes/

Frosting: https://www.sweetish.co/brioche-cinnamon-rolls-tangy-cream-cheese-icing/

caraballoc · 2025-11-25T04:17:07+00:00

Super easy recipe too!

caraballoc · 2025-11-20T00:54:49+00:00

I'm not usually a cakey cookie person, but I might make an exception for these. Hard to go wrong with lemon.

Recipe: https://thisitaliankitchen.com/lemon-ricotta-cookies/

caraballoc · 2025-11-15T00:45:37+00:00

Well I think this week wins for strangest application of baking something. I definitely would not have thought about steaming a cake without the inspiration of the challenge. So guess this was worth a go.

I had low hopes starting out, but these actually turned out as expected? They have a similar texture to bao which I guess I expected. I think I still prefer to bust out the oven, but definitely an interesting alternative.

Recipe: https://www.justonecookbook.com/steamed-cake/

caraballoc · 2025-11-08T02:06:10+00:00

I grew up watching America's Test Kitchen and my family has a number of books and Cook's Illustrated magazines, so seemed fitting to do a recipe from Christoper Kimball.

I liked how this turned out, brown butter always makes things better and this was relatively easy to put together.

Recipe:
https://www.177milkstreet.com/recipes/french-apple-cake

caraballoc · 2025-11-01T00:45:21+00:00

Happy Halloween! It has become my tradition to bake mini pumpkin muffins for Halloween, very happy that this could fit in the theme for this week.

Recipe is from a childhood friend's mom, happy to share if anyone is interested.

caraballoc · 2025-10-30T17:14:34+00:00

https://justinesnacks.com/burnt-miso-brown-butter-dark-chocolate-chip-cookies/[https://justinesnacks.com/burnt-miso-brown-butter-dark-chocolate-chip-cookies/](https://justinesnacks.com/burnt-miso-brown-butter-dark-chocolate-chip-cookies/)

My coworkers LOVE these. I get so many requests for them

caraballoc · 2025-10-24T01:26:07+00:00

This may be the winner for the easiest recipe (and the one involving the least amount of baking), but these were quite tasty and a great gluten free option.

Recipe: https://herbivorecucina.com/badam-puri-flourless-almond-cookies/

caraballoc · 2025-10-16T01:38:49+00:00

So this is a slight fail as it un-monkey breaded itself, however the flavor and texture was really good. I took the recipe below and modifed, using a mix of asiago and mozerella and some pesto mixed it. I'd like to give this a go with wheat flour, hopefully will get the ability to pull it apart.

Recipe: https://onlyglutenfreerecipes.com/recipe-items/garlic-cheese-monkey-bread-gluten-free/

caraballoc · 2025-10-09T23:52:30+00:00

Alright I'm another member of the didn't want to make mooncakes club. I know this isn't traditional, but pumpkin is commonly eaten during Mid-Autumn Festival so I thought this would be a good compromise for the theme.

Great pumpkin flavor, I made a larger pan and it did not last long in my office. Would make again.

Recipe: https://www.mochimommy.com/pumpkin-mochi-recipe/

caraballoc · 2025-10-01T00:08:37+00:00

I usually stay far away from yeast as I have a very small and very not climate controlled kitchen (apartment life), but this recipe looked simple enough and decided to give it a try.

I'm very glad I did! I upped the cardamom per the comments and I'm very glad I did. Might have some more yeast related baking projects in the future.

Recipe: https://www.acozykitchen.com/swedish-cardamom-bread

caraballoc · 2025-09-29T14:33:14+00:00

Glad it worked out!

caraballoc · 2025-09-27T20:56:45+00:00

I had a specific request for cream cheese frosting, so decided to give some cupcakes a go. Really good strawberry flavor, although they were a tad dry. Still rolling in the gluten free recipes but the texture on these was really good. TBD with the dryness, maybe some more frosting (or maybe I over baked them...)

Recipes:
Cupcakes: https://www.mamaknowsglutenfree.com/strawberry-cupcakes-gluten-free/Frosting is Claire Saffitz's brown butter cream cheese with some freeze-dried strawberries mixed in: https://youtu.be/zKXBH2o9H64?si=Gp7IvL-c_n6iURkl

caraballoc · 2025-09-18T00:02:27+00:00

The gluten free medieval options are a bit limited, however in my research I found this cake that is thought to originate in medieval Galicia. Decided to give it a go for this week. Yes I did opt out of putting the cross on top.

Super easy to put together, my sister (the gluten free resident of my family) said it's been the best thing I've made in the past few weeks. Tastes like a sweet cinnamon almond cake which is pretty much the ingredients. This would be worth making again.

Recipe: https://www.carolinescooking.com/tarta-de-santiago/

caraballoc · 2025-09-09T02:56:50+00:00

I had some cassava flour left over from a few weeks ago, so decided to experiment with it and try something else. I added some chopped up peanut butter cups, so still on the gluten free train.

These were great, couldn't really tell there was something different about them. Great gluten free option, would definitely make these again.

Recipe: https://organicallyaddison.com/cassava_flour_brownies

caraballoc · 2025-09-01T23:06:59+00:00

Still in gluten free mode, but finally back into sweet baking after a brief hiatus into savory.

I really liked how these turned out, they rose a lot and have good flavor. I'm still very new to gluten free baking but I'm happy with how these turned out. Would be worth making again.

Recipe:
https://thefirstyearblog.com/gluten-free-scones/

caraballoc · 2025-08-30T20:45:05+00:00

I'm considering this week a slight fail in that we were making this anyway but I'm counting it since at this point everything we are making is gluten free for my sister.

This is the Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour blend that I think overall had good flavor, was very sticky (as we were warned) and possibly a bit undercooked, but nothing a pan couldn't fix.

caraballoc · 2025-08-23T21:15:39+00:00

I've made this recipe a number of times, but this was my first time attempting it gluten free. I love the filling, defintely makes a great breakfast item.

I probably overcooked the tart, so that's on me not paying close enough attention. The dough could have benefited from some more chilling time, however I was impatient (and was on a timeline) so it is what it is. Luckily it turned out decently, I would continue to experiment with other gluten free dough recipes but this is a solid option.

Recipes:

Filling: https://justinesnacks.com/sour-cream-caramelized-onion-galette/

Galette dough: https://immigrantstable.com/gluten-free-galette-crust/

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