From James's kitchen

Recipes

Tested, annotated, and worth returning to. Browse dependable recipes for everyday cooking, relaxed weekends, and occasions worth sharing.

Baking · 224 recipes

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Snickerdoodles 2 jpg193

Classic Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles are a New England favorite, but the exact origin of the cookie seems to be a mystery. The Joy of Cooking claims that Snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and that the name is a corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln, which mea…

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Pb muffins final195

Moist and Tender Peanut Butter Muffins

My sister called me raving about these muffins that she had found in the Williams-Sonoma “Muffins and Quick Breads” book, so i was excited to test the recipe. They’re not overly sweet and have a nice delicate peanut butter flavor. They’d be great served wit…

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Strawberry poke cake198

Strawberry Poke Cake

Poke Cake was created by Jell-O in 1969 to help increase sales of their product. I saw this recipe on a cooking show a couple of months ago, and they had updated the method to include real strawberries (and less Jell-O) which made the dessert more appealing…

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Peanut blossoms final200

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Basically a peanut butter cookie topped with a Hershey’s Kiss – but what a winning combination. They became an American cookie jar favorite when Freda Smith entered them in the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1957 and are still an all time winner.

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Crostata plum 1201

Rustic Plum Crostata

I love rustic tarts – they’re so easy to throw together with any seasonal fruit. I usually keep a couple of rounds of dough in the freezer so that I can make these whenever I have extra fruit (or unexpected company!). I like adding some of St. Dalfour Sprea…

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Blue pie start214

Fool Proof Pie Dough

This recipe is from Cook's Illustrated and I had my doubts when I first saw that it used Vodka. It does however produce a wonderfully flaky crust and because the alcohol adds moistness without aiding in gluten formation. I still prefer a traditional pate br…

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