The taste of springtime in one show-stopping tart: a velvety smooth Meyer lemon curd and a layer of bright strawberry jam nestled inside a lemon-scented shortbread crust, and topped with fresh strawberries and edible flowers. Lemon and strawberry come together in a tart that’s as bright in flavor as it is in color. Using Meyer […]
The taste of springtime in one show-stopping tart: a velvety smooth Meyer lemon curd and a layer of bright strawberry jam nestled inside a lemon-scented shortbread crust, and topped with fresh strawberries and edible flowers.
Lemon and strawberry come together in a tart that’s as bright in flavor as it is in color. Using Meyer lemons gives the curd filling a well-balanced sweetness with a vibrant lemon flavor, paired with fresh strawberries and a layer of strawberry jam for a perfect finish.
Technically lemon season is at its end, but, thanks to an over-eager tree trimmer, my aunt had a surplus of lemons that needed to be used immediately. Three days later (the postal service is an amazing thing) I found myself with yet another box full of gorgeous Meyer lemons.
Well, one thing led to another and I ended up making something entirely different (are you surprised? You shouldn’t be).
Seeing that strawberry season is upon us, combining strawberries and lemons seemed like an obvious choice. While I toyed with the idea of mixing the strawberries into the lemon curd, or even adding a layer of strawberry gelée on top, I ultimately decided to keep it simple and spread a layer of fresh strawberry jam in the bottom of the crust. I was a bit worried the jam would mix with the curd or even migrate to the top in the oven, but, to my surprise, it came out as a beautifully defined layer of strawberry jam beneath a vibrant yellow lemon curd.
We are very close to the release of my new cookbook, 100 Morning Treats, so in honor of that I am sharing a recipe from its pages: Creamy Jammy Coffee Cakes. This recipe is one of my favorites from the book (#28 out of 100, and can be found on page 91 …
We are very close to the release of my new cookbook, 100 Morning Treats, so in honor of that I am sharing a recipe from its pages: Creamy Jammy Coffee Cakes. This recipe is one of my favorites from the book (#28 out of 100, and can be found on page 91 and below). You can pre-order the book here, and it will be arriving May 9th! I wrote this book, 100 Morning Treats, to celebrate the morning hours and to represent the baked goods and pastries I developed while working in coffee shops and in my home. The recipes are a result of nearly three decades of baking, and include muffins, rolls, scones, quick breads, Bundt cakes, coffee cakes, some savory items, and so much more. My hope is that this book brings you some joy in your kitchens in the years to come. But back to the Jammy Cakes – I’m not going to lie; cream cheese swirl is what I’ll pick in a bakery case lineup any day. There is a layer of cake, then cream cheese, tart jam (or lemon curd), and streusel topping in every perfect bite. I like to eat them just barely warm, […]
You can’t go wrong when peanut butter and jelly are involved. And in a cookie? Irresistible! These vegan and gluten-free thumbprint cookies are tender with crisp edges, packed with peanut butter flavor, and have a fruity jam center (a.k.a. cookie perfe…
You can’t go wrong when peanut butter and jelly are involved. And in a cookie? Irresistible! These vegan and gluten-free thumbprint cookies are tender with crisp edges, packed with peanut butter flavor, and have a fruity jam center (a.k.a. cookie perfection!).
Plus, they’re easy to make with just 8 ingredients, 1 bowl, and 30 minutes required! Naturally sweetened, grain-free, and oil-free too! We know: It’s magic.
Bergamots aren’t something one runs across every day in the supermarket, or even at greengrocers. But mid-winter, depending on where you live, you just might get lucky and happen across some, as I recently did in Paris. But no matter, this recipe can be made with other kinds of lemon, especially “sweet” lemons, such as Meyer lemons. There’s conflicting information on what a bergamot actually is,…
Bergamots aren’t something one runs across every day in the supermarket, or even at greengrocers. But mid-winter, depending on where you live, you just might get lucky and happen across some, as I recently did in Paris. But no matter, this recipe can be made with other kinds of lemon, especially “sweet” lemons, such as Meyer lemons.
There’s conflicting information on what a bergamot actually is, but it’s definitely a member of the citrus family and most consider it to be a relative of the bitter orange, which might have been mated with a lemon at some point in its murky past.
These jam thumbprint cookies have to be one of my favorite Christmas cookies ever. Do I say that about all the cookies? Maybe. But how could they not be my favorite with that snow-ball-like coconut coating and the little jewel-like dots jam in the center? But they’re not just pretty! These little show-stoppers are every bit as delicious as they are nice to look at. Plus, they’re SO easy, so make sure they’re on your cookie platter this year!
What is a Thumbprint Cookie?
Thumbprint cookies are made with a rich shortbread dough that is shaped into small balls with small depressions, or “thumbprints,” in the center filled with jam or other sweet treats. The slightly salty shortbread is the perfect contrast to the sweet jam center and together they make beautiful little jewel-like additions to a cookie platter or afternoon tea.
Coconut or no Coconut?
If you’re not into coconut, you can absolutely make these thumbprint cookies without the coconut coating. Simply skip dipping the cookie in egg whites and rolling in the coconut, and continue with the rest of the directions as usual. Another great option is to roll the cookie in granulated or powdered sugar for an icy or snow-like finish!
What Kind of Jam to Use
This is where these cookies get fun. You can use any flavor of jam you’d like, so this recipe is a great way to use up the odds and ends of jam jars in your fridge. We used a combination of raspberry, strawberry, and orange marmalade for the cookies in the photos. You can also fill them with other spreads, like lemon curd, caramel, Nutella, or even candies like Rolos or chocolate kisses.
How to Store Thumbprint cookies
Make sure to the thumbprint cookies to cool completely to room temperature before storage. Once fully cooled, keep them in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. For longer storage, the cookies can be frozen. Thaw the frozen thumbprint cookies at room temperature before enjoying.
Add the room-temperature butter and sugar to a bowl. Use a mixer to cream the sugar and butter together on high speed until the mixture is light in color and creamy in texture.
Separate the egg yolk from the egg white. Add the egg yolk and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture and mix to combine. Set the egg white aside for later.
In a separate bowl, combine the four and salt until evenly mixed. Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl with the butter mixture, and mix on low speed until a slightly crumbly dough forms. No dry flour should remain on the bottom of the bowl.
Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
When you're ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly whisk the reserved egg white until it's slightly runny. Place the shredded coconut in a separate bowl.
Divide the dough into 16 equal-sized pieces and roll each one into a ball. Dip each ball into the egg white, then roll it around in the shredded coconut to coat. Place the coated cookies on the prepared baking sheet.
Use the back of a round ½ tsp measuring spoon or your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each cookie. Fill each indentation with about ½ tsp jam.
Bake the cookies for 15 minutes or just until the coconut becomes slightly golden on the edges. Allow the cookies to cool before serving.
How to Make Thumbprint Cookies – Step By Step Photos
Use a mixer to cream together 8 Tbsp salted butter and ⅓ cup sugar until the mixture is light in color and creamy in texture. Separate one large egg and set the whites aside. Add the yolk and ¼ tsp vanilla extract to the butter and sugar and mix until light and creamy again.
In a separate bowl, stir together 1 cup of all-purpose flour and ¼ tsp salt. Add the flour mixture to the bowl with the butter and mix on low speed until a slightly crumbly dough forms.
The dough should be just slightly crumbly, but no dry flour should remain on the bottom of the bowl. If you squeeze the dough together in your hand, it should form a cohesive ball of dough.
Shape the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
When you’re ready to make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 16 equal-sized pieces. The easiest way to do this is to first divide it into four, then divide each of those pieces into four again.
Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball. Lightly whisk the reserved egg white until it is slightly runny. Place 1 cup of shredded coconut in a separate bowl. Dip each cookie ball into the egg white, then roll in the coconut to coat. Place the coated cookies on the prepared baking sheet.
Use the back of a round ½ tsp measuring spoon or your thumb to make an indentation in the center of each cookie.
Fill each indentation with ½ tsp of your favorite jam (we used raspberry, strawberry, and orange marmalade).
Bake the thumbprint cookies in the preheated 350ºF oven for 15 minutes, or just until the coconut becomes golden brown on the edges.
Allow those beautiful little cookies to cool before serving! 😍
My dear ones! It’s been another while since being in the blog space and I’m happy to be here with you, in the glory of summer unfolding. I love having the time to craft these posts, since they are a true outpouring from my heart […]
My dear ones! It’s been another while since being in the blog space and I’m happy to be here with you, in the glory of summer unfolding. I love having the time to craft these posts, since they are a true outpouring from my heart to yours, in the hopes that it will tether us to this time and place, land, season, and true nourishment. Strawberry Rhubarb Rose Crumble Bars is one of the special ones, that has been bubbling away in my consciousness since last summer.
I was cycling on the boardwalk at the beach near my home last August, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of fuchsia – the unmistakable pink of rose hips. Ahhh this gorgeous bushy plant is one that I first became familiar with in Denmark, where they bloom along the shores of every beach, punctuating the salty summer air with rose perfume. And here it was, at the water’s edge in Ontario, the very last petals dropping in the slanted summer sun. I knew I was too late to do anything with them at that point, so the idea-seed was planted for next year. Which is now, right on time!
They say what grows together goes together, so for this recipe I waited for the rose hip to bloom, and then checked out what the other plants were peaking in my garden; strawberries and rhubarb! What a divine and classic combination! I couldn’t wait to get to celebrating this triple-blessing of flavours.
Early Summer Stars
Peak-season strawberries are nutritional super stars. They’re loaded with vitamin C, and good amounts of manganese, folate, and fibre. Their total antioxidant capacity is extremely high, and as we learn more about this summer delight, there is evidence proving its positive effects on cardiovascular health. After consumption, there is less platelet aggregation, less lipid peroxidation and an increase in free-radical scavenging – meaning those antioxidants get to SNACK!
Rhubarb is also a high-fibre food, which is essential for digestion. Fibre is exclusively a plant nutrient, as plants grow it for structural support. Animals have bones, so fibre is not a significant part of their composition. Therefore, increasing our dietary intake of plants in comparison to animal-based foods means an increase in our fibre intake. Makes sense, right?
So much of our nourishment depends on the healthy passage of food through our digestive tract. Without the fibre in things like strawberries and rhubarb, it is impossible for our digestion to take place in a balanced way. With imbalanced digestion comes the risk of poor nutrient absorption, and along with that comes compromised metabolism, immunity, even our mental health. The risk of most chronic diseases is lowest when whole plant foods, like a simple serving of strawberries and rhubarb, are plentiful in the diet. These bars also contain high-fibre oats, almonds and almond flour, so basically what I am saying is eat a lot of these.
The Strawberry Rhubarb Rose Compote
I knew that I wanted the seasonal ingredient to really shine in this recipe, so I started by making a compote with the strawberries and rhubarb, adding a kiss of vanilla and rose. The results were like, mind-blowing, people. I’ve made this compote several times now, simply because it is delicious on everything and in so many ways. So far I’ve slathered it on the Revolutionary Pancakes with almond butter, hemp, salt, and even more fresh strawberries. I made popsicles with it (blended this with more strawberries and froze it). And warmed slightly over vanilla ice cream? Unreasonable. The fact that it comes together in under 15 minutes is also motivating for me – I know I’m not in for a huge project to make it, even though the end result *feels* like such a luxurious extra in my life. Make a triple batch now and freeze it I say!
If you want to get ahead, you can make the compote up to seven days in advance. And yes it lasts that long in the fridge. So convenient.
You can use store-bought, instead of homemade rosewater in this recipe to skip a step, but I understand that sourcing store-bought might be just as much of a challenge for some. Surprisingly, I can find bottled rosewater at my local, small-town grocery store, so check with an employee at your closest market since you might be surprised they stock it! Heath foods stores are a good bet too. And if you can find fresh rose / rose hip flowers, then harvest them sustainably and make your own rose water. Recipe and two methods here. As a last resort, order online!
The Crumble Bars
The top and bottom layer of these bars are a slight upgrade from my original crumble bar recipe with blackberries and hazelnuts, back in 2014 (!). This time I made more of a cookie base, kind of like a giant shortbread cookie with almond flour, which turned out to be more moist and easier to cut than the one just made with oats. I really love this change, and hope you will too! The crumble topping is exactly the same except for swapping out the brown rice flour for almond flour, since it’s yummier / fattier / moister. And since knowing that almonds are in the strawberry and rose family (Rosaceae!) it only made sense.
Enjoy this literal slice of summer, friends and lovers. These Strawberry Rhubarb Rose Crumble Bars are truly a moment, captured. And I hope you choose to savour it.
2cups/ 200g rolled oatsdivided (gluten-free if desired)
¾cup/ 70g almond flour
¾tsp.fine grain sea salt
1tsp.baking powder
60gexpeller-pressed coconut oilghee or butter
¼cup/ 60ml pure maple syrup
1tsp.vanilla extract
Crumble Topping
1cup/ 100g rolled oats
2Tbsp.pure maple syrup
2Tbsp.expeller-pressed coconut oilghee, or butter
⅔cup/ 100g almonds
¼tsp.fine sea salt
3Tbsp.almond flour
Instructions
Start by making the compote. Bring water and maple syrup to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Roughly chop rhubarb and add it to the pan, stir and cover. Simmer for 5 minutes, stir again and use the back of a wooden spoon to smash the rhubarb. If it’s still quite tough, cover and continue to cook until almost soft. While the rhubarb is simmering, wash and stem the strawberries, then roughly chop. Add them to the soft rhubarb, stir well and cook covered, for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, and smash the mixture with the back of your spoon, until it’s your desired texture. I like mine pretty chunky. Stir in the salt, vanilla and rosewater. Adjust the flavours to suit your taste. The compote will firm up as it cools. Measure out 2 ½ cups / 625ml of compote and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. In a food processor blend 1 ½ cups / 150 grams of oats on high until you have a rough flour, like coarse sand. Add almond flour, salt, and baking powder, then pulse to combine. Add maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla. Pulse until evenly moist, then fold or pulse in the whole oats. The dough will be quite firm and sticky.
Turn the dough out into a lightly greased, or parchment-lined 8" x 8” / 20 cm x 20 cm glass or metal pan and press firmly, especially around the edges – it helps to wet your hands so that the dough doesn’t stick to your fingers. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.
While the base is baking, make the crumble topping. Without cleaning the food processor, add the all the ingredients for the crumble, and pulse a few times to mix. You can chop the ingredients as finely as you like, but I like mine pretty chunky.
Remove the base from the oven, and spread the compote over top in an even layer. Crumble the topping over, and place back in the oven for another 30-35 minutes, until the top and bottom are golden brown, and the middle is a bit bubbly.
Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Say thank you and enjoy. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for five or six days. Freeze for up to 3 months and let warm for a few minutes before enjoying!
Chocolate and raspberry, together at last in one sweet and salty (and delightfully crumbly) mouthful. Jam crumb bars are one of my favorite desserts, and this choco-fied version is no exception: a layer of bright raspberry jam sandwiched between sweet and salty oatmeal shortbread, and chunks of bittersweet chocolate melted on top for good measure. […]
Chocolate and raspberry, together at last in one sweet and salty (and delightfully crumbly) mouthful.
Jam crumb bars are one of my favorite desserts, and this choco-fied version is no exception: a layer of bright raspberry jam sandwiched between sweet and salty oatmeal shortbread, and chunks of bittersweet chocolate melted on top for good measure.
Oat and jam crumb bars are, well, kinda my jam. I love being able to use up the random half-filled jars of jam floating around the fridge (because, surprisingly, for as much jam as I make we really don’t eat that much of it). Jam bars are like thumbprint cookies with half the effort.
A layer of crumbly oat shortbread + fruity jam + even more crumbles = one seriously tasty treat. Even more so when you add a double dose of chocolate to the mix. This is basically a choco-fied version of my original jam bars (one of the bonus recipes that comes with my Jam e-book bundle, and while I haven’t shared it in full on the blog, it’s one of my all-time favorites.)
You’d think chocolate crumb bars would be a thing, but usually it’s just regular crumb with a layer of chocolate or chocolate chips or something, which is not nearly enough chocolate for me.
So I added cocoa to the crumb base AND chopped up pieces of dark chocolate on top, making for the extra-chocolatey crumb bar of your dreams.
This is one of those unassuming recipes that doesn’t look that impressive (it’s no s’mores tart topped with berries and edible gold leaf), but it’s just as satisfying, maybe even moreso for the pure simplicity and ease of preparation.
In other words, the effort-to-impact ratio is far higher than a high-effort/high-impact dessert like that tart, which in many ways makes it the superior recipe, wouldn’t you say?
I was recently gifted an overload of strawberries: I bought four baskets from a vendor at the market, whose booth I shop at often, and he threw in two extra baskets for free, the equivalent of a carte de fidelité (loyalty card) in Paris. So I’ve spent the past few days washing, hulling, cutting and cooking my unexpected bounty. I’ve been making a number of…
I was recently gifted an overload of strawberries: I bought four baskets from a vendor at the market, whose booth I shop at often, and he threw in two extra baskets for free, the equivalent of a carte de fidelité (loyalty card) in Paris. So I’ve spent the past few days washing, hulling, cutting and cooking my unexpected bounty.
I’ve been making a number of things with the gorgeous strawberries. But I also realized that while I have a Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam recipe on the site, I didn’t have a strawberry jam. So here it is.
