By Lisa Stander-Horel and Tim Horel – The writing and photography team behind the blog Gluten Free Canteen and authors of Nosh on This: Gluten Free Baking from a Jewish-American Kitchen.
When spring begins in California, most of the remaining landscape of the country is still snowy and cold. In the market spring means early summer fruits and vegetables. While they certainly won’t be at their peak, baking with fresh fruit and berries in March can lift the spirits.
It’s a good time to take inventory and replenish some baking supplies. I like to order all the chocolate I might use through the summer months in March, ahead of warm weather shipping. I also like to check expiration dates for ingredients like yeast, baking powder and spices.
Get your baking supplies ready for warmer weather. Be sure to keep ingredients like nuts, seeds, oats, whole grains like millet and other seldom used flours in the refrigerator for best long term storage.
Spring holidays, like Easter and Passover call for festive desserts that feature ingredients like fresh berries. We’ve got you covered with that plus plenty of other treats.
Raspberry Cheesecake Pie A combination pie and cheesecake using crème fraîche, cream cheese and Greek yogurt is a dessert worth making. It tastes best served after chilling in the refrigerator overnight. Top with fresh raspberries and dessert is dressed up for any holiday table.
Triple Coconut Haystack Macaroons For a traditional Passover dessert we usually turn to the macaroon. These, however, are not your regular canned variety. These are toasted until the outside is slightly crunchy and the inside is chewy soft and full of coconut flavor. They’d also make a terrific homemade Easter hostess gift. If you love coconut, these easy macaroons will be a favorite.
Chocolate Coconut Cake Bar Bites These bars are not a modest dessert. They’re very rich and dense, probably more calories than they ought to be, and certainly a perfect once-in-a-while treat. We recommend cutting them into 32 small-bite bars and sharing with lots of friends. I wish I could say they are time consuming or difficult to prepare, but the fact is, they are ridiculously easy and take no time at all. You’ve been warned.
Thin Minty Mints These are exactly what you might think they are, a copycat Girl Scout favorite, thin mints. There are links in the post to other copycat Girl Scout cookies, too. After all, that’s how we roll – no cookie left behind. Ever.
