Sweet Melissa Sundays: Earl Grey Tea Truffles

It's once again my turn to host Sweet Melissa Sundays. Christmas is less than a month away, and I thought I would choose a recipe that would fit right in during the holidays. Something you could add to a tin of assorted cookies, or bring all on its own as a sweet hostess gift, or even just polish off while you watch Love Actually for the fifth time. Just me?

Between my fondness of the holidays and my ingrained love of tea (I am half-Scottish, after all), what choice did I have but to make Earl Grey Tea Truffles?

At the risk of being too articulate, these truffles are goo-ooo-ood. The slightly bitter taste of melting dark chocolate followed immediately by the fragrant, bergamot aftertaste of Earl Grey tea? Yes, please.

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I did. Thank you for baking along with me!

Earl Grey Tea Truffles
From the Sweet Melissa Baking Book
Makes about 5 dozen truffles

1 pound best-quality bittersweet (64-68%) chocolate
2 cups heavy cream
3 tbsp loose Earl Grey tea leaves, or the tea leaves from 7 tea bags
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup best-quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, for rolling

1. Chop the chocolate into small pieces and put in a large bowl.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the heavy cream and tea leaves to scalding. Turn off the heat, cover, and allow to steep for 15 minutes.
3. Return the cream to the heat and bring to scalding again. Strain the cream over the chocolate to cover completely. Set aside for 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
4. Whisk in the butter to the still-warm chocolate mixture until smooth.
5. Refrigerate until the truffle base is firm enough to scoop, at least 2 hours. Using a small #100 cookie scoop or a teaspoon, scoop out the truffle base and form into balls by rolling them around quickly in your hands.
6. Place the cocoa powder in a shallow soup bowl. Roll each truffle in the cocoa powder to cover.

The truffles are best eaten at room temperature. They keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Let come to room temperature before serving.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Peanut Brittle

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe, Peanut Brittle (chosen by JoVonn of The Givens Chronicles) is perfectly timed. Halloween is fast approaching, and peanut brittle is just the kind of thing I associate with the Halloweens of yesteryear, when nobody worried about whether candy had been tampered with. Even in my own childhood, I remember receiving balls of sticky caramel popcorn and candy apples. I imagine that's pretty rare now.

I live in an apartment, so I won't be giving out any treats this year. And sadly, even if I could, I don't think this recipe would make the cut. For whatever reason, it never firmed up properly, staying very sticky and chewy when eaten. It was more like chewing gum than peanut brittle. And it was quite bland.

Still, though, I always love a chance to test out my candy making skills! For the recipe, visit JoVonn's blog.

SMS: Chocolate Walnut Brownies

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick, Chocolate Walnut Brownies (chosen by Tiffany of A Spoonful & a Heap), was a bit of an experiment for me. I've never liked nuts in brownies, but thought I'd give them a try - you know, just in case my palate had changed. Of course, I didn't forge ahead that bravely - I made just half of the recipe, pouring it into mini muffin tins.

Unfortunately, I overcooked the brownies, but was impressed by their rich nutty flavour, if not their texture. I was slightly less impressed with myself for not having enough willpower to avoid scarfing these down like I hadn't eaten in days, but it was worth it. After all, I overcame a food aversion that I've carried since my childhood.

Thanks to Tiffany for this great, classic pick! Visit her blog for the recipe.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Butterscotch Pralines

Sometimes it's fun to bake something completely foreign to you. This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick, Butterscotch Pralines (chosen by Tess of The Cookin' Chemist), is the perfect example of that.

Pralines are a southern dessert, and I am not a southern gal. True, I grew up in Canada's southernmost area. But although, if the stereotypes are true, they are both home to good, kind people, Canada's south and The Deep South couldn't be more different.


Point being, I had no idea what pralines were prior to making this recipe. But after realizing the recipe involved candy-making, I was sold. I love making baked goods that require the use of a thermometer, like toffee. Maybe it's because they're usually pretty easy, or maybe it's the fact that they produce goods so sugary they instantly satisfy my sweet tooth.

These pralines were a big hit - creamy, sweet, and nutty, they tasted just like fudge. Maybe I'll tip my hat to southern Canada next time and add maple extract. Thank you, Tess, for such a lovely choice! Visit her blog for the recipe.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Strawberry-Cranberry Cobbler

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe was an exercise in flexibility. It was supposed to be Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler Pie, as chosen by Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures.I was so excited to make the recipe, as strawberry-rhubarb is one of my favourite fruit combinations. The problem? I have yet to find rhubarb at any grocery stores or farmers' markets. Boo.

I was also out of lemons, the zest of which was supposed to add flavour to the cobbler topping. I used freshly ground cardamom instead, which worked well.

I thought I'd try an equally tart fruit, so I substituted cranberries, which ended up being an incredible pairing. I've never had the two berries together, but they complemented each other perfectly. I'm thinking about making strawberry-cranberry jam this summer.

The other key ingredient I was missing? Energy. I just ran out of the time and motivation to make a pie crust, and so I didn't, making this cobbler pie just a plain old cobbler.

But it really was a fantastic dessert, with a double dose of bright berry flavour and sweet flaky biscuits on top. The filling was sweeter than it needed to be and never really set up properly, but a bit less sugar and a bit more corn starch ought to fix that. The flavour of this one makes it worth trying again.

Thanks for the great choice, Tracey! Visit her blog for the recipe.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

This post will be short and sweet because, well, life is crazy these days.

There are three weeks left in my semester before exams. Which means there are three weeks left in my university career, period. I've got a seemingly endless list of assignments and essays to complete in that time frame, and a mean case of senioritis that's severely limiting how quickly I can get it all done.

And, pending some unforeseen decision from our potential new landlord, we will be moving to a new apartment on April 1. I am so, so excited about that - it feels like my fiance and I are finally starting our grown-up lives together - but before the excitement comes the packing. Oh, the packing. And our 4th anniversary this week means we're taking a short vacation to Toronto. Are we crazy? Yes, it's very likely.

So, alas, a post short on (food) details.

A Sweet Melissa Sundays pick, chosen by Julie of A Little Bit of Everything: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. I halved the recipe because we've only got three days to eat this, and a double layer cake just should not be eaten by two people in three days. I haven't made the icing yet due to, you guessed it, a lack of time. I can say, though, that the cake itself is a reliable recipe, but a bit run-of-the-mill. Now, perhaps my taste buds have been tainted because I had the most delicious carrot cake of my life at a friend's house recently, but nonetheless: this one is just a bit bland, as far as carrot cakes go. I'm hoping the icing will elevate it, but still, it's not the dark, moist carrot cake I'm used to.

For the recipe, please visit Julie's blog.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Sugar Cookies

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick is Sugar Cookies, chosen by Nina of Nina's Cupcakes.

Based on the comments for this recipe, I have to admit, I was a little scared. And when I pressed onward, adding extra sugar and lemon zest as was suggested, and the dough stuck almost completely to my wooden cutting board, I nearly gave up. I was feeling a bit dramatic, I suppose; stressed out about school and not feeling like I had time to really make the cookies in the first place.

But I scraped the dough off the board, tossed it back into the freezer to chill quickly, and started over. My fiance, sensing my frustration (perhaps because of a couple of curses), washed the cutting board and rolling pin for me to start fresh. Gotta love him. With the cutting board coated in flour, the re-chilled dough rolled out like a dream.


I used my new cupcake-shaped cookie cutter from Crate & Barrel, and then made royal icing with meringue powder.

The combination of the lemony, buttery cookies and the sweet, crunchy icing is perfect. I think the extra lemon and sugar really helped - these cookies are so flavourful. Plus, the cuteness of the cupcake-cookies gives me a little mood boost whenever I spot them in the cookie jar. Obviously, a mood boost comes in handy at this point in the semester.

For the recipe, visit Nina's blog.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Brownie Ice Cream Pie with Chocolate Pie Crust

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick made SMS members everywhere the deciders of their own dessert destiny. Yes, one element of the dish was predetermined by this week's host, Donna of L'Amour de Tarte: chocolate pie crust. But everyone knows that a pie crust needs a filling, and that's where our own creativity got to play a huge role: we could choose our own filling from outside of The Sweet Melissa Baking Book.

My pick? Ice cream and brownies, or, brownie ice cream pie. Yum.

Now, a lot of the barometers for what makes a good pie dough kind of go out the window when you throw it in the freezer after it's baked. Was the finished crust light and flaky? I have no idea - it was too frozen to tell.


But I can say that it was relatively easy to throw together, although it did require more than double the water called for the in the recipe, and probably could have used more. I can also say that it wasn't very sweet, which came in handy with a filling that was very high in sugar. But for a less sweet filling, the dough would definitely need more sugar. It also wasn't very pretty, but I'm blaming that more on my dismal dough-rolling skills than on the recipe itself.

In the end, I just loved this recipe because it was chocolate pie crust. I had never heard of such a recipe before, and I can't find too much fault with anything that allows me to infuse chocolate flavour into a pie crust. There are so many fillings that would benefit from this crust: peanut butter, coconut, caramel. Even berries.


My own filling was very semi-homemade. Store-bought ice cream along with brownies made from store-bought mix. I added about 1L of vanilla ice cream to a bowl and crumbled cooled brownies into it, then stirred it together until it was well-blended and looked like cookies and cream ice cream.

I don't think I would freeze the crust again as it was just too hard. But the flavour combination was fantastic: the unsweetened, slightly bitter flavour of the crust contrasted by the rich chocolate sweetness of the brownies and unmatchable taste of vanilla. And pretty to look at, too.

For the pie crust recipe, visit L'Amour de Tarte.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Butter Toffee Crunch

It's hard to believe, but it is already my turn to host Sweet Melissa Sundays. As I pored over the cookbook a few weeks ago, I realized what a hard decision it was going to be. I had at least 20 recipes on my short list. Slowly but steadily, I worked it down to my selection: Butter Toffee Crunch. I'm a sucker for candy-making.


Ah, and what a choice. Chewy, buttery toffee smothered in chocolate, with chopped blanched almonds on the top and bottom. Not only is this recipe beautiful to look at, but it is delicious and seriously addictive. It tastes exactly like a Skor bar but has the added crunch and flavour of the almonds. On top of all that, it lasts for weeks in the fridge while still maintaining that perfect crunch, which means it's a great gift giving option for Christmas. In fact, I plan on serving Butter Toffee Crunch at the candy bar we'll be having at our wedding - I can make it a couple of weeks ahead of time and I know it'll be just as tasty as the day I made it.


The preparation is relatively easy, as long as you've got the proper equipment (particularly a candy thermometer), a bit of patience and the ability to quickly add your baking soda and vanilla at the right time. Sure, seeing how much brown sugar and butter goes into the preparation may make you feel a bit guilty. Case in point:


Still, given the end result, I think it's totally worth it. Hopefully, you feel the same. Thank you for baking along with me this week, and I hope you enjoyed it! Click here to check out the other Sweet Melissa Sundays bakers. The recipe is below.

Butter Toffee Crunch
Makes 3 pounds toffee crunch (Note: it halves beautifully!)

1 1/2 cups sliced blanched almonds, finely chopped
4 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons water
20 tablespoons (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda, sifted
2 cups (one 12-oz bag) semisweet (58%) chocolate chips

Before you start: lightly butter a jelly-roll pan or rimmed cookie sheet.
1. Coat the prepared pan with half of the chopped almonds.
2. In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat, stir together the brown sugar, water and butter and bring to a boil. Cover for 3 minutes (this will melt any sugar crystals stuck on the sides of the pan, which will prevent crystallization). Uncover, attach a candy thermometer, and cook, without stirring, to 290F. Watch carefully after it reaches 280F to avoid scorching.
3. Have ready a long-handled spoon and a buttered metal offset spatula. Remove the hot sugar from the heat, add the vanilla and baking soda, and stir with the long-handled spoon (the mixture will bubble up when you add the baking soda).
4. Immediately pour the hot toffee onto the prepared pan. Spread as evenly as possible with the buttered metal spatula. Quickly scatter the chocolate chips over the hot toffee. Wait for 5 minutes and then spread the melted chocolate evenly with a clean, ungreased metal spatula.
5. Sprinkle the remaining almonds over the chocolate. Cool completely before breaking the toffee into pieces.

The toffee crunch keeps in an airtight container at room temperature in a cool dry place for up to 1 week, or in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Spiced Pumpkin Cookie Cakes

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick, Spiced Pumpkin Cookies (chosen by Debbie of Every Day Blessings of The Fivedees) could not have come at a better time. My mom enlisted me to make the dessert for Thanksgiving (in Canada, Thanksgiving was last weekend). And on a trip to the States in August, I had stocked up on canned pumpkin because it's so much cheaper there. Naturally, making a pumpkin dessert for Thanksgiving was a given, but I knew I wanted it to be something more than the usual pumpkin pie. So when I saw that these pumpkin cookie cakes were an upcoming SMS recipe, my choice was made.

Sweet little pumpkin cookie cakes, sandwiched with orange cream cheese icing in the middle - autumnal whoopie pies. I knew they would add a whimsical touch to the end of our Thanksgiving meal.

The batter itself tasted like pumpkin pie, and when cooked, tasted like pumpkin gingerbread. I loved the bright flavour of the orange zest in the cream cheese icing, although my fiance (that word still sounds strange to me) felt the orange zest ruined it. At least he had fun chowing down on the extra batter (once it had made enough cookies, I slathered the remaining batter on a cookie sheet and baked it as a slab).

Debbie, thank you for your selection. It was a very tasty and timely choice. Click here to visit Debbie's blog and get the recipe.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Orange Scented Scones

Dessert for breakfast - is there anything better (or more indulgent)? I have a soft spot for any baking recipe that I can justify eating for breakfast. It ensures that I use up a recipe before it starts to go bad, and more importantly, it means I get to eat sugar for a breakfast. A total win-win.


As a result, I was really looking forward to this week's Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe, Orange-Scented Scones (chosen by Robin of Lady Craddock's Bakery). As a bonus, I had never made scones before.


These scones - with their buttery orange flavour and flaky texture - were a great introduction to the genre. They were very fast and easy to pull together, and for very little effort, yielded a ton of flavour. I loved these for breakfast with homemade strawberry-raspberry jam.


I recently found myself a part-time job for the school year, and I think these will come in handy now that I'll be working mornings four days a week. They're a perfect grab-and-go breakfast. A big thank you goes to Robin for giving me the incentive to make a baked good I've never tried before. I think this is a recipe I'll be experimenting with in the future. Please visit Robin's blog for the recipe.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Snickerdoodles

One of the things I like about belonging to baking groups is that sometimes, I have to make recipes that I would never have tried otherwise. Case in point: this week's Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe, Snickerdoodles, hosted by Spike of Spike Bakes.

Since joining the blogging community, I've seen many a blogger make Snickerdoodles. But they never struck me as something particularly exciting or worth the effort. I know, that probably sounds shameful, but I just didn't see what the big deal was. A very basic cookie dough (there's not even any vanilla in it!) rolled in cinnamon sugar? "How boring," I thought. Still, I decided to take a chance this time around.


I creamed the sugar with the butter, then added some eggs. Yawn. I whisked together some flour, baking soda, and the other usual suspects, and mixed them with the wet ingredients. Whatever. Then I refrigerated the batter before rolling it into balls. No biggie. But then I rolled the balls in cinnamon sugar - a seemingly rather insignificant step - and the whole recipe was elevated.


My first bite seemed underwhelming. I thought it was good, but not spectacular. But then I kept chewing. And then I grabbed another cookie. And another. And then I foisted them upon my boyfriend, as I had obviously lost all resolve against the Snickerdoodles and if I was going down, at least he'd be going down with me.

Suffice it to say, these are spectacular. Sweet and buttery, with the perfect amount of spice from the cinnamon. I definitely see what all the fuss is about.

Thanks, Spike, for choosing Snickerdoodles! You can visit her blog for the recipe. And click here for the full list of Sweet Melissa Sundays bakers.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Chewy Peanut Butter (and Chocolate Chip) Cookies

My mom has been a Tim Hortons addict for years. For my non-Canadian readers, and for my US readers who don't have one in their community yet, Tim Hortons is a moderately priced chain of coffee shops that is almost obscenely popular in Canada. In the past, my mom almost couldn't function in the morning without it. She's slowly weaned herself off of the stuff, but in years past, even if she was running late for work, she would stop to buy herself a large Tim's coffee. Based on the drive-thru line-up at Tim Hortons in the morning, I think it's a common affliction among Canadians.

Although I'm not one to enjoy Tim Hortons coffee very much, their cookies have always been my weakness. You can get half a dozen for just a few bucks, and if you're lucky enough to get a batch that's fresh out of the oven, it feels like winning the dessert lottery - warm, chewy, and often with chocolate oozing out. I'd probably sell my soul for their peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies. Luckily, now I don't have to.

I guess I could argue that this week's pick for Sweet Melissa Sundays, Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies, has saved my soul. Not bad for a cookie that takes just a few minutes to throw together.

This recipe involves the usual suspects - butter, sugar, peanut butter, an egg, flour, and vanilla (and in my case, chocolate too) - so I can't explain why these cookies are almost other-worldly in their deliciousness. But they are. If you take care not to overbake them, they're chewy even days later.

We could not stop eating them. My boyfriend ate about 10 in one 24-hour period. So while these cookies are soul-saving, they might be a little dangerous. They will definitely erode your willpower.

But at least, if you're a Tim Hortons cookie addict like me, they might save you a few bucks. A big thank you goes out to Stephanie of Ice Cream Before Dinner, who was kind enough to choose this fantastic recipe.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Lemon (Blue-Raspberry) Cheesecake with Cornmeal Crumb Crust

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick, Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake with a Cornmeal Crumb Crust, gave me lots of practice in two cooking and baking skills that I find crucial: knowing how to successfully scale down a recipe, and substituting what you need with what you have.

Based on my title, you can probably guess where the first substitution came in: raspberries for blueberries. This one came about by accident: I really thought I had a good amount of blueberries stored up in my freezer, but when it came time to make the sauce, I realized that I was way off. I had 10 blueberries. 10! So I added in raspberries to make up the difference.

I also toyed a bit with the foundation of the recipe: the cheesecake batter. The original recipe, which serves 12, calls for four bricks of cream cheese and a full cup of mascarpone. There is but one of me, and I had just one brick of cream cheese, so I decided to make do with what I had. I quartered the recipe, and also substituted sour cream for the mascarpone. My fourth-grade division skills definitely came in handy.

The cornmeal crumb crust was left as-is, although also quartered. I patted it into the bottom of cupcake liners, baked it for about 10 minutes until it was browned, and then spooned the cupcake batter over top of it. After that, one cupcake pan went into a water bath, and the other didn't - a bit of an experiment. They were both done baking after about 40 minutes, but the water bath-baked cheesecake bites turned out much better than their counterparts, who bubbled violently and threatened to explode out of the pan.

I was extremely impressed with this recipe and how it held up to my substitutions and tweaking. It was very creamy and had a bright, intense lemon flavour. The blueberry-raspberry topping was a bit tangy, which complemented the sweet lemon filling perfectly. And by making bite-size versions, I was able to make more servings - that's healthier, right? That is, assuming you don't eat all of the servings on your own. Not that I did that, of course.

For this amazing recipe, visit Eliana of A Chica Bakes. And to check out the rest of the Sweet Melissa Sundays bloggers, check out the member list.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream with Brownie Chunks

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick is Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream, chosen by Karen of Karen's Cookies Cakes & More. I was also supposed to make chocolate or butterscotch sauce, but completely forgot. Oops! Instead, I chopped up a couple of Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies from this week's upcoming Tuesdays With Dorie assignment, and happily added them to the just-made ice cream before storing it in the freezer to firm up.

I can be a bit of a cheapskate when it comes to my groceries. I've never bought a vanilla bean in my life (please don't yell at me!), and even though this recipe did call for one, I used my pure vanilla extract instead.

The recipe also called for skim milk powder, which I also skipped - I'm way too cheap to buy a big, expensive box of milk powder when this recipe only calls for 1/4 cup of it.

Other than that, the rest of the ingredients were typical baking staples: eggs, milk, cream.

Despite my frugal adaptations, this ice cream turned out beautifully. Melissa Murphy (the author of The Sweet Melissa Baking Book) promised that the skim milk powder would yield an extra-smooth and creamy ice cream, but my powder-free version was very creamy - it tasted sinful enough as it was. However, if I do ever find that I need to buy skim milk powder, I'll be sure to give it a try in this recipe.

In fact, I think this could become my staple vanilla ice cream recipe. The brown sugar added sweetness and depth of flavour, and the brown sugar-vanilla combination could be complementary to so many add-ins. Beyond brownies, I'm thinking chocolate bars, skor bits, or chopped m&ms. Yum.

Thank you, Karen, for your excellent choice! It's always fun to break out the ice cream maker. Visit Karen's blog for the recipe for the ice cream, as well as for the hot fudge sauce which I forgot to make.

A very late Sweet Melissa Sundays: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm quite behind on making and posting about this Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe, Chocolate Chip Cookies. Two weekends ago, when the cookies were supposed to have been sitting pretty in the cookie jar on my counter, I had been too busy to post. First it was my boyfriend's graduation from university, and then a bridal shower in my hometown, and then another bridal shower that same weekend. I didn't spend any time in my own kitchen that entire week.

When the week came to a close and I found myself back in my apartment, I was perusing the Sweet Melissa Sundays website to see what recipe I had missed out on. It was a special week, and the announcement came late: Melissa Murphy, the author of the Sweet Melissa Baking Book, had chosen Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toasted Almonds.

How could I resist? I'm a sucker for chocolate chip cookies.


So I set out to make these, a few days late. Unfortunately, I was unable to post them even last week due to internet issues. Well, actually, my landlords turned off the modem and router to save power while they went on vacation - I was very unhappy, to say the least!

Back to the cookies: the batter came together easily. I skipped the toasted almonds, and instead used a mixture of half semi-sweet chocolate chips, and half milk chocolate, which I cut into chunks. I loved the contrast between the milky sweet chocolate chunks and the darker chocolate chips.


The batter itself wasn't very sweet, which meant that the chocolate created a just-sweet-enough cookie, without that cloying sugariness that can make a dessert taste too rich. The downside of this, of course, is that you can eat many cookies in a row without that self-protective guilt kicking in. Great for my tastebuds, but from a health perspective, probably not-so-good.

What I loved most about these cookies, however, was the texture. I've been looking for a chewy, thin chocolate chip cookie, and I finally found it. Even days later, when the cookie had lost its crispy edge, it was still perfectly chewy.


A big thank you goes out to Melissa Murphy for this choice - I've found my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Sorry, Anna Olson. Check out her post on Sweet Melissa Sundays for the recipe.

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Bear's Peach Cobbler

This week's Sweet Melissa Sundays pick is Bear's Peach Cobbler, chosen by Andrea of Nummy Kitchen.

This recipe relies on a few pounds of fresh, peeled peaches and a handful of kitchen staples.


The peaches are tossed with a simple mixture of corn starch, lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar, then topped with sweet, lemony biscuit dough.

The mixture is baked until the peaches are bubbling violently and the biscuits are cooked through - browned on top and without a hint of raw dough left.

From classic cobbler ingredients and preparation comes a classic taste - the cinnamon-flecked peaches were were sweet, tender, and tasted like summer to me. They were, in fact, the first peaches I have tasted since last summer.

And the biscuit topping, even two nights after the cobbler was baked, was still crispy, providing a nice contrast to the tender peaches.

There was nothing I didn't like about this recipe. I halved the recipe since peaches are still quite expensive this time of year, and divided the peaches between ramekins, which yielded 5 servings in total. I served them at a dinner party at my brother's house last night, and everyone loved them.


I love recipes that can become my "go-to" recipe, and Bear's Peach Cobbler will definitely be my go-to peach cobbler recipe.

Thanks for the choice, Andrea! You can visit her blog for the full recipe.