Last week, I shared a compilation of the dishes that I have been and will be cooking up at home during quarantine. But, you know that I’m out here baking too. Please. While the baking has been limited to once per week, it’s one of the absolute highlights of my weeks at home. There’s something so cathartic and grounding to me about baking – the precise measuring, the hand mixing, the patience while your treats cool. It never gets old to me, and has felt more therapeutic than ever to do something with my hands (and heart) while spending so much time at home.

I’m keeping the same format that I shared recipes in last week; we have enough newness to worry about me changing up formats on you. Instead of asking you to cruise my blog and sift through my recipes posts yourself, I’m doing a few things here to (hopefully) make your lives easier, more delicious, and provide a bit of home chefing info during these crazy times. I’ve pulled together:

1. My favorite recipes that currently live on my blog and are particularly quarantine-appropriate.
2. A rundown of the baking that I did these past two weeks (aka quarantine, week 1 & 2).
3. The recipes that I’m making this upcoming week, and what’s on my docket for April, too.

I have photos of a lot of these recipes on Instagram too, so don’t forget to check out #caros_kitchen for my feed pics and my cooking story highlight for IRL looks at what’s happening in my tiny studio kitchen. Stay healthy, stay safe, stay sane, and stay baking, friends.

 

Caro’s City Blog Favorites:

Blood Orange Ricotta Cornmeal Cake – Also known as, a flavor explosion in your mouth. Have it after dinner, or have it with your morning coffee. Either way, this cake is a cinch to make, and just so happens to be gluten-free too.

Honey Tahini Cookies – Y’all probably know by now about my obsession with tahini, and these have extra sesame power… they’re literally coated in sesame seeds. Not too sweet, and full of crunch.

Hearty Seed Bread – My go-to nut and seed bread, which I bake, slice, and keep stored in my freezer at all times. It keeps you full so much longer than regular bread because of its healthy fats, and it’s so easy to toast up a single slice in the oven when you want it.

Flourless Monster Cookies – I call these my “kitchen sink” cookies. From M&Ms to shredded coconut to almond butter, they’re bursting with childhood favorite ingredients and are excellent frozen, too. 

Copycat Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies – If you’re looking for a really decadent, ooey-gooey cookie recipe, this has your name written all over it. They’re massive, soft on the inside, and if you’re like me and don’t love the Levain walnuts, you can skip them because YOUR KITCHEN.

Tahini Oatmeal Cookies – The addition of tahini in these oatmeal chocolate chip recipe makes them phenomenal to me. I’ve baked these with chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, and chocolate disks, and if you’re wild, you can do a combo of two or three, too.

 

What I Baked These Past 2 Weeks:

Oatmeal Whoopie Pies – Chewy. Chocolatey. Cream cheesey. These brilliant oatmeal cookies get plused up with a decadent cream cheese filling. I swapped out chocolate chunks in the batter and added a dash of cinnamon, too. 

Honey Cake with Fresh Figs and Cream Cheese Frosting – I had my eye on this cake recipe for a while, mostly because the ingredient list included black tea, tons of orange zest, vinegar, and honey. I swapped out organic brown coconut sugar and used raw local honey, and utilized my leftover cream cheese from the whoopie pies for the frosting while cutting down on the sugar in the frosting. The cake itself is so moist and deliciously flavorful, and I loved that it wasn’t too sweet and could be frozen sans frosting, too. 

What I’m Baking Next:

Tiny Salty Chocolaty Cookies – As far as I’m concerned, anything Alison Roman touches turns to gold. This cookie recipe, from her latest cookbook Nothing Fancy, is deeply and densely chocolatey. Plus, any dessert recipe with a hint of salt is good in my book. 

Espresso Almond Oat Cookies – I was wildly intrigued by this twist on oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, some of my favorite treats ever. I’m looking forward to tasting the earthiness of the espresso and the extra nuttiness from the almonds, which I may toast lightly beforehand. And chocolate chunks or disks all the way over chips.