Ras El Hanout Cherry Pie

It pays to think outside the π because some unexpected combinations just work! Our house blended Ras El Hanout is a beautifully eccentric medley and it plays delightfully in fruit desserts. This rustic recipe doesn't require a pre-cook of the filling. Just toss the filling ingredients together ahead of time to allow the juice from the cherries to infuse with the Ras El Hanout, allowing the flavors to truly blossom. Vodka in the pie dough? Believe it or not, adding vodka helps the pie become more pliable and workable without becoming tougher. Unlike water, vodka doesn't encourage the formation of gluten so the crust stays flakey and light. As lovers of spice we've used a heavy hand on the flavor here, so enjoy!

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Beet Sourdough

Spring 2020, the sourdough frenzy started. I had very little bread baking experience and flour was scarce. There was no sourdough starter in sight, but we were in lockdown. After a legit learning curve, and in desperate need of a hobby, sourdough ended up giving me all of the bread confidence I needed. So grateful! Sourdough truly has a mind of its own, but that makes it fun to work with. It is rewarding and well worth the patience. At my peak of sourdough creativity, I set out to make a beet sourdough loaf. Beet puree made a bright colored dough but it was messy and caused mayhem with the starter, resulting in an epic fail. Enter the secret ingredient, beet powder. Rusty red earthy layers emerged to compliment the tang of my starter. The dried powder is free from moisture, making for less interference with the starter and easier clean up. The awesome layers created while making the folds in your boule are gorgeous. It's not too late to dive deep into making bread and sourdough.

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Lavender Blueberry Handpies

Turnovers, or hand pies, are great for a picnic dessert or breakfast pastry. These delicious pocket pies, stuffed with fruity filling, offer creative bakers a great opportunity to showcase striking flavor combinations. For these we chose blueberry and lavender. Because there is no cutting or pre-cooking involved, blueberries are our go-to fruit for making hand pies. Here, we simply tossed them in brown sugar and lavender to make a jammy floral filling. For a bit of decadence, there's cream cheese and lemon to make the rest of the flavors pop. The soft floral notes of lavender are the perfect complement to blueberries and are a wonderful flavor for spring, but it is easy to over-do. Try a little bit of the filling during prep and gauge how strong the lavender flavor is and adjust to taste.

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Valrhona Cocoa and Anardana Cookies

Bite into a chocoholic's dream. These flourless cookies are rich, chewy and have crispy edges. The secret ingredient is the Anardana, dried pomegranate seeds, which is commonly used in chutneys and Middle Eastern dishes. At first sniff, they may remind you of a sweet red wine or fruit leather, making these tangy seeds a perfect accompaniment with our Valrhona Cocoa Powder Bonus - these cookies are flourless and quick to make .

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Porcini Soda Bread

Irish soda bread is one of the easiest quick breads to make, and it's very adaptable. Whole wheat, oats and rye flours make this a hearty loaf. For this version, we added a full complement of umami with earthy Porcini Pieces mushrooms and our bestselling Cascade Mushroom Mix. From there, we wanted to add some chewy bites, so sweet dried apricots and tart cherries made it into the mix as well. If you don't have dried tart cherries, dried cranberries are equally delicious in this soda bread. The end result was a delicious and hearty bread to brighten your St. Patrick's Day celebration, or to serve with soups or stews.

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Aji Pimento Cheese Crackers

These little crackers combine a range of delightful chile flavors into every bite and will add a unique twist to your snacking or appetizer lineup. The mild pimento cheese is complimented with Aji mirasol chile peppers. They are mild and fruity with hints of tamarind and tomato. The pickled jalapeño on top adds a kick- but not too much. Orange zest brings the flavors together nicely.

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Peppercorn Shortbread

Shortbread takes a walk on the wild side with a globe trotting parade of pepper- Vietnamese peppercorns, green peppercorns, grains of paradise and pink peppercorns. all make an appearance and lend their unique flavors to the mix. These cookies are easy and everything BUT boring. This short bread is spicy, sweet and has a kick that makes them perfect for dunking in something warm and creamy like your favorite Chai or some warm milk with turmeric.

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Rosemary Cottage Cheese Cookies

Vintage cookbooks offer up some curiously great recipes and this one from the 1930's is no exception. Cottage cheese cookies are an intriguing prospect and in this case, grandma DID know best - the resulting dough is light, tender and full of flavor. The addition of rosemary and apricot jam adds a festive flair.Rosemary is wonderful in sweet applications and pairs well with most fruity jams or jellies. Cherry or blackberry would be wonderful in these, as well. This cookie is a perfect for a cookie exchange, or just as a slightly sweet accompaniment with a cup of tea or coffee.

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Kala Masala Almond Cookies

Pain d'amande is a classic French almond cookie. Thin and crispy, and not overly sweet, they make an excellent accompaniment to tea or coffee. A stack of these cookies wrapped up with string makes a quaint gift, and happens to be exactly how we first came to try them.Since our first encounter with these cookies, we've played with different flavors and shapes. Of all our experiments, the most successful added Kala Masala to the cookie dough. Masala blends are usually quite versatile and deserve to be played with in more than savory dishes. Our Kala Masala blend has warm spices like coconut, clove, cinnamon and star anise. The almonds in the Pain d'amande are a perfect vehicle for all of these spices, giving them a gently sweet base flavor upon which they can shine.

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