The Best Shortbread Cookie Recipe I’m very excited to be sharing my updated shortbread cookie recipe with you today! While I enjoyed the original for years, my old version started to feel more like a sugar cookie. I wanted to make some tweaks for more tender, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth results that still held their shape beautifully. This is true, classic, perfected shortbread. Why Try This Recipe They’re a classic. Everyone should have a good staple shortbread recipe in their repertoire, and now, this is mine....

Smörgåstårta is normally made with white or light rye bread with creamy filling in between. The fillings and toppings vary depending on personal preferences, but egg and mayonnaise based are most common. Fillings are mostly seafood or meat based. I googled for vegetarian filling ideas and finally came up with my own. It is served chilled and sliced like a dessert cake.

My Favorite Sourdough Muffins Today’s sourdough chocolate chip muffins are the slightly sweeter sister to my sourdough blueberry muffins. They have a tender, moist, and perfectly buttery crumb that simply melts in your mouth. I made just a few subtle changes to make this chocolate chip version, and I think you’ll be just as happy as I am with the final results. Why You’ll Love This Recipe Can be made with active sourdough starter or sourdough discard....

I took an easy route and made Soy chunks-matar masala recipe printed right on the box, with the only exception that I added potato to it. If you don’t buy nutrela brand soy chunks, here’s the recipe for you.

Drain the water and set it aside. Heat the kadai and add oil and once the oil is hot add the onion. Cook till the onion turns translucent. Now add the cilantro and mint leaves. Let it cook for couple of minutes. Now add the veggies, tomato, salt and coriander powder. Cover and cook for 3 minutes. Meanwhile dry grind cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Add this grinded powder to the veggie and mix well....

I’m a sucker for creamy spinach dip served in a big bread bowl. That is usually the first appetizer I go to at parties (and sometimes the last, you’ll find me just hanging out there). It’s so so good. How long it takes: 15 minutes (or a little less if you take the shortcut) Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, measuring utensils Servings: makes 4 cups While it’s easy to buy pre-made spinach dip, or deli-made dip, why not make your own healthy spinach dip?...

Stovetop Tandoori Roti – Step by Step Homemade Tandoori Roti You just need to ferment the dough for this particular roti for a minimum of 30 minutes and then it’s as easy as making any Indian Roti or Flatbread. What is a Stovetop Tandoori Roti ? It’s an extremely popular Indian bread/roti made using whole wheat flour and cooked in a tandoor (clay oven). My version is an easier way to make the same delicious roti over the stovetop or using induction....

Last weekend I had the opportunity to pick my own strawberries and I took full, unbridled advantage of the situation. A short tractor ride brought me (and my mother-in-law and her fiance) to three acres of southern Pennsylvania strawberry fields prolifically populated by plump, ripe strawberries, heavy on their stems and prime for the picking. I was beside myself with unanticipated excitement, utterly overwhelmed by the countless fat, juicy, warm-from-the sun berries....

Clearly I’m obsessed with vanilla: vanilla bean whipped cream cheese, vanilla buttercream frosting, almond vanilla granola, vanilla bean whipped butter, homemade vanilla pudding, homemade vanilla ice cream — vanilla, vanilla, vanilla! How long it takes: 1 hour Equipment you’ll need: mixer, bowl, 9 x 13 pan Servings: 24, depending on how you cut them I know I’m not alone in my obsession with vanilla. Vanilla is a baker’s friend because it adds a sweet warm flavor to almost any baked good, from cookies to muffins....

My love for roasted veggies is growing day by day. With oven, you can easily cook any vegetables with minimal oil and supervision. It’s effortless, and that’s the part that I love the most. The Internet is flooded with the benefits of roasting veggies, so I don’t want to repeat them again. I recently posted stuffed okra baked in the oven, and also I have shared oven-roasted potatoes with rosemary and Indian-style baked potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and more....

Naan is much loved by all of us at home. I make it quite often, especially these easy whole wheat flatbreads and pair them with Indian curry dishes. We also love having parathas as a breakfast /brunch option on a lazy Sunday with raitha (yogurt dip) and green chutney. We are a family of four and divided in two teams - my husband and younger daughter are team roti (flatbreads); my older daughter and myself are team rice :-)) and so for us rice lovers there is almost always a rice dish along with roti/parathas at our table....

As soon as February starts, all I can think is desserts (hint …. Valentines) but keeping those thoughts aside, here I’m with a super quick and healthy ‘Sweet Spicy Ground Turkey Stir Fry’ . It’s light, refreshing and makes for a perfect weeknight meal and the best part, it can be used as filling in so many other dishes. We can add it in wraps, sandwiches, burger, pasta, pizza, omelet, fried rice …....

Happy Cyber Monday! Are you tackling everyone on your Christmas list today? I couldn’t think of a better time to share a few of my favorite gift ideas (so hopefully you can snag a sale!). A KitchenAid Mixer Here’s the one I recommend: Artisan 5qt KitchenAid. Getting the obvious out of the way first! OK, I know this is a splurge for sure, and it’s definitely the highest-ticket item on my list… But this is one tool every serious baker should have in their own kitchen....

This ladoo recipe needs just 2 simple ingredients, besan (chickpea flour/ gram flour) and sugar. Freshly made besan murukku/ janthikalu are ground and then added to the sugar syrup. I am sharing my Amma’s fool proof recipe, so you can make the best tokkudu laddu right at home. About the recipe My mom makes the best traditional Andhra sweet and snacks. I have quite a few of my Amma’s recipes on my blog....

Top 7 Healthy Foods Causing Heartburn: We are discussing top 7 good for you – healthy food that causes heartburn & how to prevent it using simple steps along with the NEW Sugar-Free TUMS Melon Berry. Ever wondered ‘WHY You Suddenly Feel Uneasy / Start Belching or Your Tummy Hurt’ even after consuming an extremely healthy/ ‘good for you’ diet? The answer is Heartburns/Acid Reflux and no matter when you eat or how less you eat, the symptom keeps continuing....

Fall is here, and I can see pumpkins, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, and acorn squash everywhere. I love soups anytime, but I do need to agree that relishing a warm bowl of soup in fall and winter is always special. So glad to share this fall special butternut squash soup this season. You can find a few exciting soup recipes on my blog archives as well. What’s So Special about this Butternut Squash Soup?...

Make them crunchy or soft and chewy according to your preference and spice it with a hint of cardamom to make it exciting! INGREDIENTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS FOR THESE VEGAN CARDAMOM CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES Flour– I used regular all-purpose flour but you can also substitute with a gluten-free flour mix made for baking. Cardamom– You can use cardamom seeds from the pods but you can also use a tsp os pre-ground cardamom....

This is one of my go-to recipes to use up sourdough discard. And you can never have enough banana bread recipes. So, give this yummy recipe a try and I am sure it will become a part of your repertoire too. About the Recipe This banana bread recipe uses 2 ingredients that I always have on hand, sourdough starter and of course the bananas. My starter is now more than a decade old and I am always looking for recipes to use it....

After sharing mashed potatoes, I have to share a perfect side for it. And that’s what I am doing today – sharing the easy vegetarian thanksgiving gravy. The vegetarian version of the thanksgiving gravy is similar to soup, but it’s slightly thick – thanks to the corn starch slurry. Mashed potatoes and vegetarian gravy is not meant only during thanksgiving; it is a comforting and easy-to-make combo that I often make during the winter....

Kootu – this vegetable and lentil-based gravy is part and parcel of everyday Tamil meals. I have shared quite a few kootu recipes, and now it’s time for another with white pumpkin or, as we say in Tamil, vellai poosanikai. Vellai poosanikai has a lot of English names – winter melon, ash gourd, or white pumpkin. You can use this vegetable to make sambar, kootu, dry poriyal, and desserts like halwa, more like my zucchini halwa....