Matzos with Sesame Seeds

These matzo crackers are very hard to put down once you begin snacking on them. They are so crunchy and thin, that "just one more" doesn't seem like it would hurt.

Matzos, or Matzah, are a crisp unleavened bread traditionally eaten by Jews during Passover. It is baked quickly, to reenact the Exodus.

These would be delicious with hummus, Boursin and smoked salmon, or even butter (think buttered Saltines). They are also just as tasty plain. So good!

Chocolate Mint Sandwiches

These chocolate mint sandwiches are super crispy (but still tender) and super chocolaty. The cookies themselves are similar to chocolate wafers (only way better), and would make an excellent chocolate wafer crust (if you want to take it to the next level)

The filling is made from melted white chocolate spiked with a little peppermint oil. As a result, the filling hardens pretty quickly, just like a chocolate bar, so there's no moisture to soften the cookies themselves. The cookies will last up to two weeks in a sealed container, which makes them perfect for make-ahead gifts. They can even be frozen for up to two months.

Garlicky Rib Eye Steak with Garlic Bruschetta and Aged Balsamic

This Garlicky Ribeye Steak with Garlic Bruschetta and Aged Balsamic was pretty much a revelation.

Placing the steak on grilled garlic bruschetta and having a bit of each on each forkful was sooooo good! Even my steak and potatoes Irish-born husband, who would just as soon skip anything garlic, said he would have skipped the potato (as did I) if he'd known how good this combination was.

Pane di Pasqua - Italian Easter Bread Wreath

This Pane di Pasqua is a southern Italian traditional bread for Easter, and is typically baked with colored hard boiled eggs nestled into the shaped loaves.

This bread is made from an enriched dough, and is somewhat sweet, with a faint orange vanilla flavor from Fiori di Sicilia, or "flowers of Sicily." The dominant flavors are vanilla and orange, so if you don't have Fiori di Sicilia, you can use a combination of orange oil and vanilla to achieve a similar flavor.

Senfbrot - German Mustard Bread

The recipe for this Senfbrot, or German Mustard Bread, was discovered by my friend David of Hearth Baked Tunes on a German bakers association website, in German of course, and proportioned for commercial bakers.

Fudgy No-Butter No-Flour Brownies

These fudgy no-butter no-flour brownies are actually made with almond flour. They are really easy to make. All you need is one bowl.

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip, Caramel, and Sea Salt Cookies

These browned butter chocolate chip, caramel, and sea salt cookies are not only gooey when they first come out of the oven, they stay gooey even after they have cooled. They're pretty magical.

"Browned butter?" you ask!

Instead of creaming the butter and sugar as you would for most chocolate chip cookie recipes, you actually boil the butter until it is golden brown. You have to watch very carefully when you do this, because the butter can quickly turn black... and you'll have to start over.

As you brown the butter, the water evaporates, and the wonderful buttery flavor gets even more concentrated.

The cookies are filled with chopped semi-sweet chocolate, chocolate chips, and caramel bits. Finally, they are sprinkled with flaked sea salt.

They are slightly under baked, producing an amazingly gooey center (P.S. for those of you who are squeamish about bite marks on food photos, I promise, this view is not of bite marks! No teeth were used to produce this photo).

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip, Caramel, and Sea Salt Cookies

Ingredients

14 T (200g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1/2 C (100g) white sugar
3/4 C (150 g) packed dark brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp fine sea salt (table salt will do)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 C (255 g) all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 C (135 g) semisweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 C (135 g) semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 C (75 g) caramel bits
Flaked sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Place the butter into light colored frying or saute pan and cook, stirring constantly, over medium high heat. When the butter begins to boil, pay very close attention. When the butter starts to turn golden brown, after about 3 to 5 minutes, immediately remove it from the heat and pour it into a large bowl. 
2. Add the white sugar, brown sugar, fine sea salt, and vanilla. Whisk until the mixture cools somewhat.
3. Add the egg and egg yolk, and whisk for about 2 minutes, until the mixture begins to lighten in color. 
4. Fold in the flour and baking soda until just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate, chips, and caramel pieces. Do not over mix. 
5. Divide the dough into golf ball sized pieces, about 70 grams each. My dough yielded 14 cookies. Shape the dough pieces into balls, place them on a plate, and sprinkle them with sea salt. 
6. Cover the dough balls with plastic, and refrigerate over night. 
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F with a rack in the middle of the oven. 
8. Line two baking sheets with parchment and place the cookie balls about 2 inches apart on each sheet. 
9. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 8 to 12 minutes (it took 12 minutes in my case). Do not over cook. 
10. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack. 

This recipe is adapted from the amazing bread book Josey Baker Bread: Get Baking - Make Awesome Bread - Share the Loaves. Yes, a bread book! And a very good one.