Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Chocolate-Tipped Cream-Puff Pocky Sticks
June 23, 2026 at 7:12 pm | Posted in BWD, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 1 CommentTags: baking, choux
These Chocolate-Tipped Cream-Puff Pocky Sticks are a fun homemade take on the favorite Japanese sweet snack. Thin lengths of piped choux pastry make the sticks, which are baked and then coated in chocolate glaze. While I did actually measure my piping tip, I clearly piped my Pocky a bit on the thick side. In fact, some wise guy asked me if they were breadsticks. I tipped them with the matcha white chocolate coating and sprinkled on some tiny sugar pears. While my chubby Pocky didn’t fully dry out in the oven, the exterior was crisp. They retained a bit of that cream puff softness in the middle, but they were really good anyway.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Tea and Honey Madeleines
June 9, 2026 at 8:24 pm | Posted in BWD, cakes & tortes, cookies & bars, groups, simple cakes, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
Dorie has lots of good ideas up her sleeves for madeleines, and these Tea and Honey Madeleines are another creative twist on the classic shell-shaped cookie-cakes. Of course we think of dipping our madeleines into tea, but these have the tea built right in. The melted butter in the batter is both browned and infused with Earl Grey tea leaves. A bit of zest further amps up the citrusy notes, and I happened to have some bergamot zest in the freezer (once in a while my little local fancy grocery gets a box of them in), so I used a pinch of that.
When I pulled my mads out of the oven, I was pleased to see the signature humps popping out of the pan, but then my smugness immediately tuned to worry that they were too dark on the shell side. The ups and downs of baking, am I right? In fact, they are perfectly soft, rich and cakey inside, so maybe it was just all that browned tea-butter making them so golden. They are very fragrant and flecked with bits of tea leaf…there’s only one left, so I probably should have made a full batch.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Olive-Oil Brownies
May 12, 2026 at 2:31 pm | Posted in BWD, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: baking, brownies, cookies
Doesn’t matter how many batches of brownies we’ve made before, they are always a fun bake. It helps that there seems to be an infinite number of twists on the classic. These Olive-Oil Brownies (what’s with that hyphen?) swap out the melted butter for EVOO and add in black pepper and some dried fruit.
You can tell these are a bit different. For starters, they taste less sweet than typical brownies, maybe even slightly savory, likely due to a peppery oil plus actual pepper. Along with the dried fruit bits (I used cherries), this makes for a brownie that I think could hold up to a wine pairing, instead of just a glass of milk. They seemed a little dry on the top, but the inside kept a bit of fudginess. These were nice to try, although I’ll probably go back to a more standard recipe next time.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Meringue Snackers
April 28, 2026 at 9:09 pm | Posted in BWD, cookies & bars, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
Meringue “Snackers” is a funny name. I mean, I do like meringues, but it would never cross my mind to have one as a snack. Kind of like eating air. These big, swirly puffs are pretty to look at though. And you can do lots of things with them…even though I didn’t shape them into pavlovas, I’ll still probably take them from snacks to full-fledged dessert with some berries and cream.
I have some bright pink “raspberry juice powder” that I impulse bought not long ago, and thought I could fold some through the meringue to create a kind of rippled look. Well, that effect was totally lost, so I hit them with some extra powder when they came out of the oven. The powder is tart, so it plays off the meringue’s sugariness well. While I had these in the oven, I was also baking off some of the meringue as small disks to make the Little Marvels I skipped last summer. The two shapes bake and dry at different rates so I was doing a bit of oven juggle and who knows how long these were actually in there for. I took my snackers out when they felt firm, were a bit cracked and peeled off the parchment with no problem. They never got completely dry inside, so they have some chew in the middle, but do I think that’s nicer than a hard meringue.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Apricot and Pistachio-Olive Oil Cake
April 14, 2026 at 7:17 pm | Posted in BWD, cakes & tortes, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 5 CommentsTags: baking, cake
This Apricot and Pistachio-Olive Oil Cake is loaded with fragrant flavors of the Mediterranean. I added Dorie’s suggested pinch of saffron to the batter, which, combined with orange zest and olive oil, gave it a sunny yellow color. The baked cake gets sliced in half to make two layers, and the cross section was truly fantastic. That yellow cake studded with orange apricot bits and bright green Sicilian pistachios– I should have photo’ed it. Some apricot jam is spread between the layers and on top of the cake, along with an extra tumble of chopped pistachios. This one’s great with tea or coffee and it stays moist thanks to EVOO, butter and Greek yogurt in the batter (not to mention it’s sort of sealed with jam).
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan yet, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays! Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Brioche Sticky Buns
March 31, 2026 at 11:00 am | Posted in breakfast things, BWD, general pastry, groups, other sweet, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie | 3 CommentsTags: baking, bread
I’d like to be that person who wakes up at 5:30 on a Sunday morning to bake off Brioche Sticky Buns before the sun comes up, but, even when I worked in bakeries, I am absolutely not that person. In my house, morning pastries are eaten for dessert, unless there are leftovers. I recommend planning for leftovers with these, because they sure are good with a cup of coffee.
These sticky buns are a two-day affair, the first day dedicated to making Dorie’s brioche dough, and the second day to assembling, proofing and baking. I feel like we’ve made her brioche dough a zillion times now, and indeed in the course of TWD history, we’ve even made sticky buns with it twice before. These have a cinnamon-sugar filling and a brown sugar caramel topping. Warm from the oven, they are soft and buttery and gooey. I did make a scaled back batch, but was sure to have a couple leftover to warm up for the next day’s coffee treat.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
March 10, 2026 at 7:33 pm | Posted in BWD, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
We’ve made lots of Dorie’s chocolate chip cookies over the years. Some have oats, some have peanut butter, some have spices and seeds, some have a shortbread base, some are baked in a skillet. But these are her Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies, ones she describes as jazzed-up Toll House Cookies. Sounds like something I want in my cookie tin.
As classic as these cookies are, in her headnote, she encourages us to play around with them a bit. I know how I like my CCCs, so I subbed about 25% of the AP flour in the dough with whole wheat pastry flour and added a sprinkle of flaky salt just before baking. They did spread quite a lot in the oven, so I also gave them the “cookie scoot” while still hot. I love this trick and I use it a lot. Not only does it round-out misshapen cookies, but it kind of compress them a bit, making for a thicker edge and chewier texture. I did choose to use the optional toasted walnuts in these, but the focus here is on a lot of chopped chocolate. Everyone I shared them with liked them, so maybe I’ve found my own personal classic.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Clam Chowder Pie
February 24, 2026 at 6:24 pm | Posted in BWD, groups, other savory, savory things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, savory, tarts
Clam Chowder Pie– I can see this being a polarizing bake. I wouldn’t even bother trying to give this to my father. He hates clams and would probably frisbee his plate straight out the window. Using shrimp instead may have more broad appeal, but I think this is a cool idea. I mean New England-style chowder isn’t too far off the mark from pot pie filling, and the buttery oyster cracker topping is a cute and fun touch.
I think my husband would have been up for trying this, but I made it while he was out of town. I had a mini pie tin in the freezer lined with scrap dough from something or other, so I just made myself a single serve, à la Marie Callendar’s, to eat while watching TV. Clam chowder girl dinner, I guess. Speaking of girl dinner, I love tinned fish of all sorts, but canned clams sound kind of weird to me. I can easily buy fresh littlenecks and they’re so easy to cook, so I got a bag to steam and just ate what ever I didn’t need for the pie as chef’s treat. This post is making me sound unhinged.
I didn’t need a whole lot of filling for my baby pie, so I eyeballed things a bit. It has a few strong ingredients I don’t normally see in creamy chowders, like Old Bay, hot sauce and Worcestershire. Egg turns it into a custard that I imagine helps with sliceability in a large pie. Lots of veggies are in here, too…no potatoes, but celery, bell pepper, peas and scallions. Making it as a mini pie probably meant I had a bit more crust to filling than intended, but it was a fun and tasty way to end the savory baking chapter of BWD.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it twice a month. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Trufflish Nuggets
February 10, 2026 at 5:55 pm | Posted in BWD, cookies & bars, groups, sweet things, tuesdays with dorie | 4 CommentsTags: baking, cookies
Valentine’s Day is coming up, and while a dozen roses would be fine, I’m more of a dozen chocolates kind of girl. There are no surprises, though, when you’ve been married for over 20 years. I know that if I want any chocolate, I’m the one who has to take care of it, regardless of the day. Trufflish Nuggets should do…a funny name, but they are macaroons, made with coconut, almonds, cinnamon and, most importantly, two kinds of chocolate. They are super easy to make; just a quick blitz in the food processor and the dough is made. I scooped my nuggies a bit bigger than Dorie did and baked them a bit less. At 20 minutes they seemed done to me. The half recipe I made gave me that perfect dozen chewy chocolate treats.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll!
Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: The Daily Bread: Whole Wheat and Flax Edition
February 3, 2026 at 4:39 pm | Posted in biscuits/scones, breakfast things, BWD, groups, tuesdays with dorie | 2 CommentsTags: baking, bread
Wow, we are having a real winter here for the first time in years. I’ve gone into carb-loading, sweatpants-wearing hibernation mode. Baking my own bread so I don’t have to go outside…that sort of thing. This Whole Wheat and Flax Daily Bread helped keep my kitchen warm during our most recent snowstorm.
Whole wheat flour, wheatgerm, flax seed and a bit of honey give this sandwich loaf a wholesome feel, but butter and milk keep it from feeling like punishment. This bread slices nicely, toasts nicely, and is just all-around nice. I usually have flax seeds at home because I like a spoonful in my post-workout smoothies, but I’d like to try this one again with sunflower seeds, which Dorie lists as an alternative.
If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!
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