My Favorite Fall Baking Recipes
/Fall is the best time of year for baking! Here is a collection of my favorite cozy baking recipes for the season.
You can go directly to each of these recipes by clicking the corresponding photo.
Chocolate Truffles 3 Ways
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Happy Day 11 of 12 Days of Christmas Desserts and Happy Christmas Eve Eve to you all! Let’s talk truffles.
Truffles are a very easy, last minute homemade gift idea that really give the ‘this took me barely any effort at all but they look fancy and cute so you will think I spent hours creating this for you’ vibe. Truffles are just ganache and ganache is just chocolate and heavy cream. It’s all about the technique, so let’s get down to it.
First thing to know about ganache: The consistency of your ganache depends on your chocolate to cream ratio. For a saucy, hot-fudge style ganache, start with 2 parts cream to 1 part chocolate. For traditional, spreadable ganache, it’s a 1:1 ratio, and for scoop-able, truffle ganache, we start with 2 parts chocolate to 1 part heavy cream.
A quick note: milk chocolate has a higher milk solid content than dark chocolate, which will add more fat and cream to your mixture. This means that you would have to slightly adjust these ratios if using a milk chocolate because there would extra fat added to the mixture. For all of these ganache ratios, stick with a chocolate that is at least 52% cocoa solids, preferably a bit higher. 60%-70% is my sweet spot.
making ganache
Roughly chop your chocolate. You want small pieces or else your ganache will be chunky.
Heat your cream until little bubbles form around the edges. (This is called scalding and if you’re measuring, the cream will between 180°-190°F.)
Immediately pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and jiggle the bowl just a bit to get it all settled down. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes.
After the mixture has rested a bit, start whisking. Whisk (fairly vigorously) starting in the very center of the bowl and working your way out. As you whisk the mixture will begin to look like chocolate milk and then will rapidly change to a smooth, glossy consistency. When the entire bowl has reached that glossy consistency, continue whisking for one minute more.
Cool. For truffles, let the mixture cool for about an hour or until it’s is a scoopable consistency.
Yield: each recipe makes 10-12 truffles
Chocolate Truffles Three Ways
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 15 MinInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 1 H & 30 M
Chocolate truffles are easy and don't require many ingredients but they make you feel like a fancy confectioner. Here is a base truffle recipe along with three different flavor renditions.
Ingredients
for the chocolate pomegranate truffles
- 8 oz chocolate
- 4 oz heavy cream
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- cocoa powder, for rolling
for the chocolate tahini truffles
- 8 oz chocolate
- 4 oz heavy cream
- 2 tbsp tahini, stirred
- sesame seeds, for rolling
for the sea salt and sage caramel truffles
- 12 oz chocolate, divided
- 4 oz heavy cream
- 2 tbsp sage caramel, recipe below
- Sea salt
for the sage caramel
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (113 g) heavy cream
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 sprigs fresh sage (10-12 leaves)
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
to make the truffles
- Place 8 oz chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, bring 4 oz heavy cream to a simmer. When the cream is hot, pour over the chocolate and shake to settle. Let sit for 3-4 minutes.
- Starting in the center of the bowl, begin whisking vigorously until chocolate mixture becomes smooth and glossy. Whisk one minute more. Add the add-in of your choice (tahini, pomegranate molasses, sage caramel) and whisk to combine.
- Let mixture set at room temperature for about an hour, until it becomes scoop-able. Use a cookie scoop to portion dollops of ganache onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and then transfer to the refrigerator to cool for 15 minutes.
- For the chocolate pomegranate truffles: Remove them from the refrigerator and roll each one in sifted cocoa powder.
- For the chocolate tahini truffles: Remove them from the refrigerator and roll each one in sesame seeds.
- For the sea salt and sage caramel truffles: Melt the remaining 4 oz of chocolate over a double-boiler or in the microwave. Dip each truffle in the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle the tops with sea salt and let set until chocolate has hardened.
to make the sage caramel
- Place butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Add about 6 sage leaves to the butter and cook until butter is melted. When the mixture is beginning to sizzle, transfer it to a bowl and let cool completely. Remove sage leaves and discard, set butter aside.
- Place heavy cream your small saucepan along with the remaining sage leaves and bring to a simmer over medium heat. When the milk begins to bubble, remove it from the heat and cover it. Let set for 20 minutes before straining out sage leaves and discarding them.
- Pour sugar in an even layer on the bottom of a large skillet. Set over medium heat and cook without stirring until the sugar has become liquid is beginning to turn golden. At this point, you can swirl the pan gently a time or two. Continue to cook until caramel reaches a deep amber color.
- Carefully remove the skillet from the heat and stream in heavy cream, whisking continually. Return the caramel to the heat and add butter. Whisk well and cook for 1 more minute. Immediately pour caramel into a medium bowl, whisk in salt, and let cool.
Notes:
Milk chocolate has a higher milk solid content than dark chocolate, which will add more fat and cream to your mixture. This means that you would have to slightly adjust these ratios if using a milk chocolate because there would extra fat added to the mixture. For all of these ganache ratios, stick with a chocolate that is at least 52% cocoa solids, preferably a bit higher. 60%-70% is my sweet spot.
more recipes like this
chocolate espresso crinkle cookies
sourdough chocolate tart
toasted buckwheat and chocolate cookies
Brown Sugar Cookies with Rosemary Butter Glaze
/These easy, shortbread-like cookies are soft and chewy thanks to the addition of brown sugar. They are stamped and dipped in a rosemary butter glaze.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but sugar cookies hang out near the bottom of my “favorite Christmas cookie” list. They’re often a bit fussy, not holding the cute little Christmas tree and snowflake shapes that you painstakingly cut out of them. They usually taste solely of sugar, butter, and royal icing, which isn’t bad but I think we can do better. They are fine cookies, just not anything special, but they are a holiday classic so I set out to gussy them up a bit.
how to make the best brown sugar cookies
First off, get rid of the ‘sugar’ part and sub it with brown sugar. I did this for a few reasons. 1) FLAVOR. Brown sugar is just granulated sugar with a little molasses added to it, so it gives a deeper, more spiced flavor to an otherwise semi-bland cookie. (And if you are interested in all things sugar, you can read my ingredient deep dive here.) 2) TEXTURE. Brown sugar has extra moisture (from that added molasses), which means it creates a slightly fluffier, chewier cookie—a texture I am very much into.
Next, stamp these babies! My cookie cutters have been gathering dust since I got myself some cookie stamps. They are much easier, read: no gingerbread men with lost limbs, and they have a more mature, antique-y vibe in my opinion. Very fun and very fancy. **And if you don’t have cookie stamps, find a fun textured glass or vase and roll that on the dough before cutting out circles.
Last, scratch the royal icing and replace it with a rosemary butter glaze that can be eaten straight from the spoon. Simply melt butter with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, let it steep, and then whisk in powdered sugar and a splash of heavy cream before brushing onto the warm cookies. It’s a perfect ending to a sweet little cookie.
Yield: makes 18-20 cookies
Brown Sugar Cookies with Rosemary Butter Glaze
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 10 MinInactive time: 12 HourTotal time: 12 H & 25 M
These easy, shortbread-like cookies are soft and chewy thanks to the addition of brown sugar. They are stamped and dipped in a rosemary butter glaze.
Ingredients
for the cookie dough
- 8 tbsp (113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
for the glaze
- 2/3 cup (80 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 6 tsp heavy cream
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and brown sugar. Beat for 1-2 minutes, until throughly combined. Add the egg yolk and beat again for one minute, until homogenized. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients. When everything is added, increase the mixer speed to medium. The mixture will look crumbly, but that is okay. Continue mixing until the a dough begins to form a cohesive mass.
- Transfer the dough to a work surface and pat into a disc. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour, and up to 12 hours.
- When you are ready to bake, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let rest at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375° F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place the disc of dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out until 1/4” in thickness. Dip cookie stamps or a round cutter in a bowl of flour and cut out or stamp cookies into the dough. (If using a cookie stamp, be sure to press firmly or the shape will bake out in the oven.)
- Transfer cookies to your prepared baking sheet and let chill in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before baking. Bake cookies for 8-9 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden around the edges.
- While the cookies are baking, make your glaze. Place butter and rosemary in a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook until butter is melted and rosemary is fragrant. Remove rosemary and pour melted butter into a small mixing bowl. Whisk in powdered sugar and 4 tsp heavy cream and mix until smooth. Add more heavy cream if needed to reach your desired consistency. Brush cookies with glaze while they are still warm and let cool until glaze sets.
