Oh Nuts Blog

Football season's in full swing, and the Super Bowl is just a week away! Even if you're not a huge football fan, the Super Bowl still has a lot to offer: a spectacular halftime show, the world's most expensive commercials, and a built-in excuse to eat all the junk food you can handle.

Chips, dip, and other salty foods usually rule Super Bowl menus, but what if you're also craving something sweet? These Sweet and Salty Superbars have an addicting blend of game-day favorites like salty peanuts and pretzels, mixed with a sweet, chewy caramel on top of a buttery crust. They're about three different snacks in one, and they are the perfect accompaniment to your game day festivities.

Sweet and Salty Superbars
yield: 24 generous bar cookies

For the base

• 1.5 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 20 ounces soft caramels, unwrapped
• 2 cups roasted, salted peanuts
• 2 cups salted mini pretzel twists, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
• Coarse sea salt for topping, optional

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, until everything is well-blended and there aren't any lumps of flour.

One of the best things about these bars is the base layer, which is a moist blondie with a flavor reminiscent of butterscotch. The flavor comes from using browned butter instead of regular butter in the batter. Browning the butter adds an extra step, but it's so worth it! So start by melting your butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat...

And continue to heat it, stirring constantly, until it turns a light amber color and you have dark bits on the bottom of the pan, about 7-8 minutes. Looks disgusting, tastes delicious! I promise.

Combine the browned butter and the brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix them together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until the sugar clumps together like wet sand.

Add the eggs and the vanilla, and beat again for 2 minutes more. At the end you should have a velvety smooth mixture.

Now add your dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the flour streaks disappear. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl and give it a few more good stirs to mix everything together.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer using a spatula.

Bake the crust at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, until it's puffed around the edges, golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the crust cool completely before finishing the bars. If you want to speed up the process, you can cool it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

To make the topping, first melt the caramels. The texture of the caramels before you melt them will be the same texture after they have melted and cooled, so if your caramels are stiff or hard to chew, add a spoonful or two of cream to the bowl of caramel them to make the end result a little chewier and smoother. Microwave the caramels in 30-second intervals, stirring after every 30 seconds, until they are completely melted and smooth.

Add the peanuts and the chopped pretzels to the caramel, and stir until they're well-mixed and coated with caramel.

Scrape the caramel onto the cooled crust and spread it into an even layer. If it feels too thick to spread easily with a spatula, wet your hands and gently press it evenly over the crust.

Melt the chocolate and drizzle it all over the top of the crust.

If you want to add a little more salt, sprinkle a generous pinch or two of flaked sea salt on top of the chocolate. Refrigerate the bars until the caramel and chocolate are set, about 45 minutes.

Once the top layers are firm, remove the bars from the pan using the foil as handles and cut them into small squares or rectangles. It's easiest to get neat cuts when the bars are cold, but they taste so much better at room temperature--so let them sit and warm up at room temperature before you serve them!

Maybe you don't even like football. Maybe your team isn't in the big game, or maybe they make it and end up losing. No matter what happens, at least you'll have these Sweet and Salty Superbars to enjoy--and they're always a winner!

All tttext and images (c) Elizabeth LaBau

I know what you're thinking. Thanksgiving is over, the gluttony has ended, and now it's time for healthy salads and smoothies and eating broccoli at every meal. To which I say: nonsense!

Thanksgiving should be just the start of indulgence this season ,and I have the perfect recipe to keep the ball rolling. These Cranberry Pecan Pinwheels are made with dried cranberries, toasted pecans, and cranberry sauce, so they're perfect for using up any leftover cranberry sauce you have hanging around your refrigerator.

Even if you're completely burned out on the idea of Thanksgiving food, consider this: with their seasonal taste and beautiful design, these cookies would make a stellar addition to a holiday gift platter. Don't you owe it to your nearest and dearest to give them a try and see for yourself? Perfect! They'll thank you later.

Cranberry Pecan Pinwheel Cookies Recipe
yield: 4 dozen cookies
For the cookie dough:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 TBSP butter, softened
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk, at room temperature

• 1 cup whole cranberry sauce (homemade if possible)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (orange-flavored cranberries would be good too!)
• 1/3 cup toasted pecans
  
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 TBSP flour

First things first: the cookie dough. In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar and the softened butter. Don't have a stand mixer? Never fear, a hand mixer also works for this dough. Mix the butter and sugar together on medium speed until they're light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the vanilla extract and the egg, and continue mixing until the egg disappears into the batter.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

With the mixer running on low, add about a third of the flour mixture, and let it run until the flour streaks disappear and are incorporated.

Let the mixer continue to run, and slowly stream in half of the milk.

Once the milk is mixed in, add half of the remaining flour, then the rest of the milk. Finally, add the remaining flour. (If you're thinking this method seems familiar, it's because it's one of the most common ways to make cake batter. This is a good sign the cookie dough is going to be soft and cakey!)

Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there are no stray patches of flour or butter that haven't been mixed in. Your dough should be soft and maybe just a bit sticky.

Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough packets until they're firm enough to roll out, about 1 hour.

While you're waiting for the dough to chill, prepare the filling components. Finely chop the pecans with a chef's knife or food processor and set them aside for now.

In a small saucepan, combine the cranberry sauce, dried cranberries, sugar, and flour. If your cranberry sauce is very thick and gelatinous, add 1/4 cup water to loosen it up a bit.

Stir everything together, and heat it over medium heat until it's thick, bubbling, and the cranberries have softened. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool completely.

When the cranberry filling is cool and the dough is firm, it's time to REALLY get the party started. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Lay a sheet of parchment paper or waxed paper on your work surface, and generously dust it with flour. Take one of the packets of cookie dough, and dust that with lots of flour too. Roll the cookie dough out until it's a thin rectangle about 1/8-inch thick.

Spread half of the cranberry filling over the cookie dough until it's in a thin, even layer.

Sprinkle half of the chopped pecans all over the top of the cookie dough.

Now for the fun part! Starting at the long edge of the dough, use the parchment or waxed paper to help you start rolling the dough up over itself like a cinnamon roll. Continue rolling until you have a long, thin tube of rolled dough.

Repeat this process with the second packet of dough until you have two long tubes. You can technically use them right away, but I think the cookies look nicest if they're chilled before you cut and bake them. This doesn't have to be a long process-you can just wrap the cookie tubes in cling wrap and put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes, until they're firm enough to cut neatly.

If you're the make-ahead type, at this point you can refrigerate the well-wrapped assembled cookies for up to a week, or freeze them for several months.

When they're firm, slice the cookies using a sharp serrated knife into 1/2-inch rounds. Rotate the cookies as you slice them so that they maintain their somewhat round shape. They'll spread a little while baking, so don't worry if they're not perfectly round. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

Bake the cookies at 350 for about 16 minutes, until they're puffed and just lightly golden around the edges. They shouldn't take on much color on top, and won't spread much beyond becoming rounder and puffy. Let them cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then gently remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Even if you swore off sweets after a pumpkin and pecan pie Thanksgiving extravaganza, I guarantee you'll find a little extra room for these soft, cakey cookies with a tangy, nutty filling. You might even find yourself making or buying a little more cranberry sauce so you can enjoy them over and over again!

All images and text (c) Elizabeth LaBau

These homemade candy bars, filled with a soft and chewy coconut filling and crunchy toasted almonds, are a delight. You might even say they are a joy. An almond-coconut joy. Catch my drift?

Now we're not in the business of infringing on any candy copyrights, so I won't pretend that these are the exact same joyful candy bars you might be familiar with from store shelves. I will say, though, that the resemblance is uncanny.

Two whole almonds sit atop a sweetly tropical coconut filling, just like...well, you know. The only difference is that I like to use dark chocolate, to counteract the sweetness of the coconut. But if you're a milk chocolate loyalist, you can certainly substitute a lighter chocolate instead. Ready to rock?

Almond-Coconut Candy Bars
yield: 30-40 candy bars, depending on how you cut them

• 7 ounces sweetened condensed milk (half a standard 14-oz can)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 14 ounces (about 2-1/2 cups) shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup whole roasted almonds (I prefer roasted salted almonds)
• 1 lb chopped dark chocolate, or chocolate candy coating

First things first: prepare your fancy candy bar receptacle by lining a 9x13-inch pan with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, the vanilla, and the salt. Stir them together until they're well-mixed. If your room is fairly cold and the condensed milk is thick and hard to stir, microwave it for 10-15 seconds, just so that it loosens up and is easier to work with.

Next add the powdered sugar to the bowl with condensed milk, and stir it in.

It may be difficult to incorporate it all at first, but keep stirring and you should soon have a thick, smooth mixture like this.

Now for the star ingredient: the coconut! Add it all at once and mix it with the condensed milk until there are no dry patches remaining. This can be done with a mixer, but I like using a wooden spoon--stirring burns calories that can later be eaten in the form of candy bars!

Your final coconut mixture should be sticky but fairly stiff. If it's runny add a bit more coconut, and if it's very dry, add a bit more condensed milk. Coconut can have different moisture levels depending on its age and how it was stored, so there's some trial and error involved in getting a texture you love.

Scrape the coconut into the prepared pan. Wet your palms and press the coconut into a thin, even layer. You can control how thick you want the coconut layer to be. I prefer my coconut to be about 1/2-inch thick, so I don't cover the entire pan--I use about 3/4 of it and leave the rest of the pan empty.

Use a knife or a pizza wheel to lightly mark the top of the coconut into bars. This is optional, but it keeps your candy bars the same size and helps immensely in almond placement.

Hey, speaking of almonds, let's get those on the candy bars, stat! Take your roasted almonds and press them into the sticky coconut top. I use 2 per bar, to stay traditional, but you can use more or less, to taste. Once all the almonds are placed, refrigerate your pan to firm up the coconut, for about an hour.

Once the coconut is firm enough to cut, take it out of the refrigerator. Lift the candy from the pan using the foil as handles. Use a large sharp knife to cut your bars along the lines you marked earlier. Almost done...we just need to add some chocolate!

Place your chopped chocolate or candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it in 30-second increments. Stir it after every 30 seconds so that it doesn't overheat.

When it's melted and smooth, use forks or dipping tools to dunk each candy bar in the chocolate, then tap it against the lip of the bowl to remove any excess chocolate. Place the bars on a foil-lined baking sheet to set while you dip the rest. Refrigerate the tray to set the chocolate, for about 10 minutes.

Congratulations, you've made your own candy bars! The small size and easy assembly-line nature of these candy bars means they're the perfect homemade gift. They look beautiful all packaged together, and they're simple and fast enough to make in large quantities. Coconut candy Christmas, anyone?

Of course, the problem with that idea is that you have to share these with other people. I won't tell if you hide them away and sneak a few a day as an afternoon pick-me-up. After all, these almond-coconut candy bars are meant to bring you joy!

All text and photos (c) Elizabeth LaBau

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is almost upon us, so it's time for another knockout dessert to ring in the new year. Last year we featured an ultra-moist Honey Bundt Cake, which is often served during the holiday to symbolize the wish for a sweet and happy year.

This year we'll be focusing on another traditional Rosh Hoshanah favorite: apples. I have a delicious Apple Crumb Cake recipe to share with you that is perfect as part of an indulgent brunch or as a lighter dessert option. Sliced apples and a walnut-cinnamon crumble are baked into the middle of a spice cake, and it is topped with a nutty, flavorful crumb topping.

I won't sugarcoat it: this cake takes a little bit of time, and not one but two kitchen appliances: a blender and a food processor. But I think the extra effort, the time and love and attention required, makes this a dessert worthy of a special occasion like Rosh Hashanah.

Apple Crumb Cake

For the crumb topping:

• 1.5 cups walnuts, toasted
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 TBSP granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup plus 1 TBSP flour
• 2 oz (4 TBSP) butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 medium apple
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 tbsp sour cream, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup apple sauce, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 6 oz (12 TBSP) unsalted butter at room temperature

• Food processor
• Mixer
• 9" springform pan

Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F (176 C). The first thing to do is make the walnut-cinnamon crumble. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the walnuts, the brown sugar, the granulated sugar, and the cinnamon. Pulse the mixture in several long bursts until the walnuts are finely chopped and it looks like coarse sand.

Remove 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture, and set it aside in a small bowl for now. This is the crumble that's going to go in the middle of the cake.

To the remaining crumbs in the food processor, add the flour, the melted butter, and the vanilla extract. Pulse until all the ingredients are blended and moistened.

Stop blending when you see the crumbs start to hold together. We don't want big thick clumps, we want smaller clumps and a looser crumb. Transfer the crumble to a medium bowl and refrigerate it while you prepare the rest of the cake.

Peel and core the apple, then slice it into thin wedges less than 1/4-inch thick. Place the wedges in a bowl, and toss them with the lemon juice so they don't get discolored.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, and vanilla extract, until everything is well-blended.

Finally, in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Turn the mixer to low and mix all the dry ingredients together until they are well-blended. This helps to distribute the ingredients and also to sift the flour so that there are no lumps in the cake.

Add the softened butter and the applesauce to the bowl of the stand mixer. Beat everything together on low until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Then turn the speed up to medium and beat for another 1-1/2 minutes, to really aerate the cake and develop the structure. When you're done, the mixture should look like the picture above. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl very well, making sure everything is mixed.

Turn the mixer to medium-low speed. Add the egg mixture in two parts, beating for at least 30 seconds after each addition, waiting until the eggs are completely incorporated before adding another batch. Mix for a final 30 seconds, until the cake batter is silky-smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once more, to make sure there are no dry patches or lumpy spots.

Spray a 9" springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour about 2/3 of the cake batter into the pan, and spread it into an even layer with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Remember that bowl of crumbs you reserved from the first step, before you added the butter and flour to the food processor? That's the bowl you want to use now. Sprinkle the dry crumbs all over the top of the cake in the pan, making sure to get them in an even layer.

Take your apple slices and layer them over the top of the crumbs, overlapping them slightly so that they're in one thin layer covering the entire surface of the cake.

Now pour the rest of the cake batter on top, and smooth it into an even layer over the apple slices. It will be thin in spots, but don't worry, the cake will puff up as it bakes. Once you're done spreading the batter, place the cake in the preheated oven and bake it for 35 minutes. This is a "partial bake" that will give the cake time to develop its structure without being weighed down by the final layer of crumbs we're going to add on top.

After 35 minutes, take the partially baked cake out of the oven. Take your final bowl of crumbs, the one with the butter and flour added, from the refrigerator and sprinkle them all over the top of the cake. If you have some large crumbs, you can leave them for variety, or you can crumble them in your hands, depending on your preference.

Continue to bake the cake for another 20-30 minutes. I recommend checking it after 20 minutes, and if it is not yet done, checking it every 5 minutes until it is. When it's finished, a toothpick inserted in the center will emerge with only a few moist crumbs attached.

Let the cake cool completely at room temperature. Once cool, run a knife along the sides of the pan, then unlatch the sides of the springform and remove the sides.

Remember how I said up above that this would be a great brunch treat? Well, that is true. It has the lightness and flavor of a great coffee cake, and it goes perfectly with a morning cup of tea or coffee. However, I admit that my favorite way to eat it is with a big spoonful of whipped cream on top, which I think pushes it into the "evening dessert" category.

However you choose to enjoy it, I'm sure this Apple Crumb Cake, with its layer of moist apples and generous bounty of cinnamon-walnut crumble, will be the perfect way to welcome in the new year. Have a sweet and happy Rosh Hashanah!

All text and images (c) Elizabeth LaBau

Labor Day has come and gone, but the calendar says we still have a few more weeks of summer before the official start of fall. Let's celebrate with one more summery recipe featuring fresh, light flavors!

Chicken salad may not be the first thing you think of when you hear "summer recipe," but I promise this isn't your usual sad deli-counter salad. Fresh basil, lemon zest, and lemon juice give this Summer Chicken Salad a light and tangy flavor. Most importantly, fresh grapes and toasted slivered almonds are tossed in with the chicken, to add unexpected bursts of juiciness and crunch.

Summer Chicken Salad Recipe
yield: about 4 cups

• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1 medium lemon
• Handful fresh basil leaves
• 2 green onions
• 1 cup green or purple grapes
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds
• salt and pepper to taste

I've said it before and I'll say it again: you always want to toast your nuts. Toasting brings out a much richer flavor, in addition to giving the nuts a nice crunch. So put your slivered almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat and toast them for a few minutes, until they're golden brown and fragrant. Set them aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the chicken salad recipe.

Next, you need to chop up the rest of your ingredients if you haven't already. Here's a quick tip for cutting basil: to get thin and even cuts, place all the basil leaves on top of each other and roll them up lengthwise in a cylinder, then cut the cylinder into thin pieces. You'll end up with perfectly sized strips of basil every time.

Fortunately the green onions already come rolled into cylinders, so just cut those up as well...

And finish by chopping up the grapes. Halves should be fine, unless you have monster grapes, in which case you'll want to cut them in quarters.

The brilliant thing about making chicken salad, as opposed to, say, nuclear reactors, is that you can play it by ear and be casual with your measurements. By all means measure if you'd like, but I prefer to throw things together in the bowl, and then make adjustments to taste at the end, all the while patting myself on the back for my carefree culinary attitude.

Zest the lemon into the mayonnaise mixture until you have about 2 teaspoons of zest...

Then cut the lemon in half and squeeze in 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice.

Add a few shakes of the salt and a few grinds of the pepper mill, then stir everything together.

Now at this point you may have noticed that our "chicken salad" has been missing a key ingredient. Fret no more, because it's chicken time! Add your chopped cooked chicken...

And the rest of your ingredients: the basil, green onions, grapes, and toasted slivered almonds.

Ironically, this is one of those recipes that looks better during assembly than it does when it's finished. Right now, you have beautiful ingredients, artfully layered, and everything looks really delicious. But, you know, it's not chicken salad until it's mixed together, so start stirring...

...and soon you will be rewarded with a gloppy mess of chunky stuff in white goo. Sure, it's not the most stunning recipe, visually, but looks are overrated--what's important is that it tastes amazing.

Speaking of taste, give it a try and see if it needs more salt, or pepper, or lemon juice, or maybe a few more almonds.

Now show your homely chicken salad you still love it by enjoying it right away. You can put it on top of a green salad, eat it on crackers, or stay traditional by making yourself a big sandwich with crisp lettuce, slices of juicy tomato, and some high-quality bread. Viva la summer!

All text and images (c) Elizabeth LaBau

Homemade ice cream is one of summer's biggest pleasures, but that pleasure comes at a cost. It takes time to mix up the custard base, temper the eggs in, chill the custard, then churn it into ice cream. And what if you don't own an ice cream maker? You're stuck eating store-bought stuff like a sucker!

Have I got a solution for you: ice cream without an ice cream maker. The recipe I'm going to show today is for rocky road ice cream, but you can take the same base ingredients and make your own custom flavors just as easily. It takes just a handful of ingredients, 10 minutes of active work in the kitchen, and a mixer or hand mixer. Here's what you need:

Rocky Road Ice Cream (Without An Ice Cream Maker!)
yield: about 6 cups of ice cream

• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup miniature marshmallows
• 3/4 cup roasted salted almonds (you could also use walnuts, pecans, or even hazelnuts)

Begin by coarsely chopping the almonds. They don't need to be in small pieces, but giant whole almonds are a little tough to eat in ice cream, so chop them roughly to make them more manageable. I should also add that you can use roasted unsalted almonds instead of the salted kind--you just don't want raw almonds, because they don't have enough flavor or crunch.

Place the condensed milk in a bowl, and add the unsweetened cocoa powder. Whisk them together until the cocoa has dissolved into the condensed milk. At first it will be chalky and powdery...

...but as you continue whisking, the cocoa will eventually combine with the milk, and you'll be left with a shiny, smooth, darkly chocolatey mixture.

Add the miniature marshmallows and the chopped almonds to the cocoa mixture, and stir them together.

Stir until the marshmallows and almonds are well-distributed in the condensed milk, and are covered with chocolate. You might be tempted to forget about ice cream and just eat this chocolate slurry with a spoon, and although I can tell you from experience that it IS delicious, I promise that the ice cream will be worth the self-control.

Pour the cream into the bowl of a stand mixer or just any large bowl, if you're using a hand mixer.

Using the whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium-high speed until it forms gentle peaks. It should have a lot of body and hold peaks when you drag the whisk through it, but it should still be soft and not firmly whipped or, even worse, curdled and buttery.

Add the cocoa mixture to the bowl of whipped cream...

...and begin gently folding them together. This ice cream gets its texture from the softly whipped cream, so you don't want to stir it too vigorously and deflate the cream. Just gently, gently stir them together.

When you're finished your mixture should be without any streaks of chocolate or whipped cream. Now...don't be mad...but I might have neglected to mention a teensy, tiny detail. You can't eat it just yet. It has to chill for a few hours. I'm sorry! Don't throw things! Patience is a virtue!

Scrape your ice cream mixture into a large plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. You could also just freeze it in the bowl you mixed it in, covered very well with plastic wrap. (That's not a good long-term storage solution, though, because it doesn't prevent freezer burn or bad odors from creeping in. So just transfer any leftovers to a sturdier container.) Freeze the rocky road ice cream until it's firm enough to scoop, which should be about 4-6 hours, depending on the temperature of your freezer.

And that's it! Five ingredients, ten minutes of work, a few hours of impatient finger tapping, and you have a luscious, rich, chocolatey ice cream packed with soft marshmallows and crunchy almonds. If you want to experiment with this recipe, you can leave out the cocoa and mix in any other fruit, nuts, or other add-ins you can think of. Go crazy!

All images and text (c) Elizabeth LaBau

One of my greatest pleasures during the summer months is buying a potted basil plant for our balcony. It invariably dies from a combination of bugs and dehydration, but during the weeks in which it lives, I eat basil on almost everything. Scrambled eggs, sandwiches, salads, and even burgers are all improved with a sprinkling of this refreshing green herb.

Perhaps my favorite way to enjoy basil is in pesto sauce. This simple sauce is made primarily from basil, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and a few other key ingredients. It's fast and easy to make, with a bold flavor that tastes like summer on a plate. If you've never made pesto sauce before, now is your chance. All you need are the following ingredients and about 15 minutes, and you'll have a knockout dinner in no time.

Basil Pesto
yield: about 1 cup pesto

• 4 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts (pignolias)
• 2 garlic cloves
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Now, this first step is completely optional, and will entirely depend on your tolerance for very fierce fresh garlic breath. I think raw garlic can sometimes have too much of a "bite" and can completely overwhelm the more subtle basil and pine nut flavors, so I like to toast the garlic for a few minutes, just to soften it and take the harsh edge off.

If you feel similarly, place your garlic cloves, still in their papery skins, in a saucepan over medium heat for a few minutes, stirring them around occasionally so they don't burn.

After 2-3 minutes, add the pine nuts to the skillet and continue toasting them. If you choose not to toast your garlic, you should still toast the pine nuts--it deepens their flavor and definitely improves the pesto in the end.

Watch the pine nuts carefully, as they have a tendency to easily burn. Take them off the heat when they become fragrant and start to turn a golden brown. Let the toasted pine nuts cool completely.

Peel the paper skins off the garlic cloves. They should slip right out if you've toasted them for a few minutes.

Now for the really difficult part of the recipe: blending everything together in the food processor. Don't worry, I've taken lots of pictures to talk you through the hard parts.

Start by adding your basil to the bowl of a food processor. If you have a good, heavy-duty mixer you can try to use that, but I much prefer a food processor. The traditional way to make pesto is by hand, with a mortar and pestle, but I will leave those instructions to the Italian grandmothers in our midst and show you the quick and easy method instead.

This is also a good time to mention that you can add other herbs to your pesto as well. Try adding in some parsley, oregano, or cilantro. You could even experiment with adding kale or spinach to boost the nutrition profile!

Add your toasted pine nuts. Speaking of substitutions, you can replace the pine nuts with almonds (a common Sicilian variation) or even walnuts. I personally love the smooth, rich, buttery taste the pine nuts add, but if you find that you're out, you can substitute other nuts with good results.

Now add those peeled garlic cloves...

...the olive oil...

...and the lemon juice--freshly squeezed, please! The beauty of pesto is that it is so simple, all of the flavors shine through, so you want to use the best and the freshest ingredients you can.

Now start blending the pesto together, pulsing it in 5- to 10-second bursts. At first it will be pretty chunky, with bits of unincorporated nuts and garlic, and stringy pieces of basil leaves.

Continue to pulse and blend, and you will see your texture growing less chunky and more smooth. If you are having trouble getting things to blend evenly, you can add a spoonful or two of water or oil to help smooth things out.

Stop when your pesto is your preferred texture. Some people like to leave it a little chunky, with discrete pieces of leaves, but I prefer a smoother texture, closer to a sauce.

Finally, add your grated Parmesan cheese, and pulse the processor again until the cheese is entirely mixed in.

Taste the pesto, and if you think it needs salt and pepper, add it a little bit at the time, to taste, until you're happy with it. The Parmesan cheese adds quite a bit of salt, so you many not even need to add any to suit your taste.

Your pesto sauce is now finished! My favorite way to enjoy this is simply tossed with hot pasta--try sprinkling some extra Parmesan and pine nuts on top of the pasta for an extra flavor boost. This pesto sauce is also incredible as a dipping sauce, a sandwich spread, or a chicken marinade. You can use it anytime you want to add the fresh taste of summer to your meals.

All text and images copyright Elizabeth LaBau

Hey, baby. Fancy a date shake?

No, it's not the newest dance craze, and it's not something you do when you're frustrated with your boyfriend. Date shakes, or date milkshakes, for the very particular, are a specialty of the Palm Springs area in southern California, where many of the state's dates are grown.

They sound a little strange, but they're actually fabulous. Dates are blended with ice cream to produce a rich, creamy milkshake with a deep vanilla-honey taste. If you can imagine a milkshake version of caramel sauce, the taste is pretty similar. Have I got your packing your bags for a Palm Springs roadtrip yet?

Not so fast! Thanks to the magic of the internet, you don't have to drive to Palm Springs this summer to enjoy a thick, rich date shake. Just pick up a pound or two of Medjool dates, get your favorite ice cream, and start your blender revving...it's date shake time.

Date Shakes
yield: 2 large or 4 small date shakes

• 1 generous cup Medjool dates
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups quality ice cream, vanilla or similar mild flavor
• A blender

Before we get to the (ridiculously easy) recipe let me take a moment and rhapsodize about these Medjool dates. My mom used to use the phrase "nature's candy" to describe fresh or dried fruit, in a futile attempt to get me to think that eating fruit was as exciting as eating other sweets. Well, it took me a few decades, but I've finally come to agree with her. These dates are just as sweet, just as chewy, and even more delicious than many other candies. Plus, they're not full of white sugar or corn syrup! They're an excellent pre-workout snack and a wonderful addition to muffins, quick breads...and milkshakes.

Rhapsody over. Let's get to milkshaking.

Much like a box of cereal, dates have a surprise inside! But unlike the prize in a cereal box, you don't particularly want to stumble on these prizes unaware. Each date has a hard pit in the center that will need to be removed before we can blend them. So cut each date in half, and pull out the pits and discard them.

After the pits are removed, coarsely chop the date halves. The blender will be doing most of the work, but you want to chop them a bit so that they blend faster and more evenly.

Speaking of blenders, the time has come to get yours out! Add your dates to the blender along with the milk and the vanilla extract.

Blend the dates and milk together on high speed for about a minute, scraping down the sides and the blades as necessary to help everything come together. If it really seems too thick you can add a little more milk, a tablespoon at a time, but try to avoid making it too thin, since you'll want a thick base to make a thick milkshake.

When your date-milk mixture is well-blended, it should look something like this: the dates have liquefied, and there are no large chunks of skin visible anywhere. It should be an almost-smooth paste.

Now for the moment we've all been waiting for: adding the ice cream! I recommend you either use vanilla, or something that's fairly mild and won't overwhelm the date flavor. I decided to go with a vanilla ice cream with a caramel swirl, since the dates have a honeyed-caramel taste of their own and I thought they would pair nicely. So add your scoops of cold ice cream, and blend until it's completely incorporated and you have a thick shake.

Give it a taste (or two!) to check the texture, then blend in additional milk or ice cream until the texture is perfectly suited to your taste.

Pour the milkshakes into two large glasses or four small ones...

...and top with a generous dollop of whipped cream. These date shakes are so rich, and so refreshing, you'll be making them all summer long...no roadtrip required.

All text and images (c) Elizabeth LaBau

"What's in a name? A cookie, by any other name, would taste just as sweet."
--with apologies to William Shakespeare

Are you familiar with these cookies? They have a crumbly, sandy texture, a rich cinnamon-pecan flavor, and a snowy white coating of powdered sugar. Describing them is easy...but deciding on a name is not. I grew up calling them Mexican Wedding Cakes or Mexican Wedding Cookies. Some people call them Russian Tea Cakes. Others know them as Butterballs, Snowdrops, Swedish Tea Cakes, Snowballs, or Italian Butter Nuts.

So what's the real story? Are they cakes or cookies? Do they hail from Mexico, Russia, or Italy? Should you enjoy them at a wedding, or during afternoon tea?

I can't answer all of these questions, but I can tell you that they are most definitely cookies, not cakes. And in answer to the final query, you should enjoy them ALL the time! They're delicious! They're also a perfect way to showcase fresh, sweet pecans. So grab a bag of your favorite pecan halves, and let's make cookies...or cakes...or whatever you want to call them!

Mexican Wedding Cakes
yield: about 40 cookies

• 8 oz (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar, divided use
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 cup pecan halves

You may notice that there aren't too many ingredients in these cookies, and most of them are your standard butter-flour-sugar variety. The mildness of the other ingredients means that the pecans really shine in this recipe, and are responsible for all of the flavor and the great crumbly texture of the cookies. So let's make sure our pecans are really amazing.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the pecan halves on a baking sheet and bake them until they're toasted and deep brown, about 10-15 minutes. Stir them every 3-4 minutes so they don't burn, but don't pull them out too early. They should be very fragrant and a deep mahogany color! A well-toasted pecan is a flavorful pecan, as my grandpappy always used to say.*

*Okay, he never actually said that. But he did own a grove of pecan trees. True story.

Let the pecans cool completely, then place them in a food processor (preferably) or a high-speed blender (not optimal, but you can make it work.) Pulse them in two-second bursts until the pecans are in tiny pieces. Don't run the processor too long, or you run the risk of making pecan butter instead of chopped pecans.

Time to mix our cookies! Place the softened butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Alternately, you can use a hand mixer and just mix everything in a large bowl. Beat the butter until it is smooth and light and creamy, for about 2 minutes.

Stop the mixer and add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to the bowl. This is important! Most of your powdered sugar will be used to cover the cookies once they're baked, so don't go throwing it all in at once. Just 1/2 cup will do for now. Beat the butter and sugar together for another 2 minutes until light and fluffy.

After the sugar's mixed in, add the vanilla and beat for another minute, until it's well-incorporated.

Now stop the mixer and add the flour, the salt, and the cinnamon. Mix the dough on low just until the streaks of flour disappear.

Finally, for our finishing touch...the ground, toasted pecans. Add them to the dough and mix it again on low, until the pecans are well-distributed throughout. Scrape down the bottom and the sides and give it a few more good stirs to make sure everything's well-mixed.

Divide the dough in half and wrap each half tightly in cling wrap. Refrigerate the dough until it's cold, for about 45-60 minutes. It should be firm but not rock-hard, because you want to be able to shape and roll it.

After the chilling time, preheat your oven once again to 350 degrees. Use a cookie scoop or a tablespoon to roll the cookies into balls about 1-inch in diameter. You should get between 3-4 dozen cookies out of this batch. Place them on parchment-lined baking sheets, and since they don't spread much, you can put them about an inch apart.

Bake the cookies at 350 for 16-18 minutes, until they feel set in the middle and are golden brown on the bottom. Depending on how cold your dough was when you baked them, they should keep their round shape fairly well. Let them rest on the baking sheet for just 5 minutes.

While the cookies are still quite warm, toss them in the remaining powdered sugar until they are coated. The warmth of the cookies will cause the powdered sugar to stick to the outside and form a smooth, sweet layer. If you've waited too long to roll them in sugar and they're no longer warm, place the cookies back in the oven just for a minute or two, then roll the warmed cookies in the sugar.

Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack. Before you serve them, dust them with a little more powdered sugar to fill any holes and give them a snowy white appearance.

These delicate, sophisticated little cookies are the perfect accompaniment to a cup of afternoon tea, or a mug of after-dinner coffee. Mexican Wedding Cakes can be kept for up to a week at room temperature in an airtight container. If you're storing them for a period of several days, sprinkle them with another dusting of powdered sugar to freshen them up before serving them.

All text and images (c) Elizabeth LaBau

Being a dessert lover, I admit I am sometimes guilty of ignoring the savory side of nuts in favor of my beloved sweets. Sure, there are a million different desserts that benefit from the taste and texture of nuts, but the same could easily be said of savory foods.

Let's take fish, for instance. Fish is a staple of healthy diets everywhere, but let's face it--it can be a little bland. Folks don't often get excited about fish the way they do about a plate of fudgy brownies. But when you take that bland fish, add a nutty, spicy coating of chopped pecans, and fry it until it has a crunchy golden crust, you turn a mediocre dish into a must-have!

This pecan-crusted fish recipe is a perfect weekday dinner. With only 6 minutes of cooking time, it can be on the table in half an hour, leaving you plenty of time to steam some rice and throw together a salad to accompany it. I like to make this dish with tilapia, but any mild white fish will do nicely.

Pecan-Crusted Fish
yield: 4 servings

• 1/4 cup pecans, well-toasted
• 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 tsp hot sauce
• 4 tilapia fillets, about 6 oz each

Finely chop the toasted pecans until they're in tiny pieces. You can also use a food processor for this step, but I like the irregular sizes and different textures you get with a knife. Either way: just make sure your pecans are very well chopped!

Combine the chopped pecans with the breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and garlic powder on a plate or in a shallow bowl, and mix everything together.

Dump the flour on a separate plate or in another shallow bowl.

Combine the buttermilk and the hot sauce in a shallow bowl. I actually like to use a pie tin for this purpose, because it's shallow but wide enough to fit the fish or whatever else I'm dunking. Whisk the buttermilk and hot sauce together. If you're sensitive to spicy foods, you can reduce or eliminate the hot sauce and the fish will still be great.

So after your preparations, your setup should look something like this: one plate with the pecan and breadcrumb mixture, one with plain flour, and a shallow bowl or pie tin with the buttermilk/hot sauce mix. Let's start dippin'!

First, dredge both sides of a fish fillet in the flour so that it's covered with a thin coating of flour.

Next, dip it in the buttermilk so that both sides are covered. If you haven't done much battering and frying before, here's a quick tip: to keep things neat, it's easiest to have one "dry hand" and one "wet hand." So one hand is in charge of dipping the fish in the flour and the breadcrumbs, and the other hand is in charge of putting it in the buttermilk. This prevents both hands from getting crusted with layers and layers of flour/breadcrumbs/buttermilk mixture, which can be frustrating and messy.

Finally, press both sides of the fish in the pecan and breadcrumb mixture. Things have started getting interesting! Leaving aside the fact that the fish is raw, isn't this looking delicious already?

Repeat until all of the fish fillets are coated with pecans and ready to go. Now you'll see the true genius of this recipe: how quickly you can go from raw fish to cooked dinner!

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat, and add a good-sized knob of butter or glug of olive oil. I'm sorry, but this is completely necessary. Don't think that a little spritz of cooking spray is going to help you here. The butter or oil helps give the fish an amazingly crisp crust with a lot of flavor, so please don't skimp.

Cook the fish for about 3 minutes, until the bottom is golden brown with a nice crust. If your pan is large enough you can do all four at once, but if not--don't crowd them. They cook fast enough that it's not a huge deal to cook them in batches.

Flip the fish and cook for another 3 minutes, until the bottom is golden.

The exact cooking time will depend on your fish and the thickness of the fillets. One good way to tell when the fish is done, aside from visual cues, is to cook it until it flakes easily with a fork.

After your pecan-crusted fish is cooked, serve it immediately! One of the best parts of this recipe is the contrast between the crunchy, nutty crust and the moist fish inside, so don't let the fish sit around getting soggy!

I love this pecan-crusted fish with a simple squirt of lemon, but you can add tartar sauce, or even a nice fresh homemade salsa. And if you have extra pecans left over, why not put them to good use in a giant chocolate chip cookie?

All text and images (c) Elizabeth LaBau