Brown Butter Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Cookies

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Happy Tuesday!! I can’t believe this is the last week of November! Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving and maybe Black Friday?. I went Black Friday shopping late Thursday night and I thought that maybe because of the heavy rain it was going to stop people to get out of their warm homes and go shopping, but guess what! It was super crowded and we didn’t find a spot to park, it was a disaster! We tried again Friday afternoon and we did a little shopping, but I think next year I’ll just sit on my pc and shop online.

Christmas is a big baking holiday at my house, specially cookies and breads. Here is the recipe for Brown Butter Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Cookies. No, you don’t buy “brown butter” at the supermarket (I was told this by a few people). Browning butter on a pan helps release a nutty aroma which works perfect with bourbon and nuts . Making brown butter is easy, just keep an eye on it while cooking because it can burn easily.

Let’s start with the recipe.

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Cranberry Limoncello Pie

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Growing up, I never ate pumpkin stuff because it’s not popular in Peru. We have some kind of squash but I don’t think it has the same taste as pumpkin, we never use it for desserts. The first time I tried pumpkin pie was about 10 years ago, I was told to bring dessert to a Thanksgiving family gathering with my husband’s family (my boyfriend back then and I was here visiting), so I asked him what kind of dessert I should make, he said pumpkin pie (of course lol), I looked online, found a couple of recipes and I made the crust and filling. When I got to taste it, for me it was ok. I tried other pumpkin pies over the years but I never really liked the texture so much. I love pumpkin and I bake with pumpkin a lot, but there is something about the pie that is a no no for me. This is why I always offer to bring cheesecake instead! I love love pumpkin cheesecake!

This year, I wanted to come up with a new pie, something that works for Thanksgiving and Christmas, I thought cranberry was a good option! Then, I saw a Limoncello bottle that I used a couple of months ago for another recipe, so I incorporated a few tablespoons of Limoncello and omg it tasted so good! The crust is a gingersnap-walnut crust! Give this a try! Always remember to make the pie at least the night before Thanksgiving so the filling sets nicely.

Here is a pic of me with my first pumpkin piel. I look so young!! It’s been 10 years! wow! Anyway, hope you have a great Thanksgiving week, enjoy your time with family and friends! I’ll try to post another recipe here, but it’s going to be a busy week. If you want to know about my Thanksgiving week, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram!

Also, I will be doing a GIVEAWAY next week! Just for people who follows me on Instagram! @Pastry_Tales

Let’s start with the recipe!

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Magical Christmas Cake

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Friday is finally here and Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I can’t believe November is going by so fast. Things around here haven’t been that great, we have a big fire burning in Northern California for a week now, many people lost their life and homes, animals are lost and running away , the air quality is very unhealthy right. I just turned on my air purifier, otherwise it will be difficult to be inside the house with all the windows closed. Thanks to all the first responders for their hard and amazing work!

If you follow me on Instagram (@Pastry_Tales) you saw that I posted a picture of a Christmas cake , I know, I’m not a fruit cake person either, I really don’t like those dense, wet, with tons of candied cherries cakes, and no, this cake is not like that at all. This is a lighter version of a fruit cake. It’s packed with good quality nuts, dry fruit, rum, honey, cocoa powder and other goodies. This magical dessert is perfect for your Christmas table because it’s easy to make and looks really pretty!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. If you don’t have all the dry fruit, don’t worry, use the ones you have at home or the ones you like the most! There is not a specific rule for that! Also, you don’t need a mixer!

Let’s start with the recipe.

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Linzer Cookies

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas …. everywhere I go… literally… EVERYWHERE! and I like it! One of things I love about Christmas is baking. My husband and I always host Christmas dinner at our house and we have his closest family over (now my family too). For me, Christmas is a little bit sad because all of my family is in Peru but I’m planning to make a trip in January so that cheers me up! Anyway, Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I always make a big list of things to bake and one of my favorite Christmas cookies are called LINZER.

I’m sure you’ve seen linzer cookies around, but store-bought are not the same as homemade.

So… What is a Linzer Cookie? This is  the cookie version of the Austrian dessert Linzer torte. Born in the City of Linz, the tart consists of a crust made from flour and ground nuts — traditionally almonds or pecans — filled with black currant preserves and topped with a lattice crust.

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Mulled Wine Chocolate Cupcakes

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Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way ….

Happy Monday!!! Hope everyone is doing great. The past few days have been really bad for California. Many fires around the state have destroyed homes and killed people. My family is ok because we don’t live close to where the active fire is but we get all the smoke which makes our air quality to be unhealthy. But, there is no place for me to complain about the air quality when I know there are other people who is suffering, it’s just so sad.

On a more cheerful note, I made these cupcakes last week, they were a hit! It takes a little bit of your time because you have to prepare the mulled wine first, but I would recommend that you make it the night before and just refrigerate it until you are ready to make the cupcakes.

These boozy cupcakes are perfect for your Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering, they taste really good and look super pretty! For decoration, I made frosted cranberries (yep, you read it right!), they aren’t difficult to make (instructions at the end of the page).

Let’s start with the recipe…

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Gingerbread Loaf with Cream Cheese Frosting

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Northern California is starting to cool off and that is a good excuse to turn on my oven and bake Christmas goodies. This gingerbread loaf is perfect for a chilly morning. When my husband had a bite of this bread, he told me that it was better than the Starbucks one. I mean, I like Starbucks stuff, but I think when you make stuff at home, they can be a little healthier and fresh. This loaf does not have molasses like other recipes, but I added crystallized ginger chips which makes the bread more tasty!

There is no trick for this recipe. Just one thing to remember : Use cold cream cheese not room temperature. Using cold cream cheese will make your frosting perfect and not runny.

I know many people from Facebook asked me for this recipe! So if this is you, leave me a comment! Sorry it took me so long to post!

Let’s start baking!

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Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Muffins

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If you follow me on Instagram (Pastry_Tales), you can see that I have already started baking for Christmas time! The day after Halloween, I put down all my spooky decorations while listening to Christmas songs. I think Christmas time goes so fast that I want to enjoy it as much as I can (sorry hubby, you’ll see my Christmas tree up very soon). I know we still have Thanksgiving, so I might post a couple of new recipes that includes pumpkin like this one but they won’t be too many because my heart is already with peppermint and snowflakes!

This recipe is very simple to make. Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Muffins! Pumpkin + Chocolate = Yes, please. Perfect for a cold Thanksgiving morning or a treat to share with everybody at your family gathering.

Let’s start baking.

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Apple Cake Bars

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I’m a Halloween fan so every year I have the tradition of organizing a Halloween party at my house. It’s never the same day of Halloween, I usually plan it for a couple of days before so I can make sure all of my friends can come. I always invite a group of 10 ladies so we all dress up, eat and drink spooky things lol, well not spooky but we try to prepare food and drinks that goes along with the theme. This recipe is perfect if you are invited to a Halloween get-together. You can even make the cake the night before, store it in the fridge and next day the cake will be as moist as the same day you made it. Then, you just cut it in squares so it’s easier to serve and share.

This cake is packed with chopped apples (I used Jonagold) and pecans. About the frosting, this is a brown sugar cream cheese frosting, which is smooth and delicate perfect for this kind of cake.

Let’s start with the recipe.

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Pumpkin Spice Latte Snowball Cookies

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Have you ever heard about snowball cookies or Russian tea cakes or polvorones or wedding cookies? They are all the same, they are usually made with butter, powdered sugar and nuts (I prefer to use toasted pecans). They’re very popular during Christmas time in the United States or Europe. You might think they are hard to make but really they are not. Because it’s pumpkin time, I decided to give a new twist in this classic recipe. I added pumpkin extract, pumpkin pie spice and espresso powder so I can have a “Pumpkin Spice Latte Snowball Cookie”.

I found that Watkins brand has a version of  pumpkin spice extract, the result was very good.

Hope you all are doing great! Let’s start with the recipe!

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Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes (2018)

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Happy Friday!! Yes, pumpkin season is everywhere ! My husband told me that we already had 2 months of pumpkin (I started Fall baking at the beginning of August), but who doesn’t like pumpkin stuff? I know there are some haters about this, but hey it doesn’t last that long! Pretty soon, we’ll be baking peppermint stuff so for now… let’s just enjoy apples, pumpkins, cinnamon and the wonderful colder weather that I don’t get to enjoy because I live in California.

I posted this recipe last year but I wanted to make sure that all the ingredients and instructions were correct so you can have tasty cupcakes! The directions are super easy to follow.

Hey! If you are one of the Facebook group who was asking for my recipe, leave me a comment! I would like to know who you are! Also, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram : Pastry_Tales

Let’s start with the recipe!

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