Decorating & Design

Decorating & Design

Perfect Paella

Spanish bomba rice from Calasparra is the most authentic choice for paella, but can be difficult to find. Italian short-grain arborio is an excellent substitute.

Decorating & Design

Margherita Pizza

Fresh mozzarella is not ideal for this recipe, as it will become too watery as it heats. Low-moisture melts slower and has just the right texture.

Decorating & Design

Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese

Since this recipe uses less cheese than traditional mac and cheese, it’s best to use quality aged cheeses for maximum flavour.

Decorating & Design

Fluffy Sour Cream Biscuits

Loaded up with egg and ham, these buttery biscuits are ideal for breakfast sandwiches.

Decorating & Design

Crunchy Chicken Cutlets With Napa Slaw

If you have a carton of egg whites in your fridge, you’ll need about 6 tablespoons for the chicken. A mandoline or julienne peeler will make quick work of the carrot and cucumber for the slaw. Use Meyer lemons for their sweet flesh and fragrant skin. The broth provides the…

Decorating & Design

Triple Ginger Cookies

While it’s perfectly fine to roll these cookies in granulated sugar, it’s worth seeking out coarse sugar for its addictive crunch.

Decorating & Design

Popcorn Cookies

I got the genius idea to put popcorn in a cookie from one of my favorite food bloggers, Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen.

Decorating & Design

Peppermint Snowcaps

These gluten-free cookies are also delicious made with Mexican spices. Just omit the peppermint extract and add 1 tsp ancho chili powder and 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon to the dry mix.

Decorating & Design

Raspberry Thumbprints

For thumbprints, you want a stiffer jam made with pectin so it won’t bleed into the cookie. These are also delicious filled with lemon curd or chocolate ganache.

Decorating & Design

Golden Pecan Balls

These snowy orbs are rich, buttery and crunchy with nuts. Golden syrup gives them a unique, toffee-like flavour.

Decorating & Design

Chocolate Compost Cookies

Momofuku Milk Bar pastry chef and co-owner Christina Tosi took New York by storm with her salty-sweet Compost Cookies. I’ve applied her genius concept to my dark chocolate cookie recipe.

Decorating & Design

Polenta Shortbread

I learned the secret to perfect shortbread when I wrote a story about Lesia Kohut, the owner of LPK’s Culinary Groove, a patisserie in Toronto. Bread flour keeps the texture from getting too sandy.

Decorating & Design

Nutella Sandwich Cookies

Adapted from Alice Medrich’s Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your Mouth Cookies, these dark chocolate wafers are delicious on their own and even better with a gooey filling of Nutella.

Decorating & Design

Gingersnap Snowflakes

When I was growing up, Christmas wasn’t complete without my grandmother’s piparkoogid, the Estonian spin on gingersnaps. After a few humorous lost-in-translation moments, I managed to wrestle the recipe from her and carry on the tradition.

Decorating & Design

Christmas Biscotti

I’ve been making variations of these biscotti for more than two decades. The recipe comes from my aunt Sue Devor, a retired pastry chef.