Baker Without Borders

Bourekas, savory pastries popular in the Middle East, have a long and interesting history, as described by food writer and photographer Tori Avey. They originated as deep-fried dumplings in Central Asia and made their way to Turkey, transforming into flaky, filled pies called bureks. The pies reminded Turkey’s Sephardic Jewish community, who settled in the … Continue reading Bourekas with Dandelion Greens, Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Onions

In Undertale, a retro video game popular with the kids in my after school cooking class, butterscotch pie has the power to heal the protagonist, a small child lost in an underground world filled with monsters. After coming across the pie in the video game, several students asked if I could teach them how to … Continue reading Butterscotch Pie with Apricot Oat Crust

When my husband was around 8 years old, he and his family moved from New York City to a small town in rural Kentucky. His babysitter, Edith, a Kentucky native, would bake unsweetened buttermilk cornbread, a staple of Southern cooking. This is my variation on Edith’s hand-written recipe, made with coarsely ground cornmeal rather than … Continue reading Southern-Style Buttermilk Cornbread

Coconut macaroons (not to be confused with French macarons) are a classic spring holiday dessert with origins in 18th century Italy. The flourless cookies are served at Passover seders and also shaped into “nests” to fill with Easter candy. I am not a fan of the store-bought variety, which is often sticky and overly sweet. … Continue reading Chocolate-Dipped Hazelnut Macaroons

In my latest post for The Knockturnal, I shared my recipe for chocolate-chunk-filled tahini almond squares. There is no flour or butter in these blondies, just finely ground almonds and tahini, a sesame paste used in Middle Eastern cooking. The flavors of almond and sesame may seem like a strange combination, but they work extremely … Continue reading Tahini Almond Blondies

  This one-bowl recipe is my vegan twist on jeera biscuits, a South Asian cookie studded with toasted, fragrant cumin seeds. Typically made with butter, the salty-sweet biscuits have a similar texture to shortbread and are often eaten as a teatime snack in India and Pakistan. I swapped coconut oil for butter, yielding a soft, … Continue reading Coconut Cumin Cookies

Peanut butter and banana are the main ingredients in this moist, dairy-free cake, but the crumb topping is the real star of the show. Made with roasted peanuts, brown sugar, and olive oil instead of butter, the topping is light, salty, crunchy, sweet, and addictive. Both batter and crumb have relatively few ingredients, and are … Continue reading Peanut Butter Banana Crumb Cake