Honey Pecan Cookies

I like these cookies because they don't require softened butter, but that also means they are very dense. Luckily, I like dense cookies. I also didn't have honey (I know, it's in the title) but I did have agave nectar and some real maple syrup. I used about a 80/20 proportion of those two to replace the honey. I think it was pretty much the same as honey, right...? In any event, the maple syrup smelled fantastic when the cookies were baking. I also used some course ground sea salt instead of regular table salt to give it a bit of texture. 

Chocolate Apricot Sandwich Cookies

These cookies were for another overnight at work. The cookie dough has a very deep chocolate flavor but isn't too sweet. The apricot preserves filling adds the extra little bit of sugar to make these delicious. I also splurged on some quality melting chocolate (68% cocoa, thanks Central Market). The dipping chocolate was so good I scooped the rest of it out of the bowl with a piece of bread...

Pumpkin Sage Bundt Cake

Mmm, more pumpkin. My fellow chino folders were getting punchy about more baked goods, so here was something easily transported with a descent shelf life. This cake is a pretty basic bundt cake with the addition of sage. The sage is steeped with the butter for a few minutes to infuse the flavor...

Avocado Pound Cake

I don't know why avocado hasn't made it's way into pastry more. It's fatty, it's colorful, it has a creamy and delicate flavor. I think avocado is the next pumpkin. Expect an avocado latte from Starbucks in the next couple of years. It's happening...

Watermelon Pie

Even though I've already delved into autumn flavors with all the pumpkin lately, it still feels like summer here in Texas, so here's a recipe from The Runaway Spoon appropriate for the temperatures outside. I meant to make this a couple weeks ago, but was being lazy about juicing the watermelon. So in the intervening time between me buying the watermelon and actually cutting into it, it's been terrorizing Bailey (my dog) while it sat in the corner of my kitchen. Why do I get the "special" dogs? Maybe it's appropriate that on her first birthday I vanquished the evil melon with my chef's knife...