• Top 10 Northern Ginger Recipes of 2023
    Recipe Roundup

    Top 10 Northern Ginger Recipes of 2023

    There’s nothing I love more than looking back at the recipes you all have made the most throughout the year. It’s fascinating to me to see which recipes you liked the most vs the ones I thought would be the most popular (I’m often wrong, though I’m getting better at guessing!) This list has decidedly more chocolate than last year’s, and I couldn’t be happier about that. Anyway, without further ado, here are the 10 most popular Northern Ginger recipes from the past year. #10: Mud Pie Cake Coming in at #10 is Mud Pie Cake. This chocolate-lover’s dessert has layers of deeply chocolatey cake (adapted from Ina Garten’s famous Beatty’s Chocolate…

  • Peanut Butter S'mores Bars
    Cookies and Bars

    Peanut Butter S’mores Bars

    Getting this one in just under the wire (before summer is over). Summer is traditionally the high season for s’mores, though I think fall, with its campfire-y vibes, is just as good a time to enjoy this iconic treat. However, I propose we make s’mores a year-long affair. These Peanut Butter S’mores Bars will help us do just that. Peanut Butter, Chocolate, Grahams, and Marshmallows = Heaven in a Bar These bars have all the elements of the campfire treat we all love: graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate. But they have one more thing that really takes them over the top: peanut butter! If you’ve never had peanut butter on…

  • 7-Layer Magic Bars
    Cookies and Bars

    7-Layer Magic Bars

    It may technically be spring, but there’s a blizzard raging outside my window. Yes, it’s a typical Minnesota April—blustery, snowy, and cold. And honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love living in the frozen north. Call me crazy if you will, but I truly love it. And I suspect, despite what most Minnesotans would tell you, that they secretly love it too. Because the truth is, there’s almost nothing we love more up here than complaining about the weather. Nothing, that is, except bars. No, not the kind you belly up to and drink (though, admittedly, we love those too), but the kind you eat. Dessert bars.…

  • Coconut Lemon Bars
    Cookies and Bars

    Coconut Lemon Bars

    Spring is here (in theory, anyway), and it has me craving all things sunshiny: actual sunshine, of course, but also sunny scents, colors, and flavors. I pulled out my summer perfume the other day; I suddenly have an affinity for the color yellow; and I need to eat every lemony thing in sight. So in celebration of spring and my cravings, I added a slight twist to a classic lemony treat to make these utterly springy Coconut Lemon Bars. A Tropical Twist on a Classic I LOVE lemon bars. A shortbready cookie crust topped with a lemon curd layer that tastes like pure sunshine…what could be better? This version is…

  • Top 10 Northern Ginger Recipes of 2022
    Recipe Roundup

    Top 10 Northern Ginger Recipes of 2022

    It’s that time again…time to take a look back at the top moments of the year! Here on the blog, that means rounding up the most-viewed recipes from the last 12 months. Now, I know that statistics aren’t exciting or sexy, but I love getting to the end of the year and looking at my blog stats to see what recipes were your favorites over the past year. It’s SO fun (and interesting) to see which recipes you all liked, and compare the list with which recipes I thought would be the most popular. (Spoiler: most of the time, I’m wrong.) Anyway, without further ado, here are the Northern Ginger…

  • Maple Pecan Blondies
    Cookies and Bars

    Maple Pecan Blondies

    It’s finally here…the best time of the year! I know it’s basic to love fall, but I just can’t help myself…that crisp air, bright sunshine, changing leaves, and, of course, all the fall flavors. Chai spice, pumpkin, cinnamon, apple…I love them all. This particular recipe makes use of another fall favorite—maple—in a chewy brown butter blondie. Introducing Maple Pecan Blondies! Your New Fall Favorite (Trust Me) These are the kind of bars that, if they’re on a dessert tray with brownies or other more exciting-looking things, you might not go for them. But that would be a mistake. These blondies are much more exciting (and delicious) than they look. They’re…

  • Top 10 Northern Ginger Recipes of 2021
    Recipe Roundup

    Top 10 Northern Ginger Recipes of 2021

    At the risk of sounding cliché, I can’t believe another year is coming to a close. Weren’t we just here? It feels like the past year has gone by in a blur…and yet it was as full as a year can be, with friends, family, work, small adventures, and, of course, baking. As a way of looking back at 2021, I’ve gathered all of your favorite recipes from this year into one blog post. The following are the 10 northern ginger recipes you all made the most this year. #10 – Fig Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting This unassuming little cake made its debut last spring in celebration of my…

  • Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars
    Cookies and Bars

    Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars

    Boy have I got a treat for you, my friends. I’ve been working on this one for a few weeks, and in that time I have eaten a LOT of Rice Krispie Bars! (I have to say, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.) If you’re a fan of soft, marshmallowy Rice Krispie bars, nutty brown butter, and sea salt, you’ll love this recipe. Let’s make Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars! If At First You Don’t Succeed… For the longest time, I couldn’t make a decent Rice Krispie bar to save my life. I made damn good cookies, great cakes, and amazing pies. But Rice Krispie bars had…

  • Malted Coffee Blondies
    Cookies and Bars

    Malted Coffee Blondies

    This post contains affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Despite the fact that I already have four chocolate chip cookie recipes on the blog (five if you count my Dark Chocolate S’mores Cookies), I can’t seem to stop making up new ones. This time I went for something in bar form – say hello to Malted Coffee Blondies! These chewy chocolate- and pecan-studded beauties have three sources of inspiration. First, the blondies I used to make when I worked at Amazing Grace Bakery here in Duluth (so good I dream about them). Second and third, recipes…

  • Salted Caramel Brownies
    Chocolate and Candy,  Cookies and Bars

    Salted Caramel Brownies

    It is insanely cold in Duluth right now. As I write this, it’s -20°F outside (yep, you read that right, 20 degrees BELOW zero). And that’s the actual air temperature, not including wind chill. It’s the kind of cold where you get an instant ice cream headache just from walking outside. It is awfully pretty though. There’s something in me that loves this kind of cold. Partly because of how beautiful it is, partly because just going to the grocery store feels like an adventure, and partly because it’s a great excuse to stay home and enjoy some of my favorite indoor activities. It’s supposed to stay this cold for…