Sally McKenney's Blog, page 189

Orange Glazed Cranberry Bread.

Moist & flavorful cranberry bread packed with orange zest, light cinnamon streusel, and an orange glaze.

If you’ve ever sunk your teeth into a dry, bland piece of cranberry bread or muffin – I feel your pain. But don’t let that discourage you from the possibility of one fantastic baked good.

I recently visited a local coffee shop and while it’s known to have outstanding lattes and chocolate croissants, their cranberry bread was a flavorless, crumbly mess. I don’t even know why I wasted my $4; I can make this festive loaf at home. And make it even better (and cheaper!), thank you very much.

The next morning, I put my thinking cap on. How can I create a flavorful, moist, tart, sweet cranberry quick bread at home? Surely there must be orange since the flavors pair so wonderfully together. And cinnamon-streusel on top. And glaze. Oh yes, there had to be glaze!

Continue reading:Orange Glazed Cranberry Bread.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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How I Turned my Food Blog into a Career.

*Disclaimer: I have a BA in marketing and a professional background in finance, but no formal eduction on food photography, website management, or food writing. Everything I know on the last three subjects is from my own experience.

Warning: this is a very long post.

The year of 2013 has been a whirlwind.  I got engaged, signed a cookbook deal, wrote and fully photographed a cookbook within 5 months, quit my full time job in the corporate world, moved to the suburbs, and my blog quadrupled its size.

Let me take a moment to let it all sink in. Better grab a cookie as I do that…

 

Ok, I’m back.

Around March of this year, I came to a quick realization. I was making more from my food blog than my full-time job working in finance. (More on how I got to that point below.) I was really struggling to balance it all. I was cranky, tired, and drained. Spreading myself too thin between both jobs.

Continue reading:How I Turned my Food Blog into a Career.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Salted Pecan Pie Tarts.

Make adorable little pie tarts using my favorite homemade pie crust and a salted pecan filling inspired by my Grandma.

Pecan pie is the quintessential Thanksgiving dessert. Though nothing will ever beat apple pie or pumpkin pie in my mind, classic pecan pie holds a very special place in my heart this time of year.

Grandma Harlett made it like no one else. I started my blog two weeks after she passed, which would be two years ago at the end of this month. I treasure her timeless recipe, in her own handwriting.

Pecan pies tend to be overwhelmingly sweet. Don’t get me wrong, I have a mouth full of sweet teeth! But I find that most pecan pies lack a complexity of flavors, so I slightly went off the beaten path and added a touch of coarse sea salt. The small touch of salt makes each bite so interesting. I’m a total sucker for sweet & salty treats.

Continue reading:Salted Pecan Pie Tarts.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Cook’s Illustrated Baking Cookbook Giveaway!

If you are a baker, at any level of expertise…

If you are an aspiring baker… you need this cookbook.

Cook’s Illustrated takes the guessing game out of the whys and why nots in recipes. They’ll tell you why you’re using this type of flour, what X amount of sugar will do to your cake, why 1 egg yolk is better than 1 egg, etc etc.

There’s a reason Cook’s Illustrated is hailed as the “Food Geek’s Bible.” A baking science junkie like myself couldn’t WAIT to get my hands on this cookbook!

Continue reading:Cook’s Illustrated Baking Cookbook Giveaway!

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Spiced Apple Cider Donut Holes.

Easy baked donuts made at home! Use this recipe to make donut holes or donuts. Super-moist, soft, and perfectly apple cider flavored for cozy fall mornings.

Let’s talk about my day for a second. We were supposed to have our engagement photos today, but were rained out. It’s all good, I had cookies to bake.

I woke up at 6am, walked Jude, ate breakfast, and spent the next 6 hours baking cookies for an upcoming meeting with the executives at Amazon and my publisher. The purpose of the meeting is to promote my cookbook. Naturally, I made cookies for it. Shameless advertising, really.

Then I ran errands for what seemed like hours, checked in with my blog, vacuumed, took a deep breath, and now I’m finally sitting down with a belly full of leftover Hawaiian pizza and apple cider donuts for dessert. Mmm, carbs.

I could definitely use a pumpkin beer now too. But first? Donuts!

Donuts made with apple cider to be exact. ♥

Continue reading:Spiced Apple Cider Donut Holes.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

The post Spiced Apple Cider Donut Holes. appeared first on Sallys Baking Addiction.

Apple Cider Donut Holes.

Easy baked donuts made at home! Use this recipe to make donut holes or donuts. Super-moist, soft, and perfectly apple cider flavored for cozy fall mornings.

Let’s talk about my day for a second. We were supposed to have our engagement photos today, but were rained out. It’s all good, I had cookies to bake.

I woke up at 6am, walked Jude, ate breakfast, and spent the next 6 hours baking cookies for an upcoming meeting with the executives at Amazon and my publisher. The purpose of the meeting is to promote my cookbook. Naturally, I made cookies for it. Shameless advertising, really.

Then I ran errands for what seemed like hours, checked in with my blog, vacuumed, took a deep breath, and now I’m finally sitting down with a belly full of leftover Hawaiian pizza and apple cider donuts for dessert. Mmm, carbs.

I could definitely use a pumpkin beer now too. But first? Donuts!

Donuts made with apple cider to be exact. ♥

Continue reading:Apple Cider Donut Holes.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

The post Apple Cider Donut Holes. appeared first on Sallys Baking Addiction.

Bites of Real Life, 11.

Welcome back to my Bites of Real Life posts!

I went wedding dress shopping with my mom and sister a couple weeks ago. I tried on 4 dresses total and #2 is the winner. It sounds super cliche, but when you know it’s “the dress” – you really know it! There’s a lot of lace and gorgeous beaded detail. The dress above is not the exact dress, but my gown is similar.

Here’s a close-up of the lace from my exact dress. The entire gown won’t be shown to anyone, especially to my groom, until the wedding day (Sept 20 2014).

 

Taking many breaks from the computer and kitchen to spend time with these two.

Sometimes you really need to disconnect.

Continue reading:Bites of Real Life, 11.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes.

Made with Greek yogurt, oats, whole wheat flour, and not much else. Simple, wholesome, and satisfying.

I’ve never met a pancake that I didn’t like.

Correction. I’ve never met a fluffy buttermilk pancake that I didn’t like. I have, however, met several flimsy-dense-flavorless-whole-wheat pancakes in my life. And they’re quite a disappointment to say the least.

Healthy whole wheat pancakes are difficult to master because pancakes are meant to be light, soft, and fluffy. All things that whole wheat flour isn’t. However, finding the right balance of ingredients to make your pancakes whole-grain AND fluffy isn’t impossible. It just took me a few (um, several) tries.

Continue reading:Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Candy Bar Blondies.

No mixer required, very little prep work, and unbelievable results. Soft, chewy, buttery perfection.

Good morning! Today we’re taking a trip down memory lane.

About a year and a half ago, I posted a recipe for Candy Bar Blondies using my stash of leftover Easter candy. Have you made them? Probably not. I didn’t have many readers back then. Except for you, Mom.

Fast forward to this weekend.

I had two trick-or-treaters at my apartment on Halloween. Two. I’m not sure if it was Jude’s scary bark or the rain, but something frightened all my trick-or-treaters away.

Continue reading:Candy Bar Blondies.

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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Autographed Book Plate Giveaway!

Welcome back to Cookbook Fridays!

My cookbook “Sally’s Baking Addiction Cookbook: Irresistible Cupcakes, Cookies and Desserts for Your Sweet Tooth Fix” is currently available for pre-sale! And will be published on March 1st 2014. If you pre-order it now, you may even receive it in February.

To say I’m excited about this cookbook is an understatement. I’m not going to sugar-coat things. It was a monstrous job developing, testing, baking, styling, shooting, editing, and writing 75+ recipes behind the scenes. Keeping every recipe a secret has been hard!

Hurry up, March.

 

Cookbook Sneak Peeks.

Ok, let’s rewind for a second. So far I’ve showed you a couple preview recipes from my book. (All 75 recipes will have a photo.)

Continue reading:Autographed Book Plate Giveaway!

© Sally’s Baking Addiction 2012

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