Laura Rebecca's Kitchen

There are so many different types of chocolate chip cookies — flat and crisp, puffy and cakey, the kinds you find in Italian bakeries, the kinds you get in cafeterias, the kinds you eat in your Mom’s kitchen. This is a cookie you might find in a coffee house, or more likely, Jacques Torres’ retail […]

Several months ago, I fell in love with Peanut Butter & Co.’s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl. I can’t fully explain it, but the combination of warm cinnamon, sweet raisins and savory peanut butter drove my taste buds delirious with happiness. For many a breakfast, I’d spread some on a slice of toasted wheat bread, drizzle it […]

Chocolate chip cookies with their friend, Carmelized Pineapple Upside-down Cake. I’m posting this before heading off to the gym, the first day of a renewed effort to lose the last 15 — scratch that, 13.4 pounds — to reach my goal weight. I’m kicking up my exercise regimen in the hopes that it speeds up […]

I used to date a man who loved the cocktail hour at wedding receptions; the combination of elegant mixed drinks with a panoply of carefully prepared finger foods proved too irresistible. Forget the cake, or the carefully plated fish-or-chicken entrees, the cocktail hour was where it’s at. After last night, I’m reminded why I agree. […]

Sometimes, a cookie is so tasty that, even though you’ve planned to blog about it, you eat all the treats before you have a chance to take pictures. These cookies fall into that category. (But Jerry let me borrow his photo — Yay, Cooking By The Seat of My Pants!) On Saturday night, we had […]

I was so, so happy to find this cookbook. One of the joys in watching The Sopranos was seeing archetypes, words, locations, and even brands that are familiar to me from growing up and living on Long Island and NY. (OK, the Sopranos live in New Jersey, but there’s a lot of overlap — trust […]

***WARNING: long, rambling blog post ahead featuring dental mishaps. Scroll down for recipe.*** I have a long history of hating dentist visits. When I was 8, I knocked out the bottom half of my top, front tooth when my bike collided with another kid’s bike. A neighborhood mom sent me running for home, crying, carrying […]

I love these cookies. They look so happy! And why wouldn’t a chewy cookie with a deep chocolate flavor and bright spots of color make people happy? A couple of notes:1) these cookies taste best the day they’re made.2) to get a very round final product, after dropping the cookie dough on the sheet, place […]

In a word: yum. In more than one word: I can’t stop eating Shuna Fish Lydon’s Cardamom Chocolate Chunk cookies. I snitch them from the kitchen, brush crumbs off my shirt, dunk them in milk. Just — yum. To be honest, I was a tiny bit disappointed at first. The recipe calls for both ground […]

I’ve been having a nice email conversation with Rachel, a reader, and after I mentioned I was baking some cookies for Easter, she was kind enough to send me a slew of cookie decorating ideas & tips. They’re great; take a look! Idea #1: Leave the dough on the counter for 5 or ten minutes […]