Strawberry Passionfruit Jam

Boring strawberry jam? No way! This jammy mashup of strawberry and passionfruit has a bright, tangy, and strawberry-forward flavor and a gorgeous ruby red color.

This recipe is written for water-bath canning methods for shelf-stable storage, however it can also be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 6 months!

Another year, another strawberry season, another day dragging my husband outside to pick berries. He’s a good sport about it though, and, despite the fact the actual picking is not his favorite activity, he certainly appreciates the fruits of our labors (literally).

This year’s strawberry jam (in addition to making a batch of my favorite classic strawberry jam for year-round PB&Js) brings together two fruits that I love individually—strawberry and passionfruit—and love even more together. Case in point: last year’s strawberry passionfruit lemonade which was what inspired this lively flavor combination to begin with.

Unique combo fruit jams are… well, my jam. From mango raspberry to strawberry guava, I say why use one fruit when two would be better (or hey, what about three! Or four! In fact, there’s a fabulous triple berry jam, and a ridiculously named FROG jam—fig, raspberry, orange, and ginger—in my book, and they are definitely some of my favorites).

When it comes to kinds of fruit, the more the merrier I say!

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Grapefruit Olive Oil Bundt Cake (with Greek Yogurt)

How much grapefruit is too much grapefruit? Asking for a friend (hi, it’s me, I’m the friend). Because this flavor-packed bundt uses two entire grapefruits, including the zest and the juice as well as grapefruit extract in the cake itself, which is then soaked with a flavor-packed grapefruit cordial and drizzled with a grapefruit glaze to top it all off.

Made with olive oil and greek yogurt for flavor, moisture and tang, with a plush, pound cake-like texture and subtle notes of extra virgin olive oil that perfectly compliment the bright grapefruit flavor, it’s the perfect springtime bake to mark the transition from winter to spring! And did I mention that since it’s an oil-based cake, you don’t even need an electric mixer to make it? That’s what I call winning.

Let’s pack as much grapefruit flavor as humanly possible into a bundt pan (not an easy undertaking, as grapefruit is a tricky flavor to get to come through in baked goods). To achieve maximum grapefruit flavor, I ended up using grapefruit zest, fresh-squeezed juice, and grapefruit extract in the cake itself, then soaked the warm cake with a bright and tangy grapefruit cordial (which is basically like a sugar syrup, just uncooked so the grapefruit flavor stays super bright), and finally glazed it with an elegant drizzle of pastel pink grapefruit glaze.

That’s two whole grapefruits in there in one form or another.

Even with what seems like an excessive amount of grapefruit, the flavor is actually quite mellow (it’s not going to punch you in the face), but still prominently and pleasantly grapefruit from the very first bite.

By the second bite, you’ll begin tasting the the grassy, peppery notes of the olive oil, which plays beautifully with the almost floral grapefruit, and just the right amount of sugar to offset any bitterness that might result from having so much grapefruit packed in to a single cake.

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Homemade Pistachio Drink Syrup (that actually tastes like pistachios!)

This bright green syrup tastes just like pistachios, with a bright green color and bold, nutty flavor that’s perfect in caffeinated beverages, cocktails and mocktails, or drizzled over ice cream, waffles or pancakes.

Most pistachio syrup recipes out there call for simply steeping pistachios in a sugar syrup, but that just gives you a faintly nutty sugar syrup that barely tastes like pistachio at all. Instead, my recipe calls for blending the nuts with the sugar syrup and then straining it, resulting in a luscious, thick green syrup that actually tastes like real pistachios (no extract needed!)

I know, I know. I’ve gone a little pistachio crazy lately, it’s bordering on obsession (at what point do I need to change the blog name to Love & Pistachios?)

Since we’ve already tackled homemade pistachio butter, I really wanted to figure out a homemade pistachio syrup next. Because, let’s face it, most commercially available brands of pistachio syrup just aren’t very good. I thought finding a good pistachio extract was hard, but pistachio syrup is even more elusive. Most of the ones I’ve tried taste too chemically, even bordering on cherry cough syrup-like flavor more than pistachio. It’s really disappointing if we’re being honest here.

I figured, how hard could it be to make my own?

I tested a number of different versions of this recipe, with the ultimate aim to maximize the natural pistachio flavor as much as possible, and a secondary goal of a gorgeous green color.

When I compared a steeped and blended syrup to a syrup that was just steeped with pistachios, the difference was like night and day. The blended syrup actually tastes like pistachios. The steeped syrup… doesn’t. Like, at all. It tastes like a plain old sugar syrup that briefly dated a pistachio in their teenage years (lol).

Anyway. Blending the syrup is the key here, and you really can’t get away with skipping this step (though see my note at the very bottom for a blender-free version in a pinch).

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Sweet & Spicy Sesame Snack Mix

When you’re craving intense flavor and satisfying crunch, something salty and sweet with just a hint of heat, this sesame-forward snack mix hits all the right notes, with the perfect variety of crunchy bits and a flavor-packed glaze featuring soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and spices.

Because of the honey in the glaze (which is prone to burning), this snack mix bakes at a lower temperature for a longer time, resulting in a perfectly crisp texture every time. And while the longer baking time might test your patience, the favor-packed results are well worth the wait. Might I suggest making an extra large batch (because it surely won’t last long!)

Taylor is a snack fanatic, always crunching on something even if we just finished dinner, going through bags of various snack mixes at an alarming rate (at this point he should probably just change his last name from Hackbarth to Snackbarth).

Lately, however, he’s gotten a bit bored of the same generic snack mix, and was hankering for something bolder with more spice and a more unique flavor profile. So he set out to make his own flavor-packed snack mix.

If you’ve ever searched the internet for homemade snack mix recipes, you’ve probably noticed that almost every snack mix recipe out there is some variation on the same thing (basically the original Chex Mix recipe right from the box). A little Worcestershire, a sprinkle of garlic and onion powder, butter and salt and that’s it. How boring.

Instead, let’s turn that generic flavor up a notch with a gut-punch of sesame (both oil and seeds in addition to the sesame sticks within the snack mix itself), plus soy sauce for saltiness and umami, honey for sweetness, and Korean gochugaru pepper flakes for smokey heat.

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Meyer Lemon Cheesecake Bars with Lemon Curd Swirl

Creamy, dreamy, lemon-packed cheesecake bars with a crispy lemon cookie crust and a swirl of bright and tangy Meyer lemon curd… like a cross between a lemon bar and a classic cheesecake, it’s the perfect bite for springtime!

A cheesecake bar is a quicker, easier way to satisfy your cheesecake craving, without having to deal with the hassle of waterbaths or leaky springform pans. Instead, bake a thinner layer of cheesecake (swirled with Meyer lemon curd) in a standard square baking pan and then cut them into perfectly layered squares.

I’ve had a lemon cheesecake on my to-make list for some time now, and when a box of Meyer lemons showed up in the mail from my aunt in California (thanks, Sally!) I knew it was the first thing I wanted to make. (I still have a whole bunch left even after testing this one multiple times so… send your recipe ideas and requests, please!)

Anyway. Cheesecake! I knew I wanted lemon cheesecake, and I also wanted to do easier cheesecake bars rather than a full sized cheesecake.

I debated back and forth how best to make a mashup of cheesecake and lemon bars. I tested both this swirly version (loosely based on my peach cheesecake bar recipe), and a version that was basically like my favorite Meyer lemon bars with an extra layer of cheesecake in between, with a shortbread crust and a solid layer of lemon curd on top.

And while the lemon bar version was good, ultimately the lemony swirls were just too pretty to pass up (yes, I fully admit to judging a dessert by its cover, but in this case the taste certainly measured up to the appearance). With a perfectly proportioned layer of creamy cheesecake, a swirl of Meyer-lemon curd, and a crisp lemon-scented cookie crust, the final recipe is definitely one you’ll want to save and share.

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30 Minute Stovetop Applesauce (Small Batch)

This quick and easy stovetop applesauce comes together in under 30 minutes (including the time it takes to peel and dice the apples!) It’s a small batch recipe perfect for when you just need a few servings, and don’t have time to sit around watching a pot simmer for hours.

Lightly spiced and subtly sweetened (but also very flexible if you want to adjust the sugar and spices to taste), this applesauce is perfect by the spoonful, and also as a topping for your next batch of latkes, dolloped on french toast or waffles, or as an accompaniment to a juicy seared sirloin or pork chop.

Homemade applesauce in under 30 minutes? Sign me up!

I love just how superbly simple this recipe is. And it’s not one of those tricky recipes that claims to be 30 minutes but in reality requires 25 minutes of prep time before you even start cooking.

No, this recipe is truly a 30 minute recipe. In fact, even accounting for the time to snap photos of the process along the way (which always slows me down), my applesauce was done in exactly 27 minutes (yes, I timed it!) That includes peeling and dicing the apples, cooking them, and running it all through a food mill.

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Pistachio Butter Blossom Cookies

A classic cookie gets a pistachio twist, made with a triple dose of nutty pistachio flavor. The dark chocolate kisses pressed into the centers are melty and molten right out of the oven (my favorite way to enjoy them), but firm up again after an hour or so, making these cookies perfect for shipping or sharing.

These wickedly green cookies are buttery and tender, with a kiss of luxurious dark chocolate in the middle that would please even the grinch. I’ve packed as much pistachio flavor as I possibly can into these two-bite cookies, with pistachios in three forms: pistachio butter, pistachio flour, and pistachio extract.

The classic peanut butter blossom, now with 100% more pistachio (green is the new beige, after all).

These cookies are a result of having a glut of homemade pistachio butter leftover from my recipe testing experimentation last year. It felt too indulgent to use for something as menial as an afternoon snack (although apple slices + pistachio butter is sublime), so I was saving it for a special occasion (and by special occasion I mean a recipe as fabulous as this one).

Mission: accomplished! I just know you’ll love these cookies as much as I do.

Pistachio is such a nuanced flavor, much less in your face than peanut butter or even hazelnut, and even using pistachios in three forms (butter, flour, and extract) these cookies are still not in-your-face pistachio like, say, pistachio gelato; rather, they are more like a soft and buttery sugar cookie with an undertone of earthy, nutty pistachio and a hint of fragrant almond.

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