While it’s taste isn’t for everyone- bitter and grassy- matcha green tea is one of my very favorite flavors. I was busy planning some late night Christmas cookie baking and was measuring for a family standby- Nutmeg Meltaways, when the idea to modify them into a matcha version came over me. The pecans in our version got swapped out with almonds, and a touch of that vibrant and potent green tea powder was added to the dough. I still added a grating of nutmeg to the powdered sugar but it can certainly be left out as well. If you’re a matcha fan, enjoy. How to make this high altitude adjusted recipe: Matcha Meltaways Adapted from Taste of Home Magazine Print Matcha Meltaways Recipe type: High Altitude Baking   A matcha green [...]

My husband adores the type of sugar cookies that are rolled out, cut out, baked, iced, and then covered in sprinkles. There’s nothing wrong with this except that this process can take awhile- not including chilling the dough. For those of you short on time I’ve discovered a new recipe that shortcuts several of these steps. The dough can be rolled out right from the mixer. While your oven preheats, stick the cookie sheets outside to chill (take advantage of the mountains in the winter). I also have a fast method for icing cookies. When your cookies are cool, dip them face down in a small bowl of the icing, being sure to cover the whole cookie. Lift it back up, keeping it horizontal. Skim it across the edge of [...]

Just when I thought I wasn’t ready for summer to end, cooler mountain air moved in and I’ve succumbed. I’ve found myself craving warmer flavors and lots of spice. Are you? This is a beautiful time of year in the mountains. Scrub brush turns vibrant reds, purples, and yellows. The grasses are wheat colored and seeded. And the aspens are getting their first whispers of gold- it starts in a small cluster of leaves that eventually spreads throughout the whole tree. My only harp is that this season never seems long enough. Thankfully we have plenty of pine tree varieties to give the mountains some color all winter. For those of you itching to start your fall baking, I’ve compiled my pumpkin recipes here: Pumpkin Crumb Bars Pumpkin Crumble Muffins [...]

Hooray, it’s March! I always love this time of year as there really is a big shift in season from winter to spring. Granted, we’ll still get snow and cool weather, but there are a lot more mild days and sunshine. To kick things off, I’ve been meaning to share this recipe for awhile. Our family loves brownies, as you can probably see from the various brownie posts on here. The beautiful thing about brownies is that they are so different- some recipes are quite rich, others chewy, we can put toppings on them, or add texture to them. Growing up, we ate a lot of those boxed mix brownies in school. What I always loved about them was their crinkly, shiny top crust. So I was thrilled to find [...]

I have to travel down to Aspen a lot for work, and usually when I am down that way, I like to stop at Whole Foods and load up on a few things our local grocery doesn’t carry. If I wander through the bakery section, and notice their ‘jammies’ cookies, I usually can’t resist. The “jammie” consists of two butter cookies that are sandwiched together with a thin layer of jam. They’re usually apricot, which is my favorite. There’s just something about the delicate buttery flavor and  crunchy texture melding with the sweet jam.  Now that’s a cookie I could eat for days. It inspired me to recreate it for my own home eating and voila- I found this gem of a recipe. What immediately appealed to me was how [...]

Since we’ve updated our website format, there are still a few bugs we’re trying to fix. One of them is that not all recipes display correctly. Since I understand how frustrating that can be, I’ll be organizing various posted based on recipe subject to assist you during this busy time of year. In addition to these recipes, be sure to check out our “Cookbooks” tab for many more high altitude recipes. These are downloadable ebooks, allowing for instant access and dozens of recipes at your fingertips. 2012 Holiday Cookbook: A mixture of holiday baking recipes that include: Eggnog Creme Brulee Rice Pudding with Port-Glazed Figs Hot Chocolate Torte Spicy Peanut Brittle Red Velvet Cake with Pecan Custard Cream Pumpkin Bread with Rum-Soaked Cherries White Chocolate Orange Biscotti Cut-Out Sugar Cookies [...]

I was going to make these last week, then sadly realized I didn’t have enough molasses. Pantry restocked, I tried these again yesterday for the win. Gingerbread: Timeless Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Desserts, Ice Cream, and More author Jennifer Lindner McGlinn pulled me in with this: “Lightly cracked on top and chestnut brown in color, they are just on the brink of gooey in the center when they come out of the oven. Once cooled, the blondies cut easily into super-moist squares that are gently spiced and rich with caramel and butterscotch flavors.” Mmm. The squares are indeed rich in everything molasses and would make a great cookie exchange item. Cut into small pieces as a little goes a long way. I decided to add chocolate chips and dried cranberries to ours as [...]

Has anyone ever had those Lofthouse sugar cookies from the grocery store? You know the kind- the thick, soft sugar cookies with a sweet layer of frosting and sprinkles on the top. Well, these taste just like them. But homemade, which makes them even better. The recipe makes a lot, and that’s just fine, because they’ll go quickly (to make things less tempting, I froze half of my dough). Even with our dry mountain air, well-wrapped, these taste almost better the next day, when the flavors have a chance to meld. Don’t be afraid to experiment with these cookies, either. Here are some ideas to start: -Add 2 teaspoons of almond or coconut extract to the dough and top the icing with toasted coconut flakes -Add 1/4 poppy seeds and the [...]

Excuse me, while I keep easing into January. Now that we’re about 1/3 through the month, I think I am finally switching out of “holiday mode”. The first week into this month, I didn’t bake anything sweet. In fact, I didn’t really cook anything at all either. Lots of take-out or dining out. But life has gone on. And our snowy weather today ushered in the need to produce something hearty, salty, chewy, and garnished with chocolate: oatmeal chocolate chip peanut butter bars. Besides the chocolate-peanut butter thing, these go down easily because they have oats in them. So they’re not straight junk… Happy new year, all. How to make this high altitude adjusted recipe: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars Adapted from Patricia Stoudt/Taste of Home 5.0 from 1 reviews [...]