This cookie is scratching me right where I itch.

Haha! Did that put you off cookies forever?  Really though- these are fabulous, and are my new go-to cookie for lots of reasons.  Here are some of them! They call for one ripe banana, which is perfect for me because I always have just one- not enough for banana bread.  I almost always have all of these ingredients on hand.  They don’t have eggs or nuts in them, so they’re safe for babies! They are unspeakably delicious.  (As in, Andy and I eat ungodly numbers of them warm from the oven, flecked with sea salt.  Little Henry loves them too!)  And they’re really unique- I’d have never thought to use curry powder in a cookie, but it’s a lovely little touch that, as gingerroot (the mastermind behind these treats) said, ends up making the cookies taste a bit like gingerbread.    Also, they can be very easily vegan-ized by subbing margarine for the butter. Have I convinced you? I hope so.  The world should know the glory of these cookies!

One-Bite Banana Cookies
from gingerroot via food52

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup mashed ripe banana (from one small or ½ of a larger banana), in a bowl
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• Pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
• Fleur de sel for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 300° F.
2. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
3. Add ½ t baking soda to mashed banana. Set aside for a minute.
4. In a bowl, stir together flour, curry powder and salt.
5. Mix banana mixture into butter mixture. Add vanilla, mixing to evenly combine.
6. Add half of dry mixture to wet ingredients and mix for 10 seconds. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined, using a spatula to scrape down the sides. Fold in unsweetened coconut.
7. Drop by the teaspoonful on two parchment lined baking sheets, leaving about an inch between each. Bake, one sheet at a time, until golden brown, about 14-16 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through. Sprinkle hot cookies with fleur de sel if desired. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Best enjoyed warm.

Cake! Cake for eating! This beaut won the “best peach” recipe a year ago on Food52. Well, I had some peaches from the farmers market, and a hankering for cake, et voilà! (I don’t speak French. Not one bit.  But I’ve been plowing through Agatha Christie novels (so fun!) and I’ve gathered from the delightful M. Hercule Poirot that you can end sentences with this phrase.) Anyway, this cake is another lovely, delicious and simple buttermilk cake.  And it’s fun too, because you don’t have to peel the peaches, which I think we can all agree is a terrible use of our time.  Props to the-sister-of-my-life for styling this cake.  That chick’s all right!  Eat your heart out, Sandra Lee!

Also! I know you’ve probably seen this already, but I had this song in my head while making this cake, so watch it! It just screams simple summer peach cake! And also, drugs.

http://www.hulu.com/embed/6NR6hkoQWvpwi8QSdBrW4w

Simple Summer Peach Cake
by Savour for Food 52

• 3 ripe peaches
• 3/4 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour (or finely ground almonds)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• Turbinado Sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.
2. Cut the peaches into bite sized pieces. Toss the peaches with nutmeg and 2 tablespoons sugar. Set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and remaining sugar with a wooden spoon or spatula. Add the egg, buttermilk and extracts, and stir to combine.
4. Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this flour mixture to the butter mixture, mix until smooth (some lumps may remain). Pour into the prepared pan.
5. Press the peaches into the top of the cake. They can be nicely arranged, but I like to cram as many peaches as possible into the cake. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees and bake for an additional 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

And because I like food, here’s a picture of my peaches after they’ve been dusted with sugar and freshly grated nutmeg.  Hells yes.

You wouldn’t know it by looking at it, but this cake is lousy with strawberries.  Andy and I picked up a pound of berries from the farmers’ market (they were picked yesterday!).  So springtime-y wonderful.

This has become one of my very favorite cakes.  I made it for the first time a couple months ago and have made it three times (!) since then. I, um, like cake.  The first time I made it, I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand (most are standard pantry ingredients), including a fresh pint of raspberries because I like to snack on them, and buttermilk because I had just made chicken fried steak and cream gravy with cube steak from the farmers’ market.

This cake comes together in no time.  Really, it is profoundly simple.  And when you’re finished baking and cooling it there’s nothing more to do than to devour it- no stacking/frosting/dusting.  It is delicious and perfect just as it is. Next time you have a hankering for a lovely country cake, give it a go!


Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
via Smitten Kitchen via Gourmet magazine

Makes one nine-inch round cake

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 cup fresh raspberries, halved strawberries, or other berries (about 5 oz)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.
3. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter berries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.
4. Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate. Eat feverishly.