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Creamy Strawberry Mocktail (Dairy-Free)
Made with healthier sweeteners and oat milk, this creamy strawberry mocktail has notes of caramel and plenty of berry flavor. Consider it a healthy dessert option or just-sweet-enough drink that can be garnished with a touch of chocolate or a chocolate-dipped cookie for extra dessert vibes. While the drink recipe contains no dairy, check the ingredients on these as well before serving. Since oat milk already has a mild toasty flavor, it takes on a caramel-like quality when combined with pitted dates and a touch of honey. Blend in a few frozen strawberries, and you have a dairy-free mocktail recipe that easily can satisfy the craving for ice cream or…
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Chocolate Tart with Biscoff Crust
Decadent chocolate ganache fills a press-in crust with deep caramel flavor, making this tart a delicious alternative to a box of chocolates for your loves, yourself, and everyone else you will be treating on Valentine’s Day. While this tart can be made any time of year, we find ourselves in midwinter, when citrus practically demands to be included in sweets. The richness of the ganache pairs perfectly with candied blood orange and mandarin slices, plus a few pieces of pizzelles, though the choice of topping is completely up to you. The combination of chocolate, caramel notes, and citrus I find absolutely irresistible. Making ganache involves pouring hot cream over plenty…
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Beef Braised in Red Wine
Winter has arrived with the call for us to make the coziest dinners of the year, and this is a recipe you will want to make well into January and beyond. Beef braised in red wine becomes incredibly tender and will entice you to settle in for a warm night at home. The long braise means plenty of hands-off cooking time during which to enjoy other pursuits while everything cooks up to perfection in the oven. Alongside aromatics, I prefer to include whole baby carrots in this dish and a generous handful of sweet cherry tomatoes, which burst in the pot. Give everything a good stir before nestling the carrots…
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Cranberry Linzer Torte
With a crust that rivals the best holiday cookie, this linzer torte features warm spices, ground nuts, and a vibrant, lightly sweet yet tart cranberry filling. Topped with a generous lattice that makes dessert gorgeous and rustic at the same time, consider this your invitation to bake up a bit of holiday magic. In place of traditional almonds or hazelnuts, I include pecans and/or walnuts in this recipe as they pair so well with cranberry, though you can customize using your favorite ground nuts if preferred. They make the crust incredibly flavorful and ensure this cranberry linzer torte will be the jewel of the dessert table – even more so…
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Root Vegetable Gratin
Spiraled in a baking dish, root vegetables form the base of a delicious gratin that can be served as fittingly for Thanksgiving or any holiday as it can be for an indulgent weeknight dinner. Potatoes give a familiar and comforting flavor while beets, turnips, rutabaga, and other varieties lend a bit more interest, with the choice of customization completely yours. Red beets are particularly delicious, though they do cause the entire dish to become quite tinged with their color. For this reason, you may wish to opt for the golden variety. As a holiday dish, this one disappears quickly and can take the place of mashed potatoes if you are…
