DIY: How To Make Vanilla Extract

DIY: Homemade Vanilla Extract

While we were living in Saudi Arabia, it was almost impossible to buy vanilla extract, since the authorities assumed the little bottles contained alcohol (a no-no in Saudi Arabia). Instead, I would pick up packets of vanilla sugar when we visited our Oma in Germany every summer. Now that we are living back in Canada, […]

Easy Coconut Macaroon Snowballs

Easy Coconut Macaroon Snowballs, Kiku Corner

I’ve never been a fan of macaroons, those dry and crumbly egg white confections. And I always found that coconut got stuck in my teeth. These macaroons, on the other hand, are chewy and dense and full of coconut flavour while the oats give more structure to the cookies. The sweetened condensed milk make the […]

Dark Chocolate Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

Dark Chocolate Cookies with White Chocolate Chips, Kiku Corner

These dark chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips are crisp around the edges but delightfully chewy in the middle. The cookies are so dark because of the significant amount of cocoa powder added. The white chocolate chips added a nice contrast to the black cookie dough. And Ryan and I threw in some butterscotch chips as […]

Akkawi Manakeesh – Arabic Cheese Bread with Nigella

Akkawi Manakeesh is an Arabic cheese bread sprinkled with nigella seeds that we grew up with in Saudi Arabia. At the major grocery chain in Riyadh, Tamimi Markets, there was a wood-fired bakery at the back of the shop. When our mom would buy groceries, she would make a beeline to the bakery and order […]

Matcha Cupcakes with Matcha Frosting

Matcha Cupcakes with Matcha Frosting, Kiku Corner

Now that it is dark and cold, I feel like baking all the time. Bread, muffins, cookies, cakes…and cupcakes. Matcha is a fine grade of powdered green tea, and here Ryan and I incorporated a few tablespoons of precious matcha into rich cupcakes. To increase the matcha intensity, we also added a tablespoon of matcha to […]