- I enjoy baking with strawberries just as much as I enjoy eating them raw, as they add both a lot of color and flavor to summer baked goods. Kumquat‘s Strawberry Maple Streusel Muffins are a gluten-free muffin that is a wonderful warm weather breakfast option. The muffins are sweetened with pure maple syrup and studded with ripe berries. They’re topped with a streusel – also gluten free – made with maple sugar that gives the muffins a little bit more texture and sweetness, too.
- Strawberries also make an appearance in the Strawberry & Chocolate Chip Muffins that Caramel Moments recently baked. These fluffy muffins are made with greek yogurt, which gives them a very moist and tender crumb. They’re loaded with fresh strawberries and chocolate chips – just enough to make the muffins feel just a bit indulgent. Semisweet chocolate chips are a good choice for this recipe, but milk, dark and white chocolate all go well with strawberries, so you can mix things up depending on what kind of chocolate you have on hand.
- Adding herbs to a dessert can transform it from something ordinary into something extraordinary. Bake to the Roots shared a lovely Lemon Thyme Tart that is a perfect example of how to use fresh herbs in baking. The tart has a ricotta cheese filling that is sweetened with agave syrup and flavored with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest and thyme. The thyme really compliments the lemon and makes this very simple tart very sophisticated.
- If you are a s’mores fan, you will definitely want to put Will Cook for Smiles‘s S’mores Cheesecake on your “to bake” list in the near future. This rich, creamy cheesecake sits atop a graham cracker crust and is topped off with layers of gooey fudge sauce and toasted marshmallows. As if that weren’t enough, there is a layer of marshmallow and chocolate inside of the cheesecake that bakes right in to the cream cheese filling in the oven, infusing the whole cheesecake with a wonderful s’mores flavor. It is indulgent – and worth every bite.
- Use my recipe for Fresh Pineapple Sorbet to make yourself a Tiki Affogato, like the one I posted over at Modern Tiki. This boozy dessert combines the pineapple sorbet with dark rum in a sweet and refreshing dessert that is an easy option for summer entertaining. The dessert is just as delicious when it is made with ice cream, so you can always pick up a pint of your favorite brand if you don’t have time to make it from scratch before dinner.