Bready or Not

• In a large bowl, beat together butter, shortening, and brown sugar, until fluffy, scraping the bottom of the bowl on occasion. Add egg, molasses, and vanilla.
• In another bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and pepper. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet.
• Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours, or up to a day.
• Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Measure out topping sugar into a bowl.
• Use a scoop or spoon to form walnut-sized balls. Roll dough balls in sugar. Place them slightly spaced on pan and then compress each one; they will not spread much while baking.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until puffed and set. Let cool on pan a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
• Store them in a sealed container at room temperature up to 3 days.

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• Mix flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the starter and water. Pour wet ingredients into the dry, mixing until the dough looks smooth and is no longer tacky. In a stand mixer with bread hook, this will be about 10 minutes.
• Turn the dough onto the counter and form it into a ball by tucking dough underneath the tighten the top. Apply nonstick spray or oil to the bowl. Place dough back inside and turn it to coat the surface with oil.
• Line another large bowl with parchment paper. Place dough inside, seam side down. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow dough to rise for about 12 hours at room temperature.
• Transfer bowl to fridge to continue its fermenting overnight. Keep there until baking time at some point the next day.
• Preheat oven at 500 degrees. Place the small cast iron skillet or baking pan inside to heat up as well. Once the oven and pan are at full heat, CAREFULLY remove pan from inside.
• Pull dough from fridge. Set aside the towel or plastic wrap. Use the parchment as a sling to transfer dough to the hot pan. Use a knife or French lame to score the top so that carbon dioxide can escape the bread as it bakes.
• Place pan in oven. After closing the door, change the heat to 475 degrees.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 20 minutes.
• When done, the loaf should sound hollow when thumped. A digital thermometer plunged into the center should read over 190 degrees.
• Let cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing in. Enjoy hot or at room temperature. Fresh bread can also be frozen for later enjoyment.

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• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Use kitchen shears to gently shatter apart the frozen raspberries into a measuring cup. Set cup in freezer again as the rest of the dough is formed.
• In a large bowl, beat together butter, almond butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Follow up with flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in oats and pepitas until combined.
• If using, fold in the mini chocolate chips. Gently fold in frozen raspberries until evenly dispersed in the dough. Note that if an excess of raspberry bits are left until the end, the dough will be especially wet and harder to work with.
• Use a small cookie scoop or teaspoon to form balls about 1 inch apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until cookies are set, 9 to 10 minutes. Chill remaining dough while a batch bakes.
• Allow cookies to cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.

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• Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line a 13×9-inch pan with aluminum foil. Apply nonstick spray.
• In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the molasses, mixing until no streaks remain. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bottom of the bowl on occasion.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet. Fold in the candied ginger.
• Measure out 2 cups of the dough and set it aside.
• Press the remainder of the dough into the pan, forming an even layer.
• Time to make the cheesecake layer. Beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add the sugar and flour. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla. The mixture should be fairly consistent in color and texture, but it’s okay if there are some small lumps.
• Use an uneven spatula to spread the cheesecake into an even layer. Crumble the reserved topping over it.
• Bake for 50 to 60 minutes; the middle should not look jiggly and should pass the toothpick test. If the top is browning too much, cover with foil.
• Cool at room temperature for about an hour, then place in fridge to completely chill for a few hours. Use foil to lift onto cutting board to slice into small pieces. Store in fridge in a sealed container.

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• In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add both sugars and honey; beat until creamy and fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl, then mix in the egg and both extracts.
• In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients: bread flour, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Sift together.
• Slowly stir together the wet ingredients and flour mix until just combined. Fold in the peppermint bark. Encase dough in plastic wrap and stash in the fridge for several hours or days; dough can also be frozen at this stage.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven at 350 degrees. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet. Use a teaspoon or tablespoon to space out cookies on the pan. Press additional peppermint bark pieces into the tops of the dough balls.
• Small cookies bake 9 to 12 minutes; larger cookies bake in 11 to 13 minutes. Once removed from the oven, let set on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
• Stored cookies will keep in a sealed container for weeks. They are excellent for travel or shipping.

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• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place 1 cup of white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on 50% power in short increments, 20-25 seconds, and stop to stir between passes until the chips blend smoothly; take care, as it can burn fast! Set aside to cool.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs until they are creamy. Mix in the melted chips. Stir in flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Fold in the remaining chips and 1 cup of peppermint bark.
• Use a tablespoon cookie scoop or spoon to place dough in rounded lumps on cookie sheet. Using the reserved stash of peppermint bark, press a few pieces onto the top of each dough ball. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, until the tops just begin to turn light golden brown. Immediately add a few more pieces of peppermint bark onto the top of each cookie. Cool on the sheet for several minutes, then move to a rack to set for about 3 hours; this process can be speeded up by briefly placing cookies in the fridge.
• Store in a sealed container at room temperature. Best eaten within 5 days.

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