This year’s cookie box bonanza wrapped on Wednesday evening and since then, we’ve been in distribution mode. You might think spending almost three days of your life on seven different cookie recipes to fill 17 cookie boxes is the hardest part about this holiday tradition. It’s not. The hardest part is hand-delivering to and coordinating pick-ups with th…

It’s peak holiday cookie season! Today’s a little warmup for my Holiday Cookie Exchange Extravaganza newsletter for “Extras” subscribers. (It’s coming Saturday so upgrade your subscription now to get it in your inbox!)

It was on Christmas Eve, three years ago, in the middle of making my Yule Log, a notoriously high-maintenance dessert, that I realized I should probably be medicated.

Before we jump into hosting extravaganza 2026 (I am SO excited to share with you what I have planned), I have a few things I need to wrap up from 2025.

Is it still okay to say happy new year? What’s the grace period on that— a week? The first half of the month? The first time you talk to someone again, so long as it’s in January? No one really knows. Anyway, I hope everyone had a good one, and a good holiday if you celebrate. Jeff got a bad cold the …

We’re piled into the car, following Route 22 toward home. Outside, the sky has settled into soft bands of pale blue, pink, and grey. My mind is still back at the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of t…

My favorite thing to bake lately are frosted cookies! They’re so simple to make yet feel so indulgent. And it’s just SO fun making different variations.

hey hi hello,

The striking cover of Kat Lieu’s most recent book 108 Asian Cookies: Not Too Sweet Treats from a Third-Culture Kitchen is a stunner. It’s the kind of cover that leaps off of the shelf and begs you to flip through the pages, and the recipes within do not disappoint. In this epic book Kat has created a collection of deeply flavorful recipes that highlight…

Let me reintroduce myself

My goal for 2026 is to become better at planning out my recipes, which means developing them a month or so in advance, giving myself and my (new) recipe tester ample time to brainstorm and test. However, to do that while still posting content and recipes, I have to slot in pre-existing recipes!

(Clicking the like button above will mean confectioner’s sugar will fall from the sky over New Jersey instead of snow. It also will help the algorithm and my pursuit of greatness and world cookie domination. [evil laugh] Thank you.)

I wish I could own 2,000 cookbooks. Truly. Food makes me so happy, and I love the inspiration that comes from flipping through beautiful pages of recipes, techniques, and ideas.

Hi friends —

Well, my New Year did NOT get off to roaring start. A week ago I started feeling weird, not sick sick but wrong. I didn’t have a fever but was miserable with a stuffy nose, cough etc. I tested for Covid, Flu A, FluB, every time was negative. Since I didn’t feel well enough to go out, always a warning sign, I called the doctor. It turns out I am a victim…

January started off in the best way possible with my nephew getting married. It was so fun and such a great way to start the year.

Dear friends,

hej! witam! [hey! welcome!]

last weekend i hosted my 1st annual Cookie (& tea) Party!!! there were 20 girls and over 250 cookies taking over my dining room. we rotated between eating cookies and chips… and drank hot tea to help recover from said cookies and chips. a beautiful ecosystem.

January has not been off to a good start. I won’t get into details at this point, but there has been an accident with one of my dogs, and it’s gonna be a long road to recovery. Probably an accident that would have been preventable, and clearly the “woulda shoulda coulda” is currently killing me (and eating up all my mental health).

Love baking but not leftovers? This guide is for anyone who wants dessert without baking for a crowd.

Gluten Free Magic Cookies

Hello Welcome to the first Recipe Crumbs Newsletter of 2026

how was everyone’s weekend? I think I’m finally getting back into my routine here and it feels excellent — long sunset walks, coffee shop work days, chill nights at home and lots of recipe testing and filming.