bell & basket

cooking. baking. home.

Cranberry Walnut and Brie Scones

I am obsessed with scones. Scones with berries, scones with nuts, scones with herbs, scones with cheese! These Cranberry Walnut and Brie Scones tick all of the boxes. They’re sweet, savory and have a little bit of funk to them, thanks to the ripe French brie Colin got on sale at Whole Foods a few weeks ago. I’m so glad to be finishing it up because I’ve been smelling that brie every single time I open the fridge. You know that feeling when you ask yourself every time the waft comes toward you, “what’s rotting in the fridge?”

So I got the idea for the cranberry walnut brie combination  after Thanksgiving passed and I had some odds and ends leftover–cranberries, thyme, and lots of cheeses (mascarpone, goat, cheddar and brie). So these scones made perfect sense.

They’re based off of my classic scone recipe. The mascarpone is what keeps these scones moist and fluffy but if you don’t happen to have any on hand you can sub cream cheese.

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One Hour, One Bowl, Pumpkin Pie (and it’s vegan)

We are one day away from the best ever holiday–Thanksgiving! And can I tell you something really exciting? We’ll be having TURKEY! If that doesn’t surprise you, then you probably haven’t been following along on my (mostly) plant based journey the past six weeks. And yes, plant based is code for vegan.

It was hard. Not only because I couldn’t eat my favorite foods (eggs and butter anyone?), but because I found myself having a serious identity crisis. If I’m not making pie crust with butter then who the hell am I? Well I found out there’s a lot more to me than heavy cream and egg yolks.

Most eye opening of all was how much I learned. By the fourth week of experimenting in the kitchen I learned to make a kick-ass “buttercream” frosting out of cashews, the best white bean and kale soup,  and I even learned how to order a vegan burrito at Chipotle (the guac was still extra). But most of all, I realized not everything needs sour cream and cheese to be delicious. I feel like my tastebuds got a serious re-training and I’m craving vegetables now more than ever.

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Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Do you love cinnamon rolls? Do you love apple pie? Warm fall spices? Check, check and check? Then these are the apple cinnamon rolls of your dreams. If you keep reading this post, there is no way you’ll be able to resist making these. But if you don’t feel like staying up all night in the kitchen–stop reading now.

Ok, now that you’ve made the decision to conquer these rolls, throw your hair into a pony, put on your apron and get peeling! This recipe is labor intensive but SO totally worth it in the end. The tartness of the apples, combined with the bouncy yeasty dough and cream cheese frosting are a perfect combo.

Plus, there’s something therapeutic about peeling apples. It takes me back to my youth, when I used to watch my mom bake apple pies and I’d help peel. So much of cooking and baking is an active meditation and peeling apples is the perfect way to “zone out” and think about nothing. I like to call it apple meditation – there’s no app for that.

So where’d my inspiration come from? Apple picking had a lot to do with it. As of late I’ve also been seeing posts of cinnamon rolls on Instagram feeds.

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