When it comes to dessert, I love lemon just as much as any chocolate torte or cake. Even though it’s typically a Summer flavor, I think it’s great to end a heavy Winter meal on a light and refreshing note.

Cornmeal is one of my favorite underrated gluten-free flours. It’s made to use polenta and corn tortillas all the time but hardly ever makes it into desserts. The texture is certainly more coarse than your typical flour but it has a charming rusticness to it.

Make sure to find a finely ground cornmeal rather than a coarse one. The cake will bake either way but the coarse cornmeal will have a tougher texture to it once baked.

Lemon Cornmeal Cake

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups finely ground cornmeal
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk, divided
• 1/2 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lemon extract, divided
• 1/2 Tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, sugar, cornstarch and baking soda until mixed.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, 6 1/2 Tablespoons of milk, 1/2 Tablespoon of lemon extract and the lemon zest.
4. Mix the dry and wet ingredients and whisk well.
5. Grease an 8-inch cake pan on all sides.
6. Pour the batter into the cake pan. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is browning and the center is cooked.
7. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool.
8. After the cake is cooled, make the icing by mixing the powdered sugar with the extra milk and lemon extract until it’s smooth and runny. If you need to, add 1/2 – 1 extra Tablespoon of milk to get it to the right consistency.
9. Drizzle the icing on top of the cake before slicing and serve.

An icing is an easy and light way to frost this but you could also make a lemon or vanilla buttercream for something richer.

I never understood why Christmas cookies are a thing, why cookies take priority over cake or mousse or any other number of desserts. But in reality who ever has time to sit down for desserts around Christmastime? Between cooking, opening presents, and talking everyone is usually standing or in the other room, and cookies are the perfect grab-and-go dessert for that.

When I think of iced cookies, I usually think of the stale ones from the grocery store with neon pink frosting that taste like pure sugar. I would always eat the frosting(because who doesn’t love pure sugar?) but the cookie usually got left behind. These are far from those iced cookies. There’s nothing quite like a fresh cookie with a smooth and soft icing on top to step up the game for the rest of the desserts.

The almond extract is the special ingredient that makes these cookies irresistible. If you don’t have any it’s worth running out to the store to find. Making an icing that’s part butter adds a touch of richness to the balance out the sweet.

Iced Vanilla-Almond Butter Cookies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 18 cookies):

• 1 cup almond butter
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the icing:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the almond butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt.
3. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and put them on a non-stick baking tray. Press down on the balls lightly to flatten them to about 1/2-inch.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges of the cookies begin to brown.
5. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool.
6. Combine the butter and milk in a medium-sized bowl.
7. Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl.
8. Beat together the sugar, butter, and milk until smooth. Add in the vanilla and almond extract and continue mixing until smooth.
9. Spread a Tablespoon of frosting on top of each cookie. Let the cookies sit at room temperature uncovered until the frosting sets.

You can decorate these with green and red or white sprinkles to make them a little more festive.

Between Christmas shopping, studying, writing papers and taking exams I haven’t had much time to cook or make new recipes lately. The nice thing about having a living room full of Christmas lights, stockings and a tree is it makes it easy to fall back into the holiday spirit after a stressful day.

I made these buckeyes last night for myself and my roommates because who doesn’t love a chocolate and peanut butter nightcap? I have to admit that I’ve made recipes like this often enough that I’ve stopped measuring things as I go along. Really you can make this in any proportion as long as the dough comes out the right consistency. They aren’t the prettiest buckeyes but they’re taste makes up for their appearance.

If you want to change the flavor slightly add a touch of vanilla or cinnamon.

Peanut Butter Buckeyes

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 20 buckeyes):

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter*
• 6 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 1/4 cups bittersweet chocolate chips OR 10oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

*If you’re using no-stir peanut butter, melt it in the microwave briefly before mixing it with the other ingredients

Method:

1. In a large bowl mix together the peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar until it forms a dough that sticks to itself. If for some reason your dough is too thin, slowly add more powdered sugar until it’s workable.
2. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on a non-stick surface.
3. Put the peanut butter balls in the freezer to set.
4. While the peanut butter balls are hardening, melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler.
5. One by one dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate to coat their outside and put them back on the non-stick surface.
6. Refrigerate the peanut butter balls until the chocolate has set. Keep cold until ready to serve.