I’m addicted to crumb. You show me a crumb cake and I’ll pick off the topping. It’s a dangerous game to play. Don’t hand me anything in the realm of crumb and expect me to eat it like a normal person.

When done correctly, any crumb cake or bar is overflowing with crumb. A crumb fiend like me has to be satisfied, after all. These beautiful bites of heaven are filled with raspberry jam and sandwiched with crumbly oat goodness. They’re also effortlessly gluten-free, which is the only way I wanna do it.

A lot of people who attempt GF baking really don’t understand how it works. They buy the GF flour replacements and assume that it will work out. But folks, a replacement is often a recipe for mediocrity.

That’s why it’s important to bake with unprocessed ingredients you’d use even without the gluten issue. Baking becomes a more natural experience that way, and it tastes better. In this case, I used my ever trusty oat flour (which is ground-up oats) as a base. Because really, who doesn’t love a shot of oatmeal goodness in a crumb bar?

When we don’t force things, they tend to work out better. To be honest, that’s not a lesson I’m very good at learning, but it holds true nonetheless. Some of the best opportunities that have come my way happened when I wasn’t looking for them. I count Kenny among those, as well as the program I teach in. All good stuff.

The same holds true for my brainstorming process. To get all these recipes to you three times a week while juggling a full-time teaching gig and my own children, I have to really let the flow take over. When I force myself to be creative and invent desserts, it tends to be more forced. But when I listen to my intuition, it works out a lot better.

For instance, I’ve been craving crumb bars like crazy since summer hit. I’ve made more than enough crumb bars for JAB, but I really don’t care. We’re going there again!

The gluten-free thing is just an option, but I think it works out well here. Instead of regular flour, which has no taste, oat flour lends a nuttiness to these bars that is really quite lovely. As you know, I don’t eat a GF diet, but my beloved does. So if the bars work out better this way without anyone forcing the issue, so much the better!

Sometimes it’s valuable to just sit back and let opportunity head your way. It might require some patience, but if you work hard and do your best, it will probably come sooner or later!

Ideally, the voting process should be nothing but exciting, but it’s harder this year than usual. Looking toward November is a worrisome occupation, at least for me. I want to believe that everything will turn out okay, but I’m in a negative frame of mind these days.

Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I bake. There’s a mindful mindlessness about baking that lets my brain fall away a bit as I make ganache or press tart dough into a pan. The motions are repetitive, soothing, and exactly what I need sometimes. When the result is this mind-blowing linzer tart smothered in ganache and almonds, I can banish all the negativity and just think about the rich flavors exploding in my mouth.

It’s not like me to be incredibly negative, or at least, not in my head. But recently I’ve sustained a series of failures, and so I’ve had to work harder to focus on the good stuff. Whenever I’m in this frame of mind, it’s hard to see all the people who are seemingly more satisfied and successful displaying their good fortune right and left. The rational part of my brain is thrilled for them, but the emotional part is resentful. That’s human nature, after all.

So in times like these, I’m shifting the focus where it should be. On my family, of course, which affords me great joy. On the part of my job that takes place in the classroom, where I work with the best students a teacher could ask for. On the changing season, letting sunshine and fresh air into the house. On having an awareness of purpose. There’s so much to be thankful for.

When I get thankful, I think of pie. Really. It’s some kind of Thanksgiving trigger. But it’s April. What to do?

Well, make a tart. It’s gluten-free for my beloved Kenny and kosher for Passover for the rest of us. We don’t get normal food until Sunday! Yes, that counts liquor. Happy hour is going to have to wait a bit.

This is one of the best desserts I’ve made in the GF category. The crust (adapted from Paula Shoyer’s The New Passover Menu) is mainly almond meal with some walnut meal thrown in for good measure. Once the crust is baked, I spread raspberry jam over the top and filled it with ganache. I made this tart non-dairy by using fake coffee creamer and margarine, but the recipe will list heavy cream and butter because that’s more standard. They both work, though!

I’m looking out the window as I write this, where the leaves on the trees have become rich and green. There’s a lot that’s good to focus on. During a time that’s less than easy in some ways, I need to see all the beauty and savor it. And I also need to savor this tart, so get on that train with me!

Thank heaven for almonds.

Seriously, they’re food of the gods. They have protein, taste great, and are easily portable. Plus, they’re pretty durable. I have to work really hard to squash an almond.

Chocolate-covered almonds are even better, especially when the chocolate is really delicious. DOVE® Roasted Almonds covered in Dark Chocolate are totally my bag. And they’re even more fun when they get incorporated into these chocolate almond raspberry bars!

Nothing is happier than enjoying a dessert bar while taking a little “me” break. For those of you who have not discovered the joy of “me” time, it’s probably because you have it and therefore don’t realize how precious it is. Honestly, the quiet moments in my life are very few and far between. Nobody who works in a high school would describe the environment as calm or quiet, and then I come home to more chaos. So when I get home 20 minutes before my kids, I bask in the stillness for as long as it lasts.

Sometimes my dates with myself actually occur outside the house. For instance, I have been known to take myself to the movies. I mean, why not? It’s so much easier to get up and walk out when the movie is bad if I’m alone. In fact, it’s kind of empowering. And if I like the movie, I can enjoy it without worrying if anybody else is having a good time.

When I’m alone, I also enjoy just being still. Sitting is kind of a beautiful thing. I realize that America has been identified as the land of people who sit too much, but teachers don’t have that problem. And there’s nothing nicer than finding a lovely bench and sipping on a drink while people walk by. People watching is fun!

Another favorite spot? The store. I love going to stores alone, wandering down aisles and hunting for products. Nothing is quite as joyful as discovering new food products, which happens to me all the time at Walmart in the candy display. It’s where I found these lovely DOVE® Chocolate Fruit & Nut products, which inspired me to make these chocolate almond raspberry bars! Part of my ongoing wellness lifestyle is to give myself sanity breaks, and those should ideally include dessert! When I let myself have indulgences, it inspires me to eat mindfully for the rest of the day. And we all know that eating well is a decision you have to make every day!

These are based on a childhood favorite of mine, which is a cookie bar base with chocolate on top. I added some flair to these by putting the DOVE® Roasted Almonds covered in Dark Chocolate both inside the cookie dough and on top of the bars. Plus, there’s a sneaky layer of raspberry jelly under the chocolate layer which brings these babies over the top. If you really want to up the ante on these, you can also use DOVE® Dark Chocolate Raspberry & Honey Roasted Almonds, which would be incredible on these bars!

If you actually have any time to yourself, take yourself on a date. You could hit up the movie theater, a restaurant, or if you’re really lucky, you could score yourself a great deal on DOVE® Chocolate Fruit & Nut products. There’s a whole variety out there right now (including the aforementioned DOVE® Dark Chocolate Raspberry & Honey Roasted Almonds), and I’m pretty psyched about baking with them all. Whatever your situation might be, however hectic life is, take some time for yourself. You deserve it!

This post is not just about this dessert, which I made in honor of love that lasts. It’s about, well, the love that lasts.

For instance, I’ve loved brownies forever, and I always will. Same for chocolate. Same for Kenny. Are we sensing a pattern yet here?

I’ve talked about Kenny and our relationship from time to time on this blog, but I never talked about the first time I ever saw him. It was my first weekend at college, and as a transplant from Indiana to Maryland, I didn’t know a soul. Looking back, I must have been terrified and nervous, but I don’t remember that part.

Fresh off my first weekend as a college student, I headed to a Sunday evening barbecue. I was relieved when I saw a girl I’d met at orientation, and we waved and walked over to each other. After we got our burgers and settled down on chairs, she pointed across the large square at a boy and said, “That’s the boy I want to date. His name is Kenny, and my sister knows him from camp. Isn’t he cute?”

Kenny was, indeed, very cute. He was tall, athletic, blonde, and just the kind of guy I knew would never look at me. And sure enough, while we became vaguely friendly, he remained completely elusive. He dated a friend of mine briefly, and I dated other people, and that was really the end of it. Or so I thought.

Fast-forward seven years, and I was a seasoned D.C. resident with a lot more moxie. Kenny and I were still friendly, even though I barely saw him. But over drinks with my best friend one night (shout out to her for this), she told me to take a chance and ask him out.

Over more drinks, I agreed. And I did. And boy, was I shocked when I realized that this boy I’d known for all these years was actually serious dating potential. It was even more of a shock when we fell in love and, in fairly quick order, got married.

I’ve known Kenny for half my life now, and we’ve been together for eleven years. As of today, we’ve been married for ten of those years. In that time, we’ve had three children, gone through numerous challenges together, and we’ve faced it all with our usual tendency to try and not take things so seriously. I couldn’t ask for a better partner to keep me sane and grounded.

It’s because of my constant gratitude to a man that I basically became myself with that I want to really celebrate the heck outta this anniversary. And of course, that means we’ve got to do it up on the dessert front.

My recipe for gluten-free brownies is solid, so I used that as a base for these mini-tortes. The brownies are baked and then topped with a layer of raspberry jam. Over that, I poured a rich chocolate ganache and added some chocolate-covered raspberries. And if you’re up for some flair, powdered sugar doesn’t hurt.

The dessert is elegant and celebratory, but not difficult at all. If you can’t find a disposable paper baking cup for them (I got lucky at Target in the clearance bin), a ramekin would work just as well.

To Kenny: happy tenth, babes. Let’s hope the next ten are just as sweet.

But later. Because now, I’m doing yet another tricked-out version.

See, while the basics are fun, tricking anything out is exciting. Like my bathtub. A few years back, I decided that the only room left in the house where I could potentially get any privacy was the bathroom. It has a lock and all. Very fancy.

So we had the existing tub ripped out and it was replaced by a jet tub with lots of bells and whistles. As it turns out, life with a jet tub is better than life without. Was redoing the bathroom in amazing red glass tile necessary? Nope. But I’m very happy. Red is great, both in tile and in food. That’s why raspberry jam rocks.

How’s that for a transition? See, these tricked-out brownies start with a fudgy base, but then a layer of raspberry jam goes on top, followed by a layer of oatmeal cookie dough. They all go so well together.

I made these brownies for my mom. My mother hosts a lot of meals for company (see, her small child days are over, thus the time to host), but she doesn’t enjoy baking dessert. So, I baked it for her. And she likes healthy stuff, so I put the oatmeal on there to pretend that it was. Hint: it’s not.

From what I gather, people ate them. And then ate some more. So, mission accomplished. You know that chocolate and raspberry are a great combo, but add the oatmeal and there’s some nutty sweetness that blends in just fine.

Let’s face it: fancy, tricked-out brownies are a lot of fun. I might get back to basics soon, but for now, I’m just having a good time cranking out more ideas!

As I write this, my school system is on a 2-hour delay and I’m sitting in a very quiet office with a cup of tea at my side and a blanket wrapped around me. Oh, the things I do when students aren’t here. It’s beautiful.

What’s not so beautiful is waking up at the crack of dawn, driving to work on time because you want to beat the awful snow traffic, and then realizing that they haven’t salted or sanded. Oh, the joy of sliding into work along with your other early bird commuters. It’s not okay. And it’s so cold and dark outside.

Happily, I always allow myself a decadent breakfast after drives like that, something sweet to go with my tea. And these chocolate raspberry crumb bars are just the ticket on a day like today.

If you haven’t tried my strawberry crumb bars, this recipe is very similar. Both are addictive. Both are riddled with crumbs, which is one of my dessert downfalls. And both have a delicious jam and chocolate-packed filling!

These bars could not be easier. You start with devil’s food cake mix, add quick oats and melted butter, and then use that as your base and topping. The middle is made up of raspberry jam and chocolate chunks.  We’re talking seriously addictive here, so be warned!

If you’re a crumb fiend, you will not be able to keep your hands off these bars. Believe me. I’m a crumb fiend, and I tried to resist. It was futile. There’s always another crumb to nibble on.

Stay warm and dry. It’s going to be a long winter, and I for one get more and more intent on moving to a warm climate. Someday…

I never used to. I honestly never felt much pain at all in my now squandered youth. But these days, this persistent and quite literal pain in my neck just pops up most mornings and reminds me of my mortality. If I try to stretch it out or massage it, people just look at me funny. And since my mornings start with tons of students, it’s better to leave well enough alone.

It’s much more fun to focus on how I’m getting better, not worse, with time. For instance, I’m stronger physically than I’ve ever been, thanks to punishing workouts. After seven years or so, I’m finally starting to figure out this whole motherhood thing, kind of. And the treats coming out of my kitchen are just going from happy to happier!

Take these Linzer cookie bars, for instance. For years, I’ve been a big fan of the traditional toffee bar, in which a buttery cookie crust gets covered in chocolate and nuts. This bar is a variation on that, and if I can say this without sounding immodest, a pretty dang amazing one.

Like the traditional Linzer, the crust here has a ground almond base. It’s buttery too, and flaky, and ever so perfect. I spread a thin layer of raspberry jam on the crust right out of the oven, and it melts in just a bit. Of course, then you add your chocolate layer and some roughly pulverized slivered almonds.

It’s cookie heaven. We have a big holiday party coming up, and I had to put most of these away immediately in the freezer. But I did keep two out for my afternoon tea, and now I’m holding back from ripping my freezer door open and obliterating a few more.

If you don’t know much about Linzer cookies, you need to start now. These bars have the same flavor, but without the stress of rolling out cookies and cutting them into cute shapes. We all change with time, and in some ways, that’s actually quite lovely, especially when the cookies coming out of the kitchen just get better and better!

In fact, my Eastern European grandmother (or Baba, as I called her) only made chocolate chip cookies for us as a concession to her grandchildren’s tastes. The rest of her baked goods were much more in line with her own upbringing.

A couple of times a year, my Baba would ship a huge box of her treats to us. She lived in New York and we lived in Indiana, so my brothers and I got super excited when those boxes arrived. Nestled in there were babkas, and rugelach, and cookies, and these. She called them yo-yos, and we loved them.

Yo-yos are a honey cookie, soft and cakey, sandwiched with jelly. You can pick your jelly flavor. I’ve used apricot in the past, but my favorite is raspberry. The jelly plays off the sweet cookie layers so well.

I always like to make these cookies around the Jewish new year, since they’re honey-based. The tradition is to eat sweet foods for an equally sweet year, and if that’s the requirement, I think my sugar addiction is ensuring a lifetime of happy years to come!

Yo-yos can be made in any size. These were fairly big, and I realized while following my grandmother’s sketchy baking directions that I was doing something wrong, because hers were always smaller. So if you’d like, disregard the recipe instructions and make the balls of dough smaller.

Either way, enjoy! Kids love these, and adults don’t turn their noses up at them either. My grandmother knew what she was doing!

My son went into the bathroom to change. On the way, he must’ve dropped his Spider-Man underwear. He burst out of the bathroom in the nude in front of everyone, screaming, “I can’t find my underpants!”

Ah, kids. Can’t live with them. But I sure can’t live without them.

Which is why I eat a lot of brownies. I figure the brownies are saving me a lot of money on a qualified therapist. Why do therapy when you can swirl raspberry and cheesecake into a super-fudgy brownie?

Man, it’s good stuff. And few flavors go together better than chocolate and raspberry. Put cheesecake in there, and it’s fairly lethal. Lethally awesome! Aw yeah.

One word of logistical blah-di-blah: make this recipe when you’re doing mini-cheesecakes, like the recipe here. You can take leftover batter and swirl it into the brownies along with the raspberry jelly. The other solution if you don’t dig that is to halve the cheesecake base and bake a thicker layer of cheesecake on top with a lighter raspberry swirl. You do what suits you! I believe in customizing recipes to your needs anyway.

Hope these relieve some stress! Because I can tell ya, the splash playground is not your friend. Brownies are!

Brownie Layer:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup flour

Topping:

• 1/2 cup raspberry jam
• 1/2  to 3/4 cup cheesecake filling (leftover from this recipe)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat an 8 x 8 pan with cooking spray.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the cocoa into the melted butter until it dissolves. Add the sugar and stir again. When the sugar is incorporated, mix in the vanilla and eggs. Add the salt and flour, mixing until just combined.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Take the raspberry jelly and cheesecake filling and drop in spoonfuls onto the surface of the brownies. Using a knife, swirl the cheesecake and raspberry together.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is set. Let the brownies cool and cut into squares. Store in an airtight container, or chill if you prefer your cheesecake at that temperature.