Sometimes when I wake up on a weekend morning, I just crave muffins. Fresh muffins, right out of the oven, are one of the best Saturday or Sunday morning treats. These particular Morning Glory Muffins from The Seasonal Baker by John Barricelli, were even better than the normal corn or blueberry muffins.

The persistent June gloom that hung around for a few too many days had me craving a homey curry, and this one from Nigel Slater’s Tender has a great sprinkling of greens so as not to completely forget it’s summer.

Last week, we decided to throw ourselves a little birthday party to celebrate the Recipe Club’s one year anniversary. Can you believe we’ve been up and running for a whole year? It’s flown by so quickly! To celebrate, Allison and I each made some treats from some of our new spring cookbooks to share with the office. One of my contributions was making these Toasted Almond Coconut Macaroons from One Girl Cookies (Clarkson Potter, January 2012).

The beauty of this cookie from One Girl Cookies (Clarkson Potter, January 2012) by Dawn Casale and David Crofton lies in its texture—golden on the outside, almost creamy on the inside—and that texture comes from cream cheese. The kicker is that cream cheese has a tangy flavor, and when it is matched with the zestiness of the orange and the sweetness of the coconut, it makes for a definitively well-balanced sweet. These cookies make the perfect Valentine’s Day surprise for your sweetie!

I am always looking for a reinvention of the brownie. Not to say that the original fudgey, chocolatey goodness of a standard isn’t enough for me, but sometimes a spin on the classic is fun! Enter the Coconut Swirl Brownies from Martha Stewart’s Cookies (Clarkson Potter). I love coconut, and I love chocolate. When the two of them merge, the combination is just beyond irresistible.