Petite Vanilla Bean Scones

3 scones = 1 regular-sized scone, right? RIGHT???

Whenever I indulge myself with a treat from that certain coffee franchise (you know the one I mean!), my eyes are always drawn to those tiny, speckled white jewels — the petite vanilla bean scone. Such a sweet, vanilla-packed bite in a tiny, guilt-free (almost) size. My budget gets tighter this time of year, so I set out to see if I could make a petite vanilla bean scone for myself.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Quick Bread

What? There's fruit in it.

The holidays are over, and all the Christmas treats have been devoured, mostly by me. The gingerbread, chocolates and shortbread cookies are now a sweet memory. Lately, I have been craving fresh fruit (but not mandarin oranges, haha). When I saw fresh blueberries on sale at the local grocery, I knew I wanted to bake them up into something non-holiday related. Result: Blueberry Cream Cheese Quick Bread!

Gifts from the Kitchen: Cookies for Santa

Better hurry Santa, those look mighty tasty

My sister and I left cookies out for Santa on Christmas eve. It was always a big debate: chocolate chip or shortbread? Chocolate chip usually won the day. Tradition ruled that we also leave carrots out for the reindeer. 

Sugar High Sunday: Gingerbread House Tour

Have you ever gone on one of those luxury house tours? The ones where you visit 4 or 5 fancy houses on one street, to gawk at their decorating and dream of your own one-day-mansion. This Gingerbread House Tour will take you on a smaller version, visiting tiny, perfectly decorated candy mansions. While these perfect little sweet shacks are the peak of perfection, you can get lots of ideas from them to apply to your own gingerbread house.

If you make a house, send me a link! I would love to see your creations.

Gingerbread House Tour

1. I like the Necco wafers as roofing material in this sweet number from Sweetopia.net. Includes a video and free printable templates. 
2. I love this one, also from Sweetopia.net. There are many detail ideas to use. The frosted cereal used as roofing material, for example, is pretty great. Isn’t the jelly bean coach light just the coolest idea? 
3. Amelie’s House brings us a trio of the cutest little white gingerbread houses, with adorable owl gingerbread cookies and hand-painted embellishments. 
4. At the Zinke family’s blog, you will find a sweet little steepled church. I love the M&Ms as siding and the Andes mint stairs! 
5. From Martha Stewart, cute little gingerbread cottages! 
6. At Torie Jayne, find this wintery white birdhouse, with faux bois detail, a sugary owl and lots of candy mushrooms.