This year, during a wonderful trip to America, I learned how to make amazing pancakes for breakfast! More than the recipe, what I was missing was the technique… in fact, I was always trying to get rid of the lumps in the batter, but I discovered that they’re actually important for making the pancakes fluffy and super soft!

Banana-walnut muffins (or banana nut muffins!) were the most popular treats during our vacation on the West Coast of the U.S. (San Francisco, the national parks, Death Valley, Las Vegas, …). Before setting off on a long trip (the open spaces, for those who’ve never been there, are veeeery vast), we’d always stock up on provisions and water, and treat ourselves to a few sweets. The selection was vast, but in the end we always chose the banana and walnut muffins: they leave a delicious taste in your mouth,

With this heat, getting into the kitchen is quite a challenge, I know! I assure you, though, that once you’ve made them, let them cool, and tasted them, these goat cheese and white chocolate tartlets will be well worth the effort! It’s a very easy recipe to follow, but the results are guaranteed! Give it a try and let me know how they turn out!

Summer started just a few days ago—did you see that cool logo we made to celebrate? :D . My first summer recipe this year is **wild berry tartlets—**a truly mouthwatering dessert. I filled it this way because these were the ingredients I had on hand, but you can really get creative with the combinations! Have a great summer and enjoy your vacation, whether you’re having fun at the beach, in the mountains, or wherever you like!

Forgive me, I lied to you: they are quick, but compared to traditional croissant recipes… since they’re yeast-risen, keep in mind that you’ll need about 3 hours for rising and 30–40 minutes for preparation! The advantage is that you can freeze them and eat them in the morning, maybe filled with jam, Nutella, or whatever else you like in croissants! ;) .

These yogurt and strawberry cups are a great **dessert **to make on the spot or keep in the fridge for a light meal or a hearty snack during these first warm days of mid-spring! It takes just a few minutes to prepare and requires very few ingredients. You can enjoy this dessert right away or store it in the fridge for future occasions! This recipe is part of the series we’re doing with MANI - Culture for Kids. As you can probably guess from the season and the fruit we’ve chosen, the color this time is RED! I can’t wait to see how much fun the kids will have making—and especially EATING—this recipe! <3

Chocolate tartufini are the first recipe developed for MANI: they’re a really fun group of young people from Rome who devote themselves body and soul to children’s entertainment, traveling to every library in the capital to entertain kids with a perfect blend of culture and play! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be collaborating with them to teach children the importance of good nutrition through recipes inspired by the seasons and, above all, by the colors of life.

As promised, here’s the recipe for** baked chiacchiere**. I’m writing this for everyone who, like me, hates deep-frying but can’t resist the temptation of chiacchiere during Carnival season!! The ingredients are enough for 6–8 people who aren’t too big of a sweet tooth! (That last part is very important: if it’s anything like at my house, they’re just enough for 2 people… :D )

Chiacchiere, bugie, cenci, frappe, crostoli—or whatever you call them in your area—have a very long history, which I’ll share with you here. I found it on an interesting Facebook page (LINK), from which I’m also borrowing the image that very clearly illustrates how widespread the name is in Italy! "Chiacchiere trace their origins to frictilia, fried pastries that women used to make in honor of the deities who protected fertility, specifically during Carnival. These pastries come in numerous recipe variations and perhaps even more so in their names, which frequently vary from province to province, reflecting the vast linguistic and dialectal diversity found in Italy, as well as its history." Cute, isn’t it? Did you know that? Let me know in the comments what you call these treats! This time, the recipe is from my dad: I spent an afternoon with him learning the art of making chiacchiere :). The ingredients are for six people, and it takes about an hour to make them!

With these apple-heart cookies, we’ve reached the end of this first month of 2017—it flew by for me; how about you? Today is one of the “Three Days of the Blackbird,” so why not bake some cookies and stay nice and warm with the oven on at home? :D For those who don’t know, these are the coldest days of the year! Brrrr! Cuor di Mela cookies are very sweet shortbread cookies that are perfect for breakfast and snacks. They’re very famous because they’re sold by Mulino Bianco, but above all because they’re DELICIOUS! I’d like to share my recipe with you, in case you want to try making them at home and/or can’t find them at the supermarket. The ingredients are enough for about 40 cookies!