Okay, lemme tell you right now that I am happier than a baby with an ice cream cone to have you here on my little bit o’ internet. I am also going to tell you that I am not too great about talking about myself, but I’m going to do my best!
Firstly, my name’s Amanda, and I am a single mom to the most adorable little girl with a huge personality and an even bigger stomach. Seriously, I wish I had the metabolism to catch up with her appetite some days.
I went to university in London, UK and lived there for about six years total. While living there and traveling Europe, I was exposed to so many flavors and types of food. It was an incredible experience. During this time, I also discovered my love for cooking, and especially baking. I learned how to bake my first pie from scratch (cherry pie!), and make my favorite muffins (strawberry and chocolate chip). It was my inspiration for starting this blog as a cooking and baking resource.
Here, you will find delicious food perfect for creating memories with your loved ones. I hope you will use this as an opportunity to bake and share these tasty treats with everyone around you!
What You Will Find On A Cookie Named Desire
On the blog you will find a mix of delicious seasonal treats and over the top decadent bits of food porn. Sprinkled in will be basic recipes for bread (my favorite food group!), simple things like how to make your own yogurt, and the occasional savory dish. All the foods are perfect for sharing with one or many people whether its a food gift, or having a get together with a few people.
Most of the recipes are suitable for beginners and are very easy to follow, but every so often, I will post a recipe that is more involved or complicated. This is because it is good to challenge yourself and test your skills. Even if you do not get it right the first time, it is important to try and have fun doing it!!
I love searching for unique and unusual ingredients, but you will rarely find that here. I try to use ingredients that you may be able to find in your local stores or farmer's market. It is only on a special occasion that I may use an ingredient you can only find online or through specialty shops. When that happens, I will note it. Some of the ingredients I use are also seasonal and/or regional and I will do my best to note alternative places you may be able to find these ingredients or substitutes. If I miss an ingredient that you cannot find near you, let me know!
How I Came Up With The Name A Cookie Named Desire
Are you a fan of Marlon Brando? I have a huuuuuge crush on young Brando and my favorite movie he is in has to be A Streetcar Named Desire. I also spent a lot of time in the theatre and worked on a few off-Broadway plays inspired by the original play. I wanted to incorporate that side of me with my love of sweets…. A Cupcake Named Desire…. A Cake Named Desire…. A Sweetcar Named Desire… none of them seemed to roll off the tongue quite like A Cookie Named Desire… and my most popular recipe on the blog happens to be this amazing cookie recipe.
Navigating The Site
You can find the recipes using the Recipe Index.
You can get simple conversions using this Kitchen Cheat Sheet.
If you want to check out my favorite kitchen tools and cookbooks that I use, check out my Amazon Shop.
Let's Chat!
If you have any questions about a recipe, leave a comment on that recipe because someone else might have the same question as you! If you want to just chit chat over our mutual love of food and baking, hit my up on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest) or email me at [email protected]
You can check out my privacy policy here.
Gayle says
I like to cook as well, have a degree in nutrition also, drag my feet with social media, & I'm always looking for new ways to improve what I do. Congratulations on your degree & website, & I'll try some recipes and let you know what I like best!
A Angeles says
Thanx a lot for luscious line up of dessert recipes flavor profiles, techniques and recommendations. ❤️❤️ all of it! More power and stay safe.
Felisia Hill says
Hi Amanda, that is quite a long "about me" I actually read it.
The cookie that brought me over here is the Smores Cookie. it looks delicious. I started collecting recipes and don't have much time to try them out but just in case I am collecting them none the less.
Thanks for the info
AGEN MAXBET says
When I initially left a comment I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added-
checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I recieve four
emails with the exact same comment. Perhaps there is an easy method
you are able to remove me from that service? Thank you!
Amanda says
Hi! Due to privacy reasons, I unfortunately don't actually have access to those particular settings. You should be able to fix them either using a link in one of the emails, or in the original post where you left the comment.
O Huang says
Know a good blog when I see one.
Amanda says
Dear Ms. Amanda,
I check your website DAILY because I LOVE your recipes. You are so creative, talented, and thoughtful to your online readers, that I cannot stay away for even 24 hours. Visiting your site just brings a warm "yum" feeling inside.
With that being said, your last online post was so heart-breaking I felt as though I could have been reading a tear-jerker of a novel. I would love to say, "please tell me the pain you are going through isn't true," but I can literally see the teardrops in your words. Please take care of yourself and your child. YOU come first and I cannot imagine how difficult it is for you at this time of year. I know these words are just coming from some "stranger" over the Internet, but I just had to express my condolences for you. You will be in my thoughts, and I will be thankful to have come across your website.
You are a strong, independent woman, Ms. Amanda. Thank you for being a role model and continuing to push on to brighten all of our days.
Sincerely,
Amanda (from Wisconsin)
Amanda says
Amanda, you brought a huge smile to my face and anything I was feeling immediately vanished as I read your kind words. You definitely made my day! I like to think we are more than strangers. I started the blog with the hope of building a community around delicious food. When I post a recipe I like to picture myself sitting down and sharing it with my internet family and I am so happy to have you be a part of it! It's because of this I do share more personal matters in my life - because I want you to be a part of it (my life, not my bad stuff that wouldn't be nice!). It makes me feel so great that I am able to share my food with you as well as other parts of me and be able to start a conversation.
If you were wondering, I decided it would be best if we kept our distance for a while as I am obviously not ready to try and be friends with him just yet.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope to hear from you again. If not, have a great Christmas/Hannuka/Holiday!!
Amanda
Bill says
There is a very good chance that your hard drive is okay, which is the device that computers use to save files like the ones for your blog and your daughter's pictures. Don't try to get the smoking computer fixed; too much $$$ Do have someone remove the drive, hook it up to a computer, and see if the files can be copied from it. If they can, they could then be moved over to your new laptop. You need buy an external hard drive, or a very large capacity flash drive, and learn how to backup your important files. An external hard drive might even come with software to make that easy. Too bad you live across an ocean, for I'd do all the work on this for free, even show you how to copy files.
Amanda says
That's very kind of you to offer to help (despite the distance!) I am going to see if someone can help me recover the photos without having to go to a professional. I have an external hard drive, but I forgot it in London, so it isn't doing me much good there!! I'm thinking of getting an online backup system like vaultpress, what do you think?