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Go savory. The December Bon Appetit had a great recipe for rosemary and olive rugelach. There is a hazelnut-olive rugelach recipe on epicurious.com

I don't know about you but at my office nearly everyone (including me) is on some kind of diet... maybe try bringing in something healthy yet still tasty? I brought in herb/tomato/spinach pinwheels one time and they were a huge hit.

Totally impressive and, haha - how do you top CREAM PUFFS? (I like Orangette's take on the relative value of cream puffs... http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005/02/bagnette-breasts-and-excuse-to-eat.html)

Have you tried cinnamon rolls yet? They're kind of basic, but people go wild. They're easy to make in bulk, and you can even make the dough the night before and put it in the fridge.

Another breakfasty dessert I've been angling to try is Leite's Culinaria's deep dish baked french toast: http://www.leitesculinaria.com/columns/fr_toast.html

this is really easy, but what about chocolate covered strawberries... they are kind of crown fool proof and always impress for some reason.
I always dip them in dark and white choc.

I used to bring things into the office every week as well...until I quit! But I loved to experiment on my co-workers - I figured if they were getting free food, it might as well be for my benefit. One month I tried out different quick breads. I first tested out a lemon bread with a sugary glaze, and then I tried an orange variation, and then lime. Then I polled everyone to see which was best and why!

Hey,
These cream cheese squares are always a big hit. Not intensive though it's really easy so I'm not sure if your intrested.

Also it goes great witha bottle of hersheys and some whipped cream

http://cookie.allrecipes.com/az/CrmChsSqrs.asp

i bring baked goods to work a lot, too (although not every week! that's quite impressive.). a simple one that people always ask for again is black-bottom cupcakes. my mom used to make them when i was little -- it's little chocolate cupcakes (i make them in mini cupcake tins) with a dollop of cream cheese chocolate chip mixture in the center.

One other thing I thought of that is counter-intuitively simple is fresh baked bread with butter and jam - maybe Nutella, too. I think most people have real, fresh, homemade bread so seldom that a good piece of toast is a revelation.

Also, something I am planning on doing for Valentine's Day at my office is homemade chai, made with fresh spices. I'll make it in the morning and use our office airpots.

And finally (I get excited about this topic, I guess!) if you are interested in cupcakes, this site is totally inspiring: http://chockylit.blogspot.com/

Hey thanks for the ideas, everybody. Keep 'em coming.

Pamela, totally with you on the experimentation angle. Most of what I've been doing is to keep my baking skills in practice and to have an excuse to do something stupid that I haven't neccessarily done before.

This week's treat was 4 dozen water bagels. 2 dozen plain (and treated with salt, sesame seeds, etc) and 2 dozen rye bagels with onions, gruyere and parmesan cheese. (And served with chive cream cheese and ducle de leche cream cheese.. yeah, I have a ton of the stuff. :) )

I'm thinking next week, mini-muffins galore. Chocolate, Gingerbread... others?

I found out about these cookies via weight watchers, which I never joined but thought may be a good idea ( you get the picture)...but don't be fooled, these cookies taste amazing & are not so bad for you. For the one week I tried weight watchers I made these three times! It's basically a merengue, but SO much better. Good luck!

lmond cloud cookies:
ingredients:
2 medium egg white(s)
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup almonds, blanched, finely ground

Instructions

Preheat oven to 250°F. Coat baking sheets with cooking spray; flour them lightly and shake off excess.

Beat egg whites, salt and cinnamon until soft peaks form. Continue to beat while gradually adding the sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in almonds.

Drop batter by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake about 1 1/2 hours until firm and dry.

Store in airtight containers. Yields about 60 cookies; 2 cookies per serving.

Have you tried any sweet or savory breads? I can suggest a banana bread recipe that is award-winning...at least in my boyfriend's family! It took the silver at the Sanchez Banana Bread Bake-off last Christmas Eve. My mother shared this one with me...

Summer's Banana Bread: http://www.spoonandstem.com/2005/12/summers-banana-bread.html

For a savory treat, try my Scarborough Fair Batter Bread, so named for the Simon & Garfunkel song. The loaf is laced with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Yum.

Scarborough Fair Batter Bread: http://www.spoonandstem.com/2005/12/scarborough-fair-batter-bread.html

Good luck feeding the team!

Drew, where do you work and are they hiring? :) I vote cinnamon rolls. I made homemade ones for a brunch and everyone went ballistic.

Drew, how about an old-fashioned Italian cookie tray like my Aunt Nin used to send at Christmas? Fig cookies made with pasta frolla and a filling of figs, chocolate, rum and other good things; chewy almond paste macaroons with amarena cherries; crunchy anise biscotti; chocolate and clove cookies; and other traditional cookies. Then you pile them into a big pyramid, interspersed with Jordan almonds. Wrap it up in cellophane tied with curled ribbon at the top to get it to work. It looks so festive and is old-fashioned cool in a Louie Prima kind of way.

What about savoury shortbread? A new take on shortbread, I have recipes for cheddar-chili, rosemary-stilton, and goat's cheese-cranberry. I haven't yet tried the recipes but the idea seems exquisite.

*Sigh* I love to bake, but hearing abour what other people are baking always makes me so jealous. Can I come work at your office?

Here are some cupcake ideas. I've baked all of these and can vouch for their approval ratings. The recipes are on my recipe website :www.einstuerzendeneuekuechen.com

Mocha Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ginger Raspberry Muffins

Hmm, can't find the recipe for it, but Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting are amazing and really pretty (especially for Valentines Day)

I can also recommend:
Cherry Brownies
Oatmeal Cranberry Walnut Cookies This are my own special recipe (adapted from an already great oatmeal cookie recipe) and have cardamom and cumin in them. Amazingly good, if I do say so myself. :)

Oh! And for something interesting but more in the confection realm, try:
Wasabi Chocolate Rolls or
Habanero Chocolate Pralines!

Phew! Sorry if I went overboard. :)

Madeleines! They can be sweet or savory.

wow, every week! that is beyond impressive...

I'd suggest individual serve peach cobbler. A great peach cobbler recipe (complete with buttery homemade crumbly topping), distributed in single serve size graham cracker crusts. Double points if you can bring in a complementing flavored ice cream.

Along the lines of individual serve stuff, I also recommend key-lime pie and a decadent white/dark chocolate layered with cheesecake, both recipes work well with single serve size graham cracker crusts.

http://www.deliciousdays.com/ often posts very inspiring recipes. (and mouth-watering photos.) If you filter the posts on the right sde menu, you can view all the Sweet recipes at once.

Christine said it first but where do you work and are they hiring? If anyone in my office baked anything, I'd pass out....and I wouldn't necessarily eat in. Strange bunch.

It's nice that someone takes the time to do this for other people. You're a good soul. Now I'm hungry.

Brownies, Tarts, mini apple pies, pies with every kind of filling, baked empanadas ( sweet and savory)

What a nice person you are to bake for your office each week. However, I want to give you a word of warning...don't spoil these people or set expectations. It seems you already have. You may want to spread the word that you're only going to bring in something once a month, and that others should bring in a something too - like a pot luck, maybe (for baked goods). Or, speak to your group admin and see if she can organize something. Maybe she can send out a memo like, "I know we all love XX's baked goods, but let's all get involved. Once a month, we're having a bake off at 4pm in the caf and the best goodie will win a pair of movie tickets"... we did this at our office and it was a fun event. I think doing something weekly may be too much for you to keep up. You are a nice woman, but nice doesn't get promoted. I was reading that if you want to go anywhere in your career, don't be the "mommy" of the office by baking things and bringing them in. No candy on the desk. Nothing. Just go to your job and be professional - your colleagues aren't your "friends" and most would stab a do-gooder in the back if a promotional opp came up. I think it's harsh to say, "don't bring anything", but I also think it's fair to think it through and try to maintain professionalism in your workplace. Sharing the "responsibility" of office chef with others -- letting the admin of the team coordinate, so it's coming from her and not you -- this would be best. I worked in the corporate world for 3 Fortune 500 companies for 10 years so I have a little experience with this since I was a do-gooder myself. The minute I took the candy bowl off of my desk, people stopped bothering me for food and started coming over with projects and to treat me like a professional.

Holly

Drew
for your mini-muffin assortment, one mini muffin I love is:
http://foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails/recipe%5F5487.asp
I've made them often-they're great!

I agree with Holly on not spoiling them. I'm a good baker but I keep the goodies for myself, my partner & close friends only. Once a year(usually in December), I may bring in a big batch of something for as many people in the office as can get to it. For our office section Christmas 'do' my boss thought he could give me money & I would do all the running around and cooking and lugging stuff in. Instead, I divided all the tasks evenly by 4 (the number of people in our section),including himself. After the initial shock, I think even he realized that it was the fair way to do it!