Breakfast is my family’s favorite meal of the day. So when we’re feeling like comfort on a plate or when I need a break in my cooking routine, I make dinner for breakfast. This summer, I’m busy wrapping up recipe development for my second cookbook so I’ve been cooking up lots of old favorites for the family, including this recipe—definitely an oldie, but goodie, from my first gluten-free, dairy-free book, Cooking for Isaiah.

The kids start holiday break this Friday, which gives me exactly five days to do all of my baking for the festivities (and of course, Santa). The past few months have been a whirlwind, both personally and professionally, so this year I’ve rounded up my favorite cookie recipes for easy one-stop baking.

I wish you and your family a wonderful, cookie-filled holiday!

If you’ve been to any of my cooking classes, you know that I like to feed people plenty of personal stories and experiences—and doughnuts. This time I made classic powdered doughnuts and just spiced things up a bit with a mix of warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

Where I live, in New York City, things are just starting to warm up. That’s why I wanted to get in my family’s go-to soup. It’s easy to make and relies heavily on what you already have in your veggie crisper and cupboards.

When I make the minestrone, I like to include at least one green—here, I use Swiss chard—and some fresh herbs. It gives the soup a bright flavor and pop of color. The garlic croutons add a nice crunch. So take the chill off the start of spring season with my hearty greens-and-beans soup.

I believe in banana bread.

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew the meaning of speckled ripe bananas sitting on the kitchen counter. And this brought me real comfort. It still does, but not just for me anymore, for my kids.

Growing up, I moved around every three to five years. My Roman-born father, Silverio, worked for the Italian government and the second we started settling into our new hometown, it was time to pack up our suitcases again. The one constant besides family, was Nutella. My mom, Penny, would spread the luscious chocolate-hazelnut spread on Italian bread as sandwiches for lunch and she’d swirl it into cakes. My brother, Bernardo, and I would also eat it by the spoonfuls.

Turns out the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My son, Isaiah, craves the stuff so much so that when he was diagnosed with dairy intolerance (along with his more severe gluten intolerance), we had to say our goodbyes. But, in my constant determination to spoil my kids, I made my own dairy-free Nutella knockoff. Suddenly, there was no turning back to the store-bought kind. Whether you make your own or use the jarred stuff, you’ll love this chocolate-hazelnut twist on classic crumb cake.

While chili may be the quintessential Super Bowl food, it’s my weeknight go-to recipe. I like to switch up the ingredients depending on what I find in my fridge, but I’ve realized through all of my chili incarnations over the years that simple is really better. The idea of easy and effortless is something that I’m trying to translate to my personal life, too. I want to spend more time living and sharing real moments than worrying about every little thing—especially when it comes to putting dinner on the table. Eat this cold-weather favorite with a spoon, in a crispy corn taco shell or piled high, Sloppy Joe-style, on a gluten-free bun.

Change up your morning routine with make-ahead breakfast recipes, like this one for nut bars. Here, I combine oats with the classic lunchbox flavors of peanut butter and strawberry jam.

My kids (and I) love cinnamon toast, so I came up with this recipe with all the flavors and warmth of the toaster classic. Yes, the icing may be a little over the top for breakfast, but one slice will be alright.

I’m a little bit behind the slow cooker revolution, but one try and I knew I was in love: While the cooking may be slow, the kitchen prep time is fast. I also didn’t want all of the dishes I made to be stew-like. I conquered that fear with my take on this classic chicken dish.

It’s fitting that I’m sharing this recipe with you on a Sunday. In Italy, that’s when sweets are celebrated. Growing up, when I lived in Rome, every Sunday was a ritual of going to the local pasticceria with my Neapolitan grandfather, or Nonno as I called him, to pick out a sweet selection of pastries to bring over to my aunt Laura and uncle Fabrizio’s house for lunch.

People tell me all the time that they cook, but they don’t really bake. And, that baking actually scares them—gluten-free or not. As the rush of December sets into our daily lives, the only thing I consciously want to do is bake so I can feel that warmth that only baking (and cuddling with my kids) gives me. Before I develop new cookies for the holiday season, I just had to bake this banana cake. It’s my comfort food. I hope you’ll take refuge in it, too.

My mom Penny makes the best stuffing in the world. (Thanks, mom, for the decades of delicious stuffing!) One look at the ingredient list and you’ll see that the classics are well represented: There’s celery, onions, carrots, mushrooms…But her star ingredient is a curious one—crackers.

Say hello to the luscious, unexpected Thanksgiving dessert you’ve been waiting for. These cupcakes have Isaiah’s name written all over them. He used to religiously eat pumpkin muffins (and muffin tops) from a café before he was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. The thought of him never walking into that café and eating those muffins again hurt.

I can’t imagine my life without peanut butter and chocolate—two flavors that go too well together. When I was pregnant with Chiara, every night I’d indulge in chocolate-peanut butter ice cream. And, now, there’s this.

Print Yum Silvana’s Kitchen Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour Prep Time: 15 minutes Yield: About 4 pounds This recipe is reprinted with permission from Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone (Reader’s Digest, 2010)Ingredients6 cups (870 grams) white rice flour 3 cups (375 grams) tapioca flour 1½ cups […]

As if I needed a reason to make gluten-free pie… Come celebrate Pie Party 2012 with me and my pie! read more…