Chai Cinnamon Rolls with Sweetened Condensed Milk Glaze – Leels Cooks

It might be a bit of a tongue twister, but trust me these Chai Cinnamon Rolls are the BEST thing. I was brainstorming ideas for blog posts and incorporating Chai flavours into something was one of them. I figured just amping up the spices in something that already featured one of them would work, and this did! These rolls are fluffy, feathery, deeply spiced and topped with a rich creamy sweetened condensed milk glaze that isn’t too sweet, but enough to balance everything.It seems like a lot of ingredients, but trust me it’s not too difficult and the pay off is … Read more

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Chai / Cinnamon / Condensed / Cooks / Glaze / Leels / Milk / Rolls / Sweetened

Pumpkin Spiced Latte Cake – Leels Cooks

I wasn’t sure what to call this coffee cake. It’s like a traditional streusel topped cake, but with actual coffee elements along with a spiced pumpkin cake.  It’s got pumpkin, spices, a brown sugar coffee swirl and a coffee crumble topping. It has to be a pumpkin spice latte, right? I combined a few different recipes into this one and I think it works really well. The cake is subtly spiced and moist while the coffee elements are a bit stronger and deliver some crunch.   What you need: Swirl: 2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened 2 1/2 tsp instant coffee … Read more

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Cake / Cooks / Latte / Leels / Pumpkin / Spiced

Maple Turkey Breakfast Sausage – Leels Cooks

I’m a terrible person and I almost always buy those frozen turkey patties. They’re cheap, low calorie and zero effort. Even though I have years of experience and can cook almost anything, I’m an extremely lazy cook. These are fairly low effort for a high pay off and as a lazy person, I absolutely recommend giving these Maple Turkey Breakfast Sausages a go. They’re savoury, a tiny bit sweet and have a bit of kick to them. Make them any size you want, freeze em raw or cooked, or just cave and eat them all like I did.   What you … Read more

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Breakfast / Cooks / Leels / Maple / Sausage / Turkey

Spiced Candied Pumpkin Seeds – Leels Cooks

It’s the time of year where I crave comforting foods and spiced/toasted flavours. I love roasting my own nuts and seeds and this is my favourite lazy way to make “candied” seeds for snacking on. These are even great on salads or squash soups. You get crunch from the toasted pumpkin seeds, sweetness and crackly crumble from the brown sugar, warm spices and the perfect hint of salt to balance it all out. This is not a proper way to work with sugar or candy anything – so no worries about candy thermometers and balancing temperature. Just a lovely crunchy … Read more

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Candied / Cooks / Leels / Pumpkin / Seeds / Spiced

Cheeseburger Tot Casserole – Leels Cooks

I love tots. Very, seriously, deeply love them. They’re probably my favourite potato preparation, with spicy curly fries and mash coming in 2nd and 3rd. Just something about those crisp little gems and how well they hold up to being topped with crazy things. Totchoes? Chili tots? CHEESEBURGER TOTS? There are a few recipes out there for cheeseburger tots, but they usually call for only about 3 ingredients and one of them is a can of condensed soup. We can do better, and we did! This dish is still rich, savory, and deeply beefy. We lighten it up by serving … Read more

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Casserole / Cheeseburger / Cooks / Leels / Tot

Mazeudon with Chicken & Miso Butter – Leels Cooks

Maze-what you say? I recently went on a bit of a vacation back to the motherland (Vancouver, BC Canada) and tried a dish called Mazesoba at Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba in downtown Vancouver.  It’s a relatively new dish (not that new), and is only just arriving to some places in North America. My first one! Noodles, chashu pork, green onion, garlic, chinese chives, nori and dried fish powder. #yolkporn What is it? The name basically means mixed noodles, called either abura soba or mazesoba, (mazemen or mazeudon if you’re calling out specific types). Noodles, generally thick, served with a variety of … Read more

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Butter / Chicken / Cooks / Leels / Mazeudon / Miso

Garlic Knot Christmas Tree – Leels Cooks

We all love garlic knots, and pull apart Christmas tree bread has been all the rage lately, so why not combine the two? This is far from an original idea, but I thought I’d throw one together anyway (and eat it all, y’know, for science). You can make this recipe volumes easier by subbing out store bought pizza dough or biscuit dough, but I’ve provided a recipe in case you wanted to make the effort. Store bought would still be immensely delicious, so don’t feel bad if you wanna save yourself some time during the usual holiday insanity. I prefer … Read more

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Christmas / Cooks / Garlic / Knot / Leels / Tree

Cranberry Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies – Leels Cooks

It’s the New Year, and that means we’re all trying to get back on track once again. When we’re eating mindfully, I try to have some sort of breakfasty thing pre-made that my husband can grab and take to work, and to have something around if I need a snack midday. I have an older recipe for another style (link here) but honestly I think I like these best! I’m really trying to cut down on fake sugars and trying to fit more vegetarian/vegan options in, so these are the perfect choice without rocking the boat too much. These vegan and … Read more

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Banana / Breakfast / Cookies / Cooks / Cranberry / Leels / Oat

Tavva Kitchen Review! Bento time. – Leels Cooks

It’s bento time! I was sent one of these lovely boxes to try from Tavva Kitchen and I couldn’t resist since I’ve been making bentos and cute lunches for my husband. If you didn’t notice, you’d better follow my instagram!   I grabbed their deluxe lunch container, it’s a cute single level stainless steel box with a silicone lid, they come in different shapes and sizes as well. Their label states that everything is food grade and bpa/bps free. Dishwasher safe and a lifetime guarantee. Not bad for a container that we generally look at as a temporary vessel. It’s sturdy, … Read more

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Bento / Cooks / Kitchen / Leels / Review / Tavva / Time

Za’atar & Harissa Boneless Wings – Leels Cooks

You might be looking at this asking yourself “what and what chicken?” but trust me if you haven’t yet been introduced to either za’atar or harissa, it’s beyond worth it, and may become a new family favourite. So, what are they? Za’atar is a middle eastern splice blend containing thyme, oregano, marjoram, or some combination thereof, mixed with toasted sesame seeds, sumac and salt. It’s herby, savory and the sumac gives it a lemony tang. Delicious on grilled meats, baked on top of breads, in dips or sprinkled on anything. Harissa is a Tunisian red pepper paste. Spicy with roasted … Read more

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Boneless / Cooks / Harissa / Leels / Wings / Zaatar