Tag Archives: Easy

Brown Sugar Caramel Pear Crisp

Warm caramel pear crisp topped with a crisp oatmeal topping is perfect the cold late winter days.

Brown Sugar Caramel Pear Crisp <- new go-to winter treat

Every February I get that feeling that Spring isn’t too far away. And while in some parts of the states that is probably true, here in the Northeast we don’t get real spring weather until close to May. So to make it through that long cold stretch, we need warm, comforting dessert.

Brown Sugar Caramel Pear Crisp <- we loved this recipe!

Crisps, crumbles and cobblers never fail to disappoint. Warm sweet fruit topped with a flavorful crumbly topping, often served with ice cream… what’s not to like? Here I took advantage of the plethora of pears we had while they are still in season. They paired so well with a brown sugar caramel. If you want, you can serve the crisp with ice cream and additional caramel sauce (the recipe makes more than enough for the crisp itself). However, this was really good enough to stand on it’s own. The pears almost melt in your mouth and the oatmeal-ful topping is so satisfying.

Brown Sugar Caramel Pear Crisp - SUCH a good recipe!!

Brown Sugar Caramel Pear Crisp
 
Warm caramel pear crisp topped with a crisp oatmeal topping is perfect the cold late winter days.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: Serves 6
Ingredients
Topping:
  • 55g (~1/2 cup) oat flour* (I pulsed my oatmeal in the food processor until it was the consistency of flour)
  • 40g (~1/2 cup) old fashioned oatmeal*
  • 70g (~1/3 cup, tightly packed) light brown sugar
  • ½g (¼ teaspoon) ground cinnamon
  • 55g (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
Filling:
  • 700g sliced ripe pears (about 4 large)
  • 15g (~2 tablespoons) oat flour* (I pulsed my oatmeal in the food processor until it was the consistency of flour)
  • ⅓ cup brown sugar caramel sauce (recipe below)
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a medium bowl, prepare topping; mix together oat flour, oatmeal and brown sugar
  3. Add butter and use fingers to combine until mixture is slightly lumpy; set aside
  4. Prepare filling; in 9-inch round shallow baking dish (like a pie plate), stir together pears, oat flour and caramel sauce
  5. Distribute topping evenly over top of fruit
  6. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until filling is bubbling and topping is lightly browned, if you see that topping has started to get to brown early, lightly cover with tin foil for remainder of baking time

Brown Sugar Caramel Sauce
 
Brown sugar-based caramel sauce adds a special element to the pear crisp!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 1 cup
Ingredients
  • 234g (1 cup tightly packed) light brown sugar
  • 113g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 118 milliliters (1/2 cup) whole milk
  • 5g (1 teaspoon) salt
Instructions
  1. Place the sugar, butter, and salt in a medium-sized heavy-duty pot over medium heat; stir until the butter and sugar have dissolved
  2. Sir in milk; increase heat to medium-high and continue to cook for four minutes (mixture should come to a boil within one minute); immediately remove from heat and stir; pour into a heat-proof bowl to cool
  3. Store in refrigerator up to one week before using; re-heat gently in microwave to loosen before using
Notes
Adapted from Recipe from The Level Headed Chef

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it onInstagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Apple and Pear Crisp

Obsessed with this pear and apple crisp!

Skillet Apple Crisp with Brown Butter Sauce

Skillet Apple Crisp with Brown Butter Sauce

Winter Fruit Crisp

Winter Fruit Crisp

Easy Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Healthier banana chocolate chip muffins are easy to make and great for grab-and-go breakfasts. No mixer needed to make this muffin recipe!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins! My family loves to grab these for a quick breakfast!

L’s appetite hasn’t been that great over the last week (teething? cold? toddler-itis? who knows!). But you better believe when I gave him one of these banana chocolate chip muffins that within minutes the muffin had disappeared and there was chocolate smeared all over his face. It took a lot of convincing to get him to go back to eating his hard boiled egg afterwards.

Healthier banana chocolate chip muffins are easy to make and great for grab-and-go breakfasts.

I’ve made a few different versions of this healthified banana muffin but this is my favorite one. It’s moist from the bananas while still hearty thanks to the whole wheat flour and oat bran. Plus, there are just enough chocolate chips to make the muffins feel treat-like while still being snack and even breakfast-friendly.

My kids LOVE these muffins! The recipe is healthy and easy but they don't know that;-)

Did I mention that these banana muffins are easy to make? No mixing bowl required! In fact, this is one of those recipes I can actually make while L is toddling around the apartment (aka sprinkling a trail of cheerios all over the floor and yelling “ha” (hot) at the oven.

Easy Banana Muffins for a healthy and quick weekday breakfast!

Easy Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
 
Healthier banana chocolate chip muffins are easy to make and great for grab-and-go breakfasts. No mixer needed to make this muffin recipe!
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Makes: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • 155g (1 cup) whole wheat flour
  • 55g (1/2 cup) oat bran
  • 5g (1 teaspoon) baking soda
  • 1g (¼ teaspoon) salt
  • (1/2g) ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 210g (2/3 cup) mashed ripe bananas (~2 medium)
  • 106g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar ->106g
  • 60g (1/4 cup, packed) light brown sugar ->60g
  • 80g ( 2 x-large) egg whites
  • 2 milliliters (½ teaspoon) vanilla extract
  • 237 milliliters (1 cup) low fat buttermilk
  • 15 milliliters (1 tablespoon) canola oil
  • 110g (2/3 cup) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray and set aside
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oat bran, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients except for chocolate chips (bananas through buttermilk)
  4. Add dry ingredients and whisk just until combined (batter will be wet); fold in chocolate chips
  5. Use a large cookie dough scoop or ladle to evenly distribute batter into cups (each cup should be about ¾ full)
  6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center
  7. Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag at room temperature up to three days or in freezer up to one month (defrost overnight in container or in microwave for about 30 seconds)
Notes
Significantly adapted from these muffins.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Healthy Blueberry Banana Bread

Healthy Blueberry Banana Bread

Lighter Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

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Healthy Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Healthy Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Cookie dough dip made with brown butter, cream cheese and lots of chocolate chips is a perfect super bowl treat!

Move over savory dips, we are snacking on COOKIE DOUGH DIP for Super Bowl!

Sometimes I’m a really good wife.

And sometimes, I make pure crack cookie dough dip when my husband’s on a diet. Sorry, Matt.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip made with brown butter OMG

But can you blame me? We were in the midst of a massive snowstorm with an animal a toddler to keep busy and Super Bowl recipes to create. Brown butter cookie dough was clearly the only option.

Truthfully, if Matt had caved and eaten some, I think he would have agreed that each bite was worth every.single.calorie. But he stuck to his healthy eating and I was left to enjoy the creamy, sweet, deliciousness all to myself. Well, almost… I actually brought some to my neighbors (snow day mvp?), because I like to fit into my jeans, too.

I think I made a version of cookie dough dip a few years ago when it was first making waves around the internet. It was good and everything, but this brown butter version is even better. It’s a super indulgent and delicious way to enjoy the nuttiness of a deep brown butter-infused dessert. And cookie dough dip is pretty much the ultimate recipe to make for the Super Bowl because it’s a dip. It goes perfectly with the pretzels everyone’s already snacking on but also pairs well with graham crackers and animal crackers. Plus, it’s super easy to whip up and you can make it ahead of time and then keep it in the fridge until party time. One more bonus? It’s accidentally gluten-free. Extra party friendly.

The most amazing dessert dip for Super Bowl!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
 
Cookie dough dip made with brown butter, cream cheese and lots of chocolate chips is a perfect super bowl treat!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert, Snack
Makes: 3 cups
Ingredients
  • 142g (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 226g (1 8-ounce package) light cream cheese, softened at room temperature
  • 117g (1/2 cup, tightly packed) light brown sugar
  • 80g (1/2 cup) powdered sugar
  • 10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) pure vanilla extract
  • 5g (1 teaspoon) salt
  • 190g (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. *Brown the butter: Heat butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, when butter turns to an amber/light brown color, remove from heat immediately (You should be able to smell the deeper more caramel flavor of the butter) pour browned butter immediately into a small bowl and place in fridge until completely cooled for (about 30 minutes)
  2. Once butter has cooled, place in the large bowl of a mixer with paddle attachment; add cream cheese and beat on medium-high speed or until well combined
  3. Add sugars, vanilla and salt and beat on medium speed until completely combined
  4. Stir in chocolate chips
  5. Serve immediately or store covered in refrigerator up to three days
  6. Serve with graham crackers and pretzels
Notes
*Make sure you give yourself enough time to completely cool the brown butter(about thirty minutes); once that is done the dip takes only about five minutes to make!
Adapted from the many recipes online found by searching “cookie dough dip”

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

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Easy Chai Cookies

Crispy buttery shorbread cookies with the warm and spicy flavors of chai.

Buttery Chai Cookies, the perfect Christmas treat!

Have you recovered from your Thanksgiving food coma enough to start making Christmas cookies yet? I’m so ready! Last year, I think I only made one batch (newborn mom life) and the years prior it was business cookie baking 24/7. I’m looking forward to a holiday season that is a little bit of a compromise. These hot cocoa cookies were technically my first batch, a warm-up you could say. These Chai Shortbread Cookies are pretty much the opposite and a very nice follow up.

In fact, sometimes I bake something that I don’t think I’ll like all that much. If it’s not screaming peanut butter, chocolate, or salted caramel, it’s not an obvious sell. But these cookies, they surprised me in a very good way. Much like the chai-spiced fondue I shared a couple of weeks ago, these cookies are full of warm spices that are so comforting. I love how you can even see the specks of spice in the cookies. Between the delicious flavor, the crisp exterior and the buttery mouth feel, these cookies really do deserve a spot on your Christmas cookie tray. And don’t forget, you can make them now and freeze them until you need them. Easy holiday planning for sure!

Easy Chai Cookies
 
Chai –spiced shortbread cookies that are chewy, buttery and delicious.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 2 ½ dozen cookies
Ingredients
  • 227g (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 150g (~3/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 120g (3/4 cup) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 15 milliliters (1 tablespoon) pure vanilla extract
  • 1½ teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
  • ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ⅓ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1g (1/4 teaspoon) salt
  • 265g (~2 cups) all-purpose flour, sifted
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or slipat; set aside
  3. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy
  4. Add vanilla, spices and salt and beat until well combined
  5. Stir in flour
  6. Scoop with a medium cookie dough scoop (2 tablespoons each) onto prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart
  7. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until very light brown around the edges (bake for less time if looking for a slightly chewier cookie)
  8. Allow cookies to cool on cooling rack
  9. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to one week or in the freezer for up to two months

 

These cookies are SO SO good!

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Easy Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Easy Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Chewy Milk Chocolate Ginger Cookies

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Brown-Sugar Chai Spiced Caramel Fondue

Milk Chocolate Tart with Peanut Butter Pretzel Crust

An easy no-bake dessert that only uses four ingredients! This tart is simple but impressive.

No-bake AND only 4 ingredients!!!

I’m currently joining in on the chorus of everyone asking how Thanksgiving is now less than two weeks away. My theory is that the warm fall weather we have had was actually a huge mind trick. How could Thanksgiving be coming if I barely need a jacket?

This tart is incredible and only takes 4 ingredients!

The good news is that I’ve got a dessert recipe for you that is perfect for dealing with limited holiday prep time. This milk chocolate tart looks impressive and complicated, but it actually is super easy. In fact, this tart is no-bake. Yes, three cheers for a dessert that won’t put pressure on your oven itinerary for Thanksgiving!

Pretty much the best no-bake EASY dessert ever

And beyond all that, the tart tastes pretty extraordinary. The peanut butter pretzel crust is kind of amazing. It’s crunchy and salty and, well, it’s made with peanut butter. The filling? The filling is creamy, rich and decadent. I’ve noticed that milk chocolate doesn’t get enough praise in the elevated dessert world and this tart is telling me it really should get some more love.

So while I’m still mildly panicked about all the things I want to do before Thanksgiving, I’m just going to go ahead and enjoy a big slice of this chocolate tart and not worry about it too much.

A super easy tart that would be perfect for Thanksgiving!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Milk Chocolate Tart with Peanut Butter Pretzel Crust
 
An easy no-bake dessert that only uses four ingredients! This tart is simple but impressive.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 12 servings
Ingredients
Filling:
  • 340g (12 ounces) good quality milk chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 355 milliliters (1 ½ cups) heavy cream
Crust:
  • 130g (1/2 cup) creamy peanut butter
  • 200g (2 cups) crushed salted pretzels plus additional for topping tart (optional)
Instructions
Make the filling:
  1. Place chocolate in a large heat-safe bowl and set aside
  2. In a small saucepan, bring cream to a rolling boil over medium high heat (do not stir) and then immediately pour over chocolate; let sit for five minutes and then whisk until completely smooth
  3. Let cool at room temperature for one hour and make crust
Prepare crust:
  1. In a medium bowl, melt peanut butter in microwave by heating for 15 seconds, stirring and repeating until easy to stir; stir in pretzel crumbs
  2. Press mixture into a 11-inch tart pan so that it is evenly spread out and up the edges; place in refrigerator until ready to use
  3. Once ready, pour chocolate mixture into chilled crust; then chill tart in refrigerator 4 hours (or up to 24 hours)
  4. Use additional pretzels to decorate tart before serving if desired
Notes
Significantly adapted from Food and Wine
The filling requires one hour of cool time and then the tart requires four hours of chill time before serving.
The crust may be a little crumbly when you remove it from tart pan.

My new favorite dessert!

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Peanut Butter Snack Cake

Moist peanut butter cake studded with chocolate chips for an indulgent snack or simple dessert.

Peanut Butter Snack Cake (perfect for all times of day!)

I’m so excited to share another blogger cookbook with you today! Jennifer of Bake or Break just released her first cookbook, Quick-Shop-&-Prep 5 Ingredient Baking: Cookies, Cakes, Bars & More that are Easier than Ever to Make. I’ve known Jennifer for a few years now (she is a sweetheart!!) and was lucky enough to get an early copy of the cookbook from her publisher.

The theme behind the book is easy desserts. There are recipes as simple as Vanilla Bean Tea Cakes and as complex as Coffee Caramel Chocolate Poke Cake (yes please), but all of them limit themselves to a maximum of five ingredients beyond your normal pantry necessities. Such a great idea to minimize excess grocery trips. Plus, you are likely to have everything you need for a ton of the recipes in the book.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Snack Cale

In going with the book’s theme, I opted to make a pretty easy recipe. And even better than that, it’s a dessert disguising itself as a snack so I can pretty much eat it all day long. This Peanut Butter Snack Cake was very easy to put together, no advanced baking skills needed! Plus, I didn’t have to do any extra grocery shopping because I had all of the ingredients on hand. And as an added bonus, Jennifer included volume AND weight measurements which made me extra happy. I ALWAYS weight my ingredients when I bake.

The results? This snack cake was very much enjoyed. The cake was moist, the chocolate chips were plentiful, and the peanut butter flavor actually seemed to develop more overnight (I love when you can bake a cake a day in advance without stressing that it won’t be as good).

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Peanut Butter Snack Cake
 
Moist peanut butter cake studded with chocolate chips for an indulgent snack or simple dessert.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert, snack
Makes: 12-16 servings
Ingredients
  • 180g (1½ cups) all-purpose flour
  • 5g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
  • 3g (1/2 teaspoon) salt
  • 113g (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 128g (1/2 cup) creamy peanut butter
  • 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
  • 50g (1/4 cup firmly packed) light brown sugar
  • 110g (2 large) whole eggs
  • 5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
  • 120 milliliters (1/2 cup) milk (I used almond milk)
  • 170 (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used mini chips)
  • confectioners’ sugar (optional)
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees; grease an 8x8 baking pan (I used a 9-inch round cake pan); and set aside
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside
  3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter, peanut butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy
  4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each; mix in vanilla
  5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add ⅓ of the flour mixture followed by ½ of the milk; repeat until no flour is remaining and mix just until combined; stir in chocolate chips
  6. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake 35-40 minutes or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean from center; allow to cool at least 10 minutes before removing from pan
  7. Sprinkle confectioners’ sugar over cake before serving if desired

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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes

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Pumpkin Cookie Ice Cream

Creamy pumpkin ice cream with huge chunks of pumpkin sandwich cookies. You don’t need an ice cream maker for this fun fall treat!

Super creamy pumpkin ice cream with cookie chunks!

The other week I picked up a bunch of fun fall treats from Trader Joe’s and Target. When I got home, I set them on my counter and said, “inspire me”.

And while this move usually works pretty well with me, I ended up with a million ideas that just didn’t seem interesting enough. But then I thought, what do I always like to make and eat? Ice cream, obviously. And thanks to a few big can’s of pumpkin and some pumpkin sandwich cookies (you can find Oreo and Trader Joe’s versions), a new no churn ice cream was born.

HOMEMADE Pumpkin Cookie Ice Cream! No churn!!!

This no churn ice cream recipe is so easy to make (as usual). It starts with the typical whipped cream and sweetened condensed milk combo but is enhanced with canned, pumpkin, a couple of different spices and huge chunks of cookies. Fall ice cream for the win! And if you are smart, you might just stock up on your pumpkin sandwich cookies so you can make this all year round.

HOMEMADE Pumpkin Cookie Ice Cream!

And just so you know, some things I bake for the blog and give away or use for entertaining. This ice cream? I ate the whole batch myself. I’m not sure if that should be embarrassing or not.

Pumpkin Cookie Ice Cream
 
Super creamy pumpkin ice cream filled with pumpkin sandwich cookies. No ice cream maker needed for this recipe!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: ~2 quarts
Ingredients
  • 475 milliliters (2 cups) heavy cream
  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free, but any type would work)
  • 160g (2/3 cup) canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
  • 10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
  • 2g (3/4 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
  • ½g (1/4 teaspoon) ground nutmeg
  • 218g (~2 cups) chopped pumpkin sandwich cookies (14 cookies)
Instructions
  1. In the large bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment, beat cream on high speed for several minutes, just until stiff peaks form
  2. While whipping cream, in a separate large bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg
  3. Once cream is ready, fold it into sweetened condensed milk mixture; stir in cookies
  4. Pour ice cream into a regular-sized loaf pan; wrap well with seran wrap or tin foil
  5. Freeze for 10 hours or overnight before serving
Notes
Base from Martha Stewart

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

This post contains affiliate links.

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Apple and Pear Crisp

Warm apple and pear crisp is comforting and delicious, especially with ice cream!

***This post was originally published five years ago! It’s one of my favorite recipes and was worth sharing again with new photos and an easily printable recipe. And yes, once again, we ate the whole thing in one weekend.***

Warm pear and apple crisp is seriously the best comfort food!

I call this a weekend dessert because it won’t last you more than 2 days.  Whether you live alone or with a significant other, or especially if you have kids, this dessert will be eaten in less than 2 days.  I speak the truth because I baked mine last night and now there is none left.

One week after a trip to Costco, we still had a ton of apples and pears left uneaten.  The apples wouldn’t go bad, but I knew the pears would be browned and bruised in a few days.  Obviously the only solution is baking:-)  Since I have seen so many apple crisps in the blogworld lately, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and make one of my own.

Obsessed with this pear and apple crisp!

Yesterday was an amazing day.  I had no real agenda and was able to take advantage of the cloudless sky and perfect temperatures with a walk along the west side of Manhattan.  It was my first weekend in MONTHS without an event or travelling.  It was amazing!  And really, there aren’t many things better than a perfect fall day that ends with a warm Apple and Pear Crisp topped with vanilla ice cream.

I used 3 bartlett pears and 3 honeycrisp apples (great deal on those at Costco, fyi) to make a crisp that should serve 6.  We got 4 servings…

Sidenote, any dessert served warm with ice cream is a winner in my book

Apple and Pear Crisp
 
Warm apple and pear crisp is comforting and delicious, especially with ice cream!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 6 servings
Ingredients
Filling:
  • 3 large honeycrisp apples, thinly sliced*
  • 3 ripe but firm medium pears, thinly sliced**
  • 40g (1/4 cup) white whole wheat flour
  • 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 2g (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
Topping:
  • 80g (1/2 cup) white whole wheat flour
  • 115g (1/2 cup, tightly packed) brown sugar (light or dark)
  • 1g (1/2 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
  • 71g (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Make filling:
  1. Place apples and pears into a large mixing bowl
  2. Stir in the flour, sugar, and cinnamon until all fruit is coated
  3. Spread out the filling in a 9×9 pan or baking dish
Make topping:
  1. Cut your butter into the mixture of brown sugar, flour and cinnamon
  2. Use fingers to combine until you are left with small lumps and pour it over the apples
  3. Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until fruit is tender and bubbling and the topping is browned
  4. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then serve topped with ice cream and or whipped cream
Notes
*honeycrisp worked really well, a mixture of braeburn and granny smith would be good for a sweet and tart combination; peeling optional
**I used bartlett but bosc would also work; peeling optional

Amazing pear and apple crisp, we are obsessed

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it onInstagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Skillet Apple Crisp with Brown Butter Sauce

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One Bowl Pumpkin Blondies

Amazing pumpkin blondies that are easy to make. With chewy centers and crispy crackly tops, you will love this one-bowl dessert.

Amazing (ONE BOWL!!) Pumpkin Blondies

My sister’s engagement party is just a couple of weeks away and I’m so excited! It feels like a big kick off to about a year of celebrations. Of course for her shower and bachelorette party I’ll have to do a ton of planning, but for this event, I didn’t have a lot of responsibilities. In fact, my mom will have about 64 different desserts (or so it seems), and just asked me to make pumpkin blondies. Of course I was happy to oblige.

Lucky for me, these pumpkin blondies are not only delicious, but they are also so easy to make. Only one bowl (okay, really  a pot) is required so there is less cleanup, too! A recipe that allows me to stir by hand, put something in the oven and do a yoga workout during naptime is pretty ideal. I really need to start making one-bowl desserts more often.

Amazing (ONE BOWL!!) Pumpkin Blondies

5.0 from 2 reviews
One Bowl Pumpkin Blondies
 
Amazing pumpkin blondies that are easy to make. With chewy centers and crispy crackly tops, you will love this one-bowl dessert.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 24 blondies
Ingredients
  • 700g (~3 cups firmly packed) light brown sugar
  • 170g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
  • 120g (½ cup) canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
  • 110 (~2 large) whole eggs at room temperature
  • 10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
  • 460g (~3 cups + 6 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
  • 5g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
  • 5g salt (1 teaspoon)
  • 3g (1½ teaspoons) ground cinnamon
  • 1g (½ teaspoon) ground nutmeg
  • 90g (3/4 cup) white chocolate chips
  • 90g (3/4 cup) cinnamon chips
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Line a 13×9 pan with parchment paper; set aside
  3. In a medium heavy duty saucepan, heat brown sugar, butter and pumpkin over medium heat and stir constantly until melted into a thick golden brown mixture; remove from heat
  4. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until combined
  5. Whisk in flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg just until combined; stir in chips
  6. Pour batter into prepared pan; Bake for 36-40 minutes or until top begins to crack and a knife or toothpick comes out clean
  7. Allow to cool before removing from pan and slicing; wrap leftovers tightly in seran wrap or tin foil and enjoy within one week; can be frozen for up to one month

 

Amazing (ONE BOWL!!) Pumpkin Blondies

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Apple Cinnamon Blondies

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Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches

A no-bake treat that every kid and adult will love, these chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz sandwiches are almost too good to be true!

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches!!! only 4 ingredients!

These hardly need any explanation or recipe.

Except, they kind of do.

This past spring in Florida, when I took a brief break from eating Kilwins’ ice cream, I picked up an array of chocolates to bring back to the house and hide in my room share with everyone. When I saw that they had chocolate covered peanut butter and Ritz sandwiches, I couldn’t resist getting a few. But to be honest, I was a little disappointed in the finished product. They weren’t bad, per say, but you really couldn’t taste the peanut butter.

These Chocolate Covered PB Ritz Sandwiches are so much fun!

Well, it took me about four months to finally pick up a box of Ritz crackers (those would not typically be safe in my pantry), but I’m glad I did. I recreated the treat (and put it all on snapchat because I couldn’t resist), this time with the right amount of peanut butter, and then proceeded to eat too many to count. I wish I was kidding.

Anyway, this is definitely one of the easiest no-bake desserts (or really I’d prefer to call them snacks) you could possibly make. Buttery crackers topped with peanut butter and then dipped in chocolate should happen in your kitchen immediately.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches
 
A no-bake treat that every kid and adult will love, these chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz sandwiches are almost too good to be true!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 2 dozen sandwiches
Ingredients
  • 4 dozen Ritz crackers
  • 120g (~1/2 cup) creamy peanut butter
  • 500 grams good quality dark chocolate chocolate (I used 72%), roughly chopped (can substitute good quality milk chocolate if preferred)
  • 14g (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter
Instructions
  1. Lay half of your crackers (24) out on a baking sheet; spread about 1 teaspoon (5 grams) of peanut butter into each cracker (don't use much less or you won't be able to taste it!)
  2. Top each with a second Ritz cracker
  3. Place tray in freezer for a half hour to chill
  4. When ready, place chocolate and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl; melt by microwaving in 30-second increments and stirring in-between; continue until melted and smooth
  5. Use two forks to dip sandwiches into melted chocolate
  6. Place dipped sandwiches onto parchment or wax paper and chill in refrigerator one hour
  7. Keep stored in an airtight container in a cool room or refrigerator until ready to enjoy
  8. Enjoy within one week for best results

 

Chocolate PB Ritz Sandwiches = winning!!!

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PBRippleIceCream3_thumb.jpg

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Chocolate PB Ritz Sandwiches... in LOVE

Vegan Apple Cake

A healthier spin on the classic apple dessert, this cake does not disappoint. No mixer needed for this apple cake!

Vegan apple cake that still really tastes good!

I’m pretty lucky that any photos of this cake exist. I baked it one morning while L was napping and then was setting up my shoot that afternoon while he decided that an afternoon nap just wasn’t necessary. So I took the pictures quickly and then proceeded to rock / feed L to sleep. There are worse things. I know those moments are fleeting these days so rather than be frustrated by the lack of “real” nap, I try to enjoy the sweet moment of a sleeping baby while I can. However, I don’t recommend that move with a full bladder. Just saying.

Awesome vegan apple cake

In the end it all worked out. L slept enough to play the late afternoon away, I got photos AND cuddle time. Oh yeah, and we got a pretty delicious cake. What’s interesting about this recipe is that you separate the apples so that you can top the batter with slices (which then end up on the bottom of the cake). I wasn’t sure how that would translate but I actually think it really helped seal in the moisture. That’s always a good thing when baking with whole wheat flour and less fat than a typical dessert.

Need a last minute high holiday dessert? This is dairy-free and perfect for your Rosh Hashanah spread. Don’t let the “vegan” scare you. There are no weird ingredients and you wouldn’t even know with the taste.

4.5 from 2 reviews
Vegan Apple Cake
 
A healthier spin on the classic apple dessert, this cake does not disappoint. No mixer needed for this apple cake!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 12 servings
Ingredients
  • 237 milliliters (1 cup) almond milk
  • 5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) apple cider vinegar
  • 450g (~2 large) apples, peeled
  • zest and juice of one lemon
  • 160g (~1 cup + 2 ½ tablespoons) all-purpose flour
  • 150g (~1 cup) white whole wheat flour
  • 10g (2 teaspoons) baking powder
  • 2g (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
  • ½g (1/4 teaspoon) ground ginger
  • 160g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 118 milliliters (1/2 cup) canola oil
  • 15 milliliters (1 tablespoon) pure vanilla extract
  • 15g (1 tablespoon, packed) light brown sugar
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; grease a bundt pan with non-stick baking spray
  2. Combine milk and vinegar; set aside
  3. Slice one of the two apples (1/8 -¼ inch in thickness) into half-moons; mix with half of lemon juice and set aside
  4. Chop other apple into ¼-inch cubes and in another bowl, mix with remaining lemon juice; set aside
  5. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger; set aside
  6. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the milk and vinegar, granulated sugar, oil and vanilla
  7. Slowly whisk in dry ingredients just until combined; fold in chopped apple
  8. Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan
  9. Place sliced apple on top of the batter and sprinkle with brown sugar
  10. Bake in the center of the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean
Notes
Adapted from Cake Duchess

 

This apple cake was so good and it actually is vegan!

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Apple Cake!!!

My Favorite Pumpkin Bread

Moist and flavorful pumpkin bread. This classic recipe is perfect for pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffins.

My Favorite Pumpkin Bread of All Time

 

*Sometimes things need a refresh. My favorite pumpkin bread was originally posted in 2010 with some painful-to-the-eyes photos. And while my photography skills have thankfully improved, the recipe, that I’ve loved ever since I was a kid, has not changed. My mom and I both make it every year! So here we are again with my very favorite pumpkin bread from childhood and some photos that I like to think are much easier on the eyes.*

In case you haven’t noticed, I have a sweet tooth:-) I always have room for dessert, but if you can make a side dish that tastes like a dessert, isn’t that even better?  Combining that with the fact that pumpkin is one of my all time favorite dessert flavors, you can understand why I’d be a fan of pumpkin bread.

Seriously good (and easy) pumpkin bread

I’ve had lots of pumpkin muffins and breads, some are dry, some are too dense, and some just lack a true pumpkin flavor.  This recipe, however, produces a light, moist and flavorful bread that also works for muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins
Just for kicks… one of the original photos!
Pumpkin Bread
And another, ouch.

This recipe is super easy.  It is the one my mom has been making for years and she had gotten it from a friend of hers originally.  You can do all of the stirring by hand so no mixer necessary.

First, take your dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt) and whisk them in a large bowl.

Set that aside and combine your wet ingredients, pumpkin, oil, water and eggs. Then add your wet ingredients to the dry. Stir until well combined. Pour into your pans and bake until bread and muffin tops are rounded and a knife comes out clean.

Perfect pumpkin muffins that are so easy to make

The recipe is originally set to make 3 pumpkin bread loaves, however I wanted a little bit of variety and made muffins too. (Sidenote: an ice cream scoop makes the perfect transfer to muffin tins). Eat it as a side dish or for breakfast.

My Favorite Pumpkin Bread
 
Moist and flavorful pumpkin bread. This classic recipe is perfect for pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffins.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 3 regular-sized loaves; 3 dozen regular sized muffins or 6 dozen mini muffins
Ingredients
  • 460g (~3½ cups) all-purpose flour
  • 635g (3 cups) granulated sugar
  • 10g (2 teaspoons) baking soda
  • 7½g (1½ teaspoons) salt
  • 4g (2 teaspoons) cinnamon
  • 2g (1 teaspoon) nutmeg
  • 425g (~1¾ cup) canned pumpkin, NOT pumpkin pie filling
  • 237 milliliters (1 cup) canola oil
  • 160 milliliters (2/3 cup) water
  • 220g (4 large) whole eggs
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Grease pans with non-stick cooking spray and/or line muffin tins with cup holders
  3. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl and set aside
  4. Combine wet ingredients (pumpkin through eggs)
  5. Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix well until combined
  6. Pour batter into baking pans
  7. Baking times for different forms:
  8. Loaves: 45 minutes to 1 hour
  9. Regular muffins: 18 to 25 minutes
  10. Mini muffins: 16 to 20 minutes
  11. Bake until bread and muffin tops are rounded and a knife comes out clean
  12. Cool pumpkin bread out of baking pans on wire rack
Notes
Store bread wrapped in seran and muffins in a ziplock bag at room temperature up to one week or frozen up to two months

What is your favorite dessert-like side dish?

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins, what could be better?

Easy Honey Cake for Rosh Hashanah

An easy and traditional Rosh Hashanah dessert to celebrate a sweet new year.

The easiest honey cake for Rosh Hashanah!

The Jewish holidays are so early this year so it’s a bit of a rush to get organized. Granted, I don’t have that much to do for the holidays, just some baking, but it’s hard to think about those warm fall flavors that we are used to when menu planning in August.

So I eased into things and started with this honey cake. At first glance the honey cake might be overlooked in its simplicity, but this version is so moist and full of warm comforting flavors (lots of cinnamon and some nutmeg, too) that it’s worth of a spot on your table. It’s sweet (for a sweet new year of course) so while there is a part of me that wants to fancy things up with whipped cream or powdered sugar at least, the smarter side of me knows that a slice of this honey cake just calls for a cup of hot tea or dark coffee.

A delicious and easy honey cake for a sweet new year

You know what else made this cake exciting? See that photo above? We got two huge jars of beautiful raw local honey through our CSA. At first I didn’t know what to do with it, we really don’t use honey often, but it was perfect to have on hand when I wanted to bake this honey cake. Some people discourage baking with raw honey because it kind of defeats the purpose of it being “raw”, but if you have a lot of honey, I say you should bake this cake!

My family loves this honey cake. It's our new tradition for Rsh Hashanah!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Easy Honey Cake for Rosh Hashanah
 
An easy and traditional Rosh Hashanah dessert to celebrate a sweet new year.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Jewish
Makes: 16 servings
Ingredients
  • 440g (~3⅓ cups)all-purpose flour
  • 5g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
  • 5g (1 teaspoon) baking soda
  • 3g (1/2 teaspoon) salt
  • 8g (4 teaspoons) ground cinnamon
  • ½g (1/2 teaspoon) ground nutmeg
  • ¼g (1/2 teaspoon) ground cloves
  • 237 milliliters (1 cup) vegetable or canola oil
  • 340g (1 cup) honey
  • 300g (~1⅓ cups) granulated sugar
  • 95g (~1/3 cup, tightly packed) brown sugar
  • 165g (3 whole large) eggs at room temperature
  • 237 milliliters (1 cup) warm coffee
  • 118 milliliters (1/2 cup) orange juice
  • 30 milliliters (2 tablespoons) whiskey
  • 30 milliliters (2 tablespoons) vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and lightly butter or spray well with nonstick cooking spray
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; set aside
  3. In the large bowl of electric mixer combine remaining ingredients (oil through vanilla) on low speed until well combined
  4. While mixer is still on low, slowly add dry ingredients; continue mixing for several minutes just until combined.; batter should be smooth and have a little thickness
  5. Pour batter into baking pan and bake 40-45 minutes or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean from center
  6. Allow cake to cool for 30 minutes before carefully removing from pan
  7. Cake can be wrapped well in seran and stored at room temperature up to five days or frozen up to one month
Notes
Barely adapted from Smitten Kitchen (who got the recipe from this cookbook)

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This post contains affiliate links.

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The easiest honey cake for Rosh Hashanah!

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies

A small batch of chocolate chip cookies that’s perfect a cookie craving!

The perfect mini batch of cookies and only 20 minutes from start to finish!

Let’s be honest, one cookie is never, ever enough. And a whole big batch, while appealing, is too many to eat in one sitting. Plus, sometimes you just want a homemade cookie and you want it fast. This chocolate chip cookie recipe is exactly what you need when you:

  1. 1) …want homemade cookies in just twenty minutes (not exaggerating!),
  2. 2) …want enough cookies to satisfy a craving and maybe share
  3. 3) …don’t want to be tempted by a giant batch of baked goods

In fact, not only do you need this recipe, but you need to get your hands on a copy of Christina’s wonderful Dessert for Two Cookbook. (And while you are at it, pre-order her next cookbook!) I’ve been drooling over her cookbook for months now and while I pretty much wanted to make everything (hello chocolate covered key lime pie and oatmeal cream sandwich cookies…), chocolate chip cookies seemed the best place to start.

Oh, and I think Matt agreed since the only complaint I got was the lack of milk in the fridge. Oops!

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies - perfect for those cravings

5.0 from 2 reviews
Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
Small Batch Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
Author:
Recipe type: Desserts
Makes: 8-12 cookies
Ingredients
  • 60g (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 24g (2 tablespoons) solid vegetable shortening (I subbed softened unsalted butter)
  • 45g (1/4 cup) light brown sugar
  • 39g (3 tablespoons) granulated sugar
  • 25g (1 large) egg yolk
  • 4 milliliters (3/4 teaspoon) vanilla extract
  • 75g (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
  • 1g (1/4 teaspoon) baking soda
  • 1g (1/4 teaspoon) baking powder
  • ½g (1/8) teaspoon fine salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon instant espresso powder
  • 55g (1/3 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat; set aside
  2. In the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, beat butter, shortening and sugars on medium-high speed until well combined (about one minute); add egg yolk and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined
  3. In a separate small bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and espresso powder; slowly add to mixer while on low speed and mix just until combined; stir in chocolate chips
  4. Spoon cookie dough into prepared baking sheet (I used a medium cookie dough scoop) and bake 8-9 minutes or until edges are lightly browned; remove from baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool (or better yet, eat warm out of the oven!)
Notes
I got 10 cookies with a medium cookie dough scoop
From the Dessert for Two Cookbook

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

This post contains affiliate links.

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Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Blondies

Chewy gooey blondies loaded with sweet cinnamon chips.

Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Blondies <- perfectly chewy, gooey and sweet!

Until this, I hadn’t made Blondies since L was born.

Which is a shame. Because 1) blondies are really my thing and 2) they are pretty much the easiest way to bake for a crowd. After churning out hundreds and thousands of them for a couple of years, I guess I just needed a little blondies hiatus. Don’t worry, though, because blondies are back!

This recipe, in particular, comes with a punch of cinnamon and that chewy gooey blondie we have all grown to love. Oh yeah and there is oatmeal for extra health chew.

Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Blondies <- great easy recipe to feed a crowd!

 

Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Blondies
 
Chewy gooey blondies loaded with sweet cinnamon chips.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 24 servings
Ingredients
  • 227g (1 cup) unsalted butter
  • 700g (~3 cups packed) light brown sugar
  • 270g (~2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 120g(1½ cups) Old fashioned oats
  • 10g (2 teaspoons) table salt
  • 5g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
  • 220g (4 large) whole eggs at room temperature
  • 15 milliliters / 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 430g (2¼ cups) cinnamon chips
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside
  2. In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly; remove from heat and set aside
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oatmeal, salt and baking powder; set aside
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla; whisk in butter and sugar mixture
  5. Whisk in flour mixture until almost combined and then fold in any remaining crumbs with a spatula
  6. Fold in cinnamon chips so that they are evenly distributed throughout batter
  7. Pour into prepared baking pan
  8. Bake for 41-45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
  9. Set aside to cool for one our before cutting
  10. Note: Blondies will stay fresh for several days if wrapped or packaged in an air-tight container. They also freeze incredibly well, just wrap them tightly in tin foil.

Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Blondies LOVE

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Upside-down Caramel Banana Coffee Cake

Dense and moist coffee-flavored cake topped with gooey caramelized bananas!

Caramel Banana Coffee Cake

Every year it’s the same challenge for my dad’s birthday: What special dessert can I make that isn’t too sweet and doesn’t include frosting (well, I did sneak in frosting one year)? Since last year’s dessert was such a hit, I decided to find another cake with a fun topping that I thought he would like.

This upside down cake definitely fit the bill! It’s sweet enough to be dessert but mild enough to be served for brunch (his kind of dessert). It’s also looks special with the beautiful layer of caramelized bananas on top. The cake itself is dense and moist (though I think using a higher fat Greek yogurt would lighten the results just a bit; I used nonfat) and so very satisfying.

Upside-down Caramel Banana Coffee Cake
 
Dense and moist coffee-flavored cake topped with gooey caramelized bananas!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 8 servings
Ingredients
  • Cake batter
  • 200g (~1½ cups) all-purpose flour
  • 5g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
  • ½g (1/8 teaspoon) salt
  • 50g (3 ½ tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 130g  (~1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon, packed) light brown sugar
  • 100g (2 large) whole eggs at room temperature
  • 30 milliliters (2 tablespoons) strong espresso or coffee (~1 tablespoon instant coffee granules mixed with 1 tablespoon boiling water)
  • 10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
  • 200g (~3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons) plain Greek yogurt
  • Banana topping
  • 2 large ripe but firm bananas (do not use overly ripe bananas here)
  • 40g (~2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) unsalted butter, melted
  • 80g (~1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon packed) light brown sugar
  • 3g (1 ½ teaspoons) ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees; butter a 9-inch round cake pan and set aside
  2. Prepare cake batter; sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) into a medium bowl and set aside
  3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy
  4. Add the eggs, coffee and vanilla and mix on medium speed
  5. Reduce speed to low and add yogurt; add dry ingredients but do not overmix; batter will be thick
  6. Set aside cake batter and prepare topping
  7. Carefully slice bananas lengthwise (3-4 slices / banana) and use to line cake pan (keep in mind this is how the top of your cake will look)
  8. Combine melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon; carefully spread over bananas
  9. Spread cake batter evenly top and bake in center of oven for 27-32 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center of cake; do not overbake
  10. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes before arefully removing from pan; serve immediately
Notes
Adapted from Nutmegs Sven

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Easy Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies

An easy cookie to make with the wonderful flavor of meyer lemons.

Today we are celebrating sweet Caroline’s second virtual baby shower! I adore Caroline and am happy to help her celebrate the birth of baby number two!
Virtual Baby Shower
Today’s shower theme is citrus (one of Caroline’s current cravings!) and I just had to go with the sweet and tart flavors of meyer lemons. They are only around for a couple of months so it’s fun to take advantage of them for baking. I have a couple extras and may have to put together a cocktail or two as well;-)

Easy Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies

These cookies are nice and crips around the edges with a buttery chewy center. There is just enough meyer lemon flavor without overpowering the cookies at all!

*Scroll down to see the other citrus treats*

 

Easy Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies
 
An easy cookie to make with the wonderful flavor of meyer lemons.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 2½ dozen cookies
Ingredients
  • 227g (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 150g (~3/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 120g (3/4 cup) powdered sugar, sifted
  • ½ tablespoon grated meyer lemon zest (~1 lemon)
  • 29 milliliters / 2 tablespoons meyer lemon juice (~2 lemons)
  • 15 milliliters / 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 ½g (1/2 teaspoon) salt
  • 265g (~2 cups) all-purpose flour, sifted
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or slipat; set aside
  3. Cream butter and sugars with lemon zest until light and fluffy
  4. Add lemon juice, vanilla and salt and beat until well combined
  5. Stir in flour
  6. Scoop with a medium cookie dough scoop (2 tablespoons each) onto prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart
  7. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until very light brown around the edges
  8. Allow cookies to cool on cooling rack
  9. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to one week or in the freezer for up to two months
Notes
Barely adapted from these lemon cookies

See what else is being shared for the shower!

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Skillet Apple Crisp with Brown Butter Sauce {gluten-free}

Served warm, this skillet apple crisp is just what you need to fill you up at the end of a cool Fall day!

Served warm, this skillet apple crisp with brown butter sauce is just what you need to fill you up at the end of a cool Fall day!

This apple crisp is warm and hearty and perfect for the end of a chilly day (or in my case, mid-morning on a hot day in mid-August…).  You can make it in a skillet which I love, it gives the dessert a nice rustic feel and encourages everyone at the table to help themselves to a generous serving.  The brown butter sauce is the perfect addition because the crisp itself is almost light.  The sauce basically adds a richness that you might not be able to find in a fruit heavy dessert.

Skillet Apple Crisp with Brown Butter Sauce (naturally gluten-free!)

Of course you can still add some vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream, but I found that the addition of that brown butter topping really makes this a very satisfying dessert on its own.  I’m not kidding when I say I enjoyed this mid-morning.  It was impossible to resist fresh out of the oven once the photos were taken.  Besides, all of those fresh apple chunks and oats make this sort of kind of healthy.  Right???

Skillet Apple Crisp with Brown Butter Sauce (naturally gluten-free!)

Skillet Apple Crisp with Brown Butter Sauce {gluten-free}
 
Served warm, this skillet apple crisp is just what you need to fill you up at the end of a cool Fall day!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • Topping:
  • 55g (~1/2 cup) oat flour* (I pulsed my oatmeal in the food processor until it was the consistency of flour)
  • 40g (~1/2 cup) old fashioned oatmeal*
  • 70g (~1/3 cup, tightly packed) light brown sugar
  • 55g (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
  • Filling:
  • ~8 cups chopped apples, peeling optional (from 908 grams or about 7 medium whole apples) (preferably granny smith or honeycrisp)
  • 28g (~1/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 15g (~2 tablespoons) oat flour* (I pulsed my oatmeal in the food processor until it was the consistency of flour)
  • 15 milliliters / 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (~1/2 lemon)
  • 14g (1 tablespoons) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
  • 2g (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a medium bowl, prepare topping; mix together oat flour, oatmeal and brown sugar
  3. Add butter and use fingers to combine until mixture is slightly lumpy; set aside
  4. Prepare filling; in 10 or 12-inch skillet, stir together apples, granulated sugar, oat flour, lemon juice, and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly with topping
  5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until filling is bubbling and topping is lightly browned, if you see that topping has started to get to brown early, lightly cover with tin foil for remainder of baking time
  6. Remove crisp from oven and immediately prepare brown butter glaze
Notes
Adapted from my Summer Berry Skillet Crisp
*If serving to someone with a gluten allergy make sure your ingredients are labeled gluten-free
The apple crisp can be made ahead of time and kept in refrigerator until ready to bake; may require extra cooking time if cold

 
Brown Butter Sauce
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 57g (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 100g (~3/4 cup) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 15 milliliters / 1 tablespoon milk, any type
  • 5 milliliters / 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Brown the butter; heat butter in a small heavy duty saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly; when butter turns to an amber/light brown color, remove from heat immediately (you should be able to smell the deeper more caramel flavor of the butter)
  2. Pour butter into a medium heat-proof bowl (do NOT leave behind the sediment, it adds flavor); whisk in sugar, milk and vanilla
  3. Immediately pour glaze over hot apple crisp and serve
Notes
Recipe from Martha Stewart, originally seen on i am baker

 

Skillet Apple Crisp with Brown Butter Sauce (naturally gluten-free!) - so perfect for all of the apples in my kitchen

 

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Salted Caramel Oreo Bars

These sweet and salty dessert bars are packed with an Oreo crust, chocolate, pretzels and salted caramel.  You won’t believe how easy these are to make.

Salted Caramel Oreo Bars

Of all the salted caramel recipes I’ve made, these are by far the most dangerous.

The first time I made them, Matt joked about how ugly they were and then we proceeded to devour the pan…. warm with ice cream.

Salted Caramel Oreo Bars

But a few days later, after they had disappeared, I decided that I simply must make them again because it just wouldn’t be fair to you if I didn’t share the recipe.  Let’s not talk about how much of both batches I inhaled.  Sweet and salty recipes just do it for me.

Salted Caramel Oreo Bars

When I decided that January was going to be Salted Caramel Month, I wanted to make some spin on the ever famous Seven Layer Bars / Magic bars / Hello Dolly Bars.  These are quite different from that but conceptually the building blocks are the same.  Oreos instead of graham crackers, salted caramel instead of sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips and pretzel pieces to replace the other toppings you may be used to (you know how I feel about coconut… just no).  Once you have your caramel, they are super easy to put together… and just as easy to eat!

Salted Caramel Oreo Bars
 
These sweet and salty dessert bars are packed with an Oreo crust, chocolate, pretzels and salted caramel. You won’t believe how easy these are to make.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 9-12 servings
Ingredients
  • 8 ounces (~2 cups / 20 cookies) finely crushed Oreos
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 8½ ounces (~1¼) cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 ounces (~1½ cups) salted pretzel pieces
  • 1 cup salted caramel
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; spray a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside
  2. In a medium bowl, combine Oreo crumbs and melted butter; press mixture down evenly into prepared baking dish
  3. Pour about half of chocolate chips over crust
  4. Combine pretzel pieces and salted caramel, pour mixture over chocolate chip layer
  5. Pour remaining chocolate chips over top of bars
  6. Bake for about 25 minutes or until caramel is bubbling around edges and bars appear set
  7. Allow to cool before slicing
  8. Store leftover bars covered at room temperature up to four days

 

Salted Caramel Oreo Bars

Salted Caramel Oreo Bars that are SUPER easy to make!!

 

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Oreo, Peanut Butter Cup, Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Oreo, Peanut Butter Cup, Chocolate Chunk Cookies

No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars

No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars

Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies

Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins Made with Quinoa Flour {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

Light and moist pumpkin muffins that are quick and easy to make.  Void of dairy and gluten, these muffins are allergy friendly, too!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins Made with Quinoa Flour {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

Wow, it seems like forever ago that I made these muffins!  It was actually towards the beginning of October because I brought them when we visited my sister in Boston.  Now we are in November and I am counting down the days until I see my her for Thanksgiving!  This is for sure the longest stretch of time I’ve gone without seeing Jessica in years.  We’ve actually been able to catch each other on the phone a couple of times a week… nice, but not the same.  With Jessica up in Boston and most of my best friends spread out from Philadelphia to Florida, I sure miss the women in my life!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins Made with Quinoa Flour {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

Luckily there are various forms of fall carbs to comfort me.  Pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins are one of my all-time favorite fall treats.  My mom’s pumpkin bread is truly the best and I’ll definitely be enjoying that on Thanksgiving.  For my gluten-free friends, though, I’ve found something that isn’t so far off.  This recipe for gluten-free pumpkin muffins is so easy and doesn’t require any crazy mixing of flours.  Just got some quinoa flour and you are set!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins Made with Quinoa Flour {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

Knowing that these are gluten-free, I could tell.  But if you had made them for me and didn’t tell me I don’t think I would have noticed.  Does that make sense?  The texture was pretty great (light and moist but not quite as hearty as the regular version) and the flavor is just how I like it, classic pumpkin.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins Made with Quinoa Flour {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

5.0 from 2 reviews
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins Made with Quinoa Flour {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}
 
Light and moist pumpkin muffins that are quick and easy to make. Void of dairy and gluten, these muffins are allergy friendly, too!
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch
Makes: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • 6 ounces (~1½ cups) quinoa flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • ½ cup canola oil
  • 4⅛ ounces (~1/2 cup tightly packed) light brown sugar
  • 3¾ ounces granulated sugar (~1/2 cup)
  • 2 large eggs or 1 x-large egg + 1 x-large yolk, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; grease a regular sized muffin tin with butter or non-stick spray
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients (quinoa flour through ginger); set aside
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients (pumpkin through vanilla)
  4. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients just until combined
  5. Distribute evenly in prepared muffin tin, filling each cup about ⅔ of the way full
  6. Bake 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center of muffin
  7. Store in a ziplock bag or airtight container at room temperature for a few days or freeze for up to one month
Notes
Very slightly adapted from Espresso and Cream who had adapted from With Style & Grace

 

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins Made with Quinoa Flour {Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free}

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Gluten-Free Banana Cake

Gluten Free Banana Cake

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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Banana Breakfast Bake

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Healthy Pumpkin Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Bake {gluten-free, dairy-free}

This make-ahead breakfast bake is healthy, hearty and tasty!  Full of pumpkin, bananas and oatmeal, you will feel good serving this to your family for breakfast.

Healthy Pumpkin Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Bake {gluten-free, dairy-free}

Confession:  This recipe is already on the blog.

Healthy Pumpkin Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Bake {gluten-free, dairy-free}

But…. ouch!  I realize that something like this is hard to photograph, but those pictures were just so  bad.  And the writing?  I think it took me a year to find my voice.  Every time I read an early post it just feels so awkward.  It’s almost as bad as reading your diary from middle school.  Yikes, was that really me?

Healthy Pumpkin Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Bake {gluten-free, dairy-free}

I’m hoping to go through some other old posts to do them over as well.  I’m sure some of my recipe directions weren’t as clear as they can be and I’d just really love to have better pictures of some poor desserts that are stuck looking ugly.  Did this really happen?  Did I think this was appetizing (scroll down)?

Healthy Pumpkin Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Bake {gluten-free, dairy-free}

Healthy Pumpkin Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Bake {gluten-free, dairy-free}
 
This make-ahead breakfast bake is healthy, hearty and tasty! Full of pumpkin, bananas and oatmeal, you will feel good serving this to your family for breakfast.
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch
Makes: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
  • 6 ounces (~2 cups) rolled oats*
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ⅔ cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 6 fluid ounces unsweetened vanilla almond milk (skim milk or soy milk can be subbed)
  • 4 fluid ounces egg replacement or egg whites (equivalent of about 3 egg whites)
  • 5 ounces (~1/2 cup) mashed brown ripe bananas (~2 small or 1 large)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Spray a 9×9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients and set aside
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients
  5. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients just until mixed
  6. Pour into prepared baking dish and bake for 23-28 minutes in middle of oven, or until a knife comes out clean from center
  7. Serve immediately or store covered at room temperature up to three days; can also be wrapped and frozen for an easy weekday breakfast
Notes
*Check that your ingredients are labeled gluten-free if avoiding gluten
There is no added sugar to this recipe, if you are looking for a very sweet breakfast, I suggest topping with maple syrup
Additional toppings might include greek yogurt, nut butter, sliced almonds and cooked fruit

And in honor of learning how to use a camera, I created a fun little GIF.

Healthy Pumpkin Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Bake {gluten-free, dairy-free} on Make A Gif

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

P.S. Head over to Erin’s site for a Keep It Sweet Desserts giveaway!

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Cinnamon Chip Whole Wheat Pumpkin Scones

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Whole-Wheat-Pumpkin-Cinnamon-Swirl-Bread-7_thumb.jpg

My Favorite Pumpkin Bread

Seriously good (and easy) pumpkin bread

Perfect Chocolate Chip Muffins and a Giveaway

These Chocolate Chip Muffins are easy to whip up and make the perfect sweet treat for weekend breakfasts or holiday brunch.

An easy recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chip Muffins from Keep it Sweet Desserts

I made these muffins a few weeks ago and actually froze a few to bring with us to the shore this past weekend.  My grandfather kept raving about the “best cupcake” he has ever had.  That cupcake was actually this muffin.  The basic recipe is so simple which makes the fact that he loved them even better.

An easy recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chip Muffins from Keep it Sweet Desserts

In fact, the recipe came from Lauren’s e-cookbook, Everyday Ingredients Extraordinary Meals.  Her book is full of beautiful photos and delicious recipes.  Many of them are easy meals and simple desserts.  It is family-friendly and reflective of the personality you come to love from her blog.  Recipes like fail-proof pizza dough, birthday cupcakes, and and My Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll (ahem, DYING to try that), give it a level of comfort and hominess.  Other notable recipes include Lemon Cheesecake Crème Brule Bars and Chocolate Cream Pie.  There are family friendly meals as well, but you know me and my sweet tooth.  And good news for all of you!  Lauren is offering to give a copy of her e-book to one of you!  (See end of post for giveaway details).

An easy recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chip Muffins from Keep it Sweet Desserts

 

Perfect Chocolate Chip Muffins and a Giveaway
 
These Chocolate Chip Muffins are easy to whip up and make the perfect sweet treat for weekend breakfasts or holiday brunch.
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch
Makes: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • ½ cup skim milk
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • ¼ cup fat free plain greek yogurt
  • 1 egg at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 9¼ ounces (2 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 5⅝ ounces (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; line a regular sized muffin pan with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (milk through vanilla) and set aside
  3. In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients (flour through baking soda); form a well in center of dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into the well
  4. Stir just until combined
  5. Fold in chocolate chips
  6. Distribute batter evenly in muffin pan and bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from center
  7. Allow to cool for five minutes before carefully removing muffins from pan; best served immediately
  8. Leftovers can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for a couple of days or in freezer for a few weeks
Notes

 

An easy recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chip Muffins from Keep it Sweet Desserts

GIVEAWAY!
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Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Triple Chocolate Muffins with Peanut Butter Swirl

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Vanilla Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread that is Low Fat and Whole Wheat

Healthy banana bread full of delicious vanilla roasted strawberries.

Vanilla Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread that is Low Fat and Whole Wheat

It’s Tuesday but I feel like I am still recovering from the long weekend!  I think it has something to do with 13+ hours of driving for a two-day trip, dancing all night long at my cousin’s wedding, and the hotel neighbors that found it necessary to blast music and yell at each other at 2am the night before we had a 6:30 departure time.  That’s always fun.

Vanilla Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread that is Low Fat and Whole Wheat

But all in all, it really was a great weekend!  The highlight was being reunited with my dad’s side of the family.  We realized that it has been about twenty five years since all of the cousins were in the same place at the same time.  There were seven of us then.  This time around, with marriages, and a new generation, there were twelve of us.  While there has been a lot of loss on that side of the family, it is a definite bright spot to see so many of us starting wonderful families of our own.  Hopefully the next time we all meet, it won’t be so long from now and there will be even more of us.

Vanilla Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread that is Low Fat and Whole Wheat

I made this banana bread a few weeks ago when Matt’s friends were in town.  There were a few extra brown bananas on the counter and I had a little baking marathon.  The banana bread wasn’t as big of a hit as the blueberry pie, but it was a good healthy snack and breakfast addition.

Vanilla Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread that is Low Fat and Whole Wheat

The best part of baking this banana bread was the unbelievable aroma from roasting the strawberries.  Next time I’m going to roast extra berries and use them as an ice cream topping.  It was hard to put them right into the batter instead of eating them straight up!

Vanilla Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread that is Low Fat and Whole Wheat
 
Healthy banana bread full of delicious vanilla roasted strawberries. Source: Skinny Taste Makes 8 nice-sized slices
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast, Brunch
Makes: 8 servings
Ingredients
  • 7 ounces (~1⅓ cup) sliced strawberries plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract for roasting
  • 6⅞ ounces (1¼ cups) white whole wheat flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2½ ounces (~1/2 cup lightly packed) brown sugar
  • 1 ounces (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 2 x-large egg whites at room temperature
  • 10½ ounces (~1 cup) mashed brown banana (~3 medium)
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Roast strawberries; pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside
  2. Toss sliced strawberries with vanilla and spread out on prepared baking sheet
  3. Roast in oven for 20 minutes
  4. While strawberries are roasting, prepare rest of banana bread
  5. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside
  6. In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and salt); set aside
  7. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light creamy; add egg whites and mix on medium speed for a minute
  8. Scrape sides of bowl; add banana, applesauce and vanilla; mix on medium speed until combined
  9. Reduce speed to low and slowly add dry ingredients just until combined, do not overmix batter
  10. Once strawberries are done cooking, gently fold them into batter; bake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from center of loaf
  11. Allow to cool before removing loaf from pan
  12. Best served immediately; store tightly wrapped in seran wrap up to 3 days at room temperature or freeze up to one month
Notes
Source: Skinny Taste

 

Vanilla Roasted Strawberry Banana Bread that is Low Fat and Whole Wheat

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Healthy Blueberry Banana Bread

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Healthy banana bread with vanilla roasted strawberries!

Baby Shower Chocolate Clusters for a Virtual Shower!

Baby Shower Chocolate Clusters for a Virtual Shower!

SURPRISE!!  A few of us are hosting an intimate blogger baby shower for sweet Rachel at The Avid Appetite!  Rachel is having a baby girl and I am so thrilled for her and Sean!  Rachel is one of my favorite blog friends, we’ve actually had dinner together a couple of times.  I’m excited for her and her family and can’t wait to hear/read all about it!

For Rachel’s shower, I did what any person who about negative ten minutes of free time would do, I made a no-bake treat.  To make it festive, I topped my little chocolate clusters with some cute little pink candy cane sprinkles.  Lucky for Rachel, some of the other bloggers made even more delicious sounding treats, be sure to check them out!

Garlic Mini Monkey Bread from Yums and Loves

Candy Stuffed Peanut Butter Bars from the Lean Green Bean

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Maple-Marshmallow Filling from Eats Well with Others

Baby Shower Chocolate Clusters from Keep It Sweet Desserts

Congratulations, Rachel! I hope I get to meet your baby girl in person soon:-)

Baby Shower Chocolate Clusters for a Virtual Shower!

Baby Shower Chocolate Clusters for a Virtual Shower!
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 12 servings
Ingredients
  • 12 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
  • 1 cup mini marshmallows
  • 4 sheets graham crackers, broken into small pieces
  • Pink sprinkles (or blue for a boy!)
Instructions
  1. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside
  2. Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and melt by heating in 30-second increments and stirring chocolate in between
  3. Once chocolate is melted, fold in marshmallows and graham crackers
  4. Use a large spoon to place clusters on wax paper
  5. Drop sprinkles over clusters as desired

In case you haven’t seen my Twitter or Facebook rants, things are a little nuts with holiday at Keep It Sweet Desserts!   I’ll be back tomorrow with a great cookie recipe and hopefully coherent post!

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Pretty in Pink Buttercream Cups

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Peanut Butter Caramel Candy Cups

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Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches

No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars

No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars

1 week. 7 days.  Some amount of hours that does not feel like enough.

No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars

That’s how much time there is until Thanksgiving.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m so excited for the holiday, but boy did things get crazy really fast!  It seems like just yesterday I was in the summer lull and just like that I’m organizing and delegating (SO thankful for family members who like to help!) for Thanksgiving dinner all the while coordinating hundreds of corporate orders to go out over the next 30 or so days.

My current mantra: do anything and everything possible ahead of time. If I had the space, I’d have all of my UPS boxes made and piled for the mass exodus that will be taking place in the form of Fudgy Caramel Pecan Brownies.  I’ve even started chopping the gazillion pounds of chocolate that will be transformed into Peppermint Mocha Cookies, Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Triple Chocolate Cookies and so on. I actually thought I was so smart to pull out the food processor to help but when it started to smell like fire I decided that chopping would be my arm workout for the day.  If there is one added benefit to being super busy that I didn’t expect, it would be the fact that I don’t actually have to workout because this job can be extremely physically demanding.

No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars

Anyway, back to my main point, getting ahead.  I have a gazillion amazing desserts planned for our Thanksgiving dinner (between my mom and I there might be more desserts than people), but I’m definitely trying to get some done in advance and sneak them into my day when I have a few free moments.  That is where these No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars come in!  They took almost no time to make (oh, except for that chopped chocolate that you know I love…), and once they are done you can stick them in the freezer until the day you want to eat them.  Not all holiday desserts have to be complicated!

5.0 from 1 reviews
No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 24-48 servings depending on desired size (I cut them into small pieces to compliment the rest of the dessert spread!)
Ingredients
  • 6½ ounces milk chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 1½ ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 5 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced
  • 5½ cups Rice Krispies
  • ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup toffee bits
Instructions
  1. Line a 13x9 baking pan with tin foil and set aside
  2. Pour Rice Krispies into a large bowl and set aside
  3. In a medium saucepan, melt together chopped chocolates (not chips), corn syrup and butter, stirring constantly until combined
  4. Remove from heat and pour over Rice Krispies; use a spatula to combine
  5. Add chocolate chips and toffee bits and combine
  6. Spread mixture into lined pan and pack down using the back of the spatula
  7. Cover pan and place in refrigerator to chill for at least four hours
  8. Once chilled, remove foil from pan and slice into squares to serve
  9. Store tightly in a cool place up to two days or wrap and freeze until the day of
Notes
Slightly adapted from Nigella Kitchen
If making these gluten-free, check that all of your ingredients are specifically marked as such.

 

No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it onInstagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

Looking for other EASY desserts to add to your holiday menu?

Easy Low Fat Pumpkin Sheet Cake

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White Chocolate Cinnamon Bun Rice Krispie Treats

22 Easy Desserts That Make You Seem Like a Pro

Chewy Gooey Cinnamon Toffee Blondies

And of course, that is where I can help!

No-Bake Rice Krispie Toffee Fudge Candy Bars

Sweet and Salty Candy Bar Blondies

The fudgiest blondies loaded with everyone’s favorite sweet and salty candies.

Sweet and Salty Candy Bar Blondies

When I asked my Father-in-Law what he wanted for his birthday dessert, his only request was chocolate covered pretzels.  Sweet and salty, who doesn’t love those?

Sweet and Salty Candy Bar Blondies

But come on, it is a birthday dessert!  And since chocolate covered pretzels are what I make as an afterthought when I have extra melted chocolate, I just had to make something else.

Sweet and Salty Candy Bar Blondies

So I threw together something else sweet and salty that required just a little more time and effort than the pretzels (of course I made those too) and was thrilled with the result.  What I love about blondies is how flexible they can be.  You can load them up with whatever you are in the mood for.  Since Halloween is just a couple of weeks away, these would be the perfect way to use up any extra candy or the inevitable post-holiday candy sale purchases.

Sweet and Salty Candy Bar Blondies

Sweet and Salty Candy Bar Blondies
 
The fudgiest gooey blondies loaded with everyone's favorite sweet and salty candies.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 12-16 servings
Ingredients
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 12⅜ ounces (1½ cups packed) light brown sugar
  • 7 ounces (1½ cups) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 x-large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup honey roasted peanuts
  • ½ cup M&Ms
  • ⅓ cup chopped Heath Bars (~8 minis)
  • ¼ cup Reese's Pieces (I used mini but regular sized would work, too)
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; line an 8x8 or 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper and set aside
  2. In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly; remove from heat and set aside when butter is completely melted
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder; set aside
  4. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla; whisk in butter and sugar mixture
  5. Whisk in flour mixture until almost combined and then fold in any remaining crumbs with a spatula
  6. Fold in peanuts and candy until evenly distributed throughout batter
  7. Pour into prepared baking pan
  8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
  9. Set aside to cool before cutting
Notes
Blondies will stay fresh for several days if wrapped or packaged in an air-tight container.  They also freeze incredibly well, just wrap them tightly in tin foil.

 

Sweet and Salty Candy Bar Blondies

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Sweet and Salty Toll House Pie

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Easy Low Fat Pumpkin Sheet Cake

This 5-ingredient pumpkin cake is so good, you would never know it is guilt-free!

This past Saturday, I took some of my own advice and set aside a day where no work would be done!  It was actually something I scheduled a few weeks ago when the Jewish holidays had me swamped.  Scheduling time off is one of the best ways I can really force myself to take a break and a good way to motivate myself when things are a little crazy.

Easy Low Fat Pumpkin Sheet Cake from Keep It Sweet Desserts

The day off meant getting to hang out with Matt.  We did mostly everyday activities like working out, grocery shopping and watching TV, but that is just how I like it.  The highlight of Saturday, though, was homemade pizza and champagne for dinner with some junky movies on the television.  It was our second time making pizza dough from scratch and I was reminded of just how worthwhile the few extra minutes of making dough can be.

Easy Low Fat Pumpkin Sheet Cake from Keep It Sweet Desserts

Of course, I couldn’t end the day without dessert.  And since it was an “off” day, I let myself cheat a little with cake mix.  Oh, but in case you were worried I at least made two cakes: chocolate cake for Matt and pumpkin cake for me.  I couldn’t help myself.

Easy Low Fat Pumpkin Sheet Cake from Keep It Sweet Desserts

This cake recipe is actually a nod to my college days.  Cooking usually consisted of boca burgers, egg beaters and salads with the occasional stir fry thrown in.  And while I loved to bake, we didn’t keep many basic ingredients in the apartment so cake mix recipes were the perfect solution.  I actually made a version of this cake for my roomate’s birthday one year (miss you, Rach!).  Pretty sure she and I ate most of it ourselves…

Easy Low Fat Pumpkin Sheet Cake from Keep It Sweet Desserts

The best part about this cake (besides the short list of ingredients and ease of making) is how moist and delicious it is without having much fat.  The moisture in the pumpkin gives the cake a perfect texture and you don’t even need frosting.  But a cake without frosting, what fun would that be?

Easy Low Fat Pumpkin Sheet Cake
 
Low fat pumpkin cake that's so good you won't know it only took 5 ingredients!
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 15 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 15.25 box spice cake mix
  • 1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 1.4 box pumpkin spice instant pudding
  • 1 cup light almond milk OR 1¼ cup skim milk
  • 1 8-ounce container fat free cool whip
  • Optional:  Fall sprinkles and gingersnap crumbs
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside
  2. In a large bowl, stir together cake mix, pumpkin and water until combined
  3. Spread into baking dish and bake 25-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from the center
  4. Set cake aside to cool and prepare frosting
  5. In a large bowl, whisk together pudding mix and milk for two minutes
  6. Fold in cool whip just until combined
  7. Spread frosting over cake and serve; store leftovers in refrigerator up to 3 days

Easy Low Fat Pumpkin Sheet Cake from Keep It Sweet Desserts

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bites {Gluten-free} {Vegan}

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bites {Gluten-free} {Vegan}

Well, I think/hope that this will be the last banana recipe for a little while.  As I said before, the banana consumption in my apartment has a direct correlation with our workout frequency and things are finally back to normal at home.  We are headed to Napa later this week so the motivation of a trip filled with food and wine (plus actually wanting to fit into my summer clothes) has helped.  Even Matt got motivated by vacation and is back on the Insanity track.  Funny how my husband going back to the gym makes me want to workout more.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bites {Gluten-free} {Vegan}

So this recipe is another win for not-so-decadent but satisfying.  If you look at the ingredient list (peanut butter, oatmeal, bananas) you will probably agree that these could make for a breakfast on-the-go, afternoon snack OR dessert.  They look a little bit like cookies but are a little softer and chewier, almost like a cookie/muffin top hybrid.  The chocolate in the peanut butter is enough to satisfy my cravings and the sweetness in the bananas means that you don’t need to add any sugar.  I may or may not have snuck a few of these right out of the freezer for a treat.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bites {Gluten-free} {Vegan}

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bites {Gluten-free} {Vegan}
 
Healthy chocolate, peanut butter and banana cookies.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 40 oatmeal bites
Ingredients
  • 2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal (make sure to use a gluten-free brand if avoiding gluten)
  • 1 cup Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
  • 1 cup mashed ripe banana (~2 medium bananas)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon table salt
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees; line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside
  2. In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients until well combined
  3. Use a mini cookie dough scoop or tablespoon to scoop batter onto prepared sheets about 1 inch apart
  4. Bake 7-10 minutes or until they are firm

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bites {Gluten-free} {Vegan}

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Fudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream Pie

Fudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream Pie

I was talking to some friends a few weeks ago about working out, eating healthy, etc.  For as long as I remember I’ve worked out hard most days of the week and watched what I ate 80% of the time.

Fudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream Pie

But when I started running a bakery full-time, things changed.  My days got longer and I started spending most of them on my feet.  My legs ache when I wake up in the morning and sometimes I’m too busy to care if I eat an extra broken cookie or five.

Fudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream Pie

They said to me, “but I’m sure you get sick of the desserts.”

Fudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream PieFudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream Pie

I wish.  Sure, every once and a while I’ll get sick of one item.  For instance, I always have extra brownie edges, so for a few days I got sick of the brownies.  But then there were the oatmeal cookies to go to… and then the triple chocolates.  There is no getting “sick” of sweets in my world.  It is either a curse or a blessing.

For the most part, I put those extra pieces on reserve in my freezer for friends and family, but every once and a while a few times a week I break into the stash.  Last week I even told Matt, “I accidentally ate a cookie.”

Is that even possible?

Fudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream Pie

So now that I know giving up dessert is pretty much impossible for this sugaraholic, I’m trying to find some items that are a good middle ground.  Not so healthy and fake-tasting that I end up eating what I was avoiding to begin with, but almost good for you but really satisfying so you think you are eating something else.

This pie is the perfect example of that.  There is an indulgent crunchy chocolate filling on the inside, but the other layers are lower in fat, including an “ice cream” made with bananas.  Fruit on the ingredient list means I can have an extra slice, right?  I also used a No Pudge brownie mix as well as fat free cool whip but you can use whatever you prefer.

Fudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream Pie

Fudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream Pie
This pie is adapted and inspired by an ice cream pie my mom used to make for me us.  When she finally gave me the recipe for the addicting crunchy filling I couldn’t wait to make a batch!
Serves 12

Ingredients:
1 package brownie mix plus ingredients called for on box
1/3 cup hot fudge, homemade or store bought
1 1/2 cups Chocolate Pie Crunch (below)
3 cups cool whip (1 1/2 8-ounce containers)
3 ripe medium bananas, broken into chunks and frozen

Directions:
Pre-heat oven according to brownie mix instructions
Grease or spray a 9-inch spring-form pan and set aside (if you pan is prone to leaking, wrap tin foil tightly around the bottom half)
Prepare brownie batter as directed on box; spread into prepared pan
Bake brownie for 20-25 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
While brownie is baking, prepare Chocolate Pie Crunch
When brownie is done, allow to cool for several minutes and then gently spread hot fudge over brownie while it is still warm
Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups Chocolate Pie Crunch
When brownie has completely cooled, spread cool whip over top; cover pan with foil and freeze for 30 minutes or until cool whip layer is firm
Once cool whip layer is firm, make the banana “ice cream’; place frozen bananas in a food processor and run on high for a few minutes until mixture is thick and creamy
Spread banana ice cream over cool whip
Cover pan with foil and place back in freezer 2 hours or until banana ice cream is firm

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Chocolate Pie Crunch
Makes 5 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 9-ounce package chocolate wafers
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside
Crush chocolate wafers into small pieces and place in a large bowl
Heat chocolate and oil in a small saucepan over low-medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is melted and smooth
Pour over crushed wafers immediately and stir until all cookie pieces are coated
Spread mixture out on baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes or until firm
Break into pea-sized pieces and store in a ziplock bag in freezer until ready for use

Extra can be stored in a ziplock bag in the freezer up to one month

Recipe courtesy of my mom who got it from a friend…

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Fudgy Brownie Crunch Banana Ice Cream Pie

This post is for PIE DAY (tomorrow June 20th)!  How are you celebrating?

Chocolate Covered Cookie Butter Pretzels

Chocolate Covered Cookie Butter Pretzels

Yes, I’m still alive.  I’ve just been buried in butter, sugar and chocolate… especially in the form of blondies over the last few weeks.  Keep It Sweet Desserts was lucky enough to get a very flattering mention in Star Magazine and readers have been calling, emailing and placing orders like crazy.  It is amazing.

Chocolate Covered Cookie Butter Pretzels

Some highlights include: “What makes your black and white blondies black and white?” (that would be the dark and white chocolate chips) as well as “Can I order over the phone? I don’t have an email address… or a computer.”  Can’t make this stuff up.

Chocolate Covered Cookie Butter Pretzels

And if I told you how much someone was willing to pay for overnight shipping for a rush delivery you might choke so I won’t mention that (ahem, over $100).  Hey, when you need brownies, you really need brownies.

Chocolate Covered Cookie Butter Pretzels

But last week in-between a college friend’s wedding hangover, a late night rush to the eye doctor for a scratched cornea, celebrating our 2nd anniversary and a list minute trip to Philadelphia to see my 94-year old grandfather (highlight: his reaction to the cost of college today, low: having to remind him that my grandmother died five years ago), I managed to get back into the kitchen for some actual recipe creation.

Let me pause to tell you that I absolutely love what I am doing.  But on weeks when I am busy processing orders for my regular cookies, brownies and bars, I miss my moments of creativity.  That is part of why I love the Cookie of the Month Club and a huge reason why I won’t stop blogging.  There is always something new and fun to do in the kitchen and I don’t want to lose those opportunities.  So when I finally had a few minutes of “play” time, I did something that I’ve wanted to do for a while.  I dipped pretzels in cookie butter and then in chocolate and sprinkled some sea salt in top.  Addicting snack? Father’s Day gift?  Party dessert?

Chocolate Covered Cookie Butter Pretzels
Makes 2 dozen

Ingredients:
2 dozen short salted pretzel rods
2/3 cup cookie butter (or any version of creamy speculoos)
6 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Sea salt, to taste

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside
Dip pretzels into cookie butter and place on lined baking sheet; freeze for thirty minutes or until cookie butter is firm
Melt chocolate in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in-between
Dip pretzels in chocolate and immediately sprinkle wish sea salt
Allow pretzels to cool before serving (I put them in the refrigerator to speed up the process)

Chocolate Covered Cookie Butter Pretzels

Fun and Easy Ice Cream Desserts to Start Your Summer

Is Memorial Day really this weekend?! Since I don’t want to think about wearing a bathing suit just yet, I’ll think about one of my favorite parts of summer… ice cream.  Well, I eat ice cream all year round, but there is something so nostalgic about going out for an ice cream cone on a summer night.  Whenever I do any summer entertaining, I can’t help but come up with a fun ice cream dessert to share.  Here are a few favorites that I’ve shared in the past:

Black Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes

Fun and Easy Ice Cream Desserts to Start Your Summer

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

Fun and Easy Ice Cream Desserts to Start Your Summer

Frozen Pumpkin and Chocolate Yogurt Pie with Salted Caramel Cream Sauce

Fun and Easy Ice Cream Desserts to Start Your Summer

Ice Cream Brownie

Fun and Easy Ice Cream Desserts to Start Your Summer

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Pie

Fun and Easy Ice Cream Desserts to Start Your Summer

Root Beer Float Ice Cream Cake

Fun and Easy Ice Cream Desserts to Start Your Summer

White Chocolate Cinnamon Bun Krispie Treats

White Chocolate Cinnamon Bun Krispie Treats

Rice Krispies = Breakfast

Cinnamon Buns = Breakfast

-> By the transitive property of food, Cinnamon Bun Rice Krispie Treats = Breakfast

White Chocolate Cinnamon Bun Krispie Treats

Obviously.

Last weekend I wanted to add an (almost) gluten-free treat to our Mother’s Day brunch spread for my sister to enjoy.  I’d been looking for a good way to use these fun marshmallows that my mom picked up for me a couple of months ago and this finally seemed like a good time to use them.  I always end up saving products like this as long as possible.  Kind of like the special eggs I’ve had in my fridge for a couple of months (hmm, that probably isn’t a good thing).

White Chocolate Cinnamon Bun Krispie Treats

Anyway, these treats ended up being the perfect way to use those marshmallows- they are extra cinnamon-y from the added cinnamon chips and the white chocolate drizzle adds a bit of creaminess to each bite.  What could be better for breakfast, brunch or… ahem, dessert?

White Chocolate Cinnamon Bun Krispie Treats

Head over to Fox for the recipe!

Fudgy Double Crème de Menthe Brownies

Fudgy Double Crème de Menthe Brownies

Saturday was a case of “I have a few hours in the kitchen to make non-KISD desserts, how much can I bake for the blog and how fast?”

Fudgy Double Crème de Menthe Brownies

Of course I had another reason to bake, other than for Matt to have three cupcakes as an afternoon snack.  And the reason wasn’t to give me an excuse to eat the last three brownies sliver by sliver until they “magically” disappeared.  But Matt was going to a birthday party and I was headed to a housewarming party and apparently when you run a bakery you are expected to bring baked goods.  Who knew?

Fudgy Double Crème de Menthe Brownies

In fact, any time I show up empty handed I get some pretty disappointed faces.  Even from our friends and family members on diets, they are always slyly trying to see if I have a plate/box/bag of goodies behind my back.

Fudgy Double Crème de Menthe Brownies

But I digress.  These brownies went to the birthday party and they were a perfect case of “what do I have on hand that needs to be used up?”  We had leftover mint buttercream in the freezer that has been taking up valuable real estate for a while and a bag of Andes pieces in the drawer from before the holidays.

Fudgy Double Crème de Menthe Brownies

Let me tell you, those two items did not go to waste.  These brownies were a heavenly combination of fudgy, creamy, rich and minty all at the same time.  A few hours after I finished the leftover brownies, I completely regretted not doubling the batch.  Looks like the rest of those Andes candies won’t be around for long!

Fudgy Double Crème de Menthe Brownies

Fudgy Double Creme de Menthe Brownies
 
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 12 servings
Ingredients
Brownies
  • 3 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, sliced
  • 1⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup Andes crème de menthe pieces or chopped Andes candies
Creme de Menthe Buttercream
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • ¼ cup creme de menthe
Instructions
Brownies
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Grease a 9x9 brownie pan or baking dish with cookie spray or butter; set aside
  3. In a large microwavable bowl, melt chocolate and butter by microwaving in 30-second increments and stirring in-between
  4. Whisk in sugar until well combined
  5. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until well combined
  6. Whisk in four just until combined
  7. Fold in crème de menthe pieces
  8. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake 25-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
  9. Set brownies aside to cool and prepare buttercream
Creme de Menthe Buttercream
  1. Beat butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer on high speed until light and creamy
  2. Add powdered sugar and crème de Menthe and mix on low until incorporated
  3. Increase speed to high and mix until filling is light and fluffy
  4. Spread buttercream over cooled brownies; slice and serve
Notes
Brownies adapted from Baker’s

 

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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Thick and Fudgy Peppermint Mocha Brownies

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The fudgiest brownies with creme de menthe candies AND frosting!

Magic Cake Bars for Easter

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For the record, Matt wanted me to take a picture of my hand over the cake and pretend it was the hand of our little niece or nephew helping in the kitchen. 1) We don’t have any nieces or nephews 2) No one wants to see my hands after twelve hour days in the kitchen and 3) Seriously? My hands aren’t THAT small.

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This is one of those desserts that you can make last minute for Easter with minimal time in the kitchen, just enough time to get some help from your little ones (if you have any).  And even though it is super simple, this is one of the most addicting things I’ve made in a while.  Moist cake with a crispy crunchy topping.  What’s not to love?

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Head over to Fox to get the recipe!

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Disclaimer:  I love box mixes and pre-made cookie dough, especially when I am as busy as I have been over the last couple of months.  However, all of the baked goods that I sell on my website or provide for any type of catering service are made completely from scratch.

Chewy Ginger Cookies {Gluten-free}

Chewy Ginger Cookies {Gluten-free}

Today I’m guest posting over on All Day I Dream About Food.  In case you’ve never been to Carolyn’s blog, she has an impressive collection of low carb and gluten-free desserts.  The woman has a real talent in the kitchen!  These cookies are another example of easy gluten-free baking:  No complicated ingredients and so easy to make!  Definitely go to say hi and see the recipe.

In other news, if you want to try some desserts on my website Julie at Willow Bird Baking and Lynn from The Actor’s Diet are hosting Keep It Sweet Dessert giveaways!  Be sure to check them out.

Spring Cleaning Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover’s Bark

Spring Cleaning Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover's Bark

One week down and I’m feeling really good about this working from home thing.  I’m sure that some of the beginner’s high will die down after a while, but I’m glad to be off to such a productive start!  Sure, I might have left out half of the baking soda in a cookie recipe and taken a batch of brownies out of the pan when they were still warm and too fragile to move, but it can’t all be perfect.  The upside (or downside?) of baking mistakes is that I get to eat those batches.  Hmm, maybe I need to be a bit more careful or I’m going to have to start doing INSANITY multiple times a day!

Spring Cleaning Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover's Bark

Speaking of baking mistakes, it seems that any time I make anything that requires melted chocolate for dipping I melt double or triple the chocolate I need.  A couple of weeks ago I found myself with a big bowl of melted chocolate and didn’t want it to go to waste.  I quickly flipped through my drawers and found a few bags of candy that were due to be used up.  Lots of chocolate and lots of peanut butter but not too much for some candy fun!  You can find the recipe for this highly addictive Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover’s Bark on Fox!

Spring Cleaning Chocolate & Peanut Butter Lover's Bark

Oh, and an exciting heads up!  The new website should be up by Monday so keep an eye out for the blog move.  I’ll be keeping everyone updated via Twitter and Facebook, but any RSS or e-mail subscribers are going to have to re-subscribe once the move is complete.

St. Patrick’s Day Mint Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

St. Patrick’s Day Mint Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

I’m usually so bad about coming up with holiday-themed desserts.  But today, in honor of my LAST DAY OF WORK and tomorrow being St. Patrick’s Day, I’m sharing something so easy that you won’t mind making it last minute.

St. Patrick’s Day Mint Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

The secret to these sandwiches is a pre-made wafer cookie.  Shhh, I won’t tell.  Stuff them with homemade mint buttercream and dip them in chocolate then no one will care.  Sometimes it is all about the buttercream anyway.

St. Patrick’s Day Mint Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

On another note, after today I’ll be starting my sort-of-new life where I generally work from home, create my own schedule and have to self-motivate.  My plan is to create a schedule for myself every Sunday night, get up early every morning for the gym (my usual) and then get dressed and work all day.  I’d love any tips you have on staying motivated and being efficient when you work from home!

St. Patrick’s Day Mint Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

Oh and suggestions on how to not end up in the kitchen eating cookies all day would probably be helpful too.

St. Patrick’s Day Mint Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

Oh wait, you want to know how to make these?  Head on over to Fox for the recipe!

St. Patrick’s Day Mint Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches

Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Today is my last Monday.

Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

And if feels incredible.  Ever since I gave my two-weeks notice at work, that heavy feeling that has haunted me for so many Sunday nights and Monday mornings over the past several months has been gone.  No more anxieties about what crazy work politics or project stresses might come up that week.  No worrying about today’s priorities and if they will get done.  Really, it is incredible.

Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Now, that isn’t to say that I’m not feeling a new sort of anxiety.  As I get closer to the launch of my new site and dare I say it, new life, things in that world seem scarier and more intimidating.  Right now I’m set to launch two weeks from today and as that day gets closer new thoughts of self-doubt form every day.  Maybe my cookies aren’t as good as I think.  Maybe this shipping plan is completely wrong.  Maybe my brownies are too fudgy to make it to California.  Maybe I am just completely insanely nuts for leaving my day job and embarking on this new world.  And that is only a small portion if it.

Leaving the corporate world to start my own business and work on something I am 100% passionate about is absolutely exciting, but it has its own nerve-racking elements that just come with the territory. And as much as they like to keep me up at night just a bit, I think that is a good thing.  Because honestly, what better motivation is there to succeed than the fear of failure?

This Monday is the end of an old world and the beginning of a new me.

Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

On a completely unrelated note, I made these cookies for my sister’s birthday a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted to make a few gluten-free recipes that didn’t include any crazy ingredients.  This recipe calls for almond meal which you can actually make yourself by grinding raw almonds in a food processor.  Almond flour is finer and might even improve the consistency, but either way you should end up with a chewy cookie oozing with chocolate and how can that be bad?

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes 26 cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups almond meal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Whisk together almond meal, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl
In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter, vanilla, and and brown sugar
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir until combined
Stir in chocolate chunks
Scoop cookie dough balls with a cookie dough scoop (2 tablespoons each) onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper 1-2 inches apart
Bake ~8 minutes or until cookies are firm
Allow to cool before serving
Adapted from Une Gamine dans La Cuisine who adapted the recipe from Elena’s Pantry

Easy Gluten-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Chewy No-Bake “Thin Mint” Bars

Chewy No-Bake “Thin Mint” Bars

Sometimes I have a million recipe ideas going through my head at a time and can’t get into the kitchen fast enough.

And sometimes I have baker’s block.

Chewy No-Bake “Thin Mint” Bars

Every cookie or brownie variation will feel overdone and the creative section of my brain goes into freeze mode.

Sometimes I really get stuck and just need a day or two out of the kitchen, and sometimes all I need is a visit down unused ingredients lane.

Chewy No-Bake “Thin Mint” Bars

Half a bag of marshmallows that are living on the edge of stale? Check.  An open package of Oreos that I need to bake with before Matt eats the last sleeve? Got that.   A half-used package of chocolate mint candies that was hidden in the back of the drawer for months? Don’t mind if I do.  Oh yeah, and butter.  I always have butter.

Chewy No-Bake “Thin Mint” Bars

I’m so glad I took advantage of what I had on hand because these bars came together quickly, with minimal dish washing and no oven time.  Sometimes the best baking is no baking at all!  Especially when the end result tastes like a Thin Mint.

Take that Girl Scouts.

Head over to Fox to get the recipe for my Chewy No-Bake “Thin Mint” Bars!

Flaxseed and Cracked Pepper Crackers

Two weeks*.

*someone please tell me I’m not jinxing myself

Flaxseed and Cracked Pepper Crackers

I can do anything for two more weeks, right? Keep secrets, work around the clock, do the equivalent of fifteen** jobs…

And in two weeks, I will finally be able to tell you what is going on.  Share with you what I’ve been wanting to share for a couple of months.  But until then, I’ll stuff my mouth with a handful of crackers if you ask.  Because secrets and sort-of lies are not my thing.  And if the stress of working around the clock with a huge amount of pressure to get things done and get them done well isn’t enough, the stress of being deceitful in any way is weighing on me in an unmeasurable way.

**slight exaggeration

Homemade Flaxseed and Cracked Pepper Crackers

So about these crackers!  If I had known how easy it would be to make crackers from scratch, I’d have started doing that long ago!  These crackers are full of whole grains and devoid of any preservatives or unreadable ingredients you get from your typical store-bought box.  So even if you eat handful after handful to silence yourself, you are in a pretty good place.

Homemade Flaxseed and Cracked Pepper Crackers

I got this recipe from the brand new Joy the Baker cookbook! I’ll be sharing a few more recipes over the next several weeks as I participate in a group of bloggers who have the opportunity to review Joy’s book.  Given that Joy’s blog was one of the first food blogs I ever read, to say I was excited about this is an understatement.

Flaxseed and Cracked Pepper Crackers
Source: Joy the Baker Cookbook
Makes 4 dozen crackers

Ingredients:
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons golden flaxseed, separated or 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour plus additional for rolling out dough
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used low fat)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees; line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside
In a small food processor or blender, grind three tablespoons of flax seed for one minute to produce 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed meal
In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, flaxseed, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt and pepper
Use a fork or your fingers to work butter into dry ingredients until you have small clumps of “dough”; not all dry ingredients will be binded together
Form a well in the center of the mix and pour buttermilk into the well; use a fork to combine until all of the dough is moist but shaggy
Roll the dough on a lightly floured work surface working half of the dough at a time; roll out with a rolling pin until dough is ~1/8 inch thick
Use a 1 1/2 inch round cookie cutter to shape crackers or cut with a pizza knife into 1 1/2 inch squares
Bake 15-18 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges and allow to cool
Store crackers in an airtight container up to four days
Notes: 
This is not your typical crunchy cracker.  I tried cooking them a little longer after the fact to get some crunch and ended up burning them (guess 15 extra minutes without checking on them was a bit too long).
I made smaller crackers (<1 1/2 inches x 1 inch each) and ended up with double the number of crackers.

Homemade Flaxseed and Cracked Pepper Crackers

To win a free copy of Joy’s cookbook visit girlichef!

This post is part of the Joy the Baker Cookbook Spotlight and Cook-Off sponsored by Hyperion and hosted at girlichef.  I received a free copy of the Joy the Baker Cookbook but all opinions expressed are my own.

Fun Pick-Up Desserts for Super Bowl

Fun Pick-Up Desserts for Super Bowl

It’s Thursday before Super Bowl and you’ve probably seen so many versions of buffalo chicken dip that your head is about to explode with hot sauce.  I love the traditional salty/creamy/fried/cheesy items as much as the next person, but it doesn’t mean that we can forget about dessert.  So for those of you looking for some fun pick-up desserts to add to the mix, here are some of my favorite less traditional ideas.

Bite Sized Chocolate Chip Cookies with Mocha Ganache A football game is the perfect excuse for delicious bite-sized cookie sandwiches

Blueberry Pretzel Clusters Three ingredients and probably five minutes to make, what’s not to love?

Fun Pick-Up Desserts for Super Bowl

Chewy Chocolate Covered Pretzel Bars These are one of the easiest things to make and they will please any sweet and salty lover; no fancy baking skills required

Double Chocolate Mint Crispy Treats These were a huge hit at my sister-in-law’s shower; another super easy recipe

Fun Pick-Up Desserts for Super Bowl

Grown Up S’mores Cookies Even the biggest chip and dip lover can’t resist

Individual Peanut Butter Cheesecakes, lightened up You can still enjoy cheesecake at the super bowl with these individual treats

Individual S’mores Brownies You might want to make a double batch

Kitchen Sink Cookies and Bars Throw in whatever ingredients you feel like, even the leftover broken pieces of potato chips and pretzels will work

Oreo Mallow Clusters Substitute the peeps with regular marshmallows for these super easy chocolate treats

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Pretzel Pops These are actually a little bit healthy, really!

Pumpkin Pie Cookie Dough Truffle Pops I may or may not have eaten a few of these out of the freezer the other night

Fun Pick-Up Desserts for Super Bowl

Thick and Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate and Toffee Bars I can’t wait to have an excuse to make these again

Now can someone please tell my body that calories don’t count during the Super Bowl?

Reese’s Pieces Cake Bars

Easy Reese’s Pieces Cake Bars

Sometimes you get busy.  There is week-old laundry to put away, streaked kitchen counters that need to be scrubbed and recipes to test.

There are websites to be designed, photos to be edited, and post-dessert workouts to get done.

Easy Reese’s Pieces Cake Bars

But there is also a blog to attend to and readers getting impatient.  Those readers who hate you for ruining their New Year’s resolutions in January but love you for making delicious desserts come so easy.  That has been the theme recently, hasn’t it? Easy cookies, easy truffles and now easy cake.

I know I’m not the only one around here that has a to-do list from one end of the apartment to the other.  Email drafts, post-it notes, calendar reminders and the worst ones, those where you take a mental note and say, “yes, I will remember this” but three days later you are in the middle of your shower and you think, “oh crap.”

Easy Reese’s Pieces Cake Bars

I am so thankful for easy desserts.


Reese’s Pieces Cake Bars
Makes 20 cake bars

Ingredients:
Reese’s Pieces Cake
1 chocolate cake mix plus ingredients called for on box, replacing oil with creamy peanut butter (my cake mix called for 1/3 cup of oil so I ignored that and used 1/3 cup of peanut butter)
3/4 cups Reese’s Mini Pieces or regular Reese’s Pieces lightly chopped
Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar

To make the cake
Pre-heat oven as directed on box
Spray a 13×9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray
Follow directions on cake box, substituting peanut butter for oil; stir in Reese’s Pieces
Pour cake batter into prepared baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
Allow cake to cool

To make Frosting
Beat butter with an electric mixer until light and creamy
Beat in peanut butter until well combined
Add sugar and stir until combined; then increase speed to high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy
Ice cooled cake with prepared frosting and serve

Easy Reese’s Pieces Cake Bars

Where do you keep your to-do lists?

Spiced Cookie Butter Truffles

Spiced Cookie Butter Truffles

I think my husband/mother/co-workers/sister/friends/Twitter followers/neighbors/strangers are getting sick of me.  To be honest, I’m getting a little sick of me too.

Spiced Cookie Butter Truffles

No one wants to constantly hear about stress/anxiety/weight gain/impatience and any other complaints that seem to be incessantly on my mind these days.  If I didn’t have a constant supply of cookies/cupcakes/brownies/truffles/blondies to share I’d probably be completely deserted already.  But I’m pretty sure that the sweets I make can only get me so far and I better start looking at the positive or keeping my mouth shut.

Spiced Cookie Butter Truffles

So to make up for driving everyone I know crazy lately, here are some good things you should know:

  • Last night I got a gorgeous cookbook in the mail from this talented lady.  Everything looks good but her recipe for crab cakes is definitely calling my name
  • In addition to that delivery, my doorwoman (is that a term?) presented me with a big box of an upcoming product from here
  • After testing what feels like a million brownie recipes, my husband finally approved of the latest version and in fact said they were “ridiculous”
  • Friday night I have a date with this lady who I haven’t seen in over a month, thank g-d because I don’t think I could have lasted much longer
  • I finally get to meet the sweet veggie dreamgirl today!
  • Sometime soon you will find my recipes on a very.big.website.
  • And lastly, I got something over email that I can NOT wait to share and to be honest, all of this sketchy secret keeping is driving me nuts… I promise to share my news and plans soon!

Spiced Cookie Butter Truffles

Oh, and did I mention truffles?  If you haven’t heard about this speculoos/cookie butter/biscoff spread phenomenon you are five pounds thinner than me missing out.  These truffles may actually melt in your hands a little bit, but sometimes a messy dessert is worth it.

Spiced Cookie Butter Truffles
Yield: Makes ~30 truffles

Ingredients
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup Speculoos Cookie Butter or Biscoff Spread
2/3 cup finely ground gingersnap crumbs (~11 cookies)
4 ounces semi-sweet or dark chocolate finely chopped

Cooking Directions
Beat butter and cookie butter with an electric mixer on high speed until light and creamy
Add cookie crumbs and combine on high speed until thoroughly mixed
Refrigerate mixture for at least two hours
Scoop mixture by the teaspoon and roll each scoop into the ball; keep dough in refrigerator while scooping individual truffles
Once all balls are rolled, place them back in refrigerator or freezer
Melt chocolate; place chocolate in a microwaveable bowl and place in microwave for thirty second increments stirring in-between until chocolate is melted and smooth
Drizzle melted chocolate over chilled balls and freeze until ready to serve

Spiced Cookie Butter Truffles

What’s putting a smile on your face today?

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Easy Lemon Shortbread Cookies

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So here’s the thing.  I used to hate lemon desserts. And I used to hate shortbread. But that was when I thought all lemon desserts tasted like the filling to lemon meringue pie (still grosses me out) and all shortbread was boring and flavorless.

Lemon Shortbread Cookies 14

But at some point in the last couple of years, something clicked.  And while it would do my body good to become more picky about what range of desserts I will eat, my palate started to appreciate those two categories of sweets.

Some things can have a lovely lemon flavor but they don’t have to be sickeningly sweet.  Shortbread can be chewy and buttery and wonderful.  Who knew?

Lemon Shortbread Cookies 10

So when I had a minor baking mishap in the kitchen a few weeks ago and ended up half-way to shortbread dough, it occurred to me that I didn’t need to throw away the pound of butter that I’d already creamed.  Instead, I should make lemons out of lemonade take advantage of the ingredients I had on hand and make something else.

The end result was a pleasant surprise.  Chewy shortbread cookies with just the right amount of lemon- not overpowering, but refreshing.  And refreshing is good when biting into a rich shortbread cookie.

If you want an even stronger lemon flavor, you could probably add some lemon zest to your batter.  But I’m still easing into this lemon dessert thing so I’ll stop while I’m ahead.
Easy Lemon Shortbread Cookies
Yield: Makes 5 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients
4 cups all purpose flour
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
4 tablespoons lemon juice (~3 lemons)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cooking Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Line baking sheets with parchment paper or slipat; set aside
Sift flour; set aside
Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy
Add lemon juice, vanilla and salt and beat until well combined
Stir in flour
Scoop with a medium cookie dough scoop (2 tablespoons each) onto prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart
Bake for ~15 minutes or until very light brown around the edges
Allow cookies to cool on cooling rack

Lemon Shortbread Cookies 2

What type of dessert did you used to hate but learn to love?

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Chewy Gooey Cinnamon Toffee Blondies {Guest Post}

Chewy Gooey Cinnamon Toffee Blondies

Sorry, guys.  I tried to be nice but I just couldn’t keep these from you any longer.  I know, you are barely a week into your resolutions and trying to stay strong, but put down your carrot stick, break out your whisk (no mixer required), and make a batch of these.  Your mouth will immediately thank you because my Chewy Gooey Cinnamon Toffee Blondies are seriously the best blondies I’ve ever had.

Chewy Gooey Cinnamon Toffee Blondies

If you are ready to give into your sweet tooth, or at least save a recipe for your next get together (Super Bowl anyone?), head over to A Culinary Journey with Chef Dennis to get the recipe.  Dennis was kind enough to invite me to guest post and I would love if you would go and say hi!

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22 Easy Dessert Recipes that Make You Seem Like a Pro

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I recently ran into a friend of mine that said she loved my blog but that she could never make any of the desserts I put together because 1) they are hard/time consuming and 2) she doesn’t have any of the “random” ingredients on hand.  As someone who works full time and bakes and blogs any chance I get, I know how valuable quick and easy dessert recipes can be.  I also know that living in a small apartment with a tiny kitchen makes it hard to keep things as simple as brown sugar on hand.  As a result, I’ve compiled a couple lists of recipes that would be helpful for those of you who don’t have all of the basics or even a lot of time to bake.

To start with, I’ve got a handful of “cake mix” recipes (i.e. recipes that start with pre-made cookie dough or cake mix but turn into something more special):

black bottom ice cream cupcake

RootBeerFloatIceCreamCake28_thumb

And if you have a few basic ingredients and tools on hand (I’ve listed some suggestions below), these recipes won’t require a massive shopping trip:

chewychocolatecoveredpretzelbars5_thumb

Individual-Smores-Brownies-7_thumb

peanut butter cup ice cream pie

And for those of you who are putting together a kitchen and want to be able to make a few basic desserts, here are a few things I’d recommend to start:

Ingredients

  • Unsalted butter
  • Canola oil
  • Large eggs
  • Semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • Granulated sugar
  • Light brown sugar
  • All-purpose flour

Baking Tools

  • Large mixing bowl
  • Long spoon for mixing batter
  • Spatula
  • Muffin tin
  • 13×9 baking pan
  • Cookie sheet
  • Parchment paper (or you could invest in a Slipat)

What is your favorite low-maintenance recipe? Share any links in the comment section!

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Caramel Apple Cake Trifle and Giveaway!

Caramel Apple Cake Trifle

I don’t know about you, but I am swimming in leftovers.  The thing is, I can’t decide if it is a good or bad thing.  I have plenty of food to get us through the next few days.  But really, how much turkey can one person eat?  If only I could get sick of cookies the way I could get sick of turkey.  It just doesn’t seem to happen.

But even with half of a chocolate pecan pie left, a bowl of caramel sauce, dozens of cookies in my freezer, and a tight pants, I always am ready to bake something new.  After many Thanksgiving-related hours spent in the kitchen cooking, baking and cleaning, though, I welcome something easy.  Something where I don’t have to pull out my mixer, wait for butter to soften or open up a few cookbooks.  Something that only requires a few more minutes of active time on my feet.

Caramel Apple Cake Trifle

That is where this layered beauty comes into play.  While I don’t always advocate box mixes and canned fruit, there really is a time and a place.  And when you come up with something that incorporates those shortcuts, is creative, and looks impressive, no one has to know that a box mix was involved.  Usually your friends will be too busy asking for seconds to even think about it.

For this trifle, I used one of Dunkan Hines new decadent cake mixes.  I chose the Apple Caramel flavor because, how could a cake that is gooey and moist be bad?  It can’t.  Even by itself the cake tastes pretty good, but layered with Comstock apple pie filling, cinnamon flavored cool whip, cheesecake pudding and gingersnap crumbs it is even better.

And better news for you, I have some cake mixes to give away!  Two readers will win coupons for four free Dunkan Hines products (details below).
Caramel Apple Cake Trifle
Serves 8

Ingredients:
1/2 of a prepared Dunkan Hines Apple Caramel Cake
1 15.75-ounce can Comstock apple pie filling
1 8-ounce container of cinnamon flavored cool whip (if you can’t find that, fold cinnamon into regular cool whip to taste)
1 prepared 1-ounce container cheesecake pudding mix
1/2 cup gingersnap crumbs (about 8 cookies)

Directions:
Cut cake in to 1-inch cubes
Layer ingredients in a large trifle dish or bowl as follows: cake, pie filling, cool whip, cookie crumbs, pudding
Repeat layers again and top with extra cookie crumbs
Best served immediately; cover with saran wrap and store trifle in refrigerator up to 4 days

Caramel Apple Cake Trifle

Giveaway Details:

The giveaway is open through Wednesday, November 30 at midnight est.  The giveaway is open to anyone and there are three ways to enter (please leave a separate comment for each entry):

1) Mandatory Entry: Leave a comment below, anything you want!

2) Follow Keep It Sweet on Twitter

3) Like Keep It Sweet on Facebook

Disclaimer:  I received the coupons for Dunkin Hines cake mix and Comstock pie filling as a part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.  All of the opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread {Guest Post}

Making Pumpkin Bread 1

Hi, friends!  I have so much to share with you from my Foodbuzz weekend but an apartment full of boxes is keeping me from the blog right now.  In fact, I still haven’t found my underwear (thank G-d for now having a washer and dryer in the apartment!).  On the upside, I don’t have to go to the gym yet since I can’t find my sneakers either. 

In the meantime, I have another guest post for you.  This one is from my amazing sister, Jessica.  She is the reason I started the blog so I owe all of my Keep It Sweet life to her.  The best part about this guest post? I get to eat this delicious pumpkin bread when she brings it for Thanksgiving.

Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Full disclosure: I do not bake. My sister and my mom – they bake. Me – I cook. I clean the dishes when they bake. But any time I try to bake, I am reminded of why I don’t bake.

Despite this fact, I offered to do a guest post for my sister while she takes care of the 8 million other things going on in her life. Ya’ know, like moving and preparing to host Thanksgiving dinner for our family.

So I decided to make one of my mom’s classic and easy recipes – pumpkin bread. Classic because everyone knows it and loves it. Easy because I was able to make it through the whole recipe without asking any questions. And to add my own little touch, I took one of my mom’s favorite touches – chocolate chips and cinnamon sugar – and put it in the center. And here’s what I got: Cinnamon Sugar Swirl, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread 1

Of course, being the non-baker that I am, something still went wrong. When the top of the loaf started burning and spilling over the edges before the center was cooked, I realized that I filled the pan way too high. Note to self: When they say flour makes bread rise, they mean it. Take that into consideration before filling a pan to the top.

Making Pumpkin Bread 7

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Cinnamon Sugar Swirl, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Adapted from My Favorite Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

Dry:

3 cups sugar

3 ½ cups flour

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp salt

Wet:

1 cup oil

2 cups pumpkin

2/3 cup water

4 eggs

Filling:

2 ounces semi-sweet mini chocolate chips plus additional for sprinkling on top

2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (I used a pre-mixed version but you can make your own to taste)

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

First mix the dry ingredients, then mix them in with the wet ingredients.

Spray two 2-pound loaf pans.

Fill pans about halfway and then sprinkle cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips.

Pour batter on top, filling the pan about ¾ of the way (take it from me, you don’t want to fill it all the way).  Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips.

Cook at 350 for about an hour.

Enjoy Smile

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Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread 3

Gooey Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars (Gluten-Free)

Gooey Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars 6

My busy schedule these days has been keeping me from as much time in the kitchen as I would like.  There are so many recipes that I’ve been dying to try, but they keep getting put on the back-burner.  Luckily, I found a really easy but tasty dessert to make this past weekend.

These bars actually are derived from the back of my gluten-free oatmeal package.  They are on the bag as cookies, but baking them in bar form just seemed so much easier at the time.  I’m glad I did because they baked up to be the perfect chewy, gooey bars!  You would never know that there is no butter or flour in these babies!

Gooey Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars 8

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Gooey Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars (Gluten-Free)

Yield: Serves 24

Ingredients

  • 3 cups gluten-free rolled oats (oatmeal is naturally gluten-free but may be processed with other gluten foods; check the package if serving anyone who has a gluten allergy)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup smooth natural salted peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray
  2. Whisk together oatmeal and baking soda; set aside
  3. Beat peanut butter on high speed until light and creamy
  4. Beat in applesauce
  5. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy
  6. Add egg whites and vanilla; beat on medium speed until combined
  7. Stir in oatmeal mixture
  8. Stir in chocolate
  9. Pour batter into prepared pan
  10. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until knife comes out clean
  11. Allow to cool before slicing
  12. Store at room temperature in a covered container up to 2 days or freeze up to 1 month

Note:  Adapted from Trader Joe’s oatmeal package.[/print_this]

Do you have any good gluten-free recipes?

Pumpkin S’more Muffins

Pumpkin S'more Muffins 4

So the Northeast kind of got slapped in the face by the end of summer.  We were welcomed back to work on the day after Labor Day with grey skies and non-stop rain.  Well hello, real life!

Despite the unofficial end of a quick but wonderful summer, today actually wasn’t too bad.  Starting work on a Tuesday instead of Monday is always a plus and next week will be the same!  Matt and I have a weekend trip planned for just the two of us.  I like to think of it as a little belated anniversary celebration, but it also overlaps with his birthday on Monday!  It should be a fun few days.

The second thing that kept today’s mood up is that the next few weeks are going to continue to be crazy but also really great.  After this weekend, I can still look forward to the WifeStyle Conference, my 5-year reunion in Atlanta  with my best friends (!!!), the excuse to eat copious amounts of food High Holidays and  an exciting opportunity that (hopefully) has come my way.  Cross your fingers for me.

Pumpkin S'more Muffins 15

And finally, what made today even better was the smell of some amazing fall baked goods in my apartment.  Yesterday when we got home, Matt and I both spent some time in the kitchen.  He made a huge pot of turkey chili (so perfect for this dreary weather) and I had a mini baking marathon.  I know I’ve said this before, but spending time in the kitchen is the best therapy.  Over the last couple of months, I’ve been a little busier than usual and haven’t had much time to bake.  Just a few hours of quality time with my mixer reminded me of that sense of joy I get when I make something that I know will put a smile on someone’s face.

One of my favorite things about fall is pumpkin.  To be honest, I eat pumpkin all year long, but it isn’t until the fall that most people are ready to celebrate the flavor with me.  Since I love pumpkin muffins and the entire world is obsessed with s’mores, I figured I should combine the two into Pumpkin S’more Muffins.

Pumpkin S'more Muffins 11

This recipe is so easy thanks to the help of a cake mix, but if you want to make your muffin batter from scratch and have a couple of extra minutes, this is my favorite recipe.

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Pumpkin S’more Muffins

Yield: Makes 2 dozen muffins

Ingredients

  • 5 or 6 graham cracker sheets
  • 1 15.25 ounce box yellow cake mix
  • 1 small can (15 ounces) pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup (~3) egg whites
  • 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 cups mini marshmallows

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 muffin tins by greasing or spraying with cooking spray
  2. Break graham cracker sheets into pieces and fit them into muffin tins to act as a crust; set aside remaining graham crackers and crumbs for topping
  3. Combine cake mix, pumpkin, water, egg whites and pumpkin pie spice with an electric mixer on low speed just until combined
  4. Stir in chocolate chips
  5. When batter is ready, fill each prepared cup with about 1/2 cup of batter
  6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean
  7. Remove muffins from oven and press 4-5 marshmallows into top center of each and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs
  8. Place back in oven for 1-2 or until marshmallows have puffed
  9. Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing muffins from pans

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Adapted from these brownies

Pumpkin S'more Muffins 13

What made today a good day for you?

Cookies ‘n Cream Almond Butter Spread

Cookies n Cream Almond Butter Spread 13

I like to have a variety of nut butters available to eat at any given time.  As of last night, there were six open jars in my kitchen.  I’m not going  to tell you how many unopened jars are in the cabinets.  Let’s just say that I invest in peanut butter like some people invest in the stock market.  At the rate the market is going these days, I think I’m the smart one.

Cookies n Cream Almond Butter Spread 14

Some time between last night and this morning, I decided that six jars of nut butter just weren’t going to cut it.  Time to make a new one!  And of course a dessert-y nut butter would be appropriate.

Cookies n Cream Almond Butter Spread 16

Have you ever dipped an Oreo into peanut butter?  No?  Okay, go try it, now.  And then buy bigger pants.  Have you ever dipped an Oreo into almond butter? I hadn’t either, but it seemed like a good idea.  It seemed like an even better idea to merge the two foods though.  Oreo cookies in my almond butter? That’s right.

Cookies n Cream Almond Butter Spread 5

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Cookies ‘n Cream Almond Butter Spread

Yield: Makes ~1 cup or 16 tablespoons

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups roasted salted almonds
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons almond milk
  • 2 Oreos (can use gluten-free)

Cooking Directions

  1. Grind almonds in food processor until creamy, stopping to scrape the sides every minute or so
  2. Once creamy and wet, add vanilla and almond milk
  3. Blend until completely combined
  4. Add Oreos and blend for another minute
  5. Store in a jar or tupperware in refrigerator up to 10 days

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Cookies n Cream Almond Butter Spread 18

A couple off topic items:

Jackie from La Casa de Sweets organized a way for all of us to help raise money in Africa to help with the food crisis.  Click here to help.

Steve’s race is this weekend!  Help him get to his new goal of $10,000 and raise money for cancer research!!

We are getting closer to the sweet and salty blog party.  Email me to include your recipes (up to two per person)!  keepitsweetlcl at gmail dot com.

How many jars of nut butter do you have on hand?

Nutter Butter Bars {Guest Post}

Nutter Butter Bars 1

Wow, I can’t believe it is the last day of my official vacation.  It has been good to get away from real life for a bit but I miss my regular baking and blogging.  I promise to get back to that soon!  Luckily, I have another amazing guest post today.  My blog friends seem to know me so well and Alex from Yums and Loves is here with a delicious looking recipe for Nutter Butter Bars.  Alex blogs about cooking, baking and life.  Of course my favorite posts are all about the desserts:  Sugar High Fridays, Funfetti Pound Cake, and Peanut Butter Wrapped Chocolate Cookies

Hello Keep it Sweet readers! I’m Alex and I blog over at Yums and Loves.  I like to write about all sorts of food, but also everyday life.  I’ve been an avid reader of Lauren’s blog so I was thrilled to be writing for her!  She has some great recipes and I love her writing.  When I started thinking about a recipe to share with the Keep it Sweet readers I had several ideas.  I knew I wanted to make a sweet dish, you just can’t beat a tasty treat.  I decided to go with a combination that I know both Lauren and I love… peanut butter and chocolate!

Nutter Butter Bars 2

I made a triple layer bar with chocolate, Nutter Butter cookies, and a whole lotta peanut butter!   They were very easy to put together and almost a no-bake treat.  The crust was simply crushed Nutter Butters with melted butter.  Topped with a mixture of peanut butter and powdered sugar.  The final layer is chocolate and you guessed it… more peanut butter!  This will definitely suit your peanut butter and chocolate cravings.  Easy to make….and so fun to eat!

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Nutter Butter Bars

Makes one 9×13 pan

For the Crust:

one package Nutter Butter cookies

6 Tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 325. 

Crush cookies in food processor until you have fine crumbs. 

Combine cookie crumbs with melted butter. 

Press into the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan.

Bake for 6 minutes.

Peanut butter filling:

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

½ cup softened butter

1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients using a hand mixer.  Beat together until smooth. 

Layer on top of cooled crust. 

Chocolate topping:

In your microwave melt 1 ½ cups chocolate chips and if you want even extra peanut butter flavor add a heaping spoonful of peanut butter! 

Melt for 30 seconds, stir and continue in 30 second intervals until smooth.

Pour on top of your peanut butter layer.  

Let completed bars sit for at least an hour to harden up. 

I added a few mini Nutter Butters for garnish on top. 

Serve to all your peanut butter and chocolate loving friends!

[/print_this]Nutter Butter Bars 3

Thanks Lauren for letting me share a recipe with your readers.  I had a great time writing for you….let’s do it again!

Individual S’mores Brownies

Individual Smores Brownies 7

You may or may not be on s’mores overload.  For some reason, as many recipes as I’ve seen that put s’mores in some form of cookie/brownie/rice krispie treat, etc. it just doesn’t get old.

Individual Smores Brownies 22

So of course when I was putting together some baked good packages for a friend I had to include something s’mores.  I wanted it to be something that would travel in the mail without losing its form or taste in a couple of days.  These Individual S’mores Brownies seemed up for the challenge.

Individual Smores Brownies 10

I used a simple crust of graham cracker, my favorite brownie recipe, and topped them off with marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs.  They are easy to make but cute and delicious to eat.  The graham crackers add a nice texture to each bite and of course the gooey marshmallow tops it off nicely.

Individual Smores Brownies 1

Take these to your next barbecue!

Individual Smores Brownies 14

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Individual S’mores Brownies

Yield: Makes 2 dozen brownies

Ingredients

  • 5 or 6 graham cracker sheets
  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 cups mini marshmallows

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare 2 muffin tins by greasing or spraying with cooking spray
  2. Break graham cracker sheets into pieces and fit them into muffin tins to act as a crust; set aside remaining graham crackers and crumbs for topping
  3. Melt butter and chocolate in large sauce pan over low to medium heat
  4. You can also melt chocolate and butter in the microwave (I recommend heating for 30 seconds at a time and stirring to prevent burning the chocolate)
  5. Whisk in sugar
  6. Whisk in eggs and vanilla
  7. Whisk in flour until smooth
  8. When batter is smooth, spoon about 3 tablespoons of batter into each prepared cup
  9. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until tops are puffed up slightly and toothpick comes out clean
  10. Remove brownies from oven and press 4-5 marshmallows into top center of brownies and sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs
  11. Place back in oven for 1-2 or until marshmallows have puffed
  12. Remove from oven and allow to cool before removing brownies from pans

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Inspired by Young Married Chic and Hot Blondies.  Brownie recipe from Bakers.

Individual Smores Brownies 29

What is your favorite way to enjoy s’mores?

Frozen Mocha Brownie Torte

Frozen Mocha Brownie Torte 10

So what did you think of the Peanut Butter Party? A few people suggested having a weekly party with different themes and I’m considering it. Let me know if that is something you’d like to see!

Frozen Mocha Brownie Torte 25

This past weekend was the first weekend all summer we didn’t travel anywhere. Matt and I just recently started house hunting* and needed a full Saturday to explore some new areas and get a better understanding of our options. It is scary and exciting at the same time. I can’t help but get enthusiastic when we see places that have more than double the square footage of our current home, a gorgeous kitchen and lots of natural light. The thing is, it’s kind of like registering for wedding gifts. A few days after we registered, Matt went looking in the kitchen for our new knives. I had to remind them that we wouldn’t have them until someone bought them for us. That hope for instant gratification gives the process some extra emotional ups and downs. I know we need to take our time and closing on a home isn’t a 24-hour event.

*By house hunting I mean 2-bedroom apartment hunting. Hey, one can dream:-)

Frozen Mocha Brownie Torte 4

Luckily, when it comes to dessert, there is instant satisfaction. After the long day in the real estate jungle, all I wanted was some summer comfort food. I try to steer clear of stress eating, but sometimes you just need a carton of ice cream some chocolate.  That night, I was happy to find some of this Frozen Mocha Brownie Torte still in my freezer.

Frozen Mocha Brownie Torte 12

I created this dessert because I wanted something chocolaty and decadent but still light enough to enjoy during summer.  The coffee I used was a sample from Godiva that I received through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.  (I was actually pretty excited about this because I’ve been drinking their new Chocolate Truffle flavor in iced coffee form every morning.  If you like coffee and you like chocolate, it is a winner!)  The fudgy layer of brownie is topped with a mocha mousse filling, a layer of chopped Oreos and whipped topping.  You can make it really decadent with regular brownies or keep things light with something like No Pudge.

Frozen Mocha Brownie Torte 1

Disclaimer: I received free coffee samples from Godiva, but the opinions I expressed are all my own.

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Frozen Mocha Brownie Torte

Yield: Serves 12

Ingredients

  • 1 brownie mix with ingredients listed on box
  • 1 3.4 ounce container instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup strong brewed Godiva Chocolate Truffle coffee
  • 1 8-ounce container of cool whip, separated
  • 14 Oreos broken into pieces

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a spring-form pan with non-stick cooking spray
  2. Prepare brownie mix as directed and bake in spring-form pan
  3. While brownie is cooling, prepare mousse layer; whisk together pudding mix, milk and coffee until well combined (about 2 minutes)
  4. Fold 1/2 cup cool whip into pudding mixture; spread over brownie
  5. Spread Oreo pieces evenly over mousse filling
  6. Spread remainder of cool whip over Oreos
  7. Freeze dessert for two hours or until filling is firm
  8. Will stay good in freezer for up to a week

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Frozen Mocha Brownie Torte 33

Have you bought a home?  Any advice for someone looking?

Cajun Brownies with Potato Chips

I’m so excited to share a guest post from Lynn at The Actor’s Diet.  I like to think of her as a celebrity blog friend:-)  Lynn documents her daily eats and her life in LA so well that readers feel like they know her.  Although she enjoys dessert, she doesn’t normally do a ton of baking.  However, these brownies looked so interesting and delicious that I wanted her to share them with you.

Hello “Keep it Sweet” Readers!  My name is Lynn Chen, and I’m an actress.  My blog, “The Actor’s Diet,” follows my life in Hollywood, meal by meal.  For years, I struggled with binge eating and anorexia, and took time off to come to terms with my body image and eating disorders.  The blog has really helped me forge a new relationship with food that I never imagined was possible.

These days, I often get asked how I stay looking camera ready, and the truth is – I don’t diet.  I don’t exercise.  I don’t count calories.  And I eat dessert, every single day.  So of course, I love Lauren’s blog and her sweet creations.

Unfortunately, I’m not much of a baker.  I don’t like measuring, mixing, waiting, or cleaning up.  But recently I did come up with a recipe for Cajun Brownies with Potato Chips that I’m pretty proud of.  It combines a lot of my favorite flavors – sweet, salty, and spicy – with a unique texture.  You can read more about my thought process behind the creation on my blog, but here’s the recipe!

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Cajun Brownies with Potato Chips

Ingredients

  • 10 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup egg whites
  • 1/2 cup white flour
  • 1 cup Cajun-flavored Potato Chips, crushed

Cooking Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
  2. In a bowl, combine the cocoa powder, salt, and flour
  3. Melt the butter, and add it to the dry ingredients, along with the vanilla and egg whites; stir until combined (40-ish strokes, I’m only guessing, Alice!) then fold in the potato chips
  4. Pour into a greased 8×8 Pyrex and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges slightly moist (20 was all I needed)

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(adapted from Alice Medrich’s Best Cocoa Brownies)

Strawberry Banana Bread and Childhood Friends

strawberry banana bread 25

Another summer weekend has come and gone and I feel like time is really flying.  I spent this past weekend in Philly for a bachelorette party and bridal shower for one of my best friends since fourth grade.  One of my favorite things about weddings is the series of events where you get to be with a group of friends who wouldn’t normally be in one place.  Seeing a half dozen girls that I’ve known since elementary school and catching up on life was so nice.  The most amazing part is that we can all do such different things with our lives but still come back to the same place and connect.  The group of girls (or women I guess I should say now!) included a lawyer, a doctor, two teachers, a marketing coordinator and an assignment editor at a local news station.  We live in different cities along the east coast and are a range of single, engaged and married but still we have that same place in our hearts for where we grew up.

strawberry banana bread 16

This Strawberry Banana Bread is a post for the Secret Recipe Club.  If you haven’t heard about it before, the Secret Recipe Club is a community of bloggers that, once a month, picks a recipe from a selected blog to make and share on his or her blog.  It is a great way to find new blogs to read and see what different types of things people are making.  For this month, I was able to choose a recipe from Katherine Martinelli.  She has a wonderful blog with a ton of delicious looking recipes.  There are a lot of savory dishes I want to try, but for Keep It Sweet, I obviously went with a baked good.

strawberry banana bread 29

Thanks to several overripe bananas, I chose to make Katherine’s Banana-Walnut Bread.  The changes I made were to replace the butter with fat free plain greek yogurt, reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup, use all whole wheat flour, skip the walnuts and add about a cup of chopped strawberries as she suggested.  The bread was moist and flavorful.  It was a great way to use up some produce on the end of its life!  Check out Katherine’s blog and go here for the original recipe.

strawberry banana bread 12

Do you keep in touch with any childhood friends? How often do you see them?


Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone's favorite - Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes you just want a chocolate chip cookie.  There are very few things that smell as good warm out of the oven and even fewer things that will illicit a memory as wonderful as dunking a homemade chocolate chip cookie into a cold glass of cold milk.

When all you want is a Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie...

My fond memories of eating the cookies standing up in the kitchen with my mom, before they even made it to the cooling rack, are some of my favorites.  I think memories like that are the reason that after a long day at work or a rainy day on the couch, all I want is a batch of couple chocolate chip cookies.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - what else could you need?!
These cookies are chewy (sorry, Dad), melt in your mouth and have that slight caramel flavor resulting from a higher portion of brown sugar to white.  Just a warning: they are dangerously addictive if you are trying to show some sign of portion control.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: Makes ~2 ½ dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
  2. In a medium bowl. whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside
  3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Mix in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla
  4. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined
  5. Stir in the chocolate chips
  6. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours (or up to 24 hours)
  7. Use a cookie dough scoop (about 2 tablespoons) to lay out dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart
  8. Bake cookies until golden brown, 12-14 minutes
  9. Cool cookies on cooling rack and enjoy

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Source: The Brown Eyed Baker and Serious Eats, originally from Baking Illustrated

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

What is your favorite way to enjoy a chocolate chip cookie?

Can’t Get Enough

Chocolate Chip Blueberry Peanut Butter Cookies

How was everyone’s weekend? Mine was good, especially since a 3-day weekend means a 4-day work-week. I love how that happens:-)

Matt and I went out to the Hamptons to visit his Parents for a couple days and then went to a college friend’s wedding on Sunday night. It was a lot of fun being with friends we haven’t seen in a while and seeing how happy the newlyweds were was wonderful.

Yesterday was a baking marathon at our apartment with cupcakes, ice cream cake and two types of cookies. I can’t wait to share everything with you. The summer has been so busy so far and I’ve barely had any quality kitchen time so it felt good to have a day devoted to something I love. I wish that could happen more often!

Chocolate Chip Blueberry Peanut Butter Cookies

One of the batches of cookies I made yesterday was a spin-off of these amazing bars I baked a few weeks ago. Given that the original recipe was supposed to be a cookie, I’ve had in my head to make a cookie variation ever since. By reducing the flour and baking soda, I was able to make a dough that stuck together well when shaping cookie dough balls. The dough was actually a little greasy, but the finished product was the perfect balance of chewy and crispy. You don’t want to know how many cookies I ate within hours of baking them. The scent of peanut butter, the warm bursting blueberries and the melted chocolate just called my name. It was like the blueberry pie filling climbed into a perfect peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. This surprising combination of flavors is just so good.

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Chocolate Chip Blueberry Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients (Makes 3 dozen cookies)

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 ½ cups salted creamy natural peanut butter
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 ¼ cup blueberries

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda, set aside
  • Using a mixer, in a large bowl beat peanut butter and sugars on high until light and fluffy
  • Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined
  • Reduce speed to low and stir in flour mixture just until combined
  • Stir in blueberries and chocolate chunks
  • Use a cookie dough scoop or tablespoon to place cookie dough balls (about 2 TB each) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (Note: the dough will be greasy, that is OK)
  • Bake for 11-13 minutes until cookies are brown around the edges

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Chocolate Chip Blueberry Peanut Butter Cookies

What do you do when you have a free day to spend however you want?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

What a whirlwind couple of weeks it has been!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

I skipped my Sunday post this week and haven’t done a real recipe post in almost 2 weeks! Since then, we spent a weekend celebrating our anniversary (think lots of delicious food, including top tier of our cake!) and this past weekend we celebrated Adam and Sara’s wedding. It has been a fun year from their engagement, to the bachelorette party, and then the shower. The weekend was perfect night for the two of them and it was wonderful to see how in love they are.

Sara Adam 1

Keeping up with baking has been a little tough given everything going on, but I managed to squeeze in this delicious no-bake dessert. Plus, I have baking to do almost every night this week. I’m especially excited about something I made last night, but you will have to wait a few days for that one;-)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

But I digress… tonight’s dessert is the perfect way to honor the official start of summer! These bars are a play on cookie dough ice cream. I’ve always loved cookie dough ice cream, but there is just never enough cookie dough to go around. I may be known to pick all the cookie dough out of the carton only to be left with a melted mess of vanilla ice cream. The beauty of these bars is that you get all the good stuff in every bite, chocolate chip cookie dough, vanilla bean ice cream and chocolate.Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

Yield: 12-16

Ingredients

  • 1 batch prepared chocolate chip cookie dough (recipe below)
  • 3 cups vanilla bean ice cream
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

  1. Cover prepared cookie dough layer with vanilla ice cream; cover and freeze for an hour
  2. Once ice cream is frozen, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl
  3. Melt chocolate in microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in-between
  4. When chocolate is melted, spread evenly over ice cream layer, cover and re-freeze for an hour or until ready to serve
  5. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 2 tablespoons milk (I use skim)
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

  1. To Make the Cookie Dough:
  2. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy
  3. Mix in milk
  4. Gradually mix in flour and salt
  5. Stir in chocolate chips
  6. Press into a 9×9 pan lined with wax paper

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Cookie Dough recipe adapted from these brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bars

I have to admit, these busy summer days away from the computer are refreshing. What’s keeping you busy this summer?

*There is still time to donate baked goods for next week’s online bake sale*

PB&J Meets PB & Chocolate

Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Bars

I love peanut butter.  I love peanut butter with chocolate, I love peanut butter and jelly, I love peanut butter by the spoonful.  You already know this, but I just had to get it off my chest.

Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Bars

I expressed my love of blueberries and peanut butter before, and then I combined chocolate and blueberries.  And of course there were all the times I put together peanut butter and chocolate.  It was only a matter of time before the three collided.

Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Bars

Over the weekend I put three of my favorite flavors into one and made Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Bars.  These aren’t the prettiest bars I’ve ever made, but oh boy are they delicious!  This was one of those times where I could have eaten the whole batch out of the oven!  They smelled amazing and the melted dark chocolate, juicy blueberries and flavorful peanut butter cookie base had an amazing balance.  It was a good thing I had a birthday barbecue to bring these to because otherwise my waistline would have been in big trouble!

Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Bars

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Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Bars

Note: The dough may be very crumbly. Press it down tightly into pan before baking to prevent the bars from being too crumbly once they are done.

Yield: Makes 24 bars

Ingredients

  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups salted natural creamy peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup dark chocolate chunks
  • 1 1/2 cup blueberries

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda, set aside
  3. Using a mixer, in a large bowl beat peanut butter and sugars on high until light and fluffy
  4. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined
  5. Reduce speed to low and stir in flour mixture just until combined
  6. Stir in blueberries and chocolate chunks
  7. Press dough into a 13×9 baking pan lined with ungreased parchment paper
  8. Bake for 20 or until firm and a knife comes out clean

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Blueberry Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Bars

Have you ever eaten a dessert by yourself that you were supposed to share with friends?

Dark Chocolate Kissed Almond Butter

Dark Chocolate Kissed Almond Butter

I had big baking plans for last night, but with the temperature around 90 degrees, turning on the oven just seemed wrong.  A no-bake dessert probably would have been a good solution, but Matt has been asking me to make chocolate almond butter for a few weeks now.  It shouldn’t have taken so long to get to it because homemade nut butter is so easy to make, but I get lazy sometimes!

Dark Chocolate Kissed Almond Butter

Not sure if I mentioned this on the blog, but we have a never-ending stock of Hershey’s Kisses in the apartment.  Dark chocolate kisses and milk chocolate kisses with almonds to be exact.  I use them every chance I get and probably will continue to do so until they are gone.

Hershey Kisses

By the way, do you know how good a 10-pound bag of Hershey Kisses smells?  I wish we had a hiding place for the chocolate because it is haunting my senses!

Dark Chocolate Kissed Almond Butter

Anyway, I put a handful of Kisses to good use in this Dark Chocolate Kissed Almond Butter.  It worked out well because the nut butter is creamy and chocolaty, but not overly sweet. I love using it on sliced banana, over ice cream or even by the spoonful.  Now that I think about it, Matt better act fast or I may eat the jar before he gets a chance!

Dark Chocolate Kissed Almond Butter

To make the nut butter, grind almonds in food processor until creamy, stopping to scrape the sides every minute or so

almonds 1 almonds 2

Once creamy and wet, add vanilla and melted chocolate

melted chocolateadd chocolate and vanilla

Blend until completely combined

done

Store in an old nut butter jar or tupperwear

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Dark Chocolate Kissed Almond Butter

Yield: Makes ~1 cup or 16 tablespoons of almond butter

Ingredients

  • 2 cups salted roasted almonds
  • 12 dark chocolate Hershey Kisses, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cooking Directions

  1. Grind almonds in food processor until creamy, stopping to scrape the sides every minute or so
  2. Once creamy and wet, add vanilla and melted chocolate
  3. Blend until completely combined
  4. Store in a jar or tupperware at room temperature for up to a month

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Inspired by Oh She Glows

Dark Chocolate Kissed Almond Butter

What do you think I should do with all these Hershey’s Kisses?

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Pie

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Pie

I have to tell you, the pictures don’t do this dessert justice.  Whoever has tips for taking pictures of ice cream please send them my way!

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Pie

So lately I haven’t been showing enough love to my two favorite food groups: peanut butter and ice cream

What, those aren’t food groups? Could have fooled me!

Does peanut butter combined with chocolate make up a food group?peanut butter cups

Protein, healthy fats, antioxidants?  Am I close?

Oh well, because you know what, when it comes to dessert you just have to enjoy what you love.  Personally, I’m good at that…

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Pie

…just need to work on eating one slice, one scoop or one cookie and being satisfied.  I’ll get there one day.

nutter butters

But in the meantime, send over some self-restraint so that I don’t eat this entire Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie in one sitting

To make the crust, grind up about 8 Nutter Butters in a food processor until fine

nutter butters in food processor

nutter butter crumbs

Add melted butter and stir to combine

add butter to crumbs crust mixture

Press crust mixture into a prepared 9-inch springform pan

making crust 1 making crust 2

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crust darkens around the edges and allow crust to cool

making crust 3

When ready, layer half of chocolate ice cream over crust

ice cream layer 1

Next cover the entire layer with large peanut butter cups

layer peanut butter cups

Then, cover peanut butter cup layer completely with chocolate ice cream (shh I ran out of peanut butter cups); Freeze until ready to serve

ice cream layer 2

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Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Pie

Yield: Serves 12

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups Nutter Butter crumbs (about 8 cookies)
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 quarts your favorite chocolate ice cream or frozen yogurt (I used Edy’s slow churned)
  • 24 large peanut butter cups

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray, set aside
  3. To make the crust, grind up about 8 Nutter Butters in a food processor until fine; add melted butter and stir to combine
  4. Press mixture into prepared pan
  5. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crust darkens around the edges and allow crust to cool
  6. When ready, layer half of chocolate ice cream over crust
  7. Layer peanut butter cups over ice cream and then cover them with remaining ice cream

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Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Pie

If you could create a new food group, what would it be?

Magic

Magic Pie - just like magic cookie bars but in a pie form!

Magic: Possessing distinctive qualities that produce unaccountable or baffling effects

source

The ability for a pie to exist one minute and be gone the next, that seems like magic to me.

The ability for a dessert to call your name and whisper sweet words into your ear, I’d call that magic.

The ability for a dessert to sit on your counter one day and your butt the next, yes magic.

Magic Pie - just like magic cookie bars but in a pie form!

All of those elements make this cookie bar turned pie magic.

I’ll be honest, I only like my version of magic bars. No coconut, no nuts, just gooey, chocolaty, chewy and delicious.  And so in my Magic Pie, that is what you get: graham cracker crust and a sweet oozing filling made up of dark chocolate, milk chocolate and toffee.  Don’t tell me this doesn’t pull at your sweet tooth for an extra slice bite.  I made this pie at about 3pm one afternoon… by midnight it was gone.  And here is a little secret, Matt thought it was too sweet.

Magic Pie - just like magic cookie bars but in a pie form!

I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.

ingredients

Start with a pre-made or baked graham cracker crust and pour sweetened condensed milk into the shell

pouring sweetened condensed milk

pie crust with sweetened condensed milk

Arrange dark chocolate kisses

pie with hershey kisses

Sprinkle with toffee bits

Magic Pie - just like magic cookie bars but in a pie form!

Sprinkle on the milk chocolate chips

Magic Pie - just like magic cookie bars but in a pie form!

Bake for about 25 minutes or until filling appears set and has bubbled around the edges; allow to cool before slicing

Magic Pie - just like magic cookie bars but in a pie form!

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Magic Pie

Next time I’m going to sprinkle pretzel pieces on top immediately after baking to add a salty crunch to the pie The Edy’s slow churned Caramel Delight ice cream was the perfect complement to this pie

Yield: 6-8 slices

Ingredients

  • 1 pre-made or baked 8-inch graham cracker pie crust
  • 1 cup sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free)
  • 21 dark chocolate Hershey kisses (~1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips would also work)
  • 1/3 cup toffee bits
  • 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Pour sweetened condensed milk into shell pie
  3. Arrange dark chocolate kisses along on top of the milk
  4. Sprinkle with toffee bits and milk chocolate chips
  5. Bake on a baking sheet for about 25 minutes or until filling appears set and has bubbled around the edges
  6. Allow to cool before slicing and serve with a scoop of ice cream

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Adapted from Magic Cookie Bars

Magic Pie - just like magic cookie bars but in a pie form!

I’ll let you in on a secret- I didn’t like the crust (that’s what I get for using a healthier pre-made) so I left that behind and ate all some of the filling.  Have you ever picked out the parts of a dessert you like and gotten rid of the rest?

Double Chocolate Mint Krispie Treats

Double Chocolate Mint Crispy Treats 9

First of all, a huge thank you for all of your inspiring comments on Sunday’s post!  I was actually a little nervous to hit publish but I’m so glad I did.  I love this community:-)

Now, let’s get back to the desserts!  For the shower, I made some of my old favorites and a couple of new recipes.  Additionally, I made cookie brownie layer bars, a strawberry birthday cake (recipe to come!) and these Double Chocolate Minty Treats.

Double Chocolate Mint Crispy Treats 3

Coming up with the menu for an event like this is so much fun.  Just like with my Thanksgiving dinner party, I wanted to have a variety of delicious and fun pick-up desserts.  After accounting for chocolate, caramel, peanut butter and sweet and salty, I knew I needed to fill the hole for Sara’s love of chocolate with mint.  Madison’s rice krispie treat pops immediately caught my eye, but I knew I didn’t have time to make individual pops for a big crowd.  Instead, I made the rice krispie treats in their regular form and dipped them in chocolate to keep them special, fun and delicious.  It turns out these were the favorite for quite a few people so I think the recipe was definitely a success!

Double Chocolate Mint Crispy Treats 10

Start by melting butter in a large pot

Butter in pot 1 Butter in pot 2 Butter in pot 3

Add the marshmallows and stir until they are completely meltedmarshmallows melting marshmallows 2 melting marshmallows 3melting marshmallows 5

Remove pot from heat, and stir in Andes

adding andes 1adding andes 3 adding andes 4

Add rice krispies to the mixture and stir

adding rice crispieseverything mixed

Once everything is combined, press the ingredients into a 13X9 pan lined with foil and allow to cool

put in pan 1 in pan

Once cool, remove the rice krispie treats from the pan; the easiest way to do this is to flip the pan upside down and peel off the foil

on cutting board 1

Cut the treats in to small cubes (I made slices in a 9X7 matrix)

on cutting board 4

Now set up a space to dip your treats in chocolate; I suggest lining 2 jelly roll pans with wax paper for the chocolate to harden

chocolate 2

Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring in-between each until chocolate is smooth

chocolate 3

One at a time, dip rice krispie treats in the chocolate to cover half of each bar

dipped in chocolate 1 dipped in chocolate 2

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Double Chocolate Mint Krispie Treats 

Adapted from Espresso and Cream

 

Makes ~60 rice krispie bites

Ingredients:

  • ½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
  • 1 10.5-ounce bag mini marshmallows
  • 1 heaping cup Andes (or mint chocolate candy of choice)
  • 7 cups rice krispies
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate for melting

Directions:

  • Melting butter over low-medium heat in a large pot
  • Add the marshmallows and stir until they are completely melted
  • Remove pot from heat, and stir in Andes
  • Add rice krispies to the mixture and stir
  • Once everything is combined, press the ingredients into a 13X9 pan lined with foil and allow to cool
  • Once cool, remove the rice krispie treats from the pan; the easiest way to do this is to flip the pan upside down and peel off the foil
  • Cut the treats in to small cubes (I made slices in a 9X7 matrix)
  • Now set up a space to dip your treats in chocolate; I suggest lining 2 jelly roll pans with wax paper for the chocolate to harden
  • Melt chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring in-between each until chocolate is smooth
  • One at a time, dip rice krispie treats in the chocolate to cover half of each bar
  • Allow to cool for 1-2 hours

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Double Chocolate Mint Crispy Treats 6

Have you taken any big risks in your career? Are there risks you wish you had taken?

Healthy Muffins and a DSLR

These cute little banana corn muffins are low fat, easy to make,  and the perfect healthy breakfast treat.

Healthy Banana Corn Muffin Bites

Earlier this week I had an agenda:

1.  Start experimenting with my NEW camera (!!!)

2.  Bake something healthy enough to eat on a daily basis

3.  Use up the extremely brown bananas on my counter

Based on the above list, I decided to make Banana Corn Muffin Bites.

1.  New camera experimenting, check

2.  Low fat whole grain baked good, check*

3.  Brown bananas in muffin form, check

Healthy Banana Corn Muffin Bites

These mini muffins are moist and grainy with a wonderful sweetness from the ripe bananas.   I snacked on them alone, topped with peanut butter (obviously) and mixed into ice cream.  Matt cut his in half and topped them with jelly.

The best part?  Muffins like these are easy to make and don’t require a mixer.  Plus, mini muffins bake so quickly that it shouldn’t take you an hour from start to finish.

*Don’t worry, I’ll be back with something decadent and extra delicious shortly.

Start by combining the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside

dry ingredients

In a large bowl, whisk together all remaining ingredients except for sliced banana

wet ingredients wet ingredients mixed

Whisk the dry ingredients into wet until just combined

adding dry ingredients ingredients mixed

Spoon batter into prepared mini-muffin pan; top each muffin with a slice of banana

Healthy Banana Corn Muffin Bites

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean

Healthy Banana Corn Muffin Bites

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Banana Corn Muffin Bites

Yield: Makes 24 mini muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 cup corn meal
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 cup mashed ripe banana (~2 large bananas)
  • 3/4 cup skim milk (or any light milk of choice)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 large banana, sliced

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray or fill with cupcake liners
  3. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside
  4. Whisk all remaining ingredients, excluding sliced banana, in a large bowl
  5. Whisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients just until combined
  6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin
  7. Top each muffin with a slice of banana
  8. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean

Adapted from All Recipes

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[Note: I recommend serving these soon after baking because the bananas on top brown by the next day.  They are still edible but not all that pretty for company]

Healthy Banana Corn Muffin Bites

On another note, Mila at Lofty Appetite has some great tips for beginner DSLR usersWhat is the most useful photography tip you use?

Oreo Mallow Clusters

Oreo Mallow Clusters

Happy Mother’s Day to all of my mom and soon-to-be mom friends! I hope that all of you had a great weekend.  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen but also a lot of time outside.  The sunny and  warm weather makes me so happy.  Yesterday I got to take a long walk along the water with a good friend.  We caught up on life and it was wonderful.  Today we celebrated Mother’s Day by grilling and eating outside with family.  The fresh air is like free therapy.

Oreo Mallow Clusters

After the last chocolate cluster recipe I made, I knew I wanted to make another version.  They are so easy to whip up and so delicious.  Who doesn’t love homemade candy filled with delicious mix-ins?  So in the midst of a baking marathon, I made some Oreo Mallow Clusters in a matter of minutes.  They are milk chocolate clusters filled with Oreos and marshmallows (or in my case Peeps).  And you know what? Huge success.  It figures that this 10-minute recipe turned out so much better than an overly complicated dessert I also made.

Oreo Mallow Clusters

To make these, you will need some broken up Oreos

oreos

And chopped up Peeps (sorry bunnies)

peeps 2

And of course milk chocolate

milk chocolate 1

Just melt your chocolate

milk chocolate 2

Stir in the mix-ins

all ingredientsall ingredients 2

And drop clusters onto wax paper

clusters 1

Chill in the refrigerator

Recipe for Oreo Mallow Clusters

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Oreo Mallow Clusters

Ingredients (Makes 15 clusters)

  • 12 ounces high-quality milk chocolate
  • 1 1/3 cups Oreo chunks (~8 Oreos)
  • 2 cups chopped Peeps (~8 Peeps) or marshmallows

Instructions

  • Gently melt the chocolate in 30 second increments in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring in-between
  • Once chocolate is completely melted, add Oreos and Peeps and stir until completely coated
  • Use a tablespoon to drop large clusters of the mix on a baking sheet lined with wax paper
  • Chill chocolates in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until candy is completely firm
  • Store chocolates in a cool place for up to 7 days

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Recipe for Oreo Mallow Clusters

P.S. The above picture was taken with my Dad’s DSLR, what an amazing quality difference!  I am FINALLY getting one and hopefully my blog will be prettier very soon.

How was your weekend?  Is the weather getting better where you live?

Sweet & Salty White Chocolate Blondies

blondies 11

Can you believe it is May now?!  Memorial Day is only a few weeks away and summer is so close I can taste it!  This winter was pretty brutal in the Northeast and I am just now feeling like myself again.  The cold and the snow tends to put me in complete hermit mode.  Good for my baking blog, not so good for my real life.  Now I am ready for longer days, dates with friends, flip-flops and spending all of my money on frozen yogurt.  I’m also ready to plan my summer calendar and travel schedule.

blondies 27

Living in New York, I’ve found that we spend most of our summer weekends out of the city and as a result away from my kitchen.  This is pretty normal for Manhattanites.  Come to the city for the 4th of July and you should be able to get almost any dinner reservation you could imagine.  You also will sweat your way from place to place and especially waiting for a subway.  While I’m a homebody at heart, I have a definite preference for the beach or a pool during those days.

blondies 29

All of this means that most of my cooking and baking from May through the end of August takes place at night after work.  On a good day, I’ll be home by 7.  Given that I am 8626 years old and get into bed before 10pm, that means only three real hours of kitchen time.  I’ve gotten pretty good at coming up with quick dinners for these nights (when in doubt, make eggs), but baking in that time span as well can be a bit more challenging.  Baking is like therapy for me, not something I like to rush.  This means planning ahead, making desserts that aren’t overly complicated, and making desserts that don’t require an insane amount of oven time (air conditioning isn’t NYC’s best quality).  Think cookies, brownies, and ice cream desserts.

These Sweet and Salty White Chocolate Blondies are the perfect dessert for baking under a time constraint. They are pretty easy to make and take only 30 minutes to bake.  Plus, they are easy to wrap up and bring to a summer barbeque or gathering.  The texture has a wonderful chew to it and there is a lovely sweetness and caramel-like flavor from the white chocolate melted in the batter.  Some chocolate chips and pretzel pieces add crunch and my favorite salty sweet taste combo.

Start by melting butter and some of your white chocolate chips over low-medium heat

white chocolate and butter 1

Stir occasionally; Don’t worry if your butter and chocolate separate, you can fold them together to combine

white chocolate and butter 2

Once completely melted, set white chocolate mixture aside

white chocolate and butter 3

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside

dry ingredients

In a large bowl, beat together sugars, eggs and vanilla until well-combined

sugar and eggs sugar and eggs 2

Reduce speed of mixer to medium and add white chocolate mixture

white chocolate added

Stir in the dry ingredients until well-combined

add dry ingredients

Stir in white and semi-sweet chocolate chips and pretzels

add chocolates and pretzlebatter mixed

Pour batter into pan lined with wax paper and greased

batter in pan 1 batter in pan 2

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and a knife comes out clean; allow to cool before slicing

baked 1

 

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Sweet & Salty White Chocolate Blondies

Yield: Serves 24-36 depending on size

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces white chocolate (any form, to melt)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup salted pretzel pieces
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup white chocolate chips (for mix-in)

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Line a 9×13 pan with wax paper and grease; set aside
  3. Melting butter and white chocolate over low-medium heat
  4. Stir occasionally; don’t worry if your butter and chocolate separate, you can fold them together to combine
  5. Once completely melted, set white chocolate mixture aside
  6. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside
  7. In a large bowl, beat together sugars, eggs and vanilla until well-combined
  8. Reduce mixer speed to medium and add melted white chocolate mixture
  9. Stir in the dry ingredients until well-combined
  10. Stir in white and semi-sweet chocolate chips and pretzels
  11. Pour batter into prepared baking pan
  12. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and a knife comes out clean; allow to cool before slicing

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blondies 30

Are you taking any weekend trips this summer?

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

You know I can’t go anywhere with only one dessert.  That just isn’t my style.

So, once I made cheesecake with berry sauce for Jessica’s Passover dinner, I had to make something else.  Originally I planned to make Passover brownies.  They weren’t a ton of work, but the idea of separating eggs and whipping them separately just wasn’t in the cards that day. I wanted something easy.

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

I went through my gmail recipe folders to see what else I could make.  As soon as I found this recipe I knew it was the one.  A few months ago, I made these Flourless Chocolate Cookies with my mom and my family ate most of them that day.  There isn’t any butter, so they are healthy, right?

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

These cookies are easy to make and are really delicious.  The inside is chewy and fudgey, but the outside is light and crisp like a meringue.

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Start with some good quality cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar and salt

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Whisk these dry ingredients together

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Add in 2 egg whites

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Whisk the egg whites into the dry ingredients; if the batter does not get thick and glossy like below, add one or two more egg whites as needed

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Bake the cookies on parchment paper until the top of the cookie is glossy and the outside forms cracks

Easy Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Recipe from Recipe Girl

Happy almost weekend! What are your plans?

Mixed Berry Sauce

berry sauce 3

I’ve been wanting to make a variation of this sauce for a while now:  something that would take a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the next level (because let’s face it, vanilla will never be chocolate), add texture and flavor to a slice of basic angel food cake, or be so pretty you want to put it on top of everything.

berry sauce 2

This Mixed Berry Sauce is made with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.  It has a wonderful balance of sweet and tart as well as a lovely texture from the slightly decomposed berries.  Last weekend I served the sauce alongside my banana cheesecake and it was a huge hit.

slice of cheesecake 8a

 

It was so easy to make that I will definitely make it again.  Whip it up and take it with you to a barbeque  to serve with store-bought pound cake (I won’t tell) and vanilla ice cream.  Make it Saturday morning and pour it over fluffy pancakes or even greek yogurt.

berry sauce 4

Start by combining mixed berries, sugar and lemon juice on medium heat over the stove

berries with sugar and lemon juice

Stir occasionally and break down some of the larger berries with a spoon

cooking sauce 2

Continue until all berries are slightly soft and a juice begins to form

cooking sauce 4

Add cornstarch and stir in quickly

cooking sauce 5

Turn the heat up to high and stir constantly until sauce reaches desired thickness

cooking sauce 6

5.0 from 2 reviews
Mixed Berry Sauce
 
Easy Mixed Berry Sauce made with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: ~2 cups of sauce
Ingredients
  • 2 cups mixed berries (frozen or fresh)
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or up to half a lemon to taste)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
  1. Start by combining berries, sugar and lemon juice on medium heat over the stove
  2. Stir occasionally and break down some of the larger berries with a spoon
  3. Continue until all berries are slightly soft and a juice begins to form
  4. Add cornstarch and stir in quickly
  5. Turn the heat up to high and stir constantly until sauce reaches desired thickness
  6. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week
Notes
Adapted from Serndipity Sundaes

berry sauce 12

What would you do with this sauce? Drinking it IS an option;-)

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

No-Bake Blueberry Pie

No-Bake Blueberry Pie

Summer Berry Skillet Crisp

Summer Berry Skillet Crisp

Speculoos Sundaes with Warm Blueberry Sauce

Speculoos Sundaes with Warm Blueberry Sauce

Blueberry Peanut Butter

blueberry peanut butter 7

Recently I discovered my love for blueberries and peanut butter.  Really, I love anything with peanut butter, especially chocolate, but the combination of blueberries and peanut butter is taking a new place in my heart.

One of my favorite snacks is a cup of fresh juicy blueberries topped with a spoonful of peanut butter.  Sometimes I warm it up so the blueberries burst and the peanut butter melts all over them.  Think it sounds weird? Try it.  The other thing I like to do is top toast with peanut butter and blueberries.  This is so much better than peanut butter and jelly!

Unfortunately, until summer starts, it is hard to find good fresh blueberries that don’t cost a gazillion dollars.  To satisfy my cravings, I made a batch of Blueberry Peanut Butter.

This peanut butter is healthy but creamy and delicious with a wonderful blueberry flavor.  You could put it on a sandwich but I have to admit I’ve been eating it by the spoonful straight out of the jar.

Making your own peanut butter could not be easier.  All you have to do is run the ingredients through a food processor.ingredients 1

mix peanut butter 1

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Blueberry Peanut Butter

Yield: Makes 1 1/3 cup peanut butter or ~21 tablespoons

Ingredients

  • 2 cups honey roasted peanuts
  • 2/3 cup dried blueberries (unsweetened)
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • up to 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cooking Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor for about 5 minutes; scrape the sides every minute or two, until mixture is smooth and creamy
  2. Taste and add salt if needed; run food processor for another 30 seconds
  3. Store in a leftover nut butter jar or tupperware container at room temperature for up to a month

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blueberry peanut butter 16

What do you like to combine with peanut butter?

3 Reasons to Make Truffles

Chocolate Truffles - 3 ways!  a rich chocolate treat that happens to be gluten-free

I had a huge problem on Saturday.

Chocolate Truffles - 3 ways!  a rich chocolate treat that happens to be gluten-free

There was almost an entire pint of organic heavy whipping cream in my fridge and it was about to expire.

chopped white chocolate 1

The horror!

Chocolate Truffles - 3 ways!  a rich chocolate treat that happens to be gluten-free

But I prevailed.  I went through cookbooks and blogs searching for the perfect recipe to experiment with.  Whipped cream, ganache, caramel… for some reason I just wasn’t moved.

chopped chocolate 1

But then I saw some truffles and realized a few things:

1) Truffles might be one of the easiest desserts to make

2) Truffles are fun to make

3) Truffles are kosher for Passover!!!!!

Chocolate, cream and butter.  No flour, no baking powder, nothing like that.  I actually see truffles as an un-Passover Passover dessert.

chopped chocolate 3

I’ve experimented in the past with ingredients like potato flour and matzo meal, but those desserts often have an “off” flavor.  The problem with trying to replicate a normal dessert and make it work for the holiday is that it will never come close.  Desserts that are kosher to begin with, those are the ones to go with.  Flourless chocolate cake- yes.  Kosher-for-Passover chocolate chip cookies- not so much.

chopped white chocolate 2

Granted, some of the toppings I used aren’t actually acceptable for those who follow Passover strictly (for example, peanuts aren’t kosher for Passover), but they can easily be modified to be so.

Start by putting your heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan over low-medium heat

cream 1

Bring the cream to a light boil and add chocolate

boiling cream

melting chocolate 1

Remove  saucepan from heat and whisk in chocolate until completely melted

melting chocolate 2

When well-combined, whisk in butter until smooth

add butter

Then, chill mixture in refrigerator for two hours or until it is firm

ganache done

Use a small teaspoon or small ice cream scoop to form small ball-shaped truffles approximately the size of thumb-tip

toppings2

Dip each truffle into topping of choice

making truffles 2

Store finished truffles in refrigerator for up to a week

Chocolate Truffles - 3 ways!  a rich chocolate treat that happens to be gluten-free

Chocolate Truffles - 3 ways!  a rich chocolate treat that happens to be gluten-free Chocolate Truffles - 3 ways!  a rich chocolate treat that happens to be gluten-free

Chocolate Truffles
Yield: Makes ~20 truffles

Ingredients
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
5 ounces chopped chocolate, any type*
2 ounces unsalted butter, softened at room temperature*
1/2 cup topping of choice

Cooking Directions
Start by putting your heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan over low-medium heat
Bring the cream to a light boil and add chocolate
Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in chocolate until completely melted
When well-combined, whisk in butter until smooth
Then, chill mixture in refrigerator for two hours or until it is firm
Once firm, use a small teaspoon or small ice cream scoop to form small ball-shaped truffles (approximately the size of thumb-tip)
Dip each truffle into topping of choice
Store finished truffles in refrigerator for up to a week

Notes:
Source: Lindt Chocolate Passion Recipe Book
*When using white chocolate, do not add butter
My flavor/topping combinations were dark chocolate + chopped peanuts, milk chocolate + unsweetened cocoa powder, and white chocolate + non pereils

Chocolate Truffles - 3 ways!  a rich chocolate treat that happens to be gluten-free

What would you use to coat your truffles?

Blueberry Pretzel Clusters

There is a place at the Jersey Shore (not that Jersey Shore) that sells the most amazing chocolates.  Every summer I look forward to a few trips for chocolate clusters filled with high quality fillings like caramel, nuts and marshmallows.  On a good day, my grandfather will leave a box of them out in the kitchen with a knife.  (Calories don’t count when you cut off a little piece each time you walk by)  Without a doubt, by the end of the day, the box would be empty.

Blueberry Pretzel Clusters

Jagielky’s has an incredible variety of chocolates with unique items like Double Dip Mints, essentially peppermint patties dipped in ANOTHER layer of chocolate – milk on dark or dark on milk.  A couple of summers ago they started selling chocolate covered blueberries.  These were large clusters of blueberries coated with a wonderful rich dark chocolate.  It is heaven biting into the creamy dark chocolate and then having a huge blueberry burst in your mouth.  Unfortunately, the chocolate covered blueberries are so popular that they are often sold out by the afternoon.

Blueberry Pretzel Clusters

A few times I considered making my own but didn’t get around to it until now.  And rather than stick with just the basic chocolate and blueberry mix, I added pretzel pieces to mine.  These Blueberry Pretzel Clusters have a wonderful balance of sweet and salty flavors in addition to the contrast in textures from the crunchy pretzels, the juicy berries and the creamy chocolate.  With the right dark chocolate, you can create a rich high quality candy.

Blueberry Pretzel Clusters

Put these clusters out for your friends but make a secret stash for yourself because you will crave them once they disappear.  Just be sure to refrigerate the chocolates so that the berries don’t spoil.

Start with some of your favorite dark chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl (I used Trader Joe’s 72%)

dark chocolate

Gently melt the chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring in-between; once chocolate is completely melted, add blueberries and pretzel pieces

add blueberries and pretzels

Stir to coat berries and pretzels completely

blueberries and pretzels mixed in 1

Use a tablespoon to drop large clusters of the mix on a baking sheet lined with wax paper

Blueberry Pretzel Clusters

Chill chocolates in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until candy is completely firm

Blueberry Pretzel Clusters

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Blueberry Pretzel Clusters

Makes 14 clusters

Ingredients:

  • 9 ounces high-quality dark chocolate
  • 3/4 cup salted pretzel pieces
  • 1 1/4 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried

Instructions

  • Gently melt the chocolate in 30 second increments in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring in-between
  • Once chocolate is completely melted, add blueberries and pretzel pieces and stir until completely coated
  • Use a tablespoon to drop large clusters of the mix on a baking sheet lined with wax paper
  • Chill chocolates in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until candy is completely firm

Notes:
Store chocolates in refrigerator for up to 3 days[/print_this]

Blueberry Pretzel Clusters

What is your favorite chocolate candy?

Spiked Cookies and a Winner

Last weekend I had lots of plans for vegetables.

cookies 26

Vegetables and chocolate cake (random, I know).

But then I got caught up on Recipe Girl’s collection of chocolate chip recipes.

And got busy with the Brown Eyed Baker’s Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies.

Oh yes, and I went a little crazy with Peeps.

So vegetables took a backseat, chocolate cake didn’t seem as exciting, and cookies became the new black.

And then I decided to make a third variation of cookies for the weekend.

Thank you, Recipe Girl for inspiration.  I adapted her cookie recipe for my own version of Spiked Mocha Chip Cookies.

coffee liqueur

These cookies are light but chewy and have a strong mocha flavor with a hint of liqueur in the background.  They were very easy to make and I can see making them for a party to add something unique to the cookie platters.

To make the cookies, whisk together dry ingredients and set asidedry inigredients 1 dry inigredients 2

Combine butter and sugars in a mixer on high speed until light and fluffybutter and sugar 1 butter and sugar 2

Add eggs, vanilla and coffee liqueur and mix until well-combinedadding egg, vanilla liqueur batter before dry ingred

Stir in dry ingredients

add dry ingredients

Stir in chocolate chips and then chill dough in refrigerator for two hours

cookie batter

Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Place dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper with a cookie dough scoop or by the tablespoon

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are lightly firm to the touch

cookies 21

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Spiked Mocha Chip Cookies

Adapted from Recipe Girl

Yield: ~4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons coffee liqueur
  • 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

  1. Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside
  2. Combine butter and sugars in a mixer on high speed until light and fluffy
  3. Add eggs, vanilla and coffee liqueur and mix until well-combined
  4. Stir in dry ingredients
  5. Stir in chocolate chips
  6. Chill dough in refrigerator for two hours
  7. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  8. Place dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper with a cookie dough scoop or by the tablespoon
  9. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until cookies are lightly firm to the touch

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cookies 23

*Congratulations to Katie (comment 6) who said “I am a fan on Facebook!” for winning the Hot Blondies giveaway! Look for an email from me with details.*

Did you ever get caught up in an accidental cookie baking marathon?

Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch

You know I have a weakness for holiday candy.

peeps

These weren’t even on sale but I had to buy them.  My sister pointed out how pretty the color was and I agreed.  Plus, when was the last time I had a Peep? Trust me, it’s been too long.  Never mind the fact that I don’t celebrate Easter.  Details.  Candy is candy and when it comes in pretty colors it doesn’t matter what religion you are.

making cookie 8

So after picking up a few packages of Peeps, I realized I didn’t actually want to eat them.  I wanted to take advantage of the innocent marshmallow candies and use them in something so gooey and delicious you would forget that you were deprived of baskets full of chocolates, jelly beans and stuffed animals every spring as a child.

Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch

But I digress.  After buying these lovely little Peeps, I decided I wanted to put them inside of a cookie.  Jenny has already showed us that there are no limits when it comes to stuffing cookies, so why not?  And what would go well with warm chocolate chip cookies filled with gooey melty marshmallows?  A crunchy salty pretzel of course.  That is how I came up with these Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch.

Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch

I was so excited about this cookie idea that I didn’t even bother to make my own cookie dough.  There is a time and a place for Nestle pre-made cookie dough and this is one of those times.  Using the pre-made dough makes these so easy that within 25 minutes you will find yourself licking melted chocolate and sticky melted Peeps off of your fingers.  When was the last time you ate a chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven?  If you can’t remember, do it now.  And stuff it with a Peep and a pretzel.

Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch

To make these cookies, start with a layer of cookie dough (about an ice cream scoop’s worth)

making cookie 1

Top that dough with a mini salted pretzel and push it into the dough

making cookie 2

Top the pretzel with a Peep

making cookie 3

Take a heaping scoop of cookie dough and top the Peep

Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch

Use your hands to mold the dough around the Peep and pretzel, making sure the filling is completely covered with dough; It will look like a large egg-shaped cookie

Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a CrunchOoey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch

Place cookies at about 3 inches apart (further than as seen here!) on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 13-15 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges

Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a CrunchOoey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch

Allow to cool for a couple minutes and dig in

Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch

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Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch

Ingredients (Makes 1 dozen X-large cookies)

  • 2 packages chocolate chip cookie dough (16.5 ounces each)
  • 1 package Peeps (should have 12 peeps)
  • 1 dozen mini salted pretzels

Instructions

  • Start with a layer of cookie dough (about an ice cream scoop’s worth)
  • Top that dough with a mini salted pretzel and push it into the dough
  • Top the pretzel with a Peep
  • Take a heaping scoop of cookie dough and top the Peep
  • Use your hands to mold the dough around the peep and pretzel, making sure the filling is completely covered with dough; It will look like a large egg-shaped cookie
  • Place cookies at about 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 13-15 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges
  • Allow to cool for a couple minutes and dig in

Notes:

Make sure the dough is very cold; it will be easier to handle this way

These would be amazing topped with ice cream when they are straight out of the oven

Don’t be afraid to make a mess; it is SO worth it

I ate 2 cookies when they were still melting and barely ready to come off of the pan. They may be the size of my head, but hey, 2 cookies is still 2 cookies;-)[/print_this]

Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch Ooey Gooey Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Crunch disappearing cookie 8

What is your favorite Easter candy? I love the big milk chocolate Hershey’s eggs with the candy shell.

*The Hot Blondies Giveaway is open through Wednesday (4/6)  at midnight (est)*

Accidentally Scuffins

Sometimes recipe experiments don’t work out.  Sometimes they work, just a little differently than you expect.

Cinnamon Apple Chunk Scuffins

I set out to make scones, but I ended up with scuffins!  A scuffin is basically the hybrid of a scone and a muffin.  These Cinnamon Apple Chunk Scuffins are hearty, chewy, and flavorful.  Like scones, they aren’t too sweet, but like muffins, they are nice and moist.  Even better than both, they are low in fat and added sugars.

Cinnamon Apple Chunk Scuffins

I got my inspiration from a bakery in Philadelphia.  Every time I am in the area, I buy a few of their delicious scones.  They supposedly are low in fat, high in fiber, etc., but they are also the size of my head.  My strategy is to buy a few different flavors and eat pieces of each one.  That way I never eat an entire scone, right?

Cinnamon Apple Chunk Scuffins

My favorite flavors are the apple and cinnamon varieties, so I decided to make my baked good a combination of the two.  These scuffins are full of delicious cinnamon chips and big apple chunksI hate when you get an apple dessert and can barely find the apple pieces! They are also made with whole grains.  I’m telling you, these are healthy!

They taste wonderful right out of the oven, but also taste good at room temperature.  I ate them alone or crumbled over greek yogurt with fruit and peanut butter.  You can also store them in the freezer and defrost for a healthy last minute snack.

apples 1

A note on the cinnamon chips: I was lucky enough to win a bag of cinnamon chips from Amy at Very Culinary, but you can check the Hershey’s website to see where they are sold near you.

cinnamon chips 1

The recipe was loosely adapted from Cooking Light

Whisk together flours and oatmeal in a large bowl

flours and oats 1

Add the remaining dry ingredients (through cinnamon) and whisk; set aside

dry ingredients 1

Combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until combined

wet ingredients 1 wet ingredients 2

Stir wet ingredients into dry

dough 1

Add the chopped apple and cinnamon chips; knead them in with your handsadd apple cinnamon chips

Shape dough into two round disks and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to slice each round into 8 pieces; do not separate the dough

Cinnamon Apple Chunk Scuffins

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until scuffins are firm and lightly brownedCinnamon Apple Chunk Scuffins

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Cinnamon Apple Chunk Scuffins

Loosely adapted from Cooking Light

Yield: 16 scuffins

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • Dash salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup fat free greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cup chopped apple (~1 large apple)
  • 1/3 cup cinnamon chips

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Whisk together flours and oatmeal in a large bowl
  3. Add the remaining dry ingredients (through cinnamon) and whisk; set aside
  4. Combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until combined
  5. Stir wet ingredients into dry
  6. Add the chopped apple and cinnamon chips; knead them in with your hands
  7. Shape dough into two round disks and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
  8. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to slice each round into 8 pieces; do not separate the dough
  9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until scuffins are firm and lightly browned

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Cinnamon Apple Chunk Scuffins

Have you ever had a scuffin?

Mixed Fruit & Nut Butter

I love nut butter. Peanut butter, almond butter, mixed nuts, you name it. Just leave the coconut out and I am a happy girl.

There are a few standard jars that I like to have on hand, but lately I’m enjoying making my own nut butter. It’s fun and easy to make, and the taste from freshness is unbeatable. The best part is that when you do it yourself, there are so many ways you can customize the mix. Seasonings like salt, cinnamon and vanilla are basic additions to enhance the flavor of the nuts. Want to use peanuts or pecans, almonds or cashews? The selection is up to your discretion and there is no limit to how many you can use. While you are at it, why not add some mix-ins like raisins or chocolate chips?

I’ve seen a lot of nut butter inspiration on blogs:

Homemade Nut Butter (Perfect for a basic nut butter)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Almond Butter (Cookie dough and almond butter in one? Yes, please!)

Pumpkin Spiced Almond Butter (I love the flavor of pumpkin all year round)

Cinnamon Vanilla Peanut Butter (Perfect spin on a classic)

4-Ingredient Dark Chocolate Almond Butter (I’ve made a variation of this, leaving out the oil, and it was delicious!)

Homemade White Chocolate Peanut Butter (Even for a white chocolate hater this looks heavenly)

This weekend I decided to make something different with what I had on hand, a Mixed Fruit and Nut Butter. Since I had 3 bags of nuts already open, I decided to combine them: Honey Roasted Peanuts, Roasted Almonds, and Roasted Cashews

Cashews Almonds Peanuts

I also wanted to add texture to the spread with some dried fruit. The dried blueberries and bing cherries add a wonderful chew and aren’t too sweet

Dried Cherries and Blueberries

The entire process took about 10 minutes from start to finish. Completely worth it!

Start by combining the nuts in a food processor for about 5 minutes; scrape the sides every minute or two

Nuts in food processor

When nuts are fully ground and the texture is drippy, add the cinnamon and salt if needed; run food processor for another 30 seconds

Making Nut Butter 1

Finally, add dried fruit and run through food processor for about 3 minutes or until the fruit is as small as you’d like (run for less time if you want bigger dried fruit chunks)

Making Nut Butter 2 Making Nut Butter 3

Store in a leftover nut butter jar or tupperware at room temperature for up to a month

Nut Butter 1

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Mixed Fruit & Nut Butter

I didn’t t add any salt because the nuts I used were salted enough. The nut butter comes out to ~100 calories / tablespoon which is similar to most natural peanut butters.

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1 cup + 2 tablespoons

Serving Size: 1 tablespoon

Calories per serving: 100

Ingredients

  • 1 cup roasted cashews
  • 2/3 cup honey roasted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup roasted almonds
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • up to 1 teaspoon salt to taste
  • 3 tablespoons dried bing cherries (unsweetened)
  • 1/4 cup dried blueberries (unsweetened)

Cooking Directions

  1. Start by combining the nuts in a food processor for about 5 minutes; scrape the sides every minute or two
  2. When nuts are fully ground and the texture is drippy, add the cinnamon and salt if needed; run food processor for another 30 seconds
  3. Finally, add dried fruit and run through food processor for about 3 minutes or until the fruit is as small as you’d like (run for less time if you want bigger dried fruit chunks)
  4. Store in a leftover nut butter jar or tupperware at room temperature for up to a month

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I have been eating the nut butter by the spoonful or spreading it on english muffins.  How would you eat homemade nut butter?

Brownies for a Guest

brownie 11

One of my best friends is coming to town.

Kristen and I have been friends since we were in 2nd grade.  No, that is a lie.  We have known each other since then but actually weren’t really friends until 6th grade.  I don’t really remember why it took so long, but we have been best friends ever since.  She was even a bridesmaid in my wedding.

When given the choice, Kristen requested a dessert with dark chocolate and fruit or dark chocolate and peanut butter.  Well, it’s been almost 2 weeks since I posted a dessert with chocolate and peanut butter so I figure that it was about time to make another one.  I don’t want my readers going through withdrawal or anything.

These Fat Witch Brownies with Peanut Butter Chips are from Lora’s wonderful blog, Cake Duchess. I saw the brownies the other day and couldn’t resist making them.  Besides, brownies are terrifically easy for weeknight baking.  The brownies came out incredibly fudgey and moist with the added texture of peanut butter chips.  Some people might say they are so rich you can only eat a small piece (I am not one of them).brownie 14

I followed Lora’s recipe with very few changes.  I whisked everything together rather than using a mixer and doubled the portion of peanut butter chips.  Check her blog for the specifics and to send her some hugs (she just shared the news of a health scare).  We are thinking about Lora and her family and wish her the best.

Start by melting butter and chocolate together in a saucepan over low heat; set aside

chocolate and butter chocolate and butter melted

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs

eggs

Then whisk in sugar and vanilla

eggs sugar vanilla whisked eggs sugar vanilla

Whisk in chocolate and butter mixture

chocolate and butter added

Whisk flour and salt

add flour flour mixed in

When dry ingredients are completely incorporated, fold in peanut butter chipsadd peanut butter chips

batter in pan

Pour batter into pan and bake for about a half hour or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean

brownie baked

Top brownie with powdered sugar and serve

brownie 6

What do you bake when you are short on time?

Pear and Cheese Pockets

I have a few weaknesses in life:

1) Post-holiday candy sales at CVS

2) Ice cream on sale at the market*

3) Bulk anything at Costco

*Who can blame me when it costs $7.99 / half gallon in NYC!

Pear and Cheese Pockets

It must be in my blood to love Costco. My Dad is a walking advertisement for the store. He won’t make a purchase anywhere else until he knows Costco doesn’t have that particular item (that includes clothing, kitchen appliances, tools, etc.). Actually, for someone who isn’t a big shopper, the man can easily get sucked into buying almost anything there. If they sold drum sets in the store, he’d probably sleep there. So, it is no surprise that although I live in a tiny apartment with limited storage space, I insist on having a membership and grabbing whatever I can because it is such a good deal. Never mind the fact that we store toilet paper under the bed and canned chickpeas in several different cabinets. I even bought Kirkland brand Uggs this year for such a good price that I could throw them away when it warms up if I can’t find a place to keep them.Pear and Cheese Pockets

On our most recent trip to Costco we purchased so much fruit (bananas, pears, asian pears, mangos, nectarines, strawberries, and blueberries) that the husband started to get stressed out about eating it all. He clearly underestimates my daily produce consumption. To make him feel better, though, I promised to use some for baking. The berries and bananas were already gone and some of the other fruit had dwindled down, but we still had a lot of just-ripened juicy pears.

pears

I wanted to make something tasty that could be eaten for breakfast, snacks or dessert and wouldn’t weigh you down. At the same time, I didn’t want to make it “diet-like.” These Pear and Cheese Pockets are a perfect compromise. They are somewhere in-between a danish, poptart, and toaster strudel with a combination of fresh and packaged ingredients.

I used these crescent roll sheets for the pockets and filled them with some cooked pears and a lightly sweetened cream cheese filling. They are best served fresh out of the oven when the filling is warm and gooey and the outside is crisp but soft in the middle. However, leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and re-heated via toaster.

crescent rolls

Start by making the pear filling

pears sliced

Melt butter over low heat

butter in pan

butter melted

Add brown sugar and combine

add brown sugar

butter sugar combined

Once brown sugar and butter are melted, add pears and stir to coatadd pears

Add cinnamon to mixture and stir

add cinnamon

Cook pears over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes; remove from heat and set aside

pears cooked

For cream cheese filling, beat cream cheese in a mixer until creamy

cream cheese

Add vanilla and greek yogurt

add vanilla and greek yogurt

Once combined, stir in confectioners’ sugar

add sugar

Once fillings are ready, lay out the dough

dough

Cut each package into 8 rectangles dough sliced

Stretch rectangles out on foil sprayed with cooking spray; top one side of dough with about a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture

spread filling

Then add a couple tablespoons of pear fillingPear and Cheese Pockets

Fold the other half of the dough over and press down around the edges to seal; take a fork and press down around the edges fancy them up

Pear and Cheese Pockets

Bake for 12 –13 minutes or until top is golden brown

Pear and Cheese Pockets

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Pear and Cheese Pockets

Yield: 16 pockets

Ingredients

  • 3 large pears, thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 8-ounce package light cream cheese, softened at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons fat free greek yogurt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 8-ounce packages crescent roll dough

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees
  2. To make the pear filling, melt butter over low heat
  3. Add brown sugar and combine; once brown sugar and butter are melted, add pears and stir to coat
  4. Add cinnamon to mixture and stir
  5. Cook pears over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes; remove from heat and set aside
  6. For cream cheese filling, beat cream cheese on high speed until creamy
  7. Add vanilla and greek yogurt and beat on high
  8. Once combined, stir in confectioners’ sugar
  9. Once fillings are ready, lay out the dough
  10. Cut each package into 8 rectangles
  11. Stretch rectangles out on foil sprayed with cooking spray; top one side of dough with about a teaspoon of cream cheese mixture without coating the edges
  12. Top cream cheese with about 2 tablespoons of pear filling
  13. Fold the other half of the dough over and press down around the edges to seal; take a fork and press down around the to add a design
  14. Bake for 12-13 minutes or until top is golden brown

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Pear and Cheese Pockets

What are your shopping weaknesses?

Ice Cream Inspiration

Did you know that Cold Stone sells ice cream cupcakes?  They do.  Did you know that ice cream is my ultimate portion control weakness?  It is.  If you put this in front of me and left me alone, it would be gone when you came back.

Black Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes

Individual ice cream cupcakes, however, this is portion control I can live with.  Using Cold Stone as my inspiration, I created Black Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes, a dessert that combines the sweet crunch of chocolate, creamy ice cream and and soft spongy cake!

Black Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes

I used a white cake mix (gasp), made with applesauce and egg whites, fat free strawberry ice cream, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.  The combinations of flavors are endless and I can’t wait to make different versions of these cupcakes.  They would be a perfect dessert for a child’s birthday party or for an adult like me who has no control around ice cream.

There are a few components to this recipe, but are really easy to make.

Start by making the “cake” of the cupcake; use a cookie dough scoop (about 2 tablespoons) to place batter into cupcake tins

batter in muffin tin 2

The cupcakes are small so they will bake quickly, 8-10 minutes

cupcakes baked

While cupcakes are cooling, melt chocolate and coat the bottom of separate cupcake baking cups (1-2 tablespoons of chocolate each); freeze for about 10 minutes or until chocolate is hard

chocolate in cups

Meanwhile, remove ice cream from freezer to soften

strawberry ice cream

When chocolate has hardened, scoop about a quarter of a cup of ice cream into each cup

ice cream in cups

Place cakes on top of ice cream and push down to secure

cake in cups

Cover with saran wrap and freeze cupcakes for at least one hour

Carefully unwrap frozen cupcake

cupcake 1

Black Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes

Top with whipped cream

Black Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes

And jimmies (yes, that’s what I call them)

Black Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes

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Black Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 Prepared white cake batter from 1 box mix
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 gallon strawberry ice cream

Directions:

Pre-heat oven as directed on cake mix box
Prepare cake batter
Use a cookie dough scoop (about 2 tablespoons) to place batter into cupcake tins filled with paper cup holders or sprayed with cooking spray
Bake cake 8-10 minutes or until a knife comes out clean
While cupcakes are cooling, melt chocolate in the microwave or on the stove
Coat the bottom of separate cupcake baking cups with melted chocolate (about 1-2 tablespoons of chocolate each)
Freeze for about 10 minutes or until chocolate is hard
While chocolate is chilling, remove ice cream from freezer to soften
When chocolate has hardened, scoop about a quarter of a cup of ice cream into each cup
Place cakes on top of ice cream and push down to secure cupcakes
Cover cupcakes with saran wrap and freeze for at least one hour
Serve topped with whipped cream and jimmies

Notes:

If your freezer is not very cold, make sure to serve immediately or cupcakes will melt

You can control the ingredients and make them as light or as decadent as you’d like

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Black Bottom Ice Cream Cupcakes

What is your favorite way to eat ice cream?

Easiest Cookie Ever, and Delicious Too!

When I saw Lauren’s suggestions for Valentine’s Day treats included this cookie, I knew I had to try it!  Lauren has a wonderful blog that makes incredibly delicious and healthy versions of food that everyone loves.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have any chocolate peanut butter on hand, but I did have some of this chocolate almond butter on hand.

chocolate almond butter

Since I wanted to make the cookies immediately, I decided to adapt her recipe for what I had on hand and make Flourless Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies.

Flourless Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies - Easiest cookie ever!

Reasons to make these cookies:

1. They are deliciously light and fudgey at the same time.

2.  This is the easiest cookie recipe I have ever made.  3 steps, that is it!

3.  Portion control!  This recipe makes 8 cookies.  If you are nervous about eating the entire batch, you can’t get yourself into too much trouble*.  The cookies are pretty big, too.

*Each cookie comes out to 5 weightwatchers points+, as a result, the entire batch is 40 points+ which is less than the extra weekly points you get.

Flourless Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies - Easiest cookie ever!

Step 1:  Mix together almond butter, brown sugar, whisked egg white, baking soda, vanilla extract and salt

all ingredients in bowl

Step 2:  Stir in chocolate chips

add choc chips

Step 3:  Bake cookies

dough on pan

Did I say they were easy?

Flourless Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies - Easiest cookie ever!

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Flourless Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies

Adapted from Healthy Food for Living

Yield: 8 cookies

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup chocolate almond butter
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg white, whisked
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Mix together almond butter, brown sugar, whisked egg white, baking soda, vanilla extract and salt
  3. Stir in chocolate chips
  4. Use a cookie dough scoop or tablespoon to shape 8 cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
  5. Bake for ~12 min or until tops of cookies are no longer loose

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Flourless Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies - Easiest cookie ever!

What is the easiest dessert you have made?

Salted Caramel Buttercream

I’m kind of obsessed with caramel lately, especially when there is salt involved.

frosted cupcake 3

Ever since I made these bars a few months ago, caramel has been on the top of my list for delicious dessert ingredients.  There is something about the rich flavor and silkiness that keeps you going back for more.  After seeing this Caramel Sauce at Trader Joes so many times, I finally gave in and bought a jar.  In order to keep myself from eating the entire thing with a spoon, I figured I should use it in a recipe.

caramel sauce

What better way to use the sauce than in buttercream?  It creates a delicious icing that has the perfect hint of salt and caramel flavors, but not in an overwhelming way.  To keep the buttercream from being too sweet, I used cream cheese as a thickening agent.  That way, I didn’t have to use too much extra sugar.

frosted cupcake 12

This Salted Caramel Buttercream would go well on top chocolate or vanilla cake, maybe with some sort of peanut butter filling.  I used it to ice some low fat vegan chocolate cupcakes.  It’s all about balance;-)

Start with room temperature butter and cream cheese

butter and cream chs

Beat them in a mixer on high for a few minutes, until light and fluffybutter cream cheese creamed

Add confectioners’ sugar carefully, when mixed in turn mixer back to high speed

add sugar

Beat in vanilla

add vanilla

Then add the caramel sauce

add caramel

Beat on high speed until all ingredients are well combined; if frosting is too liquidly, add extra sugar

caramel buttercream

Use to top cake, cupcakes or eat with a spoon

frosted cupcake 8

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Salted Caramel Buttercream

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar*
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup salted caramel sauce

Cooking Directions

  1. Beat butter and cream cheese in a mixer on high for a few minutes, until light and fluffy
  2. Add powdered sugar carefully, when mixed in turn mixer back to high speed
  3. Beat in vanilla
  4. Then add the caramel sauce; beat on high speed until all ingredients are well combined
  5. *If frosting is not firm enough at this point, add more powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time

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frosted cupcake 6

Have you found any new products for baking recently?

frosted cupcake 13

Boston and a Chocolate Cupcake

Last weekend, the Husband and I went to Boston for a short trip to visit our foodie friends/newlyweds, Jon and Ali.  Given that they love food as much as we do, most of the weekend’s itinerary revolved around eating!  We had brunch at The Friendly Toast, tasted beers at Harpoon Brewery, dinner at B&G Oysters,  and another brunch at Buttery.  Our friends treated us well!  Last but not least, we were able to pick up lunch for the bus ride home at Flour.

I’ve been hearing about Flour throughout the blog world forever.  The bakery was made famous nationally by the wonderful pastry chef, Joanne Chang(Sidenote: I didn’t know until just now that Joanne was an Applied/Math and Econ major at Harvard.  Incredible!) Anyway, I’m so glad we got a chance to check it out.  Matt picked up a sandwich and jelly-filled donut that looked delicious.  You could see the high quality of jelly when he bit into it.  I got a salad that was really only a way for me to justify dessert;-) Easy Low Fat Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

There were so many delicious looking desserts to choose from, especially the cookies and brownies.  However, when I spotted the giant Low Fat Vegan Chocolate Cupcake, I was really curious.  I was no longer on my Vegan Challenge, but I figured if they were selling a vegan cupcake, it had to be good.  The cupcake wasn’t good.  It was delicious.  It was moist and chocolaty and it was all I could do not devour it in 3 seconds flat.  I’m not saying it was good for a vegan cupcake, it was good for any cupcake.  Moist chocolate cupcakes are hard to come by and this one had me at first bite.

Okay, so in my excitement over the cupcake, I forgot to take a picture.  Luckily, I had fallen so in love with it that I immediately went on a hunt to find the recipe.  Much to my delight it exists here.  As soon as I got a chance to pick up all of the necessary ingredients, the cupcakes were in the oven.  That is barely an exaggeration because this is one of the easiest recipes I’ve made in a while!  No fancy equipment needed.

key ingredients

I was excited for my first time using the VALRHONA cocoa my parents brought back from Belgium.   The good quality cocoa powder has a richness to it that you can’t get from your average cocoa.  Additionally, I picked up molasses, which I’ve actually never used before.  It smelled a little funny (I expected a syrup aroma) but it seemed to work out okay! Espresso powder is also often used in chocolate baked goods to add a richness to the flavor.  I picked up some of that as well.

To get started, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and line 18 regular sized muffin tins with cupcake liners.  How cute are these Valentine’s Day liners?

cupcake holders

Whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda and salt

dry ingred 1

Add the chocolate chips and whisk them into the mixture

dry ingred 2

Set aside

dry ingred 3

Whisk together all wet ingredients: water, oil, molasses, and vanilla

wet ingred 1

The mix will look a little like balsamic vinaigrette, don’t be alarmed

wet ingred 2

Then stir the wet ingredients into the dry, do not overmix

scooping batter

Use an ice cream scoop to fill cupcake liners about halfway (about 1/3 cup of batter per cup)

batter in cups

Bake cupcakes for 8-12 minutes or until a knife comes out clean; allow to cool on a cooling rack

Easy Low Fat Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving

Easy Low Fat Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

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Low Fat Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Recipe from V02, created by Joanne Chang

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used about a tablespoon less since the VALRHONA is so rich)

2 teaspoons instant espresso powder (finely ground espresso beans)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (dairy-free for vegan)

1 cup cold water

1/4 cup oil canola

2 tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Confectioners’ sugar (optional)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line 18 regular sized muffin tins with cupcake liners

Whisk together dry ingredients: flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, baking soda and salt

Add the chocolate chips and whisk them into the mixture; set aside

Whisk together all wet ingredients: water, oil, molasses, and vanilla

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, do not overmix

Use an ice cream scoop to fill cupcake liners about halfway (about 1/3 cup of batter per cup)

Bake cupcakes for 8-12 minutes or until a knife comes out clean (do not overbake); allow to cool on a cooling rack

Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving

Notes:

Do not leave out the chocolate chips, they add a lot in terms of texture and flavor

While these weren’t quite as delicious as the bakery’s cupcakes, they were still very tasty.  I overbaked mine probably by a minute or two (12 minutes total) and I think that made a big difference

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Each cupcake comes out to 4 Weight Watchers Points+

Easy Low Fat Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Have you eaten your way through a city lately?

Chocolate Cherry Maple Cookies

*Check out the ask me anything post, good questions coming in so far

**Check out the discussion on my Vegan Challenge in the Comments section

After the successful Lemon Pound Cake, I figured I should try a few other desserts with different flavor profiles.  Don’t worry, I’ll always come back to my true love peanut butter and chocolate, but in the mean time, I’ll entertain the idea that other combinations can taste good too!

Recently I was in search for something that would be easy enough to make on a weeknight and freeze well so that I wouldn’t eat waste all of the leftovers.  I found a recipe in this cookbook and adapted it to make Chocolate Cherry Maple Cookies.  I used semi-sweet chocolate chunks to get a big blast of flavor, but not too much chocolate because I didn’t want to overpower the cookie.  The dried cherries add a slightly tart contrast to the cookie as well.

Chocolate Cherry Maple Cookies

The cookie dough isn’t overly sweet but it has a nice hint of maple flavor.  Their texture is in-between shortbread and butter cookies and they are a little bit addicting as a result.  These cookies would make a great addition any dessert platter.

To begin, combine butter, sugar and syrup in a mixer

butter sugar syrup

Beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes

butter sugar syrup mixed

Then, add the egg and vanilla; beat well

add egg and vanilla

Once well-combined, slowly add the flour while mixer is on low speed

adding flour

Then stir in chocolate and cherries

adding chocolate and cherries

cookie dough

Once dough is mixed, split dough into two sections and roll each up in saran wrap

dough rolled up

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight

Chocolate Cherry Maple Cookies

Slice logs of dough into cookies about 1/4 inch thick Chocolate Cherry Maple Cookies

Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper for 10-12 minutesChocolate Cherry Maple Cookies

Cookies will be just slightly darker and firm to the touch when done

Chocolate Cherry Maple Cookies

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Chocolate Cherry Maple Cookies

Makes ~30 cookies

Adapted from the Lindt Chocolate Passion Recipe Book

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 heaping tablespoons maple syrup

1 large egg at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

1/3 cup dried cherries

Directions:

Combine butter, sugar and syrup in a mixer; beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes

Add the egg and vanilla; beat well

Once well-combined, slowly add the flour while mixer is on low speed

Stir in chocolate and cherries

Once dough is mixed, split it into two sections and form logs with diameters of about 2 1/2 inches; wrap each tightly with saran wrap

Refrigerate for several hours or overnight

Once ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Slice logs of dough into cookies about 1/4 inch thick

Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper for 10-12 minutes

Cookies will be just slightly darker than dough and firm to the touch when done

Notes:

I made the dough one night and baked the cookies the next.  You could easily freeze the dough for several weeks prior to baking if needed.

You may want to consider chopping the cherries into smaller pieces to get them more spread-out through the dough. That would work well if you want cherry in every bite.

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Chocolate Cherry Maple Cookies

What new flavors have you tried lately?

For the Chocoholics

Every time I visit my parents, my mom and I email constantly the week before about what we will bake.  There are always too many things for us to try, so it’s usually a pretty fattening special looking recipe that makes the cut.  Last weekend we made Picky Palate’s Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookie Sandwiches and Candy Bar Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches.  They were amazing.

oreo cookie 1

This weekend I couldn’t help but be inspired by those delicious cookies.  As if a chocolate chip cookie stuffed with a Snickers Bar or Oreo Cookie wasn’t enough, I had to take it a step further for all of the chocoholics out there.  Why not take one of my favorite chocolate cookie recipes and stuff it with chocolate candy?  I made Stuffed Triple Chocolate Cookies.

hershey cookie 2

I’ll be honest, I haven’t tasted them yet.  I am on my 6th day of a week-long deprivation vegan challenge and baking these was an extreme form of torture.  Luckily, I have the Husband to do my taste testing for me in a time like this.  If the number of Hershey Kiss stuffed cookies he ate is any reflection of the verdict, I’d say these are a winner.  Trust me, though, when vegan week is over, I’ll be inhaling a dozen cookies doing my own “quality control”.  (More on Vegan week in an upcoming post!)

The Triple Chocolate Cookie dough is adapted from Jill O’Connor’s Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey.  I’ve made the cookies using her exact recipe as a standalone cookie and they never disappoint.  You may remember my Gooey Caramel Butter Bars were also from that cookbook.

To begin, you take semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate along with a stick of butter and place them in a microwave-safe bowl

chocolate & butter

Microwave the ingredients for a minute and stir; microwave again for 30-second increments until everything is almost melted; stir the remaining lumps until smooth and do not overheat.  Set aside

chocolate & butter melted

Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) and set aside

dry ingred

In your mixer, combine eggs, sugars and vanilla

sugars, egg, vanilla

Beat on high speed for about 5 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffyegg sugar mixture

Reduce the speed of your mixer and add in melted chocolate and butter

chocolate mixture added

When that is well-combined, stir in flour mixture but do not over-mix

dry ingred added

Stir in chocolate chips

add chocolate chips

Refrigerate cookie dough for an hour or more prior to making the cookies

batter

Choose any chocolate candies of your preference.  Smaller candies will yield more cookies.  I selected these chocolate meltaway Kisses  because, well, why not make these as intensely chocolate as possible?

hershey kisses

Other candy included dark chocolate Peanut Butter cups and Peppermint Patties.  Once dough is chilled, pre-heat oven and unwrap your chocolates

candy

Use a cookie dough scoop to form balls of dough; place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Place candy on top of dough mound and then push down

making cookie 1

Gently form cookie dough around the candy until it is completely covered; it might be easier if you freeze your Peppermint Patties first because they can break if you push too hard with the cookie dough

making cookie 2

Repeat process

making cookie 3 making cookie 4

Use just enough cookie dough to cover the candy; size will be about 50% larger than candy alone

making cookie 5

Make sure your candy is completely covered with dough or you may end up with some oozing like my Peppermint Patty cookies experienced

peppermint patty baked

Bake the cookies for about 9 minutes and set aside on a cooling rack to cool

This is the deliciousness you will experience when you bite into the different cookies:

hershey cookie 4 peanut butter 2 mint 1

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Stuffed Triple Chocolate Cookies

Inspired by Picky Palate and adapted from Jill O’Connor

Makes ~50 cookies (more cookies with small candy, but less with large)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

7 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Place semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate with butter in a microwave-safe bowl

Microwave the ingredients for a minute and stir; microwave again for 30-second increments until everything is almost melted; stir the remaining lumps until smooth.  Set aside

Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) and set aside

In your mixer, combine eggs, sugars and vanilla; beat on high speed for about 5 minutes or until mixture is light and fluffy

Reduce the speed of your mixer and add in melted chocolate and butter

When that is well-combined, stir in flour mixture but do not over-mix

Stir in chocolate chips

Refrigerate cookie dough for an hour or more prior to making the cookies

Once dough is chilled, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and unwrap your chocolates

Use a cookie dough scoop to form balls of dough; place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Place candy on top of dough mound and then push down

Gently form cookie dough around the candy until it is completely covered; repeat (make sure your candy is completely covered with dough)

Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes and set aside on a cooling rack to cool

[Edited to add] Note:  The Peppermint Patty and Hershey Kiss versions were the most popular.  I think the larger Reeses Cups would be better so that the candy is in every bite.

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What candy would you put in your cookies?

Lighter Lemon Pound Cake

I used to have an aversion to lemon desserts.  Lemon meringue pie? No thank you.  Lemon bars?  Don’t tease me with that powdered sugar topping.  Lemon cake? Eh.  Truthfully, I have an initial reaction to any dessert lacking chocolate that involves a little bit of apprehension.  Even though I adore ice cream, plain vanilla will provokes the same reaction.  It better be REALLY good if there is no chocolate involved.  Warm fruit desserts and anything involving peanut butter generally passes the test, but it isn’t easy.

So when my in-laws raved about Del Frisco’s Lemon Cake a couple of years ago, I kind of smiled and nodded.  First of all, restaurant desserts in general are almost never as good as you think they will be.  And it is lemon cake!  Really, what would even be the point?  But through it all, I am a dessert lover and it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t give the cake a chance.  So when I found myself with them at Del Frisco’s and everyone insisted on ordering Lemon Cake, I suggested we also order the chocolate banana bread pudding (um, yum!), but was willing to give this infamous dessert a try.  That was the Lemon Cake that turned me around.

Lighter Lemon Pound Cake

Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t like lemon meringue pie or lemon bars, but a rich moist cake with a very light lemon flavor is actually refreshing without being over the top.  So when the husband requested a lemon dessert last weekend, I willingly made my first ever Lemon Cake.

This is actually a simple Lemon Pound Cake that is very easy and comes out extremely moist and flavorful.  If I were to serve it at a dinner party, I’d make a glaze or top it with fresh whipped cream and berries.  Don’t worry, there would be some sort of chocolate alternative as well.

To begin, whisk your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt), and set aside

whisking dry ingred

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter on high speed for several minutes until mixture is light and creamy

creamed butter and cream cheese

Use a microplane to lightly grate  the skin of a lemon

lemon and microplane

Be careful not to scrape too deep, the white of the skin is more bitter

lemon zest

On high speed, beat the lemon zest and greek yogurt into butter and cream cheese mixture for about a minute

adding lemon zest and yogurt

Add sugar and beat on high speed until batter is smooth and creamy

adding sugar

Now add the eggs, one at a time, putting the mixer on high for about a minute or two between each

adding eggs

Add in the vanilla on high speed for a minute; scrape the sides of the bowl and turn mixer on high again until well combined

adding vanilla

Reduce speed to low and gradually add in your dry ingredients

mixing in dry ingred

Before it is fully combined, remove bowl from mixer and lightly fold batter to get all of the dry ingredients mixed in; this will prevent overbeating and a cake with the density of a rock

folding in remaining dry

Pour batter into a 9×5 loaf pan

batter in pan

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean

Lighter Lemon Pound Cake

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Lighter Lemon Pound Cake

Adapted from Joy the Baker

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 8-ounce block of low fat cream cheese, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup fat free plain greek yogurt

1 TB fresh lemon zest (about 1 lemon’s worth)

1 cup granulated sugar

4 eggs brought to room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Whisk dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt), and set aside

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter on high speed for several minutes until mixture is light and creamy

Use a microplane to lightly grate  the skin of a lemon

On high speed, beat the lemon zest and greek yogurt into butter and cream cheese mixture for about a minute

Add sugar and beat on high speed until batter is smooth and creamy

Add the eggs, one at a time, putting the mixer on high for about a minute or two between each

Add in the vanilla on high speed for a minute; scrape the sides of the bowl and turn mixer on high again until well combined

Reduce speed to low and gradually add in dry ingredients

Before batter is fully combined, remove bowl from mixer and lightly fold batter to get all of the dry ingredients mixed in

Pour batter into a 9×5 loaf pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean

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Lighter Lemon Pound Cake

Sidenote:  We actually had our rehearsal dinner at Del Frisco’s!  No lemon cake for me that night, I was too excited to eat (and let me tell you, that never happens).

How do you feel about lemon desserts?

Cookie Sandwiches Guest Posted

The below post is also being featured today on Liz’s blog, Blog is the New BlackCheck out her blog for great recipes for any part of the meal.

On New Year’s Eve, my husband and I went to his brother’s apartment for a fun but low-key night.  They made us a delicious dinner and I, of course, brought dessert.  There were four of us and I made two desserts, an ice cream pie, and “cookies” composed of my favorite flavor combination, chocolate and peanut butter.  What better way to end the year?!

finished 3

This was actually a very last minute dessert.  I happened to have extra peanut butter filling in my freezer and an open package of chocolate wafers in my cabinet.  You don’t even want to know how much baking chocolate I have on hand… When I thought through my inventory and the last time I used peanut butter filling, this recipe just came to me.

cookie wafers

This recipe is really easy!  First, prepare the peanut butter filling (recipe below) and lay out twenty chocolate wafers on a baking sheet lined with wax paper

wafers on tray

Spread about a tablespoon of peanut butter onto each wafer

peanut butter on cookie cookies with pb 2

Press another wafer down to form a cookie sandwich

putting top down putting top down 2

Repeat with all twenty cookies

cookies 2

Place tray of cookie sandwiches into the freezer for about an hour

cookies

Can you spot the tray? Welcome to my life…

freezer 2

Once cookies are chilled, set up your white chocolate for dipping

white choc 1

Melt chocolate by microwaving it in thirty second increments and stirring in-between

white choc 3

Then dip the cookie to cover about halfway on each side with chocolate

dipping 1

Make sure you get the chocolate around the edges

dipping 2

Set white chocolate cookies aside

all white 3

Repeat the process with semi-sweet chocolate; Store cookies in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving

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Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

Makes 20 cookie sandwiches

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Filling

1 package chocolate wafers (you only need 40 cookies)

8 ounces white chocolate chips

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Prepare Peanut Butter Filling

Lay out twenty chocolate wafers on a baking sheet lined with wax paper

Spread about a tablespoon of peanut butter onto each wafer

Press another wafer down on top of peanut butter to form a cookie sandwich; repeat with all twenty cookies

Place tray of cookie sandwiches into the freezer for about an hour

Once cookies are chilled, set up your white chocolate for dipping

Melt chocolate by microwaving it in thirty second increments and stirring in-between

Then dip half of the cookies, covering half of each with chocolate; set white chocolate cookies aside

Repeat the process with semi-sweet chocolate

Store cookies in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving

Peanut Butter Filling

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons salted natural creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Beat butter until light and creamy

Beat in peanut butter

Mix in confectioners sugar on low speed and then beat until light and fluffy

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finished 2

What is your favorite thing to dip in chocolate?

Ice Cream Pie with a New Year’s Eve Worthy Topping

A few months ago I received a few coupons for free Stonyfield’s ice cream or frozen yogurt.  I finally used the coupons just in time for their expiration date and was inspired to use my frozen yogurts to make a New Year’s Eve dessert.  I’ll leave a full review of the yogurt for a separate post, but I am very happy with the delicious dessert I came up with.

slice 1

You are looking at layers of crunchy gingersnap crust, pumpkin frozen yogurt, and chocolate frozen yogurt topped with a salted caramel cream sauce.  I came up with the dessert because chocolate and pumpkin are some of my favorite flavors, but as soon as I created it I realized that this mimics my favorite cheesecake bar.  Ok, so it wasn’t the first time using these flavors, but I promise that it was worth the lack of creativity for an excuse to make the topping.  This Frozen Pumpkin and Chocolate Yogurt Pie with Salted Caramel Cream Sauce was a very worthy end to 2010.

slice 3

I love that the filling to this pie is fat free frozen yogurt, because it makes you think you are being really healthy. Never mind that the crust has half a stick of butter in it and the sauce is based on sugar, butter and heavy whipping cream.  Details, details.  Moderation is key, or so they say.

The pie is really easy to make.  The sauce is a little more challenging.  I simplified it after my first attempt where I ended up with rock-hard chunks of sugar and butter.  It took a lot of soaking to clean that pot!

bad caramel

First thing to do is run your gingersnap crumbs through a food processor

gingersnaps 1

Grind until the cookies are mostly fine crumbs

gingersnaps 2

Melt the butter

butter 1

And mix it with the cookie crumbs

crumbs with butter

Next, add sugar

adding sugar

When the crust is fully mixed, press it down into a 9-inch spring-form pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

crust in pan 2

Bake for about 8 minutes or until firm

crust baked

Allow the crust to cool and put the vanilla frozen yogurt in a medium bowlvanilla in bowl

The vanilla is the base for your pumpkin layer

pumpkin ingredients

Fold in the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice until well combined

vanilla with pumpkin

Spread pumpkin layer over crust and freeze for about 10 minutes

pumpkin layer frozen

Meanwhile, remove the chocolate frozen yogurt from the freezer so that it is softened

chocolate fro yo 2

Spread chocolate yogurt over the pumpkin and freeze covered with foil until ready to serve

chocolate layer

To make the caramel, begin by heating sugar over low to medium heat in a small sauce pan

sugar in pot

Add butter

add butter to pot

Stir butter and sugar until butter is melted and fully combined with sugar

melting butter and sugar

Reduce the heat to low and add cream

cream added

Stir continuously until mixture bubbles

sauce bubbling

Then remove pot from heat and stir in corn syrup

adding corn syrup

Add salt and stir

adding salt

The sauce will be a thick liquid that hardens as it cools; store it in the refrigerator and microwave on a low setting to re-heat

sauce done

When it is time to serve the dessert, carefully remove outside of springform pan

whole ice cream pie

Cut slices and drizzle with caramel cream sauce

slice 2

When no one is looking, steal some extra sauce for cookies, fruit, your finger…

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Frozen Pumpkin and Chocolate Yogurt Pie with Salted Caramel Cream Sauce

Sauce adapted from the Serendipity Sundaes cookbook

Serves 8-12

Pie Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of gingersnap cookie crumbs (about 25 cookies)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups vanilla frozen yogurt (I used Stonyfield fat free vanilla)

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie seasoning

2 cups chocolate frozen yogurt (I used Stonyfield fat free chocolate)

Pie Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Spray a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray, set aside

To make the crust, grind up about 25 gingersnaps in a food processor until fine; set cookie crumbs aside

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the microwave and pour over cookie crumbs

Add 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and mix until well combined

Pour mixture into springform pan

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until firm

Remove from oven and allow to cool

Remove vanilla frozen yogurt from freezer a few minutes before use

Place the yogurt into a bowl and fold in the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice until well combined

Spread pumpkin layer over crust and freeze for about 10 minutes

Meanwhile, remove the chocolate frozen yogurt from the freezer so that it is softened

Spread chocolate yogurt over the pumpkin and freeze covered with foil until ready to serve

Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon sea salt

Sauce Directions:

Heat sugar over low to medium heat in a small sauce pan

Add butter; stir until butter is melted and fully combined with sugar

Reduce the heat to low and add cream; stir continuously until mixture bubbles

Remove pot from heat and stir in corn syrup

Add salt and stir

When it is time to serve the dessert, carefully remove outside of springform pan

Cut slices and drizzle with caramel cream sauce

Notes:

The sauce is best served immediately; if not, store it in the refrigerator and microwave on a low setting to re-heat at 15 second intervals stirring in-between

The sauce will firm up over the ice cream, don’t worry, that is supposed to happen!

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slice 4

I hope that everyone enjoys a happy and healthy New Year!

What dessert did you have for New Year’s Eve?

Peanut Butter Cheesecakes with Pretzel Crust

You already know that my pants don’t fit.  I don’t know about you, but I find it nearly impossible to diet around this time of year.  It is so cold out that the last thing I want to eat is salad.  What really appeals to me are dishes like chili, lasagna, fresh baked cookies… comfort food.  Add on holiday celebrations, office treats, and Christmas candy sales; I am hopeless.  Well, it is fair to say that I won’t lose any weight in the last week or so of December, but I will do anything I can not to gain more weight.  As a result, I am making an effort to lighten up some of the desserts I am making over the next few hours weeks.

cheesecake 2

Honestly, I don’t do well “giving up” anything. I don’t do well with portion control either.  The first step in trying to combat that is pre-portioning desserts.  The other thing I like to do is take out some of the fat and calories where it won’t be missed.  Previously I’ve made ice cream desserts that taste delicious but are made with lots of low-guilt ingredients.  Well, I decided to make Individual Peanut Butter Cheesecakes using lower fat cream cheese with a few more decadent ingredients to balance them out.

cheesecake 5

These cheesecakes are made with a crunchy pretzel crust, a creamy peanut butter filling and chocolate chips snuck in as a layer above the crust and throughout batter.  By the way, you’d be so proud of me.  I only ate two of them!  That may or may not be because I gave some to friends and left the rest in my parents fridge.  Sorry, Mom:-)

cheesecake 4

This recipe is actually very easy and revolves mostly around a food processor.  I figured if I needed to take out the appliance for making a crust, I might as well use it for the cheesecake batter too!

To begin, fill up your food processor with salted pretzels

pretzels2

Run them through until they are mostly fine crumbs

pretzels3

In a small bowl, pour melted butter over the pretzel crumbs

adding butter

Add sugar

adding sugar

Stir until all of the crumbs are moist

Mixing crust

Press a couple tablespoons of crust ingredients into two muffin tins sprayed with non-stick cooking spray; bake for about 6 minutes

crust pre-baking

When crust comes out of oven, layer with several milk chocolate and caramel chips

chips on crust 1

Regular chocolate chips would also work, but I really like the combination of caramel, chocolate and peanut butter; set pan aside

chocolate caramel chips

Meanwhile, prepare cheesecake batter; you can shake out the crumbs from the food processor, no need to wash it

cream cheese 1

Cream 2 blocks of cream cheese in the food processor

cream cheese 2

Add sugar, flour, vanilla and salt

adding sugar flour and vanilla

Combine well

sugar flour vanilla mixed

Add your eggs

add eggs

Measure 1 cup of peanut butter chips

peanut butter chips

Microwave about 45 seconds and stir; microwave in additional 20 second increments until chips are melted; note this will be very thick

melted pb chips

Add peanut butter to cheesecake batter

add peanut butter

Process until smooth and creamy

pb mixed in

Pour cheesecake batter into a separate bowl and fold in chocolate chips

fold in chips

Use a small ladle or large spoon to put about 1/3 of a cup of batter in muffin tins

badder in pan 1

Bake cheesecakes for about 15 minutes or until mostly firm

baked 2

Serve drizzled with chocolate and caramel or sprinkled with pretzel crumbs

cheesecake 12

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Individual Peanut Butter Cheesecakes, lightened up

Makes 24 mini-cheesecakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups finely ground pretzel crumbs

4 tablespoons melted butter

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, separated

1 8-ounce block fat free cream cheese, softened

1 8-ounce block reduced fat cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup peanut butter chips*, melted

1/2 cup milk chocolate and caramel chips

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

To begin, fill up your food processor with salted pretzels and run them through until finely ground

In a small bowl, pour melted butter over the pretzel crumbs

Add 2 tablespoons sugar and stir until all of the crumbs are moist

Press mixture into two sets of muffin tins sprayed with non-stick cooking spray; bake for 6 minutes

When crust comes out of oven, sprinkle a few milk chocolate and caramel chips into each cup; set aside

Shake crumbs out of food processor and use it to prepare cheesecake batter

Cream 2 blocks of cream cheese in the food processor

Add sugar, flour, vanilla and salt; cream until well combined

Add eggs and mix well

Add melted peanut butter chips to cheesecake batter and process until smooth and creamy

Pour cheesecake batter into a separate bowl; fold in chocolate chips

Use a small ladle or large spoon to put about 1/3 of a cup of batter into each cup

Bake cheesecakes for about 15 minutes or until tops are mostly firm

Notes:

*You can replace these with regular peanut butter (not natural)

The peanut butter flavor isn’t really strong; some people may prefer this but I may try increasing the amount of peanut butter chips next time (using regular peanut butter could also help)

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cheesecake 7

cheesecake 11

Are you worried about weight gain during the holidays?

How do You Define the Perfect Cookie?

Who doesn’t like a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie?  No one I know.  At the same time, if you put 100 people together in a room and had them each describe their perfect chocolate chip cookie, you would get 100 different answers.  My dad, for one, LOVES crispy cookies.  He likes to bite into a chocolate chip cookie and have it crunch and crumble inside his mouth.  My mom would take half-baked if you had them.  Who needs to wait for cookies to bake and cool when you can take them out of the oven after a few minutes when they are gooey, warm and delicious?  My sister will take her cookie and eat around the chocolate chips (who is she?).  And the Husband, he is happy as long as you give him a glass of milk to dunk into.

cookies 5

I am somewhere in between.  While I don’t love extra crispy cookies, I can recognize their appeal.  And really, who can resist warm and melty cookie dough?!  There is a time and a place for all forms of chocolate chip cookies, and yes that includes a plain old Chips Ahoy in times of desperation.

However, right now, I am on a quest to reinvent the most delicious chocolate chip cookie I have ever had.  Every year someone sends the most amazing cookies to our office, and let me tell you, I don’t eat office treats unless I think they are really worth it.  These cookies, worth it.  They are dense and chewy with the perfect hint of salt and a lot of chocolate chips.  Something about them is so addicting.  I’ll go into the kitchen and grab one, because look at me, I can eat just one cookie.  But about two seconds after I take that last bite, I am back for more, because who am I kidding, I can’t eat just one cookie.

baked 2

On my way to figuring out a recipe to recreate this “perfect” cookie, I found something quite different, but quite tasty.  These Doughy Chocolate Chunk Cookies are about as addicting.  To me, they exemplify the flavors of freshly mixed cookie dough in baked cookie form.  Moist, chewy, doughy and slightly underbaked with the perfect amount of big chocolate chunks.  I used Christmas colored dark chocolate M&M’s to give them a festive appeal and chunks of milk chocolate Hershey’s Kisses for the sweet contrast.  Any form of chocolate chip would work just as well.

kisses and M&Ms

To begin, lightly chop your Kisses and set aside

chopped kisses

Combine flour with the other dry ingredients

dry ingredients

Whisk together and set aside

whisked dry ingredients

Next, combine the butter and sugars until light and fluffy

butter and sugars

Then, add your eggs and vanilla and combine well

add eggs

Reduce the speed of your mixer to low and gradually add in the dry ingredients

adding dry ingredients

Scrape your bowl a couple of times to make sure flour is fully mixed in

dry ingred mixed in

Stir chocolate pieces into your batter

adding chocolate

Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnightchocolate mixed in

Use a cookie dough scoop or tablespoon for cookies

scooped

Lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper

dough on sheet 1

Once done, allow cookies to cool on a cooling rack

cookies on rack 2

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Doughy Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup dark chocolate M&M’s

1 cup milk Hershey’s Kisses, lightly chopped

Directions:

Lightly chop Hershey’s Kisses; set aside

Combine flour with the other dry ingredients and whisk together; set aside

Next, combine the butter and sugars; beat well until light and fluffy

Then, add your eggs and vanilla and combine well

Reduce the speed of your mixer to low and gradually add in the dry ingredients

Stir chocolate pieces into your batter

Chill your dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight

Once ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Scoop heaping tablespoons of cookie dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper

Bake in the oven for 9-10 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges; cookies will not change color much

Set the cookies aside on cooling racks

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cookies 9

Any tips for me on making this “perfect” cookie? I am having trouble finding that dense chewy texture that was so enjoyable.

Topped with Marshmallows

It seems that there are two types of people when it comes to a Sweet Potato Casserole: Those who cover theirs with toasty melty marshmallows, and those who don’t.  Do you think I am biased?

sweet potatoes 12

You already know I love to sneak dessert-like side dishes onto my table.  Why wouldn’t I top my Sweet Potato Casserole with candy? To be honest, this is the way I grew up eating sweet potatoes.  Each time I see a recipe for a casserole topped with something delicious like a pecan streusel or turned savory I’m tempted to try it, but why mess with something that is just right?

This recipe is actually a lot healthier than you might think.  It is filled with nutrient-dense sweet potatoes, canned pumpkin (yes, pumpkin!), spices and and a secret ingredient:

sweet potatoes 6

I got the idea of using pumpkin butter in a Food and Wine recipe a couple of years ago.  I haven’t turned back since.

The other secret to this recipe is the roasted sweet potatoes.  Yes, you can microwave them to cut down on time, but roasting them adds so much flavor.

To begin, line a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with foil and non-stick spray.  Top with your sweet potatoes and poke holes in them to prevent any oven explosions

sweet potatoes 2

Roast them for an hour or so, or until they are nice and tender to the touch

The softer they are, the easier they will be to peel.  I usually roast the sweet potatoes the night before so that I can peel them easily when they are cool, no burnt fingers required

Place them in a mixer with a can of pumpkin and combine until most of the mixture is pureed but some chunks still exist (you can also mash by hand if you don’t have a mixer)

Add in your pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin butter, a dash of salt and a bit of vanilla

sweet potatoes 7

Once well-combined, place in a large greased baking dish

sweet potatoes 8

Cover with foil and bake until hot

sweet potatoes 9

Remove the baking dish from the oven and top with marshmallows

sweet potatoes 10

Broil for a minute or two, until your marshmallows are lightly browned.  I recommend putting foil or a sheet pan below the baking dish in case you have any drippings

sweet potatoes 11
Sweet Potato Casserole
Serves 12

Ingredients:
8-10 medium sweet potatoes, about 5 pounds
1 15-ounce can of pumpkin, (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup pumpkin butter
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1-lb bag of mini marshmallows

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Line jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with foil and non-stick cooking spray
Poke sweet potatoes with a fork and spread out on baking sheet; roast in oven for about an hour or until they are tender
Once sweet potatoes are cool, peel them; cut a slit in the skin of each sweet potato and then peel with fingers
Place them in a mixer with pumpkin and combine until most of the mixture is pureed but some chunks still exist (you can also mash by hand if you don’t have a mixer)
Add pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin butter, salt and vanilla
Once well-combined, place in a large baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray
Cover with foil and bake about 30 minutes or until hot
Remove the baking dish from the oven and top with marshmallows
Put oven on broil and bake casserole for 1-2 minutes, or until marshmallows are lightly browned

Which camp are you in? With marshmallows or without?

Brownies with Cookie Dough Topping

I learned to bake by watching my mom, the Original Baker.  Most of my memories are of standing next to her at the kitchen counter as she measured ingredients and put them together effortlessly.  I’d help pour the sugar into the bowl or turn on the mixer, and sometimes even crack the eggs.  The best part, of which I have many memories, was getting a beater fresh off the mixer with “extra” chocolate chip cookie dough.

Luckily I never got sick from eating the raw dough! Sometimes I doubt that is even possible because I have a lot of experience licking cookie dough, brownie batter and other delicious pre-baked desserts full of raw eggs off of spatulas.  If I didn’t get sick from copious amounts of raw cookie dough, who has?

But just in case you can in fact get sick from raw eggs, no-bake (eggless) cookie dough is a kid’s dream!  Now, imagine slathering that cookie dough onto rich chocolate brownies?  Oh yes.  Cookie Dough Topped Brownies is a dessert any kid would dream about, and well, any adult too;-)

First thing to do is make your brownies.  I used the tried and true Baker’s recipe that is also used for my Chocolate Lover’s Bites.

Melt butter and chocolate in large sauce pan over low to medium heat

Stir until smooth

Remove from heat and stir in sugar

Your batter will get nice and thick*

Stir in eggs and vanilla

Then the vanilla

Whisk in flour until smooth

Batter will get nice and thick

Pour into a 9×13 pan lined with foil and greased or sprayed with cooking spray and bake

While brownie is cooling, make your cookie dough

Combine your butter and sugars

Then add a little bit of milk

Mix in some flour

And of course I have a 6-pound bag of chocolate chips

Add them in

Stir until the chips are mixed throughout the dough

Now it’s time to spread your cookie dough

Wait until your brownie is completely cool, it wouldn’t hurt to freeze the brownie first since the dough is very thick

A long strong spatula is good for spreading

Once finished, keep your brownies in a cool place; they also freeze very well

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Cookie Dough Topped Brownies

Makes 36 brownies

Ingredients:

Brownie (recipe from Baker’s)

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

Cookie Dough (Adapted from the Blue-Eyed Bakers)

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

4 tablespoons milk (I use skim)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Brownies

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Melt butter and chocolate in large sauce pan over low to medium heat

Stir in sugar

Stir in eggs and vanilla

Whisk in flour until smooth

Pour into a 9×13 pan lined with foil and greased or sprayed with cooking spray

Bake for ~30 minutes or until knife comes out clean

Cookie Dough

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy

Mix in milk

Gradually mix in flour and salt

Stir in chocolate chips

Allow brownies to cool completely (might be easier if they are frozen) and then spread cookie dough over the top

Store in refrigerator (or freeze)

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cooke dough brownies

*While I was making these, I accidentally added too much sugar.  In an upcoming post I’ll tell you how I rectified that and ended up with another delicious dessert.

Do you eat raw cookie dough?

My Favorite Ice Cream Brownie

Last weekend was very exciting, we celebrated the engagement of Adam and Sara (my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law)!  Lots of champagne was involved and of course I had to bake for the occasion.

The happy couple:

engagement 2

Me with the new member of the family:

engagement 7

Looks like Matt and I are now the old married couple of the group;-)

engagement 3

The celebration was just a few days after my father-in-law’s birthday so I made this cake for him.  For the new engaged couple, I made a personalized Ice Cream Brownie.  I was very excited when Adam decided to propose to Sara.  When I asked what Sara’s favorite dessert is, he said she loves brownies with ice cream.  It didn’t take me more than a minute to decide what to make.

This is a dessert I’ve made often in the past, but the flavors always change depending on who I am baking for.  The basics stay the same:  brownie bottom, hot fudge and oreos on top of that, then cool whip and an ice cream of choice.  Pretty easy and oh so delicious.  ALWAYS a big hit.

Like I’ve said in the past, when there are enough tasty ingredients, lower fat parts don’t take away from the final product.  These No Pudge brownies are perfect for this recipe.  They are chewy and chocolaty, even when frozen, but not too rich to layer in this dessert.

brownie ingred

Brownie mix + yogurt + stir = easy!

brownie mix and yogbrownie batter

Spread batter thinly in a 13 x 9 pan sprayed with cooking spraybrownie batter in pan

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until knife comes out cleanbrownie done

Next step- hot fudge and oreos

oreo and hot fudge

You can crush the oreos in a ziploc bag by hand while your brownie is baking

crushed oreo

Spread the brownie with hot fudge before it is completely cool, it will be very easy to spread that way

oreos on brownie 1

Then cover the hot fudge with a full layer of crushed oreos

oreos on brownie 2

Then cover this entire layer in cool whip

cool whip

Since Adam and Sara have different favorite flavors that don’t really go together, mint and peanut butter, I spilt the dessert in half with a wall of oreos

cool whip on brownie 1

Once you have a full layer of cool whip, freeze the dessert for about a half hour

cool whip on brownie 2

Next layer is ice cream

ice creamice cream on brownie 2

Spread your ice cream over the layer of cool whip

ice cream on brownie 1

While I was planning the dessert, I realized we might want a way to identify each side before digging in

reeses and pepp patties 1

Pepperment patties and peanut butter cups

pepp patties

reeses and pepp patties 2

Once all of the ice cream is covered in cool whip, sprinkle the corresponding candy flavors on each side

cool whip on ice cream

full ice cream brownie 1

And serve to the happy couple

engagement 10 inside of ice cream brownie 2 inside of ice cream brownie

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Ice Cream Brownie

Adapted from the Original Baker

Serves 12, generously

Ingredients:

1 box No Pudge Brownie (or brownie mix of choice) and ingredients listed on box

1 cup hot fudge

12 oreos

4 8 ounce containers of cool whip, defrosted

1/2 gallon ice cream (or 1/2 container each of 2 different flavors), slightly softened

20 pieces chocolate candy

Directions:

Bake brownie in a 13×9 baking pan sprayed with cooking spray, following instructions on box; bake for about 20 minutes or until knife comes out clean

While brownie is baking, crush oreos in a ziploc bag and set aside

Allow brownie to cool for about 10 minutes and then spread full layer of hot fudge

Layer crushed oreos over hot fudge

Spread 3 of the 4 containers of cool whip over oreos

Freeze layered dessert for about 30 minutes, or until cool whip layer is firm

Chop candy pieces while dessert is in freezer and set aside

Spread ice cream over top of cool whip

Cover ice cream with a thin layer of cool whip using 4th container

Sprinkle candy pieces over cool whip

Serve immediately or cover baking pan with tightly foil and freeze until serving

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Have you celebrated anyone’s engagement recently?

Showing Almond Butter Some Love

Bars are such an easy thing to make and serve. Rather than dropping dozens of cookies onto several baking sheets and switching pans in and out of the oven, you can spread the batter into one large pan and bake it in one batch. Once they are done and cool, you just slice and serve. Pieces can be as big or small as you want.

Since I have a ton of baking to do over the next month or so, I have found a few recipes that are less time consuming to mix in with the more complicated desserts. Besides, as it turns out, sometimes the easiest desserts are the most popular! I am really excited about the recipes I will be making over the next several weeks, and I think you will enjoy them as well. This recipe is a good start to the holiday baking season but can be used year round. I was excited when I found it because it uses almond butter as a main ingredient. I haven’t baked with almond butter before, I am more of a die-hard peanut butter lover, but I do enjoy it for variety. This Food &Wine cookbook actually has a ton of great recipes and this recipe for Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Bars is one of the more simple that I found.

cookbook

For a change, I didn’t make any tweaks, and I don’t think it needs any. These crispy and chewy bars would be terrific with a glass of milk, but I’ll be serving them among a selection of many other desserts.

The details to the recipe can be found here.

For this recipe you will need a food processor and just a few ingredients

all ingredients

Side note: the hardest part of making these was getting my food processor down from the back corner of my top kitchen shelf

Chop your nuts and set aside

chopped almonds

 

Then mix up the dough in the food processor (you don’t need to clean it between these steps)

food processor 1

food processor 2

food processor 3

food processor 4

dough 1

Stir in chocolate chips (I used chunks) and chopped almonds.

dough 2

dough 3

Spread it out in your baking pan

dough 4

Bake

done 1

Crispy, chewy, delicious

done 3

done 2

Have you baked with almond butter before?

Chewy Chocolaty Cookies with Mint

I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with these for a while now.

bag of candy

This is sort of my vice (well, I may have a lot of food vices), but this is one that the husband tries not to support (he tries to save room for my desserts instead).

One of my big memories from growing up is making trips to CVS with my mom and sister every time we were at the mall.  Our visit was solely to seek out candy on sale.  M&Ms, chocolate bars, skittles, you name it we’d buy it (oh, unless it had coconut in it).  I grew up with multiple filled candy dishes around the house.  As kids, our friends ALWAYS liked coming over for that reason.  Actually, I think they still like it as grown-ups:-)  Anyway, now after every holiday, I make a trip to CVS to check out what candy is on sale.  There is always a use for Hershey Kisses and Reeses Peanut Butter cups in my opinion, even if the candy is orange and brown, pink and red, or red and green.  Luckily, if stored well and you can’t decide what to do with it for 10 months, your candy will still be in good shape.

chocolate bars wrapped

Then, a few days ago, I started thinking about chewy chocolate cookies.  Not chocolate chip cookies, but the chocolate chocolate kind that is almost brownie like in flavor and texture.  I thought, now this is the perfect use for the mint chocolate bars.  Who needs plain chips when you can have minty chocolate chunks instead?  I made Chewy Chocolaty Cookies with Mint with this cookie dough recipe.

cookies baked 3

These cookies are rich, sweet, chocolaty, chewy and really melt in your mouth.  They also have a good deal of mint from the candy melting into them when you bake them.  The recipe is pretty basic as far as cookies go and the hardest part is just chopping up your chocolates.chocolate bars unwrapped

Here are the steps:

Chop candy bars into chunks (no precision needed)

chopped chocolate

Mix together the dry ingredients and set aside

dry ingred

Now, cream your butter and sugar.  There is a lot of it, that is why they are so good:-)

creaming butter sugar

Beat in the sugar, eggs and vanilla

batter with eggs

Gradually add your dry ingredients with mixer on low.  Then mix at medium speed until well-combined

Stir in your candy bar chunks

batter with chunks

Drop dough in heaping tablespoons on baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake at 375 for 8 minutes

cookie dough on sheet 2

They will come out with only a slight puff (this cookie isn’t meant to be fat and puffy)

cookies baked 1

cookies baked 4

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Chewy Chocolaty Cookies with Mint

Makes ~4 dozen large cookies

Ingredients:

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Dash of salt

1 ¼ cup unsalted butter (2 ½ stick) at room temperature

2 cups granulated Sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups chopped mint flavored candy bars (I used an entire 10 ounce bag)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375

Chop candy bars into chunks and set aside

Mix together the dry ingredients, except for sugar, and set aside

Cream your butter and sugar

Beat in the, eggs and vanilla

Gradually add your dry ingredients with mixer on low;  then mix at medium speed until well-combined

Stir in chopped candy

Drop dough in heaping tablespoons on baking sheets lined with parchment paper about 2 inches apart

Bake at 375 for 8 minutes or until cookies are slightly puffy

Let cool on cooling rack

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cookies baked 2

Do you have any surprising vices to share?

Updating Tradition and a Winner

First of all, congrats to Lauren who said “I love Chobani! Their pomegranate flavor is amazing!!”.  Email me your mailing address to KeepItSweetLCL at gmail dot com.  I’ll be sending the coupons along with something sweet (I hope you like chocolate!).

So every year for Yom Kippur, my family breaks the fast with the same general meal:  bagels and fish, kugel, blintz bake lots of desserts… This is one of my favorite meals (which might be somewhat related to the level of hunger I am feeling when we eat), so I am always hesitant to make a change.

For as long as I can remember, my mom has made this blintz bake:

blintz bake recipe

Even when I went to college I made the same recipe for my friends.  I have some great memories of picking at the leftovers and finishing it off with my roommate after everyone had left for the night:-)

The only element that ever changes is type of blintzes we use.  We have used cherry, blueberry, cheese, and combinations of them as well.  I could never decide which was my favorite.  This year, however, my dad came up with a delicious idea that solved that issue!

bluieberries for blintz bake

Blueberries!  [Side note- These were huge blueberries that my mom had frozen this summer.  I highly recommend doing this if you have excess freezer space.] Rather than use blueberry blintzes, he suggested adding blueberries to the custard-like topping.  As a result, we could keep it simple with cheese blintzes.

blintzes

This recipe, which I adapted from The Har Zion Cookbook, is very easy to follow.  I made several changes to make it a little healthier and increased the recipe to feed more people.  To make our modified Blueberry Blintz Bake, all you will need to do is:

Find a large baking dish (11×13 or bigger)

blintz bake dish

Line it with blintzes straight out of the freezerblintzes in dish

Pour on your melted butter

pouring butter on blintzes

I said “healthier”, not “healthy”

pouring butter on blintzes 2

Make your filling

batter for blintz bake filling for blintz bake

Pour in a ton of these

bluieberries for blintz bake

Pour it over your blintzes

blintz bake pre-cinn

Sprinkle on some cinnamon

blintz bake pre oven

And bake

blintz bake done 1

Serve warm

piece of blintz bake

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Blueberry Blintz Bake

Ingredients:

18 frozen cheese blintzes*

6 ounces of melted butter, unsalted (3/4 stick)

1 pint sour cream, reduced fat

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup egg beaters

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Cinnamon for topping

*fresh would work as well, just reduce cooking time

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Line large baking dish (13×9 or bigger) with blintzes

Pour melted butter over blintzes

Combine sour cream, sugar, egg beaters and vanilla by whisking or using whisk attachment to mixer

Stir in blueberries

Pour filling over blintzes

Sprinkle cinnamon over blintz bake

Bake for 60-75 minutes or until center has limited movement (it should be similar to a cheesecake where the edges begin to show cracks and the center is slightly firm)

Serve warm

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Do you have any traditional dishes that you don’t like to change?

Low Fat Peanut Butter Mousse

Although I’d like to eat these or these every day, my body doesn’t seem to think that is acceptable enough for fitting into my clothes!  As a result, I am constantly thinking of dessert ideas that are a little more healthy.  Don’t get me wrong, when you need a brownie, you NEED a brownie, but there are some occasions when I can go with something on the lighter side.

About a month ago, I contacted Chobani about using their products in recipes on the blog.  Lucky for me, the woman I wrote to was more than happy to help out.  Just a few days later I received several coupons for FREE Chobanis in the mail!  Now lucky for you, I am going to give some away.  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post between now and Monday night at midnight eastern.  I’ll pick a random number to choose a winner for 6 free yogurts.

Tonight was the perfect opportunity to experiment with the yogurt.  I had a relaxing night planned for myself and wanted something easy, tasty and light (we are going to a wedding tomorrow night and there is a little black dress waiting for me in the closet).  After considering the ingredients I had on hand, I decided to make Low Fat Peanut Butter Mousse.

This is an extremely easy recipe.  All you need are these:

all ingred

This:

mini chopper

I love my mini chopper.

And this:

splenda

Regularly I try to limit artificial sweeteners in my diet, but I have nothing against using them in small doses.

To make the mousse follow these steps:

Let your cream cheese sit out for a bit to soften, and put that in the food processor first.  You can read why, here.

cream cheese measured

Then blend in your Chobani.

empty yogurt

And then the powdered stuff.  The Splenda too.

measuring PB2

Whirl it all together to get it nice and creamy.  You should pause to scrape the sides once or twice.

mix in chopper

Then serve, you don’t even have to share!

mousse

Which is a good thing, since I devoured it:-)

all gone

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Low Fat Peanut Butter Mousse

Serves 1; approximately 180 calories

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons fat free cream cheese, softened

1 small 6 ounce container nonfat plain Chobani

2 tablespoons of PB2*

1 tablespoon of Splenda, or more to taste

Directions:

Run cream cheese through food processor until creamy.

Add yogurt and blend well.

Blend in PB2 and Splenda, scraping the sides of the chopper once or twice.

Eat alone or with your choice of topping.

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Notes:

*Trader Joes peanut flour is similar and can be used instead.  Alternatively, a tablespoon of regular natural peanut butter would work as well.  Nutrition information would vary.

If you don’t have a mini chopper, you could use a hand mixer or a small blender instead.

I know this isn’t really “mousse”, but the texture is so creamy that is the best way to describe it.

This would be great served over sliced bananas or as a dip for sliced apples.

Suggested toppings include dark chocolate shavings, cookie crumbs or chopped peanuts.

Don’t forget to comment for the chance to win FREE Chobani!!  Maybe I’ll even throw in a surprise:-)

Fan Favorite

Do you have a dish or dessert that friends and family are constantly requesting?  There is one dessert I make that people are always asking for, and go and figure, it is one of the easiest recipes I have ever made.  I actually was hesitant to post it on the blog in case my friends see this and decide they don’t need my baking services anymore because they can do it themselves;-)

These Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars are so easy but oh so delicious.  They are rich and fudgy and begin and end with chocolate chip cookie, what could be bad?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Interestingly enough, this is actually a Pillsbury recipe.  Pillsbury has some great, easy recipes on their website.  Usually I’ll prefer desserts completely made from scratch, but there is a time and a place for shortcuts if the outcome is still tasty!  My mom made this recipe a few years ago and replaced the top layer of cookie with melted chocolate, but I am sticking with the basics here.

Not only is this easy, but the ingredient list is super short.  All you need are 3 1/2 ingredients (I count vanilla as a half:-)).

ingredients

Here are the easy steps:

Mix your peanut butter, powdered sugar and vanilla

I actually reduced the portion of peanut butter this time around and was happier with the result.  The bars cooked perfectly.

measured peanut butter

measured peanut butter 2

Your peanut butter batter will be very thick.  Mixer not necessary but easier.

mixing ingredients

Layer about 2/3 of the cookie dough and then the peanut butter

layering 1 layering 2

Top with drops of the remaining cookie dough

layering 3

Bake

done 1 done 2

Cool

done 3

Slice

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Try not to eat them all in one sitting

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Fan Favorite
 
Super easy cookie bars that are layered with a delicious peanut butter filling.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Makes: 16 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 roll of chocolate chip cookie dough, 16.5 oz
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Combine peanut butter, sugar and vanilla and set aside
  3. Spread ⅔ of cookie dough in 8x8 or 9x9 ungreased baking pan
  4. Spread peanut butter mixture on top of cookie dough
  5. Drop remaining cookie dough on top of peanut butter layer
  6. Bake 28-33 minutes or until golden brown
  7. Cool before cutting.  Serve at room temperature
Notes
Adapted from Pillsbury

Do you have any “fan favorite” recipes?  Do you keep them a secret?

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

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The Best Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies

The Best Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies

Milk Chocolate Tart with Peanut Butter Pretzel Crust

Milk Chocolate Tart with Peanut Butter Pretzel Crust

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