The only thing better than a cookie dough bite is a cookie dough bite dipped in delicious chocolate!

These indulgent goodies are a huge hit with both kids and adults! There is something that just feels super indulgent about eating cookie dough. Even better is to dip these off the charts bites of cookie dough into melted Ghirardelli chocolate! The combination of cookie dough and chocolate pretty much secures this dessert a place on the “next level” list for my Cookie Dough Truffles!

Enjoy!

-xo

Oreo Pudding is always a good idea! This is Lily’s annual birthday treat at school and when I’m serving a crowd, there is always a tray of Oreo Pudding on the buffet. This simple dessert is always a hit and delivers that 4th of July “Ooh” and “Aah” that bakers look for as a reaction. It’s a simple chocolate pudding with chocolate cookies mixed in throughout. Easy enough to make and a total crowd pleaser.

When I make this for Lily’s birthday treat, I double the recipe and use mini mason jars. It’s a pretty way to plate a dessert for both kids and adults. You can top with a layer of crushed Oreos or place a dollop of whipped cream on top of pudding, sprinkle with crushed cookies and maybe place a cookie right in the whipped cream!

Find mini mason jars here.

Enjoy!

-xo

Go big or go home! When it comes to sweets on Valentine’s Day, that’s pretty much my philosophy. Okay, it’s pretty much my philosophy on dessert in general but Valentine’s Day gives us a great excuse to break out the best in baking! These sweet treats are the perfect way to end a special dinner or make for an amazing gift for someone you love. Get creative, indulge, and create a memorable and delicious Valentine’s Day!

Here are my 10 picks for Sweet Treats on Valentine’s Day.

Enjoy!

xo

Country Cake with Berries

This stunner of a cake is brings the WOW factor to Valentine’s Day! Load this beauty up with clouds of whipped cream and tons of juicy, ripe red berries. For a dramatic reveal, dim the lights and dazzle your guests with a gorgeous cake topped with sparklers. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting is always a hit! Whip up a batch of these lush red cupcakes and top with festive Valentine’s Day sprinkles or a combination of strawberries and raspberries.

Fruit and Herb Filled Ice Cubes

Make every element of your Valentine’s Day celebration feel special! Up your drink game on Valentine’s Day with these show stopping ice cubes loaded with fruit!

Cheesecakes in Mason Jars 

My mini cheesecakes are the perfect treat for your family, classroom party, or just to bake your way into someone’s heart. Top with shavings of a special chocolate, red berries, or a dollop of homemade whipped.

Chocolate Chip Cookies 

For a special treat on Valentine’s Day, add a sprinkle of fleur de sel to each ball of dough before you pop them in the oven. Present on a beautiful platter or fill glassine bags with a shiny red ribbon for a lovely gift.

Chocolate Dipped Fruit Cone

It’s a fact that Chocolate Dipped Cones make everything that goes into them taste better. Get creative with the chocolates and the sprinkles! I love the look of white chocolate with pink and/or red sprinkles! Load them up with bright red berries or your favorite ice cream for a memorable Valentine’s Day dessert.

Ice Cream Sandwiches with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough 

Go ahead, eat the dough! These Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches are made with real cookie dough! Fill with a festive ice cream of you choice (red velvet, strawberry, or even chocolate chocolate chip). When you are ready to serve and the sandwiches are good and frozen, have dishes of sprinkles or crushed cookies out on the table. Let guests roll their sandwich in the topping of their choice.

Monkey Bread Cupcakes 

These knock your socks off Monkey Bread Cupcakes are perfect for Valentine’s Day. Wrap each cupcake in cellophane with a gorgeous bow and a heartfelt card.

Chocolate Dipped Oreos

Now is the time to take advantage of all of those fun Valentine’s Day sprinkles I’m seeing in every baking aisle. Use heart shaped sprinkles or go with red and pink for a super cute and delicious cookie. Fill a glassine bag or present on a special tray.

Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches

I made these Ice Cream Sandwiches for the holidays and they were a huge hit. Fill with your favorite ice cream and fun roll sprinkles. Kid and grownup approved.

My 15 year old is completely obsessed with Monkey Bread. He begged me to learn how to make it for years. Finally, after many very average attempts and some epic failures, I finally found the end-all-be-all version. This recipe became an instant classic in my house and now makes appearances every time we host an event.

Coat the biscuit pieces evenly.

Monkey Bread is typically served as a whole cake but I love the idea of breaking it down into individual cupcakes. Each cupcake is packed with light-as-a-feather biscuits that serve as the most indulgent delivery service for each buttery-cinnamon-sugar bite. Get ready to make room for a new powerhouse dessert in your recipe box!

Distribute the brown sugar, butter, vanilla mixture evenly over cupcakes.

This completely dreamy dessert is the perfect indulgence for any occasion. I just love when something easy to make is off the charts delicious. These beautiful Monkey Bread Cupcakes are a huge hit at brunches, classroom treats, or any occasion where dessert is served.

As soon as they are cool enough to handle, move to cooling rack.

The most delicious finished product! YUM.

You can spray a muffin pan and load up your dough but I prefer liners. I use cupcake liners called Tulip Liners because they are so pretty and make for a more dramatic presentation. The high walls of the paper tulip container hold the biscuits and butter combination perfectly.

Find Tulip Cupcake Liners here.

Enjoy!

xo

Happy 2017!

I had a lot of ideas about what January should look like in 2017. I thought about sharing my favorite green smoothie, an earthy lentil salad, and a detox soup. Then I realized what I really want in the new year is be happy. I want to stop over thinking so much and follow my heart. With that in mind, my heart doesn’t say green smoothie today. My heart says cheesecake. Like, crazy good cheesecake that makes everyone happy.

I use a food processor to grind down the graham crackers.

I”m not big on “shoulds” in life but I’m going to give you a should here. Everyone should have a few desserts in their arsenal that they consider a sure thing. This recipe for Cheesecake in Mason Jars is my sure thing. The cheesecake is creamy and light and the crust tastes like a buttery graham cracker cookie. The ratio of cheesecake to crust is pretty much perfection: not too much cheesecake before you get rewarded with that oh so good graham cracker crust.

Crusts ready to go!

These cheesecakes have made appearances at Teacher Appreciation Lunches, potlucks, classroom parties, and headlined dessert tables all over town. Without fail, I get phone calls and emails asking for the recipe. There are a lot of reasons to love this dessert. The mason jars are ridiculously cute, the simple, straight forward flavor of the cheesecake is fantastic, and it’s so easy to make! It’s also fun to play around with the toppings. While the Oreo topping is always a crowd pleaser, I’ve experimented with things like fresh fruit and chocolate chips.

Cheesecakes cooling on wire rack.

How cute are those mini Oreos?

Ready for their close up!

I don’t believe in serving a dessert unless it elicits a big reaction. I’m looking for fireworks type “ooohs” and “aaahs” or I retire the recipe. In short, my dessert philosophy is go big or go home. With that in mind, this recipe will be in my line up for a long time.

Enjoy!

Find 4-ounce mason jars here.

We drink a lot of hot chocolate at my house, especially during the winter months. During the holidays, I try and make everything a little more special. This idea for hot chocolate is just one of the ways we turn up the volume on our hot chocolate during the winter months. With the recent shortage of canned whipped cream (GASP!) I thought it was the perfect time to share one of our favorite seasonal hot chocolate additions!

Instead of tossing out all of those candy canes from the holiday, repurpose them this week in your hot chocolate. It’s a fun thing to do with the kids and this recipe comes together in a snap. If you have company, this is a simple and memorable way to present hot chocolate. A tray loaded with mugs of hot chocolate with these adorable chocolate dipped candy canes is always a hit!

Enjoy!

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Peppermint Bark is one of my most favorite holiday treats of the season. The combination of white and dark chocolate with the hit of cool peppermint makes it totally addictive. It’s the most delicious addition to your holiday cookie plate and is a show stopper of a treat! I fill mason jars with Peppermint Bark, add a special sticker and attach a big red bow for a striking holiday gift. 

I used to buy this treat in the store until I realized how easy it is to make at home. It’s a perfect project with the kids! They love spreading the chocolate and sprinkling the crushed peppermint candies. The only issue is patience. You need need to let the chocolate layers set completely in between steps. This is critical to having beautiful layers of chocolate.

While the recipe is pretty straightforward, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure the best result:

*Use the best chocolate you can find. I used Ghirardelli Chocolate and it really made a huge difference.

*Now that you have upped your  chocolate game, take care of it! Don’t overcook/overheat the chocolate.

*Pull the chocolate out of the microwave before it’s completely melted. Stir until the last bits of chocolate are melted and smooth.

*Let the layers chill completely before moving on to the next step. When adding a new layer of chocolate, make sure the melted chocolate cools to slightly more than lukewarm. You want to be careful not to melt the layers of chilled chocolate with the new layer of chocolate.

*Store finished project in the refrigerator. If it sits at room temperature, it softens.

This is super simple once you get the technique down and takes only a few ingredients. I used good chocolate, peppermint extract, crushed peppermint candies and a few tools to help the process. You need a sheet pan, parchment paper, and an off set spatula. I’m sure you could use a knife or regular spatula to spread the melted chocolate if you are more comfortable with that tool. Also, I used a ruler and a pencil to draw the rectangle onto the parchment paper. After you draw the rectangle on the parchment paper, flip it over  so that when you spread the chocolate, the pencil doesn’t get mixed into your bark.

Enjoy!

If Christmas had a taste, this cookie would be it! It’s loaded with flavors like molasses, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.The flavors alone make for a wonderful cookie but take this treat to another level by adding the world’s most perfect glaze. Make room on your holiday cookie list because this cookie will soon be a seasonal staple in your house.

The recipe is sort of a combination of one I made in culinary school and my best friend’s family recipe. This cookie soon became a family favorite and is pretty much my favorite cookie of all time. It has a chewy texture and delivers the perfect balance of spice and sweetness. The thing about this cookie is that it totally sneaks up on you. It’s so delicious by the time you are two bites into your first cookie, you already know you need another! Seriously addictive.

Make batches and batches of this cookie this holiday season! It’s the perfect treat with a cup of tea or coffee. It also makes for a wonderful cookie plate for friends. You will have a hard time parting with this molasses gem but your friends and family will LOVE it! I assemble holiday cookie plates with different treats and then wrap them up in cellophane with a festive bow. Who wouldn’t want to receive such a delicious gift?

Roll dough in small bowl of granulated sugar.

With two fingers, gently press down on dough to make a flat disc.

Use an ice cream scooper so that all the cookies will be the same size.

These cookies should come with a warning: HIGHLY ADDICTIVE.

Enjoy!

Be warned: I’m having a serious moment with peppermint. It started last weekend at a restaurant outside Chicago. The only thing I remember from that night is when the world’s most perfect peppermint ice cream topped with chocolate sauce arrived at the table, my life was forever changed.

I’ve been a food fan for as long as I can remember. If something is really good, I’m not shy about being all in. That said, I’ve never liked a dessert so much I ordered seconds. Yep, I did that. I ordered an entire second bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce and devoured it. The ice cream was incredible and every once in a few bites, you got a hit of these perfect little bits of actual crushed up peppermint candies in the ice cream.

It was that perfect combination of chocolate and peppermint that got me hooked on finding a new way to enjoy those simple, classic flavors. I wanted to recreate a version of it and found the perfect vehicle: Peppermint Ice Cream Sandwiches.

There are only three ingredients in this dessert so use the best ice cream, cookies, and peppermint candies you can find. I used Graeter’s Ice Cream and Nabisco’s Famous Wafers for the chocolate cookie. Nabisco’s Famous Wafer work because the chocolate isn’t overwhelming and the size of the cookie is perfect.

This ice cream sandwich is super easy to assemble and fun to do with the kids. Kids love playing with the ice cream scooper, squeezing the ice cream between the cookies, and rolling it in crushed peppermint. If you notice the ice cream getting too soft after you make the sandwich, stick them in the freezer for 15 minutes before rolling them in the candies. If you are looking for a more professional look, use a butter knife to clean up ice cream around the edges of the sandwiches before you roll them in candy.

This delicious holiday treat is the perfect special treat!

Enjoy!

-xo

One of my favorite treats in the entire world is a Rice Krispie Treat. There are some flavors that bring me right back to my childhood and this classic treat is one of them. When you hit the sweet spot of that perfect ratio of chewy marshmallow to crispy cereal, it’s a bite of pure bliss.

I’ve been eating Rice Krispie Treats for most of my life. As a child, it’s one of the first recipes I made on my own. To this day, it is still one of my favorite go-to desserts. This simple 3-ingredient treat has comforted me, celebrated small victories, and made countless appearances on the soccer field. It’s one of those sure thing recipes that when executed perfectly is a slam dunk.

Could these little guys be any cuter?

The only thing better than a Rice Krispie Treat is a Rice Krispie Treat covered in white chocolate. These adorable mummies are so easy to make and a show stopper of a Halloween treat. They are so much fun to do as an activity with the kids and an adorable treat for your child’s classroom Halloween party. This year, I’m headed down the street to a neighbor’s annual Halloween party and these treats will be my hostess gift.

Check out this amazing recipe for Rice Krispie Treat Mummies!

Enjoy!

Find edible candy eye balls here.