What's For Dinner- Favorite Desserts

I thought that this week I'd share my favorite go to sweets with you! These are recipes I've made over and over again for my family, friends, church events, you name it! I don't think you can go wrong with any of them!

CAKES/CUPCAKES
These Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes are Abby's favorite and thanks to a school potluck, they are a favorite of a few teachers at her school too! Perfect for a hot summer day- light and creamy!

I have made Pioneer Woman's Tres Leches cake for years! It is so moist and flavorful and the perfect dessert to serve with Mexican food, a staple in Texas!

COOKIES
There are no cookies and big and impressive as these- Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies! We love making a batch of them and gifting them in a cellophane bag with a cute tag and ribbon. Because they are big, they are great for gifting to men!

I won't lie- these cookies are a lot of work, but they are worth it! I like to make them at Christmas time. They even won best cookie at my Sunday school Christmas dinner one year. These Cranberry Bliss Cookies are just a great mix of flavors!

My family has hosted an Easter egg hunt for many years and these Jello cookies were often part of it. They are perfectly colorful and flavorful! I'd recommend making them for Easter this year.

PIES
I love coconut cream pie and will select it over any other dessert! These Mini Coconut Cream Pies are super easy to make and fun to eat!

I first ate these mini apple pies at a baby shower and couldn't get them off my mind. So, I had to have the recipe. These are not complicated, but present really well! We love them!

Finally, I'm at big fan of Amy Hannon of Euna Mae's and so excited she will be at my church in April. I've made many of the desserts in her cookbook and none have failed me! I'd highly recommend her cookbook for the food and the desserts! You can buy a copy here. 

Have a great week and enjoy something sweet!

Toasted Coconut Pound Cake

I made this last week for Good Friday brunch and it is delicious! The buttermilk gives it a true pound cake texture and all the toasted coconut inside and out make it a rich coconut flavor. It is a wonderful spring and summer cake to make and share!

Get the recipe from Little Bits of here. 

Chia Seed Pudding

I saw Giada's chia seed pudding online and was intrigued. So, on my last trip to Trader Joe's, I picked up a bag to see what chia seeds were all about. They have lots of protein, fiber and omega-3 which is all great! And in this recipe, you honestly don't even taste them. They just thicken up the pudding and give it a little texture. 

The recipe is basic- almond milk, greek yogurt, vanilla, and maple syrup. With the fresh fruit and the nuts added in, it really was delicious. It didn't taste like ice cream, but it also didn't taste super healthy. I call that a win! 

Check out the recipe here and see for yourself!

Gluten Free and Low Fat Breakfast Cookies

My friend Tiffany shared these cookies with me and they are easy, low fat, gluten free and yummy (as long as you like bananas!)

Gluten Free Breakfast Cookies

2 ripe/brown bananas
1 cup rolled oats (the dry kind that come in a can)
1/4 cup extras

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mash the bananas up real good. Add in the oats and stir. Add 1/4 cup extras.... we did raisins with a little cinnamon and honey. Play with options- chocolate chips, coconut, peanut butter.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

These are great warm and have a strong banana taste. The second day, they turned a little brown, but had a more cake-like consistency. I don't think they'd keep after one day.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Muffins with a Lemon Sugar Glaze

Blueberry muffins with orange zest are one of my favorites, so when I saw this recipe from The Food Charlatan for Raspberry Muffins with a lemon glaze, I knew I would love them and I did!

I shared them at a women's brunch at my church recently and they loved them, too!

A couple of shortcuts I took...

I used frozen raspberries. They worked just fine. No need to rinse them or coat them in flour.

I didn't heat up a lemon glaze. I just mixed powdered sugar, milk and water until it was what I needed to brush on. I didn't measure at all.

Finally, I used clear sugar sprinkles instead of dipping them in sugar and lemon zest.

Enjoy!

Christmas 2013 Cookie Treat Boxes

I love to bake and show love through baking, so it is no surprise I love making cookie treat boxes this time of year! I spent all day yesterday baking away for my husband to deliver treats to the clients and suppliers he works with. It is always a fun day for me to crank up the music, turn on the oven and bake!

We put the treats in tins from Hobby Lobby this year. They are a great inexpensive and quick option. If you plan ahead, check out Garnish or Shop Sweet Lulu. Both have cute packaging items. 

Let's talk about the yummy goodness contained within our tins!

Candied Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

I posted this picture on Instagram and commented this bacon was going into cookies. My friend Kathy proclaimed she trusted my judgment, but this didn't sound good. Kathy, trust me, it is good. Most of the candy recipients are men and men love bacon.

I chopped it up really fine so you wouldn't get a big piece in one bite. Honestly, they are just good chocolate chip cookies and every now and then you taste a little salty. I liked them- something different.

Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies

I love the bright red color of these cookies! And, red velvet is always a good nuetral cookie. It isn't really sweet unless you get a white chocolate chip bite in there. These are beautiful colorful and really plump cookies. Plus, it makes a TON!

Southern Pecan Bars

These bars are the most requested, so they are always in treat boxes. They taste like pecan pie in an easy, non-messy, bar form. I make them often and they always turn out perfect. You can't go wrong with these bars.

Cranberry Bliss Cookies

I had my first Starbucks Cranberry Bliss bar a few weeks ago and suddenly knew why people love them. The sweet cranberries and the tart cream cheese are perfect together. These cookies are a great copycat of the Starbucks treat. I am submitting them in my Sunday School class' cookie contest Sunday night. If they don't win best tasting, they may win best looking! 

Candy Cane Oreo Peppermint Bark

It isn't Christmas without peppermint in it! This bark was easy and tastes delicious. My husband said it will give you "the diabetes". It is really rich, so break the bark into small bite sized pieces.  Mine turned out really gray in color. Next time, I want to add a little red food coloring and not crush my Oreos and peppermints so finely. I think they'd taste and look better with more big chunks.

Happy Holiday Baking!

Butterscotch Pumpkin Dip

I love a good gooey warm dip for parties! We recently watched a football game with friends and I brought this dip for dessert with green apples and graham crackers. There were lots of little kids there, so it was good to have apples and grahams for them and a little something extra for the adults.

We love pumpkin and you really taste it in this dip. I would not make it for non-pumpkin fans :)

See the super easy recipe with just 4 ingredients here. 

"Simply" Cookies

 Are you like me and looking at ingredients more than ever? A little freaked out by how many ingredients are in things that look so simple? I only eat plain potato chips now instead of sour cream and onion or Cheetos- they have three ingredients. Potatoes, oil and salt. As it should be :)

So, I was pretty excited to see these new cookies at the grocery store. Corn syrup gives me a wicked headache within an hour of eating it, so I am always looking for corn syrup free foods. I love when it is real ingredients and still quick and easy.

These cookies were wonderful! They tasted like homemade and were big! We made 6 each night and gobbled them up. They also make these in chocolate chip and peanut butter.

I would highly recommend them!

Two Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

My friend Natalie and I were discussing getting our kids to eat fruits and vegetables recently and she mentioned giving them pumpkin via super easy muffins she likes to make. Knowing how much my daughter loves anything pumpkin, I knew these muffins would be a hit.

They are quick, easy, moist, flavorful and relatively healthy. No oil, eggs or butter!

Two Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

1 box spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling with all the spices in there)

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix your ingredients together and place inside muffin cups. Bake for 18-22 minutes.

Note: I like a little crunch in my muffins, so I sprinkled sugar crystals on top. Totally optional.

Easy and Delicious Cobbler

I love dessert I will not lie. And, I am always wishing I had something sweet to eat about 8:30 PM. This cobbler is so good and super easy to make I joked to my husband that it was a little dangerous. You likely have all of the ingredients and 5 minutes to make it right now!

Rustic Cobbler

recipe from Mix and Match Mama (my new favorite recipe blog!)

3 cups frozen fruit or pie filling (I had frozen "cherries and berries" for smoothies in the back of the freezer and 1 can of peach pie filling)

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 375. Spray an 8x8 pan with Pam. Place fruit in the bottom of the pan. Mix flour, sugar and egg together and sprinkle over fruit. Pout melted butter on top. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

My daughter has a pretty severe peanut allergy, so we are a peanut free house. But when she stays with my parents, we go all out. Some parents may go to fancy restaurants when alone, we eat all things peanut and peanut butter! I found these on Pinterest and couldn't resist. I seriously need a peanut board :)

Here is the original recipe from Two Tiny Kitchens; however, I will warn you to make the peanut butter filling not stick to your hands, there is a lot of sugar and it gets really sweet. I want to make them next time with just straight up peanut butter in between two pretzels and dipped in chocolate. I think it will be just as good! 

Funfetti Chex Mix and a Winner

Congratulations to Carrie  for winning the Embria seed bracelet from Noonday Collection and my friend Judy. I will be in touch with you and get your bracelet sent out!

Let's celebrate our winner with a fun party food covered in sprinkles!

I love a good chex mix for a party and this one doesn't disappoint. It is easy, tastes great, festive for a birthday and it highly addictive! It uses chex mix, vanilla almond bark, Funfetti cake mix and powdered sugar. I added sprinkles for fun into the melted almond bark for even more FUN!

Check out Six Sisters' Stuff for the full recipe! 

No Bake Raspberry Coconut Balls

These no bake balls were very popular among my grandmother's generation and I can see why. They are quick, easy, and very versatile. I love how brightly colored they are and that you can make them in the summer without heating up the oven!

Raspberry Coconut Balls from The Homesteading Housewife

1 7 oz. package flaked coconut.
1 large box Raspberry jello gelatin
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 small box Raspberry Jello gelatin (for coating finished balls.)

Mix first 4 ingredients together in large bowl. Using wet hands, roll into small balls. Next, roll into small package of Jello powder. I poured the jello into a cereal bowl. Refrigerate in an air-tight container.

Cran-Pistachio Cookies

I made these cookies last week for my husband to share with his customers and oh my heavens, I will be making them again and again and again. They have great flavor, are colorful and are unexpected! I just loved them! They would be great at Christmas time with the chunks of green pistachios and the red cranberries.

Cran-Pistachio Cookies
recipe courtesy of Betty Crocker

1 (1 lb 1.5 ounce) pouch Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
1 box (4 serving size) pistachio instant pudding and pie filling mix
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup dry roasted salted pistachio nuts, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl stir cookie mix, pudding, and flour. Add melted butter and eggs and stir until
incorporated. Add pistachios and cranberries and mix well.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and flatten a little with your fingers.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. They will be slightly brown on the edges and still look light green on top. They are done- I promise. You want them soft and light.

Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Chocolate Spice Bundt Cake

Have you discovered Mix and Match Mama yet? It is a fun foodie blog that I discovered recently. She has taken a basic bundt cake recipe and made 100 different cakes with slight variations of it. I love bundt cakes- they present well, icing can be less than perfect, and they travel well. 

I made her Cinnamon Roll Bundt cake this Spring and last week I tried her Chocolate Spice version, her personal #5 favorite of 100. Both were easy and tasted great. In fact, when I was washing the bundt cake tupperware after this one was all gone, my husband said, "please don't do that to me again". It was hard to resist on the counter!

If you like chocolate, make this cake. It you like cinnamon, make this cake. If you like Chocolate Cinnamon Bread from Starbucks, make this cake TODAY.

Click here for the full recipe and enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

I met some girlfriends at a local painting place and wanted to bring an easy snack for us while we were painting. I came across these pretzels on Pinterest and decided they would be perfect. I whipped them up in less than an hour that afternoon and we have been snacking on them ever since!

These pretzels are quick, easy and delish!

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels
recipe from Baking Junkie

16 oz. bag of pretzels
2/3 c. oil
1/2 c. sugar
2t cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 300. Put the pretzels in a large bowl. Make the glaze using the oil, sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the pretzels and toss to coat evenly. Pour on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. I stirred mine up every 10 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Easy Kid Popsicles

My niece was visiting us for VBS earlier this summer and I wanted a fun food for her to help me make and also eat while she was here. So, after searching Pinterest, we bought the supplies needed for these crazy kid popsicles!

You simply place a handful of gummy bears in your popsicle molds and then fill them with Sprite before freezing them. The Sprite takes on much of the gummy fruit flavors. The kids loved them!

Two New Summer Favorites

We had dinner at a friend's house recently and I was responsible for sides and dessert to accompany burgers and brats. I went to Pinterest and checked my recent pins and decided to bring my favorite summertime Jalapeno Creamed Corn, fruit salad and an ice box pie.

This fruit salad is all over pinterest- such pretty colors and a really simple dressing. Just add 1/4 cup honey and 2-3 tablespoons of lime and toss it with the fruit. Given just a little time, it really sweetens all the fruit, but you don't realize it. The honey and lime blend right in and you still just taste the fruit. It made the strawberries so bright red and juicy!

For a more decadent dessert, I brought a Salted Caramel Ice Box Pie. I love anything slated caramel right now and this was no exception. It is creamy and light, cold and refreshing, and just a little salty! Two year old Cate at dinner kept saying, "yummy yummy cake". It was yummy yummy Cate!

Blackberry Pie Bars

I had a family reunion this weekend and along with bringing quinoa black bean salad, I made these blackberry pie bars! People, they are good. If pie scares you, do these instead. They were like a pie and a cobbler and an easy to grab and eat bar all rolled into one. And, they were especially good the next day with homemade ice cream!

Find the recipe here, courtesy of Key Ingredient.

Summertime Food Favorite- Popsicle!

One of my favorite things to make in the summertime is homemade Popsicles. They taste so much better than the sugar water ones in the store. I started off with a cookbook last year and then we just branched out to more fun options, our favorite was the Peach Pie!

Don't these look divine- cheesecake with fresh fruit and graham cracker crumbs. Get the recipe from Kitchen Meets Girl here.

My husband loves creamsicles- so I know these will be a hit. 

According to Pinterest, the recipe is pretty simple:

1 c. orange juice

1 c. coconut milk

3 T honey

1/4 t orange extract

1/2 t vanilla extract

Whisk all ingredients together and pour into molds. Freeze.

 Pudding Pops are always an easy option- these make me think of Bill Cosby, you too? Visit My Pinterest Affair for the full recipe.

Finally, these frozen yogurt trail mix bars caught my eye. I can't wait to try Lean Green Bean's recipe this summer.

What is your favorite summer food?