This is certainly not the time you want to be slaving away making hot desserts like cookies, cake, or heck even fudge. Even those no bake cookies require you to stand over the stove! There’s no way you would catch me in the kitchen on a gorgeous day. I want to be outside with my friends enjoying a drink and wearing my new sunglasses. So what do you do? I have a very persistent sweet tooth.

Here’s my secret. I trick my sweet tooth. I don’t give it the cookies, cake, and brownies it thinks it wants. I give it fruit. But not just fruit; my sweet tooth is smarter than that. The secret is in the dip. There’s a great trick that doesn’t require any heat. No stoves or ovens involved.

Here’s the secret recipe, It’s really complicated so pay close attention.

8 ounce package of softened cream cheese

7 ounce jar of marshmallow fluff

Stir together. Serve with cut fruit slices.

I told you it was complicated.

Copyright MarthaStewart.com

Ah, Mother’s Day. A stressful little holiday for children everywhere in America. If you’re racking your brain for dessert ideas, look no further than Martha Stewart. Her heart-glazed cookies are simple to make and sure to be a big hit with your mom and the entire family. Check out this baking recipe:

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
3. 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
4. 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
5. 3/4 cup granulated sugar
6. 1 large egg
7. 1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
8. 1/2 confectioner’s sugar
9. 1 to 2 drops red or pink food coloring

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornmeal, and salt. In a large bowl beat the butter and 1/2 cup granulated sugar on medium-high until creamy –roughly 3 minutes. Add the egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla, beat until combined. Switch the mixer to low and gradually add the flour mixture and beat until combined.

Next place 1/4 cup of granulated sugar in a small bowl and roll dough into 1-inch balls and coat with sugar. Move to parchment-lined baking sheet. Flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass. Press a 1-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter into each but do not cut through! Bake about 10 minutes until cookies are golden on the edges.

While the cookies cool, whisk the confectioner’s sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 3/4 teaspoons cold water in a small bowl. Whisk in food coloring. Spread the glaze inside the heart and let it set for 15 minutes.

image courtesy of sheknows.com

So Cinco de Mayo is coming up. Not a holiday I generally mark off on my calendar but when I saw these cookies on sheknows.com I sat up and took notice. The first thing I noticed was the amazing coloring of the cookies. I have used several different kinds of food coloring and nothing gives you that vibrant, bright color like gel food coloring. If you’ve never used it before, it’s definitely time to try and what better opportunity than with these cookies?

Honest to goodness this is brilliant. Pinata cookies. There is chocolate candy INSIDE the cookie! How on earth could that be a bad thing? Sure, they take a little extra effort on your part, and a few pieces of specialty equipment, but the final product is well worth the extra “oomph” involved in making them. Check out the full recipe here.

image courtesy of sheknows.com

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups flour
2. 1 tablespoon baking powder
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt
4. 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
5. 2 cups sugar
6. 4 eggs, room temp.
7. 3 limes, zested and juiced
8. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
9. 1 cup buttermilk
10. 1/4 cup tequila

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325° and prepare muffin trays with paper liners or with baking spray. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together. In a separate bowl combine the cream butter and sugar with a mixer on high setting until light and fluffy –should take about 5 minutes. Then add the eggs, one at a time, to the mixture and mix thoroughly before adding the next egg. Add the lime zest and juice. Switch the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating the buttermilk in two batches. Mix until just blended. Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 25 minutes. While the cupcakes are still warm, brush the tops with tequila.

To make the frosting you will need:

1. 3 cups powdered sugar
2. 3/4 cup butter
3. 2 1/2 tablespoons margarita mix
4. Sea salt (optional)

Combine all ingredients until its spreadable. Use knife or piping sleeve and sprinkle with salt if desired.

Of course I always feel bad eating raw cookie dough because of the raw eggs in the mix but thankfully there are ways to make cookie dough without the guilt or the eggs. Check out this recipe below. Just try really hard not to eat too much of it, you’ll still get a stomach ache. Oh, and I in no way endorse drinking milk right out of the carton…just when you’re home by yourself and can’t be bothered with silly things like cups.

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 3/4 C unsalted butter softened
• 1 C packed brown sugar
• 1/2 C white sugar
• 1 T vanilla extract
• 4 T milk
• Chocolate Chips! (as many as you want…go whole hog!)

Mix it all together and enjoy the heck out of it!

Nowadays cookie cutters have gone well beyond the normal hearts, stars, and diamonds and have taken on a life of their own. If you follow any cookie blogs you will find that people are obsessively collecting these cooking items and making the most beautiful cookies you’ve ever seen. But it’s not just cookies that you can make cutouts of in your kitchen of fun. Here are some other things you can do with your bins full of fun cookie cutters.

Try making breakfast a special meal for yourself and your loved ones. Make eggs in the shape of a heart or pancakes that look like mickey mouse or the ninja turtles.

There’s always jello jigglers that my generation love so much. It’s just jello cut into fun shapes with the help of cookie cutters. “J-E-L-L-O, it’s alive!”

If breakfast and dessert aren’t your thing try jazzing up a lunch buy cutting the sandwich you’re making for your kids or your loved ones into a heart or their favorite dinosaur. It’s a great way to show people you care!

Photo by Miki Duisterhof

Hey y’all, here’s a favorite recipe of mine. It’s by the beloved Paula Deen, Queen of the yummy food. This dessert takes about 45 minutes to make, with a 10 minute preparation time and 35 minutes to cook. What I love about this recipe is that is very easy to make, so without further ado here it is:

Ingredients by Element:

The Crust:

1 cup of all purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar (packed tightly)

1 cup of chopped pecans (or similar alternative)

1 stick of butter

The Filling:

2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened

1 cup of granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla or almond extract

Fresh berries and mint leaves for garnish (or whatever topping you like)

Instructions:

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the flour, brown sugar, pecans (or alternative) and butter in a bowl. Press the dough into a 13″ x 9″ x 2″ pan and bake it for 12 to 15 minutes– or at least until lightly browned. You want the crust to be just crunchy enough without tasting like a hockey puck. It should have a little flake to it. Set it aside.

To make the filling you beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar together in a mixing bowl until it has a smooth texture. You can then add the 3 eggs and extract and beat those into the mix. Pour the finished product over the crust you made. Bake this for 20 minutes. When it’s done let it cool for approximately 20 minutes. It should cut cleanly in squares.

Decorate these delicacies as you please with the garnish. Enjoy the yummy dessert you just made!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup butter, margarine, or substitute, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 20 creme de menthe thin mints (or similar mint candy)
• 1 1/2 cups of cream (for whipping)

Instructions:

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly grease a 15.5″ by 10.5″ jelly-roll pan and line it with wax paper. Set it aside. On another sheet of the wax paper, combine the flour, cocoa, and salt.

Take out a large mixing bowl and blend butter and the 1 1/4 cups of sugar. Beat for 3 minutes or until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time and mixing as you go. Add flour and combine fully.

Pour this completed batter into a prepared pan and spread it evenly. Put in a toothpick as a tester and bake this for 15 to 18 minutes. The toothpick should come out cleanly if it’s ready. Let it cool for about 40 minutes.

Make shavings and curls out of the mint de menthe using a peeler. Set those aside and use remaining candy for the filling.

Using a small knife loosen the cake from the wax paper and flip it upside down. Cut it crosswise into 3 rectangles and trim the sides evenly. Set them aside.

In a medium mixing bowl beat cream and the tablespoon of sugar together. You should be able to create create stiff peaks in the top. Fold the chopped mint pieces into it gently, without hiding them too intensely– they’re partly for show too. Set aside.

Place 1 rectangle slice of cake on a plate. Spread the now whipped cream generously but evenly. Repeat this step twice more. Sprinkle the top with the chocolate curls and scrapings.

There is your delicious dessert!

As a kid, I was a little weird. I didn’t like cake for my birthday. Mainly because it was too hard to eat on the run, playing volleyball or basketball in the driveway. I always asked for a different kind of birthday dessert. It was always the same thing: strawberry pretzel dessert. It was the perfect taste of summer for me. The strawberries were fresh and sweet, and the pretzels added a salty element. The best part was that it could be served chilled so that it was even more refreshing on the blazing summer days!

Here’s the recipe, straight from my mother’s kitchen. It’s perfect for picnics and gatherings in warm weather! (Also makes a great birthday cake alternative…just saying.) This recipe is for individual containers of the dessert, you can also make it in a 9×13 pan.

STRAWBERRY PRETZEL DESSERT

Directions:

A personal favorite are the Cadbury Creme Eggs, though from what I’ve learned this is a very controversial topic. Some people “lourve” these things and others despise them. I vow undying love. You can eat them in so many ways: as a whole chunk, in nibbles, or biting it open and draining it of the “yolk.” It’s just tasty no matter what.

Other familiar Easter candy favorites are Peeps. These cute little chickadees are made of pure sugar and marshmallow. I don’t know anybody who’s particularly fond of them for their flavor as opposed to the sugar rush they give, but they are definitely a treat you can’t ignore in an Easter candy post. If you want to know what inevitable death looks like, buy several packs of these. They’ll kill you with cuteness… and diabetes.

And obviously the staple of the pagan symbolism is the sacrificial rabbit– in our case it’s the hollow milk chocolate Easter bunny. They come in so many different designs but they’re basically the same thing. You get a shell shaped like a bunny. You bite off its ears, head, then body. It’s a great way to feel good about the holidays. Mmm. Animal sacrifice for the sake of childhood nostalgia.