Tag Archives: desserts

20 Valentine’s Day Recipes to Fall in Love With

Olive Garden Alfredo-3

I know a lot of you hate Valentine’s Day, whether it be because you’re single or because you resent being forced to buy gifts for your significant other. I fall into the former category (if my cat lady ways weren’t a good enough clue for you to figure that out already), but I’ve never hated Valentine’s Day because I’ve got a million other things to love besides a man.

Here are my Valentines this year:

  • Mother & Father Cookie
  • Sister Cookie
  • My incredibly loving grandparents
  • My best friend at college
  • My cats, Mina & Mr. Poe
  • My dog, Reese
  • The best boss ever
  • My wonderful, one-of-a-kind co-workers
  • One particular co-worker who doubles as my fitness guru and friend
  • And of course, my fantastic and supportive readers, AKA you!Fall 20124

I think that’s a lot to be grateful for this V-Day. If you’re just looking at romantic love this V-Day, then you’re being much too narrow-minded. There are all kinds of love around you, even if it’s just a furry friend. Show them so love, and more importantly, show yourself some love too. The absolute best way to do that is to make something delicious. People really appreciate that you put forth the love and sweat to make it yourself. Even if you’re just cooking for one this V-Day, you’ll be amazed by how much some wonderful homemade eats and treats will brighten the day.

Here are my top 20 Smart Cookie Valentine’s Day recipes, from confections sweeter than your sweetheart to romantic meals. Enjoy!

Psst…the numbers correlate with the photos up top!

  1. Two-Bite Red Velvet Candy Cakes
  2. Triple Chocolate Delirium Cupcakes
  3. Chewy Red Velvet Bars w/ Whipped Cream Frosting
  4. Strawberry Sweetheart Bars
  5. Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies
  6. 3-Ingredient White Chocolate Walnut Truffles
  7. Vodka Blush Pizza
  8. Soft Sweetheart Sugar Cookies
  9. Fudge Brownie Thumbprint Cookies w/ Caramel Drizzle
  10. Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Strawberry Buttercream Filling
  11. Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
  12. Sparkling Strawberry Cookies
  13. Lil’ Pizza Bites – Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter!
  14. Copycat Olive Garden Alfredo
  15. Homemade Conversation Hearts
  16. Copycat Chocolate Candy Shop Blizzards
  17. Puppy Love Brownie Cupcakes
  18. Tortellini Dippers w/ Four-Cheese Fondue and Pesto Dipping Sauce
  19. Chocolate Oatmeal Krispie Bites
  20. Strawberry Mousse Mini Pies

Happy Valentines Day, Smart Cookiers! You’re the best Valentine’s I could ask for.

Apple Pie Perfection

As promised, A cross-cut of The Clinton Cider Mill’s Apple Caramel Pie:

I apologize for torturing you with this earlier without providing you with a picture of the luscious interior. It’s easily the best apple pie I’ve had. The filling is buttery, smooth and packed with unbelievably fresh apples. The crust is flaky and delicious. A subtle hint of caramel and sprinkling of nuts take it over the top.

In case you missed it, learn all about this perfect apple pie here!

Bake Off: Tollhouse vs. Pillsbury Cookie Dough

There is not a crumb of doubt when it comes to the fact that scratch-made chocolate chip cookies are worlds better than any store-bought cookie dough. However, there are times when you don’t have the time or ingredients to bake from scratch. Also, a lot of people just don’t like full-on baking. It’s not everybody’s thing. Well, if you insist on buying the premade dough from the grocery store, then you should at the very least buy the tastiest kind you can. So, who makes better chocolate chip cookie dough: Tollhouse or Pillsbury?

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Make-Your-Own Halloween Candy Mini Pies

Trick-or-Treating is a really good idea in theory. You get to dress up however you please, portraying an entirely different person/creature/thing for one night, and frolic about the town collecting candies and confections aplenty. It’s a night full of jocular enjoyment, for sure. However, every year, you face that Day-After-Halloween Dilemma when you say, “What the heck am I gonna do with all this candy???” Sure, you can plow through a good portion of it during mindless snacking, but it’s almost inevitable that an unfortunate chunk will get discarded into the depths of the garbage can. That usually happens sometime around Christmas (or for some people, Easter) when you realize how long that candies has been chilling in your pantry and that you’re probably never going to eat it. The Day-After-Halloween Dilemma usually includes a premonition of that very moment.

And it’s not just trick-or-treaters who are susceptible to the Day-After-Halloween Dilemma. Adults everywhere fall victim when they fail to hand out all of the candy they bought for the trick-or-treaters. They have no clue what to do with the leftovers, and a quandary results.

So, how do you avoid this? Well, lucky for you little cookies, I’ve whipped up an easy and DELICIOUS solution! Cue the Make-Your-Own Halloween Candy Mini Pies. These little guys are not only ideal for using up leftover Halloween candies, they are also PERFECT for Halloween parties! You can make the crusts ahead of time then give everyone an assortment of candy to choose from. Your guests can pick out their favorites then fill their own personal mini pie with the candy and marshmallows! It’s fun, customizable, and so yummy!

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