Holiday Treats to Try

For me, so much the month of December is spent browsing Pinterest and drooling over beautiful holiday desserts, my sweet tooth seems to be out of control this time of year. Although I'm not the best baker ever, I really do enjoy doing it and trying new things. So I made a little "to-bake" list full of the recipes that looked the most amazing to me. But let's be real, I'll maybe make of these if we're lucky...

What are your favorite treats to make during the holiday season?

Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake//Egg Nog Cupcakes//Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes//Santa Hat Cheesecake Bites//Egg Nog Shooters//Caramel Macchiato Jelly Shots//Mini Pumpkin Pies

♥

Celebrate S'mores Day

August 10th is National S'mores Day! I don't know about you, but I plan on celebrating for sure! S'mores bring back so many childhood memories for me; sitting around a bonfire with my parents and sisters, roasting marshmallows and laughing so much while enjoying summer vacation. 

Joe and I don't have a fire pit here at our house, but fortunately, there are still so many options if you're craving a good a ole s'more. Just searching "s'more recipe" on Pinterest will bring up tons of options, and that's exactly what I did! I included the recipes I saw and thought looked the yummiest, just click the photo to be taken to the original source!

I hope you find a s'more recipe that looks irresistible to you, and enjoy S'more Day and these last few weeks of summer!

Lucky Charm Treats

In honor of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, I decided it would be fun to put a little festive twist on one of my favorite desserts, Rice Crispy Treats. If you're familiar with making those, Lucky Charm Treats are pretty much the exact same thing, just with different cereal! But just incase you haven't made those too much, and would like the recipe, here it is!

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of butter (plus some for greasing)
• 1 (10 oz) package of mini marshmallows 
• 6 cups of Lucky Charms cereal
• Some extra Lucky Charms marshmallows to top with

Instructions:

1. Lightly butter a standard size 9x13 casserole dish.
2. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add in the marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
3. Add in cereal. Stir gently until equally coated.
4. Pour and press into casserole dish until evenly distributed. Top with extra Lucky Charm marshmallows. 
5. Cool for about 30 minutes. Cut into squares and enjoy!

Super simple and super delicious, a perfect little treat for St. Patty's Day!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

In September, Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks are all you hear anyone talk about. I don't blame them, they're delicious! Nothing gets you into the Fall spirit more than drinking one. The other day, I said how I wanted to start baking more homemade recipes from scratch, then I came across this one. Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes! Talk about best of both worlds! I decided to give em a go, not really sure how they would turn out since I've had some baking disasters occur in the past. To my surprise, they turned out perfectly! I'm so excited to share this recipe with you, they are the perfect fall treat that everyone will love. I even added the famous green straw to make them more appealing to all you Starbucks fanatics. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs
• 15 ounces pumpkin puree 
• Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

• In a large bowl, mix together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Add in pumpkin puree.

• Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

• Frost the tops with Cream Cheese Frosting (I used Duncan Hines Creamy Homestyle) then add a sprinkle of cinnamon on top if you choose.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

 These are one of my favorite things for dessert to make at home for two reasons. A. They are delicious and B. they are VERY easy! You might think it would be a lot easier to just go buy some Recess for a buck, and it would be, but making them yourself you know they're only made of four ingredients and don't have any weird preservatives or anything. Plus it's always fun to make your own dessert! So if you're a fan of chocolate and peanut butter (who isn't?) give these a try!

Also- it's really easy to make these vegan if needed, just use vegan chocolate chips and butter replacements.

This recipe makes about 12 cups.