Whoever decided Cookies N’ Cream would get so much attention? There are Cookies N’ Cream ice creams, milk shakes, chocolate bars, granola bars—everything–Cookies N’ Cream.

I’m a bigger fan of the classic chocolate chip cookie; there’s nothing that you shouldn’t be able to do with a chocolate chip cookie. With chocolate, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla, there aren’t any other flavors you could ask for.

This bark, like most others, is simple to make but always a huge hit. Anyone who likes the taste of a chocolate chip cookie won’t be able to pass it up.

For this recipe you don’t want to use your grandmother’s fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies but instead something from the store shelf like Chips Ahoy! or Lucy’s that’s crunchy and won’t get stale in the bark.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 16-20 servings):

• 8.5 ounces white chocolate OR 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 5 chocolate chip cookies, broken into pieces

Method:

1. Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave or over a double boiler.
2. Spread the melted chocolate out onto non-stick wax paper in a thin layer.
3. Spread the broken chocolate chip cookie pieces out on top and then the chocolate chips so that they evenly cover the bark.
4. Lightly press the toppings into the bark.
5. Refrigerate or freeze the bark for 20-30 minutes until it has solidified. Break the bark into equal-sized pieces to serve.
6. Keep refrigerated when not eating.

Even though I stopped drinking coffee years ago, I still love coffee flavored things. Occasionally I’ll have a cup of decaf coffee, but more likely I’ll look for coffee ice cream or chocolate covered espresso beans. Coffee and chocolate are a wonderful things.

These aren’t technically macarons because there isn’t any almond paste in the recipe but the taste and texture are similar: Crunchy, soft coffee meringues held together with a rich chocolate ganache. The best touch is the added Irish cream in the ganache; it’s much better than a morning cup of coffee. 

You can use regular cream in place of the Irish cream for the ganache or even a coffee liqueur like Kahlua.

Chocolate-Coffee Meringue Sandwiches

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients(Makes about 15 sandwiches):

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 3 Tablespoons Irish cream

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 225 degrees.
2. In a glass bowl, beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
3. Sift the powdered sugar, cream of tartar, and instant coffee together and then slowly beat them into the egg whites.
4. Continue beating until all of the sugar is incorporated and the whites form stiff peaks.
5. Scoop the meringue into a pastry bag or Ziploc bag with a corner cut out.
6. Squeeze the batter into discs on non-stick baking trays.
7. Bake for 90 minutes until the meringues are hard. Remove from the oven and let them cool.
8. Melt the chocolate and butter together. Mix in the Irish cream until it makes a smooth ganache.
9. Scoop about a Tablespoon of ganache on the bottom of one meringue and sandwich it with another.
10. Let the sandwiches sit for about 15 minutes until the ganache hardens.
11. Serve at room temperature.

As I’ve been eating my way through yogurt that Chobani sent me, I’ve been trying to get creative on new ways to cook with it. Everyone knows yogurt is a great low-fat alternative for baking so I took that as my starting point and took off from there.

While a good base recipe is essential, a lot of the fun of cakes and brownies is what you put inside or on top of them. Chocolate chips and coconut are among my favorites. These might not seem healthy but with Greek yogurt in place of oil and butter and craisins and coconut filling it up(in addition to some chocolate chips, of course) these won’t do you wrong or steer you off your New Year resolutions.

If you want to make this more of a healthy snack, swap in 1/2 cup of crushed walnuts or slivered almonds in for the chocolate chips. Either way it’ll taste great.

Loaded Coconut Cake Squares

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 8 x 8 pan):

• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vanilla Chobani greek yogurt
• 2 eggs

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl sift together the gluten-free flour and baking powder.
3. Add in the craisins, 1/4 cup shredded coconut, white and dark chocolate chips and mix.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, brown sugar, and eggs until homogenous.
5. Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry until the batter is well mixed.
6. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 baking pan.
7. Pour the batter into the pan and press down evenly.
8. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup coconut on top of the batter and press in lightly.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center of the cake has set and the coconut on top begins to toast.
10. Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting into squares.

Don’t forget to add caramel or fudge sauce just in case this doesn’t have enough flavors going on for you.

I never understood why Christmas cookies are a thing, why cookies take priority over cake or mousse or any other number of desserts. But in reality who ever has time to sit down for desserts around Christmastime? Between cooking, opening presents, and talking everyone is usually standing or in the other room, and cookies are the perfect grab-and-go dessert for that.

When I think of iced cookies, I usually think of the stale ones from the grocery store with neon pink frosting that taste like pure sugar. I would always eat the frosting(because who doesn’t love pure sugar?) but the cookie usually got left behind. These are far from those iced cookies. There’s nothing quite like a fresh cookie with a smooth and soft icing on top to step up the game for the rest of the desserts.

The almond extract is the special ingredient that makes these cookies irresistible. If you don’t have any it’s worth running out to the store to find. Making an icing that’s part butter adds a touch of richness to the balance out the sweet.

Iced Vanilla-Almond Butter Cookies

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 18 cookies):

• 1 cup almond butter
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the icing:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the almond butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt.
3. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and put them on a non-stick baking tray. Press down on the balls lightly to flatten them to about 1/2-inch.
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges of the cookies begin to brown.
5. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool.
6. Combine the butter and milk in a medium-sized bowl.
7. Sift the powdered sugar into the bowl.
8. Beat together the sugar, butter, and milk until smooth. Add in the vanilla and almond extract and continue mixing until smooth.
9. Spread a Tablespoon of frosting on top of each cookie. Let the cookies sit at room temperature uncovered until the frosting sets.

You can decorate these with green and red or white sprinkles to make them a little more festive.

Between Christmas shopping, studying, writing papers and taking exams I haven’t had much time to cook or make new recipes lately. The nice thing about having a living room full of Christmas lights, stockings and a tree is it makes it easy to fall back into the holiday spirit after a stressful day.

I made these buckeyes last night for myself and my roommates because who doesn’t love a chocolate and peanut butter nightcap? I have to admit that I’ve made recipes like this often enough that I’ve stopped measuring things as I go along. Really you can make this in any proportion as long as the dough comes out the right consistency. They aren’t the prettiest buckeyes but they’re taste makes up for their appearance.

If you want to change the flavor slightly add a touch of vanilla or cinnamon.

Peanut Butter Buckeyes

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 20 buckeyes):

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter*
• 6 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 1/4 cups bittersweet chocolate chips OR 10oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

*If you’re using no-stir peanut butter, melt it in the microwave briefly before mixing it with the other ingredients

Method:

1. In a large bowl mix together the peanut butter, butter and powdered sugar until it forms a dough that sticks to itself. If for some reason your dough is too thin, slowly add more powdered sugar until it’s workable.
2. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on a non-stick surface.
3. Put the peanut butter balls in the freezer to set.
4. While the peanut butter balls are hardening, melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler.
5. One by one dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate to coat their outside and put them back on the non-stick surface.
6. Refrigerate the peanut butter balls until the chocolate has set. Keep cold until ready to serve.