I love it when people request certain desserts for parties because it makes it so much easier to decide what to bring. This year my cousin asked for Christmas Eve that I bring the same dessert I brought last year: Peanut Butter S’mores Bars.

These are absolutely one of my favorites, too. I’ve also been meaning to make them all year because I wanted to take better pictures than the old ones I had for this recipe, so it was an all around win. 

The bars are a layer of peanut butter graham cracker crust with a peanut butter and marshmallow filling topped with soft chocolate ganache. The best thing about them is that they’re no-bake, so you don’t have to turn on your oven to make these; just a microwave will do.

These bars can easily be adjusted for different dietary restrictions. To make them gluten-free, use gluten-free graham crackers. To make them vegan, use vegan graham crackers, vegan marshmallows, a dairy-free margarine and dairy free chocolate chips. I made all of these alterations for this batch and they came out perfectly.

No-Bake Peanut Butter S’mores Bars

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes(allow at least 30 minutes for these to harden in the refrigerator)

Ingredients(Makes 16 bars)

For the crust:

• 16 individual graham crackers(not full sheets) OR 8oz graham crackers crumbs
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons natural style peanut butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the filling:

• 1/3 cup natural style peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup mini-marshmallows, or 1 cup regular marshmallows cut into bite-sized pieces

For the top:

• 6oz(about 3/4 cup) chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon butter 

Method:

1. Melt together 3 Tablespoons of butter and 6 Tablespoons of peanut butter until it’s thin and creamy.
2. Break the graham crackers into fine crumbs. Running them through a food process for 30 seconds is the best way to do this.
3. In a large bowl, add the peanut butter mixture to the graham cracker crumbs. Sift in 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Work the dough until the ingredients have come together and press it into an 8×8 pan in an even layer.
4. Make the filling by melting together 1/3 cup of peanut butter and 2 Tablespoons of butter. Sift in 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
5. Pour the mixture over the crust. Spread it out to cover all parts.
6. Press in the marshmallows on top of the peanut butter layer.
7. Melt together the chocolate chips and 1 Tablespoon of butter until it’s smooth and runny.
8. Pour the chocolate on top of the dessert in an even layer. Carefully spread it out to make sure it covers as much of the marshmallows as possible.
9. Put the dessert in the refrigerator to harden. Remove 10 minutes before serving, cut into 16 pieces and serve.

I have a feeling I know what I’ll be making next Christmas Eve.

You’re going to want to bookmark this one; trust me.

I never understood the appeal of mug cakes before recently. It seemed to me that if you wanted something chocolate and delicious you should put in the time and effort to bake some almond flour brownies and the extra hour would be well worth it. It also didn’t help that most mug cake recipes aren’t gluten-free, or—if they are—come out with a weird starchy taste to them.

But now I’ve seen the light and have come around to mug cakes, partly because the oven I use was 3 floors below where I lived at the time I made this and partly because the recipe is so damn good. When I was trying the recipe, I also wanted something that was sort of healthy. This is healthy enough even to be eaten for breakfast, which I’ve done on a few too many occasions.

The original recipe is only 4 ingredients, but you can add in things like chocolate chips, walnuts, candied ginger, vanilla extract, and anything else to shake things up.

Paleo Mug Cake

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 3 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 cake):

• 1 small ripe banana
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons almond butter(or any nut butter)
• 1 egg
• 2 heaping Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons sweetener(optional)
• Chocolate chips, walnuts, dried fruit, or other mix-ins(optional)

Method:

1. With a fork, mash the banana into a smooth puree.
2. Mix the almond butter, egg, cocoa powder, and extra sweetener if using into the banana puree until it forms an even batter.
3. Fold in any mix-ins into the batter that you’d like. Otherwise, our the batter into a mug or other microwave safe container. Be sure to only fill the container up to 2/3rds the way because it will expand in the microwave.
4. Microwave on high for 2 and 1/2 minutes until the center is set. Carefully remove the mug from the microwave and enjoy hot, cold, or at room temperature.

I don’t add sweetener to mine and it still tastes delicious. I’ve only ever made it with almond butter but I’m sure peanut butter would be a nice alteration. The banana flavor is definitely prevalent, especially once it cools, but that only reminds me of a chocolate covered banana which I love. The best things about these cakes are that they don’t have any sort of flour flavor to them and are rich and fudgy like a brownie. The worst thing about this recipe is once you make it you’ll never stop.

I love this time of year(except for the cold which I will complain about endlessly). The mall smells terrific; there’s Christmas music playing every time I walk into CVS; it’s socially acceptable again to spend your Saturday nights watching Christmas movies on Netflix(as opposed to when I do this in July); and food blogs post new and exciting dessert recipes every day.

Sam from Oh Nuts! offered to send me two of their products to start my Holiday baking and be entered in a contest. Sounded good to me. I love making and sharing food with friends and family and the holidays are the perfect time to do that. I asked for roasted hazelnuts and candied ginger; both of those are delicious on their own but also pair well with Winter flavors.

I didn’t want to do too much to the hazelnuts and ginger because their taste is so fresh. I decided to make bark since it’s an easy and elegant dessert that derives a lot of its flavor from the mix-ins added and the quality of chocolate used(I used Scharffen Berger). I didn’t have parchment or wax paper; twitter told me to avoid using aluminum foil, too, so I improvised with cupcake liners. I actually think these worked out really well since the chocolate didn’t stick at all and they come out already portioned. You can use these or make traditional bark by laying it out on a flat piece of parchment paper and breaking it into pieces.

Roasted Hazelnut And Candied Ginger Bark

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes(allow 30 minutes to harden)

Ingredients(Makes 12 servings):

• 12oz 70% good quality baking chocolate OR 1 1/2 cups bitter-sweet chocolate chips
• 3oz(3/4 cup) roasted hazelnuts(preferably salted), crushed
• 4.5oz(3/4 cup) candied ginger, diced

Method:

1. Fill a dozen cupcake wells with paper liners.
2. Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or over a double boiler until completely liquid.
3. Fold 1/2 cups of the hazelnuts and ginger into the melted chocolate until completely mixed.
4. Spoon the chocolate mixture evenly among the paper liners.
5. Garnish with the remaining hazelnuts and ginger, pressing them into the melted chocolate lightly to make sure they hold.
6. Refrigerate the chocolate cups for about 30 minutes until they’ve hardened. Serve and store at room temperature.

Brian from Twitter remarked that they sounded “fancy”. I’d agree and add that this looks and tastes like a gourmet treat from a dessert shop. And yet it’s so easy to make! That’s why I love bark. No one needs to know you didn’t candy the ginger yourself or roast your own hazelnuts.

As for the dessert itself, I loved how the chewy ginger contrasted with the nutty hazelnuts. The chocolate after it melted and hardened wasn’t quite solid but wasn’t messy, either; it was very smooth soft, highlighting the taste and texture of the mix-ins.

Happy Holidays

I’m sorry that the name for this recipe is such a mouthful that you’ll probably finish half the batch before you say it. More accurately I’d call these “White Chocolate Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Bars With Dark Chocolate Ganache” but with a name like that you’d have to come up for air at some point.

This recipe is made with a few of my favorite things. PB&Co.’s White Chocolate Wonderful is one of the best vegan “white chocolate” anything I’ve ever had. It actually tastes like white chocolate without any dairy. For the ganache, I used Scharffen Berger’s 70% baking chocolate, which is delicious and smooth to eat both on its own and in recipes. You can taste the quality in it and—I warn you—it’s addicting stuff.

Normally, when I make peanut butter bars I use this recipe which is naturally gluten-free. However I’ve seen a lot of peanut butter bar recipes that use graham crackers as a binding(most recently this one) and I figured if so many people are doing it there must be something to it, right? So I broke out the ol’ gluten-free graham crackers and got cooking. I didn’t expect to like these as much as I do. The earthy spices in the graham crackers pair really well with the sweet and nutty peanut butter and add a pleasantly crunchy texture.

Graham Cracker Peanut Butter Bars With Dark Chocolate Ganache

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 18 1-inch squares):

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter*
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 135g graham cracker crumbs**
• 120g 70% dark chocolate OR 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

*You can use any peanut butter so long as it’s the no-stir kind. If you want the white chocolate flavor but don’t have White Chocolate Wonderful, use 1/2 cup of natural peanut butter mixed with 3 Tablespoons melted white chocolate.

**This is easy to make at home. Simply pulse 9 sheets of graham crackers in a food processor until it makes a smooth flour.

Method:

1. Gently melt the butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter either in the microwave or over the stove until it’s smooth and liquid.
2. Once the ingredients are melted, sift in the powdered sugar and pour in the graham cracker crumbs and mix it together until emulsified.
3. Grease a 3×8 loaf pan and press the peanut butter mixture into the pan in an even layer.
4. In the microwave or over the stove, melt together the remaining 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter and chocolate. Once they’re melted, mix them together.
5. Pour the ganache over the peanut butter layer and refrigerate until hardened(at least 30 minutes).
6. 10 minutes before serving, remove these from the refrigerator to soften. Once soft, gently cut into 1-inch squares with a sharp knife and serve. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

One of my favorite things about recipes like these is that they’re so easily adaptable for different allergens. I made mine gluten-free simply by using gluten-free graham crackers. To make them vegan you can use a dairy-free margarine in place of the butter and make sure to use vegan graham crackers.