The best kind of recipes are simple recipes, or recipes that involve chocolate. This is both.

Every year at Passover my mom would make this cake for our bake sales. All the Jewish kids loved it because it doesn’t break the rule of eating leavened bread and yet it’s so airy and cake-like. Now, I’m not Jewish, but I tip my hat to any religion that favors chocolate over bread.

When I saw Jenna post the recipe a few weeks ago, I took it as a sign to bake this cake. Who doesn’t celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Trebia every December 18th? You should. With cake.

I used the same recipe with a few alterations, like making it dairy-free. I followed the recipe to a T, messed up completely as I typically do, and still managed to bake something that held together and was delicious. I’m not sure how that last part happened but I’m so grateful it did.

Dairy-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake

I used this recipe replacing the butter with Earth Balance in a 1:1 ratio and added a hefty teaspoon of instant coffee granules.

I knew I was doing it just like Jenna when I had a mess in my sink, floor, and counter space.

This came out so well for a cake with no flour or gluten-free replacement. The structure is entirely made by eggs. I even beat mine way too long, never got them “thick” or to make ribbons, had to deflate them just to get the chocolate to mix, and the cake still turned out just fine. Now that’s a forgiving recipe.

And we all ate happily ever after.

I’m usually not an impulse shopper. I always take a list to the grocery store and would rather wait to buy a book on sale at Amazon than pay the full price at a Barnes & Nobles. Hell, I’m so cheap I’m waiting for The Social Network to play on TBS to see it. But I have my weaknesses.

Dandies brand vegan marshmallows were on sale at Whole Foods and I threw them in my cart out of habit. How could I not? They were a dollar off. Never mind that I don’t care for regular marshmallows—it was a bargain.

When I asked Twitter what to do with marshmallows, a resounding number of people said s’mores. Now, I’m not the biggest s’more fan(shocking, I know), but add peanut butter and I wouldn’t complain. Slowly but surely that lead to these bars, which are about as rich and sweet as you can imagine a dessert to be. Besides being incredibly delicious, they’re no-bake and took me about 20 minutes from start to finish. So put on a fire, make some hot cocoa, and start baking(or not).

No-Bake Peanut Butter S’mores Bars

For the crust:

• 16 graham crackers or 8oz graham crackers crumbs
• 3 tablespoons butter(or non-dairy alternative such as Earth Balance)
• 6 tablespoons natural style peanut butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the filling:

• 1/3 cup natural style peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons butter(or non-dairy alternative such as Earth Balance)
• 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(or non-dairy alternative such as Earth Balance)

Melt together the butter and peanut butter until it’s thin and creamy.

Break the graham crackers to coarse crumbs. You might want to use a food process for this. In a large bowl, add the peanut butter mixture to the graham cracker crumbs and sift in the powdered sugar. Work the dough until the ingredients have come together and press it into an 8×8 pan.

To make the filling, melt together the peanut butter and butter again. Sift in the powdered sugar, and pour the mixture over your crust. Spread it out to cover all parts. Next, press in the marshmallows over all parts of the filling.

Lastly, for the top, melt together the chocolate chips and butter. Pour it on top of the dessert in an even layer. The less you have to spread it to cover all parts, the better. Put this in the refrigerator to harden. Cut cold and serve at room temperature for best results.

This is everything a dessert should be: rich, sweet, chocolate and peanut butter. It’s really hard not to want to eat the whole pan. You can use different brands of graham crackers to make it gluten-free and/or vegan depending on who you’re making these for. And no one will leave disappointed.

You have not lived until you’ve had chocolate hazelnut spread. Bold statement? Trust me: It’s life changing. I didn’t grow up with Nutella always in the house, but when it was around it was a treat. I could never resist eating a finger-full straight from the jar. Now, I’m in love with Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter, which is much richer and nuttier. You could spread it on ANYTHING and it would taste good. But I digress. After debating what brownies to make one afternoon, I thought about using this as the base, and the rest was history. These are thick and fudgy and full of character. I couldn’t imagine anyone not falling in love with these brownies.

Chocolate Hazelnut Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread
• 1/4 cup butter(or non-dairy substitute such as Earth Balance)
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour(or gluten-free flour)
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup milk(or non-dairy substitute)
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts(optional)

To start, let your butter soften or microwave it briefly and preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Cream the chocolate hazlenut butter, sugar, and butter together to form a sticky paste.

Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Pour in the milk to loosen up the batter while you stir, mixing it together(Note: The batter will be very thick). Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips and hazelnuts if using.

Grease a 9×9 baking pan and press in the batter in an even layer. Bake for 28-30 minutes, until the center has been cooked through. Let the brownies cool before cutting.

There really are no words for how good these are. I was going to make a frosting, but these stand on their own pretty easily. But I wouldn’t be opposed to spreading some chocolate hazelnut butter on top. I wouldn’t be opposed at all…