This I know to be true: There are cake people and there are frosting people. And I most definitely am a frosting person. I’m guilty of taking a slice of cake and just eating the frosting. I’m also guilty of running my finger along the edge of the cake before it’s been cut into just to taste the frosting. But don’t worry–I haven’t done that in any recent years… that I’ll admit to.

Today’s my birthday, and on your birthday you shouldn’t have to eat anything you don’t want to. Apples. Broccoli. Even cake. You should be able to just eat your frosting and have it, too.

I’ve been wanting to make a recipe like this for a long time and never found an occasion. I suppose now is as best a chance I’ll get; don’t judge me if all of these are gone by the end of the day.

They’re easy enough to make and just need two ingredients. You can use canned frosting but homemade is so much better tasting and just as easy. If you don’t have a favorite recipe, I’d recommend mocha buttercream or vanilla buttercream.

Buttercream Shots In Chocolate Cups

Prep time: 15 minutes(Plus 20 minutes of cooling time)

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 dozen):

• 7oz good quality dark chocolate
• 3/4 cup store-bought or homemade buttercream
• 24 miniature cupcake holders

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double broiler until it’s smooth.
2. With a spoon, drop a Tablespoon of chocolate into the cupcake holder and paint it around the sides. Make sure the layer of chocolate isn’t too thin or it will break.
3. Put the chocolate cup on a tray and repeat until all of the chocolate is used up.
4. Refrigerate the tray for 20-30 minutes until the chocolate has hardened.
5. Gently peel off the cupcake holders until just the chocolate cup remains.
6. Fill the cups with a tablespoon of buttercream each. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

If you tried to tell me there’s a better kind of birthday shot, I wouldn’t believe you.

It’s Girl Scout cookie time again. At first I wanted to resist it; but then seeing the flood of tweets and Facebook statuses about them I knew I couldn’t and would have to give in. If the Girl Scouts ever start selling a gluten-free cookie, I’d be happy to support them; until then I guess I’ll be making my own. That feels like dangerous knowledge.

My favorite Girl Scout cookie has always been the Thin Mints. Have you ever eaten one straight out of a freezer? That’s good stuff. I also liked the lemon cream-filled shortbread cookies, but I hear they stopped making those. That doesn’t seem like a smart business plan, Girl Scouts.

 To make these I used coconut and almond flour, which are two of my favorite gluten-free flours to bake with. They also happen to be grain-free and could presumably pass as a “paleo dessert” even though that’s a bit of an oxymoron. Remember to give yourself a little extra time making these because the dough needs to chill before it can be baked.

Gluten-Free Thin Mints

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes + more to coat

Ingredients(Makes 24 cookies):

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 stick(4oz) butter, melted
• 1 bag(12oz) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided

Method:

1. Sift together the almond flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt, and sugar until it’s all mixed.
2. Add in the egg, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract and mix until it forms a dough.
3. Roll the dough into a log on some parchment paper and put in the refrigerator or freezer to chill.
4. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
5. When the dough is solid, using a sharp knife, cut out cookies that are roughly 3/8-inch thick. Lay the cookies out on a baking tray(don’t worry if they’re close together since they don’t really really spread)
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
7. Remove the cookies from the oven. Let them cool until they’ve hardened.
8. Make the coating by melting the chocolate chips and mixing in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of extract.
9. One by one, dip the cookies into the melted chocolate to coat both sides. The chocolate should be fairly runny and only coat in a small layer. If the chocolate is thicker, heat it up until it melts more.
10. Lay the cookies onto parchment paper and refrigerate to fully harden. These will keep 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie? While I love thin mints, Tagalongs are a close second. I get the sense I might have to try my hand at making those.

I’m a huge fan of Reese’s. I don’t think there’s anything they make which I don’t like. Well, besides the inside out peanut butter cups. And the white chocolate peanut butter cups. Seriously, what were they thinking? Well, we all make bad decisions.

Anyway, any true Reese’s fan can tell you that the holiday edition items are the crème de la crème. Whether it’s the trees, eggs, or hearts, the peanut butter-to-chocolate ratio is so much more perfect.

Why make regular peanut butter cups when you can make delicious(and festive!) eggs? You wouldn’t. These were just as easy to make as regular cups, and I think I liked them more. I used peanut butter that was just peanuts and salt, but no-stir peanut butter should work as well. You could even use white chocolate instead of the semi-sweet chocolate, but I will judge you slightly(Just kidding… sort of).

Homemade Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 7 eggs):

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 4oz semi-sweet chocolate

Method:

1. Melt the butter and mix in the peanut butter and powdered sugar until there are no clumps(If you’re using no-stir peanut butter, you might want to melt that, too, so it’s easier to mix together).
2. Refrigerate the peanut butter mixture until it’s mostly solid.
3. While the peanut butter is chilling, melt the chocolate until smooth and silky. Let the chocolate sit at room temperature for 10 minutes once melted to cool slightly, but keep it hot enough so that it doesn’t reharden.
4. To shape the eggs, take about an ounce of chilled peanut butter dough and roll it in your palm into a log. Then press down slightly on both sides to flatten. If the dough gets too soft during this process, stick it back in the refrigerator or freezer for 10 minutes to make sure that it’s solid before touching the melted chocolate.
5. Drop the egg into the melted chocolate. Flip it using a spoon or a fork and spread the chocolate around the sides. Move the chocolate-covered egg onto a piece of parchment paper.
6. Repeat with all of the peanut butter and chocolate.
7. Refrigerate the eggs until the chocolate coating has hardened. Keep chilled for up to 2 weeks.

Just take my advice and double the recipe. 7 will hardly last a day.

Happy President’s Day weekend to all my American readers. I’m going to admit that until 2 days ago I had no clue it was President’s Day today; in fact, I wished one of my friends a happy Martin Luther King day until I looked that up and realized I’m a month behind. Oops.

I haven’t really been in the holiday mindset since I have 5 hours of class today. Still, I don’t need an excuse to spend all weekend making desserts so that’s what I did.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve posted this fudge recipe, so we’re just going to call this a “double take”. It’s one of my favorite desserts to make because it’s easy and delicious; you probably already have all the ingredients.

I’ve had readers make this without the added sugar or substituting coconut oil for the butter and I hear it works great. I haven’t tried either of those substitutions, but I have made it with coconut milk and Earth Balance margarine and it comes out terrific that way, too.

Microwave Fudge

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 16 servings):

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 4oz stick butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk(or non-dairy substitute)

Method:

1. Melt together the chocolate chips and butter.
2. Sift in the powdered sugar and pour in the milk. Mix until completely uniform.
3. Pour the hot fudge into a 6 x 6 pan. Refrigerate until the fudge sets.
4. Cut into 1 1/2 inch squares(this might be easier to do if the fudge has softened a bit) and serve slightly chilled.

I hope you don’t wait for the next holiday to try this one out.