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.

Most people who love cooking have their “signature recipes” that they get asked to make all the time. At the holidays my mom always makes a savory cream cheese ball with onion, green pepper, pineapple and walnuts. As good as that is, if you follow this blog you’ll know I’m much more into sweet than savory. What could really be better than sweet cream cheese?

Another thing that prompted me to make this was a bag of Food Should Taste Good chocolate tortillas and wondering what in the world you serve chocolate tortillas with. The crunchy and lightly-sweetened tortillas went perfectly with the smooth cream cheese and powdered sugar. I couldn’t imagine eating this any other way but I’m sure sliced apples or graham crackers would match well, too.

I used honey glazed roasted pecans from Oh Nuts for the coating. If you don’t have pecans you can use any number of things as a coating. Try sliced almonds or crushed green and red M&Ms, or even holiday-themed sprinkles.

Dessert Cream Cheese Ball

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 12 servings):

• 1 8oz block cream cheese
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon half & half
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup glazed pecans, crushed

Method:

1. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, half & half and salt.
2. Scrape the cream cheese mixture onto a sheet of clear plastic wrap. Form the cream cheese mixture into a ball using the wrap to cover your hands and keep it together. Stick the ball in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to set.
3. Unwrap the cream cheese ball and coat it with the pecans, pressing them in lightly to make sure they stay.
4. Transfer the cold cream cheese ball to a serving plate. Serve with chocolate nachos, graham crackers, or sliced fruit.

We can save worrying about eating healthy for after New Years.

Sandwich Cookies are so much fun. They’re much better than any old cookie; you get two cookies plus a filling. What’s not to love?

My favorite sandwich cookies were always the ones shaped like a maple leaf with a maple crème filling. Sure, they probably were loaded with trans fat and gave people heart attacks but it was the 90s and no one knew about any of that yet. These remind me of those but very much grown up. The cinnamon and spice and salt enhance the sweetness of the maple syrup and the nuttiness of the almond butter and knock it out of the park.

If you want to skip making your own cookies, use a store-bought gingersnap cookie for the base to compliment the filling best.

Maple Almond Butter Sandwich Cookies

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 6 sandwich cookies):

• 12 spiced almond butter cookies
• 6 Tablespoons almond butter
• 3 1/2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature
• Scant 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Lay half of the cookies out bottom-side-up.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the almond butter, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon and salt until it’s smooth and homogenous.
3. Put about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of filling on top of each cookie.
4. Take another cookie and place it bottom-side-down on top of the filling.
5. Store at room temperature until ready to eat.

See? Much better than a cookie.

The seasonal candies are always my favorite part of the holidays. I’ll usually wait until the day after each holiday to go to the store and buy it all half-off, but why wait when you can make your own? I’ve made my own peanut butter cups before and it’s never been a hassle. Pumpkins seemed like a bit more of a challenge but oh so worth it.

This recipe is also my entry in a Smart Balance recipe contest that starts today. They’ve asked 20 contestants to make a recipe using one or more of their products and put them on their Facebook page for fans to vote for. I love the Smart Balance peanut butter because of its rich, amber flavor. It has added plant-based omega-3s which are always good for a vegetarian diet.

Besides peanut butter, this recipe is super simple and uses only 4 other ingredients you probably already have: buttery spread(or butter), powdered sugar, and chocolate chips. The process doesn’t take much time at all even though there are quite a few steps. Just make sure to have room in your freezer to cool these quickly so you can move from one step to the next without waiting too long.

I found the pumpkin cookie cutter on Amazon and got it along with some other shapes; they also probably sell them in most craft stores around this time, too. You can use different cookie cutters for different holidays and keep the recipe year round. The basic steps will always be the same.

Homemade Peanut Butter Pumpkins

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 16 pumpkins*):

• 1 cup Smart Balance creamy peanut butter
• 1 Smart Balance buttery stick(1/2 cup), melted
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• Pumpkin shaped cookie cutter
• Wax paper

*The yield will vary based on the size of your cookie cutters. I used a pretty standard 3-inch cookie cutter and got 16 pumpkins.

Method:

1. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter and melted buttery stick until it’s homogenous.
2. Sift in the powdered sugar stirring it in until it’s completely mixed in.
3. Get out 2 sheets of parchment paper and place the peanut butter dough between the two. Press down until the dough is about 3/8-inch thick.
4. Cut out as many pumpkins in the dough as you can. Put the dough into a freezer for 10-15 minutes until the dough is stiff.
5. While the dough is in the freezer, melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler until it’s smooth.
6. Take the dough out of the freezer and remove the pumpkins from the extra trim.
7. On a separate piece of parchment paper, spoon tablespoons of melted chocolate about 3 inches from one another.
8. Take each pumpkin and place them on top of the melted chocolate, pressing down and moving them around to cover the bottom. Repeat with all the pumpkins.
9. If you desire, decorate the pumpkins by making faces or lines with a toothpick.
10. Place the pumpkins back in the freezer until the chocolate is hardened. Take off the parchment paper and keep these in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
11. Keep repeating this process with the extra dough and melted chocolate until it’s entirely used up.

The peanut butter parts holds its shape but stays pretty soft so you can bite straight through it into the thin chocolate. I handed these out to friends last week and even though it was still September it definitely stirred some Halloween excitement. These would definitely be a hit at any party this time of year. If you like the recipe, too, don’t forget to vote!

You’ve probably heard of Chobani, if not from their delicious yogurt then from their recent position as sponsor of the 2012 Olympic games. I hardly managed to do anything but watch TV for those two weeks—well, watch TV and eat yogurt.

Chobani recently introduced 6 of their most popular flavors in 16oz tub container form including a 2% vanilla chocolate chip variety which easily takes the gold medal for me. Chobani has always been one of my favorite Greek yogurts because of the simple ingredients and consistently low price at my grocery store and I was happy to try them when they sent me a variety pack.

I had to resist eating all of the flavors simply with granola and fruit and actually make something with them. I settled on frozen yogurt because few things are as tasty(and easy!) as homemade frozen yogurt. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, put it on your Christmas list; even though it only has one function it’s easily my favorite kitchen gadget I’ve bought over the past few years.

This recipe is as easy as 3 ingredients and is entirely customizable! You can use any flavor of Chobani and add any mix-ins your heart desires. Have fun with it and pretend you’re at a fancy frozen yogurt chain by adding things like chocolate chips, fruity cereal, and chopped fruit on top.

Chobani Frozen Yogurt

Prep time: 5 minutes

Freeze time: 2 hours

Ingredients(Makes about 6 servings):

• 1 16oz Chobani yogurt container*
• 1 cup skim or 2% milk
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

*I’ve only tried this with the fruit flavors. If you’re starting with Plain Chobani, you might want to adjust the sweetness by adding more powdered sugar.

Method:

1. In a large bowl whisk together all of the ingredients.
2. Pour the base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions.
3. After the ice cream has churned, scoop it into a solid container and freeze for at least two hours.
4. Before serving, let the yogurt soften at room temperature for 5 minutes.

Mango admittedly is not one of my favorite flavor of yogurt. Somehow, turning it into frozen yogurt makes it much more irresistible. It reminded me of something I’d order from Pinkberry. And since this is made with low-fat ingredients and greek yogurt, it’s packed with protein, so feel good about having an extra scoop.