Ice Cream Sandwiches!

Ice Cream Sandwiches!

Finally, finally, finally! It’s ice cream sandwich season!

When I was a kid, I loved going to the beach and waiting for the ice cream sandwich cart to come around. I haven’t seen one of those in years, but I’ll always associate the beach with Chipwich ice cream sandwiches.

This year, I decided to put this ice cream I made last week to good use. It was a very intense peanut butter ice cream, so what better than to pair it with thick chocolate cookies? And of course, I had to add some patriotic Memorial Day bling.

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Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Bread

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Bread

I know y’all dig chocolate-covered strawberries. Now we’re going to a whole new level!

Lately, I’ve been trying to bake with conventional flour a little bit less. After all, I’ve got a GF spouse, so it’s the least I can do. The good news is, this bread is still amazing, gluten or no. And it’s filled with strawberries and chocolate chips (and covered in chocolate)!

Can we say thank you? Someone. Please. I’m hungry for praise and dessert.

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Easy Chocolate Cake

Easy Chocolate Cake

One more Passover recipe, everyone. After all, the holiday isn’t over until Saturday night! But this one is also gluten-free and just super easy.

The other day, an old friend of mine asked for a chocolate cake recipe for her daughter’s birthday, which happens to fall this week. Since she also keeps Passover and works outside the home, I wanted to make her life as easy as possible.

The key to making this cake work lies with two factors: not overbaking it (it will dry out) and putting in lots of chocolate chips!

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Ganache Linzer Tart (GF And Passover-Friendly!)

Ganache Linzer Tart (GF and Passover-Friendly!)

Well, the week marches on. Today was Primary Election day in my state, and I watched a lot of people agonize over which terrible candidate to vote for. Yay for democracy!

Ideally, the voting process should be nothing but exciting, but it’s harder this year than usual. Looking toward November is a worrisome occupation, at least for me. I want to believe that everything will turn out okay, but I’m in a negative frame of mind these days.

Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I bake. There’s a mindful mindlessness about baking that lets my brain fall away a bit as I make ganache or press tart dough into a pan. The motions are repetitive, soothing, and exactly what I need sometimes. When the result is this mind-blowing linzer tart smothered in ganache and almonds, I can banish all the negativity and just think about the rich flavors exploding in my mouth.

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Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

We all love chocolate chip cookies. Can we get on board with peanut butter chip cookies?

If people’s reaction to them so far is any indication, then absolutely. I had these on my desk at work wrapped in foil, and someone actually opened the foil (they can see my baked goods coming a mile away) and ate a few. Then others joined in making happy noises. To me, that’s success.

I mean, there are other ways to be successful. But few ways are more rewarding than a chewy chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips inside!

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Chocolate Raspberry Linzer Hamantaschen

Chocolate Raspberry Linzer Hamantaschen

Purim is on Thursday. Who knows what I’m talking about?

Every spring, the Jewish holiday of Purim occurs. It’s one of the fun ones, following the whole “they tried to kill us, they failed, let’s eat” mode of celebration. On that day, people dress in costume, deliver baskets of treats to friends, give charity, and eat hamantaschen.

This delightful cookie is named after the villain of the Purim story, Haman. These are triangular-shaped cookies that are traditionally filled with fruit or chocolate, but I’ve switched things up a bit. The dough here has a Linzer cookie twist with ground almonds, and the filling is chocolate raspberry. Talk about celebrating in style!

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Chocolate Almond Raspberry Bars

Chocolate Almond Raspberry Bars

Thank heaven for almonds.

Seriously, they’re food of the gods. They have protein, taste great, and are easily portable. Plus, they’re pretty durable. I have to work really hard to squash an almond.

Chocolate-covered almonds are even better, especially when the chocolate is really delicious. DOVE® Roasted Almonds covered in dark chocolate are totally my bag. And they’re even more fun when they get incorporated into these chocolate almond raspberry bars!

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Double Chocolate Irish Soda Bread

Double Chocolate Irish Soda Bread

I’m not sure if anyone Irish will take issue with me for this bread, but I like to tinker. Consider authenticity thrown out the window with this one.

I’ve taken out the raisins and seeds and put in chocolate chips and cocoa. As a result, I’m a very happy girl right now.

The bread itself isn’t sweet (except for the chocolate chips here and there), but there’s a lovely chocolate flavor throughout that makes this quite a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day snack!

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Thin Mint Sheet Cake

Thin Mint Sheet Cake

I am so in love with sheet cake.

The problem with layer cakes is that beauty often takes the place of function. They have to be gorgeous, so we pile on way too much frosting or fondant and then decorate the whole shebang. A sheet cake, however, is the perfect ratio of cake to frosting (or in this case, icing). The cake is the star, not its good looks.

And it definitely doesn’t hurt that this one is topped with chopped Thin Mints. America’s favorite Girl Scout cookie is ready for her moment in the sun!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts

Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts

I need more donuts in my life.

Seriously, I don’t eat them that often. The thing is, they’re usually fried, and while that’s delicious, I feel kind of gross after I eat one. The donut pan is a much better option!

Plus, when I bake my own, I can customize flavors at will. Like this chocolate peanut butter version. It has the loveliest, thickest PB chocolate icing. And sprinkles! Can we all just stop for a moment and enjoy the sprinkles?

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