Apple pie has always been a little bit of a seasonal question mark for me. It comes out at Thanksgiving, so that would suggest that it’s an autumnal food. But then it also comes out for summer potlucks, and that makes it…summer food? Instead of remaining confused, I’ve decided that apple pie is American, delicious, and year-round.

Slab pie is even better. That’s when you bake pie into a square or rectangular pan instead of a pie plate. Nothing is more satisfying than a lovely rectangular slab of apple pie. That is, of course, unless you up the ante. This apple slab pie is covered in Hannah Max oatmeal raisin cookie chips crumble, and it’s impossible to stop eating.

When my son saw me opening a cookie chips bag this morning, his eyes lit up. “Oatmeal raisin? Yay, my favorite!” No, I still don’t understand how this child is related to me. I head straight for the chocolate chip. But while he was busy surreptitiously pulling cookie chips out of the bag as I baked and pretended not to notice, I grabbed a couple too. I’m not normally an oatmeal raisin girl, but these? I can make an exception for these.

The thing is, I’m not sure we ever truly know ourselves. That applies to food preferences, which change over time, and just who we are in general, which changes even more. I used to be all about striving for perfection and being invincible. I thought those were characteristics that a modern woman should have.

Turns out, life and time along with motherhood have been pretty big game-changers. Not only do I no longer want to be perfect, but I think it’s actually a flaw to strive for flawlessness. Good enough is, well, good enough. I say that a lot. And perfect sure is boring. As for being invincible, well, that’s just stupid. We shouldn’t walk around being super vulnerable all the time, sure. But when did seeming completely imperturbable become the thing to do? It can be stronger to show our human side sometimes.

Like, I epic fail in baking. A lot. And these photos were hard to take. So there. I just shared.

Luckily, the recipe today was not an epic fail at all. While I’m not usually the biggest apple pie girl, I could not stop eating this. The bottom crust is made from my five-minute, no equipment needed pie dough. It’s easy and amazing. The middle is apple pie filling. Nope, I’m not going to stand around peeling and slicing in summer. There’s a beach chair outside with my name on it, and life is short. The top is a simple crumble made up of broken oatmeal raisin cookie chips, butter and sugar. That’s it.

Inside of half an hour, the best apple slab pie ever will be in front of you, begging for vanilla ice cream on top. But it’s pretty dang good plain, too. Besides, even though I wasn’t expecting this to be a dessert I ate way too much of, life is fun like that. We might change over time, but that’s a good thing. Our tastes change and so do our expectations of ourselves, and both bring us closer and closer to the elusive question of who, deep down, we really are.

Cinnamon is one of those dark horses. I forget about it for weeks, sometimes months, at a time. And then without warning, I eat a dessert with cinnamon, and wham! I can’t stop.

When I tried Hannah Max cinnamon sugar cookie chips for the first time to decide how to bake with them, I had to slap my own hand to stop it from reaching back into the bag. The cinnamon sugar flavor is more addictive than I expected. It’s always fun when life runs contrary to expectation in a good way!

That’s how I got married, actually. When I started dating Kenny, I didn’t really expect it to last for very long. See, he was super cute and a lot of fun, but I’d known him since college when he was a bit rough around the edges and perpetually playing ping-pong. It’s pretty much all he ever did.

So imagine my surprise when on our first date, we actually had a serious conversation. And he was kinder than I’d ever realized, ready to start the next stage of his life with marriage and kids and all that. In other words, he had grown up. I hadn’t expected that at all. In my mind, he was still playing ping-pong with stale rolls from the dining hall because he couldn’t find the ball.

Pleasant surprises are the best kind. They sneak up on you and make you wonder if you really do know as much as you think you know.

Cinnamon desserts are in that place for me. I bake them with almost an internal shrug, thinking that somebody will really like it, but not me. After I’ve managed to mainline several helpings of whatever it is, I’ll finally admit that I really love cinnamon more than I expected to.

This cake is ridiculously good. It’s almost a blondie because of a higher brown sugar content to a lower flour ratio. The inclusion of eggs and baking powder makes it rise to cake-like proportions, however, and the cinnamon sugar topping is made of cookie chips.

I cannot say enough about this topping. Some of it floats on the top while the rest of it sinks into the batter at various points, giving the cake a through-and-through cookie chip quotient. With the (sorry if you hate this word) moist cake base balancing the crunchy cookie chips, it’s hard to imagine breakfast getting any better.

If you don’t think much about cinnamon, you’ll have to rethink your internal musings. Cinnamon sugar cookie chips are too addictive to ignore, and put into this cake, they take on a whole new amazing form. Maybe cookie chips on coffee cake isn’t what you’d expect, but it’s a glorious surprise. And those are the best kind!

A product for this post was provided by Hannah Max Cookie Chips. All opinions are my own.

Well, that’s a dumb question. It’s not like I didn’t work hard for July 4th to become a reality. Months of commuting to work in the dark, sometimes in the ice, often in the rain. Months of teaching teenagers the difference between “it’s” and “its.” Months of wrapping myself up in a blanket at my desk when the heat in my classroom, once again, failed to deliver.

I mean, it dang well better be July 4th. And it better be icebox cheesecake weather. Because no-bake is definitely the way to go right now! Especially when this holiday-themed, easy dessert is filled with delicious Hannah Max cookie chips!

July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. For one thing, it’s my annual hot dog indulgence. Once a year, I eat a super-burned, carcinogenic, mega-processed hot dog. And it’s on July 4th. Don’t worry, I balance all of that indulgence with lots of potato chips. And the real Heinz ketchup, not the sugar-free variety I usually have on the table year-round.

It’s magnificent. What is better than standing out in the sun, hot dog on a wobbly paper plate, watermelon juice dribbling down your chin while you somehow balance a frozen margarita with your elbow? Not much beats that, I can tell you. And I can’t wait for this year’s bash.

We’ll be combining our July 4th celebration with my daughter’s birthday. Yep, she exploded into the world along with the holiday fireworks five years ago. The hospital was deserted and we bonded over two silent days of meal delivery and baby blankets. But this year, we’ll celebrate with hot dogs, birthday cake, and this icebox cheesecake!

If you’re not familiar with icebox cakes, they’re made with cream (or Cool Whip, for unhealthy cheaters like me), and they’re layered with cookies or cake and kept chilled before serving. They’re delicious. This one is not only strawberry-flavored, but it also has a strong cream cheese base. Thus: icebox cheesecake!

This recipe is, like most of mine, simple and quick. Layered into the cheesecake mixture are the original-flavored Hannah Max cookie chips, which my son was munching on as I made the cake. He couldn’t resist. They’re so addictive! And while a lot of icebox cake recipes call for dipping the cookies in milk before layering, I opted to keep my cookie chips nice and crisp. It makes for more texture contrast when you’re eating.

The festive sprinkles and diced strawberries, along with crumbled cookie chips, make for the perfect July 4th finish. Creamy, crunchy and easy, this cookie chips icebox cheesecake is the best way to say goodbye to those dreary dark mornings. It’s time to kick off your summer!

Note: Hannah Max Cookie Chips provided a product for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

So are the cheesecakes. In a really good way! Because in addition to being li’l bites of heaven, they’re not too heavy on the sugar. And they’re also completely full of Hannah Max chocolate chip cookie chips, i.e., my favorite flavor.

I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie. When you put them into crispy cookie chips, they’re that much more addictive. Add cheesecake and I’m not really surprised that people’s eyes lit up at work when they saw me bring these in.

Let’s just accept some of life’s truths: cookie chips are super tasty. Perfect weather days are few and far between. Beaches smell amazing (or they should). And left-handed people are not disabled.

Say what? No, I’m not kidding. I’m a lefty, and I was shocked out of my senses a little while back when someone referred to being left-handed as, no joke, a disability. Verbatim. That is so offensive to so many people on so many levels.

Back in the day, of course, people thought that being left-handed was a disadvantage. I was fairly certain we’d moved past that point of view. My handwriting is neater than most people who write with their right hands. I adjust for righty desks because it’s not really that hard, just mildly annoying. And even the smudge on the side of your hand doesn’t have to be there when you write. Just turn the paper sideways.

They make left-handed baseball mitts. My son is also a lefty, and if he ever gets into playing baseball, he could make enough money to buy us a mansion. That’s not a real dream, don’t worry. But it bears thinking about. If lefties are more unusual, doesn’t that make us valuable? Supply and demand, you guys. I learned about it in economics.

Okay, weird rant over. I just don’t believe in using the word “disability” lightly. I would never show disrespect to people who are struggling with serious challenges by implying that writing with a left hand, of all things, puts me at any kind of disadvantage. It doesn’t.

Now I’ll get back to cheesecake. These muffin-sized cheesecakes are filled with mini chocolate chips and chocolate chip cookie chip bits. The cookie chips also comprise the bottom crust and are crumbled on top. This is my personal favorite, the chocolate chip kind. Here’s what they look like:

The cheesecake batter is on the tarter side to balance out the sweetness of everything else. There are benefits to having a cheesecake base that’s lower in sugar. It’s a lot healthier! Plus, this cheesecake is very simple. Just cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla. No sour cream, no yogurt. It manages to be creamy without a bunch of add-ins.

It takes recipes like this to remind me that simplicity is often best. When the foundation of your recipe is basic, then you can have a lot of fun with mix-ins. I can’t think of a better way to use these cookie chips!

Listen, a lot of what you hear out there in the world is totally whack, like my aforementioned left-leaning rant. No, I’m not talking politics. Go back up and read what I wrote if you skimmed this for the recipe. But in all seriousness, cheesecake rocks, and that is truth. Chocolate chip cookies, ditto. And you’ll love these little cheesecakes!

Note: This post is sponsored by Hannah Max Cookie Chips. All opinions are 100% my own.

A couple of years back, I was in the bakery section of my local Safeway (not an unusual place to find me) when I spotted Hannah Max Cookie Chips on the shelf. They had several flavors, and I picked up the chocolate chip, not knowing what to expect.

What I got was a crispy cookie that tasted absolutely homemade. And they were so good that Kenny (these were the days prior to his gluten-free lifestyle) ate the entire bag. And when I bought more, I was wise enough to hide them.

A few weeks ago, I wrote to the company to tell them how much I loved their product. I do that a lot. I figure people should know how good their food is! And in return, they sent me a big ol’ box of assorted cookie chips and their blessing for me to create recipes. What lovely people. If I were the sort of person who sent Christmas cards, they’d definitely be getting one.

When he saw the box full of cookie chips, Kenny’s eyes lit up. And then I not at all gently reminded him that not only did his gluten-free self need to back on up, but that these were also MINE for recipe development. All mine. And if a few (okay, a lot) got eaten in the process, that was entirely my affair.

The first bag I opened was this one, the sea salt peanut butter cookie chips. And may I say…wow.

There is so much I could do with these, but given the recent 90-degree temps, I decided to start with ice cream. Intensely peanut buttery, creamy ice cream with a few crunchy mix-ins thrown in for good measure.

Yep, the peanut butter cookie chips got mixed into this to provide just the right crunch, as did peanut butter chips. The result is a peanut butter lover’s dream. Add a hot day, a beach, and a giant cone. You’re all set.

And did I mention that no ice cream machine is required for this? I don’t know about you, but most people don’t make enough ice cream annually to justify a big honking machine taking up valuable cabinet space. I mean, I admit it. I buy most of my ice cream. Unless I have the opportunity to make this amazing madness.

If you’re looking for cookie chips so that you can make this recipe, they’re sold in a lot of national retailers, like Safeway and Whole Foods. You can get a full list of their retailers here. And then you’re a few short hours away from delicious ice cream!

It’s ice cream season, and I’m excited. And it’s always cookie chip season. Let’s put them together and make miracles happen!

Note: This post is sponsored by Hannah Max Cookie Chips. All opinions are 100% my own.