Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider Granita

Okay... only 17 days late.  Here is the dessert I made for New Years Eve this year.  100% kid friendly and only two ingredients.  Plus, it looks fancy.


It's not.  It's basically a slushie.


Don't tell anyone.

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Pink Peppermint Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches

These little peppermint Oreo ice cream sandwiches were my favorite new creation of the Christmas season.  They are SO good. 

Chocolatey.  Pepperminty.  Cool, creamy, and delicious.  

Plus they're bite-sized little babies, so obviously they're low-cal...

Right?

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Peppermint Pretzel Candy Bark

Last year I found some really cute Reindeer candy corn bark over at Your Homebased Mom.  I decided to do a peppermint version since I already had white chocolate peppermint M&M's, peppermint marshmallows, and Peppermint Jojo's from Trader Joes.

Literally as I'm making my version I noticed a picture on her sidebar...

SERIOUSLY??


Right down to the Jojo's.

It's hilarious how people share brainwaves sometimes.

This bark was so yummy.  The pretzels really make it unique and keep it from being too crazy sweet.  Also, its super easy so it's a great thing to whip up last minute when you remember people you haven't given Christmas treats to yet...

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Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes

It feels odd to post all these Christmas treats in January, but I decided it made no sense to save them until next year.  (By which time I probably would have lost the pictures or accidentally deleted the posts.)  This last December was CRAZY for us.  I think I was sick 21 of the 31 days of the month, and amidst Christmas preparations, going on vacation, and baking up treats for our friends, I literally had no time to get these recipes posted.  I hope you don't mind me going back into Christmas mode for awhile, but I promise Valentine's treats are coming soon!  

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  Thanks for sharing some of your time with me this year!

These dark chocolate cupcakes are filled with peppermint whipped cream and topped with peppermint marshmallow buttercream, and peppermint candy pieces.

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Terry's Chocolate Orange Cupcakes

Early last month I developed a cookie recipe based on my favorite Christmas treat, Terry's chocolate oranges.  Right before Christmas I decided a cupcake version needed to happen as well.

These were scrumptious & had the perfect combination of chocolate and orange.

Nom. Nom.

Now i really want a chocolate orange.

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Chocolate-dipped Toffee Pretzels

These are one of my favorite treats to make at Christmas time.  You can drizzle them with red, white, and green candy melts, or top them with anything from toffee bits to crushed Oreo.  

Delish!

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White Chocolate Peppermint Oreos

The knife block set we got for our wedding conveniently came with a whacker.  You know, one of those long rods that you use to whack things like candy canes or Oreos to crush them?

Okay, so it turns out the "whacker" is actually a knife sharpener.  Yes, I just figured that out today.

Who knew?

Everyone needs a good whacker in their knife set.  Otherwise you couldn't make these babies.

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Chewy Hot Fudge Sauce {& Peppermint Hot Fudge}

I've read that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

In actuality, I think the definition of insanity is realizing you're brushing your teeth in the stainless steel kitchen sink and you have no idea how you got there or why you're even brushing your teeth.

Apparently, the holidays are quite literally making me crazy. 

This obviously has nothing to do with fudge sauce, except maybe chocolate is a good cure for the crazies?


This sauce turns chewy on cold ice cream so it is "hot fudge" in the traditional sense of the word.  None of this chocolate syrup nonsense. I literally tried 5 recipes last month looking for the homemade hot fudge to share with you.  This is it!  Just in time to gift to neighbors for the holidays.

For an extra special treat, try the peppermint version.

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Terry's Chocolate Orange Cookies

Who is Terry and how did she invent the magical deliciousness that is a chocolate orange?

I know some families always get an orange in the toe of their stocking, but I always get a Terry's chocolate orange.  Santa's definitely got my number.  It just wouldn't be Christmas without that chocolate orange.  So I figured why not chop up a chocolate orange and throw it in a dark chocolate cookie for a Christmas treat this year?

Turns out, it's a delicious idea.


These chocolate cookies are really good but are more of a crisp cookie.   If you like chewy chocolate cookies, you can use a different recipe and just chop up a chocolate orange and substitute it for the chocolate chips in the recipe.

These are magical, magical Christmas cookies.

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Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Since today is the last day of November I figured it's probably nearly time to say farewell to pumpkin until next year.  There are too many delicious Christmas flavors to be wallowing in pumpkin.  These babies are the perfect farewell. Plus your kids will think you're magical because you can make donuts.  Who does that, anyway?

These are baked in a donut pan so they come out perfectly every time and you don't have to worry about disfiguring your hands with boiling oil and ending up in the emergency room.  Great right?  To make them healthier, you can roll them in the cinnamon sugar coating while still warm, but I highly recommend dipping them in butter first like the recipe states.  It truly does something magical.
(I am a closet-butter-hater, so this is serious business.)

My hubby is participating in a Biggest Loser competition at work (Really, I have no idea where that need came from... We basically just eat vegetables at our house all the time), and this is one of the treats I am going to go back and make just for him when it's over.  I realize that sounds completely backwards, but these are yummy enough that it's just on the must-list. 

Happy Last Day of November!!

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