That’s right folks, all the following desserts have been made and taste tested by me for your approval! I took the hit so that you wouldn’t have to scour the internet looking for a dessert recipe only to have it be sub par. There have been many recipes I’ve tried over the years that did not get a second chance in our kitchen.
But these?
These are the recipes I drool over. These are the desserts that visit me in my dreams. These are the recipes I can’t decide between when I’m making something for a special occasion. Or the not so special occasion. I’ve broken them up into categories to make it a little easier to decide. Or harder, I’m not sure. But try them out!
To get to the recipes, click on the name or image of the dessert and you will be taken to the original author’s website. I did not take any of these pictures, they all belong to the original creators!
Single serving (or when you have the only sweet tooth)
Don’t knock these til you’ve tried them! I only have a few that I rotate between but I have the darndest time deciding between the three when I’ve decided I want one.
While she uses non-dairy milk and coconut oil I use regular cow’s milk and vegetable oil. And then I top it with some of the buttercream I keep on hand in the fridge. Cake always needs frosting in my world.
This cake is so fantastic! It’s full of peanut butter flavor and totally hits the spot. I usually throw in a couple chocolate chips as well and top it with some chocolate buttercream if I have some handy.
The only thing that stops me from making this one is that it recommends using half an egg per cake, so you are almost required to make 2 mug cakes. I don’t tend to make mug cakes for Micah because he lacks much of a sweet tooth. So I haven’t made this in a while, but it is fabulous.
Sometimes you just need one warm cookie for yourself, right? We’ve been using this recipe for years and have even modified it ourselves to make other varieties like sugar, oatmeal scotchies, and peanut butter. And they always get topped with ice cream!
Bars, bars, bars
They may be on the simple side most times, but don’t look down on a good pan of bars. Bars of all sorts are my go to for pot lucks, MOPS meetings, and other functions because there isn’t a whole lot of work or repetitive actions. I love cookies but you have to roll them out or scoop or whatever. Sometimes I just want to spread some batter in a pan and bake it.
These have become my signature at certain events. I actually have had people a little disappointed in me when I haven’t brought them! I love to underbake them slightly (this is a theme with my bars and cookies) so you almost get the feeling of eating cookie dough. NOM.
I recently started making these this year. I really wanted brownies but didn’t have enough cocoa powder so I found these and it was total love. I topped mine with some melted white chocolate and that was AMAZING.
Everyone has their favorite brownie recipe and this is mine. One bowl or pot and one pan. Easy peasy and so amazingly yummy. I’m actually eating one right now because I made some for Mother’s Day and since we’ve been sick they’ve actually survived the week!
C is for Cookies
While I might “complain” about the time it takes to make cookies I’m pretty sure I make them more often because I can bake up one sheet and stick the rest of the dough (portioned out) into the freezer to bake a later date. No need to eat up 4 dozen cookies before they get stale, yay!
This is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I will use anymore. If I want a different flavor chip – done. But I won’t mess with the base recipe. It is too perfect for creating super chewy soft cookies.
I love these but they take a good bit of work. I just made them last week for the first time in several years. Just like real cinnamon rolls it’s a lot of passive time and repetitive actions. But the result? So worth the effort. And I’m always shocked at how soft they stay, even in the fridge. It must be the sour cream in the dough.
I LOVE me some puppy chow. As in I don’t make it anymore because I would eat all 9 cups myself before I realized what was happening type of love it. These cookies capture that love but in a less dangerous way. It’s a little harder for me to keep going with something cookie sized versus bite sized. It’s a psychological thing. I can’t explain it. Just make the cookies and understand.
In case you haven’t gathered by now, I adore peanut butter. And these cookies have it. Plus I like to use peanut butter M&Ms if I have them on hand. Can’t go wrong with extra peanut butter! And these are sooo soft! The perfect way for a cookie to be.
I don’t even know how to describe these. Dark brown sugar in cookie form coated with powdered sugar? Nom. The recipe calls for chopped pecans or some nonsense. I don’t defile my baked goods with nuts so I won’t speak to that part but the cookies without the nuts? Wonderful.
Cakes and Pies (I tell no lies!)
This is my go to recipe when I want to make cupcakes for birthdays. They come out light, fluffy, and perfect for frosting.
13. Chocolate molten lava cakes
These are RICH. But soooo good. I recommend baking them in regular sized muffin tins and making lots of them because making jumbo ones was overwhelming for everyone besides me. But I love sweets. No one else could finish one. But the other testers were three children and a guy with a very selective dessert palate. I thought they were fantastic.
Ah, Ree Drummond. She makes it okay to make a lime pie without the “key.” Tart and sweet with a good amount of crunch from the crust? Yum. I was so close to making this for Mother’s Day but went with brownies and coffee ice cream sundaes instead. But it was a really close call.
15. No Bake Peanut Butter Cheesecake
Again with the peanut butter! This cheesecake is incredibly over the top (especially if you use the brownies I mentioned earlier as the base instead of cookie crumbs!) but it is so worth every darn calorie! I may or may not dream about this cheesecake on occasion. I’ll let you decide…
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to figure out how to eat all of these right now without going in to a sugar coma for the rest of my life.
What’s your favorite dessert? Share a recipe with me; I’d love to try it!
