Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip...

I know I've been MIA for a while since having my daughter but am slowly trying to get back into this so hopefully I'll start posting here a bit more often:)

If you're looking for a delicious sweet treat to bring to a party this Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip is an easy option that tastes amazing!

I usually get graham crackers to serve with it, break them into fourths and place them around the dip in the bowl.

Oatmeal Chocolate Caramel Bars...

These Oatmeal Chocolate Caramel Bars are such a delicious sweet treat and one of my favorite quick easy desserts to throw together when we're getting together with friends. They are incredibly addicting though and lets just say I've learned the hard way to only make them when we can share them with others because otherwise it is entirely likely your family will eat the whole 9x13 pan on your own within a week!

One tip, for the caramels some stores now sell these caramel bits  which make melting the caramels and heavy cream together a bit easier. They come in an 11oz bag and I typically just use one of these as a substitute for the 14oz bag of caramels, which means no unwrapping each little caramel and they melt a lot quicker!

Trust me...you will love these!!! And my picture below does not at all do the deliciousness of these bars justice. Mel's pictures give a much better representation of how good they are!

Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake...

Yes, you read that correctly...cinnamon roll and cheesecake together! This was another Pinterest find and it is a decadent treat to share with those you love! Now I will absolutely be the first to tell you that although I love cheesecake I've always been a bit intimidated by it, but my husband and I decided to attempt this one together and it was definitely worth the effort. It is a great dessert to take to a get-together so you can share the love, because otherwise you'll likely be tempted to eat too much of it yourself! Thanks to The Girl Who Ate Everything for this delicious Cinnamon Roll Cheesecake dessert!

My mother in law is a cheesecake pro and she taught us the trick of placing a jelly roll pan with water in it on the rack underneath the cheesecake while it's cooking in the oven to help prevent cracking.

Just something to keep in mind when baking this the cheesecake, it did take close to 70 minutes to bake in our oven and not the 45-55 the recipe suggested.

It's like a cinnabon cheesecake combined, and one I'm certain you and your friends or family will love!

Strawberry rhubarb bars....

Rhubarb seems to be that classic summer dessert ingredient, and I hadn't honestly cooked with it for a couple of years. But when my parents came to visit about a month ago they brought fresh rhubarb straight from their garden, so I had to find a delicious recipe as a treat. I came across these Strawberry rhubarb crumb bars on Pinterest and decided to give them a try, and oh my goodness they were fantastic!!! It's the perfect combination of sweet and tart and that strussel topping...yum!

I made a couple of modifications, and yes, I've already made these a couple more times we loved them so much. I used whole wheat flour in place of the oat flour called for in the original recipe since I had that on hand, and I omitted the crystallized ginger because frankly I had no idea what that was and definitely did not have it. I also skipped the lemon zest since I wanted to throw together the recipe that evening and didn't have a lemon. Still turned out awesome! Also I used my 8x8 glass pan and they fit great.

We picked up some more rhubarb at the farmers market earlier this week so I'm thinking a pan of these might be on tap for the weekend:)

Yum looking filling for the bars...

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies...

I've been a bit behind in posting these, I made them during our last snow storm and it's now in the high 80's! Anyway, I'm a huge fan of salted caramel drinks and desserts so I knew when I saw this recipe for Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies on Pinterest that I was going to have to try them. They were so delicious and I loved her tip that adding cornstarch to the dough makes the cookies soft! I'm still learning in terms of baking and had never tried this before; will definitely try to remember this for future cookie recipes!

Mocha Cappuccino Puppy Chow...

Don't say you haven't been warned, this snack is SO addicting and will not last long if you make it! Came across this Mocha Cappuccino Puppy Chow recipe on Pinterest and decided to throw it together for a neighborhood get-together. It had been years since I'd had puppy chow and wow, I had forgotten how tasty it can be, but this new spin on it brought it to a whole new level!

If you have a sweet tooth this is sure to satisfy. Careful though, it's hard to stop eating it! I've found this is one of those dessert snacks that it's best if I only make when we're going to be able to share it with others to ensure it is not all consumed only by us! My husband with the huge sweet tooth has deemed this one superior to the original puppy chow recipe, and he doesn't mess around!

I made mine without the Espresso candy cups she listed in her recipe as I couldn't find any at our grocery store, and it was still amazing!

Valentine's treats...

Although we're a couple of weeks past Valentine's I thought it would be fun to start my first post off with some sweet treats that we enjoyed this year! The great thing about all of these is that they can be enjoyed all throughout the year, we definitely aren't limiting any of them to just Valentines at our house!

First up I made these Strawberry Shortcake Muffins from Dashing Dish for my son and his friends for our playgroup Valentine's party. The only change I made to the recipe was that I added 1 Tbsp of chai seeds to the batter. Since a friend turned me on to the amazing health benefits of chai seeds I've started adding them to most of the breads, muffins and baked goods I cook. And of course to make them a bit more festive I baked them in a heart shaped pan & then wrapped them up in some cute bags for Ian to give as Valentines.

The ingredients that brought these delicious little muffins together...

Finished product...

These are delicious muffins full of fresh strawberries; they're great for kids or adults, and we've already made them again since we liked them so much!

I decided the moms in playgroup needed a little something sweeter, and because I'm obsessed with all things salted caramel (especially baked goods) I decided it was a perfect opportunity to try these Salted Caramel Pumpkin Muffins from My Blessed Life that I've been eyeing since coming across the recipe on Pinterest. They are oh so delicious with the salted caramel glaze...YUM! I didn't have dried cranberries so made mine without but I'm sure they'd be delicious with as well. I also used brown sugar instead of raw sugar for the muffin batter, but otherwise followed it just as she recommended with fabulous results!

If you like pumpkin with a bit of salted caramel goodness you've got to give these a try! As you can see from the pics below I should have given the muffins a little bit more time to cool before adding the glaze, but they were still delicious!

Whipped up another batch a week later for a different get together; you can see in this pic how they look with the glaze after give a bit more time to cool...

And last but certainly not least, I decided to make a special dessert for my husband for Valentine's... and if I'm perfectly honest also for me & my sweet tooth! Now that we have a little one it's more difficult to make it out to dinner, especially on Valentine's Day, so I decided to bring something special to us to enjoy, and oh my goodness were these ever special!!! These Mini-Mocha Cheesecakes from Lindsay at Sugar Mama were incredible, and needless to say my husband's new favorite desert! They definitely delivered that special something sweet! I garnished ours with homemade whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon and it added such an awesome extra bit of flavor...if you like chocolate and mocha flavors you absolutely must try these!!!

From my kitchen to yours, enjoy!