Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

This strawberry rhubarb crisp is pure comfort with the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness and a buttery oat topping. I always eat it a la mode!

I grew up with a rhubarb obsessed father. Is it a generational thing? I’m going to bet most people these days have never even tried rhubarb yet everyone’s Mom and Dad seem to love it. I hated it. I mean, wouldn’t even touch the stuff! I’m still a bit weird about it depending on how it is used, but cook it down with sweet berries and sugar and I don’t even know how to explain it, it becomes a whole new creature! It’s so good!!

Recommended Equipment

• Sure Gel Ultra Gel
• Pastry Blender

Before You Begin…

Get about 3 cups of water boiling over high heat. You’ll use the boiling water to soften and prep the rhubarb for the crisp. Rhubarb can be quite bitter but letting in sit in boiling water for a couple of minutes will dull the bitterness.

Ingredients for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

For the Filling

• Rhubarb: A vegetable that has edible stalks that are usually pink in color. It is quite sour like a lemon but it becomes sweeter as it cooks. It is a great source of antioxidants, fiber and vitamin K.
• Strawberries: You will want to wash and hull the strawberries before cutting them up.
• Sugar: Helps sweeten the filling.
• Brown Sugar: Adds richness and sweetness to the filling.
• Sure Gel Ultra Gel: Thickens the filling so that the filling isn’t water. You can also use flour or cornstarch.
• Lemon Zest: Adds an extra pop of flavor and brightness
• Cardamom: A spice commonly used in Indian food that has a complex flavor that is floral but also citrusy.

For the Topping

• Old Fashioned Rolled Oats: You can use quick oats too but I love the texture and chewiness the old fashioned oats add.
• Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness to the topping
• Flour: Adds structure to the topping
• Cinnamon: Adds warmth and flavor
• Salt: Enhances all the flavors of the topping
• Unsalted Butter: Adds flavor and binds all the ingredients together

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card down below. This is just meant to be an overview of the ingredients so keep on scrolling down for all the details.

What are Substitutes for Ultra Gel?

I prefer ultra gel over flour or cornstarch for thickening. I feel like there’s a flavor that accompanies both whereas the ultra gel is flavorless. But if you don’t have ultra gel or you don’t want to buy it, you can use flour or cornstarch.

Read more

White Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Royal Icing

We love a classic Christmas cookie, but lately we’ve been enjoying new versions of old favorites. We have taken your traditional sugar cookie and transformed them into something magical – White Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Peppermint Royal Icing!

The white chocolate makes the cookies so decadent, and the peppermint in the royal icing makes them your quintessential Christmas cookie.  They are soft and pillow-y, just how a sugar cookie should be, and the royal icing is glossy and gorgeous! I guarantee these cookies are going to becoming a new Christmas favorite!

Whenever I make sugar cookies, it immediately takes me back to my childhood.  I remember my mom making sugar cookies while she let me and my siblings make a huge mess of tiny pieces of paper flying everywhere as we cut out snowflakes to hang in our windows. We thought hanging snowflakes in the windows was the sure way to guarantee a white Christmas, or at least snow that year!

Now I ask myself, why in the world did I want it to snow?! I’m not the biggest fan now.  Maybe that makes me old.  Or just boring.  Or maybe it makes me smart!  I’m going with smart! Snow is cold (and I loathe cold), wet, messy, dangerous for driving, and just bothersome. Before you all go crazy on me, it is pretty!  Freshly fallen snow on the trees and rooftops is gorgeous!  As long as I don’t have to go anywhere and can admire if from the comfort of my warm home, it can snow all it wants!  I just became 95-years-old!

Nailed it!

Okay, now I’ve gotten all side-tracked! These sugar cookies are easy!  Have you ever seen those mesmerizing videos of people doing the most ornate and beautiful cookie decorating ever?  I could watch those all day!  They make it look so easy that anyone could do it!  And then have you ever tried to do it?  Hahaha!  You could put me on an episode of Nailed It with some of my creations!  So I stick with the simple shapes and decorating!

Plus, this way my kids can help, and kids love everything about making sugar cookies! I mean, what is there not to love?!  Making the dough, rolling it out, cutting out shapes, baking the cookies, and then decorating them…it’s like one big party!

Extract Mania

These white chocolate sugar cookies with peppermint royal icing just scream Christmas, but one thing I love about these cookies is that you can swap the extract for any flavor to fit any holiday or season.  Here are some ideas:

• LEMON for spring or summer, Mother’s Day, a baby or bridal shower
• COCONUT for summer or Easter
• MAPLE for fall or Thanksgiving
• ORANGE for just about an reason or season
• CAKE BATTER…say what?  Yes, I did see cake batter extract the other day at the store. I bet that would be delish in this recipe!
• RASPBERRY for Valentine’s Day or a girls night
• ROOT BEER becaus

Christmas Magic Cookie Bars

Christmas magic cookie bars have a buttery graham cracker crust that is topped with a layer of sweetened condensed milk, then oats followed by a combination of different baking chips and m&m’s. You’re going to LOVE them!

A few years ago a friend asked why I never have a magic bars recipe on the blog and I told her, because I have never found one our family loves and I’m not posting unless I think it’s totally delicious!

Fast forward a few years and many recipes and the kids are here to tell you that this Christmas magic bars recipe is literally the only magic bars recipe you need . I love the simplicity of chocolates and grahams but you could always throw in salted peanuts or other nuts, different chips like butterscotch, dark chocolate, peanut butter m&m’s, the possibilities are endless! 

What is it about recipes and 7 layers? Have you ever noticed that? Why aren’t there 8 layers? Or 6? We even have our own collection 7 layer recipes…haha! Our 7 layer pea salad is so dreamy! And of course there is always a 7 layer Mexican dip, which contributed to the 7 layer dip taquitos. But anyway, 7 layers! Most magic cookie bars out there are called 7 layer magic cookie bars.

I don’t know how many layers you would say that these bars have. If you go straight from the ingredients list, then these are 7 layers too. You have the graham cracker crust, then the sweetened condensed milk, the oats and all the baking chips and m&m’s. But I’m not going to call them 7 layer magic bars because I want you to be able to add or omit “layers” to make your own magic.

What Do I Need to Make Magic Cookie Bars?

Believe it or not, you are only 9 ingredients away from magic! Here is what you will need:

• Graham Crackers – you can buy graham cracker crumbs or make your own in the food processor
• Sugar – just regular white granulated sugar
• Butter – helps bind the gc crumbs and sugar to make a crunchy crust, use unsalted, and melt it in the microwave for about 60 seconds
• Sweetened Condensed Milk – we always go with Eagle Brand, this layer binds everything together
• Quick Oats – I love the texture of the quick oats in this recipe but you could use old fashioned if you prefer
• Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips – feel free to swap these for milk chocolate or dark chocolate depending on what you like
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips – swap with butterscotch chips if you want
• White Chocolate Chips – adds sweetness and creaminess
• Holiday m&m’s – you can use any m&m’s you want for any holiday or just for a normal day

The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post. 

More Options for Toppings

Part of what makes these cookie bars magic is layering it up in just the way you want it. If the toppings

The BEST Christmas Cookies for Families – M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Few things say Christmas better than green and red M&Ms! Throw some into these perfectly chewy M&M chocolate chip cookies, and you have festive Christmas cookies that everyone loves!

Every Christmas our kids gather around with Cade and I and we make the most hideously decorated sugar cookies (link to cookies and royal icing) but even when I think they won’t care anymore, they absolutely go nuts if they don’t see me pulling out all the supplies for Christmas cookies.

However, as much as we love those sink-your-teeth-in sugar cookies, like seriously they are the perfect sugar cookie, just ask our readers, everyone needs a quick and easy Christmas cookie for the family party that won’t suck hours of your time. 

And this is it. 

In fact, we haunt the stores every holiday for different colored m&m’s and make them all year round. Hello, Easter Cookies… haha! We can’t stop! Yes, it’s the same recipe, but just trust me, you needed to be reminded that you can, and SHOULD make a Christmas version.

Ingredients for Christmas M&M Cookies

There won’t be any surprises here! You’ll need all the usual chocolate chip cookie ingredients plus some Christmas m&m’s. Here is a brief overview of what you will need:

• Unsalted Butter – using unsalted allows you to control the saltiness of the recipe and make sure it is softened
• Brown Sugar – you want fresh moist brown sugar for optimal texture
• White Sugar – just regular granulated white sugar
• Egg – gives structure to the cookies and helps hold everything together
• Vanilla Extract – adds to the flavor, and use the real stuff…no imitation vanilla
• Flour – make sure to measure the flour correctly so they come out chewy and soft and not dry
• Baking Soda – gives the cookies their rise and fluffiness
• Cornstarch – acts as a tenderizer that helps make the cookies stay thick but soft and chewy
• Salt – balances all the sweetness and enhances flavor
• Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips – use regular size or minis and you can use milk chocolate, dark, white…whatever your favorite is!
• Christmas M&M’s – regular or any holiday M&M’s can be used

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post. You can also save or print the recipe from there.

How to Make M&M Cookies

The steps are simple, just like making regular batch of Read more

Gooey Biscoff Crumb Bars

These Biscoff crumb bars are crazy rich but I can’t resist them! A thick and chewy cookie base topped with a layer of melty Biscoff spread, then roasted marshmallows and a crunchy crumb topping with a Biscoff drizzle…holy heaven!

We’ve been loving making campfire banana boats this summer and on a whim I made the most delicious Biscoff version. Immediately we all obsessed that it was the best banana boat ever but it didn’t stop there. By the next morning I’d barely slept as I kept dreaming of turning them into a dessert bar.

I debated sooooo much on every aspect of these bars but nothing as much as the base. Finally I decided on a snickerdoodle cookie base and I’m telling you, I am trying so hard to be humble but they are amazing. Even my family agrees, best dessert ever.

That slightly salty crumb topping is essential to balance this overly sweet bar and the marshmallow amount is totally up to you. I like a little less while my kids want more goo!

What is Biscoff?

Biscoff is a spread, similar in texture and consistency to peanut butter, made of ground up Biscoff cookies mixed with fat, flour and sugar.

What Flavor is Biscoff?

Biscoff spread and cookies have a warm caramel-y flavor with hints of brown sugar and cinnamon.

Where to Buy Biscoff?

You can find Biscoff at most grocery stores. I’ve seen it at Kroger stores, Walmart, Target, Trader Joe’s, Harmon’s, etc. You’ll find it either by the peanut butter and other nut butters or on the cookie aisle.

When you find it, grab a jar for this recipe and then grab another one and make our Biscoff stuff snickerdoodle cookies. You’ll thank me later!

Ingredients for Biscoff Crumb Bars

Now that we have all those logistics out of the way and you know what you are looking for and where to look for it, here are the other ingredients you will need…

• Butter: should be unsalted and softened so that is whips together with the sugars to be light and fluffy
• Sugar: just regular white granulated sugar
• Brown Sugar: adds richness and flavor
• Vanilla: adds flavor
• Eggs: one egg and an extra yolk will provide a perfect structure for the base of these dessert bars
• Flour: just all-purpose flour
• Salt: enhances all the flavors
• Baking Powder: acts as a leavening agent and gives the bars their rise and fluffiness
• Baking Soda: same purpose as the baking powder
• Cream of Tartar: adds a little tang to the bars that is a snickerdoodle signature
• Cornstarch: keeps the bars chewy but also fluffy
• Biscoff: adds flavor, warmth, and the most delici