Puff pastry baklava bites are delightful, bite-sized treats that offer a modern twist on the traditional Greek dessert, baklava. These miniature pastries are made by filling buttery, flaky puff pastry cups with a sweet honey and nut filling.

About 20 years ago, my brother-in-law introduced me to baklava by way of a Christmas gift. It was his favorite food at the time, so we picked up an enormous tray of baklava and carefully gift-wrapped it for him.

On Christmas Eve, he opened his gift and the joy was palpable. He shared it with us and I loved it from the first bite. Since then, I’ve happily enjoyed baklava at every opportunity.

Baklava with Puff Pastry

My friend Lynne made this baklava while visiting me once upon a time (and I happily devoured the delicious results) but I’ve never so much as tried my hand at making it at home. As you already know, I rarely spend that kind of time on a single recipe. (Not that it never happens, but it’s a rarity for sure.)

The moment I saw Baklava Bites in the Brilliant Bites cookbook, I knew I’d be making them as soon as possible. It’s such a smart idea! Flaky, buttery, puff pastry forms the shell for an irresistible filling of roasted nuts, honey, and warm spices.

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The satisfying crunch of Nutter Butter cookies in creamy homemade ice cream makes this Nutter Butter Ice Cream positively irresistible.

Nutter Butter Ice Cream

When I first started playing with this recipe, I made it with a peanut butter ice cream base. It was good, but I didn’t love it. I wanted the cookies to stand out, and they were kind of just in there.

So, I switched it up to a vanilla base and oh, my gosh, was I sold! Slightly crunchy and chewy cookie pieces are mixed into that creamy frozen ice cream to really capture the essence of this cookie.

Cookie Ice Cream

I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream. Listen, my love of this tasty treat goes back more years than my brain really wants to admit. (My brother is quick to remind me that I turned 40 twice, and years before him.)

But, there’s something about the classic combination of cookies and ice cream that simply can’t be topped. I should know. I’ve made more than a few different varieties, even if I limit the results to peanut butter cookie ice cream flavors.

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Freshly brewed espresso is poured over creamy vanilla ice cream to create Affogato, an Italian dessert that is a marriage made in flavor heaven.

Affogato

As a bona fide, lifelong lover of homemade ice cream, Affogato is an absolute dream come true. It’s the perfect blend of hot and cold, as the warm espresso meets cool ice cream.

Because the ingredients are not mixed or blended, you end up with a wonderful range of colors, textures, flavors, and temperatures in this recipe. Eating it is such a treat, because each bite is a slightly different experience.

What is an Affogato?

If you’re wondering “What is an affogato?”, it’s really quite simple. Affogato is simply a shot of espresso poured of a scoop of gelato or ice cream. That’s it. No stirring required, just start eating.

The hot and bitter espresso is cooled and sweetened by the ice cream, while the freezing cold ice cream is softened and warmed by the espresso. Together, they become something more, something magical.

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Designed to mimic store-bought varieties of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, this flavor captures the timeless combination of refreshingly cool mint and indulgent chocolate chunks with that vivid green hue we all know and love.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I spent a good bit of time trying to capture the exact experience of store-bought varieties with this mint chocolate chip ice cream recipe. I am happy to report that this version absolutely nails it.

The thin chocolate drizzle creates flakes of chocolate throughout the ice cream, similar to the melt-in-your-mouth classic. You can substitute mini chocolate chips, but the texture will be different as they do not melt the same way.

If you’re looking for an even more minty flavor that uses fresh mint, I recommend playing with this Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream. It reminds me of a dressed-up version of the Andes mints that come with the check at a certain restaurant.

Mint Chocolate Chip

With over 70 ice cream recipes here to choose from, there’s sure to be an ice cream for everyone! If you’re new to making ice cream, the best and easiest vanilla ice cream is a great place to start.

These are my favorite inexpensive containers for storing ice cream. They’re perfect for gifting (who doesn’t love homemade ice cream?) storage, re-using, etc. I write the flavors on the lids with a sharpie and it washes off with dish soap.

I have more ice cream scoops than I can keep track of at this point and I definitely play favorites. This ice cream scoop does the best job ever of cutting through firm ice cream and still delivers a pretty scoop. It gets bonus points for being one of the least expensive scoops I own

Colorful, fruity cereal meets the smooth and dreamy world of ice cream in this Fruity Pebbles Ice Cream. Every scoop is loaded with the iconic rainbow crunch of a Saturday morning spent watching cartoons.

Fruity Pebbles Ice Cream

I made this ice cream a couple of different times in an attempt to get both the flavor and the texture I wanted. Let me just admit that the first attempt barely hit the “edible” mark.

I’m happy to tell you that the final version of this recipe is a solid two-thumbs-up! It is bright and flavorful ice cream with hints of fruity pebbles flavor in the creamy refreshing ice cream.

With over 70 ice cream recipes here to choose from, there’s sure to be an ice cream for everyone! If you’re new to making ice cream, the best and easiest vanilla ice cream is a great place to start.

These are my favorite inexpensive containers for storing ice cream. They’re perfect for gifting (who doesn’t love homemade ice cream?) storage, re-using, etc. I write the flavors on the lids with a sharpie and it washes off with dish soap.

I have more ice cream scoops than I can keep track of at this point and I definitely play favorites. This ice cream scoop does the best job ever of cutting through firm ice cream and still delivers a pretty scoop. It gets bonus points for being one of the least expensive scoops I own as well.

Don’t miss our Ice Cream Maker Review for all the information you need to find the BEST Ice Cream Maker for your needs! Spoiler alert – our top-rated machine under $50 just might surprise you. It sure surprised me!

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