Oreo Truffles

I wish I could take credit for coming up with this recipe, but Oreo truffles are not my personal creation. I just love eating them, and they're so easy to make.  Honestly, up until a few years ago, I'd never tasted them. But these happen to be a coworker's specialty, and I was quickly hooked.

I'll take you through the basic step-by-step of making these, with a couple tips I've found that make it a little easier. The original recipe comes from Kraft Recipes.

Decadent Flourless Chocolate Cake from Pampered Chef

I really need to stop buying cookbooks that involve amazing dessert recipes. Really. It's becoming an addiction.

A couple months ago, I acquired a Pampered Chef recipe book that's nothing but chocolate. In fact, it's actually called Chocolate. And it has an unbelievable recipe for a flourless chocolate cake that was described by several people as "eating chocolate frosting," or just "OMG!"

For finishing you can add chopped pistachios around the outside edge and chocolate curls to the top. But I didn't. It was still awesome.

I really splurged a bit on the chocolate for this one.

Chocolate Stout Cake from Smitten Kitchen

I'd had my eye on a couple recipes for a chocolate stout cake for a while.  I wanted to make something like this for St. Patrick's Day, but the timing has never been right.  But this year, we ended up celebrating my cousin's birthday on St. Patrick's Day, so I whipped up this decadent treat for the occasion.

After perusing the different recipes I'd uncovered over the past couple years, I settled on the version from Smitten Kitchen.  From the reactions of everyone involved in tasting this cake, I think it's a keeper.

My husband particularly liked the ganache.

Almond Joyfuls

I had wanted to play around with a coconut and almond flavored recipe for a while, since I still had a lot of toasted coconut saved up from the Coconut Chick Cupcakes I made last April (don't worry, it was stored in an airtight container!).  And they really do taste like Almond Joy candy bars!

Basically all I did was take the Coconut Macaroons recipe from The Cookie & Biscuit Bible and change up a few minor things, like using toasted coconut instead of unsweetened coconut flakes, and substituting almond extract for vanilla.

Oh, and adding the chocolate, of course.

Chocolate Devil's Food Cupcakes (Cupcake of the Month Series #3)

We celebrated my cousin's birthday this weekend, and it was the perfect occasion to make the chocolate devil's food cupcakes from my Martha Stewart Cupcakes calendar.

Mine ended up looking nothing like the picture on the calendar or the recipe card.  This is either because my ganache frosting hadn't thickened enough by the time I had to head out for the party, or because the frosting in the picture is actually a chocolate buttercream.

Either way it was fantastically delicious, and I have twelve (plus the extra ganache) leftover in my freezer.

Peanut Butter Cups (The 7th Sweet of Christmas)

My family isn't going to get to enjoy the 7th sweet of Christmas, because this particular sweet was made to brighten the day of a very good friend of mine who is currently serving our country in Afghanistan.  My homemade peanut butter cups have been a favorite treat of his since he first tasted them back when we were in seventh grade.

My understanding is that the peanut butter cups arrived at his base overseas rather quickly, given the time of year, and have been sampled by all and sundry with big thumbs up all around.

I intended to brighten my friend's holiday, of course, but I'm glad some of the other servicemen and women who are stationed with him were also able to get some cheer from my festive box-o-goodies.

First, I know you're going to say that these look nothing like peanut butter cups.  And you're right.  They should probably be called peanut butter bars.  But they taste almost exactly like Reese's peanut butter cups, so you'll forgive the fact that they are not in "cup" form.

Chocolate Whiskey Cookies (The 3rd Sweet of Christmas)

I have to say this might be my favorite Christmas cookie out of all the Christmas cookies my family makes.  It's an old family recipe; I'm not exactly sure where it originated, but my Nana Savona's recipe box seems to be the origins of the delightful and slightly naughty chocolate whiskey cookies.

I will warn you ahead of time that you should not attempt to make these cookies unless you have at least one helper because they have to be frosted while they're still warm from the oven.  And you're going to have 5 to 6 trays, 20 cookies to a tray.  So expect to frost between 100 and 120 cookies.  Also be forewarned that you won't end up with 100 to 120 cookies at the end of the baking day - because you'll be "forced" to quality test at least one cookie from each batch.