Here are some of my favorite desserts to make this time of year. If you decide to make something from here, let me know!

Fluffy Brownie Cake

I like to make this when I don’t have a lot of time, but I need a dessert and I want people to try something they’ve never had. Because I invented this you have a lot of flexibility to make it your own with different variations.

INGREDIENTS
2x boxes brownie mix
1 tub fluff
2 jar peanut butter
1 bag chocolate chips
1 kitchen torch

Make the boxed brownies in two different brownie pans or cake pans.
Undercook the brownies by about 3 mins, trust me.
When the brownies have cooled a little, take them out of the pans and put one on a plate.
Spread peanut butter on the top of one brownie.
Spread Fluff on top of the peanut butter. Do not torch.
Spread chocolate chips on the Fluff.
Place the second brownie on top of the Fluff.
Spread Fluff on top of THAT brownie.
Torch that Fluff on top.
This is how I make it, but if you don’t like peanut butter, you can use something else or not.

Chaos Trifle (or American Trifle)

This is another fast dessert your friends won’t have seen before unless they’ve been to my house. It’s an even more difficult recipe because I make it different every time. Basically you’re going to pick and choose which ingredients below you want to combine in a big glass bowl (it doesn’t have to be glass if you don’t have a big glass bowl) with cool whip, vanilla pudding, and chocolate pudding, and Nilla wafers.

INGREDIENTS
1 box twinkies
1 box Nilla wafers
1 box Swiss Cake Rolls or Yodels or the same
1 box vanilla instant pudding (or find a recipe to make your own)
1 box chocolate instant pudding (or find a recipe to make your own)
1 container strawberries or raspberries
1 big tub cool whip
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag white chocolate chips

Make the puddings and set aside.
Cut up the stuff you’re going to put in your chaos trifle
Put a little bit of each ingredient into the bowl a spoonful at a time.
It’ll naturally layer itself and you’ll get a chaotic trifle.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Chocolate Cookie Swirls

Everyone’s had a chocolate chip cookie, but some people haven’t had these zebra looking cookies that have chocolate swirls.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar  
½ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
Some cocoa powder
1 bag dark chocolate chips

Mix the drys.
Mix the wets.
Combine the wets and drys.
Split dough in half.
Add... some cocoa powder to one half of the dough.
More.
Mix that dough together.
Put the two dough halves together.
Put in chocolate chips.
Combine loosely.
Refrigerate or freeze dough for some amount of time if you want to, but you don’t need to.
Bake ~16 minutes at 325.

SERENA'S CHEATING CHOCOLATE CAKE

(Recipe originally published here.)“New York caterer, Serena Bass, says this cake takes less time to make than it does to heat the oven to bake it so she calls it a cheating cake. She describes it as damp, dark and toothsome.” I’ve made some adjustments to the recipe so my version is below.

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 + 3/4 cups flour
1 + 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 + 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp table salt
1 cup buttermilk (Or 1 cup of milk with a splash of white vinegar in the measuring cup)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil plus extra for greasing tin
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 355°.
Lightly grease base and sides of two 9 inch cake tins with oil and line with baking paper.
Into a large bowl sift cocoa, sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and combine.
In a separate bowl place buttermilk, eggs, oil and vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir till half combined.
Pour in water and whisk till combined and batter is smooth.
Immediately pour batter into prepared tins and place into preheated oven for 40ish minutes or till cake skewer when inserted comes out clean.
Remove cake from oven and cool completely. Remove from tin and then remove baking paper.

When they’re cool, frost the cake however you want. It literally does not matter!

Swedish Apple Pie

This is the apple pie I grew up eating and I still prefer it to the apple pie you grew up eating. When I make it, I usually make two because I like having one for breakfast.

INGREDIENTS (Makes 2 pies)
Cut up and peel 10-12 pie apples into 2 pie plates.
Mix fist of sugar and a fist of cinnamon and sprinkle onto apples in pie plate.
Mix 2 cups flour with 2 cups sugar.
Mix sugar and flour with 3 sticks of butter and 2 egg.
Spread mixture evenly on top of apples.
Cook until golden brown (45-65 minutes at 350).

Joy’s Strawberry Whiskey Punch

This is a good party punch. Refreshing and pleasing and very drinkable.

INGREDIENTS
1 bottle prosecco or champagne
4 oz. rye whiskey
2 oz. fresh lemon juice
6 oz. strawberry syrup*
1 cup quartered strawberries for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a large punch bowl. Add a large chunk of ice and circulate punch over ice chunk to chill.

Serves 8-10

*To make strawberry syrup, cut 1 cup strawberries into quarters and set aside. In a saucepan, combine 1 cup granulated sugar with 1 cup water. Heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and add strawberries. Mash strawberries with a potato masher and stir until well incorporated in syrup. Let cool completely then strain out strawberries with a fine mesh strainer. The syrup may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Jinx Removing Cocktail

Here’s a cocktail portion of the above punch in case you don’t have a punch bowl. It’s named after a Jawbreaker song and is about the favorite recipe I made for our bar at Earnest Drinks. It comes back on the menu now and then.

2 oz rye
0.75 oz lemon juice
1 oz cherry syrup
Seltzer or Prosecco

In a pint glass, pour rye, lemon, cherry, stir.
Fill with ice, fill glass with seltzer or Prosecco.