Want a dessert ready in 5 minutes or less — with the caveat that you have a microwave — then this is it. Nutella Mug Cake! It takes 3 minute to whip together and about 2 minutes to microwave. The part that might take you the longest is finding a couple of pretty mugs (make sure they are microwave safe) and to dig through your pantry for the rest of the ingredients. Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream would make this dreamy. Minimum effort, more than maximum return!
It’s a cookie in bar form! Not brownie but a blondie! In essence, you can use the exact same recipe to make cookies, but I was in the mood to make bars, so here we are. These are easy to make, flavorful and easily substitutable — in other words, don’t like dried cranberries or pistachios or white chocolate, swap out for raisins, walnuts and semi-sweet chips. Lots of options!
Here is my annual Cake Day cake. I mention this every year, but I don’t make cakes all that often — I’m not very good at decorating / frosting, and even more so in the days of a global pandemic, making cupcakes as not to share food is better anyway. That said, one day out of the year, I do make a cake, so this year is no different. I love the combination of coconut and chocolate so this celebratory has both cake types and frosting types, in addition to garnet-colored sugar flowers as they are the January birthstone color. Here’s to being 50, I guess!