M is for Mars Bar Krispies

This is one of those recipes that is so simple you almost don't want to tell people about it. It takes no time to make and people go insane for it. This is right up there with my sea-salted caramel... yes, it's that good.

In a big pot, melt:

4 Mars Bars broken up

1/2 cup butter

Stir in:

2 cups Rice Krispies

Pour into a greased 8" square pan and put in the fridge to harden.

For the topping - melt 4 broken up Aero bars and spread evenly on top.

Voila! An easy dessert for any potluck, dinner party, etc... (trust me, next time your strapped for time you'll be thanking me for this recipe).

G is for Ginger-Date Loaf

My boyfriend loves ginger and dates so when I stumbled across a version of this recipe I knew I had to try it myself. To me this loaf tastes like a ginger snap cookie in bread form with a few dates throughout (even though I added a lots of dates).

1 cup coarsely chopped pitted dates

1 cup boiling water

1 tsp baking soda

2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened

1 egg

1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

In a bowl combine the dates, baking soda and boiling water - let cool to room temperature.

In a bowl whisk together the flour, ginger, baking powder and salt -set aside.

Cream together the sugar and butter until fluffy and pale. Add the egg. Then stir in the date mixture, crystallized ginger and yogurt until combined (don't worry if it looks a little curdled - its normal). Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour into a 9x5 greased loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan then transfer to a rack.

There is an option to glaze this loaf if you want it to be more of a tea time sweet treat. (My boyfriend wanted to eat this for breakfast so I decided against the glaze). Stir together 1/2 cup icing sugar and 2 tbsp water until smooth (you want it to be thin enough to drizzle) - drizzle over the loaf and top with 3 tbsp chopped crystallized ginger.

C is for Chocolate Cutouts

I do not think there are enough recipes out there that involve cookie cutters. As a baker I have lots of cookie cutters in a variety of designs and I love them all. Recently I was staring at my tin of alphabet/number cutters and I realized that I don't think I have ever used the number ones. Which promptly led to these cookies as I decided my numbers needed some loving.

Number cookies also have the additional bonus of making everyone in my office sing the Sesame Street number song all day long!

In a bowl combine and set aside:

1.5 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp dutch cocoa

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

In a mixer beat until fluffy:

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter

1.5 cups icing sugar

Add the following to your butter/sugar mix:

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat your wet ingredients until combine, slowly add your flour mixture - mix until everything is just blended. Wrap dough in cling wrap and chill in the fridge for minimum 1 hour.

After the dough has firmed up (I usually like to wait at least 90 minutes) you want to roll it out between two pieces of parchment (or you can use 2 silpats) until the dough is about 1/4" thick. Then put your rolled out dough in the freezer for another 15 minutes. Once your dough is firm you can cut out your shapes (numbers, letters, etc) and place on a silpat on a baking sheet. At this point if you are going to use sprinkles you want to decorate your cookies then put the cut-out, decorated cookies back in the freezer for another 15 minutes (you put the cookies back in the freezer before you put them in the oven to help them keep their shape during the cooking process).

I was not in the mood to make icing last night which is why I only made plain cookies and sprinkled versions. But there is always the option to cover these types of cookies with royal icing (one of my favs)...