No Bake recipes bar cookie recipes are some of my favorite cookie/bar types of desserts, especially this time of year when I’m so busy. I quickly mixed up these up  one afternoon, and my kids told me these were a “home run” (well that was what the boys said). My daughter loved them even though she isn’t a coconut fan. These No Bake Chocolate Peanut Bars call for ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry. These make a great afternoon snack, dessert (with milk) and an easy homemade gift for Christmas or Hanukkah.

When I first saw Callye’s incredible blog, The Adventures of Sweet Sugarbelle, I was in awe. My daughter, Leigh, and I couldnt decide which cookie to make first. Every time she posts, it’s the first thing I post on Pinterest. I look forward to her incredible inspirations weekly, and I truly believe she is one of the sweetest, most humble and most talented cookie decorators out there. I’m so honored to know her, and I’m so excited that she was willing to show a new creation for Snowmen Cookies to my readers at Ingredients, Inc. She will be on the Martha Stewart show on December 12th on the Hallmark Channel so check her out. Take it away Callye, and thank you so much!

Hi, I’m Callye, and I love to decorate cookies. I am here today to show you how to make snowmen Cookies with an easy to find Christmas ornament cutter. These cookies are simple enough for even a beginner.

To make these cookies you will need:

• White piping icing with a #2 and #13 or #16 tip

• White flood icing

• Blue piping icing with a #2 tip

• Blue flood icing

• Black sugar pearls

• Orange twenty-second icing

If you need help with coloring and preparing icing, click HERE.

If you need help with outlining and flooding cookies, click HERE.

Begin by outlining and filling the snowman’s face.

Then, quickly use tweezers to make a face with candy pearls.  Work one cookie at a time so that the  beads will stick in the wet icing.  Let the faces dry for about thirty minutes.  Next outline and fill the blue portion of the hat.

At this point, let the cookie dry for four to five hours.  When the base is dry, use a #13 tip to add accents to the hat and orange twenty-second icing for a nose.

Let the cookies dry completely, preferably overnight.

Show up to your next Christmas party with a plate of these.  You will be amazed at the reaction you get.  It’s one of the most rewarding feelings.

This is the perfect time of year to try a little cookie decorating. If you’d like to know more, please come visit my blog, The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle, where I write about my cookie decorating fun. See you soon!

Need a great dessert or sweet snack to feed a crowd? A friend of mine passed me a version of a recipe which I tweaked to create these Chocolate-Coconut Toffee Bars. These remind me of  a cross between S’mores and Hello Dolly bars, but these are a little less fattening.  I used low-fat graham crackers as the base with a toffee layer topped with coconut, pecans and dark chocolate. They are so easy to make, and the kids loved them (especially for a study break snack).

For Fourth of July weekend, I wanted to share my recipe for Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches from my new cookbook “400 Best Sandwich Recipes: From Classics & Burgers to Wraps & Condiments”. I came up with this recipe last summer while I was working on this book. My three kids were in the kitchen helping me, so I tried to make it as simple as possible. It is perfect to serve this weekend if you are celebrating with friends and family, or anytime this summer. Use your favorite homemade chocolate recipe or store-bought cookie dough.

This recipe is from “400 Best Sandwich Recipes: From Classics & Burgers to Wraps & Condiments” 2011 by Robert Rose Inc. Reprinted with permission and photo credit by Colin Erricson.

Happy Memorial Day! Enjoy a great day off with family or friends. I plan on it.

Hamentashen are triangle fruit cookies served and eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim which falls this year on March 20th for two days. They are recognizable for their three-cornered shape, a symbol of “Hamen”, a villain in the Purim story (who always wore a three cornered hat). The story of Hamen and Purim appears in the Biblical book of Esther. Purim is often celebrated by attending children’s carnival celebrations as well as the giving of food gifts to friends (including Hamentashen) and gifts to charity. The Hamentaschen shape is achieved by folding the sides of a circular piece of dough with a filling of apricot, prune, poppyseed strawberry, blackberry and even chocolate filled in the center. This recipe is wonderful, and kids love making and eating them.

Note: This recipe was given to me from a friend which she found on Allrecipes.

Wow, cookies are in abundance this time of year, and instead of racking my brain trying to create something new to give as holiday gifts, I decided to go back to a tried and true favorite. Dark Chocolate Chip-Peanut Butter Cookies are so incredibly fabulous. This recipe is adapted from a “Cooking Light” recipe that I have made many times. What I love about it is that it is lightened up a bit since it has no butter. Instead, it uses Canola oil, water and egg whites. These cookies come out soft and moist with just a hint of peanut butter. Feel free to substitute semisweet chocolate chips or even mini chocolate chips if you like. These are great to give as gifts to neighbors and teachers as well as to leave out for Santa on Christmas eve.

Holiday cookie baking has begun, and last week I taped some television food segments for NBC 13 “Daytime Alabama”. One will air in December on “holiday food gifts. I couldn’t decide between a cookie and a bark type dessert, so I decided to combine the two in Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookie Bark. This recipe combines scharffenberger chocolate, pecans and peanut butter chips. It’s incredibly easy and fabulous!

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Scharffen Berger.

When I saw this cookie recipe for Candy Cane Gingersnaps, I was wowed. This recipe, as well 149 other creative cookie recipes can be found in the recently released book, “Cookielicious” by Janet Keeler, Food Editor of the St. Petersburg Times. This awesome cookie cookbook is a compilation of reader’s favorites and staff original cookie recipes. What a great holiday gift idea! Chapters include “Anytime Cookies”, “Sharing Cookies”, “Chocolate Cookies”, “Kids Cookies” and “Holiday Cookies” with recipes such as Lemon Raspberry Thumbprints, White Christmas Shortbread, Chocolate Walnut Puffs and more. If you would like the chance to enter to win this giveaway, leave a comment below telling me your favorite holiday cookie recipe. The winner will be drawn this Friday, December 3rd.

My kids are so excited about Thanksgiving this year, and our guest list is growing everyday. I thought I would share a fun cooking activity that the kids love: this Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies recipe. This recipe comes from Pillsbury, and you start with their refrigerated sugar cookie dough. It’s so easy, and your children will have a blast making these. These are also great to take to school to the teachers or share with the class, and they are always a big hit!