Be an Encourager: Chocolate-Dipped 7-Layer Cookies on a Stick

I’m so happy to be working with Land O’Lakes, Inc. again this year. Yay, butter! Not only do I love butter, but I’m loving Land O’Lakes, Inc.’s focus on their new tagline: Add a Little Good™.


This got me thinking about all of the wonderful people in my life and how they do things, big and small, to make others happy. Yes, we can pay for the person behind us in the line at Starbucks...or put change in an expired parking meter, but there are ways to spread cheer and goodness without spending a penny.

Be an encourager. My Aunt Janice is my role model in this. I’m naturally cautious, a worrier, prone to see what could go wrong in any situation. Not Aunt Janice. She’s the best cheerleader. Always with something positive to say, always with interested in your latest endeavor, always in your corner. 

You know what? Words of encouragement can give someone the confidence to pursue dreams…to step outside of a comfort zone…to write a cookie book! It’s true. I need to do more of it.


In honor of Aunt Janice, I’m making 7-Layer Cookies…on a stick…dipped in chocolate. 

There’s a funny story that when I was a little girl, my Uncle Mike and Aunt Janice came to visit. We went to the beach and my mom packed 7-layer cookies. On the way home, I asked for another cookie. My mom said no, and I piped up with, “but Aunt Janice has eaten THREE!” Ha! No wonder she’s my favorite.



You might know 7-layer cookies as Hello Dollies or Magic Bars. They are a buttery graham cracker layer…


...topped with coconut…


…chocolate chips…


…butterscotch chips…


…sweetened condensed milk…


...and topped off with pecans.


Once they’re baked and cooled, you’ll insert a Popsicle stick that’s been dipped in chocolate and freeze them for a few minutes. Don’t worry if they start to crack when inserting the stick. They can easily be smooshed (technical term) back together.



Once set, you’ll dip in chocolate. It’s a wonderful thing.

My mom always served 7-layer cookies cold and these are best served cold as well.

Aunt Janice, I encourage you to eat as many of these as you like.



Chocolate-Dipped 7-Layer Cookies on a Stick
{makes 12}

1/2 cup Land O Lakes® Butter, melted
1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup finely chopped pecans
10 ounces dipping chocolate

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 11 x 7” pan. Line with foil. Grease the foil.

Stir the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs together. Press into the pan. Layer on the coconut, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. Pour the sweetened condensed milk on top. Sprinkle on the pecans and lightly press.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Use the foil to remove from the pan onto a cutting board.

Use a bench scraper or a large knife to cut into 12 squares, slicing off the rounded ends if necessary. Place on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.

Place 1/4 of the dipping chocolate in a bowl and melt as directed on the package. Dip a wooden food-safe Popsicle stick in the chocolate, then into the center of each square. Freeze the squares for 5 minutes.

Melt the remaining dipping chocolate in another bowl. Before dipping, shake off any excess pecans. Dip the cookies into the melted chocolate. Place on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet in the refrigerator. Let set for at least 30 minutes. Serve cold.

Chocolate Malt Texas Sheet Cake

You have important work to do this week. Yes, in the midst of end-of-the-school-year parties, making teacher gifts, planning summer vacation...you're going to make this cake. You are.
(Really though, make this cake.)


I was literally walking down the peanut butter aisle in the grocery store when the idea for this version of a Texas sheet cake came to me. Why? I have no idea. I do know that I'll be walking down that aisle more often, hoping for more divine cake intervention.


Texas sheet cake is traditionally a moist chocolate cake with a chocolate pecan icing. This one, however, is a CHOCOLATE MALT Texas sheet cake. Both the cake and the icing are flavored with malt powder.


Instead of pecans, the icing is topped with Whoppers.
[Note: do NOT open the Whoppers before making the cake...unless you want to have to run to the store for more Whoppers because you've inadvertently eaten the entire container. *ahem*]


There's something so nostalgic about malt. Whenever I have a chocolate malt or malt-flavored anything, I'm transported to the 1950's.

Copyright © 1978 Paramount Pictures Corp. Credit: © 1978 Paramount Pictures / Courtesy: Pyxurz.*

I blame the movie Grease for these malt associations... "to you from me, Pinky Lee!"  Can we please make malt shops a thing again?



The cake is super moist and the icing is silky and shiny. Cut it in big pieces. Have two. Maybe with a chocolate malt.


Chocolate Malt Texas Sheet Cake
{adapted from Ree's Chocolate Sheet Cake, make one 18"x12" cake}

for the cake:
2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup malted milk powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup salted butter
4 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
1 cup boiling water

for the icing:
14 TBSP salted butter
1/3 cup malt ed milk powder
4 heaping TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
6 TBSP milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups roughly chopped Whoppers

Preheat oven to 350.


In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, malt powder, and salt together. Set aside.


In a large measuring cup, whisk the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and baking soda together. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Once melted, stir in the cocoa powder. Pour in the boiling water and stir together for a minute. Remove from heat.

Stir the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture until incorporated. Stir in the buttermilk mixture. Continue stirring until smooth. Pour into an ungreased 18"x12" half sheet pan. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the icing. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the malt and cocoa powder until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar, stirring over low heat until smooth and most of the lumps from the sugar have dissolved. Keep warm while the cake bakes.



Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven, pour the icing over the cake as evenly as possible. Let the cake cool for about 20 minutes, then scatter the Whoppers over the top, pressing in slightly. Cool the cake in the pan, then cut into large pieces for serving.



Chocolate Malt Texas Sheet Cake..."to you from me, Pinky Lee!"

Chocolate Cheesecake-Filled Strawberries

Go ahead and turn on your printer. You're going to want this recipe.


Not only are these Chocolate Cheesecake-Filled Strawberries habit-forming, fantastic, stupendous...they're also something you need in your arsenal of recipes for bridal showers, brunches, dinner parties, and well, random Tuesdays.

 *this post is sponsored by Imperial Sugar

There's no baking here. You'll spend about 40 minutes making the filling and prepping the strawberries. Then, they spend a little time in the fridge setting up, but your work is finished.


[Note: yeah, I have about 237 pictures of these guys; they're just that pretty.]
I used a star tip for piping the cheesecake filling. The first time I made them, though, just to test the recipe, we literally spooned the cheesecake into and onto every strawberry we could get our hands on. Not fancy, but still delicious.


Oh, for transporting...place two strawberries in each cavity of a cupcake carrier or a muffin tin. If you're traveling more than a few minutes, you'll want to keep them chilled.


I'm sharing the recipe for these over on Imperial Sugar today.
Go ahead and print it, I promise it's going to be one of your go-to recipes.

Cookbook Crush: March 2016 + Neiman Marcus CAKE!

We're new Costco members. That explains the 7 pounds of Nutella in my pantry. (That's what I'm telling myself anyway.)


Well, of course we must go up and down every aisle of Costco on each visit now...wouldn't want to miss a deal on something we didn't know we needed. That's when I spied The United Tastes of Texas by Jessica Dupuy. I stopped in my tracks...pretty much knowing it had to be mine. I didn't want to be hasty, though, so I opened to a random page. Yep. Sealed the deal. I needed it.


Texas is a BIG place. Did you know? We cook more than steak and tacos around here, and this book covers every corner of the state. I'm IN LOVE with this book. LOVE.

So far, I've made Amigo Pie (like a Tamale Pie, yum), Banana Pudding (hello, comfort food), King Ranch Chicken (and this recipe doesn't call for any condensed soup mixes...it's FABULOUS), and Neiman Marcus Cake.


(When Spike isn't napping, he likes to supervise what's happening in the kitchen.)

Now, I'd heard of the Neiman Marcus cookies, I've even made them on the blog, but cake?!? This, I needed to try.


The cake is two layers, chocolate and cream cheese. The chocolate layer rises up around the edges creating a crust of sorts that is perfection. The chocolate cake itself looks like a brownie, but it's not. It's lighter and fluffy. The cream cheese layer is rich, but not too thick, like Goldilocks would say, "just right."

In the book, the recipe is baked in a 9 x 13" pan. I decided to make them in 9" round pans, making 2 cakes. Since I was giving one away, I baked them in these foil take-away pans, which I love. They're high-sided, so make sure you bake them in a 9" pan with tall sides, at least 3 inches.




Neiman Marcus Cake
{adapted from The United Tastes of Texas, makes two 9" round cakes}

2 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, divided
1/2 cup milk
3 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 9" round cake pans with tall sides. Stir the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.

In a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and whisk in the granulated sugar. Whisk in 2 of the eggs, one at a time, until blended. Whisk in the milk and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Whisk the flour mixture into the chocolate in three additions.


Divide evenly between the two pans.

Beat the cream cheese and remaining vanilla until smooth. On low speed, beat in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until combined. Beat in the remaining 2 eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.


Pour the mixture evenly over the chocolate batter, gently spreading with an offset spatula.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool in the pans on a wire rack.

*this post contains affiliate links, thank you! 

The United Tastes of Texas and Neiman Marcus Cake...you can't go wrong with either!

Gingersnap Bark

You know how you'll try a new recipe over the holidays and think, "that was nice," and then never make it again? This is NOT one of those recipes. I can guarantee you that this gingersnap bark will be in our family's Christmas treat sweets rotation for years to come.


*recipe sponsored by and created for Imperial Sugar. 


This is a twist on the traditional chocolate bark. First, you'll use two types of chocolate. There's more...


The bottom layer is not just chocolate. It's bittersweet chocolate that is chock full of goodies. One: brown sugar-toasted crisp rice cereal. Two: gingersnap cookie chunks.


The top layer is white chocolate, with whole gingersnaps pressed right into the top.


Oh yeah, there's a bittersweet chocolate drizzle. I love drizzle.

Recipe? You bet! Hop on over to Imperial Sugar; I'm sharing it there.

I think this gingersnap bark will start making an appearance as one of your yearly holiday treats, too!

Chocolate Ginger Cookies

We are now in the season of "all ginger, all the time" around here. December may as well be called Ginguary.

*this post is sponsored by Wholesome! Read down for a fabulous giveaway!



I love, love, love and adore the combination of ginger and chocolate. Don't you? Well, these soft, puffy chocolate ginger cookies are the best of both worlds. Richly chocolate, heavily spiced...heaven.


Once you bite into the cookie, you'll find melty chocolate and bits of crystallized ginger. Crystallized ginger is just SO pretty...you can find it at the grocery store. I got mine at Trader Joe's.


I definitely think Santa would approve of these being on his cookie plate! ;)


Chocolate Ginger Cookies
{makes about 18 cookies}

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup Wholesome!™ Organic Coconut Palm Sugar
1/4 cup Wholesome!™ Organic Light Corn Syrup
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
granulated sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 325. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate chips together over low heat until melted. Remove from heat and let cool.

Whisk the flour, cocoa, spices, baking powder, and salt together. In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the coconut sugar, corn syrup, eggs, and vanilla until well combined. Beat in the chocolate mixture. On low speed, add in the flour mixture in two additions, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in the chips and crystallized ginger.

Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop* to make balls of the dough. If desired, roll in granulated sugar. Place onto the prepared sheets. Bake for 12 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. (Place the dough back in the refrigerator between batches.)

*amazon affiliate link, thank you. 



Now for a giveaway!!!
Wholesome!™ has an AMAZING giveaway for one of you this Christmas season.  Here's a little hint of what you might win...


I told you it was fabulous!!!

To enter and to read the details, click over to the Wholesome!™ site! Good luck!!!