A Family Favorite Cookie!

Once you taste these full flavored brown butter chocolate chip cookies you may not look at a plain old chocolate chip cookie the same. They are a supremely delicious upgrade on a timeless classic.

They have a gourmet flavor, they're always company worthy, and it's a treat everyone can agree on. And once you learn the simple art of browning butter they are a breeze to make.

This is one of those repeat recipes to make time and time again for any special occasion, and I'd dare say it's even worthy of a spot in your recipe book. Each and every bite is to be loved and savored!

Decadent Carmelitas

If you like buttery oatmeal cookies, dark chocolate, and sweet caramel you will be smitten with these over-the-top treats!

It's an indulgent three desserts in one. So in other words you'll find them to be completely irresistible.

They are soft and chewy thanks to that oaty cookie base, then you'll find some fudgy chocolate goodness in the center, and they're highlighted with velvety creaminess thanks to that caramel candy.

Let the baking season begin early with these tempting Carmelitas cookie bars!

Over the years these have been a super popular recipe with readers and they're a personal favorite. Everywhere I take these, people love them, no one can resist!

Mini Cheesecakes

I've made these mini cheesecakes countless times; they really are one of my all-time favorite desserts!

They have the most heavenly flavor, the perfect amount of sweetness, a luscious texture, and the ways to finish with a final topping are endless. Plus this individual cupcake serving size is just so fun!

Let's not forget to mention they are actually super easy to make! No special water bath is required and clean up is a breeze since they are baked in cupcake liners.

After one taste of these, you'll understand why they are so popular. There's just so much to love about these!

They really are the perfect thing to make for any get-together or celebration, 365 days of the year. And the recipe can be doubled to make 24 for a larger crowd if you need more.

7 More Mini Cheesecake Recipes to Try

• Black Forest Mini Cheesecakes
• Caramel Apple Mini Cheesecakes (with Streusel Topping)
• Funfetti Mini Cheesecakes
• Nutella Mini Cheesecakes
• Pumpkin Mini Cheesecakes (with Salted Caramel Sauce)
• Raspberry Swirled Mini Cheesecakes
• Strawberry Lemonade Mini Cheesecakes

Copycat Auntie Anne's Pretzel Recipe

Mall pretzels that you can now enjoy in the comfort of your home for a fraction of the price with countless dipping sauce option! They are the perfect party food or snack to impress guests with and they really are easier to make than you'd think.

Making homemade pretzels is a similar process to making a bread or rolling dough, but instead you shape it into a pretzel versus a loaf or roll. The pretzel shaping is actually fun once you get the hang of it.

These homemade soft pretzels are one of those crave-worthy foods that may take a bit of time and some patience, but the end result is so worth it. It's a great recipe for a weekend "learn how to" baking project then from there it may become a monthly tradition!

The Easiest Caramel Recipe Ever!

Oh the things you can make in the microwave! Honestly though, I don't know if it gets much better than this one, caramel made in the microwave. I got this recipe from my mother-in-law and it is one of my favorite recipes ever!

This is caramel made easy and they taste completely perfect. She's used this recipe for about 30 years and she said everyone she gives the recipe to absolutely loves it and I can see why.

She also said it's so easy that her kids always used to make it when they were younger (adult supervision required here though people, this bowl gets HOT!). And now my kids love to help me make it, and we've been using the recipe for 4 years.

I've added a few minor changes to the recipe, like adding some vanilla and adding Maldon sea salt, add them if you've got them otherwise feel free to leave them out.

Try a batch this weekend, you'll be amazed!

Post originally shared Apr. 2014.

Chocolate Dipped Oranges

I've already made these three times in the last three weeks, my family absolutely loves these and I love that they are quick treat!

Believe it or not my mom who is crazy about dark chocolate actually liked the white chocolate ones better so be sure that you try both versions at one point or another.

One thing I love about these is that the chocolate ones taste like those chocolate oranges you buy during the holidays - but so much better. And the white ones taste like a an orange creamsicle - but again, even better.

I mean once you start popping these things it's hard to stop. But they are like 66% fruit so that makes them about 66% healthy right :)?

Really though these are a better choice than the towers of cookies everywhere. But don't turn down the cookies this time of year, it happens once a year so enjoy the towers of cookies everywhere!

Try these soon, while the best mandarins are in season!

Tips for This Recipe

One important thing to note is that these should be served right away, as I listed in the recipe. The reason being is because the oranges may start to dry out - or maybe that's just me because I'm in a dry climate.

But I think that's pretty common for citrus in general in any climate.

You can lightly brush the un-dipped portion with a little water but it's a tedious task so I recommend that you just dip in chocolate about 10 minutes before you plan on serving them.

More Chocolate Dipped Recipes You'll Love!

• White Chocolate Dipped Ginger Cookies
• White Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Chocolate Cookies
• Chocolate Dipped Cranberry Cookies
• Chocolate Dipped Toffee Pecan Shortbread Cookies

There's just something about these though. The coconut, the salted caramel, the melt-in-your-mouth buttery goodness. These cookies speak to me. In other words someone please hide them!

I just had to quickly take most of them to neighbors because I knew I couldn't resist these ones (then I later heard from my neighbor that she hid them away for herself lol. She had the same problem as me).

There are a few extra steps with these since they need to be rolled, indented and filled but those couple of extra steps make them an over-the-top, worthy of any holiday, kind of cookie. To keep them things from getting too messy, I like to use one hand for rolling in the egg, then the other for rolling in the coconut - kind of like when you bread chicken.

Another thing that helps is to press the coconut onto the cookie to help it adhere, if you just roll it through the coconut it doesn't stick all that well. And I chose to just chill these cookies directly on the baking sheets, but you can definitely chill them on plates or in containers if you don't have room for two sheet pans in your fridge.

Then just transfer them to the baking pans after they've chilled and bake as directed.

Obviously a highlight of the cookies is the course sea salt. I've got salt on my mind lately since last week I had the opportunity to attend Morton Salt's Next Door Chef event in New Orleans along with several other guests. It was a fun dinner experience where they converted someones home into an actual pop-up restaurant for a day.

Below is a few sneak pictures of the event. I'll be sharing more in the coming months so be sure to keep a look out for more. I think I might even have to share that Budino recipe!

Of course,  my favorite part of the meal was the Coconut Caramel Budino with Grilled Mangos and Morton Kosher Salt which was served for dessert. It was dreamy so I knew I needed to use that combination again to make something for the holidays, and that's how these cookies came about.

Acclaimed chef Nina Compton coached a home cook and then this cook prepared an incredible meal for us in which different types of Morton salt were used. At the event we tried a number of inspiring dishes where we could taste how different types of salt transformed each dish, from appetizer and drinks, to side dish, to the main dish and then onto dessert.

More salted caramel recipes you'll love

• Salted Caramel Sauce (with Step by Step Pictures)
• Microwave Caramels
• Salted Caramel Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

This post was sponsored by Morton Salt. All opinions are 100% my own.

The Perfect Pecan Pie Recipe!

From what historians have found apparently the pie goes way back to 1800's with the earliest dated recipe showing 1886 (but some would say earlier than that). So this humble pie has some history and it's here to stay.

And for good reason! This pie is brimming with nutty flavor, it's deliciously buttery and this sweet creamy filling just makes your tastebuds sing!

After just one bite you'll agree, it's a pie that should be on the Thanksgiving menu every year!

Ingredients You'll Need for This Recipe

• All-purpose flour
• Sugar
• Sea salt
• Unsalted butter
• Pecans
• Brown sugar
• Cinnamon
• Light corn syrup
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract

How to Make Pecan Pie

• Prepare pie crust then blind bake it (so it's not soggy after adding wet filling).
• For the filling: sprinkle 1 cup chopped pecans into pie crust, then sprinkle in 1 cup whole pecans.
• In a mixing bowl whisk together brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.
• Mix in butter, corn syrup, eggs and vanilla extract (there should be no streaks of egg).
• Pour mixture evenly over pecan layer in crust.
• Transfer pie to a baking sheet. Bake in lower portion of the oven on baking sheet until set.

I hope you do get a chance to try this pie this season, this is my idea of the best pecan pie!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Let the countdown begin, I can't wait for all the goodness to come!

More Pie Recipes You'll Love!

• Easy Chocolate Mousse Pie
• Perfect Pumpkin Pie
• French Silk Pie {AKA Chocolate Lovers Dream Pie}

I made mine with only one layer of bananas over the pastry cream layer and I decided they definitely needed a second one underneath (after I'd already piped mine out.

Really I just under-estimated how much pastry cream I actually had I wanted another layer but I was way off) so your pastry cream layer may look just a little bit thicker than mine since the bananas on bottom will take up some of that space and they may end up a little taller in the end too, but not by much.

I used homemade salted caramel sauce which I highly recommend and I've linked to the recipe for that in the recipe below.

Of course you can use your favorite store bought salted caramel sauce if you don't have time to make it. If you wanted to do a super cheater version here of this same idea you could do all the short cuts, it obviously just won't be as good.

The Best Salted Caramel Pots de Crème Recipe!

I mean, I expected these to be good because they are made of all the good stuff, but they even exceeded my expectations! They were so dreamy and then some! Could I add any more exclamation points??!!

I really, really love these. If you like salted caramel you will love these too. I mean really what's not to love here?

I made these twice because I found out the hard way the first time that as some recipes may suggest to whip the egg yolks until they are light and fluffy (which I did, by hand for several minutes until it was that lovely creamy, pale consistency).

If doing that you'll find in the end you get all these air bubbles, foam layers just float up to the tops of the pots and give them this strange, not-so-appealing appearance once they're baked.