Easy Desserts that Taste Like You Spent Hours in the Kitchen

I love to have something sweet to offer guests with their coffee, but some recipes (yes, Martha Stewart, I’m looking at you) take hours to make and seconds to eat. Here are a few sweets that are easy and fast but will leave your guests believing you took hours to make them. Go ahead, let them.

3 Apple Dips

Fresh fruit with a tasty twist

#1

8 oz. cream cheese

⅓c. brown sugar

Chopped pecans

Caramel ice cream topping

Blend cream cheese and brown sugar.  Form into a ball and roll in pecans.  Top with caramel ice cream topping.

#2

Mix:

8 oz. cream cheese

¾ c. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

½ c. crunchy peanut butter

#3

Mix:

8 oz. cream cheese

¾ c. brown sugar

½ c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

6 oz. heath bits

Note:

Fresh apple slices may be cut ahead and tossed with lemon juice to keep them from browning.

Nutty Cookies

You won’t believe the caramel-almond flavor of these!

42 Club Crackers

½ c. butter

½ c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. sliced almonds

Place crackers in single layer on a foil or parchment lined cookie sheet.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add sugar and bring to a boil.  Stirring constantly, boil 2 minutes (mixture looks foamy).  Remove from heat and add vanilla (be careful – when you stir in vanilla, the mix splatters).  Pour mixture evenly over crackers.  Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake at 350°for 10-12 minutes, until light brown.  Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire racks.

Toll House Bar Cookies

Less time consuming than baking a dozen at a time!

2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened

¾ c. sugar

¾ c. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups chocolate chips

Mix flour, baking soda, salt – set aside.

Mix butter, 2 sugars, and vanilla well – add eggs one at a time

Gradually add flour mixture

Add chocolate chips

Spread in jellyroll pan – lining the pan with foil makes cleanup easier

Bake at 375° for 20-25 min

Monkey Bread

This version of monkey bread uses frozen biscuits so the bread is denser. It’s sliced rather than a pull-apart desert.

14 frozen Pillsbury biscuits - thawed

1 ½ cup white sugar

2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ cup margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease one 9 or 10 inch tube pan.

Mix white sugar and cinnamon in a plastic bag. Cut biscuits into 4-6 pieces. Shake 6 to 8 biscuit pieces in the sugar cinnamon mix. Arrange pieces in the bottom of the prepared pan. Continue until all biscuits are coated and placed in pan.

In a small saucepan, melt the margarine with the brown sugar over medium heat. Boil for 1 minute. Pour over the biscuits.

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a plate. Cut into slices.

Whether you need to throw something together quickly for guests or just don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen, give these simple-yet-delicious recipes a try!