Guacamole! But did you know that in the U.S., we eat over 2 billion pounds of avocados each year? (Google it.) Being over 7 pounds per person is that. I'm guessing that most of those avocados go into what has become America's favorite dip: guacamole.

Guacamole: A Classic Mexican Dish

Avocados were bred in Mexico for thousands of years before the word "guacamole" and the dip were born there. The name is a combination of two Nahuatl words of Aztec in the form of ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce.)

Easy Guacamole Ingredients

Ripe avocados and salt, with that being all you really need. A little bit of lime or lemon juice, a splat of acidity, will help counter the richness of the avocado after that. To further season this, add chopped cilantro, chili, onion, … and/or tomato.

Perfectly Ripe Avocados: How To Pick

Avocados that are not too ripe, not too sour, but just right, are the trick to making the perfect guacamole. If the avocados aren't ripe enough, as they will be hard and tasteless. If too ripe, the taste will be off.

To check if your avocado is ripe, gently press the outside of the fruit. If there is no give the avocado hasn't ripened. The avocado is ripe if there's a little give. If the avocado is too ripe, there is a lot of give. Use after taste testing first.

How To Cut an Avocado

To slice open an avocado, cut it in half lengthwise with a sharp chef's knife, twist apart. One side will have the pit. If you want to pull it out, you can tap a chef's knife on the pit, and twist to extract it (with a towel over your hand), or cut the avocado in half and scoop it out using your fingers or a spoon.

Other Ways To Use Guacamole

The job of guacamole in the kitchen is bigger than a party dip. Served scooped on top of nachos, it's great or as a side or topping to enchiladas, tacos, grilled salmon, or even oven baked chicken. And guacamole is good in food too. Mix some in with a tuna sandwich, your next deviled egg batch, or anything else you want!

Storing Guacamole So It Stays Green

For the best guacamole, eat it as soon as you've made it. Cut avocados, like apples, start to oxidize and become brown. While the lime juice you add (to guacamole, for example) actually contains acid that can slow down the process more than a little. If you are making the guacamole just for you, you can make it a few hours ahead and store it properly, but if you are making for a party this is great.

To keep guacamole green, our trick is to avoid letting air touch our guacamole! Place into a container, seal with plastic wrap and press down on the plastic wrap to force out any air pockets. Make sure there's not any exposed surface of the guacamole on the plastic wrap, but touching the plastic wrap itself. This will reduce to a minimum the amount of browning.

This can be stored in the fridge for up to three days. Scrape off the brown parts, or stir the remainder in with the guacamole as it sits before serving.

Guacamole Variations

You can feel free to add strawberries, peaches, pineapple, mangoes and even watermelon when you've got guacamole basics down. For instance, one Diana Kennedy favorite Mexican classic guacamole has pomegranate seeds and chunks of peaches in it. That's when you can get creative with your homemade guacamole!

Simple Guacamole:

Salted mashed avocados are the simplest version of guacamole. Don't allow other ingredients to prevent the making of guacamole.

Quick guacamole:

To make the easiest guacamole ever, take a 1/4 cup of salsa and mix it in with your mashed avocados.

Don't have enough avocados?

Add sour cream, mayonnaise or cottage cheese if you need to stretch limited supply of avocados. So what, purists may be horrified? It still tastes great.

There's a dessert I grew know where I grew up called chess pie, which seems to be a universally loved dessert almost everywhere except where I grew up. It's not until I speak to someone from the South (or at least the Midwest) and they just look at me puzzled.

"Chess pie?" they ask.

"What's that?"

If you look past the southern region, the popularity of the classic southern pie's pretty limited actually; you'll see some chess pie pop up here and there at bakeries and dessert menus. I prefer chocolate chess pie to my sister. The buttery crust is complemented nicely by the little cocoa powder added into the rich, sweet dessert.

If you're just starting out with chocolate chess pie, wow your friends with a great dessert that's also one of the easiest pies to make (we ain't telling). If you already know this tried and true recipe I hope that it will become a regular for you.

What Is Chess Pie?

Chess pie is a traditional Southern pie made of a short list of staple ingredients: eggs, sugar, and butter. Sometimes there's vanilla, cornmeal, milk, little flour, lemon, and other things you can throw in to deepen the flavor and create a thin, crispy top as well. Gentle cooking in the pie crust in the oven, it's a cooked custard pie.

Chess Pie

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Is the pie an offspring of "chest pie" — pie chest or cheese pie? Or more my favorite where is it from the Southern pronunciation of "just pie?" No one's quite sure. It's a Southern favorite, but what is certain.

A Family Recipe

I have made countless chess pies with numerous flavor profiles (lemon, buttermilk, and brown sugar, among others) but this would be the first chess pie recipe I developed myself. I started at the best possible place: the family cookbook.

My family's original chocolate chess pie recipe (somewhere around 50 years old, probably more) is a great recipe, if you have one, without bells and whistles and with no remorse. The result works, and it tastes good, but I couldn't help tinkering a bit by adding salt, espresso powder, upping the cocoa powder and par baking the crust. I am almost sure I would gain my relatives' approval.

Blind Baking the Crust: Case

Created with copper tools and machinery, these cookies are baked blind on the bottom without any components on the bottoms.

I know, I know. It does make par baking pie crust an extra step and therefore annoying! But hear me out.

Most standard chess pie and chocolate chess pie baking recipes want you to bake the filling in an unbaked pie crust. If you're feeling lazy, you can do this, but heed this warning: Having a barely cooked, slightly soggy bottom crust is what you'll wind up with. That's just the facts!

For a tender, flaky, crispy, buttery crust that is a wonderful balance for the rich, smooth filling, simply blind bake for a few minutes. Homemade or store bought crust, this is true for both. I will never skip blind baking the crust of my chess pies, it's such a big difference.

Pie Crust Problem Solving Tips

• Make sure there aren't any holes or tears in your crust. It's liquid, so if there's an opening it will leak out and under the crust.
• Once baked, blind, then check the crust quickly. If you see any small holes or cracks that were open, brush a little of beaten egg white over them and pop in the oven for about 2 to 3 minutes, to seal any holes that open.
• Put the pie in the bottom third of the oven and bake. This will further crisp up the bottom crust and will stop the edges of the crust from browning too much.

Sometimes you want a little nibble when it comes to dessert. They either reach for a treat in little hands, or else. Sometimes you're tired and you want to eat the entire package but other times, you way to want to house half a package of cookies and an entire pint of ice cream in one sitting.

Either of the above scenarios, and I find it hard pressed to come up with a more universally loved duo than Oreos and ice cream. Historically, cookies 'n' cream is often shunned into kids flavor status and that's just unfair and inaccurate. This two ingredient recipe takes justice back to Oreos and ice cream and sells them as simple, adorable mini ice cream sandwiches that everyone– kids and adults alike– will love.

It All Starts With Oreos

The beauty in using such Oreos is that they are not terribly sweet all by themselves. No other cookie can balance quite like that with your favorite ice cream flavor, and there's textural contrast as well. Now, the part to focus on is the important (and potentially controversial) part that the filling doesn't matter. We won't be using it. It's all about the cookie. There are the two most widely available options, Classic chocolate and the cult favorite Golden Oreos.

Cookie and Ice Cream Combos

I am of course going to always advocate for the best quality you can find and afford, and ice cream preferences are similar to underwear in matters of the personal. I will say, however, premium ice cream works best during the shaping step: and it's denser and creamier and melts slower than inferior, lighter, and cleaner (i.e., richer) ice cream, which is known in the ice cream world as overflow. If not, the only other thing required is that it be a flavor that matches your cookie of choice.

Chocolate Oreos: mint chocolate chip, black raspberry, coffee, salted caramel, peanut butter, and green tea (depending if I have them), and if not, Indulgences.

For golden Oreo cookies, I think lighter, fruitier flavors work best: And strawberry, peaches and cream, pistachio, or cake batter would be amazing. However, this is a great chance to get a little creative and explore flavor combinations that will please the taste buds of your family and dining guests.

Here's the Trick to Getting a Picture Perfect Ice Cream Sandwich

It seems simple enough in theory: assembly an ice cream sandwich from Oreos and ice cream — and it is, in practice! However, there is a cunning trick for making the ice cream come out just right in order for your sandwich to have the perfect bit of even ice cream to cookie ratio in every mouthful. You can whip out your slice and bake cookie skills because molding the ice cream into a parchment tube and then freezing will harden the ice cream to make a perfectly sliceable log which will create even, flat discs of ice cream ready to pair with their cookie partners.

Working with ice cream in pints is best for this technique: To serve, just free the ice cream from the pint with a dull knife around its edge, slip it out onto the parchment, and cut the cylinder in half lengthwise. Lining the two semicircular halves on their sides, end to end, will aid in the shaping process: the better, the less you have to work with the ice cream to squish into a log. Once, it's wrapped tight, leave it to harden in the freezer for a while before you could slice it. It's no better, but it is faster, and your patience will be rewarded.

Storing Ice Cream Sandwiches

And lucky for me, these ice cream sandwiches won't last long, because you probably won't want them to. Tested for science, of course, I found that letting the cookies soften a bit overnight in the freezer (at least 12 hours) gave me the best sandwich I could have. It was tender with a little give to it, but not totally crumbly. Of course, if you decide to eat them any sooner, they will crunchier cookie. But they will be so soft after 24 hours or more that you won't even need your teeth to chew them (fun for all ages!). All of this depends on what you're about.

However, however long you have them around, no matter how you keep them, store them in an airtight container, not all in one layer, all in a single layer like books on a shelf. That way the cookie tower won't be too heavy causing the ice cream to be pushed out of the sandwich.

Monster cookies are soft baked peanut butter monster cookies loaded with oats, chocolate chips, and m&ms. They're a little crispy on the outside and very moist and chewy on the inside. This is a flourless treat that uses peanut butter and oats to make a hit of a texture.

They're famously kid pleasers, but we're not even gonna pretend that monster cookies aren't a summation of all the good stuff.

When deciding about what Oats to Use for Monster Cookies?

You need quick cooking oats for this recipe. The reason I had to have quick cooking oats, which adds to the flourless in the cookies, is because the cookies are flourless. You'll need to pulse old fashioned oats a few times in a food processor to break them down so they resemble quick cooking oats.

A Note on Nut Butter

The classic monster cookie base is creamy peanut butter. Chunky will work (it just gives an extra crunch to every bite), but I find it better to go thicker. If you are allergic to peanuts, and are just looking for a new food, almond butter is a good substitute. You'll notice that the cookies you make with almond butter will be flatter, but will still be a chewy middle cookie.

In any case, make sure to thoroughly emulsify your nut butter. There's nothing wrong with natural nut butters (nuts and salt with the oil separated), but I would not recommend natural nut butters (nuts and salt with the oil mixed in). Instead, look for creamy no stir nut butter. If its nut-free entirely as well? Go for sunflower seed butter.

Mixing Up the Mix-Ins

Without M&Ms and chocolate chips, there is no monster cookie... But as always put your own twist on it! You can continue to try M&Ms in countless flavors, or there are other candies like Reese's Pieces and Heath Bar bits.

Without the M&Ms and chocolate chips, it isn't a monster cookie but you can put your twist on it! M&Ms has loads of flavors to choose from, along with Reese's Pieces, Heath Bar bits, and still so much more.

We are using semi sweet chocolate chips here, but they can be milk, dark or even tutti fruits or toffee depending on how sweet you'd like your cookies to be. Toss some rolled oats in with your flour, or chopped nuts, like pecans, or raisins for a good chew.

Naturally Gluten-Free

Oats themselves are gluten free but can contact gluten in their production and processing. To be sure these cookies are totally gluten free, make sure you use labeled gluten free oats. All of the other ingredients listed are naturally gluten free.

How to Store and Freeze Monster Cookies

Monster cookies will keep well, baked or unbaked, for 3 to 5 days in an airtight container stored at room temperature. When you freeze them, put your completely cooled cookies in an airtight container or freezer bag and they will keep for up to two months if frozen. If you want to eat them straightaway, place them in microwave for about 30 secs or leave at room for them.

Raw cookie dough can remain in the fridge, for up to 3 days, or in the freezer, for up to 2 months, before baking. Roll the dough out into a square, portion into balls and top with M&Ms and chocolate chips, then freeze in a single layer. Then you'll want to transfer them to an airtight container or freezer bag. Thaw it first and refrigerate until cold, preheat oven and bake straight from frozen, adding 2 minutes or so to the total baking time.

Being a baker means friends know to expect dessert from me at gatherings. Normally, I'm only too willing. On a hot day, even I am loath to keep my oven on for very long. So vintage icebox recipes like million dollar pie are what serve up this situation.

A million dollar pie is a classic, icebox pie made with pecans, coconut, and pineapple in a whipped cream filling over a crumbly graham cracker crust. It's rich and creamy, tangy and nutty put it all together. Make ahead and a smart dessert for a hot and lazy summer day.

What Is Million Dollar Pie?

By the 1930s and 40s, refrigerators were being increasingly common in households, so icebox pies were the rage. They say that million dollar pie was invented in South Carolina but have been unable to confirm or deny its origins. This much is true: it's actually a Southern recipe, it's from the 1930s or the 40s.

You've always got pecans, shredded coconut and canned pineapple in your traditional million dollar pie. I use store bought whipped topping, sweetened condensed milk, combine, fold and use as a filling. Sweetened condensed milk is helpful to mix with lemon juice and get a thick filling that doesn't only beat the sweetness, but also balances it. Graham cracker crust or shortbread crust is very common on it.

My Take on the Classic

I created an updated version of this vintage recipe with a few easy flavor boosters: Homemade whipped cream, a baked graham cracker crust, and toasted pecans and coconut is something so simple. It takes an oven to be sure, but only for a little time. The toasty flavor, the crunch of the pecans and coconut all deserve it; and you can bake the crust and toast the nuts together.

What I discovered in my research was the usually debated ingredient, cream cheese. It's a little bit of cream cheese that is my preferred way to stabilize homemade whipped cream so I decided to include it. I like that the tanginess balances the sweet filling and it works better as a replacement for store bought frozen whipped topping.

Why should this pie be worth a million bucks?

It has a lot to live up to, because of the name million dollar pie. It's worthy of its name here's why.

• Almost no bake million dollar pie is one. The process takes only 10 short minutes, and you only require your oven. A big difference on a hot day – a traditional fruit pie might take an hour to bake.
• You can make it ahead. This is a great candidate for any event you want to prep some ahead of time and this needs to sit in the refrigerator a few hours.
• It's sweet and tart, creamy and crunchy, and rich and nutty, in other words, it has everything.
• It's a total crowd-pleaser.

Shortcuts and Upgrades

An upgraded million dollar pie only takes a few more steps than that. From the original, you can take a handful of shortcuts, or, if you're a billionaire pie, upgrade it.

Completely no-bake pie:

Skip the baking of the crust and go right to toasting the pecans and coconut. The crust can be chilled for at least 1 hour and then fill up with.

Shortcut pie:

Frozen whipped topping (thawed) is used in place of whipped cream in the original million dollar pie. In five minutes you can assemble the pie, substitue a store bought crust and a container of whipping topping for the homemade versions.

Billionaire pie:

Million dollar pie gets its name from a can of cherry pie filling. I would add one-half to one cup of chopped maraschino cherries to keep the filling from becoming too liquid rich.

Every weekend I'm living it up with a batch of cookies on Friday nights baked for my family. Warm cookies after dinner and then leftover cookies to enjoy with coffee over the weekend is always magic. That, however, is not an easy task when it comes to picking a cookie everyone agrees on.

Just make kitchen sink cookies which are the ultimate have it your way treat. Moist, soft and chewy these gigantic cookies are made with melted butter and lots of brown sugar. Wildly adaptable to any palate, these mix-ins hit chocolatey, salty, nutty, sweet, and sticky notes for a deeply flavored cookie.

The only difficult part about making these cookies is figuring out what mix ins to use (because I've already done all the work to figure out how to make it perfect). Since they come together quickly (no mixer needed), these are a wonderful anytime treat.

Where In the World Is The Name Coming From?

Kitchen sink cookies take "everything but the kitchen sink" literally. The idea is that the cookies are packed with all of the things you thought to do them, salty or sweet of everything in between. The resulting cookies hit that flavor note on all counts when packed with mix ins.

A Guide to Mix-Ins

This cookie's greatest strength is how riff able it is. However, my favourite combination of these ingredients (listed in the recipe as well, along with your standard semi sweet chocolate chips, salted, ridged potato chips, salted pretzels, roasted peanuts and toffee bits), are pretty much your oyster here when it comes to mix ins.

I've even tried to balance the cookie so there are amounts for each mix in (chocolatey, salty, nutty, and chew and sticky). Below are examples of mix-ins that fit into each category with my tips on each:

Chocolatey:

For example, semi sweet, milk, dark, white chocolate chips or chunks, or chocolate candies like M&M's or peanut butter cups. Milk cookies will lean sweeter, all M&M's or white chocolate will be a bit sweeter, semi sweet will be in the middle (my own preferred preference), and the dark chocolate will be a little less sweet. If you use all semi sweet chocolate I suggest either using all or a combination of chocolates (all milk and dark or half peanut butter cups and half semi sweet).

Salty:

Some examples of them are potato chips, pretzels, etc. If you can get your hands on both, I personally mix them, but you can certainly use just one. For measuring or weight using a scale, be sure to crush the chips or pretzels. If I'm using potato chips I'll use a plain old, salted, ridged potato chip. When baked in the cookie they are crisp, but not hard and have the best texture I have found, so far, of all the ridged chips. For pretzels I like salted twist pretzels (though skinny sticks work) for brains I like mixed berries. Don't use the bigger, thicker rods.

Nutty:

There are examples of peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, and/or unsweetened shredded coconut or coconut chips. I like unsalted, toasted nuts here (save coconut from toasting) for flavor. Be sure and chop up any whole nuts you may have first before measuring by volume. This will let you chop things and make better distribution and texture.

Chewy/sticky:

These include toffee bits or finely chopped caramels or dried fruits. For larger dried fruits, chop them before drying: after all, you wouldn't want to measure a whole cherry by weight! Plain toffee bits aren't always available, but a good substitute for me is chopped chocolate covered toffee bar, or Heath. They're chopped very fine you get a nice chew, but they can be pretty sweet, so keep an eye on the rest of your ingredient mixture.

And even MORE Mix In Variations and Substitutions!

These ingredients will do for the four categories in this recipe, but without even more, what would these kitchen sink cookies be? If ingredients from one category overlap with those of another, cut some of the mix ins from each.

Alternates:

Don't like chocolate? No problem. For example, use peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips instead.

Additions:

Inspire yourself to try swirling a spoonful or two of peanut butter (like Skippy) or Nutella into the dough. Make streaks through the dough and don't try to fully combine.

Alternates/Additions:

& this is the part where the candies are usually, Twix, chocolate pretzels, peanut M&M's, Snickers, Rolo and Reese's pieces.

How to Freeze

Like most drop cookies, the dough can be scooped, frozen and baked at a later date. When you're ready, scoop the dough and place onto a lined baking sheet as the recipe directs it. Place the baking sheet into the freezer and freeze for 15 minutes to an hour. Instead of baking, transfer the cookie dough portions in a single layer into a resealable plastic bag, sealing and pressing out all air. Refrigerate the bag for up to 2 months and return to the freezer.

Preheat the oven and the baking sheets just as the instructions tell you to. You can bake the cookie dough from frozen but will need to bake a little longer once the pans have been rotated.

Sad cake is all about carefree joy not at all sad and not really a cake. Sad cake is easy to make and fun to share, and is a retro recipe that you'll want to add to your regular rotation. By containing its three fundamental ingredients, it serves as a template for all the creative riffing that can be done in this theme and beyond. Its origins, at least to me, are something of a mystery, and it's — and.

If you've got a box of Bisquick, preheat the oven, and plan to grab these addictive, chewy, blondie-like brown sugar dessert bars out of the oven, then…go ahead.

Where Did Sad Cake Come From?

Sad cake was first introduced to me on page 190 of The Lubbock Women's Club Cookbook copyrighted 1983. I have a friend, who knows it is crazy that I am always on the lookout for old community cookbooks at thrift stores, and she picked it up for her because she figures 'I know. . .you'll love this. I like to look at them in breaks between snacks, and it was on one of these breaks that I saw a recipe posted by one Frances Cowger for "Sad, Sad Cake."

The recipe called for 2 cups of Bisquick, four eggs and one whole box of brown sugar. This all sounds excessive, it's really about 2 1/4 cups (the brown sugar we buy in plastic bags today used to come in 1 pound boxes).

Here are the directions straight from Frances: "Mix ingredients by hand. Pour into a greased 13 1/8" by 9 1/2" by 2" pan. Although, baked at 350° F for 30 minutes."(This cake should rise nicely–then fall as it should!)"

That's it. That's the recipe. I had to make it.

Short on Looks, Big on Appeal

I made sad cake as written, having no idea what to expect, and I was very happy. It baked in a 9 x 13 inch pan, spread thinly in the pan, baked up like crazy and then collapsed like it's supposed to (Bisquick is full of leavener, so that makes sense). I'll just say I can only imagine they messed up a more conventional Bisquick cake and just ran with it.

So after 30 minutes, my sad cake was still squishy, I baked it a little longer. When it came out of the oven it had a glossy, crackly top and lots of tiny craters by the edges that were more dark than the center. It wasn't sad, per se, but it was matter ugly.

I am one of the biggest edge piece fans and the corner pieces in particular were in a dreamland. The interior pieces were super moist, but more butterscotchy, and the exterior was very playfully chewy and a caramel vibe.

Shredded coconut flakes mixed with a cup into the next batch and I like that one even better. The coconut made a difference and a difference that even coconut haters liked. The next day it not only tasted better, but it also reheated better. It kept fresh up to 4 days and was a great conversation starter, everyone loved it. The happy, sad cake made me and everyone else happy. I hope you'll see it do the same.

Sad Cake Variations

Sad cake at its 3 ingredient truest is a recipe that begs to be tinkered with.

• Nuts: Up to 1 cup toasted chopped nuts (I think they are better sprinkled onto the cake rather than mixed in…ness).
• Chocolate chips: Because it's so sweet, choose semisweet or bittersweet chips for this cake, mini ones if you can. Use anything from 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups.
• Omit the coconut: You can omit coconut if you really really dislike it (or for that matter, don't have it in your pantry).

If you're a regular at a café or bakery, you might think almond croissants are too fancy to make at home. They are deceivingly easy to make and the truth. Bakeries can use almond croissants to reinvent leftover croissants from the day before… and you can, too.

With this simple recipe we take store bought croissants, add homemade almond frangipane and rum simple syrup for cafe style almond croissants without the line. You can still have them warm out of the oven with this recipe.

Give Croissants a New Life

We haven't dared make homemade croissants (much less almond croissants). But I'm here to tell you that these almond croissants are bakery-worthy and are incredibly easy to make thanks to a key shortcut: I used store bought croissants.

This is the answer if you've ever had more croissants than you can handle from a particular big box store. Thankfully, like most bakeries do to their day old croissants! It's a total upgrade — not only is this a good way to revamp leftover croissants, but also since it turns them into something slightly more gourmet.

How to Make Almond Croissants

Almond croissants are made of three components: It's croissants, rum simple syrup, and frangipane.

I wouldn't recommend letting your lucky break from a beautiful, fresh artisan croissant roll come true unless you have such luck, and you have such leftovers. The best part of this recipe is actually store bought croissants because they soak up more syrup.

The frangipane (almond cream) is whipped quickly and the simple syrup (a mixture of sugar, water, and rum) couldn't be simpler, with a soft, almond flavored filling and a crispy top to the croissants. No special equipment needed.

Make It Ahead

In the case that you know there will be leftover croissants left over for later in the week or for tomorrow's breakfast, all of these components can be baked ahead of time, assembled together and then baked.

If you care to make some homemade cocktails, handy tip: store simple syrup in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to one month. Keep in the refrigerator up to one week. Wait until the frangipane comes to a room temperature before using as when it's cold it will be harder to spread.

Storage

The best flavor and texture comes when these almond croissants are served the day they are baked. I suggest making ahead and storing the components apart then just assembling and baking only as many croissants as you think you'll use.

Crowd-Pleasing Brunch Recipes

• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Easy French Toast
• Blueberry Hand Pies
• Lemon Scones
• Easy Buttermilk Waffles

Since I had myself been in the Hannah Montana heyday, I was obligated to make the joke that these blondies are, indeed, 'the best of both worlds.' This recipe is made with one simple batter yielding a vanilla blondie and a chocolatey, brownie-ish batter layered and swirled together for visually stunning and indescribably decadent marbled blondies. This recipe is the answer if you can't decide between blondies and brownies.

You can tell the individual additions, the buds of white chocolate chips in the caramel-y, vanilla blondie batter and the beads of overly oversized semi-sweet chocolate chips in the thick, rich brownie batter, when baked and cut because they are stark and stunning. These marble blondies are both chewy around the edges and soft and fudgy in the middle, so they've got a little something for everyone.

Blondies vs. Brownies

Blondies and brownies aren't all that different, but they have completely different batters. Brown sugar is blended, which means all brown sugar is used, so you get moisture, fudgy and deep caramel flavor. This batter simultaneously works as blondie and brownie means I use a combination of light brown sugar and a little granulated sugar to balance the chocolate flavor and that crinkly paper thin top of a good brownie.

For making it chocolate, I dot the extra egg yolk and espresso powder into the goldie batter, and add melted choco plus Dutch process cocoa. This extra egg yolk gives you the extra fat you need to cancel out that dry cocoa. The deep color and rich flavor of Dutch process cocoa, and the fudgy texture of the melted chocolate, make for a yummy snack. When baked together, the batters come together and provide a treat that's truly wonderful.

Best of Both Worlds

I never get regular soft serve, as I'm such an incredibly indecisive person. These are the "twist" of blondies. marrying the world's best of vanilla blondie and chocolate brownie…

In each bite, you have a bit of everything: the brown sugar (caramel) notes, the sweet vanilla, the chocolate decadence, the creaminess of the melted chocolate, the chewy edges, the fine and delicate crust and the soft, fudgy center with this recipe. They will think you spent hours creating those playful swirls with your amazing eye catching marbled appearance!

The Perfect Marble Effect: Tips

It's daunting swirling the batters, especially for a recipe like this where the batters are thicker than cake batter. Everything you need to know on making the most stunning marbled effect.

• The layering of batters in the pan does most of the heavy lifting in creating a marbled cross-section in the blondies. In other words, you simply want to alternate dropping the batters two layers deep in a checkerboard pattern. After doing this, we obtain contrasting layers in the blondies, which give them a marbled appearance when sliced. Also, this partly means that you only have to think about creating your swirls on the surface and not all the way through.
• For swirling the batters I prefer the side of a small offset spatula or the spine of a butter knife rather than a toothpick. These tools are good enough to pull the sticky batters together.
• It doesn't matter about the texture on the surface that results from swirling. When baked it'll pretty much settle.

Easy Variations

Want a little extra pizzazz? Consider this:

• Instead of using white chocolate chips, use toasted nuts such as pecans or walnuts to add to that blondie batter.
• Skip the semi sweet chocolate if you want something more rich — less sweet — than semi sweet, and use bittersweet instead.
• Pour a few tablespoons of your favorite nut butter or a portion of Nutella in your brownie batter to give it a flavor.

How to Store Marble Blondies

Baked day of, these blondies are the best. When your blondies have cooled, leave them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days if you find yourself with extra blondies left over.

Wrapped in plastic wrap, these marble blondies are frozen in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature.

Blondies and Brownies Galore

• Vegan Brownies
• Pumpkin Blondies
• Brownie in a Mug
• Chewy Tahini Blondies
• Caramel Brownies

This was the first time I had a Cosmic Brownie in the lunch table, in the elementary school. She gave me a bit of the piece she had in her lunch almost every day from a classmate who had them. At that first bite, I was hooked.

I've gotten a bit older, my tastes have changed, but my fixation with my nostalgia remains. Recreating the treats I loved as a kid makes me so, so happy — and little changes to accommodate my "grown up" palette here and there.

With that in mind, I present these: a version that was an upgraded, homemade Cosmic Brownie. This is a rich, deeply fudgy, moist brownie topped with silky, decadent ganache that says joy in the same bright, rich, colorful sprinkles as the original.

This recipe has a couple of moving parts, but I promise they're easier to assemble than it sounds and will delight anyone who gets to enjoy one of these. Additionally, these also store well in the refrigerator, which makes them a wonderful make ahead dessert for a get together.

What are Cosmic Brownies?

Cosmic Brownies by Little Debbie are based on cosmic bowling. Glow bowling (or cosmic bowling as I used to know it, growing up) is glow lighting in the dark bowling done in outer space theme. Consider a dark bowling alley, think bright, neon colors, black lights not to mention lots of lasers. They even mimic the iconic look of the colourful sprinkles atop a dark chocolate brownie fudgy.

Homemade for the Win

To prepare for this recipe I bought a box of these Cosmic Brownies for research's sake. I already knew I wanted these to be undeniably fudgy with a moist crumb so before I revisited the store-bought version I poured over all of my best chocolate cake recipes to create my own. When I re tasted the store bought, I realized that the original is crumbly but sorta doughy. I also never know how unchocolatey they are. I knew I could do better.

And although they're easy to grab a pack from the store, it's 100% worth it to make these from scratch, saving money and fear. These brownies are absolutely C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E for sure because a combination of melted bittersweet chocolate and Dutch process cocoa powder is used. Additionally, the brownies bake up beautiful fudgy and the crumb is moist, yet soft.

Instead of the almost flavorless glaze topping the brownies, these are topped with a quick ganache that not only looks pretty, but enhances the chocolatey factor.

Tips and Tricks

These brownies are super straightforward to make and come together easily, but here are some of my best tips to ensure they come out perfect every time:

• The brownie and the ganache and chocolate is finely chopped in order to melt easily and completely.
• It's also whisking the sugars, eggs, and vanilla, to help create a lighter, smoother brownie and you also end up with paper thin crinkled crumbly shined top that bakers covet.
• You should expect the brownies to puff around the 25 minute mark with a toothpick still coming out wet, then settle down a few minutes. Often times the brownies are ready after they settle. What you want is for a toothpick to come out with moist crumbs, not wet batter.
• As the brownies cool, they will deflate slightly in the center so the brownies will have some dips and valleys, which is fine — flip the brownies over for the even bottom facing up to spread the ganache.

Easy Variations

Even without the ganache topping and sprinkles, these are delicious, fudgy brownies at their core ripe to whatever you're craving. Consider these:

• Skip the toppings and serve the brownies warm, with vanilla ice cream.
• Toast some mixed nuts and fold them into the batter, or spritz some mixed nuts with some spritzes, and replace the sprinkles with some toasted nuts.
• If you like things sweet, swap all the bittersweet chocolate for semi sweet, or if you like a balance between the two, between them.
• You can't find candy coated chocolate chip sprinkles? If you don't want to use sprinkles, try mini M&Ms or whatever one of your favorite sprinkles might be.

Tips for Brownies That Look Perfect

There's no need to use crazy tools or cut perfect looking brownies this doesn't have to be difficult at all. All you really need is a little bit of patience and a good knife. However, when up to make clean slices, you do not need to cool completely. Also, if you are cutting brownies that are topped with ganache, like these, make sure the ganache is (literally!) set before cutting.

I think the one thing that truly gets you the cleanest cuts is not how your knife is made but how it is used. Generally it's not always possible, but when you are able to use a knife with a length that is even greater than the length of the brownies used, then you can make a full cut once done without having to stop and then start. A hot and dry knife will always leave you with a cleaner slice. Between each cut I run my knife under hot water, and wipe dry with a clean towel.

How to Store

Allowing the brownies to cool to room temperature and then storing them in a single layer in an airtight container in the fridge, will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Additionally, they store very well in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week, and can be eaten cold or at room temperature.

Nostalgic Dessert Recipes

• Peanut Butter and Jelly Pop Tarts
• Copycat Choco Tacos
• Homemade Oreo Ice Cream Cake
• Classic Ice Cream Sandwiches