Stars and Stripes Cookie Bars

Homemade cookie bars with red, white, and blue sprinkles and a fun herringbone effect on the frosting!

I always forget to make themed holiday treats unless it's one of three holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. But last year, I did remember to make a red, white, and blue treat for the 4th of July AND I have one planned for this year too. I don't really go ham on most holidays which is why I never really post any holiday recipes, but it is fun and brings me back to my childhood where I was always in the kitchen helping my mom or grandma make something fun for any holiday. I love cookie bars and there are a ton of quick ones that use box or pouch mix, but it was super fun to make a homemade version. You could also absolutely add star shape sprinkles on top since you have the stripes. Realistically, you could just switch up the sprinkles and the gel frosting colors and make this go for any holiday!

Red Velvet Macadamia Nut Cookies

A great twist on macadamia nut cookies with cake mix - perfect for Valentine's Day (or whenever you feel like it)!

If you look through the past almost 10 1/2 years of me blogging, you will find very few red velvet recipes. I have no problem admitting that I know it's just chocolate flavor, but I still don't really care for it. To me, it just tastes like red food coloring and that's a no for me. However, occasionally I will make red velvet treats because my family likes them and occasionally, I will find one that I do actually like (for example, a sheet cake I blogged either last year or the year before - I'll link it near the bottom of this post). I have posted recipes that I didn't care for if the rest of my family liked them. It's definitely harder to describe them if I don't like them, but I'm not really the best at that anyways haha. So fortunately this recipe is one that I did like. I love white chocolate macadamia nut cookies and these were really a nice variation of them. I love cake mix cookies too - they are so chewy and delicious anyways, but a cake mix macadamia nut cookie is just *chef's kiss*

Gingerbread Poke Cake

This cake is the most lovely addition to a holiday spread with caramel and whipped cream topping and crushed gingersnap cookies on top.

I've made more poke cakes in recent years because I really just enjoy poke cakes. I won't say all, but I think most start with a box cake mix and just a few toppings - sweetened condensed milk and Cool Whip for sure. This gingerbread cake gets caramel sauce topping in addition to the milk. And the very top has crushed gingersnap cookies which is great for a bit of crunch and more spicy goodness. So if you're looking for a quick holiday cake recipe - this! This so much! It's great!

Grinch Sugar Cookie Bars

Your heart will grow three sizes when you make these super easy bars and get to enjoy them over the holidays!

If you notice, this recipe is also in absolutely horrendous lighting...in a foil pan. It was also made last Christmas when we were in an airbnb that was not as stocked for holiday meals as was advertised. Unfortunately, I did not bring my food coloring with me and was unable to find a good Grinch green on the fly a few days before Christmas at a big box store.

However, the takeaway here is that this is a super easy recipe that can be thrown together super quickly and if you can find some chonky heart sprinkles - even better! Just a very classic sugar cookie bar! :)

Oreo Peppermint Crunch Cookies

Soft and chewy cake mix cookies with bits of Oreos and candy canes inside

These were Santa's cookies last year and survived a road trip to Florida and a few days in a really small, cramped airbnb. They almost didn't survive due to the fact that they are insanely good. They are cake mix cookies with Oreos and candy canes in them and they are the absolute best. They are chewy and crunchy and so good.

Peppermint Poke Cake

This holiday cake is so easy to make and loaded with chocolate and peppermint!

I think box cake mixes are awesome and I love how you can add a few more steps and change it up completely. I think at this point everyone knows what a poke cake is - you make a cake and poke holes in it and then pour stuff on top. This cake is topped with sweetened condensed milk and hot fudge. After some chilling, the cake is topped with whipped cream and other stuff - in this case, Andes mints and Oreos. I think this is my favorite poke cake of all the ones I've made. I love mint chocolate, so I guess it's not surprising. This is a really fun cake to make with kids (if you have any around) and is perfect for the holidays!

Jalapeno Popper Macaroni & Cheese

Add some spice to the holiday feast with this over-the-top incredible macaroni and cheese or add chicken for a full meal!

I had kept putting off making this recipe and I cannot really tell you why because my family loves anything jalapeno popper. I have made this for dinner and I have made this for a holiday side. When I make it for dinner, I like to add chicken to it (usually seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic) to make it extra hardy. This is just a seriously wonderful recipe with the perfect amount of heat and a nice crunch from the topping. No one will want any other macaroni and cheese ever again. This one is perfect.

Triple Layer Pumpkin Spice Pie

This no-bake dessert is so easy to make and is topped with delicious candied pecans. Perfect fall dessert!

I absolutely adore no-bake pies because they usually are pudding-based and I really love it. It's such an easy, no hassle type of recipe. This one in particular is slightly elevated with candied pecans on top. They are only two ingredients, so they are really simple to make too.

Layered Pumpkin Pie Toffee Cheesecake

 It's Pumpkin Time, Y'all! And that means delicious treats like this cheesecake that's topped with a layer of pumpkin pie!

Y'all. I don't think I could be any more in love with a cheesecake recipe than I am with this one. It's got pumpkin pie. A literal layer of pumpkin pie, but it's also cheesecake. It's my favorite. I don't like pie crust, but I do love pumpkin pie (I usually just don't eat the outside rim of crust). But this is the best of both worlds because there is graham cracker crust - yum! - and cheesecake - another yum! - AND PUMPKIN PIE. Oh and throw some toffee on that too. Also, it's my 32nd birthday today and if I wasn't having a carrot cake cheesecake, I'd definitely have this cheesecake for my birthday cake.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, this crockpot recipe is a complete winner!

I have never had homemade corned beef before - just the dried stuff, which honestly is one of my favorite things. It's so good. I found this recipe and wanted to try it because I did not know that corned beef was a beef brisket and that it could be made so easily. It sounded like something that took days and a lot of patience to make. I've only had beef brisket one other time, so I was ready to try it again. This recipe ended up being awesome and I loved it so much. It was really easy to make and it was so tender. And with leftovers, corned beef hash, of course!

Red Velvet Sheet Cake #FantasticalFoodFight

Welcome to another Food Fight! Fantastical Food Fight is a group of food bloggers who will get a theme or ingredient each month and make some sort of variation for it. It could be traditional or nontraditional and can be found in a cookbook, on a blog, or be a blogger's own creation!

This month's Fantastical Food Fight theme is RED VELVET. This unfortunately is going to be the very last Food Fight due to my very busy schedule. I just started my masters program in Accounting at the beginning of the month and I'm trying to cut back on all my "extracurricular" activities, so to speak. I have had so much fun with my blogging friends and have enjoyed seeing what recipes they've shared each month. I highly recommend following their blogs that you can find below in the blog hop.

Red velvet was chosen due to it being Valentine's Day this month. Even though we are past Valentine's Day now, I thought it would still be fun to do it. Now, I was a little nervous about this month's theme because I generally don't care for anything red velvet. It's basically chocolate cake dyed red, but that red is so overpowering and I think that's why I don't like it. However, my family loves red velvet and I decided to try this really pretty sheet cake that had whipped frosting (my daughter's favorite) and raspberries. And surprise, surprise, I liked it! In fact, it's on my favorites list now. It wasn't overpoweringly "red-flavored" and the frosting was so perfect. My daughter and I especially loved the little raspberry on each piece. It complimented the cake very well.

Sparkling Cranberry White Chocolate Cupcakes

Perfect vanilla cupcakes with a white chocolate ganache filling, tart cranberry frosting, and sparkling cranberries!

Hear me out on this little "story"...when I was a kid, I had only experienced cranberries through the jellied cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. I just assumed that I didn't like cranberries. As an adult, I have tried new foods and foods that I previously thought I didn't like to see if I changed my mind. So now that I know I like cranberries, I'm trying to make all the cranberry things. These cupcakes are so great because they have the candied cranberries AND a white chocolate ganache filling. Honestly, what more could you ask for for a festive holiday treat?!

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Pancakes

These pancakes are perfect for the winter season - and especially Christmas morning!

For the first time in a long time, I don't have a plan for Christmas morning breakfast. Sometimes I wake up really early and make cinnamon rolls. I've made donuts and casseroles. Last year, I made these pancakes. They were a huge hit and super quick. The kids enjoyed them after opening presents and I have to say that they were pretty fantastic. All the elements work together so well!

Candy Cane Crinkles

The perfect peppermint cookie for the winter season that just melt in your mouth!

Every year, the kids and I choose a cookie recipe off my cookie board on Pinterest to make for Santa. Even though my big kids are of the "knowing age", they still love this tradition and are really excited to continue it with their little brother who will have his first big Christmas where he understands what is going on other than just presents. I think we're going to have his first visit to Santa which will be really exciting.

I'm not sure what cookie we will make this year, but last year, these Candy Cane Crinkles were the chosen cookie for Santa. They are buttery and melt-in-your-mouth with the cool bite of peppermint. They don't look like anything more than sugar cookies, but they are so fantastic. Don't underestimate them! Also, I don't know if every place will carry them but I discovered crushed candy canes at my local grocery store (Kroger) this past week and I was so excited. Crushing candy canes is one of my least favorite tasks to do and I love that they now have precrushed candy canes! Perfect for cookies!

BLT Deviled Eggs

Spruce up those deviled eggs with a little BLT fixings!

Y'all. Is it just me or is romaine lettuce always being recalled and linked to e. coli? I feel like I am always reading about another outbreak and it kind of drives me nuts because I eat romaine lettuce a ton. The original recipe for these deviled eggs calls for romaine, but when I made them last year (yes, last year), romaine was recalled and I settled for spinach which isn't as pretty to photograph. The flavors are that of a lovely BLT sandwich but kind of also remind me of egg salad sandwiches, so it's like a combination of the two. I have to say, didn't hate that at all! :)

Chocolate Pecan Pie #FantasticalFoodFight

Welcome to another Food Fight! Fantastical Food Fight is a group of food bloggers who will get a theme or ingredient each month and make some sort of variation for it. It could be traditional or nontraditional and can be found in a cookbook, on a blog, or be a blogger's own creation! For more details, check out this page.

This month's Fantastical Food Fight theme is PECAN PIE. November is Georgia Pecan Month and although I could have gone the easy route and just picked pecans for the ingredient, I decided to make it all about pecan pie with the big holidays coming up in the US where pecan pie is the major dessert. No time like the present, right?! Here's the thing...this is definitely not my month. I don't like pie very much and pecan pie is probably my least favorite pie. But here we are...it's Pecan Pie Food Fight month!

With all that being said, this is the second pecan pie recipe to hit the blog and again, I did try it to see if my mind could be changed by a different recipe. The first pecan pie was a butterscotch pecan pie and I thought maybe I would enjoy that but it was a bust for me - Nick loved it. This go-around I figured I would have more of a chance of enjoying the pie because it's chocolate-based. It was still a bust. However, I get to post this with the approval of Nick and my daughter, Cami. Both of them gladly taste-tested and split the pie between the two of them (over the next week - not in one night haha). They said it tasted like rich chocolate pudding and pecan pie had a baby. So I'm just going to take their word for it. It was an easy recipe to make and it looks beautiful!

Amazing Pecan Cobbler

Pecan pie has nothing on this Amazing Pecan Cobbler!

I have never really liked pecan pie. I think it's way too much sugar and that's coming from someone who loves sweets. However, it's my husband's favorite pie and that means every once in a while I will make him one because I love him. Sometimes he'll make a compromise and we pick out a dessert that is similar to what he wants but something I will eat. Because he definitely won't eat a dessert all by himself! Our compromise last year for the holidays was this pecan cobbler. It has the flavors of pecan pie but without being so overly sugary. I personally love cobbler and it's one of my favorite types of dessert, so I knew I would love this recipe. We ended up loving it so much that I made it for Thanksgiving AND Christmas.

Asparagus Casserole #FantasticalFoodFight

Welcome to another Food Fight! Fantastical Food Fight is a group of food bloggers who will get a theme or ingredient each month and make some sort of variation for it. It could be traditional or nontraditional and can be found in a cookbook, on a blog, or be a blogger's own creation! For more details, check out this page.

This month's Fantastical Food Fight theme is ASPARAGUS. We are almost in prime season for asparagus and what better way to bring in the new season of food than with sharing tons of asparagus recipes. We have been having asparagus with Easter dinner over the last few years and one of our go-to recipes is this Asparagus Casserole. Think green bean casserole but with asparagus.

I would ask for this over green bean casserole any day of the week even though I love green beans. I adore asparagus and in this casserole, it's so addictive! I did switch up a few things from the original recipe to include omitting mushrooms because we're not huge fans of mushrooms (Cami loves them, but the rest of us, nope!). None of us really care for Swiss cheese so I subbed in Gruyere which turned out so very well. It's a wonderful side dish with a baked ham. I cannot wait to see what other asparagus recipes my blogging pals have to share today!

Cranberry Bliss Bars

These copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars are the perfect winter treat with a chewy sugar cookie base with cranberries and white chocolate topped with cream cheese frosting!

Every year, I look forward to getting the seasonal Cranberry Bliss Bars at Starbucks. We have a little Starbucks in our grocery store and it's a nice little treat to get one while grocery shopping. The cookie part is chewy, the frosting is creamy, the cranberries are tart, and then there's the white chocolate. They are rich little bars, but so delicious. A must for the winter season, if you ask me. The original has orange zest in it, but my oldest is allergic to oranges (and possibly pineapple - we're waiting on his results for that and he is devastated that he may not be able to eat Hawaiian pizza anymore), so I just subbed in a little lemon zest. It's still got that bright acidic zing needed to offset the rest of the recipe.

Reindeer Food

If you are ready for the most addictive winter holiday snack, look no further!

I think I have found a new tradition in this Reindeer Food recipe. We have made it for the past two years and we love it! Matthew is already asking if I'm going to be making another batch this year because this year's batch lasted all of a night and then it was gone! It's ridiculously easy - with only three ingredients - and it's pretty quick to make too. My family loves to help make it because it boils down to stirring and crushing and the kids and Nick like doing those things! LOL

I'm not kidding at all when I say this is super addictive. We could not even let it set up before we were eating it. And it's so hard to not continue to eat it once you've started. I do suppose this is supposed to be for Santa's reindeer, but sorry, Rudolph, guess we're just going to leave you a carrot this year!