Chocolate Freezer Pie

 Summer is coming...

At least I hope it is. Right now I'm sitting inside under a big blanket as a Nor'easter dumps a ridiculous amount of rain on New Jersey. Spring so far has been cold and wet.

I'm ready to wear sun dresses and sandals, grill out on the patio and eat lots of ice cream!

The weather forecast for next week is looking up and I'm hoping that means I can break out the chiffon dresses and ice cream maker! Not at the same time, but maybe! We'll see where the summer takes us!

To get ready for the warmer weather, I'm putting together some fun ice cream recipes. This Chocolate freezer pie was incredibly easy to put together but it totally impressive to look at! Plus, you get ice cream sandwiches in each slice!

I made my crust out of Cool Mint and Sweet Cream ice cream sandwiches. It was a nice way to use up a box of ice cream sandwiches, because otherwise I would definitely eat the entire box myself. You should definitely give this pie crust a try! To be completely honest, I saw it on Facebook and thought it was a great idea. Admire and acquire! 

Source: Perry's Ice Cream Instagram

Disclaimer: As a member of Perry's Ice Cream Inside Scooper's program I receive seasonal flavors to test out! I receive no financial compensation for recipe development or posting. Perry's is made in my hometown and I've been enjoying their ice cream since grade school!

One year ago: Raspberry-Lemon Soda
Two years ago: French Toast Crepes
Three years ago: Quiche with Sweet Peppers and Sausage
Four years ago: Banana Bread French Toast
Five years ago: Spring Penne Pasta
Six years ago: Fruit and Yogurt Jars

Double Coffee Affogato

Apparently the big food trend is all about bold flavors. If you see something on the menu that has a "hint of..." just pass it up. That's so 2016. This year you want to be hit in the face with the flavor! That is why we are indulging with a double coffee affogato for dessert today. For this recipe you need two items - strong coffee and rich coffee ice cream.

But first, a story...

The boyfriend and I went to Cambodia last year and stayed in Siem Reap at the adorable Heritage Suites. The people were friendly, the pool was serene and above all, the coffee makers made top notch coffee. European style coffee.  Tiny cups.

This espresso was so amazing, that the boyfriend would constantly reminisce about our time in Cambodia and how really liked the coffee. At least once a month (usually when we'd pass the Nespresso shop), he'd talk about how good it was and how he wanted to find a local alternative. American coffee just isn't the same.

After listening to this for about a year, I decided to try and bring a bit of Cambodia home for Christmas. First, I e-mailed the Heritage Suites Hotel and asked about their coffee machines. Turns out they use a French brand called Malongo. Next, I looked up the Malongo website and determined that they were located in Paris, France. I emailed them to find out if they made a US-friendly machine (i.e. 110 volts)... They do not. What else don't they do? They don't ship to the US!

After much googling, I located a legitimate-sounding third party that would buy the coffee machine (and coffee pods) on my behalf. FAOPS (not sponsored, I was just really impressed!) will purchase goods from French websites and have them shipped to their warehouse in France. They then repackage your goods (into smaller boxes) and ship them wherever you are!

The package with the coffee machine and pods arrived in just two days from France and I had the best christmas present ever. Since the machine is European and I live in the US, I had to buy a heavy duty voltage transformer to power the thing, but it is totally worth it. Even with the extra fees in shipping, I was able to get the coffee machine and 300 pods for less than the price of a nespresso machine. And now the boyfriend can enjoy a little taste of Cambodia (France?) whenever he wants.

The Malongo machine is the source of my strong coffee that I paired with the newest ice cream flavor from Perry's - Cold Brew Coffee & Cream. Sticking with the 2017 trend of bold flavors, this coffee ice cream is no joke. The coffee flavor is incredibly rich and intense, you really only need a scoop to satisfy your craving. The swirls of sweet cream help to balance out the whole thing.

If you are looking for a simple dessert that your coffee-loving friends will enjoy, give the affogato a try. Give them a few options with either vanilla, chocolate or coffee ice cream! Don't worry if you don't have a fancy, difficult to source, European coffee machine. Affogatos are delicious with every kind of coffee! Sprinkle on some miniature chocolate chips for a subtle burst of sweetness.

Disclaimer: As a members of Perry's Ice Cream Inside Scoopers program, they send me ice cream and I eat it! I receive no financial compensation for recipe development. I only work with companies that I love and believe in. Perry's Ice Cream is a brand from my hometown of Buffalo, NY. If you live in the Northeast and have access to a Wegmans, you can try Perry's yourself. Everyone else, you need to plan a trip to Western New York to get a taste!

Previously on WITK...

One year ago: Shakshuka
Two years ago: Spring Risotto
Three years ago: Peanut Butter Macaroon Brownies
Four years ago: Raspberry Macarons with White Chocolate Buttercream
Five years ago: Chocolate Malt Marshmallows
Six years ago: Maple Mousse

Cookie Dough Egg Truffles

Even though winter just served up another pile of snow for the East Coast, spring is right around the corner! I can't wait! You know who else can't wait for spring? My poor tulips that are now buried under a foot of snow. #PrayfortheFlowers

With spring comes Easter and so much candy! It's my favorite time of year to break out the chocolate and candy thermometer. I also have been eyeing up these egg truffles on Pinterest for a while and decided it was time to make them for myself! These truffles came together really quickly...

...and I ate them all. Seriously. I ate every single one of them.

You should totally make these, but maybe share with your friends. You don't want to be like me.

Though, now that they're gone, I find myself wanting to make another batch. Maybe with a different type of cookie dough...  Someone save me from myself!

One Year Ago: Salted Toffee with Toasted Almonds
Two Years Ago: Raspberry & Cheesecake Mousse Entremet
Three Years Ago: Portuguese Bread
Four Years Ago: Chicken Florentine Pasta
Five Years Ago: Peach Macarons
Six Years Ago: Chocolate Buttercream Truffles

Sweet Break up

Happy Valentine's Day! Or Happy February 14th? However you are spending today, I'm happy to bring you another delicious recipe. Personally, I am spending this evening on my own because I am traveling for work. Bad timing for meetings this week mean that I had Chipotle for dinner, by myself in my hotel room. So romantic!

Though this isn't terribly different from how the boyfriend and I have spent many of our thirteen Valentine's Days. Eight of those years were spent as a long distance couple. We didn't even see each other for this holiday until four years ago. Needless to say, Valentine's Day isn't a big holiday for us!

One holiday that I didn't know was a thing? February 13th - National Break-Up Day! 

Apparently the reasoning behind National Break-Up day is this - You've made it through the winter holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years) and have made your parents happy by showing them that you aren't going to die alone. But here's the reality - you hate this person you're dating! In order to keep from wasting money on a Valentine's gift/dinner there is only one option - Break it off!

I haven't taken part in National Break-up day. I just broke up with boyfriends on random days for all the normal reasons - he showed up drunk to a high school football game, or he didn't support my plan to go to grad school, he didn't realize he was gay. You know, the normal reasons.

In honor of National Break-Up Day, Perry's Ice Cream has developed a new flavor - Bad Breakup. Sea salt caramel chocolate ice cream with fudge swirls and caramel-filled chocolate hearts. I'm so glad that it only comes in pint sizes. because I could seriously eat an entire quart of this stuff. If you haven't tried Perry's yet, hop in your car or get on a plane and fly to Western New York to get some.

Since every breakup needs lots of chocolate, I decided to make a chocolate and strawberry cake to enjoy alongside. Chocolate and strawberries has too long belonged to the lovers on February 14th. This chocolate and strawberry cake is for all the single ladies (and gentlemen!) who just want to indulge!

You don't have to be newly single to enjoy a big slab of chocolate cake and heaping serving of Bad Breakup Ice cream. I cleaned this plate while sitting on the couch with the boyfriend!

No matter your current situation, if you are in need of a little cake and ice cream I'm going to recommend this combination! The recipe is for a 6-inch cake, just enough for a little dinner party or a week's worth of cake for a singleton. My recommendation though? Bring it to the office and butter up your coworkers! They'll complain, but be really happy at the end of the day.

One Year Ago: Homemade Moon Pies
Two Years Ago: Homemade Girl Scout Samoas
Three Years Ago: Whole Wheat Pasta with Sausage and Leeks
Four Years Ago: Chipotle CopyCat Recipes
Five Years Ago: Chocolate-Peppermint Marshmallows
Six Years Ago: Homemade Butterfinger Bars

Candy Cane Cake

 Happy Holidays Everyone! I've been crazy busy with my new job and haven't had a lot of time to blog recently. With the holiday season upon us, I knew that I had to do some baking and bring you a few seasonal recipes.

Luckily, my department at my new job holds a holiday party each year! My department is so multi-national and multi-cultural, our holiday pot luck was a diverse array of curries, perogies and fried chicken. The entire office floor smelled amazing all day long! I decided to bring in a dessert that looked really fancy, but took no time at all to create.

The striped peppermint frosting hides three layers of rich chocolate cake and chocolate frosting. I went with a homemade chocolate cake recipe, but you can definitely save time and use a box mix. Just be prepared to use a lot of butter when you decorate this cake! There is a lot of buttercream on this bad boy. If you have the right tools, you can get this look in less than ten minutes. Just have a piping bag, turntable and bench scraper on hand and you can have a stripey cake too!

Sorry there is no inside view of this cake. I didn't want to cut it before I took it to the office because I wanted it to look pristine for the party. I also wanted to see how long it would take for someone to cut into it! 

Unfortunately I set the baking bar pretty high with my new coworkers. They are going to be expecting some pretty impressive treats in the future...

One Year Ago: Cherry Cordial Mallomars
Two Years Ago: Candy Cane Mallomars
Three Years Ago: Christmas Fudge
Four Years Ago: Acorn & Sausage Bake
Five Years Ago: Peppermint Mallomars
Six Years Ago: Banana Whoopie Pies

Oreo Brownies

Are you ready for more recipes? I've been crazy busy over the past two months and haven't had a moment to make my own dinner, never mind making fun treats for WITK. What has I been doing? First, the boyfriend and I trained for and ran a half marathon! Second, I started a new job! 

The new job is along the same lines of what I was doing at my last company, but with much less international travel. I'll miss the monthly opportunities that I had to visit the far reaches of the planet, but I look forward to the new challenges associated with my new job!

One of the important things about my new job is that my office is so much larger. My previous company was only seven people in an office. Pretty small when you want to bake a cake and feed the leftovers to your coworkers. These days I have so many happy coworkers to feed, I can't wait to ply them with sugary sweets. How else do you make new friends at work?

I made these brownies a few months ago and fed them to myself. Luckily the recipe makes a smallish batch of brownie cookies and they store pretty well.  You can make a batch of these on Sunday and enjoy them all week long! 

With my new coworkers to feed, watch out for new recipes here in the kitchen! I'm ready for the holiday season and can't wait to get back to blogging.

One Year Ago: Brownie Donuts with peanut butter glaze
Two Years Ago: Loaded Potato Soup
Three Years Ago: Apple-Cranberry Crumble
Four Years Ago: Pumpkin cookies with Chocolate chunks & How to roast a sugar pumpkin
Five Years Ago: Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter Cookies
Six Years Ago: French Toast Cupcakes

Tailgating Time! - Ice Cream Pizza

Are you ready for some TAILGATING!?!???!!  Personally, I'm not really a football fan. I'm pretty sure my apathetic feelings for football come from being a child in Buffalo during the 1990's. While I don't really care for the sport, I'm all about tailgating. Actually, you can convince me to attend any sporting event as long as you promise me food.

Want me to attend a baseball game? Buy me a salty soft pretzel. Your favorite team playing a hockey game tonight? Get me some nachos and I'll watch happily. Football? Invite me to your tailgate party and I'll dress in your team colors.

Over the next two weeks I am teaming up with Perry's Ice Cream to celebrate the beginning of football season with ice cream and tailgating treats! While ice cream might not be the most common tailgating treat, Buffalo fans are used to freezing temperatures and snow! Perry's created their newest flavor - Sundae at the Ralph - with vanilla ice cream, peanut butter footballs, chocolate swirls and red and blue sprinkles! It's so Buffalo.

Watching the game from home? You can prepare this ice cream pizza for your friends and let them choose their own toppings. Not in the WNY region and can't get your hands on Perry's? Simply use your favorite brand of vanilla ice cream and sprinkle on some candies in your teams colors.

Not a Buffalonian and wondering why it's called "Sundae at the Ralph"? Well, The Ralph is our football stadium! Or at least it was until about a week ago, when it turned into New Era Field. I don't know how I feel about the change...

Disclaimer - As a member of Perry's Ice Cream "Inside Scoopers" team, I receive samples of seasonal ice cream flavors. I receive no other compensation for recipe development and posts. I only work with brands that I love and as a hometown Buffalo girl, Perry's is in my blood!

One Year Ago: Homemade Snickers Bars
Two Years Ago: Watermelon Mallomars
Three Years Ago: Faux Fudge Rounds
Four Years Ago: Homemade Coconut milk & chili sauce
Five Years Ago: Congo Bars
Six Years Ago: Peanut Butter Pancakes

Celebration Cupcakes

I'm constantly on the hunt for the perfect chocolate cupcake recipe. I think this one comes pretty close to perfect! The cake is soft and fluffy. The flavor is rich, with the perfect combination of chocolate and coffee. They bake up round and don't fall when cooling. I think I've found my new favorite chocolate cake!

I've called them celebration cupcakes simply because they make me so happy! The fluffy, white marshmallow frosting paired with the shiny chocolate drizzle and colorful sprinkles make this cupcake the perfect one to bring to any special event. Even though they look like they took all day long, each component of the cupcakes comes together really fast! 

I made the cupcakes while my lunch was heating up in the microwave. The frosting requires a bit of attention to heat the eggs, but then you toss it in the stand mixer and walk away. The chocolate glaze is as simple and melt, mix and drizzle.  Trust me, you can make these treats in under two hours. If you have helpers, you can probably knock them out in an hour!

I don't really have anything special to celebrate right now, so I'm sending these cupcakes to work with the boyfriend! Otherwise, I'll eat the entire batch. Maybe in a few weeks we'll have something to celebrate in the Wilde household. Until then, I'll try to eat healthy this summer and keep my cupcake consumption down to one per day!

One year ago: Celebration Sprinkle Cake
Two years ago: Neapolitan Cake
Three years ago: Momofuku Celebration Cake
Four years ago: PB&J Mallomars
Five years ago: Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches

Summer has unofficially arrived! I had planned to post these treats a week ago, but silly work got in the way. I was off in Chicago for a conference and completely neglected to share these before I left. Thankfully photos don't go bad and these ice cream sandwiches will be amazing all summer long.

I made something similar last year, but with a different brownie recipe. This recipe (inspired by Cookies & Cups) worked so much better for this purpose! The thin brownies are soft and chewy and perfect to eat right out of the freezer. No need to wait before diving in with your face! 

As per usual, I only celebrate summer with Perry's Ice cream. These brownie ice cream sandwiches were made with the new summer flavor - Deep Sea Treasure. It's caramel ice cream with salted caramel swirls and chocolate bits and paired really well with the sweet and chocolaty brownies. If you aren't in the Perry's Ice Cream shipping zone (Western NY & PA), you can fill these brownies with your favorite flavor. I can't imagine a flavor of ice cream that wouldn't pair well in this recipe. 

I cut the recipe into six ice cream sandwiches and thought they were a little bit big. You might want to cut the slab of browniewich into eight bars when making these yourself. If you want an even thinner layer of brownie, try making them in a 10x15-inch sheet pan! 

You can personalize these browniewiches in so many ways. Add chocolate chips to the brownies! Dunk them in chocolate magic shell! Roll the edges in chocolate sprinkles! Make them your own and then share them with your favorite people. 

Disclaimer - As a part of Perry's Ice Cream Inside Scooper team, I received several pints of the new summer ice cream flavors. I have been a fan of Perry's ever since I was a kid in school. I only work with brands that I love and enjoy and all opinions are my own. Other than free ice cream, I receive no compensation for posting.

One Year Ago: Grasshopper Pie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Three Years Ago: Momofuku Celebration Cake
Four Years Ago: Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes (These are amazing, you should make these too!)
Five Years Ago: Coconut Joys

Vegan Sponge Candy

I have been meaning to test out a vegan sponge candy for years. Many friends and family are either vegetarian or vegan and cannot enjoy the deliciousness of sponge candy. Most candies out there don't have this problem, but my version of sponge candy requires gelatin for proper aeration. It took a few tries to get the candy close to the original. I have a few tweaks left to try, but I wanted to share this first success with you.

The bubbles in this vegan sponge candy are a little larger than in my traditional sponge candy. I am still doing a bit of scientific research into the difference in the protein structures of agar agar and gelatin, but it seems that the agar agar protein is not a strong as the gelatin protein. The bubbles in the vegan version are more akin to that of a Violet Crumble or Crunchie candy bar. It's still delicious, just not quite as smooth!

To make this GMO-free, I used French glucose that was prepared from wheat (This brand). Generally, all corn syrup that is produced in the US is made using GMO corn. As a chemist, I have no problem using GMO-derived corn syrup. Chemically, the corn syrup from GMO or non-GMO corn is exactly the same. The DNA of the corn will have no effect on the corn syrup product. However, if you do not want to support GMOs, use the wheat glucose! It's definitely more expensive, but glucose has so many uses in candy-making and baking.

Since this is a vegan version, I decided to coat my candy in orange chocolate! I melted a package of semi-sweet chocolate chips, added 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 teaspoon orange extract. This is a small batch of sponge candy, just the perfect amount to be able to make and eat it in less than 1 week. Keeping the candy around for any longer is tricky in high humidity. Sponge candy tends to melt when it meets too much water.  

Full disclosure - Since I coated the candy in semi-sweet chocolate, it wasn't completely vegan. There was milk in the chocolate! Vegan friends, you know your options when it comes to vegan chocolate. Simply go with a vegan chocolate for the coating.

All my vegan and vegetarian friends, you can now enjoy some traditional Buffalo Sponge Candy!

Once Year Ago: Homemade Oreo Cookies
Two Years Ago: Potato, Spinach & Asparagus Quiche with Cumin
Three Years Ago: Granola Cookie Wedges
Four Years Ago: Gorgonzola Soup
Five Years Ago: Banana Mallow Cups

J@H - Tootsie Roll Pops

I have been putting off this recipe for long enough. I knew how to make all of the components, it was just getting up the nerve to put them all together! Now that I've made these bad boys, I am so upset with myself for procrastinating!

With no further delay, please enjoy...

That's right. Tootsie roll pops! Chocolate taffy shrouded in a thick coating of hard candy. Did you ever think that you could make these at home?

I'm not going to say that this is the easiest thing to make at home. You definitely need to block some time and set aside any fear you have of boiling sugar. This is actually two recipes that need to be combined into one - chocolate taffy and grape hard candy. You can get fancy and buy a lollipop mold, but I decided to go a little more free form with my candies. That is why they are flat on one side.

The candy to taffy ratio is a little different with my lollipops - there is a lot more taffy in these than in a store-bought Tootsie pop. I recommend using high quality baker's chocolate and highly concentrated candy oil. With those two ingredients you will get the most richly flavored candies possible. 

How do these compare to the originals? Personally, I think they're way better. Give them a try! With all of the flavor possibilities of taffy and hard candy, I'm thinking of making a summertime version of these - Cherry lollipops with vanilla taffy anyone?

One Year Ago: Chocolate Peep Cakes
Two Years Ago: Potato, spinach & asparagus Quiche with Cumin
Three Years Ago: Granola Cookie Wedges

Four Years Ago: Cookie Dough Fudge

Five Years Ago:  Cookie Dough Eggrolls

Peanut Butter Fudge

I love making candy, but I really hate making fudge. Traditional, stove-top fudge that is. The quick and easy fudge that you make with marshmallow fluff and chocolate is no problem. That stuff I can whip up with no problems. Starting with sugar and corn syrup is a little trickier. I either wind up with a sticky mess or a dry and crumbly block of sugar.

By making my way through the CIA candy cookbook, I am hoping that I will hone my fudge making skills.  There are eight fudge recipes in the book (I made one years ago) and I think my results are getting better with each attempt.

While this peanut butter fudge was not my favorite, in terms of flavor, the texture came out really well. Like all other candy recipes that I make, I couldn't eat more than a single piece. This stuff is really sweet! If you aren't a fan of molasses, you might want to find another peanut butter fudge recipe. The flavor is mild, but definitely noticeable.

To keep myself from eating it all and avoid having to spend my entire weekend at the gym, I sent the rest of the fudge to work with the boyfriend. It took his coworkers about three days to finish the batch. Share the wealth (and the calories) most people will be happy to help out!

One Year Ago: Homemade Marshmallow Peeps
Two Years Ago: Portuguese Sweet Bread
Three Years Ago: Momofuku Confetti Cookies
Four Years Ago: Homemade Buffalo Sauce
Five Years Ago: Balsamic BBQ Chicken

J@H - Moon Pies

Continuing with my quest to finish my 2015 challenge, I bring you Homemade Moon Pies!

Now, I'm not really sure what part of the country you find moon pies. I feel like they are not a nationwide snack. I managed to locate one at my local Foodtown and was able to taste test the original.

What Did I think? Blech, not terribly impressive. To be perfectly honest, it wasn't at all what I was expecting. The only version of the Moon Pie that I could locate was a vanilla, double-decker version. Thankfully I only bought one, rather than an entire box, because they would have all gone to waste.

Making a homemade version of this treat was going to be easy. Bake some graham cracker rounds, fill them with marshmallow and cover them in chocolate. That was right up my alley, I'm old hat at making marshmallows and I love coating things in chocolate. I went to my favorite vanilla marshmallow recipe and made a small change to my graham cracker recipe. The whole thing came together pretty quickly.

These homemade Moon Pies were so much tastier than the store-bought version. The recipe made about 24 sandwich cookies. I ate about half of them without the chocolate coating and shared the completed cookies with my friends. They were amazing both ways! You should definitely think about making your own moon pies before picking them up at the store.


One Year Ago: Girl Scout Samoa Cookies
Two Years Ago: Cookie Dough Stuffed Chocolate Cupcakes
Three Years Ago: Cherry Kuchen Bars
Four Years Ago: Cherry-Coconut Bagels
Five Years Ago: Cherry Turkish Taffy

Candy Challenge 2016 - Gianduja Molds

This past weekend I enjoyed the massive East Coast snowstorm from the safety of my kitchen. While I am no stranger to snow, having grown up in Buffalo, NY, absolutely nothing was open and there was no where to go. The majority of shops and restaurants closed in advance of the storm and didn't open until late on Sunday. I decided it was the perfect time to make some chocolates and prepare for Valentine's Day!

I am not a huge fan of making molded candies. They are just too much work in my opinion. I would rather make a truffle or marshmallow, something a little more rustic looking. I always make a giant mess when I make molded candies, this batch was no different. My kitchen counter was covered in chocolate.

While the process was a pain in the butt, the final product was totally worth it. These candies are really good! If you are a chocolate and peanut butter fan, then you should give these candies a try.

Time to mark up one candy on my 2016 challenge list!

One Year Ago: Gingered Chicken Stir Fry
Two Years Ago: Bacony Chicken
Three Years Ago: Fudgy Waffles
Four Years Ago: Soft Pretzels
Five Years Ago: Chocolate & Peanut butter Mousse Entremet

J@H - Brownie Donuts with Peanut Butter Glaze

I have been looking forward to making my own donuts all year. Yes, I realize that I could have made donuts at any time, but it's been a crazy year and I haven't made breakfast once this year. I really need to make myself some French Toast this weekend.

A few years ago, I made a classic fried donut. This time I decided to go with a healthier cooking option and baked them. Rather than going completely healthy, I packed these with chocolate and covered them in peanut butter.

These donuts are dense and chocolatey, I can't responsibly tell you to eat these for breakfast.  I would suggest that you should make these and have them for dessert under a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I think that I need to make another batch of donuts. Something that is a little lighter and more breakfast appropriate. Maybe something packed with oranges or bananas?

Who am I kidding? These are delicious and probably just as good for you as having Pop Tarts for breakfast! The peanut butter frosting is the perfect topping to these dense brownie donuts. Get yourself a whole bunch of chocolate and butter and make these donuts! Then bring them to work and make all your coworkers happy (and fat).

One Year Ago: Loaded Potato Soup
Two Years Ago: Halloween Mallomars
Three Years Ago: Butternut Squash Cake
Four Years Ago: Pumpkin Raisin Muffins
Five Years Ago: Pear Cake with Pine Nuts

OXO Good Cookie - No-Bake Cookies

Today I am partnering with Oxo and this blog post is dedicated to Cookies for Kids Cancer. In my professional life I work in oncology research and see the impact that cancer has on not only the patient, but all the people in their circle. The organization Cookies for Kids Cancer raises funds for research to develop new, improved treatments for pediatric cancer. As a researcher, I could spend this entire post talking about the genetic drivers of pediatric cancer, but instead we are going to discuss how cookies can help.

The OXO Good Cookies program is partnering up with bloggers this month to raise awareness about pediatric cancers. For each blog post, OXO donates $100 to Cookies for Kids Cancer! In addition to this, OXO has brought out a special line of bakeware to help support the cause. Look for OXO products with the Cookies for Kids Cancer logo. For each item purchased, they will donate $0.25 to the cause. Specifically, you can get this adorable cookie spatula! For this recipe I used their non-stick half sheet pan, medium cookie scoop and cookie spatula.

I was happy to join the cause this month and create a blog post about cookies. There was only one problem - my oven. Since we bought our house last year, the oven has been acting up. Specifically, the controller board for the oven has been randomly shutting off. This first happened just before Thanksgiving last year. We were able to fiddle with it and it would turn back on, until last month it finally died. What to do? Make no-bake cookies!

These cookies take about five minutes to make, especially with use of the cookie dough scoop. There are just three steps - 1. Bring sugar syrup to a boil  2. Stir in oats and flavors 3. Scoop out cookies.

Seriously, it's that easy. Once that's done you just need to walk away for 30 minutes! These are the easiest cookies to make, especially when you have no oven!

Be sure to get involved in aiding research for pediatric cancer. You can either buy OXO products, donate directly to the fund or even host a cookie sway of your own! Every cent helps with research in the field and those cents add up to improved survival for the patients.

One Year Ago: Rigatoni with Pepperoni, mozzarella & arugula
Two Years Ago: Dulce de Leche cookies
Three Years Ago: Apple Pie Ice Cream Topping
Four Years Ago: Caramel Brownies
Five Years Ago: Thin Mint Ice Cream

Disclaimer - OXO provided me with a set of bakeware to use in this blog post.

• Cookies for Kids' Cancer is a recognized 501c(3) public charity duly incorporated under the laws of the state of New Jersey. Your donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. 100% of proceeds raised by Cookies for Kids' Cancer fund pediatric cancer research.
• OXO will be donating $100 to Cookies for Kids’ Cancer for each blog post dedicated to this campaign in October (up to our $100,000 commitment*.)
• *In 2015, OXO will donate up to $100,000 to Cookies for Kids' Cancer through product proceeds, bake sale matches and other fundraising efforts