Tag: vanilla

Categories
Cookies

‘Espresso’ yourself with some great chocolate cookies

Chocolate espresso cookies are an excellent treat for those who like their chocolate a little bitter and their cookies just a bit less sweet. They pair really well with a good cup of coffee.
Chocolate espresso cookies are an excellent treat for those who like their chocolate a little bitter and their cookies just a bit less sweet. They pair really well with a good cup of coffee.

When I was a kid, Hershey’s sold powder for chocolate milk in brown, kind of rectangular containers.

I loved (well, love) chocolate milk, and I remember a specific day where I was snooping through the cabinets, seeing what I could find, and there I spotted it: a brown, rectangular-ish container, emblazoned with “Hershey’s” in big, bold letters.

I was elated.

I filled a big glass with milk and climbed up on the counter to reach the sacred container, located clear up on the shelf, next to Mom’s baking spices.

I dumped several big spoonfuls of the powder into my glass, and I have to admit, I was a little confused when it didn’t mix in very well at first, but I didn’t care: I was ready for a glass of chocolate milk.

And that was the day that I discovered that Hershey’s sold both their chocolate milk powder and their baking cocoa in very similar containers. And that was one of the only times in my life I didn’t even try to finish a glass of “chocolate milk.”

Nowadays, I’m still sure I wouldn’t enjoy baking cocoa mixed with my milk, but I do love bitter, dark chocolate, and boy, oh, boy, did this week’s recipe really scratch that itch.

This comes from the blog “Bakers Brigade.” You can find the original post at https://www.bakersbrigade.com/recipe/chewy-chocolate-espresso-cookies/. I added extra vanilla in my version.

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Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Chocolate espresso cookies are an excellent treat for those who like their chocolate a little bitter and their cookies just a bit less sweet. They pair really well with a good cup of coffee.
Course Dessert
Keyword cocoa powder, cookie exchange, espresso powder, instant coffee, molasses, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons butter melted and cooled
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 teaspoons espresso powder or instant coffee
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • sugar for rolling cookies

Instructions

  • Add the melted butter, cocoa and molasses to a mixing bowl and stir until everything is well combined.
  • Add the sugar, egg, vanilla and espresso powder and stir again. Finally, mix in the flour, baking soda and salt.
  • Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add some sugar to a small bowl, scoop the dough by the tablespoon-full and coat the balls in sugar.
  • Place the cookies at least two inches apart on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the centers set and are starting to crack.
  • Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

These weren’t as coffee-forward as I expected, but the combination of the espresso, molasses and chocolate gave these a pleasant bitterness, with just the right amount of sweetness. They’re chewy and would be great alongside a cup of coffee.

Or maybe a glass of cold milk.

Just be careful if you decide to mix in some chocolate. Not all powders are made the same.

This piece first appeared in print May 7, 2026.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

There’s no doubt you should cobble together dessert this week

Carrot cake cobbler is like taking a carrot cake and marrying it with a pecan pie, and its warm spices and gooey filling demand a big scoop of vanilla ice cream for serving.
Carrot cake cobbler is like taking a carrot cake and marrying it with a pecan pie, and its warm spices and gooey filling demand a big scoop of vanilla ice cream for serving.

If you didn’t know, we recently celebrated the first-ever “Local News Day” on April 9.

The effort to observe local journalists around the country came from a push in Montana. In Newton, we had a small, but mighty, group of community members who stood outside our office with signs, touting the importance of having a local newspaper. It was really neat.

What the newsroom also really appreciated was the group very kindly dropped a bunch of delicious goodies at the office, as well.

My favorite? Some carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

I absolutely adore carrot cake.

Ironically, that particular cake is the inspiration for the recipe I’m sharing with you this week for a really easy cobbler. It takes all the flavors of carrot cake and combines them with a pecan pie for an excellent dessert that must absolutely be enjoyed with a big scoop of ice cream.

This comes from the blog “The Salty Cooker.” You can find the original post at https://thesaltycooker.com/carrot-cake-cobbler-with-caramel-pecan-filling/. I added extra spices in my version.

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Carrot Cake Cobbler

Carrot cake cobbler is like taking a carrot cake and marrying it with a pecan pie, and its warm spices and gooey filling demand a big scoop of vanilla ice cream for serving.
Course Dessert
Keyword allspice, brown sugar, buttermilk, carrots, cinnamon, cloves, cobbler, dark corn syrup, Easter, easy dessert, ginger, nutmeg, pecans, shredded carrots, vanilla

Ingredients

Filling Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups dark corn syrup
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups pecans chopped

Cobbler Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter cold
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk I used milk with a touch of vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups carrots shredded

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a seven-by-10-inch baking dish, and set it aside.
  • For the filling, in a large bowl, whisk the eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice and salt until it’s well-combined. Stir in the pecans, and pour the mixture into the baking dish.
  • In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt and stir to combine.
  • Cut in the butter with a fork or pastry cutter until it’s well incorporated. Stir in the buttermilk, vanilla and carrots, just until it’s combined.
  • Drop scoops of the cobbler mixture evenly over the top of the filling (there will be some gaps).
  • Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the filling bubbles around the edges.
  • Rest for at least 10 minutes before serving.
  • Serve warm or room temperature, along with some vanilla ice cream.

We had this for our family Easter celebration. It was really, really good. The warm spices, along with the texture of the filling and the cobbler topping, just took it over the top.

And it was a lot less work than creating a whole cake or a batch of carrot cake muffins, which were—by the way—a great addition to the newsroom, not only because the reporters all love snacks but also because I didn’t share a single bit of this cobbler with any of them.

This piece first appeared in print April 16, 2026.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Don’t be ‘choco’late to the party if you want a chance at these brownies

These chocolate ganache gooey brownies feature a thick, chocolate topping with a hint of peanut butter, on top of dark-chocolate-laden cake-y brownies to provide a sinfully decadent dessert.
These chocolate ganache gooey brownies feature a thick, chocolate topping with a hint of peanut butter, on top of dark-chocolate-laden cake-y brownies to provide a sinfully decadent dessert.

In past years, January and February have felt like reset months for us.

Things slow down, activities are fewer, and it’s time to catch our breaths.

Not so this year. Last week, Joey and I were honored to be invited to speak at the Kentucky Press Association’s annual conference, and we ended up spending an extra day out of town, thanks to the deluge of snow, and while I might have normally been tempted to phone in my column this week, due to a lack of time, that simply wasn’t possible.

I have a dessert auction counting on me.

Well, OK, so it’s not really counting on me, but I promised Peace Connections in Newton that I would provide a dessert for their annual auction next week, and I was not about to disappoint.

I needed to find something that would be delicious and look darn tempting to drive up the bids for a great cause. Enter some chewy, decadent brownies.

This comes from the blog “Georgina Eliza.” You can find the original post at https://georginaeliza.co.uk/2022/09/23/chocolate-ganache-gooey-brownies/. I converted everything into U.S. measurements, and I added extra vanilla and chocolate in my version.

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Chocolate Ganache Gooey Brownies

These chocolate ganache gooey brownies feature a thick, chocolate topping with a hint of peanut butter, on top of dark-chocolate-laden cake-y brownies to provide a sinfully decadent dessert.
Course Dessert
Keyword brownies, chocolate ganache, cocoa powder, creamy peanut butter, dark chocolate, dessert auction, peanut butter, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 8 1/4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla
  • 16 ounces dark chocolate chips divided
  • 1 1/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Grease an eight-by-eight-inch baking pan, and set it aside.
  • Add the butter to a saucepan, and heat over low heat. When the butter is melted, add the sugar, milk and vanilla, stirring regularly until the sugar is dissolved, and then stir in half of the chocolate chips, stirring until the chocolate is melted.
  • Meanwhile, add the flour, salt and cocoa powder to a mixing bowl, and stir to combine.
  • Add in the chocolate mixture, and stir until everything is well combined, and pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly.
  • Bake for 20 minutes or until the top of the brownies looks set and crackled. (The brownies are meant to stay a bit gooey.)
  • Set the brownies aside to cool completely.
  • When they’re cooled, add the rest of the chocolate chips to a small saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring regularly, until the chocolate is melted. Stir in the peanut butter until everything is smooth, and pour it over the brownies, spreading evenly.
  • Put the brownies in the fridge until the topping sets up, and then store them in an airtight container.

These were fabulous. They were dense and chewy and would be awesome with a bowl of ice cream or a good cup of coffee.

They would also be a wonderful dessert to bid on to support Peace Connections on Thursday, Feb. 5, at Salem United Methodist Church, 115 Old Main St., Newton. The soup dinner is by donation and starts at 5:30 p.m. The dessert auction will begin at 6:15 p.m.

If you want more information about this awesome group, visit their website at https://www.peaceconnections.org/. They do a lot of good to help a lot of people in the area each year.

And if you’re like me, and your 2026 is already insanely busy, what better way to take something off your to do list than not having to make dinner yourself on Feb. 5?

This piece first appeared in print Jan. 29, 2026.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Try as you ‘maple,’ you can’t avoid these delicious bars forever

Maple apple pie bars combine the sweetness of apples with maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon to create a delicious dessert, worthy of enjoying alongside a hot cup of coffee.
Maple apple pie bars combine the sweetness of apples with maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon to create a delicious dessert, worthy of enjoying alongside a hot cup of coffee.

I generally make the exact same New Year’s resolution each year.

Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure my resolution messes up some of your resolutions, so I’ll apologize in advance for the calorie-laden recipes that will continue to grace my column in the coming months.

It’s necessary, though, in order for me to meet my ultimate goal: cleaning out my fridge, pantry and freezer.

Throughout the year, I tend to collect all kinds of random ingredients, from those that are leftover from experiments to things I find on the sale shelf and can’t leave there—just in case the perfect recipe comes along

The first item to exit my freezer in the spirit of a new year? A plastic bag of peeled and diced Granny Smith apples.

I bought a huge bag of apples months ago, because it was being clearanced out, and I couldn’t pass them up. So here they are, now in all their unhealthy glory.

This comes from the blog “A Latte Food.” You can find the original post at https://www.alattefood.com/maple-glazed-apple-blondies/. I added extra vanilla and cinnamon in my version.

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Maple Apple Pie Bars

Maple apple pie bars combine the sweetness of apples with maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla and cinnamon to create a delicious dessert, worthy of enjoying alongside a hot cup of coffee.
Course Dessert
Keyword apples, bar cookies, brown sugar, cinnamon, fall dessert, glaze, Granny Smith apples, maple syrup, powdered sugar, vanilla

Ingredients

Filling Ingredients

  • 2 large apples diced (I used Granny Smiths)
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

Bar Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Prepare an 11-by-seven-inch baking pan (I actually used an eight-by-eight) by spraying it with cooking spray, and set it aside.
  • For the filling, combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan, and heat over medium-low, stirring regularly. Once it comes up to temp and the butter and sugar are melted together, cook for another three or four minutes, and then set it aside to cool.
  • For the bar layer, cream the butter, brown sugar and regular sugar together. Beat until everything is combined and the mixture is light and fluffy.
  • Beat in each egg, one at a time, and then beat in the salt and vanilla.
  • Finally, beat in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon until the dough is well combined.
  • Spread half of the dough evenly into your prepared pan.
  • Spread the apple filling evenly over the dough layer.
  • Spread the other half of the dough on top of that. (This is easier said than done. I ended up doing rough dollops all over the top and lightly spreading them out with a scraper. Don’t worry about not getting 100-percent coverage.)
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Let the bars cool while you make your glaze.
  • Add the butter, syrup, vanilla and cinnamon to a saucepan and heat it over low heat, stirring regularly. Once everything is melted and well-combined, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar until all of the lumps are gone. (You can speed that process up by sifting the sugar into the pan.)
  • Allow the glaze to cool for about 10 minutes so that it thickens, and then pour it over the bars. Once the glaze and the bars are fully cooled, slice them and serve.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container.

These were delicious. They were soft and flavorful. I love the combination of maple, cinnamon and apples, and these bars were a great dessert to share with friends.

I’m sorry if these sugar-filled, delicious bars mess with any of your resolutions going into 2026. But if it’s any consolation, there is a really nice empty space in my freezer.

This piece first appeared in print Jan. 8, 2026.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Fudge recipe is one in a million holiday treat

Million dollar fudge is a rich treat, made with fluffy marshmallow crème and featuring lots of crunchy walnuts to create a wonderful texture.
Million dollar fudge is a rich treat, made with fluffy marshmallow crème and featuring lots of crunchy walnuts to create a wonderful texture.

Over the years, I have had a few kitchen disasters that resulted in major cleanup afterwards.

There was the time I dropped my flour container, spilling it all over the floor.

There was another, when I accidentally turned my mixer on too high and exploded chocolate cake batter all over my backsplash and cabinets.

The worst one was knocking a two-liter of pop off the counter. That one resulted in cleaning the ceiling.

This week, it was as sudden overflow on my stovetop, burning a mixture of sugar and evaporated milk into a thick, impenetrable mess and filling the kitchen with smoke.

Luckily, that was the only part of my cooking experiment that was a disaster, as the recipe for million dollar fudge that Carolyn Doyle of Newton submitted for our holiday recipe guide turned out absolutely delicious, and as long as you keep an eye on what you’re doing, you’ll end up with an excellent holiday treat without the big mess I had.

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Million Dollar Fudge

Million dollar fudge is a rich treat, made with fluffy marshmallow crème and featuring lots of crunchy walnuts to create a wonderful texture.
Course Dessert
Keyword candy making, cookie exchange, fudge, Hershey, holiday dessert, marshmallow creme, milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate chips, vanilla, walnuts

Ingredients

  • 2 7.56- ounce Hershey bars chopped
  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 2 7- ounce jars marshmallow crème
  • 4 tablespoons margarine
  • 4 1/2 cups sugar
  • 12 ounces evaporated milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups chopped walnuts
  • whole walnuts for decorating

Instructions

  • Prepare a nine-by-13-inch baking dish by greasing it with butter. (This will give you about two-inch tall pieces. Use two dishes if you want something thinner.) Set it aside.
  • In a large, heat-proof mixing bowl, add the chopped Hershey bars, chocolate chips, marshmallow crème and margarine, and set it aside, as well.
  • In a medium-sized saucepan, add the sugar and evaporated milk, and heat it over medium-low heat, stirring regularly, until it reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees). (Be careful to watch it, because it can overflow easily.)
  • Pour the hot sugar mixture over the ingredients in the mixing bowl and beat until everything is well combined. Beat in the vanilla, and fold in the chopped walnuts.
  • Spread the mixture out evenly in your prepared pan(s), and press a whole walnut into each spot where you’ll want to cut a piece of fudge.
  • Let the fudge cool completely on the counter or in the refrigerator, and then slice into one-inch pieces.
  • Store in an airtight container.

This was extremely rich and decadent, exactly what you want out of a holiday treat.

The inclusion of walnuts throughout the fudge adds a nice crunch, and the marshmallow fluff keeps it from being overly dense.

It’s also pretty, which makes for a great addition for a treat table or a cookie box.

And I suppose my stovetop needed a really good deep clean anyway, so maybe my sugar mess was really just the universe letting me know it was time to get to scrubbing. At least I had some excellent sugar-filled treats to enjoy while I did so.

This piece first appeared in print Dec. 25, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert

Don’t let this tasty recipe go in one ear and out the other

Raspberry lime hamantaschen has a light flavor of lime in the cookie part of the dessert and the rich flavor of raspberry jam in the filling. A traditional treat for the Jewish celebration of Purim, its pretty red color makes for a great Christmas cookie, too.
Raspberry lime hamantaschen has a light flavor of lime in the cookie part of the dessert and the rich flavor of raspberry jam in the filling. A traditional treat for the Jewish celebration of Purim, its pretty red color makes for a great Christmas cookie, too.

I have loved our new tradition of sharing holiday recipes from readers in our annual guide that inserted into our newspapers last week.

It’s so interesting to see what dishes everyone makes for their own friends and families this time of year.

One dish that really intrigued me came from Rachel Hindle of Yoder. It was for hamantaschen, something I wasn’t familiar with, but it sounded delicious. (Despite the fact that we messed up and put the wrong ingredients list in the holiday guide. Sorry, Rachel. Don’t worry, everyone, you’re getting it here.)

I decided to look up what hamantaschen is, and while there are several stories about its origin (read the article on the Anu Museum’s website for a deep dive), the most common is that the name comes from an evil character in the Book of Esther named Haman.

In the story, Haman sets out to try to get the king to destroy the Jews, but Esther, the queen, swoops in and saves the day.

Now, many Jews enjoy hamantaschen, or “Haman’s ears,” on Purim, a celebration of Esther’s bravery.

But these are also going to be a delicious addition to your Christmas treat table, so be sure to save this one for later.

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Raspberry Lime Hamantaschen

Raspberry lime hamantaschen has a light flavor of lime in the cookie part of the dessert and the rich flavor of raspberry jam in the filling. A traditional treat for the Jewish celebration of Purim, its pretty red color makes for a great Christmas cookie, too.
Course Dessert
Keyword Christmas cookie, cookie exchange, easy cookies, fresh lime, holiday cookie, lime zest, Purim treats, raspberry jam, raspberry preserves, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 sticks butter room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 egg room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons water if needed
  • 3/4 cup red raspberry jam

Instructions

  • Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla extract and lime zest; beat to combine.
  • Add flour and salt; beat until combined and crumbly. Knead the dough into a smooth ball (if the dough is too dry, add water, one teaspoon at a time. Be careful that the dough does not become sticky).
  • Form the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for about 30 minutes until the dough is firm enough to roll; chilling for too long will make the dough hard to roll out.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Lightly flour a smooth surface; roll dough out to 1/4-inch thick. Dust with flour and flip. Roll out more, if needed.
  • Using a cookie cutter or other round object about three inches in diameter, stamp out cookies. Lay cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
  • Place about one teaspoon of jam in the center of each cookie. Fold each circle inward on three sides to enclose the jam, forming a triangle with a small opening in the center. Pinch the corners and smooth out the seams to ensure the jam doesn’t leak out.
  • Bake for about 18 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies are light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

“The original version of this recipe came from a magazine and turned out to be so good that I make these cookies at least once a year for Christmas,” Rachel wrote when she sent this in.

I see why. They are a pretty cookie, even though several of mine overflowed a bit. (In my normal enthusiasm, I may have added rounded teaspoons of jam.)

I don’t think these really look like ears—or at least it’s a pretty loose interpretation—but I do love the idea of honoring Esther’s faith with a delicious cookie, whether it’s during the March celebration of Purim or during the Christmas season. Either way, these are best eaten alongside a good cup of coffee or cocoa and a great group of friends.

This piece first appeared in print Dec. 4, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Make a pie that feels like it’s payday every day

Featuring salty peanuts, along with a peanut butter and marshmallow base and homemade caramel on top, this pie, inspired by Payday candy bars, is a must for any peanut lover.
Featuring salty peanuts, along with a peanut butter and marshmallow base and homemade caramel on top, this pie, inspired by Payday candy bars, is a must for any peanut lover.

One of my duties as a speech and debate coach over the years was hosting weekend tournaments.

And part of that duty was organizing a concession stand to feed all of the students who came.

That meant buying what felt like a heinous amount of hot dogs, chips and candy, along with tons of pop and bottled water. Since I only played host once in the fall and once in the spring, I tried to balance buying enough to keep everyone satisfied with not buying so much that I had tons of leftovers to contend with.

One leftover that always baffled me, though, was in the candy bar category. Kids would snap up the Snickers and Reese’s, and even the plain Hershey’s bars, but if there were Baby Ruths or Paydays in there, they were inevitably still left over at the end of the day.

And while it’s OK that all those kids were horribly wrong, it doesn’t mean that you and I need to be, which is why, this week, I’m presenting one of the most sinful desserts I’ve made of late: a Payday-inspired pie.

This comes from the blog “House of Nash Eats” by Amy Nash. You can find her original post at https://houseofnasheats.com/payday-pie/. The only thing I added was some extra salt and some extra peanuts in my version.

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Payday Pie

Featuring salty peanuts, along with a peanut butter and marshmallow base and homemade caramel on top, this pie, inspired by Payday candy bars, is a must for any peanut lover.
Course Dessert
Keyword butter, caramel, heavy cream, mini marshmallows, Payday, peanut butter chips, peanuts, sweet and salty, sweetened condensed milk, Thanksgiving pie, vanilla

Ingredients

Bottom Layer Ingredients

  • 1 unbaked pie crust for a nine-inch pan
  • 10 ounces peanut butter baking chips
  • 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large pinch of salt
  • 2 cups miniature marshmallows

Top Layer Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups dry-roasted peanuts
  • coarse or flaked sea salt to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Place your unbaked pie crust into a nine-inch pie tin, crimp the edges and then prick the bottom all over with a fork.
  • Place a sheet of parchment paper into the crust to line it and fill it with pie weights or dry beans.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, and then carefully remove the parchment paper and weights, and bake for another 15 minutes or until the crust is golden.
  • Set it aside to cool.
  • In a saucepan, add the peanut butter chips, sweetened condensed milk, butter and salt and heat over medium heat. Stir regularly until everything is melted together.
  • Add in the marshmallows, and continue stirring until they melt into the mixture.
  • Pour the mixture into the prepared crust.
  • Evenly sprinkle all of the peanuts on top of the filling, and set the pie aside.
  • For the final layer, add just the sugar to a small pot and heat it over medium, stirring constantly. The sugar will melt and turn amber. At that point, add the butter, and stir until it is melted.
  • Carefully pour in the heavy cream, and let the mixture cook, still stirring constantly, for another minute on the heat.
  • Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Let the mixture cool for at least five minutes before pouring evenly over top of the peanuts.
  • Refrigerate for about four hours or until the pie is cooled through. Before serving, sprinkle the top with coarse or flaked salt, to taste.
  • Store leftovers in an airtight container.

This was so dense that it was actually a little tough to slice, but I take that as a sign of greatness. The pie was peanut-buttery and sweet, with plenty of salt to balance it all out. It really was much like eating a candy bar.

And if my small amount of market research is any indicator, you might not have to share this dessert with any teenagers in your life.

No promises, though, and I’d recommend having a secret stash of Snickers bars to distract them, just in case.

This piece first appeared in print Oct. 23, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Cookies Dessert Snack

Bake a ‘cinn’sational treat to celebrate autumn weather

Cinnamon chip oatmeal blondies have a crisp bottom, with chewy middles and highlight the warmth of cinnamon and earthiness of grains. They would make for a great addition to any fall snack table.
Cinnamon chip oatmeal blondies have a crisp bottom, with chewy middles and highlight the warmth of cinnamon and earthiness of grains. They would make for a great addition to any fall snack table.

In 2024, the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University released a study about the ongoing popularity of pumpkin spice lattes.

Apparently, according to their study, apple spice was starting to edge out pumpkin on the popularity scale last year, but companies were still churning out all kinds of pumpkin-spice-themed products for the season.

I don’t know if Montclair reprised the study for 2025, but what I know I can get behind is the common denominator between both pumpkin and apple spice anything: cinnamon.

As a general rule, I view cinnamon as a year-round addition in my baking, but now that we’re having some crisper days, it’s on my radar even more.

Plus, I had a bag of cinnamon baking chips taking up space in my freezer, and with a gathering at the office on the calendar, it seemed like the perfect time to use them up.

The recipe I’m sharing with you comes from the blog “Keep it Sweet Desserts” by Lauren Lilling. You can find her original post at https://www.keepitsweetdesserts.com/cinnamon-chip-oatmeal-blondies/. I loved her amount of vanilla, but I did decide to add some cinnamon in my version and only used one bag of cinnamon chips.

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Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Blondies

Cinnamon chip oatmeal blondies have a crisp bottom, with chewy middles and highlight the warmth of cinnamon and earthiness of grains. They would make for a great addition to any fall snack table.
Course Dessert, Snacks
Keyword blondies, brown sugar, cinnamon, cinnamon baking chips, cinnamon chips, fall dessert, oatmeal, old-fashioned oats, quick oats, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter
  • 3 cups brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cup old-fashioned or quick oats
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 10 ounces cinnamon baking chips

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-13-inch baking dish by lining it with parchment paper, and set it aside.
  • Add the butter and brown sugar to a saucepan and heat over medium, stirring constantly until the mixture is melted and smooth. Remove it from the heat, and set it aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla, and then beat in the butter/sugar mixture until smooth. Stir in the flour, oats, salt, cinnamon and baking powder until it is just combined, and then fold in the cinnamon chips.
  • Transfer the batter to your prepared pan, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Let the bars cool before slicing, and store them in an airtight container.

These got rave reviews at our office party. I didn’t pack up a single one at the end of the night.

The bottoms were crisp, and the rest of the bars were soft, creating a great texture combo. And I was especially happy with the addition of the cinnamon in addition to the baking chips. I think it gave the whole blondie a little more warmth. And the oatmeal was a nice flavor addition, too.

I’ll have to put these on rotation for holiday snack tables this year.

Because although the pumpkin spice study claimed that people are experiencing a bit of fatigue with the flavor, since it’s been popping up all over the place, hopefully we can all agree that cinnamon is timeless. We don’t need a study to tell us that one.

This piece first appeared in print Oct. 9, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Sometimes it pays to give memories a fair ‘cake’

Mom’s chocolate cake is extremely moist and always receives rave reviews at gatherings. On top of that, it’s easy to make.
Mom’s chocolate cake is extremely moist and always receives rave reviews at gatherings. On top of that, it’s easy to make.

It’s amazing how memory works.

There are so many experiences from my childhood that seemed so big, so awesome, so magical, and once I experienced them again as an adult, I realized that those were better left as cherished memories than something to revisit.

I remember, for example, taking Joey to see Coronado Heights near Lindsborg for a day trip. I told him all about the castle on the hill and was excited to go back.

And yes, while the view is spectacular from the top, I will say that the towering walls of my memory weren’t quite the same ones I saw years later.

Food can be that way, too. The colored sugar water in plastic barrels I remember enjoying as a child just aren’t all that satisfying to my grown up palate.

But then there are foods that really do live up to the hype. For me, that’s my mom’s chocolate cake. I made it recently—actually I made four of them—to share with guests at our 10-year anniversary party for Harvey County Now, and based on the compliments we received, I’m not the only one who thinks it’s an amazing dessert.

Plus, the other great thing about this cake is that it’s egg- and dairy-free, for those who struggle with those foods.

So, no website for this week’s offering, just me referencing a well-worn recipe card my mom wrote for me long ago. And I didn’t make any changes to that recipe. You can’t mess with perfection, right?

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Mom’s Chocolate Cake

Mom’s chocolate cake is extremely moist and always receives rave reviews at gatherings. On top of that, it’s easy to make.
Course Dessert
Keyword chocolate cake, cocoa powder, dairy-free, dump cake, easy baking, easy cake, egg-free, moist cake, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 2/3 cup canola oil
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Grease and flour a nine-by-13-inch pan, and set it aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat all the ingredients together until the batter is smooth.
  • Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  • Let the cake cool before slicing or icing it.

This cake is so incredibly moist, that my sister and I used to riot when my mom would frost it to take to a potluck. We loved it just by itself.

And it’s the same cake Joey requested for his groom’s cake for our wedding (German chocolate icing added).

I’m sure my mom will roll her eyes when she sees how much I pontificated about her cake recipe this week. I can just hear her now, “It’s just a dump cake, guys.”

But regardless of whether or not there are some nostalgia tastebuds working their magic, this is still a darn good cake, and it’s easy to make, too.

Plus, it stands up way better than my memories of eating melty Airheads candy, peeled from my towel, at the city pool in the summer.

Some things are best left in the past.

This piece first appeared in print Sept. 11, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Make your own coffee ice cream from the ground(s) up

Dalgona coffee ice cream is based on the South Korean whipped coffee drink. It’s no churn, which makes it easy for anyone to make and enjoy.
Dalgona coffee ice cream is based on the South Korean whipped coffee drink. It’s no churn, which makes it easy for anyone to make and enjoy.

Back in college, when I decided I was going to change my major and get my teaching degree, one of my first undertakings was to learn what I deemed to be a very important teacher skill: how to drink coffee.

Growing up, the coffee maker only came out at our house if we were having company—neither of my parents really like it—so the smell of freshly brewed coffee was not part of my morning routine.

I started out with flavored coffees and lots of creamer. I would also make hot chocolate by substituting the water for hot coffee (this is delicious, if you’ve never done it).

Eventually, I tapered those additions off, and now, I enjoy black coffee all the time. It didn’t hurt that I also married into a family of coffee aficionados.

It hit me this week, though, that I missed what could have been the easiest way for me to love coffee right away: trying it in ice cream form.

This week’s recipe is a no-churn ice cream that is based on a whipped coffee that started as a street food in Busan, South Korea, called dalgona.

This comes from the blog “My Diaspora Kitchen” by Chichi Uguru. You can find the original recipe at https://www.mydiasporakitchen.com/coffee-ice-cream-dalgona-coffee-ice-cream/. My only alterations were to specify espresso powder and to use hot water to froth the coffee (you can use cold, but mine took quite awhile).

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Dalgona Coffee Ice Cream

Dalgona coffee ice cream is based on the South Korean whipped coffee drink. It’s no churn, which makes it easy for anyone to make and enjoy.
Course Dessert
Keyword coffee, dalgona, easy dessert, espresso, espresso powder, heavy cream, homemade ice cream, ice cream, instant coffee, no-churn ice cream, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon instant coffee I used espresso
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon hot water
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups heavy cream

Instructions

  • Combine the instant coffee, sugar and hot water in a mug, and using an electric beater or milk frother, beat until stiff peaks form in the coffee mixture.
  • In another bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and salt, and stir until everything is mixed well. Fold in the coffee mixture.
  • In a freezer-safe mixing bowl, beat the cream until stiff peaks form, and fold in the coffee mixture.
  • Cover the mixture with plastic wrap, and freeze until the ice cream is solid.
  • Serve with your favorite toppings. (I used chocolate-covered espresso beans and a light sprinkling of the instant espresso powder.)

Despite dalgona coffee becoming an online trend that lots of people tried during the boredom of the COVID-19 lockdown, I never made it before. I need to make a cup on its own to try it, but I can tell you that the ice cream was absolutely heavenly.

It would be perfect with some chocolate sauce or some hazelnuts on top, too. It was creamy and tasted like a great iced coffee.

If you’re not much of a coffee person, I can’t promise that this ice cream will change your mind, but if you’re one of the many teachers in the community gearing up for back-to-school season, it might not hurt to have an emergency batch in the freezer, just in case.

This piece first appeared in print Aug. 14, 2025.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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