Styling and Photography by Chay Berger
Food Prep by Leah Hamaoui
Thank you Domani Home for the lucite games featured here in this set, www.domanihome.com.

THE DESSERTS in this set aren’t complicated or fancy looking, but they’re delicious, and they hit the spot. There’s a different vibe that comes with their approachability, and it invites you to make them without hesitation. We’re thinking long-winded Friday nights, or Shabbos mornings with a strong coffee. We hope you try them and enjoy the moment!

Tip: When baking (or cooking, for that matter), line your counter top with a garbage bag. The flour messes, egg shells, and oil spills can be neatly rolled up and deposited in the garbage when you’re finished.

—Sima

Tip: If you’re a caramel lover, drizzle more caramel over the pretzels; the flavor it adds is extraordinary. But keep in mind when storing that the caramel doesn’t harden.

Mini Dessert Pizza

Pizza and dessert in one…what could be better? In this recipe, I use ready-made ingredients to make it quick and easy. Try all four options, they’re that good!

YIELDS 32 MINI PIZZAS (each filling is enough for 8 mini pizzas)

• 2 20-oz (570-g) frozen pizza doughs, completely defrosted

Maple Pecan Pizza

• ¼ cup margarine, melted
• ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ cup chopped honey-glazed pecans
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 5 Tbsp melted margarine
• vanilla glaze (recipe below)

Cookies and Cream Pizza

• 1 can prepared vanilla frosting
• 20 chocolate sandwich cookies, broken into pieces, 6 broken in half, and 4 crushed into crumbs

Lotus Pizza

• 8 generous Tbsp Lotus cream
• 8 lotus cookies, crushed
• vanilla glaze (recipe below)

Kids’ Dream Chocolate Spread Pizza

• 8 generous Tbsp pareve chocolate spread
• ½ cup chocolate candy chips (I used Baker’s Choice)
• 2 oz (55 g) baking chocolate, melted

Vanilla Glaze

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 4 Tbsp almond milk
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Roll out the dough to ⅛-inch (3-mm) thick and cut 4-inch (10-cm) circles with a cookie cutter or glass. Try to make the circles as close to each other as you can because the dough can’t be rerolled.

Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a separate baking sheet for each flavor, as the toppings melt and flood the pan a bit when baking.

For Maple Pecan Pizza:

Mix margarine, sugar, cinnamon, pecans, and maple syrup in a bowl. Top each pizza with a generous tablespoon of filling. Spread it out but leave a bit of crust showing around the edge.

Mix together flour, light brown sugar, and melted margarine until crumbly. Sprinkle most of the mixture onto the pizzas, reserving some for topping after the pizzas are baked.

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 13–15 minutes.

Once the pizzas are cooled, drizzle with half the vanilla glaze and sprinkle with the remaining crumbs.

For Cookies and Cream Pizza:

Place a generous tablespoon of vanilla frosting onto each pizza and spread it a bit (the cream will spread more as the pizza bakes). Stick cookie pieces into the cream.

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 13–15 minutes. Remove the pizzas from the tray as soon as you remove them from the oven and put onto a cooling rack. When cool, pipe stripes of frosting onto the pizzas. Add one dollop of frosting in the center. Sprinkle cookie crumbs onto the pizzas, and top with a half cookie in the center.

For Lotus Pizza:

Place lotus cream in the center of each pizza along with a crushed cookie.

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 13–15 minutes.

When baked and cooled, drizzle with the other half of vanilla glaze.

For Kids Dream Chocolate Spread Pizza:

Spread chocolate spread in the center of each pizza, and top generously with chocolate candy chips. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 13–15 minutes.

Add more chocolate candy chips onto each pizza as soon as they’re removed from the oven and press them into place a bit. Once cooled, drizzle with melted chocolate.

PB and Cran Cookies

An iconic flavor pairing yet entirely underrated. We get so distracted by louder flavors like chocolate, cinnamon swirls, and mocha, that we forget about the simple bliss of a peanut butter cookie or better yet, a peanut butter jelly sandwich on rye. These cookies combine that nostalgia with a soft, crumbly texture.

YIELDS 16 COOKIES

• ⅔ cup natural peanut butter
• ⅔ cup oil
• 1 egg
• ¾–1 cup dark brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1¾ cups flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

Mix peanut butter, oil, egg, sugar, and vanilla in a bowl until cohesive. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix until just combined.

Using a teaspoon, scoop spoonsful of cranberry sauce and drop them into the dough. Gently fold them in so they’re evenly dispersed.

Place the dough in the fridge for one or two hours. (Don’t skip this step — it’s important!)

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Take the dough out of the fridge. Scoop two tablespoons of dough and roll to form a ball. Place balls on the baking sheet. Lightly press them down in the middle using your thumb or a fork like you would to make traditional peanut butter cookies.

Bake for 12–13 minutes. Allow them to cool for at least 10 minutes when they come out, as they will be too soft to lift.

Optional: Melt peanut putter to make it pourable and drizzle over cookies. While the peanut butter is still wet, top with chopped candied nuts of your choice.

Sea Salt Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Bark

When shopping in nonkosher supermarkets, I always look for items to recreate using kosher ingredients. Often it’s a guessing game, but sometimes I get someone to taste both versions to see if it’s like the real thing. This recipe was one of the latter, and I was told that the taste was almost exactly like the original, maybe even a bit richer, and definitely prettier. I tried to cut corners to make it as simple as possible so you can put it together in about 10 minutes from start to finish. The end result is a flavor that you won’t be able to resist!

YIELDS 36 PIECES

• 16–18 chocolate graham crackers
• 10 oz (280 g) pareve caramel cream (about ¾ of a Baker’s Choice jar)
• 2 16-oz (450-g) bars semisweet baking chocolate plus 2 oz (55 g) for garnish (I use Peppermill’s pareve semisweet chocolate)
• 6 1-oz (30-g) bags mini pretzels, slightly crushed, divided
• ¾ tsp coarse sea salt

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay out the graham crackers to cover the entire pan.

Place the caramel in a ziplock bag and cut a small piece off the tip of the bag.

Place the chocolate bars in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on high heat for 1 minute. Remove from microwave, mix well, and microwave for another minute and mix again. If necessary, put it back in the microwave for an additional 30 seconds.

Stir the pretzels into the chocolate. Spread the melted chocolate mixture over the graham crackers. Working quickly, pipe the caramel in stripes over the chocolate. Swirl the caramel into the chocolate with a skewer.

Sprinkle the rest of the pretzels on top of the chocolate, pressing them in just a bit so they stick.

When the chocolate is almost set, sprinkle sea salt over it. Melt the remaining 2 oz (55 g) of chocolate and drizzle over all.

Place the pan into the refrigerator and let it cool completely. When it’s set, remove it from the pan with the parchment paper and cut into pieces.

Note: Use the 1-oz (30-g) pretzel bags, as the pretzels in them are smaller than the ones in the family-size bags.

Cappuccino Muffin Tops

I really believed that we had inadvertently ruined the concept of muffin tops by baking them without the bottom. Where’s the gratification of pulverizing a perfectly portioned cake by destroying its golden top? Jokes aside, is the crispy texture appreciated when you don’t have the contrast of a fluffy underbelly? Turns out, I was wrong. There’s texture, there’s crispiness, and with the flavors of coffee and chocolate throughout, there’s delicious satisfaction, no underbelly required.

YIELDS 15 MUFFIN TOPS

• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• ½ cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ¼ cup instant coffee granules, dissolved in ½ cup hot water, slightly cooled
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1½ bars praline flavored chocolate, chopped (I used Schmerling’s Rosemarie)

Coffee Crumbs

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1 Tbsp water
• ⅓ cup oil

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

For the crumbs: Combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix until combined. Add the coffee and oil, and mix to form crumbs. Set aside.

For the muffin tops: Mix sugar, oil, vanilla, and applesauce in a bowl until combined. Add the coffee and mix well. Then add the eggs.

Pour in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined. Add the chocolate and fold in. You should be left with a thick but loose batter.

Using a ¼-cup measuring cup, place scoops of batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Top with crumbs.

Bake for 5 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F (175°C) and bake for another 5–7 minutes.

(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 874)