Nothing better than a berry flag cake in the summer!

This white sheet cake is studded with festive sprinkles, topped with fresh whipped cream and all the cutesy flag berries. It tastes amazing and is fun to serve. I’ve made a cupcake version before and they are always a hit!

Ohhh how we live for a festive sheet cake over here.

I have a triple berry sheet cake with cream cheese frosting and it’s DIVINE. It’s the inspiration base for this recipe. In fact, I took red white and blue sprinkles and just added them to the batter! 

That is it.

And then made the classic berry flag. Who made the first flag cake? Ina? Martha? I don’t even know but I thank them for it. It’s basically my favorite cake to make in the summer! It’s fun, festive, delicious and the kids flip over it.

Seriously, they could eat an entire grocery store worth of berries in a week. 

This is a fun funfetti cake! My kids love adding the sprinkles. Get a bunch of red white and blue sprinkles – just get the jumbo jar! You can use them for brownies or cookies or ice cream sundaes and stuff all summer long. Because you need about ½ cup of sprinkles and those little tubes at the store won’t cut it. 

I like to use both vanilla and almond extract. The almond gives it that slight sugar cookie flavor and it’s wonderful. It’s not full blown “wedding cake” flavored – but it has a hint of something else that makes it taste special. 

Now the frosting… you know I’m a cream cheese frosting freak. And I LOVE using it on my sheet cakes. But if you want something lighter, I suggest whipped cream. I used fresh whipped cream on this cake because it goes so well with berries.

It’s classic and light and just makes the cake. 

While it doesn’t have the same texture, this cake kind of reminds me of angel food cake when you top it with the whipped cream. It’s that light and airy and so lovely to eat on a hot summer day.  (more…)

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Weekend treat time!

These lemon blueberry cobbler bars are crumbly, chewy, gooey and filled with incredible lemony berry flavor. They taste like a big bite of spring. 

It’s almost like a lemon bar and blueberry cobbler had a baby. In the most wonderful fruity way possible. 

If you’re looking for a dessert to make for mother’s day weekend or one to serve as the sunshine months come around, this is it!

It serves a crowd. 

The flavors are so fresh and ideal for the season. 

And they even freeze well too! 

If you have a copy of The Pretty Dish, you might recognize this as one of the best recipes in the book! I have blueberry peach cobbler bars in that book and they are DIVINE. I have made so many variations on that recipe, from strawberry cobbler bars to apple ones to cranberry ones. 

This is such a versatile recipe and one that everyone loves! 

And the best part is that it’s a true make-ahead recipe. You prepare these ahead of time and take them to a party or serve them for dessert… you’re the most popular! 

Here’s how I make them!

It’s all about shortbread. Another great thing about this recipe is that you make a shortbread mixture that works for the crust AND the crumbly cobbler topping! Super easy. Once it’s made, I press half of it into a baking dish and save the other half for the top. 

The filling has tons of fresh blueberries, lemon zest, some sugar, eggs, cornstarch and vanilla. There’s a touch of half and half in there too. 

Once mixed, I pour the filling right on the crust. 

Next, I crumble the remaining shortbread mixture over that filling. Then I pop it into the oven! 

These take about 45 minutes to bake and I like to cool them completely before slicing. Sometimes I even chill them in the fridge overnight! 

The filling is so gooey and fruity and just a dream! But the crust is buttery and fabulous. The combination just WORKS.  (more…)

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Best ever coffee cake, coming your way.

This greek yogurt coffee cake is so tender and filled with the most delicious cinnamony crumb. The texture from the crumb is perfect and the cake is light and fluffy. Everyone loves this cake!

Sheet cake coffee cake is the best coffee cake!

Know why?

It makes a ton and you can share!

It’s lovely for brunch. Afternoon coffee! Even post-dinner dessert. 

I am no stranger to making coffee cake after coffee cake. It’s just that I usually make them in a bundt pan. I love those versions too!

But then I found this classic version in a sheet pan and I was so in. 

I love having the option to make a 9×13 cake so I can freeze some, share some and more. 

I don’t think it’s any secret that I love using greek yogurt in my cakes too. Because I love how moist it makes them. It adds a little bit of tangy flavor and it’s so simple. If you don’t have or love yogurt, you can always swap sour cream! It’s just as good and some would say… probably better. 

I’m just over here, a huge yogurt freak. 

Just look at that crumb!

This cake is EASY. 

First, mix up the crumb so it’s ready.

Next, make the batter. It’s super simple and starts with melted butter! You can make it in one bowl. One and done!

Make sure to spray a 9×13 baking dish with the nonstick baking spray. You know, the one that has the flour in it too!  (more…)

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I’ve got your weekend treat!

This banana cake is topped with chocolate peanut butter frosting and it is divine! The loveliest snack, a great after-school snack or even a fantastic weekend dessert.

We love it! 

The cake is made with plain greek yogurt and it’s incredibly fluffy for a banana dessert. It’s light and airy but so reminiscent of banana bread – it’s like instant nostalgia in cake form. 

If you’ve made my banana cake with coffee frosting before, then you know alllll about this incredible recipe.

The cake is the perfect mix between banana bread and sheet cake. My kids go crazy for it. I love it because it makes a big 9×13 inch cake, and these days one loaf of banana bread is gone in a day around here. 

However… this lasts a little longer.

And the frosting! Chocolate peanut butter lovers unite! 

Oh but wait – it’s not just chocolate peanut butter. It’s chocolate peanut butter cream cheese frosting!!!

Cue all the exclamation points. 

I am such a cream cheese frosting freak. I don’t even LIKE frosting in general. But cream cheese frosting? I love.

The tangy creaminess… oh it’s just perfect. 

And there is something about it when it’s mixed with peanut butter! Like peanut butter cheesecake. Major favorite forever.  (more…)

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Happy heart day!!

These adorable little tarts are buttery and flaky, filled with tart raspberries and melty dark chocolate. Perfect to treat yourself or your loved ones this weekend!

I will forever use puff pastry for all the things. It might be my favorite store-bought ingredient (even before a rotisserie chicken!). I love how incredible it tastes, how easy it is to use and how it is super versatile. 

Sweet? Savory? Both? 

It works for everything! 

This is how I make the tarts!

The tarts you see here have been cut into rounds with a large biscuit or cookie cutter. Then I fold them into little rustic galettes. But you could also use the entire sheet to make one giant puff pastry tart and then slice it into squares. 

Personally, I love crust too much and want my own mini galette. So here we are!

I like to use frozen raspberries for multiple reasons. One, the price. Obviously. Two, the ease and accessibility during the season. And three, they are great and fresh and you don’t have to pick through every single one. 

For chocolate, a high quality chocolate over 70% is my number one choice. I simply chop it up! Chop it up and sprinkle it right on top of the berries.

This is messy, it’s not super pretty. But it tastes fantastic and is the ultimate fruity chocolate dessert. One that looks fancy but doesn’t take much time at all.  (more…)

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Well that’s a mouthful! 

But every bit is just so GOOD that I didn’t think I could leave any part out of the title. These brown butter cookie bars are filled with melty white chocolate and dried tart cranberries, then sprinkled with flaky sea salt.

Heaven on earth, I tell you! 

And I’m not even a big cranberry person.

See also: I say this every single time I make a recipe with cranberries. SORRY. 

These are the chewiest cookie bars with some delish holiday flavor. I used the base of my brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe. That recipe is wildly popular and you guys love it!

So do we. 

A cookie bar that can be made ahead of time and holds up well? Now that’s the ticket. These make everyone happy.

And I’ve swapped the add-ins so many times that I’ve lost count. It’s a very versatile and forgiving recipe if you’re just switching up the chocolate, or adding nuts and seeds or something like that. 

These are a nice change to a classic chocolate chip cookie during the holiday season. And perfect on a cookie tray! (more…)

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Time for chocolate pie topped with a peppermint pillow!

Just look at that fudgy chocolate ganache sitting on top of a chocolate cookie crust. This chocolate fudge pie is topped with peppermint meringue and has the crunchiest crust on the bottom – making it a chocolate lover’s dream.

In lieu of this year’s christmas cake, we’re making christmas pie!

Which is hilarious, since you know I still don’t love pie.

Well, that’s a lie. I do like pie. It’s never my first choice. I just hate MAKING said pie. 

Truth!!

However, when it comes to an oreo or graham crust and a chocolate filling… I’m game. Here I am, ready for you, christmas pie. 

Yessss.

How could I say no?!

This is such an easy pie and it’s a fabulous, decadent rich one which is a fun thing to share when you’re used to cookies during the holiday season! 

It goes like this:

Oreo crust

Chocolate ganache filling

Vanilla peppermint meringue on top. 

That’s it!

Oh and you can add some festive sprinkles too. Whatever you like! 

I’m all about a festive dessert and in the past, I’ve shared many christmas cakes. My most popular is this white christmas sparkle cake – it is SO good. We also love the pink peppermint cake which looks like it came straight out of the grinch life, my hot cocoa cake with whipped marshmallow, white chocolate mocha cake and my spiced orange snowball cake. 

Oh oh, and who could forget my pink peppermint ice cream cake?! That one really… takes the cake.

SORRY.  (more…)

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It’s the best time of year! My holiday baking list is here!

This is such a huge tradition for me that started with my grandma. I can’t wait to hear what you’re baking this holiday season. It’s the only time I actually enjoy baking!

For years, Lacy and I would make some things together. Every year, we’d make a buche de noel together. We usually do this at like 11 at night and it takes us way longer than we expect, haha. This bon appetit one is the best. We also ALWAYS make Tracy’s citrus peels and amaretto – I can’t pass those up. If I do the amaretto on my own, I will gift most of it to friends! Seriously we have made these things since the year Tracy posted them, so… a really long time. It’s so fun.

Finally, we also make my version of whiskey pretzels! Everyone really loves these too. They are a fun snack to gift people. I also like to make a batch of my caramel chipotle chex mix and gift that too.

This year, I also partnered with smiley cookie over on instagram – these were my FAVORITE local cookies growing up and my kids are obsessed with them today. I love that you can send these as gifts and thought they were the cutest way to add some flair and fun to a holiday cookie patter. I wanted to include it here too in case you needed a fun idea for a gift or extra cookies for your plate. You can also get 10% off with the code HOWSWEET at smileycookie.com!

Finally, here is my favorite holiday baking playlist! If you follow me on spotify (at howsweeteats), you can see all of my other holiday playlists too.

MY 2024 HOLIDAY BAKING LIST

Below is my ideal list of what I’d love to make!

These chewy sprinkle cookies from last year. LOVE them.

Always: the chocolate crinkle sprinkle cookies in The Pretty Dish. They are unbeatable!

Royal cookies. A newish one from three years ago – we adore these.

These frosted cranberry drop cookies were a hit last year.

Also, my cashew butter buckeyes! and maybe regular buckeyes? Sometimes I love them, sometimes I’m over them.

My peanut butter blossoms for sure. Definitely my all time favorite and a cookie I just can’t get enough of. The kids’ fave too.

And these lemon crinkle cookies, Everyone freaks over them.

My soft snickerdoodles and these chewy chai snickerdoodles. I can’t ever choose between them!

These soft gingersnaps. Sometimes I make this recipe times four. We LOVE them. And I’m not a gingersnap person!

Of course these definitely these old school oreo balls .

I’m really feeling these bourbon cherry soaked oatmeal cookies this year. Love them.

And mother lovett’s pink and green thumbprints. because can’t have christmas without them – my mom and aunt’s faves.

Also –  mother lovett’s orange cookies. huge hit all the time.

These peanut butter m&m cookie bars – made with red and green m&ms.

Peanut butter fudge. I google a recipe and use a different one every year, even though Mother Lovett had one.

And some peanut butter stuffed chocolate pretzel bark!

Finally, these perfect cut out sugar cookies. these are the BEST foolproof, simple sugar cookies. I use either cream cheese frosting or this dip icing technique (marbled or not!). For the ones above in the photos, I actually sprayed them with edible glitter.

I will probably also make some peppermint bark. And I love to do chocolate covered oreos! They are so easy. I also buy the white fudge covered oreos as a hack and drizzle them with dark chocolate and sprinkles!

HOW I MAKE MY COOKIE BOX

Every year I make similar boxes. Mother Lovett did this for as long as I could remember. Her cookie tins and boxes were her hostess gifts – and they were also what she would give to certain friends and family at the holidays. EVERYONE looked forward to them!

I’ve loved keeping this tradition alive. She used cookie tins – I have found some successfully at places like Target, The Container Store and the Dollar Store. My personal favorite way to give a BIG box is to use these sugar paper gift boxes that I find at Target. They have both rectangle and round boxes. I’ve used these for the last six years and I make my own box. I usually cut up some pieces of another box to make the spaces for the cookies. This is what I did above!

I have to note that I do NOT mail these, so unfortunately I don’t have a ton of tips there! I only deliver these to friends and family who live within driving distance. If I were to mail them, I think it would include a lot of bubble wrap. However, most personal homemade cookie boxes I’ve been mailed in the past? The cookies have always been broken.

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I’ve got the ultimate Thanksgiving (and fall!) dessert for you. 

These apple pie cobbler bars are incredible, made with a shortbread crust, a soft cinnamony apple filling and a crumb on top that is a bit crunchy. They taste like heaven – apple pie in bar form! 

The bars can be made ahead of time and they are so fabulous, basically tasting like a big piece of pie or even an apple crumble. I’m obsessed.

When it comes to fall flavors, I enjoy apple SO much more than pumpkin. Apple cider and apple flavored things are definitely what I crave and love to bake the most. Sure, pumpkin is good. But apple is sweet, crisp and refreshing. It just feels like a fall day. 

The original recipe for these bars comes from my cookbook The Pretty Dish. I first shared my blueberry peach cobbler bars in that book and have since made many versions! I make a cranberry cobbler bar and a strawberry cobbler bar – both are incredible. 

The bars are also easy!

You essentially make a shortbread crust and a filling.

The shortbread crust is used for both the base of the bar and the crumbly topping.

The filling is obviously used for the… filling. Shocking. 

To make the apple filling, I chop and cook the apples a bit. I like to get them somewhat tender so they are bite-able and soft in the bars. This also makes them a bit syrupy. That consistency is easy to come by if you’re using berries or cranberries or peaches. So that’s another benefit to cooking the apples down a bit. 

Then, I layer! I press half the shortbread mixture into the pan to form a crust. 

Next, I pour the spiced apple filling over the crust.

Finally, the remaining shortbread gets crumbled and sprinkled on top.

These take about 45 minutes to bake and I like to let them cool completely before slicing. You can definitely make them ahead of time (even a few days!) and store them in the fridge to stay fresh. I serve them chilled, at room temp or even warm with vanilla ice cream. They are incredible all ways! 

Now if you’re looking to really save some time, I’ll tell you that you totally can use a jar of apple pie filling here. It takes the process of chopping and cooking the apples out of it. It doesn’t taste quite as fresh or homemade, but at the same time it tastes like classic diner apple pie. 

Shhhh. I won’t tell. (more…)

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This is the best pumpkin bread I have ever made.

And that is a bold claim! This pumpkin bread is super tender with a fluffy crumb and a crunchy chai streusel on top. 

There is no better way to end October than to bake a loaf of it today! 

We LOVE pumpkin bread here. Actually, we love pumpkin muffins. Max especially adores my pumpkin muffins. He asks for them almost weekly and I alway make some for his hockey tournament weekends. I guess you could say we are just big pumpkin baked goods people. 

It’s funny, because if you’ve been following for years then you will remember the days when Eddie hated pumpkin. Or at least thought that he hated pumpkin. Then I brought him over to the dark side. First, with savory pumpkin recipes. Because they taste just like butternut squash.

Then, with said pumpkin muffins. Before everyone adores them.

And finally, with my pumpkin dream cake. I will never forget the Thanksgiving when, after everyone left, he stood over the pumpkin dream cake and just ate it with a fork!!

My mind was blown.

Anyway, that’s a long winded way of saying that we flip over this pumpkin bread and you probably will too. 

The pumpkin bread is mostly pumpkin with a pinch of chai. But the majority of the chai spice is in the crumble topping, which I find perfect. There’s enough spice and flavor up there while the bread remains almost neutral, less spicy. That is the key for my kids.

While they do like the chai flavor, they don’t want it to be overwhelming. 

And don’t freak at the ingredient list – it’s not bad!

This pumpkin bread is rather simple. However, the chai seasoning does require a few spices. I suggest making a container of it and storing it in your spice drawer. Then you can grab it whenever you want to make something taste like a big chai latte. 

Like my traditional pumpkin bread (and dream cake!), this bread uses plain greek yogurt. You can also swap in sour cream. The texture is so moist and tender and the bread is phenomenal. I have to say that it’s a billion times better than the Starbucks pumpkin bread, just FYI. 

My recipe for chai spice below will make more than is needed for just this recipe. If you’re looking for other chai-inspired recipes, I have a bunch!

Try some of these:

Pumpkin Chai Crinkle Cookies

Chewy Chai Snickerdoodles

Pumpkin Chai Crumble Muffins

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Chai Ice Cream

I mean, look at that crumb?! (more…)

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