While I already have a rich, decadent hot chocolate recipe on the blog, it's not necessarily a quick treat. It’s the ultimate hot chocolate if you ask me, but it's also slightly fussier than ripping open a packet and pouring it in some hot water. Some days I want something that's just a little bit less complicated, but still chocolatey and flavorful. This hot cocoa recipe is my solution!

Today I'm transforming classic peppermint bark candy into a fun and festive holiday cake! This peppermint bark cake is a stunner and sure to be the star of your Christmas dessert table. The base is the same richly fudgy and chocolatey cake from my triple chocolate cake recipe, which we'll top with a peppermint-infused white chocolate frosting (a favorite of mine!). We'll cloak the whole thing in a dark chocolate ganache, and then pipe peppermint swirls to finish.

The Best Oatmeal Cookies

I've received so many requests for a bread pudding recipe, and I'm thrilled to be sharing my version just in time for Christmas! Made with enriched bread soaked in a sweet custard, this is a timeless and classic dessert, and for good reason. It's easy, deeply flavored, and incredibly comforting. It's a cozy hug of a dessert!

If you are looking for a Christmas cake without any peppermint or gingerbread, you simply must try my cranberry cake! It's flavored with pops of tart cranberries and a splash of both almond and vanilla extract. It's festive, but also fresh and so unique!

This is a super simple shortbread recipe made with just seven ingredients (including the icing!). Don't let its simplicity fool you though; these lemon meltaway cookies are bursting with flavor and taste so good, especially considering how few ingredients are needed. Plus, there's no chilling required!

A close cousin to the anise cookies I shared yesterday, these Italian cookies are a classic! This recipe was given to me by my grandmother's cousin, Janet. One of the main differences between yesterday's recipe and this recipe is the glaze; as Janet said (and was very clear about when sharing this recipe!), you need a clear glaze for real Italian cookies. As a result, today's glaze is not nearly as thick as the icing I shared yesterday.

An Italian style Christmas cookie, these tender and pretty anise cookies are begging to join your Christmas cookie tray! They have a distinct anise flavor; if you've never had it before, it tastes like black licorice. Not everyone enjoys it’s potent taste, but if you do, you'll love these cookies!

We're big hot chocolate fans around here, in case you can't tell. From our hot chocolate cake to our hot chocolate fudge, we've remixed the cozy beverage quite a few times now. The saga continues today with these incredible hot chocolate cookies!

Snowball cookies are classic, old-fashioned cookies that are popular during the Christmas season. They're similar to Russian tea cakes or Mexican wedding cookies, but we will be chilling the dough and using more cornstarch and flour here for round, snowball-like cookies!

Here's a unique addition to your Christmas cookie tray: grinch cookies! I actually developed this recipe several years ago and can’t believe I haven't shared it here sooner. These cookies are incredibly soft and chewy, fun, and kids love them!

This recipe has been highly requested for years! A number of people have wanted to make my gingerbread men into a gingerbread house, but unfortunately that recipe wasn’t suitable (the cookies are meant to be softer and more melt-in-your mouth, so they weren’t sturdy enough to hold up a whole house). Today's recipe is based off that one, but I made some critical changes to make the house sturdy and strong.

I'm excited to be sharing my updated shortbread cookie recipe with you today! While I was happy with the original, I wanted to make some tweaks for more tender, soft, and melt-in-your-mouth results that still held their shape beautifully. Comparing the two, my old version was more like a sugar cookie, while this is classic, perfected shortbread.

Pretty much anything can be improved with a chocolate coating, pretzels being no exception. A salty sweet classic, chocolate covered pretzels pop up most often during the holidays, then disappear--but not anymore! You can now enjoy these poppable pretzels year-round with my easy at-home tutorial!

If you've been around for a little while, you know we're typically team soft and chewy cookies here at Sugar Spun Run. However, I will make an exception from time to time, especially when nostalgia is involved. And for me, there's no cookie quite as nostalgic as these sand tarts!

I’ve received quite a few requests for cranberry orange recipes recently, so I challenged myself to make some orange cranberry cookies (you know how I love cookies!). Sounds fairly straightforward, right? I thought so too, but surprisingly, this recipe was tricky to master.

So what exactly are spice cookies? Well for starters, spice cookies are not the same thing as gingerbread men or gingersnap cookies. We won't be adding any molasses to this recipe (besides what is in the brown sugar!), and the resulting cookies will have a softer, chewier texture.

The humble pot roast.

These chocolate snickerdoodles are a chocolatey take on my classic snickerdoodle recipe that you'll love (maybe even more than the original!). The flavor is warm and slightly spiced, with perfectly textured, crackly outsides and rich, chocolatey interiors. They're like a cup of hot cocoa on a snowy Christmas night--so festive!

Inspired by peppermint bark, one of my favorite Christmas candies, this peppermint bark cheesecake is as festive as it is beautiful. My recipe pairs smooth, creamy white chocolate cheesecake with crushed candy canes and a crumbly Oreo crust. It's draped in a rich chocolate ganache cloak and topped with whipped cream and more candy canes for extra flair.

Molasses cookies are the softer, chewier cousin of my gingerbread cookies. They're a great and easy-to-make cookie option for your holiday cookie tray, right next to my sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and peanut butter blossoms, just to name a few.

Peppermint bark is winter's version of pumpkin spice; it's the flavor of the season, found everywhere from hot chocolate to candles. My peppermint bark cookies combine all the flavors of the real thing (chocolate, white chocolate, peppermint) and bake them into soft and chewy, white chocolate-dipped cookies.

Peanut butter blossoms have always been my favorite cookie on the holiday cookie tray. They're the perfect combination chocolate and peanut butter (like my peanut butter chocolate cake!), and they are so easy to make. Plus, they're just so pretty with their sparkly exteriors!

I can't think of a more festive way to welcome December than with these soft and fluffy gingerbread cupcakes! These are outrageously moist and tender cupcakes packed full of spices and flavor. I've chosen to top them with a brown sugar and cinnamon spiced variation of my cream cheese frosting, and it complements the gingerbread flavor SO well!