You are knee-deep in wrapping paper struggling to get last-minute teacher gifts wrapped and your sister-in-law calls to say she’s on the way over for a surprise holiday visit. When you hang up the phone your son tells you he wants twenty holiday treats to share with his football team tomorrow. Hearing this, your husband reminds you he has to bring dessert for the potluck at work. You now have three holiday desserts to whip up and no time to spare… you desperately need holiday dessert hacks!
Sound familiar? You are not alone. Last minute holiday dessert madness strikes the best of homes and homemakers. Thanks to my partnership with Save-A-Lot Food Store, I’ve found new quick, easy and inexpensive ways to cleverly combat last-minute-dessert-itis and avoid sweet disasters… read on!
Having encountered the above scenarios one-too-many times, I’ve learned a few hacks that help me stay prepared during the holidays, armed with delicious holiday treats to “wow” my unexpected guests with and satisfy every school kid in our district. My best kept secret is that while all these desserts taste homemade, they are all simply better-than-the-box recipes that utilize readily available ingredients from my local Save-A-Lot store.
We all love homemade desserts, but it’s not always possible to find the time to make them, especially when caught in a “hurry up I need them now” situation! Save-A-Lot is my life (or should I say dessert?) saver during the holiday season. They help make my holidays easy with savings of up to 40% everyday and great-tasting products I can serve up in a jiffy. If you are looking for less stressful way to whip together a treat in minutes that will look and taste like you spent hours in the kitchen, follow these simple desserts hacks to create holiday crowd pleasers:
Cheesecake Your Way
For the sister-in-law who calls fifteen minutes before arriving on your doorstep with her family in tow, having a cheesecake like America’s Choice Creations New York Style Cheesecake (exclusive to Save-A-Lot stores) is a sanity saver.
To add homemade appeal, dress each slice up with other on-hand items you have from your Save-A-Lot shopping trips like crushed cookies, chopped candy bars, caramel sauce, sliced pineapple, candy cane bits or nuts. Use your imagination to come up with exciting flavor combinations. The great thing about a New York Style cheesecake is it’s a great base, making it super easy to give it a fabulous make-over.
Another fun idea is to quickly set up a DIY cheesecake bar for guests. Slice the cheesecake onto ready-serve plates and then place on the table or buffet with bowls full of fun toppings for guests to design their own flavor combination.
Chocolate Dipped Cookies
For your son who needs a few treats for his teammates, holiday cookies are always a hit with the teen crowd. One of my favorite holiday dessert hacks is to take premade cookies likes Lofthouse Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Save-A-Lot and sprinkle a bit of magic to give them a homemade touch.
All you need to do is melt milk chocolate chips (in a double boiler or your microwave,) dip the cookies in the melted chocolate, lay the cookie flat on waxed paper, dust with holiday candy sprinkles and voila! you have an irresistible treat.
Let the cookies cool for an hour on the countertop or if you wish to accelerate the process to serve quickly, place the sheet of chocolate dipped cookies in the refrigerator or freezer for 5 to 10 minutes.
If you don’t have holiday sprinkles on-hand, used crushed candy canes, nuts or other small candies to decorate.
Be sure to check with the school or group if there are nut allergies prior to making and adjust ingredients accordingly. You can apply this same technique to pretzel rods, fruit and even potato chips if you want a cookie alternative.
Cinnamon Chocolate Pecan Bread
If you are in need of a quick and easy potluck dessert crowd pleaser, mini bread loaves are always a hit. Everyone loves the smaller slices (makes it easier to indulge without having to commit to a huge piece of dessert) and the moist, rich flavors of my special Cinnamon Chocolate Pecan Bread. From prep to finish, the recipe takes only about 30 minutes to make.
The best part? Because we take it up a notch with a few special ingredients, no one will ever guess that this amazing dessert came from a box!
Cinnamon Chocolate Pecan Bread Recipe All ingredients are from my local Save-A-Lot store, products may vary by market.
Makes 4-5 mini loaves
Ginger Evans Cinnamon Crumb Premium Cake and Muffin Mix
3/4 cup Ginger Evans Milk Chocolate Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup Ginger Evans Chopped Pecans
1/3 cup Cinnamon Applesauce
Water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a medium mixing bowl, add cake mix, applesauce and water (as directed per package instructions.) Set aside the cinnamon crumble packet from the cake mix.
NOTE: The cake mix package will also call for 1 egg to be used – DO NOT use the egg in this recipe. We have substituted the applesauce for the egg.
Stir ingredients until fully mixed. Batter may be slightly lumpy.
Add chocolate chips and pecans to batter. Gently stir until chocolate and pecans are well distributed.
Fill mini loaf pans half full with batter.
Top each mini loaf with a thin layer of the cinnamon crumble (as pictured below)
Use a butter knife in an “S” shape motion to gently swirl the cinnamon crumble into the cake batter.
Bake mini loaves for 20 – 25 minutes or until loafs are lightly browned on top (or toothpick test is clean.)
Remove from oven, cool on baking rack for 5 minutes. Remove loaves from loaf pan and cool on baking rack for an additional 10 minutes. Slice, serve and enjoy.
If you are bringing the loaves to a party or plan to use later, allow loaves to fully cool on baking rack then store in an airtight container in a cool place.
Holidays are certainly made easy with Save-A-Lot! For more information and to find the closest store near you, visit: https://goo.gl/N9KosV
Want to save even more? Sign up for the Save-A-Lot Smart Shoppers Club. You’ll receive the latest specials delivered weekly to your inbox, tasty and affordable recipes, and helpful kitchen hacks and entertainment tips, too!
Win a SAVE-A-LOT Gift Card!
Thanks to the holiday savvy folks at Save-A-Lot, one (1) Rural Mom reader will win a $25 Save-A-Lot Gift Card to help make your holidays brighter! Hop over to my Instagram account to find out how to win: http://www.instagram.com/barb_webb
And stay tuned for another gift card giveaway opportunity on the blog this week!
What are your favorite ways to save money and time when you need an impromptu holiday dessert? Do you have favorite holiday dessert hacks?
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Save-A-Lot. The opinions and text are all mine.
Barb Webb. Founder and Editor of Rural Mom, is an the author of "Getting Laid" and "Getting Baked". A sustainable living expert nesting in Appalachian Kentucky, when she’s not chasing chickens around the farm or engaging in mock Jedi battles, she’s making tea and writing about country living and artisan culture.
