Caramel-Filled Pretzel Bites

When it comes to non-staple ingredients in my pantry, I try to not have extras sitting around for a while (with the exception of coconut - since only Mom and Nonni like it, I just leave the bag alone). So a while back I started looking for a recipe to use up the caramel squares I still had from previous recipes. I eventually decided on Caramel-Filled Pretzel Bites from Amy's Healthy Baking. Which sat saved on my bookmarks bar for 6 months or so as I tried to figure out when to make them.

Enter St. Patrick's Day. While trying to decide what snacks I wanted to make for spending half the day in the car, I had a lightbulb moment: why not make the pretzel bites? So I did.

Very Chocolate Chocolate Cookies

I'm not a fan of dark chocolate. It's just too bitter for me. I'll eat it when I have to but I try to avoid it. Anthony, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He loves dark chocolate. The darker the better, apparently (as in, 80% cacao or higher). Having recently learned this, I decided to make something dark chocolate for him for his birthday. When searching for a recipe I stuck with Nestle and Hershey's since they're synonymous with baking and chocolate (plus I had bittersweet chocolate chips that I'd bought with a coupon for this gift). I finally settled on Very Chocolate Chocolate Cookies from the Hershey's website.

Golden Oreo Fudge

Oreos are a bit of a staple in my family. Even I buy them and I'm not that big a fan of them (sadly, my hands are magnets to yummy-sounding new flavors of my favorite sugary treats). Which is why it was a no-brainer when trying to figure out what kind of "golden" treat to make for Carly for her golden birthday that I should find a recipe that uses golden Oreos. After a quick search I decided on Golden Oreo Fudge from Annie's Noms (probably one of the quickest decisions I've ever made in picking out a recipe).