Shamrock Sundae

Forget about the shake. How about a few scoops of mint chip ice cream covered in chocolate sauce, marshmallows, and sprinkles. It doesn't take much, when it comes to ice cream, to make me happy. Keep it simple and enjoy a quick and easy festive sundae for St. Patty's. All the extra awesomeness, like green straws and sparkling clover trimmings make the dessert that much better, without too much of a fuss. To avoid sticking wire wrapped embellishments (like the one pictured above) directly into your food, slide the accessory into a straw first, then add to decorate. A sweet treat that looks as great as it tastes will impress the kids and maybe a husband, too. xo RCN

 

Chocolate Pretzel Wreaths

I love chocolate pretzel nests for Easter, so I thought why not turn the nests into wreaths and make it a Christmas themed dessert. Putting the wreaths together is a little messy with handling a lot of melted chocolate, but well worth it in the end. 

For about 18 wreaths, you will need:

1 reg size bag pretzel sticks (you will use about 1/2-3/4 bag)

3 tablespoons coconut oil

12 ounce bag of chocolate chips

1/2 cup green colored chocolate chips

Parchment paper and zip lock bag

Red and white/pearl decorating balls (various sizes)

First, prep the holly decoration. Melt green chips in microwave on defrost setting for about two minutes. Stir and mix until smooth and melted. It will not become as liquid like as the chocolate chips you will later melt for the wreaths, but that is okay. Put green melted chocolate in a zip bag and cut corner off. Squirt out small groupings of the green chocolate in leaf forms onto parchment paper. Let sit for a half hour. 

First, melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a bowl in the microwave. Zap for two minutes, remove and stir. If the chocolate does not melt to liquid form, zap for another 30 seconds or so. Once chocolate is stirred and melted, break up the pretzel sticks and add them into the chocolate. Cover in chocolate and use hands to form into wreath shapes on parchment paper. Sit out for about ten minutes after shaping wreaths and then sit in refrigerator for ten minutes before adding decorations. You do not want the chocolate to be completely hardened before you decorate. Eat up! xo RCN