Chocolate-Hazelnut Panini Sundaes

Serves 4
Prep time: 4 minutes, cooking time: 5 minutes

4 slices thin-sliced white bread
1/4 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (Nutella), divided
1 tablespoon chopped toasted hazelnuts
Butter-flavored cooking spray
1 cup light ice cream, vanilla
2 teaspoons chopped toasted hazelnuts

1. Preheat panini grill. (Note: I don't have a panini grill, so I used a regular skillet and made these like grilled cheese sandwiches.)

2. Trim crust from bread slices. Spread 2 tablespoons chocolate-hazelnut spread evenly over 2 bread slices. Sprinkle evenly with nuts. Top with remaining 2 bread slices. Coat both sides of sandwiches with cooking spray. Place sandwiches on panini grill; cook 1 & 1/2 minutes or until golden. Cut each sandwich diagonally into 2 triangles.

3. Place 1 panini triangle on each of 4 small plates. top each triangle with 1/4 cup ice cream.

4. Place remaining 2 tablespoons chocolate-hazelnut spread in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 25 seconds or until warm; drizzle 1-1/2 teaspoons over each scoop of ice cream. Garnish with 1/2 teaspoon hazelnuts, if desired.

Results: I don't really have to talk you into making this, do I? My picture isn't that great, but trust me, these were outstanding!

Chocolate-Marshmallow Fudge

Makes 36 pieces

Cooking spray
1 2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup fat-free evaporated milk
2 Tbsp reduced-calorie margarine, or light butter
12 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
14 large marshmallows

1. Coat an 8- X 8-inch pan with cooking spray. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, evaporated milk and margarine; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes. Stir in chocolate and marshmallows; remove pan from heat and stir until smooth.

2. Pour mixture into prepared pan and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

3. Cut into thirty-six squares. Yields 1 piece per serving.

Results: MMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! So yummy! I know you are thinking "One piece is NO WAY enough to satisfy my chocolate craving!" but it totally is. Totally. For realsies. And while I wouldn't say these are "diet", they are certainly lighter than regular fudge. And so easy to make! Also, these are great in the freezer! They taste just as good once they've thawed, so you can keep a bunch in there so you always have a little treat.

Me, Henry & Steven LOVED these, but my husband thought they were way too rich, so he only had ONE. Can you believe it?

Marbled Chocolate Mousse

Serves 8 (about 1/2 cup each)
Prep Time: 10 minutes, Cooking Time: 2 minutes, Chilling Time: at least 5 minutes, I let mine set for a few hours

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk*
1 cup cold milk
1 (3.9-ounce) package chocolate instant pudding mix
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
2 cups frozen, fat-free whipped topping, thawed

*the original recipe called for full-fat condensed milk. I used fat-free, and didn't notice any problems with consistency. Save the fat!

1. Place milk and 1 cup cold water in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-low speed until blended. Add pudding mix; beat until smooth. Stir in melted chocolate. Cover and chill 5 minutes. (Again, I made mine earlier in the day and let it sit until dessert time.)

2. Gently fold in whipped topping, leaving large chocolate streaks. Spoon into serving dishes.

Results: Don't get me wrong, this was really tasty, and really easy to make, but it did taste a little like "instant pudding" to me. That doesn't mean I didn't eat it, mind you. The kids and the husband loved it. I thought it was good. Just good. I'll put it this way, you won't be wowing any quests with your dessert making skills with this one. We had the leftovers the next day and they were really good. I don't know how this would turn out, but I was thinking you could freeze these in little muffin tins and keep them in the freezer and just pop one in your mouth whenever you needed a chocolate fix. I may have to try that, because this is one easy dessert.

S'mores Slab

Serves 12
Prep time: 10 minutes, cooking time: 4 minutes, chill time: 2 hours

Cooking spray
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup light stick butter
1/4 cup water
3 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 14 sheets), divided
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

1. Line an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper allowing paper to extend over edge of pan. Coat parchment with cooking spray.

2. Combine chocolate, butter, and water in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat 4 minutes of until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally.

3. While chocolate mixture cooks, place 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs and marshmallows in a large bowl. Stir hot chocolate mixture into graham cracker mixture. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup crumbs. Press chocolate mixture into prepared pan. Cover and chill 2 hours or until set.

4. Remove load from pan; peel off parchment paper, and cut into 12 slices.

Results: These were so yummy! They were very easy to make and not nearly as messy as a real s'more! The leftovers were good several days later, but the crackers were getting a bit soggy by that point, so we did end up throwing some out. (Boooooo!) These would be a perfect dish to take to a party, especially if you chilled them in a mini muffin pan instead of a loaf pan. Definitely keeping this recipe!

Strawberry Tiramisu

Serves 6
Prep Time: 40 minutes, Sitting in refrigerator time: overnight

1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
3 Tbsp fat-free cream cheese
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 cup fat-free whipped topping
2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced (reserve 6 whole berries for garnish)
3 Tbsp sugar
1 fl oz orange-flavoured liqueur
2 Tbsp orange juice
3 oz ladyfingers, separated

1. In a food processor, purée ricotta, cream cheese, confectioners sugar and orange zest. Transfer to a medium bowl and fold in whipped topping. In same food processor (no need to clean), purée 1 cup of sliced strawberries, the granulated sugar, liqueur and orange juice.

2. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the strawberry purée into each of six wine glasses. Top each with two ladyfinger halves. Spoon another tablespoon of purée over ladyfingers. Top with half the sliced strawberries then half the cheese mixture. Top with remaining ladyfingers. Spoon on remaining purée, berries and cheese mixture.

3. Cover each glass with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Garnish each
with a whole strawberry.

Results: These seem a lot more difficult to make than they really are, so try them! They were sooooo delicious! I missed the "refrigerate overnight" step, so ours were only sitting for about 5 hours. I don't think it made a difference, because we all loved them! Steven & Henry want me to make them next week for dessert night and want me to try blackberries. I imagine that would be just as good! The recipe notes that you can also freeze these to make ahead of time.

Now, a note about Ladyfingers. I live in the suburbs of Denver, but it's not as if we are a culturally lacking community. I had to try three grocery stores to find Ladyfingers. I finally found them at Sprouts (a natural grocers sort of place) in the bakery. Other places to look: imported food aisle, cookie aisle, and someone suggested the bakery may keep them in the freezer. A safeway employee told me they keep them in the produce, next to the strawberries, but that was shortcake. If all else fails, the French cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu (cause I'm culturally NOT lacking that way) suggested using spongecake as a substitute.

Baked Bananas

Recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes

Saturday nights are dessert nights in our house!!!

For each serving:

1 banana
2 teaspoon honey
cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Peel and slice each banana in half lengthwise. Place in a glass dish. Sprinkle with honey and cinnamon.

3. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve with ice cream

Results: Obviously, NO ONE had any problems eating this! It was a simple and very, very easy dessert to make. I served with low-fat ice cream. Normally, I'm one of those girls who believe ice cream should be all fat, all the time. But I'm trying. We had Kroger light ice cream, Deluxe Churned Artisan Vanilla Bean and it was DELICIOUS! I never would have thought it was low-fat.

P.S. Sorry for the blurry picture. I was losing my light in the kitchen!