Recipes | Jackie Alpers

S’mores Brownie In A Mug

S’mores Brownie In A Mug

A decadent single-serving brownie in a mug with marshmallows and a soft, melted chocolate center. Make this recipe just for yourself, day or night.

Chocolate, Coffee, Pistachio Biscotti with Sprinkles

Chocolate, Coffee, Pistachio Biscotti with Sprinkles

Biscotti means “twice baked” in Italian. First you form the crumbly dough into one stiff mass and bake it whole. Then you let it cool, slice it, and bake it again at a lower temperature. That’s what gives biscotti an almost cracker-like quality, which goes especially well with coffee. This triple-chocolate double-baked treat is dipped in a dark chocolate coating with sprinkles on top.

Sweet Corn & Cinnamon Paletas

Sweet Corn & Cinnamon Paletas

Why isn’t corn used in more desserts? It’s naturally sweet, and the kernels add a nice pop. These paletas are made with sweet corn, cinnamon and Tajin.

Three Sisters Pizza With Corn Masa Crust

Three Sisters Pizza With Corn Masa Crust

Corn, beans and squash are three of the earliest domesticated crops grown by Native Americans in the Sonoran region. For this recipe, prepared corn masa, which is usually used to make tortillas or gorditas, is pressed into a cast iron skillet for the crust. If you’ve never tried tepary beans, this recipe is an excellent way to experiment with them, but you can substitute black beans instead if you want.

Two-Ingredient Pizza Dough

Two-Ingredient Pizza Dough

This Greek yogurt pizza dough recipe has only two ingredients! With this pizza dough trick, you’ll be a pie-making pro in no time.

Sriracha Lime Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Sriracha Lime Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

This super easy salad dressing recipe is especially good on a Greek salad, cucumber salad or Asian Chicken salad and you can make it right in the bottle if you only have a little bit of Sriracha left.

Chocolate Caramel Apple Pops

Chocolate Caramel Apple Pops

A cute, kid friendly recipe for slices of apples dipped in chocolate and decorated with sprinkles candy or nuts. This recipe was originally developed fro Refinery29.

Baguette Breakfast Casserole

Baguette Breakfast Casserole

Canadian bacon, eggs, herbs, and cheese baked inside slices of crusty baguettes. From the Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers. A visually stunning breakfast casserole that is elegant, yet quick and easy to prepare.

Buttercream Frosting

Buttercream Frosting

Everyone needs a good buttercream frosting recipe. Here’s yours! From my cookbook, Sprinkles!: Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts.

Sweet Pepper Poppers

Sweet Pepper Poppers

How To Make Sweet Mini Pepper Poppers. I first developed this recipe for the Food Network.

Chicken Pot Pie in a Mug!

Chicken Pot Pie in a Mug!

For centuries, people believed that it was impossible to make a chicken pot pie in the microwave. I have proven them wrong.

Funfetti Layer cake

Funfetti Layer cake

Sprinkles melt away during baking leaving behind little confetti-like poufs of color in this deconstructed cake that shows off the sprinkles hidden inside.

Fleur De Sel Caramels

Fleur De Sel Caramels

Fleur de sel (flower of salt) is a hand-harvested sea salt with distinctive flavor. Look for variations that have a pink or gray tone. You’d think that something with such a fancy-sounding name might be complicated to make, but in fact these sweet and savory bite-size treats are as easy to concoct as they are to devour. Still, if you want to let your friends believe these caramels are a feat of culinary magic, your secret’s safe with me.

Cincinnachos! Cincinnati Chili-Cheese Nachos

Cincinnachos! Cincinnati Chili-Cheese Nachos

Ohio meets Arizona! Cincinnati chili cheese nachos. “Cincinnachos” are the best of everything for snacking season. Cincinnati Style Chili, tortilla chips, kidney beans, cheddar cheese, raw onions and jalapenos.

Mini German Pancakes

Mini German Pancakes

These healthier German pancakes are topped with fat-free Greek yogurt and fresh fruit, reducing the sugar content. I added a little spreadable fruit and garnished them with confectioners’ sugar so they still taste sweet.

Thai Grilled Chicken Thighs

Thai Grilled Chicken Thighs

Thai Grilled Chicken Thighs recipe. All of the ingredients for authentic Thai cuisine are available at most grocery stores. Sambal Oelek and Thai fish sauce can be found in most Asian food sections.

Savarin Chantilly – French Bundt Cake with Apricot Glaze

Savarin Chantilly – French Bundt Cake with Apricot Glaze

My niece got married in a field in Oskaloosa, Kansas last weekend. Afterwards we had lunch under a tent. My mother-in-law made all of the desserts including this Savarin, a rich airy cake soaked in a simple syrup and topped with apricot glaze and whipped cream. It’s traditionally served as a feast-day dessert in France. This is her recipe. It’s a little more complicated than the recipes I usually post, but I think it’s worth the effort.

Fried Monster Eggs!

Fried Monster Eggs!

These monsterized pesto-fried eggs are green and frightening looking, but delicious and monstrously easy to make.

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Chicken Wings

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Chicken Wings

These wings are hot! The spiciness will vary greatly though, depending on the heat of the chili flakes you are using, and the barbecue sauce you select. This recipe also works well for boneless skinless breasts or thighs.

The Sparkling Pearl Tropical Cocktail

The Sparkling Pearl Tropical Cocktail

A variation of the Bushwacker glamorized with sparkling sprinkle bits and pearl sugar dragees in tropical hues, this is a seafaring drink said to be invented on a Caribbean island founded by pirates. Ahoy! This recipe is excerpted from my book Sprinkles Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts.

Postmodern Art Popsicles

Postmodern Art Popsicles

What is the nature of art? Can it exist in popsicle form? Is it still art after the popsicle has been eaten? How does the process of melting affect the piece? These are some of the questions that I pondered while creating, and then ingesting this popsicle. made it from diamond shaped sprinkles in primary colors and Sno-Caps candies.

Chocolate Pots de Crème with Sprinkles

Chocolate Pots de Crème with Sprinkles

A healthy, frozen, chocolate treat that’s high protein, and low in calories, fat and sugar. What more could you want? Oh yeah, it has sprinkles! Lots of them in pretty summer colors that are perfect for a hot pre-holiday weekend.

Low-Carb Cheesy Cloud Buns

Low-Carb Cheesy Cloud Buns

made this low-carb bread replacement (often called “Oopsie Bread”) out of eggs and cream cheese from a recipe I’ve seen all over the internet. It turned out great. It smells like cheesy-bread while it’s cooking, and it’s very light, and well, bread-like. Often hot dogs are too much about the bun, so this turned out to be a perfect alternative housing for the Sonoran hot dogs in my Taste of Tucson cookbook.

Greek Country Salad

Greek Country Salad

A classic Greek Salad of chunky vegetables and feta tossed in a light vinaigrette will prove that you can indeed win friends with salad.

Johnny Marzetti Three Ways

Johnny Marzetti Three Ways

Three Johnny Marzetti recipes, including the original recipe for the pasta dish, low carb, and Paleo versions.

“The Wedge” Salad with Bleu Cheese Vinaigrette

“The Wedge” Salad with Bleu Cheese Vinaigrette

The Wedge salad is one of these very classic, simple recipes that’s accessible to everyone. One that’s been loved for generations and modified along the way to accommodate changing tastes. This version is topped with a lighter vinaigrette.

Pretty in Pink: Candied Lady Apples

Pretty in Pink: Candied Lady Apples

These easy candied apples are a healthy, sweet treat that are fun for kids to make. I used Lady Apples, which are stunning, tiny, sweet apples that resemble crab apples. Also called Christmas Apples, they are generally available in stores starting in mid-October.  The candy melts are small discs that come in a variety of colors and are available at Michael’s and other craft stores as well as some supermarkets. I chose pink because I thought it looked nice with the red apples, but it’s fun to play around and find the colors you like best.

Northern Style Southern Biscuits

Northern Style Southern Biscuits

Until recently, the only biscuits I ever made at home came from a Pop n’ Fresh can, so when friends from overseas asked me for a real American biscuit recipe, I scoured every book I could find, starting with the biscuit tome Southern Biscuits by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart, and ending with Alton Brown’s always insightful analysis in I’m Just Here for More Food: Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking.

Carne Asada Tacos

Carne Asada Tacos

Yay! It’s National Taco Day! Here’s a recipe of one of my favorite kinds – Carne Asada, from the book Knack Mexican Cooking by Chelsie Kenyon. Please note: these are not the Sonoran Style carne asada tacos from my Taste of Tucson cookbook but they are damn good none the less! Photos by me.

Mini Pumpkin Goat Cheese Cheesecakes

Mini Pumpkin Goat Cheese Cheesecakes

A can of pumpkin’s been staring at me from the counter top for two weeks now.The internet recipe sites are all screaming at me that it’s pumpkin season, and I am indeed ready for fall. So today I finally got to work and invented something to celebrate the beginning of my favorite time of the year.

Order Jackie's Cookbooks

The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook Cover
cover of The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers. Treat every day like Christmas with recipes inspired by the classic film "Elf".
The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers
About Jackie Alpers
Jackie Alpers International Photography Awards Honorable Mention
International color awards nominee medal