Elf’s Mr. Narwhal Ice Cream Float

“Bye Buddy hope you find your dad.” A frosty, blue ice cream float recipe inspired by Mr. narwhal’s famous scene in the classic Christmas movie, Elf. This recipe is from The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers.

Crispy Tortilla Stars with Guacamole

Topped with chunky guacamole and jewel-like pomegranate seeds, these crispy tortilla bites from The Unofficial Elf Cookbook by Jackie Alpers exude holiday joy. Use Jackie Alpers’ Sonoran-Style Chunky Guacamole Recipe or your favorite store-bought version.

Arizona Cheese Crisp with Green Chile Ranch Salsa

Tucson’s Sonoran style Mexican Arizona cheese crisp made with flour tortillas, roasted Hatch green chile strips and a creamy green chile Ranch salsa. Thank you Fry’s Foods for sponsoring this recipe.

Snack of the Day: Nacho Cheese, Slim Jims and Beer Nuts on a Bagel.

This snack is best eaten very late at night, preferably after attending a party of some other festive gathering. It’s easily assembled and pleasant to look at, even when blurry.

Sonoran-Style Spicy Salsa Verde

This Sonoran-style spicy green rice is like summer in Tucson – dependably hot, greener than you might expect, and full of complexities that must be experienced to be appreciate

Bison Nachos

Bison are a seminal component of Western American history. The massive bison hunts of the 19th century resulted in their near extinction. With conservation efforts in place, the Yellowstone bison are considered the last truly wild herd of American plains bison in existence. Regenerative bison farms have reintroduced this healthy beef alternative into American food systems.

Tri-Colored Smashed Potatoes

These tri-colored smashed potatoes utilize heirloom varieties of produce, which help restore diversity to local agriculture. This recipe is an outtake, cut for space from The Unofficial Yellowstone Cookbook.

Grilled Sonoran-Style Carne Asada Quesadillas

Grilled flour tortillas stuffed with carne asada, green onions, cheese, & crispy corn tortilla chips for extra crunch! It’s everything you always wanted in a quesadilla but with more crunch!

Sonoran Mexican Street Corn Cups

Recipe for Elote en Vaso. Roasted corn kernels in a creamy, cheesy sauce seasoned with chile, lime and chives.

Parmesan & Pepperoni Crustless Pizza

If you bake a layer of Parmesan cheese in the oven it will crackle and pop after a while, turning into a crispy, cheese cracker that’s much tastier than any pizza crust I’ve encountered. I topped this baked cheese crisp (which is a popular dish called Frico in Italy) with pizza spices and toppings before sliding it into the oven. The results: crustless pizza!

Sunny Parmesan Pepperoni Crisps

Bake a little sunshine into your life with these bright and happy two-ingredient pizza flavored cheese crisps.

Parmesan Crisps with Caviar and Crème Fraîche

Festive enough for New Year’s Eve, this pretty appetizer only takes about 5 minutes to make. Bacon infused caviar adds a unique smokiness that will intrigue your guests and is fairly inexpensive, but any decent quality caviar will do. The one-ingredient parmesan crisps are a savory, no-carb alternative to blini.

Nachos Supreme Stuffed Bell Peppers

Sweet bell peppers stuffed with creamy nacho cheese, avocado, pickled jalapeños, black beans and crunchy tortilla chips.

Chiltepin Hot Salsa Recipe From the Taste of Tucson Cookbook

Chiltepin salsa is an all-purpose salsa that can be used for dipping, for seasoning, and as a taco sauce. A little goes a long way, so if you prefer a milder salsa, cut the amount of chiles down by a half or a third. This recipe is from the Taste of Tucson cookbook by Jackie Alpers.

Matzoh Molletes Rancheros

This crispy matzo based breakfast is a cross between molletes and huevos rancheros. I used beans from a can and my homemade chiltepin salsa.

The Moistmaker Thanksgiving Leftovers Sandwich From Friends

The Moistmaker Thanksgiving Leftovers Sandwich inspired by Friends: “The One Where Ross Loses it Over a Sandwich,” with a dinner roll soaked in gravy in the center, turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, proving that Monica is a culinary genius.

Buffalo Chicken “Rumaki” Bites

Whatever happened to Rumaki, the Polynesian appetizer served at tiki parties in the 70s? Maybe buffalo-style rumaki will help bring it back.

Two Ingredient Beer & Cheddar Cheese Dip

Beer, cheddar cheese, and pretzels — what more could you want? How about that it’s only got two ingredients and you can make it in ten minutes or less?

Frozen Watermelon Wedges

Learn how to make frozen Watermelon Wedges: the all natural ice pops.

Black and White Oreo Bark

Three ingredient white chocolate bark with Oreos that can be made in 30 minutes or less for a quick dessert or snack.

Frozen Yogurt Bark With Berries and Granola

All of the bark and none of the bite.

Beautiful Brownie Bites

These rich, mini bits of extra-gooey brownies are decorated to look like fancy boxed chocolates. The topping are a great way to try out new flavor combinations and play with the contrast of the colors against the dark background of the bites.

Rainbow Sprinkles Cream Cheese

Rainbow sprinkles for breakfast? Yes! A crunchy and slightly sweet sprinkles cream cheese recipe for everyone who needs more rainbow sprinkles in their lives.

Lasagna Dip

A creamy, warm, vegetarian layered dip that tastes like lasagna. This recipe is loaded with cheese. Serve with fresh veggies.

Spicy Ranch French Onion Dip

Spicy Ranch French Onion Dip. Two Dips That Live As One, Together At Last!

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.

Oreo Ice Cream Sandwiches With Sprinkles!

This may be one of the easiest recipes ever. It was originally written for and published on Refinery29 where you can find seven more of my Oreo recipes. I literally wrote the book on sprinkles, so if you’re interested in learning more ways to cover everything in sprinkles, pick up a copy of Sprinkles!: Recipes and Ideas for Rainbowlicious Desserts.

Sweet Pepper Poppers

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

Black & White Cookies With Sprinkles

Look to the cookie! Black and white cookies inspired by the famous Seinfeld quote with sprinkles added so we remember to sparkle too.

Vegan Cocktail Pups recipe With A SECRET INGREDIENT!

These vegan, slow-cooker barbecue flavored cocktail pups are made with baby carrots instead of little smokies.

Dark Chocolate Chia Pudding With Frozen Berries

This dessert has it all, Omega 3 packed chia seeds, antioxidant rich frozen berries and dark chocolate, and a 5-minute prep time.

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

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.

Chocolate and Coffee Pudding Pops

Looking to kick start a hot summer day? These chocolate and coffee frozen pudding pops are just the ticket.

Hand Painted Flower Cookies

Celebrate spring with hand-painted watercolor flower cookies. Herbs, fruit juice and plant dyes can all be used as food coloring.

New York Style Hot Dog Bites

Everything you love about New York style hot dogs in cute appetizer form.

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.

Italian Style Marinated Baby Artichokes

Recipe for roasted baby artichokes in an easy Italian style marinate. Food photography by Jackie Alpers.

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.

Fennel, Blue Cheese & Spanish Chorizo Mini Pizzas

Mini pizzas made with a herb and cheese crust and a combination of both hot and cold classic Italian toppings.

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.

Snacks