Dessert Ideas - Other than Cookies...

How about fresh fruit with some kind of sweet dip? Think apple slices with caramel dip, or strawberries or banana pieces with chocolate dip. I also make a fruit dip with strawberry cream cheese mixed with either vanilla yogurt or marshmallow fluff - it is also good with apples, bananas, strawberries, etc.

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Fruit pizza!

Teens love pizza.... and you use:

Sugar cookie crust, whipped cream and cream cheese mixed for the sauce and all kinds of fruit on top:
sliced strawberries, kiwi, grapes, peaches, pineapple....

try checking: allrecipes.com for a real recipe if you don't want to "wing it."

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Here's a recipe for you:)

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts...

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http://www.bakerella.com/category/pops-bites/cake-pops/

cake pops are very hot right now. they are fun to make too. i found they really need to be small ping pong ball size is too big! i also did not put as much icing as it calls for.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

cinniman rolls ... mmmm! you can always have foot ball theme napkins and paper plates. or even just the table that you put the desert on can be foot ball themed. i think little cupcake picks would work on cinniman rolls.

my hubby dipped rice crispy squares into chocolate and it was sooooo good. you could even put the squares onto lolli pop sticks.

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Since it is informal, I say keep the dessert informal as well. Caramel popcorn is always a good one, as is rice crispy treats. You can shape either into football shapes if you want, or the mums, drizzle chocolate and/or caramel to make the details. Easy to make, easy to transfer, easy for the girls to eat (no need for a lot of forks and plates, just napkins).

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I liked the fresh fruit with dip idea. You could make little chocolate pretzels. You get the bits size pretzels put them on a cook sheet then place a chocolate kiss on top. Set your oven to warm and put them in until you can see the chocolate starting to melt and become shinny. Take the tray out and then put peanut or peanut butter M&M's on top. press them down into the chocolate so it seeps into the cracks in the pretzels and let them cool. They taste great and would be a good sweet touch with all the fruit.

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The cup cakes in a cone are so easy-----
mix up batter, and pour into cones balance cones in a muffin pan and bake, the cones will not burn and there is no paper to peel off.

As to an good cake that is easy a red velvet cake is always a hit.

In two 9" round cake pans that are floured

1 box of german chocolate cake mix with pudding
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 bottle of red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla extract

mix and bake as to mix directions from cake mix.

Iceing is cream cheese

1 8oz. pk cream cheese
1 stick butter at room temp.
3 3/4 cups sifted conf. sugar (sifted)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

mix til smooth and use right away
YUMM

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How about beautiful pastel colored Parisian style macarons? (Not to be confused with coconut macaroons).

Technically they are cookies but they are so pretty and haven't gotten too popular yet with home cooks. Very impressive and delicious. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/parisian-macaroons

Or cake pops decorated in school colors. You can get a piece of styrofoam and cover it with a pretty paper, then poke all the cake pops in there to display.

The bakerella blog is the best place to go for ideas and recipes:
http://www.bakerella.com/category/pops-bites/cake-pops/

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Easy Chocolate Eclair Squares

1 3/4 cups of cold milk
1 pkg (4-serving size) Jell-O Vanilla Instant Pudding
1 tub of cool whip thawed
22 honey maid graham crackers
3 Tbsp butter or margarine
2 squares Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate
2 Tbsp cold milk
1 cup sifted powdered sugar

Mix 1 3/4 cup of milk with pudding for 2 min then stir in whipped topping. Layer the bottom of a 13x9 dish with the graham crackers. Alternate the graham crackers and the filling. (Should make two layers).

For the topping you will mix the butter, chocolate squares and 2 Tbsp milk in a small sauce pan. Once all is melted gradually add the power sugar. (this will make it look like burned chocolate at first, but keep stiring and it will get shiny and smooth.) Pour the chocolate mixature over the pudding/cool whip/graham crackers and spread evenly.

Let this set for a few hours and it is O so good. I haven't met a person yet who didn't LOVE it and it is sooo easy.

I found this in my Jell-O Summer Recipes book.

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What about doing Rice Krispie treats in the shape of a football? Or chocolate covered strawberries? If you're feeling really brave, you could do a chocolate fountain with pretzels, crackers, and fruit...

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bettycrocker.com they give you all kinds of recipes and most are very simple...

I love the idea you have of a football field cake. Cute. Not sure if they'll cut into though.
How about M&M's (regular and peanut) in bowls.
Hershey Kisses
Green apples w/carmel sauce to dip in (found in supermarket by fruit)
Trail mix definitely w/M&M's & Chocolate chips.
Purchased chocolate dipped graham cracker cookies.
Box of See's Candies

What about other classics like a sliced bundt cake or scones?

My coworker once brought this for a holiday party, it is delicious! It does take a bit of time to make, because of the layering. Also, it needs to be kept cold.

Ice Cream Jello

4 small packages of jello - any flavor (school colors?)
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, divided into 4 equal parts, or 4 pints

1. Make one of the jello flavors according to package directions except instead of 1 cup cold water use 1 pint of ice cream and mix until well blended

2. Pour into 9"x13" glass dish and refridgerate for at least 2 hours

3. Repeat process for the other flavors/colors.

since it's a homecoming theme - I would make cupcakes that look like mums. just put white icing in a zip loc bag with a hole in the corner. Dab and pull to make the petals of the mum. The use your school colors to pipe the schools initials - or each girls initials on top. You can run by the craft store and buy mum suppliess - like a strand of footballs that you would normally hang on the mum. cut into individual footballs and stick one in each. or buy the little football players or whatever to decorate them. girls love mums! i think they would be a big hit.

Do a dirt dessert ice cream cake, but use green sugar (or green sugar cookies crumbles) on top to recreate the turf look. Then with some simple white icing you can add the yard lines. :)

I always love lemon squares.

oh and before you bake the cupcakes in the ice cream cones, think about how you will transfer them to your event -- They do not balance in a box very easily. You need some sort of cute stand. They are tasty and easy and cute, but don't travel well.

Another thought -- what about FRUIT on a stick. Little fruit kabobs or make your own little "Edible Arrangements". Healthier lesson to teach 15 yr old girls.

Love all recipes by the pioneer woman! If you do the recipe Grace R. suggests they will never forget you.

Icecream cone cupcakes are FUN! and so easy. Just fill the cone 1/2 way with batter and bake as you would cupcakes.

How about a Fall treat? Caramel corn with m&m's and candy corn mixed in.

assorted Brownies cut in small tiny squares.

So heres what I make for a lot of people, all are pretty easy:
Chocolate dipped pretzels - These can be decorated with assorted sprinkles, drizzled with a different type of chocolate, or even things like shredded coconut.
Chocolate dipped marshmellows - (jumbo ones), can be decorated just like the pretzles.
Chocolate Chex mix - put into decorated paper funnles (you could get paper with footballs on them for "home coming")

This one I got from Martha Stewart, but they are time consuming if you don't have practice with them:
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cupcake-pops

I also like good, old fashioned lemon bars/squares.
Good Luck, Have Fun!!!

Hello, I dont usually post on this site, but I read your post and saw that you needed ideas for the girls.

Well here what I used to do for the girls when my daughter was a girl scout.

Graham Cracker Cheese Cake sandwiches

spread cracker with cream cheese (at least enough to really taste it)
mix strewberry jelly on top of that
Stack another cracker thats it thats all you do and they loved it

I still make them for my son, but now they have a cream cheese with
honey nut flavor in stores (Walmart) and I use Honey Nut Grahams to.He like that better than the regular cream cheese, for this one you dont really need the jelly, it already have
the sweet taste to it. Their really god YumYum!!!
Eat and Enjoy, L.

Please email me to let me know if you try and like this idea, you might want to try it yourself first, to make sure think this might be a fit for the girls. My email is
____@____.com
bizonly4lisa.com

Now if you eat the sandwich right after making it, it taste like cheece cake
If you let the sandwich sit a bit, it get soft and taste like banana pudding.
at least thats what it taste like to me

Whenever we go to church potlucks, we always notice that the dessert that disappears first is the trifle. You can go easy and use instant pudding; there are many recipes on the internet. But--if you have to transport it or if it's too messy for the event, I'd consider chocolate covered strawberries as someone else mentioned. They are super easy and fast. Just melt some baking chocolate (Baker's semi-sweet or Ghirardelli semi-sweet) with a little spoonful of shortening, dip them, place on parchment and refrigerate until set. I've also used peanut butter in place of the shortening and they are awesome, if all the kids can have peanut butter.

Another easy one:
Toffee bars (very quick)

Spread 40 saltines in a jelly roll pan. I usually cover the pan with nonstick foil. Saltines should touch and should cover the whole pan in a single layer. Add or subtract a few to make sure you get the whole pan done. Melt 1 cup unsalted butter on the stove, and then boil for 3 minutes. Pour over crackers. Bake for 5 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and pour 1 cup (sometimes I use a little more) chocolate chips on top. Wait a minute until they start to melt, and then spread over pan. Sprinkle one cup nuts over chocolate. Refrigerate until hard and then break into pieces and serve.

I have also made this without nuts. Still good.