Okay, so the other day, my niece, she’s like, totally obsessed with becoming the next big baking star on TikTok. She asked me to help her brainstorm some dessert ideas that would, you know, “slay” with teenagers. So, I was like, “Challenge accepted!”
The Brainstorm
First, I grabbed a giant notepad and my favorite pen – gotta have the right tools, right? We sat down at the kitchen table, and I just started asking her questions. What flavors are “in” right now? What desserts are her friends always craving? What looks cool but is actually easy to make?

- She mentioned anything with cookie dough is a win.
- Also, stuff that’s super colorful or has a surprise inside.
- And, of course, anything that’s easy to eat on the go, no forks required!
The Test Kitchen (aka My Kitchen)
Based on her feedback, we decided to try a few things. I whipped out my trusty recipe books, did some quick Googling, and we got to work!
First, we made these crazy-easy no-bake cookie dough bars. I mean, who doesn’t love raw cookie dough? We just mixed together some butter, sugar, flour, and a few other things, pressed it into a pan, and topped it with chocolate chips. Boom. Done.
Then we created some Mug cakes.
All you need is 4 tablespoons flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa, 1 egg, 3 tablespoons milk, 3 tablespoons oil and some chocolate chips.
Just mix and microwave for 2-3 minutes, and that’s it!
Next up, we experimented with some “dessert nachos.” We took some cinnamon sugar pita chips (store-bought, because, let’s be real, I’m not making those from scratch), arranged them on a plate, and drizzled them with melted chocolate, caramel sauce, and sprinkles. It looked amazing and tasted even better.

The Verdict
My niece gave everything a thumbs up, especially the cookie dough bars. She even took some pictures for her social media, so I guess that means they were officially “teen-approved.” And honestly, they were all pretty darn good, even for an old dude like me. The best part? We had a blast making them together. It was a total win-win.
I am glad that now I have something new to try, when my kids say “Dad,I want to eat some desserts”,haha.