Made with almond butter, these cookies are gluten-free and dairy-free. Okay, now I hear you shutting down, thinking, “Oh, that’s just so NPR,” and preparing to click over to Pinterest. But WAIT.

It gets better.

Not only will your favorite food-phaser (Like my daughter who won’t eat gluten or lactose)be very happy with these cookies, everyone else will be, too. They are so good, my uncle came to tea the other day and ate so many of them, we had to remove the plate from his line of vision. (Unfortunately we forgot to do the same for the dog.)

Almost entirely healthy (the only evil ingredient being sugar), these cookies are so easy to make, you won’t mind if your uncle (and/or your dog) eats them all and you have to make a second batch for other guests.

Click here to read this miraculous recipe.

The only way I could ever get my husband to eat a strawberry would be if I disguised it as a chocolate treat. For that matter, if I presented him with anything dipped in semisweet Valrhona chocolate—perhaps excluding broccoli or anchovies—he’d eat it with such speed and gusto, he wouldn’t realize what he’d actually consumed until it was well on its way to his small intestine.

But I didn’t make these babies today to trick my husband into eating a berry. I just saw the big, fat long-stems at the market and they spoke to me. They said, “Take me home and cover me in chocolate,” which nobody has said to me since I met that guy with a goatee at a disco in the ‘70’s.

I’m taking them to a dinner party, where guests will proclaim me a culinary genius. That would be because they have no idea how easy it is to make these things. Here’s the recipe, and, hello, it’s just two ingredients! If that doesn’t appeal to your crabby side, I don’t know what will.

You can also apply this recipe to dipping pretzels, dried apricots or graham crackers (or broccoli or anchovies if your mother-in-law is coming for dinner and you want to discourage future visits.)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Yield: One dozen

Ingredients:

12 long-stemmed strawberries

8 ounces semisweet Valrhona chocolate, cut into small chunks

Directions:

1. Place the chocolate in a bowl and microwave it for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave again for ten seconds. Stir and repeat, until the chocolate is almost, but not quite melted. Stir until smooth. (The chocolate will finish melting as you stir.)

2. Dip each strawberry into the chocolate until covered, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl.  Place the berries on a parchment or wax paper and allow to set, about 20 minutes.

Chill in the refrigerator until you serve. (Serve the same day.)

That’s one reason I like to make it, the other is that it is the perfect recipe for lazy ass cooks like me, because the recipe only has three ingredients, and since everyone is so crazy about the result, you get a lot of bang for your buck, meaning a lot more credit for baking expertise than you actually deserve. This really appeals to my sleazy side.

When I asked my nephew-in-law, Michael, to send me his recipe for perfect shortbread (for which he is famous, at least in his own mind and in mine), he sent me, not just the recipe, but an entire, actual wad of the stuff, studded with chocolate chips, all the way from Ireland.  Even given its long journey, the shortbread tasted fabulous.

Now that I have the recipe, I make the shortbread for every possible occasion.  The Thatcher’s housewarming, the Easter brunch, the college girl’s care package, the visit to my parents—EVERY occasion. This trend will probably continue until I find another 3-ingredient treat that has such universal appeal.

I will give you the recipe but you must swear that, if I run into you at a future potluck,, you won’t tell anyone that I brought shortbread because I have a sleazy side.

Mike’s Shortbread

Yield: 8 pieces

6 ounces flour (1 ¼ cups)

5 tablespoons superfine sugar, divided

4 ounces (1 stick) salted butter, plus extra for the pan

1. Preheat the oven to 300º F.  Lightly butter a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and four tablespoons of the sugar and mix well. Cut the butter into chunks and work it into the flour with your hands until the dough resembles large crumbs. Press the dough gently and evenly into the pan.

3. Bake the shortbread until it is lightly golden, about 40-45 minutes. Sprinkle it with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. With a serrated knife, score the shortbread (without cutting all the way through) into eight wedges. Allow the shortbread to cool completely in the pan, then cut and serve.

P.S. If you are trying to curry favor with chocoholics, add 1/4-1/2 cup of mini-chocolate chips after the butter is incorporated.