Woodland Dessert Recipes | Life Unsweetened (2024)

Because we were having a small get-together for Henry’s first birthday (due to COVID), I didn’t go all-out on party favors. (Plus, who really gets excited taking home a party favor from a one-year-old’s party?) I still wanted to give a little something away, and wanted it to match the woodland theme, so I decided to make a woodland dessert bar and provide to-go bags so they could double as “favors” in addition to dessert. These were all in addition to the cake and smash cake, which would’ve been enough dessert on their own if we’re being honest! I made small signs for each of the items so people would know what they were supposed to be, since they weren’t all obvious at first glance.

Woodland Desserts for 1st Birthday Party

The key here in making woodland desserts is creativity. When I was browsing premade or prepackaged candy and dessert options, it became clear to me that there wasn’t much available that fit the woodland theme (no gummy foxes or chocolate covered racoons were available). So I looked at Henry’s woodland nursery and the plates I chose for his party for inspiration.

Mountain Rice Krispie Treats

These mountain shaped marshmallow treats are just like the classic Rice Krispie treat, but with a twist. Sub in Cocoa Krispies or Cocoa Pebbles for regular Rice Krispies, cut into triangles instead of squares, and dip a corner in white chocolate.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons of butter
• 1 10 oz. package of marshmallows
• 6 cups Cocoa Krispies cereal or Cocoa Pebbles cereal

Directions

1. Melt butter over low heat in a large saucepan.
2. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Then remove from heat.
3. Add in your cereal of choice. Stir until well coated.
4. Using buttered spatula or your hands sprayed with cooking spray, press mixture evenly into a 13 x 9 inch pan coated with cooking spray.
5. Let cool.
6. Cut into triangles. (I made 4 rows horizontally and then cut triangles out of each rectangle).
7. Dip the “tip” of the mountain in melted white chocolate to look like snow. Store/let dry on wax paper before transferring to a container (or eating!)

Edible Acorns

These were adorable (and yummy), but gave me carpal tunnel while assembling them. I made these a night in advance and kept them in a sealed airtight container and they held up nicely.

Ingredients

• Hershey kisses
• chocolate chips
• Mini Nilla wafers (these have to be the Mini version!)
• chocolate frosting

Directions

1. Apply a dot of chocolate frosting on top of the flat end of a Hershey kiss, using a small spoon or piping bag.
2. Adhere the flat end of a Mini Nilla wafer and press firmly.
3. Apply a dot of chocolate frosting on the flat end of the chocolate chip.
4. Adhere the flat end of a chocoalte chip to the curved end of the Mini Nilla wafer.

Pretzel Birch Logs

These look like your standard chocolate covered pretzel rods with some added drizzle. Key tip from my mistake: buy extra melting chocolate. I ended up running out to the store in a panic because I severely underestimated how much I’d need.

Ingredients

• pretzel rods
• white chocolate for melting
• milk chocolate for drizzling
• wax paper

Directions

1. Melt your white chocolate and milk chocolate (separate) according to the directions on the package. They were out of melting chips everywhere near me (likely because Valentine’s Day was coming up), so I had to melt regular chocolate bars.
2. Dip the bottom 1/3 of a pretzel rod in the white chocolate, turning to evenly coat.
3. Let dry on wax paper – this should take about 15-20 minutes.
4. Drizzle the milk chocolate lightly over the rods. I used a spoon for this and just moved my hands back and forth very quickly.
5. Store in airtight container.

Edible Bear Poop

So there’s not a recipe for this, but there are many options! You can make bear poop, deer poop, or *insert other woodland animal* poop depending on your preference. I used Whoppers, but you could also use Raisinettes, Milk Duds, or Goobers.