Flickr / Rockinfree

Whether you design yours as a calorie bomb or a relatively healthy snack, froyo is the perfect summer treat

The light and healthier-than-ice-cream option isn't what it used to be. Self-serve yogurt shops are everywhere, and they cater to everyone. It's no longer just the elementary-school crowd loading gummy worms and marshmallows onto their hot-fudge-drizzled birthday-cake- and pumpkin-pie-flavored yogurt.

Here are five of our favorite local yogurt spots, guaranteed to please everyone (and their mothers).

Photo by Natalie Gallagher

The Pecan Chocolate Chip cookie from Surdyk's Cheese Shop

The quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie can be endless, and Minneapolis has no shortage of bakeries vying for the top spot. But beyond the usual age-old, hand-me-down recipe from Grandma's cookbook, the Hot Dish was inspired this week to hunt for the most interesting (and delicious) local interpretation of America's most beloved cookie. It was an arduous search, placing strenuous demands on our palates, but we've finally ranked the list.

See also:
Top 5 hot chocolates to get you through a frigid winter

A.J. Olmscheid

Kopplin's Hot Chocolate

Long gone are the days when hot cocoa was simply a way to pacify a sugar-deprived child on a frigid winter day. The hot refreshment has graduated to adulthood, and it's now easy to find hot chocolate in so many varieties that practically any taste can be satisfied.

With another cold front on the way this week, we scoured the Twin Cities to find the best local hot chocolates. If you're looking for something to replace the usual coffee pick-me-up, here are five delicious options.

Removing the mystery of which new trucks to seek

With these trucks, trailers, and stands popping up faster than frogs at a fly fair, it's hard to keep track of who has been where, when, and what was worth eating. After our hard-to-narrow-down Top 10 list, we wanted to give some love to the new trucks that have just arrived on the scene. All these guys have been mobile for less than a year, and already we would hate to imagine a world without them.