Halloween Treats - Two Easy Treats

I have a lot of recipes that involve cooking, baking, lots of steps, etc…

Sometimes you just want a recipe that is fun and easy - especially if you have kids!  Since there is a short window before Halloween I thought posting the process and pictures of these two easy treats would be perfect.

If you have a Halloween party to go to, if you are hosting a Halloween party, or if you want something to keep those kids busy in the hours before you sew them into their costumes and send them off trick or treating check this out!

Nutter Butter Ghosts

1. Melt your vanilla flavored ‘almond bark’ candy coating slowly in the microwave or with a double boiler set-up on the stove.  *be careful not to overcook (it will clump) or burn (it will discolor) the vanilla favored candy coating*

2. Lay out some parchment paper on a large table or other prep surface.

3. Once candy coating is melted, bring it to your prep surface.

4. Grab a package of Nutter Butter cookies.

5. Grab some mini M&Ms

6. One by one, dip the Nutter Butter cookie into the candy coating; coat about ¾ of the cookie - let excess drip off.

7. Lay cookie on parchment paper when coated.

8. Before candy coating hardens, place two mini M&Ms for eyes onto the cookie… creating your ghost!

9. Let cookies solidify for 30-45 minutes.  Store in sealed container until it is time to serve your fun treats!

Gummy Pumpkins

1. Purchase a package of gummy orange slices.

2. Purchase a package of gum drops or spice drops - separate out the green ones.

3. Cut the edges off the inside of the orange slices.

4. Take two orange slices and adjoin them by pressing them together.

5. Cut the bottoms of the gum drops off.

6. Attach the green gum drops to the orange slice circle… creating your pumpkin!

7. Store in an air-tight container until you are ready to serve.

Cookie Week Entry 7 - Sugar Cookies (Cut Outs)

Sugar Cookies
(for cut outs)

I am of the belief that most people underestimate the sugar cookie.  This isn’t your normal sugar cookie though- I am talking about the cut out/decorated sugar cookie that most people make as kids… but then realize how much work they are as adults and often overlook when doing any sort of baking.

I challenge you all to try cut outs again this holiday season.  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas… there are cookie cutters for every occasion.

Once cut out, you can decorate your cookies with frosting, icing, sprinkles, sugars, candy pieces… really anything that is edible!!  They sky is the limit.  Let your creativity flow.  While these cookies can be a little bit of work- I am always shocked how fun it is to decorate them.

Have a little decorating party too!  Get some of your friends to help you with your decorating.  Pay them in cookies!

I guarantee that you will impress some people with your brightly colored, lightly flavored, soft & chewy sugar cookies!

Print your own copy of the Sugar Cookie Recipe Card: CLICK HERE!

Ingredients

·         1 c. sugar

·         1 c. butter

·         1 t. vanilla

·         ½ t. almond extract

·         1 egg

·         2  1/3 c. flour

·         1 t. baking soda

·         1 t. cream of tartar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix egg, vanilla, almond extract, and baking soda together.

Add butter, cream of tartar, and sugar.

Cream mixture together.

Add flour.  Mix thoroughly.

Chill dough for a minimum of 2 hours.

Remove dough, roll, cut out shapes.

Place cookie shapes on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 6-8 minutes.  *Cookies should not brown.  I only cook mine for 6 minutes - they stay soft then!*

Cool cookies before frosting.

Sugar Cookie Icing

The icing on the cake… or the sugar cookie… is a good icing.  (I say icing, because it is more of a glaze.)  I love this icing recipe for two reasons.

1)      It is SIMPLE.  (remedial almost)

2)      The icing has a high gloss, and it dries hard (to the tough) but is soft to eat.

Simply put… it’s a no brainer!

I make sever batches and color them up with food coloring.  Make your favorite colors today!

Print your own copy of the Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe Card: CLICK HERE!

Ingredients

·         1 c. powdered sugar

·         3 t. milk

·         2 t. light corn syrup

·         1 t. almond extract

·         Assorted Food Colorings

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together.

Add food coloring (a little bit at a time) to desired color.

*Add more milk to make icing softer, as desired.*

Cookie Week Entry 6 - Snickers Cookies

Peanut nougat topped with roasted peanuts and caramel, enrobed in milk chocolate.

What is a snickers candy bar?  YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!

You can get Snickers cheese cake, Snickers ice cream, so it seems that it would be natural that there would be a Snickers cookie… I mean Snickers is my favorite candy bar!

Simple- let’s make a cookie and put a Snickers by inside!

Ingredients

• 1 c. butter
• 1 c. creamy peanut butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 t. vanilla
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1 t. baking powder
• 3 c. flour
• Bite size snickers
• Dove Milk Chocolates (or other melt-able chocolate)
• Powdered Sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and baking powder together.

Add sugar, brown sugar, butter, and peanut butter.

Cream mixture together.

Add flour.  *There is a lot; add in thirds while mixing in.  The cookie batter gets a little hard to mix by hand, so use a mixer if you have one available.*

Chill dough for a short 30 minutes.  *Not too long- otherwise the dough will dry out.*

While dough is chilling, unwrap your Snickers miniatures.

Using a 1 tablespoon scoop, scoop several balls of dough out and set aside.

Carefully place one Snickers mini on-top of the dough ball and press the snickers in.

Form dough around the Snickers bar.

Roll to ensure entire Snickers is covered with cookie dough.

Place completed cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.  (The shorter the better)  They should not brown- otherwise they will be too hard.

*I cook mine for only 8 minutes.*

Allow cookie to cool for 2-3 minutes on cookie sheet.  Then transfer cookie to cooling rack.

Once you have a rack of cookies cooling - drizzle them with chocolate.  (Melt chocolate slowly in microwave or a double boiler on the stove.)

Sprinkle with powdered sugar immediately.

Allow cookies to finish cooling while chocolate dries.

Be sure chocolate is dry before packaging.

ENJOY!

A little history:

Did you know that the Mars family (creators of Mars candy) named the Snickers bar after their pet horse?  You won’t find me naming any of my baked goods after a pet…

Cookie Week Entry 5 - Compost Cookies

In "full disclosure" - I didn't create this cookie, nor the name... but I am a BIG FAN!  (So I had to recreate it for myself and all of you!)  New York City is one of my favorite places in the entire world.  The hustle and bustle of the city mixed with the art and culture makes it the perfect place.  One thing you can also count on in New York City is OUTSTANDING food.

A very trendy Asian establishment in NYC called Momofuku is a place that you need to stop by if ever you are in town.  I say “stop by” because in addition to their full entrée  dining room they also are famous for the “Milk Bar.” 

The Milk Bar is their take on a specialty bakery where you can get unique creations - like “Crack Pie.”  (Crack - because I hear it is addicting… celebrities like Anderson Cooper have been known to eat an entire pie in one sitting!)

Another great treat is their “Compost Cookie.”

The Compost Cookie has ingredients that include just about everything… except the kitchen sink.

Many have tried to re-create this cookie, few have succeeded.

The recipe below comes close!

Enjoy- and be sure to check out Momofuku on your next trip to the Big Apple!

Print your own copy of this recipe: CLICK HERE!

Ingredients

·         ¾ c. butter

·         ¾ c. brown sugar

·         ¼ c. white sugar

·         1 egg

·         1 t. vanilla

·         1 t. baking soda

·         1 c. quick cooking oats

·         1 c. flour

·         1 c. crushed potato chips

·         ½ c. pretzels

·         ½ c. butterscotch chips

·         ½ c. chocolate chips

·         ½ c. coconut

**The best part of this cookie is that you can use any ingredients!** 

Any type of dry ingredient works.  The original recipe of this cookie calls for used coffee grounds!

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix egg, vanilla, and baking soda together.

Add butter, brown sugar, white sugar, quick cooking oats, and flour.

Cream together.

Crush larger ingredients.

Items like pretzels and potato chips will need to be broken down into smaller pieces.  You don’t want them to be fine like dust - but a whole potato ship won’t work either.

In a separate bowl, mix all of your “compost ingredients.”

As mentioned, you can add just about any ingredients that you want - just make sure that there is enough of the “cookie dough” consistency left or your cookies will fall apart when you try to take them off the cookie sheet when baking is completed.

Add your compost ingredients to the creamed mixture.

Mix together until cookie dough is evenly mixed.

Use a 2 T. scoop to portion out dough onto parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes (or until cookies begin to turn golden brown).

Let cookies cool for 2-3 minutes.  *this is particularly important for these cookies as they need to solidify*

Remove cookies and allow them to cool on cookie sheet.

Cookie Week Entry 4 - Oatmeal (Raisin or Chocolate Chip!)

Some like an oatmeal cookie... others don’t.

If you even remotely think you would enjoy the nice warm flavor of an oatmeal cookie you should definitely try this recipe. 




This cookie is a soft, sweet, cinnamony recipe that works great with raisins (the traditional type of oatmeal cookie).  If you have a crowd that isn’t a fan of raisins - try milk chocolate chips instead!  (everyone likes milk chocolate right!?!)

When you are eating oatmeal cookies with your friends share a little piece of history with them too-

Oatmeal probably dates back to Egyptian times - 2000 B.C.!  Now this these oats weren’t cultivated… and by some standards they may have been looked at as weeds - but all good things come from somewhere!  In the 1600’s oats were brought to the United States.  In fact- our first President of the United States was a farmer - and he sowed 580 acres of oats annually!

One thing can be certain though.  President George Washington and his wife Martha never had cookies like this!  J  Enjoy-

Print A Copy: CLICK HERE!

Ingredients:

·         1 c. butter

·         1 c. white sugar

·         1 c. brown sugar

·         2 eggs

·         1 t. vanilla

·         2 c. flour

·         1 t. baking soda

·         1 t. salt

·         2 t. cinnamon

·         3 c. quick cooking oats

·         Raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips (choose one, or all three!)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Beat eggs and vanilla together.

Add butter, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Cream together.

Add quick cooking oats.

Mix thoroughly.

Add flour.  (adding ½ of the flour at first, mixing, then adding the rest of the flour works better)

Mix thoroughly.

Use a 2 T. scoop to portion out cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Allow cookies to cook on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Cookie Week Entry 3 - Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

There are a lot of great pairings that we encounter when cooking- peanut butter & jelly, wine & cheese, cinnamon & sugar... all of these are classic.  There is another great fall pairing that many people don’t think of - Pumpkin & Chocolate!  The natural nutty flavorful flavors of fresh pumpkin are brought out with the rich sweetness of milk chocolate.  With this recipe you can try it!

Don’t underestimate pumpkin!  This is the perfect cookie for the fall.  Halloween is all about pumpkin - and this cookie is great for Halloween.  Once Halloween passes we transition into November - and when all eyes are focused on turkey and stuffing, keep making these cookies!  These cookies go great, and could even be an alternative to the traditional pumpkin pie.

Today is Sunday.  Many people read the paper on Sunday morning.  After brunch, while you have a cup of coffee and read the paper enjoy one of these treats… it’s the perfect end to a great weekend!

Print a copy of this recipe for your kitchen: CLICK HERE!

Ingredients

·         1 small can of pumpkin

·         ¾ c. sugar

·         2 T. vegetable oil

·         ½ c. butter

·         1 egg

·         1 t. vanilla

·         2 ½ c flour

·         2 t. baking powder

·         2 t. cinnamon

·         ½ t. salt

·         1 t. baking soda

·         1 t. milk

·         1 bag (11.5 oz.) chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix baking soda and milk in a small container and set aside.

In a large bowl beat egg and vanilla.

Then, mix in pumpkin, sugar, oil, butter, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Cream mixture together.

Mix in flour.  (half of it first, then add the rest - this will make a more even mixture)

Mix in chocolate chips.

Dough will seem more like a ‘cake batter’ consistency.  This is the way it should be.

Chill in refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.

Using a large scoop (2 T. size), spoon out mixture onto parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Let cool for 2-3 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring cookies to baking rack to complete the cooling process.

Sweeten them up?

Now these cookies are delicious on their own.  The chocolate along with the ingredients in the cookie are sweet enough- and they taste GREAT!  In today’s world though - everyone always is looking for that added tough!  I love to top them with some cream cheese frosting as well!

Cooking Tip

You almost always have to ‘cool’ when baking.  I have tried cloth pads - they get dirty easy, I have tried stone and tile trivets - they are heavier, break easy, and also can be expensive to purchase.  What is easier?  CORK.  I always use cork circles as my cooling barrier of choice.  You can pick up pre-cut cork circles for about a dollar at cooking store, discount stores, and even craft stores.  If they get too dirty - toss them out and get some new ones.  Cork is also lightweight, not bulky, and easy to store!