Witch Hat Cookie Treats

I brought a birthday treat for the month of October. They are these super easy and super yummy witch hats.

Here's what you need:
Keebler Shortbread Cookies (you know the flat striped ones)
Hershey Kisses
Can of Vanilla Frosting, tinted orange with gel paste

The base of the hat is a Keebler Shortbread cookie flipped over. Then I had store bought frosting that I colored orange and put into a ziploc bag and cut the tip off. I piped a small amount of frosting onto the bottom of an unwrapped chocolate kiss and then stuck it on the cookie. After all the kisses were attached I used the ziploc piping bag to add a cute little bow to the hat.

That’s it!

It took like 10 or 15 minutes to make about 40 of them. From start to finish. I was concerned about the top of the hat (the kiss) slipping & sliding around on the soft canned frosting. I made these last night and by this morning, they were perfect. The frosting had solidified so that it held everything in place and I could easily stack them on the plate. But when you tried to eat it, it was still soft and delicious!

Cocoa Kiss Cookies

These are a new FAVORITE cookie of mine. I try new cookie recipes all the time and while most of the time they are delicious, most of them don't make it into cookie hall of fame. At least in my recipe book hall of fame.

But this one was AMAZING! I loved it! They are like a chocolate version of Sandies (A.K.A. Mexican Wedding Cookies, Snowballs, etc. They have a million different names.) Plus to make them even better, they have a chocolate kiss in the middle of them which gives them extra goodie good-ness.
With no further ado..... Here's the recipe....


{{Cocoa Kiss Cookies}}

(printer friendly version)

1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 bag (9 ounces) Hershey's Kisses Milk Chocolate
Powdered Sugar

Beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Stir together flour and cocoa in a separate bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Add pecans; beat until well blended. Refrigerate dough about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove wrappers from chocolate pieces. Mold scant tablespoons of dough around each chocolate piece, covering the kiss completely. Shape into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Cool slightly, about 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Roll in powdered sugar. Roll again in sugar just before serving, if desired.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.



Here are the cookies after they have been cooked. The dough was wrapped around the kiss and then baked in the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for about a minute, before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Then they get coated in powdered sugar.

Then you can coat them again in more powdered sugar right before you serve them so that they look this beautiful white color.

They melt in your mouth. You want to limit how much dough you put around each kiss so that they are a decent size but not too big and so that you can get the full 4 1/2 dozen of cookies from this recipe. They are yummy cookies. You can omit the pecans if you want... but I think they really add a great flavor and dimension to these cookies.

Serve with a tall glass of milk... And enjoy!

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bites

Ready for a quick and easy, sweet and salty treat? Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bites... These can be made in like 10 minutes and you can make a lot of them too. They look fabulous and much, much, MUCH more complicated than they actually are. Recipe is at the bottom with a link to a printer friendly version as well...not that you really need a recipe for these little beauties.

All you need are three main ingredients... four if you include the drizzled chocolate.

Ritz Cracker, Creamy Peanut Butter, and Large Marshmallows.
Place the crackers on a rimmed baking sheet.

Add a dollop of peanut butter on top of each cracker and spread it around. You can add as much or as little as you would like. Totally a preference here. The peanut butter will melt during the marshmallow roasting, but will set back up after they have cooled.

(This is a great recipe to get the kids in the kitchen to cook. They can do almost every step. Just need a little help with the broiling, and melting of chocolate, but otherwise, they can do it almost entirely by themselves.)

Cut your large marshmallows in half and place one half on each cracker. If you don't want to cut the marshmallows in half... you can place an entire large marshmallow on top, but they aren't as bite sized if you do this... you know not as easy to just pop the whole thing in your mouth type of thing. But with the extra marshmallow yummi-ness, they are equally as fantastic.
After the marshmallows are in place, put them into the oven set to broil. Place the rack in the middle of the oven so that the marshmallows don't roast TOOO quickly. Keep an eye on them... it doesn't take long for the marshmallows to turn golden brown.

Quickly the go from looking white, to nicely golden brown to a lot golden brown....

After they come out of the oven, drizzle them with melted white chocolate and if you'd like some semisweet chocolate, put that on as well. TIP: Put the melted chocolate into a ziploc bag and cut the tip of the corner off and then use it like a pastry bag to drizzle the chocolate onto the cookie. Note: They kind of taste like a peanut butter s'more cookie when you add the semisweet chocolate. Super YUMMY!

Just keep on drizzlin' until they are all adequately covered. My philosophy: The more chocolate the better! And don't worry about being neat and clean in your drizzlin' technique.... just cover them in the chocolate. Also... Do you see some of the ones in the top right corner of the picture here are full size marshmallows... the kids reached for these ones first because they enjoy the extra marshmallow. I liked the smaller, more bite sized snack.
Beautiful treats! Looks much more exquisite and complicated than they actually are. While the chocolate is still wet you can garnish them with more deliciousness. Such as some toasted coconut. If you make some Samoa Cookie Bars you can make some extra toasted coconut to use on these. Or add a sprinkle of sea salt to accentuate the flavor of the chocolate. Colorful sprinkles are fun for some colorful party flair. Use your imagination and add almost anything.

They also can be made with mini marshmallows as well so if you don't have large marshmallows... you can still enjoy them. You definitely need more peanut butter when you use the smaller marshmallows to help keep them on the cracker when you toast them.

Ta dah! Ready to serve!
{{Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bites}}

(printer friendly version)

Ritz Crackers
Creamy Peanut Butter
Large Marshmallows, cut in half with kitchen shears
White and/or semisweet chocolate, melted to drizzle on top

Turn your oven on to broil. Place Ritz Crackers on a baking sheet. Slather on a dollop of creamy peanut butter. Place half of a large marshmallow on top of the peanut butter that is on each cracker. Place the baking sheet in the oven on the middle rack and allow the marshmallow to turn a beautiful golden brown.

Remove from oven. While they are cooling, melt the white and semisweet chocolate (separate bowls, not together). Pour each individual chocolate into a tapered bottle or use a ziploc bag with a tiny hole cut into the corner to help you drizzle the chocolate over the cookies evenly and easily.

Variations: While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle some toasted coconut on top, or some sea salt to accentuate the chocolate flavor, or even use some sprinkles to give them a bit of colorful party flair.

Allow the cookies to cool on the counter or stick them in the refrigerator until set.
Serve up the cookies and enjoy! And I dare you to only eat one! Great for a quick and yummy snack that is sure to please.


Found them here...

Samoa Cookie Bars

Mmmmm.... I love Girl Scout cookies... and the Samoa cookies are my favorite. Thin Mints run a close second. It is one of the best parts of the beginning of the year. When the little girls come around to sell their cookies... it is truly a delightful day. But those boxes only last so long, even if you store them in the freezer (which if you didn't know, Girl Scout Cookies store very nicely in the freezer so you can buy extra boxes to help the sweetness last more of the year).

While playing on the internet the other day... I was delighted to find this vinyl sign here... Isn't that awesome! I think it is a very creative NO SOLICITING sign. But I might have to get one that says SAMOAS instead of Thin Mints. Either one would work though.

Anyways.... back to the cookies. Sometimes you need a cookie and this was a great way to make your own cookies. This was the simplified version of the recipe. Instead of rolling out the dough and cutting out all cookies, I found this recipe that turned them into Samoa Cookie Bars. I wanted to make sure they tasted good before spending so much time rolling and cutting and dipping. These were well worth the time and I'm excited to try them in cookie form soon.

Start with the shortbread cookie dough. Mix it up in the mixer.

Then press the shortbread cookie dough into a parchment paper lined 9x13 inch pan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the cookie base looks set and starts to turn a golden brown on the edges. Allow the cookie to cool completely on a wire rack.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees. While the cookie base is cooling, place your shredded coconut on a rimmed baking sheet and toast the coconut until golden brown. Will take about 20 minutes. You will want to stir the coconut every 5 minutes to keep it toasting consistently and evenly.

When the coconut looks golden brown, pull out the coconut out of the oven and set aside.
While the coconut is toasting, unwrap the caramels and place in a large heavy saucepan with the milk and salt. Melt the caramels on high for about 3-4 minutes. Stirring til smooth.

Then add the toasted coconut to the melted caramel and stir together.

Spread the coconut and caramel mixture over the cooled cookie base.

Let that cool and then cut into 30 bars.

While the bars are cooling, melt the chocolate in a double boiler.

Dip the bottom of the cookie bars into the chocolate and then drizzle the melted chocolate across the top of the bars. Once the chocolate has set, they are ready to serve. (I tested one before the chocolate was set because I just couldn't resist anymore.) I don't think these are difficult to make, there are just lots of steps and waiting time in between each step. But in my opinion... well worth the time spent! The only thing I will change next time is that I think the shortbread was too thick. I think next time I make these, I will spread out the cookie base a little bit thinner.

{{Homemade Samoas Bars}}

(printer friendly version)

Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

First, make the crust.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepared pan and press into an even layer.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).
Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.

Brownie Cookies

The yummi-ness of a brownie, in the convenience of a cookie. Less mess! More joy! Brownies are a favorite dessert of mine... their chewy, chocolatey-ness is amazing!


{{Brownie Cookies}}

(printer friendly version)

1/2 cup butter
4 (1 oz) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 cups (18 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine butter, unsweetened chocolate, and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter and chocolate melt; let cool.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl, set aside.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer. Gradually add dry ingredients to egg mixture, beating well. Then add the chocolate mixture and beat well. Stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.

Cover a baking sheet with foil and then scoop dough onto the baking sheet using an ice cream scoop. Place dough about 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheets; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.


After you mix up the batter, and scoop it onto the cookie sheet it will look like this.....

The first batch I made, I put them directly on the cookie sheet and they seemed to stick a little bit and it was difficult to get them off. So I covered the baking sheet with a variety of products to see if I could find a good way to remove the cookies more easily. I used parchment paper and aluminum foil. I think the foil worked the best (not pictured) but definitely makes for easier removable and cleanup after you bake the cookies.

This is what the cookies look like right after they come out of the oven. They are puffy and looking ready to eat... but beware- they are HOT and gooey and VERY messy. I only know this, because I did try one at this stage. You definitely need to get a glass of milk ready to drink if you are going to attempt to try them at this point. Better to let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to cool off.

After they have rested and cooled, they will flatten out and look like this:Then you can remove them from the cookie sheet with a thin metal spatula, and transfer them to a cooling rack to fully cool off. You don't want to let them cool completely on the cookie sheet.
I think these cookies tasted best the first day and pretty good on the second day. Store in an airtight container.

Oreo Truffles

Yummy sweet chocolates that make a great gift, holiday treat, or just a sweet indulgence.

Start with a 16.6 ounce package of regular Oreos, (not double stuf). I like to open up about 10 cookies and take the one side without cream and put them into a ziplock bag. Then using a rolling pin or can of food, crush the cookies into a fine crumb powder. Set the bag of crumbs aside.

Put the rest of the cookies, including the cream, into a food processor and pulse until the cookies turn into a fine crumb.
When the cookies are crushed, dump the crumbs into a bowl with the softened 8 ounce package of cream cheese. Using the back of a spoon, mix the cookie crumbs & cream cheese into a soft dough. The dough will look wet, but you should be able to shape it.
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or waxed paper. Take about a tablespoon of dough and roll it a ball....
...or an egg, or a heart, or a square, or whatever shape might fit the holiday or reason that you are celebrating. Refrigerate the balls for at least an hour. The truffles will have a nicer coat of chocolate if the dough is cold and hardened.
Melt some chocolate (tips for melting chocolate below)... either white or milk or semi-sweet chocolate. Place a chilled ball of dough into the chocolate and using two forks cover the ball with chocolate. Once the ball is coated, pull it out with the forks and let the excess chocolate drip off the fork. Drop the covered truffle back down onto the waxed or parchment paper. Then you can embellish them in a few different ways.

• Take the first set of cookie crumbs that are in the ziploc bag and sprinkle a few crumbs on the wet chocolate.
• Drizzle an opposing color of chocolate onto the truffle: white on brown or brown on white.
• Leave the truffle plain, and drop some extra chocolate on top. While the chocolate is still wet, use the fork and swirl the chocolate on top as a design.
• Or just leave them plain.

Let the chocolate harden either by letting them sit out at room temperature or stick them into the refrigerator.
Once they have set, you can serve them up on a plate, or package them up in a bag embellished with a ribbon.
{{Oreo Truffles}}

(printer friendly version)

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg. (16.6 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed

2 pkg. (8 squares each) Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

MIX cream cheese and cookie crumbs (about 4 cups) until well blended.
SHAPE into 48 (1-inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.
REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

How to Melt Chocolate:

Place unwrapped chocolate squares in microwaveable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 2-1/2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted, stirring every 30 sec.

How to Easily Dip Truffles:

To easily coat truffles with the melted chocolate, add truffles, in batches, to bowl of melted chocolate. Use 2 forks to roll truffles in chocolate until evenly coated. Remove truffles with forks, letting excess chocolate drip back into bowl. Place truffles on prepared baking sheet; let stand until firm.

How to Store:

Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

S'more Cookies

Oh my goodness! Who doesn't love S'mores?! I know that I do and my kids do and they are definitely the epitome of summer time cook outs and camp outs. I've been looking around and EVERYWHERE on the internet and I am running into about a million different variations of this summertime treat. I think everyone is trying to find a way to keep this delicious treat and the warm, happy feeling that it brings all year round. Let me tell you about some of the things I've seen. I've seen S'more cookies, S'more pops, S'more bars, S'more pie, S'more cake, really S'more EVERYTHING!

These cookies were super simple to make. I found them here on this website. Basically after lining a cookie tray with graham crackers, you drop chunks of cookie dough on top.... Bake them for a few minutes and then...

Add more chocolate! Let them cook a little bit longer and you end up with s'more goodness... in a cookie!

They are delightful! Chewy and rich. There is a slight cinnamony flavor that enhanced and complimented the chocolate and marshmallow combination. You gotta try these cookies!

{{S'mores Cookie}}

11 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ cups flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
3 regular sized Hershey’s bars, broken into pieces
1-2 packages graham crackers, broken into squares

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line baking pans with parchment paper. I used one 11x17 pan and one 9x13 pan but you can really use any sized pans you want.

Lay out graham crackers side by side on the pans as close as possible (they should be touching). I used 16 graham cracker squares on one pan and 10 squares on another. You may have to add or remove graham crackers according to how much dough you have. If you want your cookies thicker you will use more dough and less graham crackers.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon to combine. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter with white and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixer and combine on low speed.

Fold in the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight (I did one batch right away and another after chilling overnight and found there was no difference.)

Place tablespoons of dough on graham crackers about 1 – 1 ½ inches apart. I averaged about 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough per graham cracker square as seen in the picture above. Press down slightly with fingertips.

Bake for 5 minutes then remove from oven to press Hershey’s bar pieces on to the top. You can place as many pieces or as little as you want depending how much chocolate flavor you want.

Bake for 5 – 7 more minutes or until dough is beginning to turn golden brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool. For clean cutting make sure cookies are completely cool and cut with a sharp knife.

Okay... one last yummy picture to look at! The kids absolutely loved these. They exclaimed... "Mommy you have to make these again!" Sounds like they are a winner!

Can I have s'more please?