National Sugar Cookie Day

I ♥ sugar cookies. So, in honor of "National Sugar Cookie Day" I will share with you a really cute sugar cookie with my favorite sugar cookie recipe.



I came across a really cute sugar cookie idea last year, but I changed it up a bit. Rather than using frosting...I thought that it would be easier to just color the cookie dough different colors. This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe:

1 cup butter (softened)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4-5 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

For the Watermelon Cookies you will also need:

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
red food coloring
green food coloring


Mix butter, eggs, sugar, sour cream and vanilla in a large bowl. In another bowl mix all other dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

Divide the dough (I did did one bigger than the other). Color the biggest amount red & the smaller amount green. Chill each color for about 2 hours.

Roll 1/4' thick. You will need to different circle cookie cutters. Cut the red dough with the smaller cookie cutter. Then cut the green with the bigger cookie cutter & the inside with the smaller cookie cutter. Place the green around the red circle & cut the whole thing in half. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Add the mini chocolate chips. Bake 7-8 minutes at 350 degrees.

I usually cook them about 6 minutes and then check them every minute after that.

Christmas Morning Pull Aparts

Today, one my FAVORITE local show Good Things Utah...they had a fun Christmas Pull Apart that you can make ahead of time on Christmas Eve. HERE is the link to the recipe.

Here is the recipe:

bundt cake pan sprayed with non stick spray.
Rhodes rolls frozen rolls
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 small pkg butterscotch cook pudding {NOT INSTANT}
1 cube margarine or butter, melted

Place 21 frozen Rhodes rolls into your greased bundt pan. Sprinkle brown sugar over the frozen rolls. Pour butterscotch pudding powder {dry} over the rolls/brown sugar. Pour butter or margarine over the top of everything. Spray plastic wrap with non stick spray and cover the pan and leave overnight to rise. {Don't refridgerate}
Bake at 350 degree for 30 mins.
Check at 20 mins.. if getting dark cover pan with tin foil until done cooking.
I cover a cookie sheet with tin foil and cook this on top of it so it doesn't get all over your oven.
Pull it out and tip over on cookie sheet and you are ready to eat!

A Monster for your Monster

I saw these cute brownies over at CONTROLLING MY CHAOS. I made mine with mint frosting & a chocolate ganache. I posted the directions on my other blog...SIMPLY COMPLICATED.

I ♥ playdough cookies!!!

I already posted about THESE COOKIES a while back, but for some reason it was a draft recently. I ♥ these cookies. They are so YUMMY, easy to make. My favorite part is that the kiddos can really be involved. There is nothing better except maybe chocolate. This time I made a double batch because they were gone too fast last time.



Here is the recipe:

The recipe:

3/4 cup butter (softened)
3 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla (I added 2 tsp)
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. In large bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, & sugar until fluffy. Add egg & vanilla & mix until smooth.

2. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, & salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms.

3. Divide dough into fourths (this time I did thirds). Tint each with a different color of food coloring. Wrap each color of dough separately & chill for 2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take a small amount of each color & then roll into a snake. Coil the snake starting at one end. Place on cookie sheet & bake for about 8 minutes.

We use these to talk about colors & you can even mix colors to show what they make. I also love how hands on it is. Give it a try!

Butterfly Hot Dog

Preston's preschool has a theme each week. The next two weeks are BUGS!!! I wanted to have activities that coordinate with their theme & today on ONE PRETTY THING they had a hot dog butterfly. The directions are on GOURMET MOM ON THE GO. She has so many great ideas over there so check it out!



It is pretty basic. Take 2 biscuits (Grands or whatever)& cut them in half. Put 2 halves together with the straight ends out. Do the same for the other side. Place your hot dog in the center.

Mix an egg & 1 Tbsp water in a bowl. Separate into bowls & add food coloring. Set the kiddos loose "painting" the biscuits with the egg mixture & a clean paint brush.

Bake ate 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Preston had a great time "painting" his butterfly wings.

He had requested that we had a picnic, but it was short lived. The hornets seemed to really LIKE Preston's painting because they wouldn't leave it alone. We ended up sneaking back inside.

WARNING--SUGAR OVERLOAD

I used to ♥ rock candy. I remember going to certain stores & my parents would get it for me & my brothers. Last week I came across a post on how to make homemade rock candy. I tried really hard, but can't find the original post again. I hate it when that happens!

The boys had a great time stirring & adding the food coloring. Now, they have to have patience to wait for the crystals to form.



Here is the recipe/directions:

Ingredients:
•4 cups sugar
•1 cup water
•Food coloring
•Clean glass jar
•String, cut into 6-inch lengths
•Pencil/Skewer

Preparation:
In a medium saucepan, heat 2 cups of the sugar and the water. Do not boil! Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Gradually add a few drops of the food coloring of your choice and the additional sugar, stirring continuously until all the sugar is dissolved.
Pour the solution into a clean glass jar and tie the pieces of string to the pencil and suspend them across the mouth of the jar so that the ends hang into the sugar water.
Crystals suitable to eat will form in an hour and continue for several days to a week. Pieces can be broken off and eaten after the first hour. (But, try to hold out for big crystals!)
Although you may see quick results in small measure, the larger rock candy crystals you’re accustomed to seeing in the candy store will take some time to form.

Oooo Oooo Ahhhh Ahhh

We had so much fun with Kaden's monkey party. If you want to see more or get a few ideas for your own monkey party go HERE.

Cookie Sticks

YUM!!! These are super easy chocolate chip cookies sticks. They really come together quickly! If you want the recipe head over to SIMPLY COMPLICATED. Please forgive the missing stick...I couldn't wait to sample them!!! This is my new favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. It is yummy, quick, & SO EASY! Give it a try!

Pinwheel Cookies

I think that these are so cute! I found them in a Taste of Home magazine. As far as cute cookies go...these are pretty easy. Here is the recipe. I am going to put some pictures up, but I am not that great with pictures...so forgive them! One thing that I would consider adding next time is a little almond extract.

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2/3 cup colored sugars
30 milk chocolate M&Ms (I substituted chocolate chips)
30 wooden craft sticks

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, & egg yolk until smooth. Combine flour & baking powder; beat into cream cheese mixture. Cover & refrigerate for 1 hour.

On a floured surface, roll out into a rectangle (or trim to a rectangle). You will want to roll them out thinner than sugar cookies.



With a sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut the dough into 3 inch squares. I used my ruler to score the dough in a straight line.







Place 3 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheet or parchment paper on a cookie sheet.

Beat egg white until frothy; brush over squares. Sprinkle with colored sugars. Cut through the dough from each corner of the square to within a 1/2 in of the center. Press a wooden stick near the center of the square.



Fold alternating points to the center to form a pinwheel; pinch gently at the center seal.





Press an M&M (or chocolate chip) into each center.



Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes or until set. Remove immediately to wire racks to cool.

Here is the finished product...make sure that they cool all of the way or they will fall off of the stick.

Watermelon Sugar Cookies

I came across a really cute sugar cookie idea, but I changed it up a bit. Rather than using frosting...I thought that it would be easier to just color the cookie dough different colors. We are having a picnic tomorrow & I think that these will be so fun for a picnic!

This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe:

1 cup butter (softened)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4-5 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

For the Watermelon Cookies you will also need:

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
red food coloring
green food coloring


Mix butter, eggs, sugar, sour cream and vanilla in a large bowl. In another bowl mix all other dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

Divide the dough (I did did one bigger than the other). Color the biggest amount red & the smaller amount green. Chill each color for about 2 hours.

Roll 1/4' thick. You will need to different circle cookie cutters. Cut the red dough with the smaller cookie cutter. Then cut the green with the bigger cookie cutter & the inside with the smaller cookie cutter. Place the green around the red circle & cut the whole thing in half. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Add the mini chocolate chips. Bake 7-8 minutes at 350 degrees.

I usually cook them about 6 minutes and then check them every minute after that.

Fun Pancakes

I came across a really fun idea for pancakes & just knew that the boys would LOVE it! If I find the original link...I will post it! Here is what they had for breakfast this morning...



First you make your pancake batter. Pour about 1 cup (per color) into a squeeze bottle. I used a squeeze bottle from some honey butter, but the lid kind of got in the way a bit. I am going to go & look for a ketchup & mustard squeeze bottle. Then, add your food coloring.

Draw whatever shape you want on the griddle using your batter from the squeeze bottle. Here I drew the outline for a flag. Here is a tip...draw everything backwards. The first flag I drew ended up backwards when I flipped it.



Then, I filled in with some blue.



Then I used the regular pancake batter to fill in the rest. I found that a Tbsp works best to add the batter.



Then...FLIP...and there you have a colorful flag pancake for the 4th of July! You could also do stars, letters, & anything else...just remember to start it out backwards!




Stay tuned for some 4th of July decorations this week!!

Fun Ideas!

I just found this really fun blog. I went over to see how to make these:

YUM YUM


But, once I was over there...I started reading the other things that she has posted. She has posts about story time parties & fun theme nights...I can't wait to do something like this. A new library just opened up right down the street, so it is great timing to find this site. I will definitely be posting some fun story time activities soon.

She also has a recipe blog. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but they sound really yummy.

Mmmmm...

***WARNING...WARNING***you may need sunglasses to look at these cookies!!***

My cookie jar has been empty for a while now & I have been itching to bake some cookies to fill it. I have been having a hard time choosing which cookie to make (...chocolate chip, snicker doodle, peanut butter blossoms, oatmeal chocolate chip....). Yesterday I came across some intriguing cookies. They are called play dough cookies. The recipe is pretty basic. Here is the post about it. They show pictures of most of the steps (hers are a lot cuter too!)...so I would check it out!



I wanted to turn this into a learning experience...so we talked about what happened when we mixed colors. The boys had fun figuring out what colors would make what. Our purple turned out a little interesting, but overall I think that it was a good experience.

It is also a very hands-on process. The kids can make the dough, mix the colors, roll the cookies into snakes, & coil the dough. My boys had a blast & though the colors we did are a little over the top...we had fun (& the cookies are really yummy)! They would even be fun to put on a stick.

The recipe:

3/4 cup butter (softened)
3 oz cream cheese (room temp)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla (I added 2 tsp)
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1. In large bowl, cream together butter, cream cheese, & sugar until fluffy. Add egg & vanilla & mix until smooth.

2. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, & salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir until soft dough forms.

3. Divide dough into fourths. Tint each with a different color of food coloring. Wrap each color of dough separately & chill for 2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take a small amount of each color & then roll into a snake. Coil the snake starting at one end. Place on cookie sheet & bake for about 8 minutes.

Yummy Nests

The easy way to this would be to use cocoa krispies, but I didn't have any so I added 2 Tbsp cocoa powder to regular krispie mixture. I greased 24 cupcake tins & pressed the mixture into the tins. I used my thumb (with a little butter) to push down the center. Then place three Cadbury mini eggs in each tin. Let cool & then enjoy!!!

Octo Dogs

I got this out of a cookbook for kids a long time ago, but the boys just love it. You just make Mac & Cheese (we use Kraft) & cook a hot dog. I prefer to boil them because then the ends don't get all funny looking. You cut the hot dogs lenghtwise just below the halfway point. Then you roll it a bit & do it again...so you end with 4 arms for your octopus. You could make cute eyes out of mustard, but my guys don't like mustard, so this is what you get!

Royal Icing

I have an awesome butter cream frosting recipe, but have wanted to try out Royal Icing. I have been concerned about the raw egg whites, but have found this recipe off http://www.allrecipes.com/ . It says that it yields 3 cups of icing.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons meringue powder
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons water

Here's what you do:

Beat all ingredients at low speed for 7 to 10 minutes, or until icing forms peaks. Tip: Keep icing covered with a wet kitchen towel at all times. Icing can dry out quickly.

I plan on making sugar cookies with royal icing some time this week. We'll see how it goes!