Week Seven- Homemade Oreos/ Halloween Spiders

I wish I would have posted this earlier in the week. I am sure some of you might have appreciated this idea for school snacks etc. I didn't need them until treats for today and didn't even think about posting them sooner.

I got this idea from my mom! (the recipe is from my sister in law, Raquel) When I was a kid every Halloween she would make spiders out of Oreo cookies for our class Halloween parties. I remember helping her frost these and putting red hots for the eyes- good times! I thought about this and thought it would be fun to make out of homemade oreos which are a favorite around here! Here you go, Homemade Oreos made into Halloween Spiders!



Ingredients:
Cookies-
2 pkg Devils Food Cake Mix
1 1/2 cup shortening
4 eggs


Frosting-
8 oz Cream Cheese
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup margarine

Mix cake mix with shortening and eggs. Roll into small balls (about a tbsp) and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Let set on cookie sheet about two minutes before removing to the cooling rack. Mix sugar, margarine, and cream cheese to make frosting. When cookies are cool frost with icing and place two cookies together.

To make into Spiders:

I frosted each side of the cookie a little to give it some "glue". I cut a piece of pull apart licorice in half and used three short pieces for the legs, laying them across the cookie before putting them together. (You can tell that, I probably didn't need to explain it!) I used red decorators gel for the eyes, but you could use red hots stuck on with a little frosting. (no red hots at the commissary)

My Two Cents:

I was in a huge hurry this morning, I was braiding hair, packing lunches, cooking breakfast, and making cookies all at the same time! So, to make it easy I used my medium Pampered Chef cookie scoop. It made very big cookies- almost too big. I thought they were cute, but it would have been more fun to have lots of small ones. When I make these normally I do like to make them this big, because we put them in the freezer- they taste really yummy that way. Using a big scoop you get 2 dozen sandwich cookies. Using a tablespoon you get closer to 3 dozen sandwich cookies.

You can make this recipe using different cake mixes.

One more thing, i love my cookie stone, but don't recommend using it for these. Go Old School and use your regular cookie sheets.

Week Six-Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week I decided to try a recipe that a found a while ago that I have been wanting to try. These cookies sounded good to me since I am a big fan of White chocolate and Toffee.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
1/4 c. Smart Balance margarine (or similarly high-quality margarine- I used "I can't believe it's not butter)
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. packed DARK brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 c. Heath bits
3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips*
1/4 c. white chocolate chips*

*You can use 1 c. chocolate chips instead of splitting it up between the semi-sweet and white chocolate chips, but the white chocolate chips make these cookies extra-special, and if I made them again I would use 1/2 cup of each. I really liked the white chocolate and wished there was a little more.

Preheat oven to 375. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Combine brown sugar, white sugar, butter, margarine, and vanilla in a large bowl until well-blended. Add in eggs and beat well. Slowly add in flour mixture and mix until combined. Add in chocolate and white chocolate chips and then mix the toffee bits until they're just combined.

Drop dough onto the cookie sheets and bake 8-10 minutes until the cookies are lightly brown. Allow to cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. The cooling rack is very important in this recipe because the toffee will make the cookies stick to the pan if you're not careful.

Results:

Yum!! I really enjoyed these, I like a cookie full of lots of different tastes and textures and these hit the spot for me! What did you think?

Week Five- Macaroons

My neighbors get to try a lot of the cookies that I make. I take turns taking them a plate each week. One of my neighbors, Jeanne is pregnant and mentioned to me that Macaroons are her favorite. I thought I would try those out this week and see if I could satisfy her prego craving for them!

Here's what you need: (you have to close your eyes and imagine- I forgot to take a picture)

1 14 oz bag of Angel Flake coconut

1 14 oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (don't forget to lick the lid- YUM!!! Don't cut yourself!)

1 tsp almond extract

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Pre heat oven to 325 You need to prepare your cookie sheet- either grease it WELL or line it with parchment paper.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl till combined. Use a cookie scoop and drop about a teaspoon onto your prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes You want these to be very golden brown on the edges. Immediately remove cookies from the pan if you didn't use paper. They fall apart while you are doing this- don't worry! Once they have cooled a little you can reshape them and they will still hold together. You can dip these in the melted chocolate of you want.

My two cents:

I am not a macaroon expert, this was the first time I've made them and only eaten them once or twice. That being said, I thought they were good- not great!

I liked the Almond flavor in these, it gave it a nice "surprise" taste, Jeanne thought it was too much. I dipped half of mine in chocolate. (the not as pretty ones) This makes two dozen cookies. The first batch I used parchment paper and the second I greased my cookie sheet. I thought the first batch was much better, they held together better, and looked nicer. These are pretty easy to make. As always I love to hear what you think. . .

Week Four- Apple Cinnamon Chip

Don't those sound like fall cookies? I loved the spice in these and my house smells so good right now! I got these from a friend, thanks for sharing the recipe Moe!

Ingredients:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 med peeled, chopped apple

1 bag of Hershey Cinnamon chips

1 Blonde beater licker wearing rain boots! (optional)

Heat oven to 375. Beat sugar, shortening and egg till light and fluffy. Stir in dry ingredients. Stir in apple and chips. Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes.

My two cents: I doubled the recipe and I got about 6 dozen cookies using my pampered chef cookie scoop. I also added about an extra 1/2 cup of flour so if you were making this without doubling I would add at least another 1/4 cup, maybe more. When you go to add the flour the dough seems really dry, but after you add the apples it is moist again.