Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Yikes! I am THE laziest blogger ever!
No, not really. The truth is I haven't been doing much baking/crafting/creating lately while I tried to launch my business with my mom. What business, you ask? Well, my own little Etsy shop (www.whilewewerecrafting.etsy.com) Go ahead...visit it. See something you like. Then buy it. We'll be best friends if you do.

Back to blogging...
Well, I am back in gear as far as my creative juices go. This particular blog is inspired by a friend of mine. He asked me to make him "orange creamsicle cookies" as he remembered them from the MREs back in his army days. So after some intense googling (and btw, Uncle Sam is not one to share recipes), I finally decided to combine a few recipes together and came up with this little beauty. They are designed to taste like those yummy orange popsicles with cream in the middle. Sigh. So good.

The basic recipe (Easy Cake Mix Cookies) comes from www.sweetsugarbelle.com so please visit her website and check out all the wonderful goodies. I replaced the chocolate cake mix with french vanilla, eliminated the flour, and used 1/3 cup of orange Kool-Aid. Other recipes called for orange zest but I don't like the stuff. Plus, the Kool-Aid gives them an awesome orange tint. I also added 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips. Makes a great summer cookie, I think. Hope you agree!

**My apologies in advance for not taking fancier pictures, but they wouldn't do the cookies justice anyway. Make them yourself. I dare you.

Ingredients:
1 box french vanilla cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup orange Kool-Aid
1/2 bag (or 6 oz.) white chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix all ingredients (except chocolate chips) in a bowl until well combined.

Gently fold in chocolate chips. Spoon onto cookie sheets. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Yields 2 dozen.

 Happy baking!

Football Rice Krispy Treats

Yikes! It has been WAY too long since my last post, but I have been busy with work, setting up my Etsy shop/craft business, and helping my mom move...twice. But the opportunity presented itself today, and I thought it was time for another post.

Today was SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! I went to a party with the young adult group from church. I knew I wanted to take a dessert, but was unsure about what kind. Bakerella's Football Oreo Truffles looked mighty tempting, but I didn't have a lot of time, so I decided on some good old-fashioned rice krispy treats. To make them more special for the occasion, I cut them into football shapes, coated them in chocolate candy melts, and piped white icing on top. I'm not overly excited about the end result (my piping came out very squibbly) but they were a big hit at the party so I'm going to share with you.

Here's what you need:
Rice Krispie treats (rice krispies, marshmallows, & butter)
3/4 bag of Wilton chocolate candy melts
1 tbsp shortening
white piping icing

Follow the directions on a box of Rice Krispies or a bag of marshmallows to make a 13 x 9 pan of rice krispy treats; refrigerate for about 2-3 hours. (I'm sure you can find the recipe just about anywhere so I won't bother including it here.)

Remove the block of rice krispy treats from the pan and place on a cutting board. Use a cookie cutter to cut the desired shape from the block of treats. I happened to have a football one handy, but you can use an egg-shaped cookie cutter and just shape the curved end to make it match the pointy end. My cookie cutter was not sharp or deep enough to cut through the block of treats, so I pressed it down as far as it would go, then cut around it using a small santoku knife.

Cut as many shapes as you can from the block. I got 11 footballs. Save the scraps for some light munching.

Melt 3/4 bag of chocolate candy melts according to the package directions. Stir in 1 tbsp of shortening to thin the chocolate to a good dipping consistency. Dip one side of the football into the chocolate. Flip it over to make sure it's well coated. Holding the football in your hand (chocolate side up), swirl your hand in a circular motion 5-7 times. This will help smooth out the chocolate. It won't be entirely smooth because the cereal makes it bumpy, but it will look much better than before...trust me.

Repeat with the remaining footballs. Allow them to dry for about 15 minutes or until the chocolate hardens.

Pipe some white icing (I used store bought cookie icing in a ziploc baggie with the corner snipped off) to make them look like footballs. This will be a curved line on each pointy end with some laces in the middle.

Ta-da! You have a DELICIOUS treat worthy of any football party. I know that's the end of football season for now, so hope you can tuck this in a safe place until the fall!

Happy dipping!

Sock Snowman

Cruising through my blog reader last week, I found this delightful little Sock Snowman tutorial from the lovely Small Fry & Co. blog. (Be sure to check it out...so many cute things!)

Her tutorial for this craft is so simple and easy to follow, there's no need for me to post my own version. I basically just wanted to show off this cheeky little guy that I made by following her directions. I think he might be the inspiration for next year's Christmas gifts!!

Hope you check out her tutorial and give it a try!

Chocolate-Covered Fortune Cookies

Happy New Year, everyone!

I attended a little NYE shindig last night and didn't want to show up empty handed, so I got it in my head to take fortune cookies. The idea was that after the champagne toast, everyone could crack open a cookie and read their fortune for the new year! Fun, right? Well, not fun enough for me, so I decided they'd be even better dipped in chocolate! So here's my little tutorial on how to make chocolate-covered fortune cookies. It's too easy not to try, and who doesn't love a good fortune cookie?

Materials:
1/2 bag of chocolate candy melts (bought at Michael's)
1/4 bag of white candy melts (bought at Michael's)
1 box of fortune cookies (bought at Wal-Mart)

Special notes: The box of fortune cookies has anywhere from 12-15 cookies in it. I made a dozen of these little treats, but if you'd like to make more, just use more of the candy melts. Also, in the picture you'll notice a couple of squeeze bottles. I tried to use these to drizzle the white candy melts after seeing similar things on YouTube, but it went terribly wrong. I couldn't get the candy to melt correctly in the bottle at first, and then when I finally did, the bottle had so much air that it kept splattering over the cookies and making a mess. Save yourself the headache and just put the melted white candy melts in a sandwich baggie and snip the tip off. Much easier.

And now, back to the cookies...

Melt 1/2 bag of chocolate candy melts in the microwave according to package directions.

In the meantime, unwrap the fortune cookies, leaving out any that are broken, and place on a cookie sheet.

CAREFULLY grab the cookie by the "legs" and dip the curved side in the chocolate.

Allow the excess to drip off, then set back on the cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Again, be very careful because the cookies are super fragile and awkward to grip. I had to dip 2 of the cookies entirely in chocolate because I didn't grasp them properly and they fell in the bowl. Oh well, they're still cute. Allow the chocolate to harden for about 20 minutes.

Melt 1/4 bag of white candy melts in the microwave according to package directions. Pour the melted candy into a sandwich baggie and snip the tip off. Drizzle the white candy over the chocolate portion of the cookies. Allow to dry for 20 more minutes before packaging.

And voila! 

I didn't take a picture of my packaging, but I wrapped the finished cookies up in tissue paper and CAREFULLY packed them into a giant Chinese takeout box (also found at Michael's). It was topped off with a sparkly bow and looked mighty fabulous. Sorry again for no pic. :(

In the future, I might try decorating with sprinkles instead of the white drizzle. If you try this, make sure to sprinkle before the chocolate is hardened or the sprinkles will bounce right off.

Happy dipping!!