Sweet Tweets

Look what flew in, just in time for Valentine's Day - Love Bird Cookies.

Display them in perfect pairs or bake up a big, delicious, colorful flock. 

You can find my tutorial for these bite-sized birdies at SheKnows.

Cotton Candy Valentine

Cotton candy is my most favorite sugary snack in the world. I just love that fluffy, sweet stuff.

Last week, when I was trying to decide which treats to include on my Valentine's Day dessert table, I came up with a fun way to serve and display cotton candy - Love Ewe cups. They're clear plastic dishes, with white cotton candy inside. I printed out little sheep illustrations on cardstock and cut out the wooly bodies so the cotton candy could peek through the holes. Then I just placed the paper circles on top, and used a fork to fluff and fill the wooly areas with cotton candy.

Really simple. Really cute.

They'd be fun at a school party. I used little plastic dishes I found at Hobby Lobby, but you could also use clear plastic cups. I think those Solo drinking cups are about the same width, plus they might hold more cotton candy. 

Here's a couple of Love Ewe sheep circles in blue, pink and red if you'd like to try making some. Just print them out on 8.5"x11" cardstock and cut them out. I used an exacto knife, but you don't have to be very precise. A rough circle will do too.

Peace, Love & Pizza

Don't ask me to be on the PTO or sell popcorn at the school carnival, my talents are better used for planning a party. Which is probably why I enjoy being the room mother for my son's 3rd grade class. 

Today's Valentine's Day party theme was: Peace, Love & Pizza. Everyone in the class got their own pizza box with a giant sugar cookie, a zip-lock baggie of frosting and a spoon. They had to sauce/frost their pizza crust and then add the dessert toppings - sprinkles, gummie worms, Swedish fish, conversation hearts, M&Ms and strawberries. What a delicious mess it turned out to be.

 

You-Warm-My-Heart Hot Cocoa Packets

Ingredients & Supplies
Individual hot cocoa packets
Heart-shaped marshmallows
Plastic bags (3”x4”)
Labels & staples

1. Empty packets of hot cocoa into plastic bags.
2. Put 2 heart-shaped marshmallows on top of cocoa in each bag.
3. Fold 3”x6” custom labels or decorative paper over top of
bag and staple twice. (To download a file, click here. Print on card stock, cut and fold in half.)

Caramel Cream Kiss

Ingredients
3 cans buttermilk biscuits
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 butter, melted
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Open biscuit containers and place biscuits on countertop
2. Put cream cheese inside a ziplock bag. Cut off the tip and squeeze a teaspoon of cream cheese onto each biscuit.
3. Pull edges of biscuits together, forming a pocket of cream cheese inside each one.
4. Place biscuits inside lightly greased Kiss/Lip pan
5. Pour melted butter over biscuits.
6. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon mixture over biscuits.
7. Pour heavy cream over biscuits and sugar mixture.
9. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and flip onto a serving platter.
Enjoy warm & gooey!

Makin' Whoopie Pies

Chocolate Whoopie Cakes
1-2/3 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
4 tbsp. Crisco
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Line two baking sheets with parchement paper
3. Put flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
4. In mixing bowl, beat together butter, Crisco, and brown sugar on low speed until just combined.
5. Increase the speed to medium and beat until fluffy and smooth - about 3 minutes.
6. Add the egg and vanilla and mix for 2 more minutes.
7. Add half of the dry ingredients and half the milk and beat on low. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining dry mixture and milk. Mix until combined.
8. Put half of whoopie pie dough in a pastry bag and pipe into circles or other shaped on parchment paper at least 2 inches apart.
9. Bake for 10 minutes.
10. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes before taking them off the parchment paper.

Cream Cheese Filling
4 ounces cream cheese
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter on medium speed.
2. Add the sugar and beat on low speed until combined.
3. Add the vanilla nd increase the speed to medium.
4. Beat until creamy and smooth, about 4 minutes.
5. Put half the filling in a pastry bag and pipe a dollup onto one whoopie pie cake.
6. Sandwich the cakes together and roll the edges in decorative sprinkles if you wish.

Love Makes the Whirled-Go-'Round Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
(lemon, raspberry, etc.)

Cream sugars with butter. Beat in eggs and oil. Combine dry ingredients. Gradually add to wet mixture. Stir in flavorings. Split dough into parts for food coloring. Mix each color separately. 

For striped cookies: Line a bread pan with plastic wrap. Layer dough
in pan however you wish the colors to appear.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 2 hours. Remove frozen dough from pan & plastic wrap and cut into bars and then slices. Line baking pans with parchment paper. Put the slices on the parchment paper and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes.

For swirly cookies:
On a clean work surface, layer dough however you wish. Roll the dough, mixing the colors into a swirl. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put in the freezer for at least 2 hours. Remove frozen dough from plastic wrap and cut slices from the tube shape. Put slices on the baking sheet and cut out shapes as you wish. Bake at 350°
for 12 minutes.