Halloween Cookies 09

This years Halloween Cookies! I had an order for 40 cookies and had a great time decorating them. I decided as long as I was making the cookies, I would double everything and make a bunch for teachers, my senior aerobic class, and friends. Ok just so you get the idea of how much cookies I actually made, rolled out and baked...the sugar cookies alone took 12 cups of flour! That does not even count the Chocolate Sugar dough, which I also doubled...of the 4 batches of royal icing...but I really and truly LOVE decorating cookies and had a great time....only 4 hours of sleep both nights...but all in good fun:)

Cupcake Fun

I wanted to let the kiddos decorate some cupcakes for Halloween, and I also wanted to try out some new cupcake recipes and idea's. I started with the "Cookie Dough" cupcake. Very easy but YUMMY. You start with a Yellow Cake batter (your favorite recipe or box mix made) fill each cupcake liner 2/3rds of the way. Take chocolate chip cookie dough rolled into small cookie dough balls( about the size of a large marble) and put in the cupcake middle. Top with additional 1/3rd batter, and bake according to recipe. These will give you a yummy surprise chocolate chip cookie filling. If you want to freeze the cookie dough balls before you place into the cupcake batter it will stay doughy and give you a gooey (in a good way) filling. try it.

For the second cupcake I made Martha's (you know my good friend Martha Stewart...ya were close like that) Chocolate Graham Cupcakes....oh my think smore's!

You basically make a graham cracker crust, line your cupcake liners with it then add shaved chocolate layer and bake for 5 min. You then make a chocolate cupcake batter from scratch and pour over your graham layer....ya, yummy...then sprinkle with more graham crumbs and chocolate and bake......oh my! She has the recipe on her web site and also in her Cupcakes book. They were awesome and well worth the effort. You do not even need icing...however I wanted to play around with the fondant ghosts and smore's toppings...

Pumpkin Cheesecake Magic Bars

I came across this recipe on the blog http://www.picky-palate.com/ and knew that I had to try it. It is a combination of a cheesecake bar and magic cookie bars (which if you know me at all know that magic cookie bars are my all time favorite treat!) I also love pumpkin, and I really like cheesecake bars...yet HATE cheesecake...weirdo I know... Luckily I had an event to bring a treat to and so I made the bars. Did I love them?....no...sadly they will not even make my "will make again list" but you still might love them. I think that I did not love them because they are closer to a cheesecake than anything else. Jump on over to her site and check out the recipe in Octobers archives. She has some VERY decadent looking recipes.

Fall Y'all

I made these fun, whimsy fall cookies just because! I haven't done that in a while, it was so fun just to be creative. I actually made them to take with me to Utah, I thought because I was flying I could bring my mom and sisters some of my baked goods that I never get to share with them. I loved the color combo's and I will be doing some more of these, along with fall leaves and turkeys. And I will of course be doing some fun Halloween cookies soon. I have been baking...but very lazy about taking pictures and posting. I made Zucchini Bread twice, Apple Cobbler and Cinnamon rolls....You have to love fall. Next on my list is PUMPKIN!