Cookiepops

I was up until midnight baking these darn (good) cookies
last week. My daughter wanted to take them to
her music class so what am I mom to do..??

I got a special 'cookiepop pan' from Target and used
half the batch for that, they turned out soooo bad. Well,
they tasted good but were just way to thick!
So, I had to lick my wounds and try to make 10 decent
cookies by hand (note so self: BUY SOME COOKIE CUTTERS!!).
Anyho, the cookies turned out really cute and yummy
and the kids loooved them. Abbie was so proud :)
This was my first time making Royal Icing btw and
I think I did a pretty good job if I may say so myself!

Royal Icing
1 pound powdered sugar
5 TBSP meringue powder
1/2 c. water

Combine the meringue powder and water with a whisk attachment using an electric mixer. Beat until peaks begin to form. Sift in the powdered sugar and beat on low to combine. Increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form. (You should be able to remove the beater from the mixer and hold up and jiggle without the peak falling.) If using an extract, add it then beat for a few more seconds to incorporate.

This "stiff" icing is perfect for outlining and even for building gingerbread houses and monogramming. To fill in your cookies, add water to your icing a little at a time until it is the consistency of syrup.

Sugar cookie (makes aprox 30 medium/small cookies)
recipe from Sweetapolita.

6 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups unsalted butter (softened for about 2 hours at room temperature)
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract

1. In large bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

2. Use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs.

3. Add flour mixture and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla and lemon extract.

---

4. Remove 1/2 of dough from bowl, make a ball, and place on a large piece of plastic wrap on counter.

5. Wrap the sides of wrap over the ball, then press down with the palm of your hand and make a disc about 2″ thick. Finish wrapping the disc with the plastic wrap. Repeat with 2nd half of dough.

6. Chill both discs of dough for about 45 minutes.

7. Remove one disc and remove plastic wrap. Place on top of a large piece of parchment paper , then place 2 wooden dowels on either side of your dough, then another sheet of parchment paper.

8. Roll dough so it’s flush with dowels–they will ensure that your dough is even thickness.

9. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Slide your parchment paper and dough onto a board, then place in refrigerator for about 15 minutes.

10. Remove from fridge, and cut your shapes using the cutters of your choice

11. Place sheet with cookies into freezer for 15 minutes before baking. Then bake 10-12 minutes, or until edges are golden brown.

12. Cool sheets on wire racks for 10 minutes, then gently remove cookies and place on wire racks to finish cooling.

To make the cookiepops. Follow step 1-10. Press a cookiepop stick in
the cookies and cover with dough. Flip over. Then follow step 11-15.

Roasted marshmallow cupcake

I have sooo many great recipes to share with you guys. I finally got over my sinus infection and feel like cooking (and eating) again. Woopdido! This past week I made some great dishes and of course I'm going to post all the recipes here.

Lets start with these Roasted Marshallow cupcakes that I'm making for my daughters birthday party on Saturday. I'd never made them before and wanted to try them out before serving them at the party. My husband (aka the marshmallow hater) did not like them and even told me he wouldn't even bring them to work cause 'people might think its weird to have a marshmallow
on a cupcake'. My daughter however loved them and even told me while I was editing the pictures in Photoshop that she wanted to eat them. So sweet :)

• For the Cupcakes

  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3/4 cup warm water
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 18 cupcake liners

• For the Topping

  • 1 bag of jumbo marshmallows
    
    
• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line cupcake tins with cupcake liners.

  2. Whisk cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in eggs, warm water, milk, sour cream, butter, and vanilla, mixing until smooth.

  3. Fill each muffin cup half way (about 2 ounces each). Bake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes.

  4. Let cake cool slightly and change the oven to broil.

  5. Make the topping: Place one marshmallow vertically in the center of each cupcake. Put the cupcakes back into the oven (careful not to knock any marshmallows off) and watch them closely, as the marshmallows will roast in a matter of seconds.

  6. When the marshmallows appear golden brown on top and puffed slightly, take the cupcakes out of the oven and carefully press the marshmallows down, using your hand or a spoon, to cover the whole top of the cupcake.

Dino Eggs

These eggs are so cool!! I just can't get over it haha.
I took them out of the fridge this morning and kept
telling the hubbster to look at my eggs. 'Babe look, this is amazing! Im serious.
These are incredible. They are the coolest thing I've ever seen..' etc. The hubbster
managed to hide is enthusiasm pretty well but had to
agree that they indeed were pretty cool.

For the dinosaur eggs you will need water, hardboiled eggs
and food coloring. You will also need a plastic container w/
lid.

Boil your eggs and let them cool (yesterday I googled how
to cook the perfect egg. It said to put eggs in cold water
on the stove. Let boil for 1min. Take of heat, cover and let
stand for 12min. Put eggs in water w/ ice. And the eggs
came out pretty darn perfect..). Fill container with water,
put in a few drops of color (I used 20 drops of neon purple).
Crack the eggs (like you are going to peel it), but leave the
shell on! Put in water, make sure the water is covering
all the eggs. Cover container with lid and refrigerate over
night. When you peel the eggs they will look crazy amazing
and the kids will LOVE it :) HAPPY EASTER!

Easiest lunch ever..Pizza Rolls

I found this recipe while browsing the internet for healthy kids lunches. I wouldn't call the original recipe that healthy, but I changed some of the ingredients to make it healthier. These pizza rolls are super easy to make and it takes aprox. 3mins from start to finish. Yeay for speedy kids lunches. I actually dont serve this to just my kids, I eat it myself too and its my favorite lunch right now (beats a plain old turkey sandwich any day!).

You will need

- 1 tortilla (I use low carb)
- Pizza sauce
- 4 slices of turkey (or salami or ham or whatever meat you have on hand)
- shredded cheese (I use whatever kind I have in the fridge, for a
healthy alternative use low fat)

Put tortilla on microwave safe plate. Spread pizza sauce on
the tortilla. Put the meat on the tortilla and spread some
cheese on top. Heat in the microwave for about 1min
(until cheese is melted). Let it cool a little bit and
make a roll. Cut into bite size pieces and enjoy :)