Stormtrooper Cookies

Aren't these cookies awesome?!!! I blogged about them on my craft blog, Crafting with Cat Hair.

Now that it is getting a little cooler, I should be getting back in the mood to start baking again. I just bought some Halloween cookie cutters at Michaels, so I'll be posting them soon. :)

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bird Nests

I've been experiencing a money crunch lately, so I've had to become inventive (and cheap) with my desserts.

This recipe came about one night while I was craving something sweet. I was actually craving some peanut butter thumbprint cookies, but knew I didn't have any Hershey's Kisses laying around. I took a peek in my cupboard and came across ingredients for peanut butter cookies with a little chocolate treat in the middle.

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup of sugar

1 large egg

A few handfuls of chocolate chips

Directions

1. Mix sugar and egg together, then add peanut butter.

2. Form into 1" balls and place 2" apart on a cookie sheet.

3. Bake on 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

4. As soon as cookies are out of oven, place a few chocolate chips in the center of the cookie, pushing down slightly to make a little hole.

5. Let cookies cool a few minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet. This will let the chocolate chips set.

Ta Da! Little peanut butter nests with chocolate eggs. You could also use nuts, red hots, or any other kid of small candy for your eggs.

Vampire Cookies

This week, I thought I'd get you ready for October and Halloween, and share with you some super cute and very easy to make vampire cookies.

These aren't 100% homemade, I did use a cookie mix, but they were still fun to make.

Ingredients

Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
Wilton red decorating icing
Lip shaped cookie cutter (I used Wilton's Comfort Grips "Hot Lips")
Good and Plenty (white only)


Directions

1. Mix sugar cookies according to directions for cutout cookies.
2. Roll dough until 1/4 inch thick.
3. Cut cookies with lip shaped cookie cutter and place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Cook sugar cookies according to directions for cutout cookies.
5. Let cookies cool completely.
6. Coat cookies with a thin layer of red icing.
7. Using a toothpick, draw a line through the center of the red icing to separate the top and bottom lip.
8. Place two white Good and Plenty candies (the fangs) under the toothpick line.

I really got "bitten" by the baking bug while I was making these cookies, and thus the idea for a baking blog was born.

The cookies were originally inspired by the awesome '80s movie, The Lost Boys, but would be perfect for any Halloween/vampire related party. They would be especially fun for a Twilight/New Moon premier party!

I was pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out. A few got a little crispy on the bottom, but overall they turned out really well. 

Football Cookies

Okay, so apparently I'm not ready to start baking 100% homemade just yet. This was such a cute recipe that I found on Pillsbury.com I just had to try it.

Photo courtesy of Pillsbury.com.

Ingredients
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies
1 container (1 lb) chocolate creamy ready-to-spread frosting
White decorating gel

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Freeze dough 30 minutes.
2. Cut dough into 1/4-inch slices. With floured fingers, shape each dough slice to form football. On ungreased cookie sheets, place slices 2 inches apart.
3. Bake 7 to 11 minutes or until set and golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
4. Spread frosting over cookies. With white decorating gel, draw laces on each football.



These were super easy to make, but the decorating was not so easy. I used Wilton's fondant icing writer and it got clogged about every three cookies. It was okay though, because the entire time I was decorating them I was laughing thinking of Ace Ventura and Ray Finkle. . . "Laces Out"!

I think the girls on my fantasy football league will really enjoy them.

Happy Football Season! Go Steelers!!!