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 Shaped Cupcakes

Just in time for the start of football season, here is one more football baked good! 

These football cupcakes were made using a store bought cake mix, but you could use any cake/cupcake recipe you want. 

Materials

chocolate cake mix

oval or football shape cupcake pan 

powdered sugar

strainer

1 piece of cardstock paper

exacto knife or scissors

Instructions

1. Make chocolate cake mix as instruction on box. Pour cake mix into lightly greased football molds. Bake according to instructions.

2. Let cupcakes cool completely. Run knife along edges and bottom of cupcakes and pop out each football cupcake.

3. Trace football shape onto cardstock and cut out to match the the size of your cupcake. I placed my cupcake directly onto the cardstock and traced around the edges for the shape (3-1/2 in. length x 2 in. wide).

4. Draw football stitching onto template and cut out using an exacto knife or scissors.

5. Place cardstock football shape onto the top of the cupcake.

6. Using a strainer with a small amount of powdered sugar, lightly tap powdered sugar over template.

7. Take your fork, and enjoy your football treat!

I made these cupcakes for last year's Super Bowl, where the Steelers were victorious!!! 

I had big plans for these cupcakes. I was going to make 2 dozen and take them to work, the Friday before the Super Bowl, to give to all of the UPS & Fed Ex drivers (they talk football to me all season long and were all rooting for the Steelers, for me)! Unfortunately, the cupcakes didn't turn out as planned.

The main problem was that the cupcakes got stuck in the molds. I thoroughly greased each mold, so I'm not sure what happened. Maybe it was the mix. Anyway, I could only salvage the one cupcake for these pictures, and even this one has lumps and missing chunks.

I really like the simplicity of the cupcake. I'm not a huge fan of a ton of frosting, so I really want to make these work. I think I'll give these another try this season and go with a homemade recipe this time. I'll be sure to post how the next batch comes out.

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!!!