The Decorated Cookie » lollipop sticks

angry Peeps kebobs

meaghanmountford — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:31:21 +0000

Well, only the ones on the bottom are angry. The one at the top is happy to be in such a place of honor.

It’s amazing what a couple of lines will do to give a Peep character.

Hey, why is that one so smug? Oh, right. He knows the ones at the top are the first to go.

To make these (Seriously? You want to make these?)…

Just draw faces with a black or brown edible writer and skewer with an 8-inch lollipop stick. It helps to grease the end of the lollipop stick with Crisco first.

By the way, if you’re into Peeps with character, anybody remember this collection of 12 Ways to Get Rid of Leftover Peeps?

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bow tie bunny cookies for Haniela’s Easter Extravaganza

meaghanmountford — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:58:52 +0000

I’m back with what’s quickly becoming a seasonal tradition. Last Spring it was all about flowers. This Winter it was all about snowflakes. Now Haniela’s has brought us all together again with Easter treats and crafts. And there are a whole bunch of us this year. Which means a whole bunch of ideas for the holiday. Why, it’s a virtual Easter Extravaganza! Just click on each picture above to visit the bloggers’ posts.

To see all the bloggers’ creations, click HERE to visit Haniela’s, and be sure to stop by everyone’s site for the full tutorials. For the direct links, scroll to the bottom of this post.

I kept things simple with some bow tie bunny cookie pops. When given the only parameter of “Easter-inspired,” I was overwhelmed with directions. Eggs, baskets, pastels, chocolate bunnies, gingham, daisies, carrots, cookies, cupcakes, fondant, marshmallows… So I scratched all that and just stuck with a plain white bunny. Two dots for eyes and a sprinkle nose makes these even simpler, and that, my friends, was purposeful. Defiant, almost, against complication. Though I guess the over calculating of simplicity erases said simplicity. And there you have my psyche in a nutshell. Sigh.

To make these…

First, make the cookies. Prepare cookie dough according to the recipe, chill, roll out 3/8-inch thick (for pops) or 1/4-inch thick (for regular cookies), cut out bunny heads (I cut off the heads of my copper bunny cutter, but you can cut the heads off any you prefer), insert lollipop sticks (found at the craft store), and bake according to the recipe. Let cool completely. For tips on making cookie pops, click HERE.

Second, make the icing. Prepare royal icing according to the recipe. Tint about about two cups of icing (depending on how many cookies you are decorating) white using Americolor Soft Gel Paste Bright White food coloring. Prepare a disposable decorating bag with coupler and size “3″ decorating tip (found in the craft store). Fill with half of the icing and close tightly with a rubber band. Reserve and cover the remaining white icing. For tips on finding supplies, click HERE.

Third, decorate the cookies. Pipe an outline on the cookies and let set about 15 minutes. Thin the reserved white icing with water, a few drops at a time, until the consistency of thick glue. Fill an empty decorating bag with the thinned icing, snip the tip about 1/4-inch and loosely pipe to fill the cookies, encouraging the icing as needed with a toothpick. Let the cookies dry well, several hours at least, or overnight preferred. For tips on basic cookie decorating, click HERE. When dry, use a dab of light corn syrup to adhere a little heart sprinkle, and draw two dots with an edible writer.

Fourth, add the bow tie. To make the bow ties, fold a piece of decorative paper in half and cut out half a bow tie at the fold. Cut a couple slits at the top and bottom of the center of the bow tie to thread the lollipop stick through.

Thank you to Haniela’s for including my bunnies in such a great collection! Visit each blogger at the links below:

3D Easter Bunny by Marielle – De Koekenbakkers
Chick Cupcakes by Robin – Bird On A Cake
Mrs. Bunny Centerpiece by Myriam – Chapix Cookies
Cheesecake Easter Eggs by Beth – Hungry Happenings
Cho “Bunny” Greek Yogurt Pops by Jill – Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons
Hidden Easter Eggs by Stephanie – Ellie’s Bites
Easter Egg Cupcakes by Liz – Hoosier Homemade
Easter Treat Pouches by Elena – Just Me
Mini Meringue Cake by Karyn – Pint Sized Baker
Bunny Cake by Kathia – Pink Little Cake
Easter Gumball Machine by Marlyn – Montreal Confections
Easter Island by Laura – A Dozen Eggs Bake Shoppe
Easter Bunny Sandwich by Michelle – Creative Food
Bunny Garland by Sue – Munchkin Munchies
Egg Hunt Pound Cake by Jennifer – Not Your Momma’s Cookie
Dutch Easter Egg by Lorraine – Lorraine’s Cookies
Easter Egg Painting Chicks by Mike – Semi Sweet
Easter Basket Cookies by Amber – Sweet Ambs Cookies
The Carrot Patch Cake by Kim – The Partiologist
Cookie Bunny Pop by Meaghan – The Decorated Cookie
Pretzel Bunnies by Sarah – Miss CandiQuik
I, Robot Egg Cookie by Hani – Haniela’sTweet

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super duper crazy easy St. Patrick’s Day pops

meaghanmountford — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:59:25 +0000

I’ve a good bit o’ Irish in me, but long gone are the days of heading to an Irish pub in the wee hours to spend St. Patrick’s Day. Now I would so gripe about the long bathroom lines, spilled Guinness, and kids today. The most nuts I’d get this year may be to have neighbors over for said Guinness. And maybe crock pot Irish stew. And super duper crazy easy St. Patrick’s Day pops.

Melted candy on sticks is my go-to for everything. See all these from Halloween? And it’s so easy, my kid helps me make these all the time. A couple of weeks ago when Maeve’s cousins were over, we pulled out some baking trays, candy melts, lollipop sticks and sprinkles and they all made their own candy pops. Totally unplanned. Because that’s how low-stress these are, and I always have all the supplies and ingredients on hand.

To make these…

you will need:*

green candy melts

disposable decorating bags

scissors

rubberbands

baking tray

wax paper

lollipop sticks

*Find the candy melts, decorating bags and lollipop sticks in the craft store.

what to do: Line a baking tray with wax paper. Place about 1/2 cup of candy melts in a decorating bag. Microwave at 60 percent power for 90 seconds. Massage the candy and repeat at 30 second intervals until the candy is completely melted. Close the bag with a rubber band if you wish. Snip 1/4 inch from the tip of the bag and pipe a dot the size of a dime on the wax paper. Place the lollipop stick on the dot of candy and pipe a shamrock on top. Repeat to fill the tray, using additional decorating bags and candy melts as needed. Let set well, a couple hours at room temperature or in the fridge.

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Cookie HQ at HERSHEY’S Kitchens: My Video and Photo Shoot

meaghanmountford — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:49:39 +0000

You probably don’t know this, but last month I was treated to a fantabulous trip to the Hershey’s Headquarters? Wait, you might know. Because I talked about it HERE. And HERE. And HERE. Sheesh. I talk too much. Anyway, I joined a dozen bloggers to make yummy holiday videos in the Hershey’s Test Kitchens with the wonderful Linda Stahl. And I finally get to share with you some of what I did while in incredible HERSHEY’S Kitchens. You can find all of the videos the Baker’s Dozen created HERE, and all of our packaging ideas for holiday sweets HERE. Be sure to check out the rest of this creative crew!

THE VIDEO:

5 Ways to Use Melted HERSHEY’S Chocolate

First, I made a video on 5 Ways to Use Melted Chocolate, HERE, with the HERSHEY’S kitchen team. I melt HERSHEY’S Premier White Chocolate Chips, Milk Chocolate and Semi-Sweet Chips to make chocolate snowflake cupcake toppers, to fill holiday molds, to drizzle over treats, to make marshmallow dippers and to make cute Rudolph pretzel rods. I promise despite my dull tone, I really AM excited to be there? I never said I was a TV natural, folks. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve said that I’m a nervous wreck when the cameras go on.

Some more tips:

Melting Chocolate. Melt chocolate either in the microwave or on the stove-top. On the stove-top, use a double boiler or rest a bowl over a pan of simmering water to slowly melt the chocolate chips and to avoid direct heat. Or, nuke in a microwave-safe bowl at 50 percent power for 1 1/2 minutes, then 30 second intervals, until melted. My favorite method is to nuke directly in a disposable decorating bag. Easy clean-up and total control over piping. Snip from 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch from the tip of the decorating bag to pipe.

Chocolate Snowflakes. After lining a baking tray with parchment paper, I just piped white chocolate snowflakes, topped immediately with white sprinkles, and refrigerated until set.

Chocolate Molds and Drizzling Chocolate. The decorating bags make filling holiday molds super easy. No spoons and drips and drops! And using the bags, you can easily control a chocolate “drizzle” by piping back and forth over cookies, cupcakes, brownies, pretzels, anything that goes with chocolate.

Marshmallow Dippers. Here, I just skewer a marshmallow, dip in melted chocolate, then roll in a mixture of HERSHEY’S Cocoa and granulated sugar. You can also roll in crushed candy canes or in finely chopped HERSHEY’S candy bars. I think the Cookies n’ Creme would be perfect.

Rudolph Pretzel Rods. To make these cuties, I first melted HERSHEY’S white chocolate chips in a decorating bag and piped antlers on a baking tray lined with parchment. Then, I dipped a pretzel rod in a bowl of melted HERSHEY’s Milk Chocolate chips and immediately lay on top of the antlers. Add two candy eyes (found at the craft store) and a red candy nose, refrigerate to set, and you have Rudy!

THE PHOTO SHOOT:

HERSHEY’S HUGS Sugar and Spice Blossom Cookies on a Stick: A Gift Idea for Your Kids’ Class

Next up, I had an assignment. To come up with a gift idea for packaging my favorites, the HERSHEY’S HUGS Sugar and Spice Blossoms, as a sweet treat to bring to your child’s class. Yeah, cookies and lollipop sticks and HERSHEY’S Kisses. Tough assignment, huh? Bringing treats to your child’s class poses a unique challenge. You need to bake in bulk, usually quickly and cost efficiently (if you’re like me, a mom with limited time and funds). You need to package the cookies just as quickly and cost efficiently, but still appealing to little hands, which also means packaging one, small cookie to look bigger. My go-to with kids? You know the answer. Lollipop sticks. If it’s possible to put anything on a stick, put it on a stick. To make these, simply, insert a lollipop stick–found at the craft store–into the ball of cookie dough on the tray. Bake as usual, add your HUGS, and let the cookies cool completely and the chocolate set well before packaging in cellophane bags with ribbons and tags.

FIND THE FULL PHOTO SHOOT HERE AT HERSHEY’S

MORE PLACES TO VISIT:

Be sure to check out my PINTEREST page on holiday sweets with HERSHEY’S products.

Find more information HERE at Cookie Headquarters.

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pumpkin fudge on a stick and 20+ other ways to use a pumpkin cutter, for Sugarbelle

meaghanmountford — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:33:33 +0000

Hello Fall, come on in. I’ve missed you ever so much this long, hot, sticky Summer. I embrace you, Fall, and all you bring, like pumpkins. So yes, Callye of The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle, of course I’m joining your pumpkin cookie cutter extravaganza. Remember back when she asked a bunch of supercool bloggers to create something, anything with a star cookie cutter? This time around, it’s a pumpkin cookie cutter. Isn’t this collection of talent and sweet art freakin’ amazing? Forgive my language, but it just is. For links to all 23 bloggers, scroll to the end.

I didn’t live up to my name and actually decorate my pumpkins. No cookie recipe is used here.

I’ve mentioned 169 and 39 times on this blog that Fall is my favorite season (by the way, “169 and 39″ is my daughter’s go-to phrase for expressing a large volume, so I thought I’d try and start a trend). Summer is too hot. Fall brings a crisp chill that is fully welcome after the sweltering heat. And Fall brings the promise of winter and holidays and pretty snowfalls. And that promise is even better than the real thing, because the real thing is terribly inconvenient when it happens. But the promise of it makes you only think of the pretty part. As a fan of Fall, I adore the smells and flavors of the season. So when Callye challenge us to use a pumpkin cutter, I not only wanted to step away from my usual cookies, but I wanted to make something that incorporated the flavors of Fall.

So I chose candy. Pumpkin fudge, that is. On a stick, of course. I played around with my go-to recipe for chocolate fudge until I got the pumpkin fudge just right. And by “played around” I mean I made four batches. We’re swimming in pumpkin fudge in my house.

I have a few different sizes of pumpkin cutters, but I chose the little one-inch pumpkin cutter I got in a set of Fall cutters for these. It was a wise choice. This fudge is way too rich to have more than an inch. I know, because I ate all the scraps as I went along and I could barely move afterwards.

how to make pumpkin fudge on a stick

pumpkin fudge recipe

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree (a can of Libby’s is the best)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 1/2 to 3 cups white chocolate chips*

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*Note that this is just over a 24-ounce bag of chocolate chips. You don’t necessarily need the extra half cup, but I wanted my fudge a little thicker so it would hold its shape better, so I bought the larger bag.

Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. In a small bowl, combine the salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, sugar, evaporated milk, pumpkin and the salt and spice mixture. Stir constantly with a whisk until the mixture comes to a boil. Lower the heat a bit and continue to simmer for five minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and use a spoon or spatula to stir in the chocolate chips and vanilla extract. Stir, stir, stir until all the chocolate chips are melted. Pour into the pan, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Remove and cut into squares or pumpkins. Keep refrigerated to keep firm. Makes about 25 little pumpkins.

putting it on a stick

you will need:*

1-inch pumpkin cookie cutter

lollipop sticks

When the fudge has set, use the cookie cutter to cut out the pumpkins as closely together as possible. If the fudge is too firm, let it rest at room temperature a bit. To make the cutting easier, dip the cutter’s edges in hot water or grease with shortening. I pressed down my greased cookie cutter, then used a large, off set spatula to lift the piece out of the baking pan, then I gently pushed the fudge out of the cutter. Insert a lollipop stick. Refrigerate the fudge to keep it firm.

Here they are, 20+ ways to use a pumpkin cutter, hosted by Sugarbelle. Click the links to go to the bloggers’ posts.

1. Panda Calaveras, Miss Cuit

2. Owl S’mores on a Stick, Kitchen Fun with my Three Sons

3. Pumpkin Cheesecake Pasties, Bakingdom

4. Halloween Pumpkin Wall, Arty McGoo

5. Cocoa Krispies Trick or Treat Bears, Hungry Happenings

6. Creative Cherry Cookies, Lila Loa

7. The Ultimate Halloween Candy Bar, Dollhouse Bake Shoppe

8. Halloween Pumpkin Carriage Cookie, Trilogy Edibles

9. Easy Cheveron Pumpkin Cookies, Lizy B Bakes

10. Pumpkin Fudge on a Stick, The Decorated Cookie

11. Funny Face Pumpkin Cookies, Munchkin Munchies