Donuts for Dads Week

This week on the blog, I'm going to feature a number of different homemade doughnut (or donut) recipes... as well as some tricks and tips to make many flavors quickly and easily.

Now, I admit that I am a raised or yeast donut girl at the donut store, but those are so putsy to make, and in the morning, for breakfast, I do not want to have to do that much work. So, I will be focusing on cake donuts. They're easier, faster, and don't always have to be fried!

I'm going to start with what you need to get started: the pans and donut makers.

School's Out for Summer - Cookies

Today was our official last day of school for the year. My guys are going to be first graders! Seems impossible. I wanted to make some cookies to thank the teachers, but I was running really short on time this week.

So, I went the Kindergarten way out. I baked some simple round cookies, used Food Writer edible ink markers to draw simple pictures on them, then used red icing to "cross out" the school-related things that they would no longer deal with over the summer... and green icing to circle the things they'd welcome.

I did some personalization. The whistling lips were for the teachers who have my one guy who cannot. stop. whistling. ever.

And the highlight... was the bloody tooth. Kindergarten teachers deal with a lot of lost teeth... and two of them do not like teeth at all!

*Note: My original idea was to do cookies based on the Alice Cooper song, 'School's Out.' Everyone told me it was too obscure and the teachers wouldn't know what I was talking about. Ha! The teacher opened the cookies, and immediately started singing the song. Next year, I guess.

Click the Links Below to See:
Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe
Chocolate Sugar Cookie Recipe
Royal Icing Recipe 
Other school/teacher-related treats

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Marshmallow Flower Cupcakes on Fox 9

If you have trouble viewing the video above, Click Here to visit the MyFox9.com website to see the video.

I'm super excited and super nervous to take one of my little men on TV with me this morning to make these marshmallow flower cupcakes.

We first made them last year for Teacher Appreciation Day for their preschool teachers.

What You Need:
Cupcakes
Mini-marshmallows (about 20-25 per cupcake)
Icing (any kind will do, even canned icing)
Sugar sprinkles in pretty flowery colors
Sandwich Bags

100 Days of School Cookies

The 100th day of school means 100 cookies for the class.
That's what we did at our house this weekend, gearing up for the big day.

What You Need:
Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe
or Chocolate Sugar Cookie Recipe
Small round cookie cutter (I used the medium of this set.)
Royal Icing Recipe
FoodWriter or other edible ink markers

*Note: It took me a little more than one batch to get the 100 cookies plus the rectangles for the extra cookies. You may be able to eek out 100 from a single batch, but I recommend at least a 1 1/2 batch of either recipe, just so you have a few for the inevitable mess-ups along the way. (I did not make nearly enough backups, which meant I was a little crabby when they were careless... not enjoyable!)

Candy Coal for Stockings {Recipe}

Is anyone in your house on Santa's Naughty List?
Someone here is. And this candy coal will be inside of his stocking this year.

But I'm also planning to give these little bags of coal to friends, too, because.. well, they're funny. AND they're good. Homemade Peanut Butter Cups, covered in black sprinkles. What's not to like??

What You Need: 
1/2 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter (I prefer crunchy, but whatever you like.)
1 package of graham crackers, crushed (1/3 of a standard box of graham crackers.)
1 cup powdered sugar
1- 12 oz. bag chocolate chips or Chocolate Candy Melts
Black Sanding Sugar (sprinkle sugar)*

*Note: Black Sanding Sugar isn't terribly easy to find after Halloween, if you don't have a good cake supply store nearby. Online, it is, of course. But if you're in a pinch and want to make these right now, like I do, check out this blog post on Sugarbelle's Blog. 

Back-To-School Apple Cupcakes

My babies start Kindergarten this week. I am so nervous about sending them off to big, scary elementary school! But, I'm sending them with a couple of these wrapped up for their teachers... that ought to grease the wheels in their favor, right??

What You Need:
Cupcakes
Icing
Red Sugar Sprinkles
Pretzel Sticks
Green Tootsie Rolls (or fondant)

Play Ball! Baseball Cookies

I wondered the other day to those of you who follow my Facebook page... if I had two little girls... instead of two little boys... or even just one little girl, would this blog have a lot more pink, tutus and princesses?

Well, it doesn't really matter, I guess, because I have boys.
I have to tell you, in the realm of things to make... baseball cookies... pretty darn simple!

What You Need:
Vanilla Sugar Cookie Dough
Royal Icing
Large, round biscuit (or cookie) cutter
Red Coloring*
Piping Bag fit with Tip #2

*Note: See my post about How to Color Icing for some tips on making a dark red color. It can be a real pain!

Thunder Cake with the Kids

We have a book, Thunder Cake. It's a kids' book all about how a little girl gets over her fear of thunder storms by baking this cake with her grandma.

My boys have wanted to bake a "Thunder Cake" ever since we got the book months ago. We finally had a chance to do it, with some friends this week.

Teacher Appreciation Day or Mother's Day Cupcakes with Kids

I've seen pictures of cupcakes like these all over the Internet, and on various grocery store check-out magazines. I always wanted to try them. Then I thought, what a perfect project for two little boys to show their teachers how much they appreciate them.

What You Need:
Cupcakes
Mini-marshmallows (about 20-25 per cupcake)
Icing (any kind will do)
Sugar sprinkles in pretty flowery colors
Baggies

Optional:
Two 5-year-olds (not pictured)

Half-Birthday Half-Cake

We celebrate our boys' half-birthday. Yes, I realize some people may think this is crazy and excessive. But I think it's just another fun reason to have cake and a party! (For the record, no gifts are allowed at either their birthday or half-birthday parties.)

The half-birthday half-cake definitely does not get the planning and consideration of their real birthday cakes. I need something that looks good on a half cake, and that doesn't take too much time, because this isn't a "real" celebration. It's just fun.

This rainbow cake seriously took me less than 3 hours total, including baking, making icing, decorating, etc.

What You Need:
Round cake, baked & cooled (I used an 8"x3" round cake.)
Icing, colored blue (I used my cream cheese icing)
M&Ms
Rainbow Sprinkles
Mini-marshmallows
Optional:
Any other color icing & tip #3

Memory Game Cookies

A fun, easy way to get your kids to actually want to learn their letters... let them eat them!

A "Memory" Game, made out of cookies.

What You Need:
Sugar Cookies (cut into small squares or rectangles)
Royal Icing
Food Coloring Icing (like Wilton Food Writers)
**Small children who want to play and eat cookies

Easy Rainbow Pudding Pie for St. Patrick's Day

Seriously, start to finish, it took me less than an hour to do all three of these! (Well, except for baking the crusts.)

What You Need:
Pie Crust (These are mini-pies, but you could totally do full-sized.)
Instant Pudding (Prepared as pie filling - mixed with 1 3/4 cups of cold milk)
Whipped Cream (or Cool Whip)
Wilton Nonpareils 6 Mix Sprinkle Assortment (or other sprinkles divided by color)
Parchment paper for template
Optional (for "pot of gold"):
1 Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie (or other round, dark cookie)
Yellow or gold sanding sugar or sprinkles

Easy Hawaiian or Beach-Themed Cupcakes

One of the cake-y things I do is that I teach cake, cupcake, cookie decorating at birthday parties and workshops around the Twin Cities. A mom recently contacted me to do a "Hawaiian-themed" cupcake party with fondant for her daughter. The project needed to be simple enough for 12-year-olds to do.

These are what I came up with. Nothing is too hard or requires many hard-to-find supplies to create.

What You Need (for the decorations):
1 box Wilton Neon Fondant
1 package Wilton Gum Paste (optional)
Large Round Cutter
Small Round Cutter (or any icing tip)
Large & Small Rose or Blossom Cutter
Shortening (for greasing surface)
Parchment or Waxed Paper, or Roll & Cut Mat
Tapered Spatula or small knife
Food-Safe Paintbrush
Rolling Pin

Build-Your-Own Snowman Cookies

I saw this idea on another cookie decorating blog, and I just had to try it myself. I sent some to my nephews for Christmas, but I think it works any time in the winter as a fun activity or gift.

It does take a little bit of time, just because you need to mix up many colors, and cut out lots of little pieces, but as far as decorating goes, these are SO SO easy to do. No intricate details, no worry about color bleeding. Easy. (I let my kiddos help a lot with the sprinkles, too.)

What You Need:
Vanilla Sugar Cookie Dough (one batch will make 7-9 snowmen kits)
Royal Icing
Set of 3 nesting biscuit cutters
Icing Tip #12
Icing Colors
Piping Bag and Tip # 1, 2 or 3

*Optional:
triangle cookie cutter
White and/or Clear and/or Orange sprinkles
Bags or Boxes, tags and raffia ribbon for gifting

Pretzel "Turtle" Candies

These treats are very easy to make, even when the kids are involved.

What You Need:
Pretzels (I prefer the "pounders")
Rolo Candies
Pecan Halves (Toast them if you wish. Click the link to see how to toast the nuts in my snowball cookie recipe.)

White Chocolate Pretzels

These are my favorites, but until this year, I can honestly say I've never made them myself. They're SO easy. And if you already have some of the pretzels, candy and sprinkles for other projects, then why not?!

What You Need:
Pretzels
Almond Bark or Candy Melts (I prefer the white/vanilla, but chocolate would be good, too.)
Sprinkles, of course
Parchment or Waxed Paper
Fork
Optional:
Vegetable oil or shortening

Peppermint Bark

I'm not really sure why, but my husband really loves peppermint bark. And given how easy it is to make... I'm okay with that.

What You Need:
Vanilla (White) Almond Bark (or Candy Melts)
Chocolate Almond Bark (or Candy Melts)
Candy Canes or Peppermint Candies
Parchment Paper
Optional:
Two pint-sized helpers 

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

These cookies are really easy. They're good. And the kids, even the littlest kids can help with them.
I got the 'recipe' from my friend, Kate, a few years ago, and they've joined my holiday baking list ever since.

What You Need:
1 package refrigerated Peanut Butter Cookie dough*
1 package Miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Mini Muffin Pan
Nonstick Cooking Spray

*You can absolutely substitute your own homemade peanut butter cookie dough here. I have had to do that when I couldn't find the refrigerator stuff. The reason I like using the packaged kind is that way I don't have to worry as much about the kids touching the raw dough.

The Season of Baking

I love holiday baking. Sometimes I don't actually love the baking part because it seems like I'm always stressing about how to fit it in around everything else. But I love the rewards of the baking. Eating all of my favorite things. (I will add more photos and links as soon as I get them baked, I promise!)


My Must-Haves:

Gingersnaps*

Gingerbread Men*

Sugar Cookies, of course.

Pecan Snowballs (or Russian Tea Cakes)

Mint-Chocolate Brownies*

Peppermint Bark

Special K Bars*

My Kid-Friendly Baking:

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies*

Pretzel "Turtles"

White Chocolate Pretzels

My Newer Additions to Round Out the Cookie Plate:

Cardamom Shortbread Cookies*

*Those ideas marked with a * freeze well.