Well, these Halloween Black Cat Cookies are FAR from perfect but they were definitely a LOT of fun to make!   They are a little time consuming but it’s something that you should plan to spend an entire morning or day doing.  And I recommend that you make a plan, read all the directions first, and lay out all the tips, bags, colors (supplies) you’ll need.  You can all the hot seasonal Wilton items at Walmart and back in the arts & craft section, they have all the Wilton icings and tools.

When buying Wilton products, there are always instructions and tips on the back of the product.  Read them twice.

I bought my sugar cookie dough this round because the week has been hectic but you can make your own dough, which I recommend.  I rolled it out and cut out the cats.

Because these were going to be black cats with orange outline, I made my orange icing first.  I outlined each cat, using orange buttercream icing.  I’m not actually even sure if using regular buttercream was the correct icing to use to be honest but that’s what I did.

(Also, I apologize for the HORRIBLE photos. My camera is in my car and my son took it today so I was stuck with a really crappy one!)

Royal icing is fun.  It’s liquid like and falls into place for the most part.  I’ll include the recipe for that below.  Obviously I used Wilton’s Black dye for the icing.   It’s as simple as confectioners sugar, meringue powder, and water.

I dyed it, thinned it, and poured into a bag.  I snipped the end and let it flow out.  This can be messy so be careful.  My biggest tip for you is to start with a little amount in the middle and spread out using a toothpick, otherwise, you chance it spilling over. I know this ’cause I did this.

After that, I let dry and then I ‘decorated’ the cat by putting eyes and mouth.  I used white icing for eyes, tiny amount of the black royal black icing for center of eyes, and the orange buttercream for the mouth.    It ain’t pretty but I think I did alright and I know Truett will think they are super cool!!!

While I had hoped they’d look a little spookier, they’ll do.  They actually look pretty happy. LOL  I placed in a Wilton treat box and completed the Halloween Black Cat Cookies! If you want more Halloween treat ideas, check out some of my other posts.

ROYAL ICING (from Wilton)

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

Oh man, making a car themed cake was more of a task than I thought but I have narrowed my issues down to a couple of things that I’ll get to a little later.  Truett turned 5 years old today and all I could think about was when my two oldest were that age…and how grown they are now.  That means time will fly by again and Truett will be a Senior in no time.

Anyhoo, I decided to make Truett a car themed cake.  And that was issue number 1.  I really didn’t plan ahead.  I was like, “ooohh, it will be fun to make Truett some kind of car cake”….the night before his birthday party.  I know, I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants gal huh.  I quickly knew I couldn’t make a real car cake because I didn’t have the pan and I sure ain’t talented enough to carve one out of layers of cake.  I had seen a track done before using a number 5 so I went that route. I found my big Wilton cake pan and used it,  12x18x2 I believe.  I gathered all the supplies and began.

(You can click on the photos to make them bigger if you like)

SUPPLIES

• Wilton’s Cake Pan, measuring 12 x 18 x 2
• Wilton’s Grass Tip #233 with icing bag
• Wilton’s Ready-Made Fondant and/or make your own (marshmallows and powdered sugar)
• Wilton’s Icing Colors
• Wilton’s Ready-to-Use Decorator Icing (the big bucket did all the grass and iced the whole cake)
• 3 cake mixes
• and I forget to add things here, I’ll list them throughout the post!

First, I used the pan insert to make a ’5′ template since it was the exact size of the pan obviously, then cut it out.  I laid it on the cake to make sure it looked good.  I mixed all three cake mixes just like the directions said and baked the cake.  One cake mix equals about 4-6 cups of batter.  This pan uses 14 cups of batter which is how I got the 3.

I cooled the cake, iced it with the decorator icing, and put it in the fridge overnight.

It was now time to make the fondant for the track.  Oy.  The last two times I was suppposed to attend Wilton events, I had other personal things going on so I missed out on the fondant learning experience.   Since I know my good friend Cat is awesome at making anything, I seeked out her video on how to make marshmallow fondant.

I greased up my bowl, surface, and spatula.  I melted my marshmallows (160z bag) and put in my icing color, which is issue #2 came into effect.  I had no idea how hard it would be to make black colored fondant.  GRRRRRR!  I didn’t want to add too much because I didn’t want a bitter taste.  Had I planned ahead, I could have searched for this and the best way to get it black but since I didn’t, I went with the flow. I added some black, brown, and a tiny bit of royal blue.  The longer it set, the more dark grey (pavement like) color it got.

I kneaded it and rolled it out.  I laid my template on it and cut the 5 out.

To get the 5 on the cake without it tearing, I gently folded it in half, picked it up, and placed it on the cake.

I used the yellow ready-to-use fondant for the road.  I just rolled it out and used a pizza cutter to make the strips, placing them down the road.

Now, had I been able to make a true black, I would have done the sides with a black and white checkboard effect but since I couldn’t, I decided to do it all in green grass.  Simple fix yes?  I did this pretty sloppy I reckon but I was ready to be done.  I colored what icing I had left in my bucket with Wilton’s Kelly Green Icing Color.  It darkened over time as well.  I placed it in my bag and used tip #233.

I was able to do 3 sides of the cake with green grass before running out of icing so I just hid the other side!! LOL  And this is the final product!  I placed 5 cars along the road with a candle on each car.  I used Cat’s other tip about melting the bottom of the candle just enough for it to stick to the car.  This was a great tip since it doesn’t hurt the car at all!   We lit the candles and made a wish!!

It’s not perfect but like my facebook friend Kassie said, “anything made with Love is perfect”…….

Thank you Wilton for teaching me all that I do know because while this and I’m sure any cakes I do are a challenge, it’s fun to see the end result and make something for my kids, from my heart.

When trying to figure out what food gifts to give this year, I thought I’d make something I usually don’t, which is homemade fudge.  I’ve heard horror stories when it comes to fudge so I can see how it can be quite intimidating for some, much like pecan pies tend to do but my recipe is pretty simple and what I feel like, is some of the best fudge ever.

My homemade fudge recipe isn’t a family recipe but it may as well be because it came from a jar of Kraft Jet Puffed Marshmallow Creme jar.  Just like many food brands, Kraft has been around for years so you can imagine all the recipes from their boxes or jars, have become a family recipe, perhaps even a secret family recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 lb semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 7 oz. Kraft Jet Puffed Marshmallow Creme jar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans that my FIL picked and shelled for me instead of walnuts)

DIRECTIONS

Try to have everything ready ahead of time.  It will make things a lot easier.  Chop the nuts and have the marshmallow cream out of the jar and in a bowl. In fact, I recommend you spray your spatula and bowl with Pam Cooking Spray before doing this because that creme is very sticky!  Line a 13″x9″x2″ baking pan with foil and spray with nonstick spray.

In a 3-quart saucepan, bring sugar, butter, and milk to a boil on medium heat, stirring constantly once the mixture begins to bubble. Once the mixture reaches a boil,  you’ll want to remove the mixture from the heat once it reaches 234°F on a candy thermometer.  I just used a digital thermometer that I had but if you don’t have one, just remember it will take about 4 minutes to reach that temperature.

Remove from heat. Very quickly stir in chocolate and marshmallow cream. When those have melted,, stir in the vanilla and then the walnuts.  Pour into your pan lined with foil.  Cool to room temperature before slicing, at least 4 hrs or so.

Makes about 3 pounds of fudge.

You MUST let someone lick the spatula of course! Truett enjoyed this part of the process a great deal. Who wouldn’t right?

Once done, I placed some pieces of fudge in a Christmas bowl and put a whole bunch of fudge in these fun gift boxes from Wilton.  I really really like the gift boxes and bags. It made the whole food gift giving process easy for me and looked fabulous!

I don’t normally like Pecan Pies because they are too sweet but I find that ones not made with additional sugar, are easier for me to eat. My Grandma made fantastic pecan pies. She never burned the edges and the insides were always settled well.

This pecan pie recipe makes 3 pecan pies. I don’t know about you but I always have to make more than one; two for the event and one to keep home or giveaway.

INGREDIENTS

• 16 oz. pecans (Fisher or your own. I used the ones my FIL shelled for me.)
• 2 sticks margarine (Bluebonnet)
• 16 oz. package light brown sugar (I use Great Value from Walmart)
• 1 heaping tablespoon self-rising flour
• 16 oz. bottle light corn syrup (Karo- Great recipes there!)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 6 eggs (Eggland’s Best)
• 3 regular size (not deep dish-if you do use deep dish, will only make 2) frozen pie crusts

DIRECTIONS

Melt margarine in the microwave for about 2 minutes or until melted and set aside. Place brown sugar in a large bowl. Work out any lumps. Add a heaping tablespoon of self-rising flour and stir until the flour disappears into the brown sugar. Add a bottle of light corn syrup. Then add vanilla and stir until thoroughly combined. Add melted margarine. Fold carefully into the mixture. Fold until the margarine is thoroughly worked in and disappears.
In a separate bowl, crack open six eggs and loosely beat the eggs with your spoon. Fold the eggs into the pie mixture until they disappear. Add pecans and stir until completely coated. Pour the mixture evenly into the three pie shells. If you have any left and have extra pie crust, you could pour into a mini pie pan. Make sure there is the same amount in each pie. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 350. Cook pies until they swell and then fall. When they fall, they are done. Remove and cool for about three hours. Store on the counter or in the refrigerator.

Do you have a family pecan pie recipe?

In my previous video, I made you Healthy Pumpkin Bread. Today, I bring you quite the opposite with Rocky Road Brownies.  When it comes to food gift giving during the holidays, so many people give breads and cookies but something we like to give, are brownies served in a dish.

I like to find pretty bowls or plates, place brownies in them, and wrap them up as a gift.  The receiver can use the dish over and over again instead of it getting thrown away, and the family can enjoy the brownies. Brownie pan was bought at my local Walmart.

HOW TO MAKE ROCKY ROAD BROWNIES

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Great Value unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 bag (12 ounces) Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon McCormick’s Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 cup Jet -Puffed Mini Marshmallows
• 1/2 cup chopped Fisher pecans or your choice of nut.
• Reddi-wip for topping (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch-square baking pan or use a brownie pan like I did.

Step 2. In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of boiling water, combine butter and 1 cup chocolate chips. Heat, stirring occasionally, just until melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Or you can use the microwave for 2-3 minutes. Just watch carefully.

Step 3. Remove mixture from heat; stir in sugars and salt, then eggs, and finally flour, stirring just until combined. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes.

Step 4. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips, then marshmallows and nuts. Bake until chocolate is shiny and marshmallows are puffed, about 5 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Cut into 16 squares and top with Reddi-wip!!! **DROOL*

Disclosure: Compensation has been provided by Walmart for my time and efforts to create the recipe, video and post. All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be. Check out more holiday baking and gift giving ideas from my fellow Walmart Moms and from the Walmart website.

November marks the part of the season where we give thanks, give gifts, and help those in need.  Giving a homemade food gift is one of the most popular ideas because it’s so friendly to your wallet and it comes from the heart.

Today, I’m bringing you a healthy alternative to traditional pumpkin bread (found at Dashing Dish) and  sharing my food gift giving how-to idea.

Most of the ingredients for the recipe are items you probably already have in your pantry which will minimize the cost some.   To wrap up the loaves up and make them into a gift, you’ll need the following:

• Great Value Twist Tie Bags (100 ct) $2.76
• Matching Napkins & Paper Plates $2.00 for each.  There were at least 10 in the packages.

Because you are getting so many bags and so many of the plates & napkins for $6.76 total, you’re going to easily be able make quite a few loaves for a low price.  Gifts like these are great for teachers, neighbors, coworkers, and really just about anyone.

PUMPKIN BREAD RECIPE

Ingredients

• 1 (15oz) can pure pumpkin
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (about one individual portion of yogurt)
• 4 large egg whites – Eggland’s Best
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 cups Splenda
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. McCormick’s Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick’s Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. McCormick’s Pumpkin Pie Spice (or 1/8 tsp McCormick’s Ground Nutmeg)

Directions:

Step 1
Preheat oven to 350′. Spray mini loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. You can also buy those mini loaf aluminum pans that are disposable as well.

Step 2
Using a food processor (or blender), mix all of the ingredients together. Blend until oats are ground and mixture is smooth. (I put the oats in first to make sure they were blended down well.)

Step 3
Place mixture into loaf pans, and place into oven. Bake mini loaves for 40-50 minutes (depending on your oven and altitude:), or until toothpick comes out clean, which is how I always check!

Cool loaves before removing from pans or if you are using disposable, just cool down before wrapping up to gift.If using disposable, you can omit the paper plates and find napkins to match the disposables that you used.

What are some of your holiday food gift giving ideas? I’d love to hear them and even perhaps make them this holiday season!

Disclosure: Compensation has been provided by Walmart for my time and efforts to create the recipe, video and post. All opinions are my own, always have been, always will be. Check out more holiday baking and gift giving ideas from my fellow Walmart Moms and from the Walmart website.

I 100% recommend Eggland’s Best Eggs which is why I’m also proud to be an ambassador for EB & the Pink Dozen. So good for the heart y’all!

These don’t have to be only Halloween treats but they does make for a fun one and as you can see, we used Halloween colors and decorations to celebrate the holiday.  They are very fun and vibrant.   Halloween always seems to be about sweets (and no exceptions here) but at least there are fresh apple bites incorporated into this one!  These are much smaller than you probably realize because instead of using whole apples, you’ll be using a melon baller.  I have this cool double-sided melon baller for the 2 size options but any will do.

I recommend letting the kiddos help you with this one. It’s very easy for them to dip them into the sweets and they’ll just love being your helper.  If your kids are helping, I highly recommend you use the tip below to keep the mess to a minimum!

Ingredients/Supplies

• 4-inch lollipop sticks
• Melon baller
• Granny Smith apples (one apple makes about 8 mini apples)
• Wilton Chocolate Chips (I got mine at Walmart), Butterscotch or peanut butter chips
• You could also use Chopped nuts, sprinkles, shredded coconut, or mini m&m’s…whatever you want.
• Small paper candy cups

Instructions

With the melon baller, scoop little balls out of the apple. Each ball should have a section of apple peel. Push half of a lollipop stick into the peel of each ball. Pat the apple pieces dry.  Melt the chips according to the package directions. Dip and swirl the mini apples in the melted chips, then roll the apples in nuts, sprinkles, coconut or whatever your choice is.   Place the mini apples in paper candy cups to set.

TIP: Here’s one of my favorite tips to keeping the mess under control with all the different sprinkles, m&m’s, etc.  Get a muffin pan out and place muffin liners in them.  Pour each topping you plan to use into a separate cup so that all you have to do is dip each covered apple into that topping.  Works great!  I learned that tip from the fine folks at Wilton.

You should know that just because I am taking Wilton Decorating classes, that it doesn’t mean I’m any good at it still.  I’m definitely learning much more but I still have such a long ways to go.  With this Hair Raising Cake, I wanted to do three things; incorporate Halloween of course, try not to completely ruin it, and pay tribute to those fighting breast cancer like my Aunt and Grandmother since October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Now one of my biggest problems is that I do things spur of the moment and when making cakes like this, it’s really important to read all the directions to see what supplies you’ll need and try to estimate how much time you’ll need. I did neither. And it’s obvious.  I guess you should see how the original looks like first before I get to mine.

She’s cute huh?  Mine does NOT look like her, sadly.  I did want to incorporate pink though so I switched up her hair a bit. See below……

GETTING STARTED

I was missing a couple of tips and had no clue how to make certain colors of icing but I just went with the flow. I mean, why get all crazy cause you don’t have the exact things right? While it would be nice, I was simply having fun more than anything.  I started with the Long Loaf Pan that uses 8-9 cups of Duncan Hines cake batter.  To give you an idea, one box of cake mix is about 4-5 cups of batter so I used two boxes but didn’t  use it all. I also made a couple of different batters for something else I was making which is why you see two different color batters below.

I prepared my icing first while cake was baking (which took about 80 minutes at 325′), starting with the green.  Now Wilton tells you to combine Lemon Yellow Icing color and Leaf Green Icing color to get the green but I had neither so I used Buttercup Yellow and Teal.  It’s not near as lime green as shown in the photo but I thought it was a nice compliment to the light pink hair.   I also just added a tiny bit of Christmas Red Icing color to white to get the light pink.  Since I didn’t really want to use black on the cake, I went with a mustard color for the pupils, lashes, mouth, and plug things in the sides of her neck.

The cake cooled for over an hour and I set out to decorate. I was missing an important tip, 4B to be exact so I had to make due with what I had.  I think I used 21 or something….not as easy to use ad 4B I’m sure.  Anyways, I iced about 6 inches of the cake with the green color for Halloween and alternated pink and white for the hair in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I did not take my time..it was getting late and I was tired. I had no idea how long it actually takes from start to finish to do this. I’ll know next time though.   Overall, she’s not just real pretty but I love her.  I made her and feel like she’s a fighter……

So Happy Halloween and don’t forget to get a mammogram and support the women fighting breast cancer like cooking for the cure baby!

P.S. If you don’t have a hobby store that sells Wilton products, you can always order online or check out Walmart’s selection of Wilton goods!  You know what I’d love to see?  Classes taught at our local Walmart!  You know how they have them at Michaels?  Well ours is over an hour away so I’d love if they’d bring the Wilton classes to Walmart!!  *HINT*

Shaina is the home cook and wannabe photographer behind Food for My Family, where she shares recipes, tips, opinions and her philosophy on food as she wades through the process of feeding her family, her friends and anyone else who will let her, all while juggling four kids and running a business.

I love baking Christmas cookies, and one thing I want my children to remember is baking with me.  Unfortunately, the cookies I tend to make for gifts at Christmastime aren’t the most exciting for kids: fruit-filled pastries dusted with powdered sugar, candied-ginger orange shortbread and pecan teacakes.  I needed something that screamed “Happy Holidays!” from the rooftop, or at least from the minute you saw it on your plate.  Stained glass cookies were just the thing to get the kids in the holiday spirit and one where they could be involved every step of the way.

Every cookie starts with a good dough.  This one has lemon extract and lemon rind in it to give it a bit of a kick in the pants.

While you’re mixing up the dough, set your kids or your husband to work sorting the hard candies by color so you can crush them soundly with a can of stewed tomatoes or chicken noodle soup.  (Whatever you have will work.)

Place half of your dough on a piece of parchment and roll it out.

Using two sizes of cookie cutters, one large and one small, cut out large shapes with a 4″ cookie cutter…

…and then cut out small shapes (2″ or so) inside that.

Fill the inside with the crushed candies.  Use a toothpick to push the pieces around inside the cookie, being careful not to get the candy pieces up on the cookie dough itself, just along the inside edge.

Once baked and cooled, they’re done.  If you wanted, you could cut holes out in the top before baking and hang them as ornaments.  They also make fantastic colorful gifts.

Want a variation?  Omit the lemon rind and substitute peppermint extract for the lemon extract.  Then use blue and white mint-flavored candies and you have a completely different cookie.

LEMONY SWEET STAINED GLASS COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 2 teaspoons lemon rind
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 cups flour
• ½ teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 30-40 hard candies such as Jolly Ranchers or Life Savers, sorted by color

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375º F.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars.  Beat in lemon extract, egg and lemon rind.  Stir in the sour cream.  Sift together flour, salt and baking soda and then mix into the batter.  Separate in half.  Place the balls on a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit your baking sheets.

Lightly flour the top of the dough and use a rolling pin to roll it out to ¼” thickness on the parchment.  Using 4″ and 2″ cookie cutters cut out large shapes with the 4″ cutters and then use the 2″ cutter to cut out the centers.  Slide the parchment sheet with the cookies onto a cookie sheet.

Crush the sorted candies in zip-top or other baggies wrapped in cloth using the rolling pin or some other heavy object, like the bottom of a can.  Using a small spoon, like a ½ teaspoon measuring spoon or something similar, place the candies into the cutout shapes.  Use a toothpick to guide them around to the edges, being careful not to get any candy pieces on top of the cookie dough itself, just up to the edge.

Bake at 375º F for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on parchment.  When cool, carefully peel parchment away.  Package in airtight containers once completely cool, hang on the tree, give them away to friends, family and neighbors, and don’t forget to eat a few yourself.  ‘Tis the season, after all.

The Witches Brooms were so cute that I just had to make and share these Mummy dogs with you today.  Check out these cute pigs in a blanket, Halloween style!!  Tell me those are not cute, I dare you!  And you could use mustard or ketchup as the eyes.  With all the Halloween sweets I’ve been posting, I thought these would make for a great appetizer/snack!  You’ve seen similar recipes around but I’d love to see your final creation of the mummy dogs!

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations refrigerated flaky dough sheet
• 2 ½ slices American cheese, quartered (2.5 oz)
• 10 large hot dogs
• Cooking spray
• Mustard or ketchup, if desired

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 375°F.  If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.  With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).  Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like “bandages,” stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate “bandages” so hot dog shows through for “face.” On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down); spray dough lightly with cooking spray. Cut slits for eyes. Or draw features with mustard or ketchup once cooked.  Bake 15 to 19 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot.