Minnie & Mickey Mouse Heart Cookies

February 6, 2019 Leave a Comment

A fun Valentine’s Day cookie recipe, these Minnie and Mickey Mouse Heart Cookies will make any Disney fan’s day!

Mickey Mouse Valentine’s Day Cookies

We are a Disney family – we have been to Walt Disney World eight times and are currently planning our first trip to Disneyland Paris; we have themed movie nights complete with Disney recipes for kids and themed crafts; and we have more than a handful of Disney decor items in our home.

The mouse has taken over our house.

But even if your family isn’t as Disney-crazy as ours, your kids will probably still love these super cute Mickey and Minnie Mouse cookies as a sweet Valentine’s Day treat!

These cookies would be cute for Valentine’s Day or any Disney-themed party. I think they would also be cute as a classroom treat if your kid’s class will be having a Valentine’s Day party.

I hope your kids love these Disney-inspired cookies! If you make them, be sure to tag us on social media so we can see your creations!

— Jennifer

PS – Be sure to check out our Mickey Mouse donuts too!

Mickey Mouse Cookie Ingredients

For the cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered icing sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tarter
1 teaspoon baking soda

Royal icing ingredients:

4 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tarter
3 cups powder sugar, plus extra as needed
2 teaspoons almond extract
Pink, black and red gel food coloring

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

1 large heart cookie cutter
1 cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper
4 frosting piping bags fitted with a number 2 tip
3 squeeze bottles

How to Make Mickey Mouse Heart Cookies

A free printable recipe card is available at the bottom of the post, with full instructions.

Keep reading for photo guide and our shortcut tips, or keep scrolling for the printable recipe card.

Shortcut Tips to Save Time:

While the royal icing method listed below is easier than it looks, it does take a bit of time to allow the cookies to dry in between steps. To save time, you can alternatively dip these cookies in melted chocolate or candy melts and garnish as desired with candies or writing icing.
You can also use pre-made sugar cookie dough instead of making these Mickey Mouse heart cookies from scratch.
If you need to make these sugar cookies in advance, I recommend either freezing the dough or the baked cookies, and then waiting to decorate them after thawing. (Freezing the decorated cookies can cause the frosting colors to run or the frosting to take on a different texture).

Photo Guide to Decorating:

Here’s a look at how we used royal icing to decorate our Mickey Mouse Heart Cookies:

The steps to make Minnie Mouse Heart Cookies are similar, but you use pink frosting instead of red and finish with polka dots:

Grab your free printable copy of our Mickey Mouse Valentine’s Day Cookie recipe:

Yield: 24 cookies

Minnie & Mickey Mouse Heart Cookies

Name: Minnie & Mickey Mouse Heart Cookies
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 24 cookies
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter, softened; 1 1/2 cup powdered icing sugar; 2 teaspoon vanilla; 1 large egg; 2 1/2 cups flour; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 4 egg whites; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; 3 cups powder sugar, plus extra as needed; 2 teaspoons almond extract; Pink, black and red gel food coloring

A fun Valentine's Day cookie recipe, these Minnie and Mickey Mouse Heart Cookies will make any Disney fan's day!

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Cookie Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered icing sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Royal Icing Ingredients:

4 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 cups powder sugar, plus extra as needed
2 teaspoons almond extract
Pink, black and red gel food coloring

Instructions

Cookie directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.
Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate mixing bowl, cream together the butter, powder sugar, vanilla, and egg using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer.
Gradually add dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients, mixing as you go.
Lightly flour a cutting board and knead the dough just a few times until all the flour is combined.
Dust the cutting board with flour again and roll out the dough to about 2 inches thick.
Use your heart cookie cutter to cut out cookies until all dough is gone.
Bake cookies for 7-9 minutes or until a light golden brown.
Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes before placing them onto a different (cool) cookie sheet. Leave about 2 inches of space between cookies.

Royal icing directions:

Using a standing mixer, mix together the egg whites, powdered sugar, almond extract and cream of tartar until combined.
If your royal icing mixture is still a little soupy, add in another cup of powder sugar (max 2 cups) until your icing starts to thicken.

Continue to mix until white and stiff with peaks (about 5-7 minutes).
Divide the icing among four small mixing bowls.
Add a couple drops of pink gel coloring into one bowl, red gel into a second bowl, and black gel into the third bowl. Leave the fourth bowl plain (white).
Stir your frostings until you have rich pink, red, and black icing. Add more food coloring as needed.
Scoop a little bit of each color into their own piping bag, leaving the rest in the bowls.
Add 1-2 tsp of water into each bowl of frosting, stirring until you have a thinner icing.
Pour the thinned icing into squeeze bottles and set aside.

Decorating directions:

Using the black piping bag (thick icing), pipe an outline around the top half of all the cookies, to make the "ears."
Split your cookies into two groups: Mickey Mouse heart cookies and Minnie Mouse heart cookies. Outline half of the cookies with thick red icing and half with thick pink icing.
Fill in the black outline on all of your cookies with the thinned black icing. Allow to set.
Next, fill in the pink outlines with thinned pink icing and red outlines with thinned red icing. Allow to set.
Using the white piping bag, draw polka dots on top on the pink icing. Allow Minnie Mouse heart cookies to dry fully (about 2 hours).

Using the white piping bag, draw Mickey's buttons onto his pants (the red part of the cookies). Allow the Mickey Mouse heart cookies to dry completely (about 2 hours).
Allow cookies to dry at least 12 hours before bagging or stacking.

Pin our Mickey Mouse Heart Cookies on Pinterest:

These Disney-inspired cookies are a sweet treat for your Disney-loving Valentine! Which is your favorite: Mickey or Minnie?

For more delicious Disney desserts, check out our Toy Story Green Alien Cupcakes or our Edible Chip Teacup from Beauty and the Beast.

Valentines Day Treats – Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels

February 5, 2019 Leave a Comment

What’s inside: How to make Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels, quick and easy Valentines Day Treats! One of our favorite No-Bake Valentine’s Day dessert ideas that kids can make!

Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels

My daughter loves any excuse for a theme and holidays are no exception!

She loves making handmade cards and treats for her friends, so I thought these simple Cupid’s Arrow Valentine’s Day treats would be perfect for her to help make.

While heating the candy melts (or white chocolate, if you prefer) does involve the use of the microwave, kids can help with pretty much every stage of this recipe – from cutting the sour candy rainbow to placing the gummy heart “arrow heads” on the pretzel stick, and sprinkling on a garnishing of pink sprinkles.

The best part about this recipe will be how proud your little chef is of their final creations and how much joy they will get out of giving them to their friends on Valentine’s Day.

This Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels recipe is a cute addition to a Valentine’s Day party, or it makes a sweet homemade Valentines Day treat!

— Jennifer

Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels Ingredients

Pretzel Sticks
Rainbow Sour Belt Candy
Gummy Heart Candy
1 cup Pink Candy Melts
1 teaspoon shortening or coconut oil
Pink sprinkles, optional

Tip: swap out the colors or decorations for your personal preferences or what you are able to source. Who says Cupid’s arrows can’t be blue or purple? Or even gold!

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

Kitchen scissors or knife
Small microwave-safe bowl
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper or non-stick silicone baking mat

How to Make Cupid’s Arrows Valentine’s Day Treats

Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper, wax paper, or a silicone baking mat and set aside.

Cut sour belt rainbow candy into 1-inch long pieces. To make the “feathers,” cut out a small triangle on one end and cut the other end to a point, then finish by cutting little slits along each side.

Melt pink chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds, then stir in shortening or coconut oil. Heat in 20 second increments, stirring in between, until smooth. Be sure to use a microwave-safe bowl and handle carefully, as the bowl may become hot. Grown-ups should do this step!

Roll each pretzel stick in the melted chocolate until coated, then lay on your prepared cookie sheet.

TIP: Non-stick silicone baking mats also work really well for chocolate dipped treats!

Repeat with all pretzel sticks.

Place a gummy heart on one end and the rainbow tail on the other end while candy melts are still wet.

If desired, add some pink sprinkles to the pretzels.

Let dry completely, about 20 minutes.

Be sure to pin these simple Valentines Day Treats for kids on Pinterest:

Grab your free printable recipe for our Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels:

Yield: 12-24 pretzels

Cupid's Arrow Pretzels

How to make Cupid's Arrow Pretzels, quick and easy Valentine's Day Treats! One of our favorite No-Bake Valentine's Day dessert ideas that kids can make!

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 2 minutes

Total Time 17 minutes

Ingredients

Pretzel Sticks
Rainbow Sour Belt Candy
Gummy Heart Candy
1 cup Pink Candy Melts
1 teaspoon shortening or coconut oil
Pink sprinkles, optional

Instructions

Line a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper and set aside.
Cut sour belt rainbows in 1 inch pieces. Then cut out a small triangle on one end and cut the other end to a point. Cut little slits in-between to create the “feathers”.
Put pink candy melts in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, then stir in shortening or coconut oil. Repeat until all are melted.
Next, dip a pretzel stick in the pink chocolate. Get a nice even coat and lay on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Repeat with all pretzel sticks.
Place a gummy heart on one end and the rainbow tail on the other end while candy melts are still wet.
If desired, add some pink sprinkles to the pretzels.
Let dry completely, about 20 minutes.

Notes

Can use white chocolate instead of the pink candy melts.

These super simple Valentines Day treats are a total crowd-pleaser! It’s the perfect combo of sweet and salty with crunchy pretzels and chewy candies. A delicious and adorable holiday mash-up dessert!

For more fun Valentine’s Day desserts, check out our Teddy Bear OREOS or our Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts.

40+ Cutest Valentine’s Day Recipes for Kids

February 2, 2019 1 Comment

What’s Inside: More than 40 adorable Valentine’s Day Recipes to make and enjoy with kids.

Our Favorite Kids Valentine’s Day Recipes

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite occasions to celebrate with the kids because of the fun food! We like to make Valentine’s Day goodies to give to our family, friends, and teachers…and of course enjoy at home too!

This is a collection of some of the special treats we’ve made, as well as Valentine’s Day recipes from our favorite kid food bloggers around the web.

Since it’s a pretty big list, we broke it down into categories for easier navigating.

We hope you enjoy all of these super cute Valentine’s Day recipes as much as we do!

Crush-worthy Valentine Cookies for Kids

Classic cookies and new ideas – so many fun Valentine’s Day recipes to bake!

Valentine’s Day Teddy Bear Oreos (recipe on In The Kids Kitchen)
Pink Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies (pictured above – recipe on In The Kids Kitchen)
Nutella Stuffed Red Velvet Cookies (recipe on In The Kids Kitchen)
No Bake Valentine’s Day Wafer Cookies (recipe on In the Kids Kitchen)
Mickey Mouse Heart Cookies (recipe on In the Kids Kitchen)
Valentine’s Day Heart-Shaped Stained Glass Cookies With Jolly Ranchers (recipe on Crayons & Cravings)
Jelly Sandwich Stained Glass Heart Cookies (recipe on The Soccer Mom Blog)
Valentine’s Tic-Tac-Toe Treats (recipe on The Inspiration Edit)
“Sealed with a Kiss” Red Lips Cookies (recipe on The Soccer Mom Blog)
Valentine Bird Nest Cookies (recipe on Red Ted Art)
Heart-Shaped Macarons (recipe on Sugar Spice & Glitter)
Chocolate Shortbread Heart Cookies (recipe on Two Peas & Their Pod)
Heart-Shaped Cinnamon Bun Crackers (recipe on Sugar Spice & Glitter)
Conversation Heart Stamped Cookies (recipe on Playground Parkbench)

Healthy Valentine’s Recipes for Kids

You can let the kids eat as much as they want of these healthy Valentine’s Day snacks!

Strawberry Ladybugs (recipe on The Soccer Mom Blog)
Love Bug Fruit Cups (recipe on Crayons & Cravings)
Heart-Shaped Whole Wheat Crackers (recipe on Mama Papa Bubba)
Berry Bracelets (recipe on Sugar Spice & Glitter)
Cupid’s Arrow String Cheese (recipe on Arts & Crackers)
Apple Love Bugs (recipe on Eats Amazing)
Grape & Tomato Heart Skewers (recipe on Eats Amazing)

Loveable Lollipops

Lollipops are fun to make and fun to give! Perfect for classmates and teachers.

Conversation Heart Marshmallow Pops (recipe on The Soccer Mom Blog)
Rainbow Striped Heart Lollipops (recipe on Thrifty Jinxy)
Valentine Rice Krispie Treat Pops (recipe on Pint-Sized Treasures)
Heart-Shaped Rice Krispie Treat Pops (recipe on Pint-Sized Treasures)
Valentine Dipped Marshmallow Lollipops (recipe on Sugar Spice & Glitter)

Cute Candy Ideas

If you want to skip the store-bought varieties, try these fun homemade Valentine’s candy recipes to make with kids!

Cupid’s Arrow Pretzels Valentines Day Treats (pictured above – recipe on In the Kids Kitchen)
Heart-Shaped Gumdrops (recipe on Thrifty Jinxy)
Homemade Fluffy Valentine Marshmallows (recipe on Steam Powered Family)
Valentine’s Chocolate Spoons (recipe on Red Ted Art)
Heart-Shaped Peppermint Creams (recipe Red Ted Art)
Chocolate Pretzel Bites (recipe on The Life of Jennifer Dawn)
Cupid’s Arrow Candies (recipe on Crayons & Cravings)
White Chocolate & Strawberry Valentine Popcorn (recipe on Eats Amazing)
Heart Cake Pops (recipe on The Best Ideas for Kids)

Cakes, Cupcakes, & More!

Even more Valentine’s Day recipes that kids will love!

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts (pictured above – recipe and video on In the Kids Kitchen)
“Queen of Hearts” Homemade Strawberry Pop Tarts (recipe on The Soccer Mom Blog)
5-Minute Pink Peppermint Fluff (recipe on In The Kids Kitchen)
Honey Bee My Valentine Cakes (recipe on Pint Sized Treasures)
Love Bugs Brownies (recipe on The Inspiration Edit)
Cherry Donut Cupcakes (recipe on The Soccer Mom Blog)
Valentine Cake Push-Pops (recipe on Thrifty Jinxy)
Heart-Shaped Strawberry Sweet Rolls (recipe on Sugar Spice & Glitter)
Gluten Free Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Hearts (recipe on The Soccer Mom Blog)

We hope you enjoyed this collection of Valentine’s Day recipes for kids!

What are you favorite Valentine’s Day recipes? Share in the comments below!

Be sure to check out our collection of Valentine’s Day Cupcakes too!

No-Bake Valentine’s Day Wafer Cookies

January 28, 2019 Leave a Comment

These white chocolate dipped Valentine’s Day Wafer Cookies are an easy no bake treat that’s perfect to make in a pinch for classroom parties and gifts! Colorful and super tasty too!

White Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Wafer Cookies

We love to bake together as a family, but sometimes when you have to make a big batch of treats (say for a classroom party), it helps to have shortcuts. (Shhhhh…)

I love these chocolate dipped wafer cookies because:

There’s no baking required (saves time!)
They are dipped in white chocolate (more yum!)
Kids can help make them (easy!)

For some reason wafer cookies are one of those things I don’t think to buy very often, but I used to LOVE them as a kid! There was just something about those alternating layers of crunchy and creamy – I would literally let them melt in my mouth.

When you dip them in a thick layer of white chocolate, they taste even more amazing!

Related: If you are looking for an easy cookie recipe to bake with your kids, try our Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies! They would taste amazing dipped in white chocolate too!

Happy decorating!

— Stacey

How to Make Valentine’s Day Wafer Cookies

A free printable copy of this Valentine’s Day wafer cookies is available at the bottom of the post, following our quick shopping list and prep tips.

Valentine Wafer Cookies Ingredients

Look how easy! Only 3 ingredients!

Kitchen Supplies Used:

Double boiler
Non-slip silicone baking mats

Prep Tips:

We used strawberry wafer cookies because they’re pink and the perfect festive color for Valentine’s Day. However, you can absolutely use any (or all) of your favorite flavors!
If melting white chocolate in the microwave, be sure to use a microwave safe bowl and handle with care. Heat in 20 second intervals, stirring between, until melted. (Grown-ups should handle this step for younger kids).
When we make chocolate dipped treats, we love to use our silicone baking mats on top of a cookie sheet to dry our chocolate. When the chocolate hardens, it pops right off the non-stick mats! These baking mats are one of the most versatile kitchen tools!

Pin our White Chocolate Dipped Wafer Cookies on Pinterest:

Grab a free printable copy of our Valentine’s Day Wafer Cookies recipe:

Yield: 1 dozen

No-Bake Valentine's Day Wafer Cookies

These white chocolate dipped Valentine's Day Wafer Cookies are an easy no bake treat that's perfect to make in a pinch for classroom parties and gifts! Colorful and super tasty too!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Additional Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 pack strawberry wafer cookies
1 bag white chocolate wafer or chips
Assorted Valentine's Day sprinkles

Instructions

Using a double boiler, melt the white chocolate until smooth and creamy.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Dip one half of the wafer cookie into the melted chocolate and place on prepared cookie sheet.
While the chocolate is still warm add sprinkles to each wafer cookie.
Allow to dry completely before serving or storing.

See all of our favorite Valentine’s Day treats for kids:

Valentine Teddy Bear Cupcakes

January 18, 2019 Leave a Comment

So cute and so much chocolate! These Valentine Teddy Bear Cupcakes are a sweet treat that will delight your little sweethearts!

Teddy Bear Cupcakes

Teddy bears and Valentine’s Day go hand in hand. But then afterwards there’s not much you can do with them!

That’s why I love these adorable Teddy Bear Cupcakes – they’re delicious and don’t end up in the stuffed animal pile later!

To make our Teddy Bear Cupcakes, we started with a classic chocolate cupcake and layered it with luscious chocolate buttercream frosting.

Then we created teddy bear faces using our favorite chocolate and peanut butter candies. (Actually these teddy bear faces make a super cute treat all by themselves!)

We took the same idea for our Teddy Bear Oreos, and made them into oversized Teddy Bear Cupcakes! Except this time we used Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups for our teddy bears.

Because chocolate and peanut butter go together like teddy bears and Valentine’s Day!

Finally, we put it all together to make a towering teddy bear cupcake that’s just bursting with chocolate and peanut butter goodness!

Yes, our teddy bear cupcakes are little over the top, but that’s what makes them so much fun! Valentine’s Day is an occasion that is known for its sweet treats, and these Teddy Bear Cupcakes are guaranteed to get ooh’s and ahh’s!

So grab the kids, grab lots of chocolate and candy, and get creating! I promise you’ll have just as much fun making these teddy bear cupcakes as you will eating them afterwards!

— Stacey

Kitchen Supplies Used

Grocery List

Flour
Baking soda
Baking powder
Granulated sugar
Salt
Eggs
Whole milk
Vegetable oil
Vanilla extract
Unsalted sweet cream butter
Powdered sugar
Cocoa powder
Heavy whipping cream
Reese’s peanut butter cups
Whoppers
Ghirardelli chocolate melting wafers
White candy melts
Black candy melts
Candy hearts

The above is a quick guide of what we used to make this recipe. A free printable copy of our Valentine Teddy Bear Cupcakes recipe with full ingredient amounts is available at the bottom of the post.

Be sure to pin our Teddy Bear Cupcakes on Pinterest:

Prep Tips:

When melting your chocolate, use caution, as it will become hot. You can pour the candy melts into microwave safe bowls to melt and then scoop into the decorating bags. You can also skip a step and melt directly in the bags (make sure the bags are microwave safe – this won’t work if you use regular ziplock bags).
Feel free to use your favorite cupcakes recipe for your teddy bear cupcakes or even a box mix to save time. If you want extra peanut butter flavor, try these Reese’s surprise cupcakes.
Likewise, you can also use your favorite frosting recipe or even store-bought frosting. Keep in mind that homemade buttercream frosting tends to hold it’s shape better than store-bought.

Free printable copy of our Teddy Bear Cupcakes recipe:

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Valentine Teddy Bear Cupcakes

So cute and so much chocolate! These Valentine Teddy Bear Cupcakes are a sweet treat that will delight your little sweethearts!

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

Cupcake Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temp
1 cup whole milk, room temp
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
3 cups + 1/2 cup powder sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 teaspoon vanilla
3-5 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Peanut butter cup teddy bear:

Reese's peanut butter cups, unwrapped
Whoppers
Peanut butter or milk chocolate wafers, used for the ears and mouth
1/2 bag of white candy melts
1/2 bag of chocolate candy melts
Candy hearts

Instructions

!To make the cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare muffin tins with cupcake liners.
Whisk the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract.
Using an electric mixer, add bowl of wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients, beating on medium until the batter is smooth.
Gradually add the boiling water, milk and oil and blend together until the batter is smooth.
Using a medium scoop fill the paper lined cupcake tins with the prepared batter.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool slightly before transferring to wire racks.

!Chocolate Frosting Directions:

Beat together powdered sugar, butter and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.
Add the vanilla and chocolate until well incorporated.
Add in the heavy whipping cream, and continue to mix until stiff peaks form.
Scoop the frosting into a decorating bag with a star tip.
Generously cover each cupcake with chocolate frosting. You'll want enough to place your Reese's cup bears into so that they are secure.

!Candy Teddy Bear Directions:

Pour each color of candy melts into their own plastic decorating bag and cut the tip so there is a small opening.
Take one peanut butter or chocolate wafer for each bear, then cut them in half. Use the black candy melt as glue, to affix the chocolate wafer halves to the top of your Reese's cups as "ears." Hold wafers in place until the chocolate sets.
Draw a large dot of the melted chocolate candy onto the back of a whole peanut butter or chocolate wafer and the place in the middle of the Reese's cup. This will be the nose.
Use your melted white chocolate to draw eyes on the bear's face. Allow to dry.
Use the melted dark chocolate to draw a pupil on each eye.
Carefully turn your Reese's cup bears sideways, and press the bottom into the chocolate frosting on top of your cupcake. Make sure the bear is securely in place before letting go.
Add two Whoppers on either side of the Reese's cups to be your bear's arms.
Finally, place a candy heart into the frosting between your Whoppers.

More Valentine’s Day Cupcakes for Kids

Click here to see ALL of our favorite Valentine’s Day cupcake recipes!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts (w/ Video)

January 16, 2019 Leave a Comment

Inside: These no bake chocolate chip cookies dough hearts are a fun and easy Valentine’s Day treat that kids can make!

Heart-Shaped Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

My girls love to make chocolate-dipped desserts – we make them for every occasion!

Many times we use cookies because they’re already made and easy to dip, like our Polar Bear Oreos or Valentine Teddy Bear Oreos.

This time we decided to try something a little bit different by making our own cookie dough and then dipping it in chocolate, without baking. I mean, who doesn’t love to eat cookie dough right out of the bowl?

PS- There are no eggs in our chocolate chip cookie dough, so it’s safe to eat without baking!

This is a super easy recipe and since there is no oven involved, kids can help every step of the way.

We’ve included a helpful video tutorial in the recipe card at the bottom of the post so you can see exactly how we made our Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts.

Make a batch for your favorite teacher, grandparents, neighbors, and friends. Be sure to do plenty of taste-testing as you go…wink, wink!

— Stacey

Related: Click here to see ALL of our favorite Valentine’s Day treats for kids! There’s over 40 recipes!

Watch our quick recipe video to see how easy these chocolate-covered cookie dough truffles are to make, and then don’t forget to scroll down for the printable recipe:

Kitchen Supplies Used

Grocery List

Heat-treated flour
Baking soda
Kosher salt
Unsalted sweet cream butter
Granulated sugar
Brown sugar
Vanilla extract
Mini chocolate chips
Ghirardelli chocolate melting wafers
Valentine’s Day sprinkles

The above is a quick guide of what we used to make this recipe. A free printable copy of our Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts recipe with full ingredient amounts and video is available at the bottom of the post.

No Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts

Safety Note: Because raw flour poses the risk of food-borne illness, always use heat-treated flour or bake your flour for 5 minutes at 180°F before mixing into your cookie dough.

If your cookie dough is still a bit dry after mixing, you can add 2-3 Tablespoons of water to soften it.

After you add chocolate chips to the cookie dough batter, you may want to finish kneading by hand.

TIP: If you can’t find Ghirardelli chocolate melting wafers in your grocery store, you can also use regular chocolate chips for the coating.

When dipping your cookie dough hearts in the melted chocolate, chopsticks are one of our favorite tools. However, you can also use a fork or spoon – whichever is easiest for your kids to handle.

We love these non-stick silicone baking mats becuase when the chocolate dries, your truffles will just pop right off! You can also wash them and reuse them over and over!

Allow chocolate to set for at least 30 minutes before enjoying – you can place the cookie dough truffles in the fridge to speed up the process if you like.

Storage Info: Store your chocolate chip cookie dough hearts in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Pin our Cookie Dough Hearts on Pinterest:

Free printable copy of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts Recipe

Yield: 12 truffles

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts (with Video)

No bake chocolate chip cookies dough hearts are a fun and easy Valentine's Day treat that kids can make!

Prep Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

1 cup flour (plus 2 Tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
6 Tablespoons sugar
6 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
1 mini heart cookie cutter
8oz bag of Ghirardelli melting chocolate wafers
1 container of V-day sprinkles

Instructions

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, brown sugar, butter and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. If dough is still crumbly, mix in 2-3 Tablespoons cold water.
Stir chocolate chips into batter.
Prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper or non-stick silicone baking mats. Set one aside.
Place dough onto one cookie sheet and flatten the dough to about 1/2 inch thick.
Refrigerate cookie dough for 20 minutes.
Remove dough from fridge and using the cookie cutter, cut out your hearts.
Place chocolate chip cookie dough hearts onto a plate and refrigerate an additional 10 minutes.
Using a microwave safe bowl, melt the Ghirardelli wafers in intervals of 30 seconds, stirring in between. Handle with care, as bowl may become hot.
Dip each heart into the melted chocolate and turn until completely coated. Allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl, then place hearts on your second prepared cookie sheet.
While chocolate is still soft, coat the top of your hearts with sprinkles.
Allow chocolate to set for at least 30 minutes before enjoying.

More of favorite Valentine’s Day treats for kids:

XOXO Valentine’s Day Cupcakes

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

Valentine Teddy Bear Oreos

January 15, 2019 7 Comments

Inside: A super easy Valentine’s Day party treat, these Teddy Bear Oreos will steal your heart!

Teddy Bear Oreos for Valentine’s Day

If you loved our Oreo Polar Bear Cookies, then you’ll adore these sweet Teddy Bear Oreos we made for Valentine’s Day!

Aren’t the heart noses just the cutest??

Chocolate-dipped treats like these are perfect to make with kids because the cookies are already pre-made (no baking required!) and all you have to do is decorate (the fun part!!)

Valentine’s Day Teddy Bear Oreos Ingredients & Supplies

1 package of “Double Stuf” Oreos
2 bags of dark chocolate melting wafers
1 bag of pink chocolate melting wafers
1 package of small edible eyes
1 container of Wilton jumbo heart sprinkles
1 cookie sheet fitted with parchment paper or non-stick silicone baking mat
toothpicks and/or chopsticks

How to Make Teddy Bear Oreos

Makes 18 cookies. Free printable copy of this recipe available at the bottom of the post.

Prepare the chocolate:

Melt 1 bag of dark chocolate melting wafers using a double boiler.

Note: You can also melt in the microwave – heat in 20 second intervals, stirring in between. Be sure to use a microwave-safe bowl and handle with care, as bowl and contents may become hot.

Assemble the bears:

Carefully separate the double stuffed Oreos.

Dip a toothpick into melted chocolate and add a dollop onto the creme part of the Oreo, where the ears will go.

Place a non-melted chocolate wafer onto the melted chocolate dollop and gently press down.

Add a larger dollop of melted chocolate into the center of the creme and place the top half of the Oreo cookie back in place.

Repeat steps with remaining Oreos and place into the fridge for about 10 minutes to set.

Decorate the bears:

Remove Oreos from fridges and dip each one into the melted chocolate. (Chopsticks work great for this step, or you can use a fork). Allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl before placing on a cookie sheet to dry. (Be sure the cookie sheet is lined with parchment paper or a non-stick silicone baking mat so you can peel the finished cookies off easily).

Repeat until all teddy bear Oreos are coated in chocolate.

Use a drop of melted chocolate to attach a pink chocolate wafer to the middle of each Oreo.

Then use another drop of melted chocolate to attached a red candy heart to the middle of each pink candy melt.

Use melted chocolate to attach edible candy eyes to the teddy bear Oreos. Repeat until all are decorated.

Allow chocolate to fully set (about 1 hour) before peeling off the cookie sheet. You can place in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.

Be sure to pin this adorable Valentine’s Day Oreo Cookies recipe on Pinterest:

Grab a free printable copy of our Oreo Teddy Bear Cookies recipe:

If you like this recipe, rate it! We’d also love to hear what you think in the comments below.

Yield: 18 cookies

Valentine Teddy Bear Oreos

Cute chocolate covered Teddy Bear Oreos for Valentine's Day

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 2 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 22 minutes

Ingredients

1 package of "Double Stuf" Oreos
2 bags of dark chocolate melting wafers
1 bag of pink chocolate melting wafers
1 package of small edible eyes
1 container of Wilton jumbo heart sprinkles

Instructions

!Prepare the chocolate:

Melt 1 bag of dark chocolate melting wafers using a double boiler or microwave. (If using microwave, heat in 20 second intervals, stirring in between. Be sure to use a microwave-safe bowl and handle with care, as bowl and contents may become hot.)

!Assemble the bears:

Carefully separate the double stuffed Oreos.
Dip a toothpick into melted chocolate and add a dollop onto the creme part of the Oreo, where the ears will go.
Place a non-melted chocolate wafer onto the melted chocolate dollop and gently press down.
Add a larger dollop of melted chocolate into the center of the creme and place the top half of the Oreo cookie back in place.
Repeat steps with remaining Oreos and place into the fridge for about 10 minutes to set.

!Decorate the bears:

Remove Oreos from fridges and dip each one into the melted chocolate. (Chopsticks work great for this step, or you can use a fork). Allow excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl before placing on a cookie sheet to dry. (Be sure the cookie sheet is lined with parchment paper or a non-stick silicone baking mat so you can peel the finished cookies off easily).
Repeat until all teddy bear Oreos are coated in chocolate.
Use a drop of melted chocolate to attach a pink chocolate wafer to the middle of each Oreo.

Then use another drop of melted chocolate to attached a red candy heart to the middle of each pink candy melt.
Use melted chocolate to attach edible candy eyes to the teddy bear Oreos. Repeat until all are decorated.
Allow chocolate to fully set (about 1 hour) before peeling off the cookie sheet. You can place in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process.

More of our favorite Valentine’s Day Treats for Kids:

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

20+ Gorgeous Valentine’s Day Cupcakes for Kids

XOXO Valentine Cupcakes

January 8, 2019 Leave a Comment

These XOXO Valentine Cupcakes are just gorgeous! They’re perfect for a kids Valentine’s Day party or a grown-up soirée too!

X’s and O’s Valentine’s Day Cupcakes

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it before, but Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays! I’ve loved it since I was a kid and my dad would bring us each a box of chocolates when he came home from work.

Now that I have a family of my own, we have our own special traditions. My girls and I celebrate the occasion by creating lots of fun Valentine’s Day crafts and Valentine’s Day recipes.

Each year we think of new ideas and have a blast making them in the days and weeks leading up to the big day.

These Valentine’s Day cupcakes turned out beautifully, and they are easy enough for kids to help prepare.

We’ve included a from-scratch cupcake recipe in this post, but you can totally use a box mix shortcut!

The chocolate letter molds that we used for our Valentine Cupcakes can be reused for all sorts of other recipes too! Use the letter molds for Back to School Cupcakes or use them to spell out a name!

Happy Valentine’s Day and happy baking!

–Stacey

Related: For a no-bake Valentine’s Day treat, try our Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hearts!

Kitchen Supplies Needed:

Grocery List:

Milk
Sour cream
Vanilla extract
Egg whites
Butter
Baking powder
Baking soda
Granulated sugar
All-purpose flour
Vanilla frosting

The above is a quick guide of what we used to make this recipe. A free printable copy of our XOXO Valentine’s Day Cupcakes recipe with full ingredient amounts is available at the bottom of the post.

XOXO Valentine Cupcakes Recipe

Keep reading for photo step-by-step instructions and prep tips. A free printable copy of the the full ingredients list and recipe follows.

To save time, we made our chocolate pieces while the cupcakes baked. There is a from-scratch cupcake recipe at the bottom of the post, but you can use a box mix too!

Our cupcake recipe makes about 12-14 Valentine’s Cupcakes.

If you prefer chocolate, try our Thin Mint Cupcakes recipe – they’re delicious!

TIP: Placing your chocolates in the fridge will speed up the setting process.

Feel free to use your favorite white frosting recipe or store-bought for the cupcakes. A frosting decorating bag allows you to make pretty swirls:

When your chocolates are solid, you can place one in the center of each cupcake. I found similar molds on Amazon:

You could also check your local craft stores for the molds.

Be sure to pin our Valentine’s Day Cupcakes on Pinterest:

Grab a free printable copy of our XOXO Valentine Cupcakes recipe:

If you like this recipe rate it! We’d also love to hear what you think in the comments below.

Yield: 12 cupcakes

XOXO Valentine Cupcakes

Cute cupcakes with chocolate hearts, X's and O's just perfect for a Valentine's Day party!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Resting Time 20 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 egg whites
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups vanilla frosting

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine butter, egg whites, sugar, sour cream, milk and vanilla extract with an electric mixer.
Mix in the flour, baking soda and baking powder.
Prepare a 12 count muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Fill each muffin liner about 1/2 way with cupcake batter.
Bake 18-20 minutes.
Insert a toothpick around 18 minutes, if it comes out clean the cupcakes are done.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let cool completely.
While the cupcakes are cooling pour each of the Wilton candy melt colors into separate microwave safe bowls.
Place each bowl in the microwave one at a time - heating in 30 second increments, stirring occasionally until melted. Use caution when removing from microwave as bowls may become hot.
Scoop each color of the melted chocolate into its own plastic decorating bag, cutting a small hole in the tip of the bag.
Gently squeeze the melted chocolate from each bag into your silicone mold, filling the X's, O's and Hearts.*
Allow the chocolate to set in mold until it hardens. To speed up the setting process you can place the molds in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. Repeat this step for as many chocolates as you need.
Generously frost each cupcake with vanilla frosting.
Carefully pop the chocolate hearts and letters out of the silicone molds and place one on top of each cupcake.

More Valentine’s Day Recipes for Kids

Be sure to check out ALL of our Valentine’s Day Cupcakes and our collection of Valentine’s Day Kids Treats!

4-Ingredient Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

January 1, 2019 3 Comments

These pillowy soft strawberry cake mix cookies with creamy white chocolate chips are the perfect EASY Valentine’s Day dessert! Only 4 ingredients!

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…

As corny as Valentine’s Day might seem, I absolutely love it! Maybe more than my kids do!

And why not?!

Who doesn’t love an excuse to celebrate, especially when it involves delicious and festive treats, desserts, and goodies!

Growing up, I looked forward to Valentine’s Day and the big box of chocolate my dad would bring home for each of us kids and my mom.

While my siblings were better at rationing, I usually polished off my entire box in two days tops. I loved Valentine’s Day treats then, and I still do! (Though I don’t eat quite as much of the chocolates at once anymore!)

My husband loves to cook, so instead of buying chocolates (not that there’s anything wrong with that at all!) we like to make Valentine’s Day treats as a family.

These strawberry cake mix cookies are super soft and moist, and sprinkled with creamy white chocolate chips.

The best part is they are super easy to make! You only need 4 ingredients!

I love cake mix cookies because even if you’re not an experienced baker (I’m not!), you can totally pull them off! Since they’re easy, these Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies are also perfect to make with kids too.

Even if you are a whiz in the kitchen, sometimes a shortcut recipe really comes in handy when you’re in a hurry, as we often are around the holidays.

Did I mention these Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies are absolutely delicious?!

That’s the most important part, after all!

Hope you love them as much as we do!

— Stacey

Strawberry Cake Cookies Ingredients & Supplies

Strawberry cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white chocolate chips
Stand mixer
Cookie Sheet
Non-stick silicone baking mat

Make about 3 dozen cookies.

Free printable copy of our Easy Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies recipe available at the bottom of the post.

How to make Easy Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine the strawberry cake mix, oil, and eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. (You can also use a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer if that is what you have in the kitchen).

Mix on medium speed until a soft dough forms.

Add white chocolate chips and fold into dough by hand with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Use a small ice cream scoop or melon-baller to scoop about 1 Tablespoon of dough onto a prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

Tip: You can use parchment paper, or we love these washable silicone baking mats. They’re reusable and non-stick!

Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.

When done, pull the baking sheet out of the oven and let sit for a minute or two before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

Optional: For a festive Valentine’s Day treat, while cookies are still warm, press conversation heart candies into them!

Grab a free printable copy of this Valentine’s Day Cake Mix Cookies:

If you like this recipe, rate it! We’d also love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

4-Ingredient Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies

Pillowy soft strawberry cake mix cookies are only 4 ingredients!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

Strawberry cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine the strawberry cake mix, oil, and eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.

Mix on medium speed until a soft dough forms.

Stir in white chocolate chips by hand, using a spatula or wooden spoon.

Use a small ice cream scoop or melon-baller to scoop about 1 Tablespoon of dough onto a prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Allow to sit for a minute or two before transferring to a wire cooling rack.

More of our favorite Valentine’s Day Recipes for Kids:

Be sure to check out our list of the most adorable (and delicious) Valentine’s Day cupcakes from top food and family bloggers around the web!

Mickey Mouse Nutcracker Christmas Cookies

December 12, 2018 Leave a Comment

Attention Disney fans: these Mickey Mouse nutcracker Christmas cookies are just the thing for your Christmas cookie spread!

Nutcracker Mickey Mouse Cookies

This year was marked my very first visit to Disneyland (yes, at 33 years old I finally made it out there!) It was a work trip, but still an amazing time!

I’ve been a Disney fan since childhood, but experiencing it in person truly was magical! So much so, that I took the rest of my family back to Disneyland just a few months later.

It was my husband’s first time as well — he loved it too and we are already hoping we can return soon. Next year perhaps?

After our Disneyland trip, we started noticing Disney Christmas decorations in some of our local stores. It got us thinking, how much fun would it be to do a Disney-themed Christmas at our house?

It was a little too late for us to pull it off this year, but we’re planning ahead for next year and hope to bring a little bit (or a lot) of Disney magic to our home next Christmas!

These Mickey Mouse Nutcracker cookies combine two of my favorite things!

Every year as a kid, my Grandma and Grandpa would gift each of us cousins with a special nutcracker. Over the years we amassed quite impressive collections!

I still take note of unique nutcrackers when I’m Christmas shopping, and it takes a LOT of restraint not to buy them all!

If you’re a Disney fan too, then I hope you’ll love these Mickey Mouse Nutcracker Sugar Cookies as much as I do! They are a little bit of a labor of love, but the end result is so stunning!

They’d make an amazing food gift for any Disney fan in your life!

How to Make Mickey Mouse Nutcracker Christmas Cookies

Keep reading for photo step-by-step instructions showing how we decorated our Nutcracker Mickey Mouse cookies.

A free printable copy of this recipe, along with full ingredient list and directions is available at the bottom of the post.

Kitchen Tools Used:

The full baking instructions are available in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post – however, I wanted to show you how we frosted the cookies. That way the written directions will make more sense!

We took each color of icing and split it into two portions. About 1/4 cup of each color icing went into a plastic piping bag, as is. This thick icing is used to outline each section on the cookies.

We mixed about 2 teaspoons of water into each bowl of icing, to thin it slightly. Then we scooped each color of thinned icing into its own squeeze bottle.

The thinner icing is used to fill in each section on your cookie, matching the color of each outline you made. We did each color one at a time, allowing the frosting to set in between so it wouldn’t mix.

So while these Mickey Mouse Christmas cookies took a bit of TLC to make, the end result is just fabulous!

Related: You might also love our Mickey and Minnie Christmas donuts too!

Grab a free printable copy of our Mickey Mouse Nutcracker Sugar Cookies recipe:

Mickey Mouse Nutcracker Sugar Cookies

Super cute Mickey Mouse shaped cookies decorated like Christmas nutcrackers.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Additional Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 18 minutes

Ingredients

Cookie Ingredients

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Icing Ingredients

4 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
gel food coloring (black, red, blue, golden yellow)

Instructions

Cookie Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or non-stick silicone baking mat and set aside.
Using a standing mixer, cream together the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and egg until smooth.
In a separate large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and cream of tartar.
Gradually add dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients, mixing on low speed.
Use your hands, if needed, to knead dough until well combined.
Lightly flour a cutting board and knead the cookie dough into the flour a couple times.
Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick.
Cut out 12 Mickey shaped cookies and place onto your prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 minutes or until light golden brown.
Repeat above steps until completely out of dough.
Allow cookies to cool completely before frosting,

Royal Icing Directions:

Using a standing mixer or electric hand mixer, combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla and powdered sugar until well combined and stiff peaks form.
Split icing into 5 bowls.
Add in a few drops of red into the first bowl, a few drops of blue into the second bowl, a few drops of golden yellow into the third bowl, and a couple drops of black into the forth bowl. Leave the fifth bowl white

Mix each bowl until the colors are smooth and rich.
Scoop about 1/4 cup of each icing colors into a piping bag.
Mix 2 teaspoons of water into the bowls of remaining Red, Blue, Black and Yellow icing colors.
Pour each color of thinned icings into their own squeeze bottles.

To Decorate:

Using the edible marker, draw out the details of the cookie.
Use the black piping bag of thick icing to draw the outline of the ears, then fill in with the thinned icing.
Allow to dry for an hour.
As you did with the black icings, use the red icing to outline and fill in the red detail of the hat and lower part of the cookie.
Allow to dry for an hour.
Using the Yellow icing, outline and fill in the yellow detail of the hat.
Allow to dry for an hour
Using the blue icing, outline and fill in the belt of the nutcracker.
Using the yellow piping bag, pipe the details of buttons and buckle on the pants and hat.
Using the white icing bag, pipe a mustache onto front and center of the cookie.
Allow cookies to completely set and enjoy!

Be sure to pin our Mickey Mouse Nutcracker Christmas Cookies on Pinterest:

Toy Story Little Green Alien Cupcakes

December 7, 2018 Leave a Comment

Inside: Super cute and super easy Little Green Alien Cupcakes inspired by the movie Toy Story!

Family movie nights are a tradition in this house and one of the best desserts for family movie night is a themed cupcake with homemade buttercream – it’s just so versatile. Themed cupcakes do not have to be complicated, as today’s super cute Toy Story Cupcake Aliens prove!

Toy Story Cupcakes

As if we weren’t already excited for the new Toy Story 4 coming June 21, 2019… then Disney had to go and release this teaser trailer set to one of my favorite songs – Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell. (If you remember that scene in Love Actually where Emma Thompson’s character is crying in the bedroom – that’s the same song, only sung by Joni 32 years later… there I go on a tangent again.)

Here’s the low-down on the new plot:

Woody has always been confident about his place in the world and that his priority is taking care of his kid, whether that’s Andy or Bonnie. But when Bonnie adds a reluctant new toy called “Forky” to her room, a road trip adventure alongside old and new friends will show Woody how big the world can be for a toy.

Directed by Josh Cooley (“Riley’s First Date?”) and produced by Jonas Rivera (“Inside Out,” “Up”) and Mark Nielsen (associate producer “Inside Out”), Disney•Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” ventures to U.S. theaters on June 21, 2019.

(PS – you can download any of these posters and print it out if you have any Toy Story fans at home who would like them!)

I showed my daughter the new trailer and now we’re having a Toy Story 1-3 marathon this Friday. Sounds good to me!

To go along with our Toy Story Family Movie night, I whipped up these super simple Toy Story Alien Cupcakes. These would also be super cute for a Toy Story party.

Now, I’m going to be honest with you – I do boxed cupcakes 90% of the time. Unless I’m going for some special flavor or it’s for a really special occasion, boxed cupcakes work perfectly fine for me.

But I draw the line at canned frosting. That’s a NOPE from me. Once you’ve made your own buttercream frosting and realize just how freaking easy it is, you will never ever go back to canned frosting. Homemade buttercream makes your cupcakes taste like they came from a bakery and they make up for any shortcuts you may have taken with the actual cupcakes.

They would also be super cute paired with or topping a Toy Story Freakshake! I found these cute ones around the web (from left to right):

Slinky Dog Coaster Shake from the Creative SAHM
A Pixar Fest Shake from A Night Owl Blog
Toy Story Alien Shake from Pink Cake Plate

I hope your kids love these super cute alien cupcakes – be sure to tag us on social if you make them!

— Jennifer

Green Alien Cupcakes Ingredients

Boxed cake mix
- PLUS ingredients called for on box
1 cup butter, softened
3-4 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch salt
2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Green food dye, plus black food dye or just do what I did and mix blue, red and yellow to get something resembling black
Candy eyes, 3 per cupcake

Tip: swap out the vanilla extract for your preferred flavor extract.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

How to Make Toy Story Little Green Alien Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a muffin pan with themed cupcake liners.

Prepare the boxed cupcake mix as directed on box. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Place softened butter into a bowl and beat in 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 2 Tablespoons heavy cream and vanilla.

Add remaining icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Add green food colouring to color preference.

Reserve about 2 Tablespoons of the frosting into a small bowl for the mouths.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with no tip or a circular tip. (I just did a large cut into the bag.)

Pipe the frosting onto the cupcake by placing the tip of the piping bag onto the center of the cupcake and applying even pressure to apply a generous dollop of frosting. I like this effect for the aliens rather than swirling on the frosting.

Apply three eyes in a slight curve, and then dye the reserved frosting black and add dabs of it to each alien for the mouth.

Pin this Toy Story Dessert Idea for your Family Movie Night or Toy Story party:

Grab your free printable for our Toy Story cupcakes recipe:

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Toy Story Cupcake

Ingredients

Boxed cake mix
PLUS ingredients called for on box
1 cup butter, softened
3-4 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch salt
2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Green food dye, plus black food dye or just do what I did and mix blue, red and yellow to get something resembling black
Candy eyes, 3 per cupcake

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a muffin pan with themed cupcake liners.
Prepare the boxed cupcake mix as directed on box. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Place softened butter into a bowl and beat in 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 2 Tablespoons heavy cream and vanilla.
Add remaining icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Add green food colouring to color preference.
Reserve about 2 Tablespoons of the frosting into a small bowl for the mouths.
Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with no tip or a circular tip. (I just did a large cut into the bag.)
Pipe the frosting onto the cupcake by placing the tip of the piping bag onto the center of the cupcake and applying even pressure to apply a generous dollop of frosting. I like this effect for the aliens rather than swirling on the frosting.
Apply three eyes in a slight curve, and then dye the reserved frosting black and add dabs of it to each alien for the mouth.

Will you be trying out this recipe for your family’s Toy Story movie night?

Be sure to check out some of our other fun Disney desserts, like our Edible Chip Teacups or our Moana Hawaiian Punch Recipe.

Slime Monster Cupcakes

October 14, 2018 Leave a Comment

A spooky Halloween cupcake recipe perfect for slime-loving kids, these Slime Monster Cupcakes are sure to be a hit at your Halloween festivities!

Halloween Slime Monster Cupcakes Recipe

Are your kids obsessed with slime?

These Slime Monster Cupcakes are a fun way to pay homage to every kids’ favorite hobby these days – SLIME! (This Edible Gummy Bear Slime recipe is always a winner!)

You can make these Slime Monster Cupcakes two ways – to just look like a slime monster perched on top, or you can actually fill them with “slime” (aka, dyed vanilla pudding).

The second option can be a bit messy, so be prepared! If serving at a Halloween party where people will be wearing costume, you might want to warn them about the slime inside first!

While we provided a recipe for homemade chocolate cupcakes, feel free to swap in a boxed chocolate cake mix. The real winner here is that delicious homemade buttercream frosting – which would be a crime to replace with the jarred stuff.

However, if you need a dairy-free alternative, check out Stacey’s Coconut Oil Frosting.

Ingredients for Slime Cupcakes

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the vanilla buttercream:

1 cup butter, softened
3-4 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch salt
2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Green food dye, optional

For the decorations:

1 cup green candy melts
1 Tablespoon shortening or vegetable oil
24 large marshmallows
48 candy eyes

Optional Slime Filling:

Prepared vanilla pudding
green food dye

Tip: skip the slime filling or at least warn guests if serving at an event to prevent unexpected slime-costume disasters.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

How to Make Slime Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a muffin pan with themed cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla.

Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Place softened butter into a bowl and beat in 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 2 Tablespoons heavy cream and vanilla.

Add remaining icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Add food colouring, if using.

Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with no tip or a circular tip.

If adding a slime filling, dye the vanilla pudding green, and then scoop into a piping bag. Make a hole in the center of the cupcake and fill with the green pudding.

TIP: While you can use a knife to make a hole in your cupcakes, these handy Cupcake Corer tools make this step a breeze!

Swirl the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.

Melt the candy melts with the shortening for 25 seconds, stir, and reheat if necessary.

Place a large marshmallow in the center of each cupcake and spoon 1-2 Tablespoons of the candy melts overtop. Use the back of a spoon to help the candy melts move if needed.

Repeat with the other ghost cupcakes. After each ghost has dried for about 5 minutes, attempt to attach the eyes – if the candy melts are still too soft, give it another couple minutes before re-attempting.

Pin these Slime Cupcakes on Pinterest:

Grab your free printable copy of our Slime Cupcakes for Hallowen:

Yield: 12

Easy Slime Monster Cupcakes

A spooky Halloween recipe perfect for Slime fans, these Slime Monster cupcakes have an optional slime filling!

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the vanilla buttercream:

1 cup butter, softened
3-4 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch salt
2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
Green food dye, optional

For the decorations:

1 cup green candy melts
1 Tablespoon shortening or vegetable oil
24 large marshmallows
48 candy eyes

Optional Slime Filling:

Prepared vanilla pudding
green food dye

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Line a muffin pan with themed cupcake liners.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla.
Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk; beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Place softened butter into a bowl and beat in 2 cups of icing sugar. Add 2 Tablespoons heavy cream and vanilla.
Add remaining icing sugar 1/2 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Add food colouring, if using.
Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with no tip or a circular tip.
If adding a slime filling, dye the vanilla pudding green, and then scoop into a piping bag. Use a cupcake corer to make a hole in the center of the cupcake and fill with the green pudding.
Swirl the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes.
Melt the candy melts with the shortening for 25 seconds, stir, and reheat if necessary.
Place a large marshmallow in the center of each cupcake and spoon 1-2 Tablespoons of the candy melts overtop. Use the back of a spoon to help the candy melts move if needed.

Repeat with the other ghost cupcakes. After each ghost has dried for about 5 minutes, attempt to attach the eyes - if the candy melts are still too soft, give it another couple minutes before re-attempting.

These Slime Monster Cupcakes are perfect for Halloween and their sneaky slime filling is a fun surprise for little slime fans!

More of our favorite Halloween party recipes:

For more delicious Halloween recipes, check out our Cinnamon Bun Zombie Guts recipe or our Cute and Easy Halloween Spider Cookies.

Easy Pumpkin Pie Turnovers

September 14, 2018 Leave a Comment

What’s Inside: These Pumpkin Pie Turnovers are the perfect Fall breakfast treat!

Easy Pumpkin Turnovers

There’s something about a warm breakfast on a cool Fall morning — it just makes you feel all cozy inside!

These Pumpkin Pie Turnovers are the perfect fall breakfast or portable treat! Kids will love to help make them – our girls especially like to seal the edges with a fork. (We’ve included photos later in the post to show how it’s done).

If you’re having company over for the holidays, these Pumpkin Turnovers are a wonderful breakfast to feed a crowd. Served warm, with a drizzle of sweet glaze – they’re hard to beat!

Just looking at these pictures, I can smell them baking already…mmmmm! Time to get baking!

–Stacey

Pumpkin Turnovers Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin
2 egg yolk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoon heavy cream
1-2 sheet puff pastry, thawed (number depends on size of turnovers)
1 egg white

For the Sweet Drizzle/Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk

TIP: You might also love our 2-ingredient “Magic” White Chocolate Coconut Oil Frosting too!

Kitchen Supplies Used

How to Make Pumpkin Pie Turnovers

A free printable copy of this Pumpkin Pie Turnovers recipe is available at the bottom of the post. Keep reading for step-by-step photo instructions, or keep scrolling to get to the printable recipe card.

Preheat the oven to 400° F.

Roll out the puff pastry into a large rectangle or square, then cut into 8 squares. Set aside.

To make the filling, beat together the pumpkin, egg yolk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and heavy cream.

Place a heaping tablespoon to two tablespoons of the pumpkin filling in the center of the puff pastry square.

Fold dough into a triangle by bringing the corners together, then use a fork to press the edges together and seal. This is the perfect step for kids to help with!

Repeat with all the squares of puff pastry until you have a batch of pumpkin turnovers ready to bake.

Brush the tops of the triangles with the egg whites — this creates a golden, flaky crust. You can also use melted butter for this step.

Bake your pumpkin turnovers at 400°F for 16-19 minutes. Keep an eye on them, as cooking time may vary depending on your specific oven. You’re looking for a them to just start to turn golden brown – they’ll finish cooking slightly after you remove them from the oven.

TIP: We love these non-stick silicone baking mats for our baking projects because they’re washable and reusable – plus they’re naturally non-stick so your baked goodies slip right off when done!

To make the glaze, mix together the sugar and cream, adding the cream slowly until you reach your desired consistency.

Drizzle over warm turnovers.

Be sure to pin our Pumpkin Turnovers on Pinterest:

Grab a Free Printable Copy of Our Pumpkin Turnovers Recipe:

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Easy Pumpkin Pie Turnovers

Ingredients

For the turnovers

1 cup pumpkin
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 tablespoon heavy cream
1-2 sheet puff pastry, thawed (number depends on size of turnovers)
1 egg white

For the Sweet Drizzle/Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° F.
Roll out the puff pastry into a large rectangle or square, then cut into 8 squares. Set aside.
To make the filling, beat together the pumpkin, egg yolk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and heavy cream in a large mixing bowl.
Place a generous tablespoon (or two tablespoons) of pumpkin pie filling in the center of each puff pastry square.
Fold dough into a triangle by bringing the corners together, then use a fork to press the edges together and seal.
Repeat with all the squares of puff pastry.
Brush the tops of the triangles with the egg whites — this creates a golden, flaky crust.
Bake your pumpkin turnovers at 400°F for 16-19 minutes. K

To make the glaze:

Mix together the sugar and cream, adding the cream slowly until you reach your desired consistency.
Drizzle over warm turnovers.

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More of our favorite pumpkin recipes:

Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Cake Mix Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

September 3, 2018 Leave a Comment

What’s Inside: Fall baking made easy! You’re going to love this moist & fluffy Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake!

Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

Pumpkin cake and chocolate chips are my favorite flavor combinations! (My husband makes amazing Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins that both the kids and I love!) There’s just something about adding a but of dark chocolate to spicy pumpkin that tastes just heavenly. I look forward to pumpkin season all year!

Baking in the regular oven is an exact science, with little room for error. So for an amateur like me, it can be a little intimidating.

That’s why I’m so excited about this Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake recipe — it takes the guesswork out of Fall baking! Even better, the Instant Pot doesn’t heat up the whole house like a regular oven (because it’s still super hot outside here in Texas!)

I also love how with this IP Pumpkin Cake you get to unwrap it at the end, like a sweet surprise! It’s a fun and easy way to get into Fall baking with the kids!

This Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake is perfect to make for a little get-together with friends and family, or simply a treat with your morning coffee. Or you can pack a slice in the kids’ lunch boxes for a special midday treat. It’s just right for any occasion!

Happy Fall!

–Stacey

Related: Love pumping for breakfast? Try our easy Pumpkin Pie Turnovers!

Instant Pot Pumpkin Cake Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Kitchen Ingredients Used for This Recipe:

How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake in the Instant Pot

Keep reading for photo step-by-step instructions. A free printable copy of this Instant Pot Pumpkin Bundt Cake is available at the bottom of the post.

Sift together flour, pie spice, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar using a stand mixer or hand mixer, until it is light and fluffy.

Add your eggs one at a time, making sure they are each fully incorporated before adding the next egg.

Add the pumpkin to butter and sugar and mix until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.

Stir in chocolate chips by hand, or with mixer on the lowest speed.

Spray your Instant Pot Bundt Cake Pan generously with a non-stick baking spray, then scoop batter into pan.

Cover pan complete with foil.

Add your trivet to your Instant Pot.

Pour 1 1/2 cups of water into the pressure cooker.

Put the bundt pan on the trivet and lock the lid in place.

Select High Pressure and set the timer for 25 minutes.

Use a natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then do a quick pressure release.

Remove the bundt pan to a wire rack to cool and remove foil cover.

Allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.

How to Make Chocolate Ganache

Combine condensed milk, and chocolate chips in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly, until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth, taking care not to boil.

Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.

Cool slightly before pouring over your bundt cake. Top with chocolate shavings if desired.

Have you tried baking in the Instant Pot yet? What is your favorite thing to make? Share your ideas in the comments below!

Be sure to pin our IP Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake on Pinterest:

Grab a Free Printable Copy of our IP Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe:

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Instant Pot Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients

Pumpkin Cake Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

How to Make the Cake

Sift together flour, pie spice, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
Cream together butter and sugar using a stand mixer or hand mixer, until it is light and fluffy.
Add your eggs one at a time, making sure they are each fully incorporated before adding the next egg.
Add the pumpkin to butter and sugar and mix until well combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.
Stir in chocolate chips by hand, or with mixer on the lowest speed.
Spray your bundt pan with a non-stick baking spray, then scoop batter into pan.
Cover pan complete with foil.
Add your trivet to your Instant Pot.
Pour 1 1/2 cups of water into the pressure cooker.
Put the bundt pan on the trivet and lock the lid in place.
Select High Pressure and set the timer for 25 minutes.
Use a natural pressure release for 10 minutes and then do a quick pressure release.
Remove the bundt pan to a wire rack to cool and remove foil cover.
Allow to cool to room temperature before frosting.

How to Make Chocolate Ganache

Combine condensed milk, and chocolate chips in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly, until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth, taking care not to boil.
Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla.
Cool slightly before pouring over your bundt cake.

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More of our Favorite Pumpkin Recipes:

Gluten Free Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Cake Mix Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Cute & Easy Owl Cupcakes

August 19, 2018 Leave a Comment

How cute are these kid-made Owl Cupcakes? A fun food craft that kind of reminds me of Professor Owl from the Disney Sing-A-Long Songs I loved as a child, these cute cupcakes are great for a classroom treat or an easy party activity.

Cute & Easy Owl Cupcakes

With two of my daughter’s friends having full-out owl obsessions, it was only a matter of time before we got an invitation to an owl party.

Whenever a family friend has a party, I always offer to help out since baking, crafting and throwing parties is kind of what I’m known for and I don’t find it as stressful as a lot of other people do. (It’s a party – and that party mentality should be adopted from the very first planning stages.)

This time, however, my daughter was the one who did the offering and we were asked to make some cute owl-themed cupcakes to bring along to the party. So, since she volunteered us, I wanted to come up with something easy enough for her to do mostly independently.

These cute owl cupcakes fit the bill perfectly!

Simple enough for kids to do while looking polished and party-perfect, these owl cupcakes would also be a fun food activity at a party, which doubles to save you prep time in the kitchen and one less activity to prepare!

While we are providing a recipe for from-scratch vanilla cupcakes below, you can use premade muffins or a boxed cake mix.

I also would prefer my own homemade buttercream recipe in this food craft – but my daughter was soooo excited to buy blue frosting for our “Professor Owl cupcakes” that I couldn’t say no. Besides, sometimes using premade items lets you focus on just the crafting and together time.

Owl Cupcakes Ingredients

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the owl cupcake decorations:

1 Container Blue Frosting
1 Container White Frosting
1 pkg. Thin Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
1 pkg. M&M’s Candy
1 pkg. Tic Tacs, orange
Black Gel Food Coloring

Kitchen Tools Used for this Recipe

How to Make Cute Owl Cupcakes for a Kids Party

Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cupcake tray with your chosen liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place the butter in a separate bowl and beat for 30 seconds before slowly adding in the white sugar.

Once the butter and white sugar mixture is light and fully beaten, beat in the vanilla and eggs.

Add half of the dry ingredients, mix completely, then add half of the milk. Repeat.

For the owl decorations:

Fill the muffin liners halfway full and bake 12-15 minutes and cool in the pan before removing to a cooling rack.

Mix a few drops of the black food coloring into about ¾ cup of white frosting to make a light gray color.

Frost half the cupcakes with the blue frosting and the other half with the gray frosting.

Use a piping tip and a small plastic bag to pipe some feathers on the top half of the cupcakes.

Open cookies gently so the white filling stays on one side of the cookie. Set aside the halves with no filling, you will only use the filled sides.

Place two cookies on each cupcake to look like big owl eyes. Place an M&M on each cookie to represent the eyeballs.

Put a Tic Tac on each cupcake right underneath the cookie eyes, so it looks like a beak.

Pin this easy kid-made Owl Cupcake recipe:

Grab your free printable for our easy owl cupcakes:

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Cute & Easy Owl Cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 12 cucpcakes

Serving Size: 1 cupcake

Cute & Easy Owl Cupcakes

How to make cute and easy Owl Cupcakes for a kids birthday party - you're going to love their big Oreo cookie owl eyes! Click for step-by-step photo recipe.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the decoration:

1 Container Blue Frosting
1 Container White Frosting
1 pkg. Thin Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
1 pkg. M&M’s Candy
1 pkg. Tic Tacs, orange
Black Gel Food Coloring

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake tray with your chosen liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Place the butter in a separate bowl and beat for 30 seconds before slowly adding in the white sugar.
Once the butter and white sugar mixture is light and fully beaten, beat in the vanilla and eggs.
Add half of the dry ingredients, mix completely, then add half of the milk. Repeat.

For the owl decorations:

Fill the muffin liners halfway full and bake 12-15 minutes and cool in the pan before removing to a cooling rack.
Mix a few drops of the black food coloring into about ¾ cup of white frosting to make a light gray color.
Frost half the cupcakes with the blue frosting and the other half with the gray frosting.
Use a piping tip and a small plastic bag to pipe some feathers on the top half of the cupcakes.
Open cookies gently so the white filling stays on one side of the cookie. Set aside the halves with no filling, you will only use the filled sides.
Place two cookies on each cupcake to look like big owl eyes. Place an M&M on each cookie to represent the eyeballs.
Put a Tic Tac on each cupcake right underneath the cookie eyes, so it looks like a beak.

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Do you know someone whooooo would love these cute owl cupcakes?

For more cupcake inspiration, check out our Pastel & Gold Unicorn Cupcakes or our xxx Cupcakes.

Winnie the Pooh Donuts

August 2, 2018 Leave a Comment

What’s Inside: These chocolate dipped Winnie the Pooh Donuts are almost too cute to eat! Almost…

Winnie The Pooh Doughnuts

Tell me these are not the cutest donuts you’ve ever seen!

We’re super excited for the new Winnie the Pooh movie, Christopher Robin, which hits theaters this month! To celebrate, we’re sharing some of our favorite Pooh-themed recipes that kids will love to make…and eat!

These donuts are made from scratch, and dipped in chocolate to look just like Winnie-the-Pooh. They’re perfect for a movie night or Winnie the Pooh birthday party.

(Makes 15 doughnuts)

Donut Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted sweet cream butter, melted
1 large egg
1/3 cup + 1 1/2 Tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Vanilla Glaze Ingredients

1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 Tablespoon whole milk
Yellow and Red gel food coloring

Decorating Items

Black cookie icing
1 bag of yellow candy melting wafers (at least 30 candy wafers in total)
Silicone donut pan

How to Make Winnie the Pooh Donuts

A free printable copy of this recipe is available at the bottom of the post.

Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare a donut pan with cooking spray.

TIP: We love silicone donut pans because they’re non-stick so the donuts pop right out when they’re done!

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla extract.

Pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients, whisking together until well combined. (You can also use a hand mixer if you like, just take care not to over-beat the batter).

Spoon batter into doughnut pan. There should be enough batter for about 15 donuts.

Bake for 10 minutes at 350°F.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then transfer donuts from pan to a wire cooling rack.

To Make the Donut Glaze

In a large bowl combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and milk and mix well.

TIP: If there are still lumps of sugar, add another 1-2 Tablespoons of milk as needed until glaze is smooth.

Split the glaze into two bowls.

In one bowl add in a few drops of yellow gel food coloring and mix well. Your goal is for the jello glaze to match the color of the yellow candy melts.

In the second bowl, mix in a few drops of the red gel coloring. Stir well and add more coloring if needed until you have a vibrant bright red like Pooh’s shirt.

Decorating Directions

Place your wire rack over a large cookie sheet so that when you pour the yellow glaze onto the doughnuts, the glaze will not drip onto the counter.

Grab a cooled doughnut and cut a slit into the side of the donut for pooh’s ears. Gently press a candy melt into the slit so that it sticks out halfway. Repeat step with the other side of the doughnut so that it looks like two ears. Do this for all of your donuts.

Place the doughnuts onto the wire rack and pour the yellow glaze over the doughnuts until fully coated.

Allow glaze to dry for at least an hour.

Once the yellow glaze has slightly hardened, take a large knife, spatula or anything that is flat and carefully place in the middle of the doughnut. This will act as a shield for when you pour the red glaze on, to keep it only on halftone donut.

Carefully pour the red glaze onto the lower half of your Winnie the Pooh donuts.

Use black icing to draw on his face. Allow to dry completely before serving.

Be sure to pin these Winnie the Pooh Doughnuts on Pinterest

More of our favorite Winnie the Pooh recipes:

Winnie the Pooh Marshmallow Pops

Grab a free printable copy of our Pooh Bear Donuts recipe:

Yum

Winnie-the-Pooh Donuts

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 15 donuts

Serving Size: 1 donut

Winnie-the-Pooh Donuts

These chocolate dipped Winnie the Pooh Donuts are almost too cute to eat! Perfect to celebrate the new Christopher Robin movie!

Ingredients

Donut Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted sweet cream butter, melted
1 large egg
1/3 cup + 1 1/2 Tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Vanilla Glaze Ingredients

1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 Tablespoon whole milk
Yellow and Red gel food coloring

Decorating Items

Black cookie icing
1 bag of yellow candy melting wafers (at least 30 candy wafers in total)
Plastic decorating bag

Instructions

To Make the Donuts:

Preheat your oven to 350°F and prepare a donut pan with cooking spray.
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate small bowl, whisk together egg, milk, butter, and vanilla extract.
Pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients, whisking together until well combined.
Spoon batter into doughnut pan and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool enough to handle,, then transfer donuts from pan to a wire cooling rack.

To Make the Donut Glaze

In a large bowl combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and milk and mix well.
Split the glaze into two bowls, coloring one bowl of icing yellow and one bowl bright red.

Decorating Directions

Grab a cooled doughnut and cut a slit into the side of the donut for pooh's ears. Gently press a candy melt into the slit so that it sticks out halfway. Repeat step with the other side of the doughnut so that it looks like two ears. Do this for all of your donuts.
Place the doughnuts onto the wire rack and pour the yellow glaze over the doughnuts until fully coated.
Allow glaze to dry for at least an hour.
Once the yellow glaze has slightly hardened, take a large knife, spatula or anything that is flat and carefully place in the middle of the doughnut. This will act as a shield for when you pour the red glaze on, to keep it only on halftone donut.
Carefully pour the red glaze onto the lower half of your Winnie the Pooh donuts.
Use black icing to draw on his face. Allow to dry completely before serving.

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