Sugar Cookie Flip Flops

In yesterday's post I told you about a special birthday cake I made last week. In addition to it being an "Aloha!" themed cake, I found that flip flops were going to be involved. Her mom mentioned to me that the girls were going to be decorating their own flip flops at the party. Since I hadn't found much inspiration for a young girl's "Aloha!" party, flip flops seemed like better inspiration to me.  I went about looking for flip flop cakes. You would be surprised how many are out there!

I haven't learned how to use gum paste or fondant yet, or else maybe I would have used that to make flip flops instead. Or maybe I would have made big hibiscus flowers and never even thought about flip flops, but it's too late for that now.

I do know cookies! In fact, I decided to use a new roll out sugar cookie recipe that I just tried and posted about here. I traced around an old pair of my son's flip flops to get a pattern. I shrunk it a little to fit on my cake, cut it from cardstock and then traced around it with a knife in the sugar cookie dough. I made three pairs just in case something didn't work right, a little boy stuck his finger in one, the dog took a bite while I was picking my kid up at school, etc. Before baking, I used a drinking straw to make holes where I wanted to insert the licorice thongs later.

They turned out surprisingly well! I used scissors to trim the licorice pieces, using some royal icing for glue.  Then I flooded/covered them with color flow icing.  I knew it would give the smooth finish I wanted, and I wanted to use my extra up from class.  I didn't want it to go to waste, and I didn't have any other uses for it in mind. Stop by tomorrow to see the finished cake! Thanks for stopping by!

Windowpane Hearts--or whatevers

My oldest son wanted to make these Windowpane Heart cookies from Family Fun for Valentine's Day. I told him we would, but with the school Valentine's Day party and his grandparents visiting last weekend, we made them after Valentine's Day. Consequently, we decided not to make them heart-shaped, but used different cookie cutters instead.

I mixed them up on Saturday thinking that they would be fun to make with Grammy, but the weekend got busy, and we didn't get to it. The dough was in the fridge waiting for us, so we made them this afternoon after the grandparents left to go home. We were stuck indoors watching it snow, so it was a good snowy day activity.

The boys had fun helping to roll out the dough, and it wasn't messy, because the recipe tells you to roll it between two layers of waxed paper. I DO NOT enjoy making cut out cookies, but this was the best cut out cookie recipe I have used to date. I am pretty sure I will use it again to make normal cut out cookies to decorate with icing.

What makes this recipe special is that you bake the cookies on aluminum foil and fill the cut out centers with hard candy. Similar to the Family Fun recipe, we used Jolly Ranchers. The pieces were too big for our small openings, so I used a heavy knife to "whack" the pieces into halves on a cutting board. The boys liked dropping the pieces of candy into the little holes in the cookies too.

I can not even begin to tell you how pleased I am with the way these turned out. I did not have high hopes for them turning out anywhere near as pretty as the Family Fun shows them, but ours did! Yay! It's the little things in life, isn't it? The boys had fun and were so surprised at what they looked like when they came out of the oven. It was a fun baking day with the boys. Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Fling Food

Happy Halloween!

Every year on Halloween night, our church, Wilkinson Church of Christ, hosts a huge community party called Fall Fling. We fill the church with carnival games for kids of all ages, inflatables, face painting, etc. We serve a small dinner for the kids coming through too.

I've never been a part of planning the food before, but our children's pastor asked me if I would be willing to co-chair it this year with another lady who has planned it before. I thought it sounded like a challenge, so I accepted. My job, thus far, has been to plan the groceries and gather the donations needed to make food for the 400 people we have planned for.

We started the planning a few weeks ago. I started searching for festive food to serve on the Family Fun website, keeping in mind that whatever we chose would have to be made in massive quantities. We ended up choosing the following two main dishes:

Pizza Mummies

Worms on a Bun
(I just finished cutting 25 lbs.,
200 hot dogs, into 9 worms each!)

Along with those two main dishes, we will be serving orange and black nacho chips with cheese and the following festive cookies for dessert:

Fudge Stripe Witch's Hats
(See yesterday's post for a picture of mine.
I made 311 of these!)

Nutter Butter Ghosts
(See yesterday's post for a picture of mine.
I made 318 of these.)

We always hand out Popcorn Witch's Hands to the kids too.

I've seen the cookie and popcorn hands all over the web, so I have no idea who to attribute the original ideas to.

I made the cookies yesterday, and cut the hot dogs this morning to prepare them for the Worms on a Bun. I hope this all comes together well tonight! Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Fling Sneak Peeks

These...


...and these were my project for the day.


Come back tomorrow to read more. Thanks for stopping by!

Lemon Cornmeal Cookies

The December issue of Cooking Light had oodles of cookie recipes in it. I don't make hoards of cookies at Christmas time, because it's just us here most of the time, and I don't want to sit and eat them all day myself. (I have no will power when it comes to cookies, cakes, muffins, etc.) I do make some for gifts, but I'm always reluctant to try a new recipe for a gift just in case it doesn't turn out well.


My December issue is covered in flagged pages of new cookie recipes that I want to try. So, for my stamping workshop last week, I made a new recipe, Lemon Cornmeal Cookies. I'm happy to say they turned out well, and I will be adding this recipe to my box of favorites. (I should tell you though that I also made a batch of chocolate chip just in case!) Thanks for stopping by!

Peanut Butter Blossoms

A friend of our family has been serving in Iraq for the past year. He and his family attend our church, and he arrived home safe and sound last week. He likes my sugar cookies, and his wife likes my peanut butter cookies. I don't know what the kids like, but kids like most any cookies, right?


This peanut butter cookie recipe was originally given to me by my mother-in-law. She makes them with the Hershey's Kisses on top, but I usually make them just as peanut butter cookies without the Kisses.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
2 T. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. flour
Hershey's Kisses (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream shortening, peanut butter and sugars. Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix just till combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Shape into walnut-sized balls and roll in granulated sugar. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for approximately 14 min. Remove cookies from oven and place an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss on top until cookie cracks around edges. Return to oven for approximately 2 min. longer.

If not using Hershey's Kisses, bake approximately 15 min. until cookies are lightly browned on the edges. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet.

Thank you, all military personnel, for doing what you do. Thank you, all their families, who have also sacrificed a great deal. Your sacrifice allows us all to enjoy the life of freedom we have here in this country. Because of you, I don't have to worry for the continual safety of my family on a daily basis. Thank you.

Thanks for stopping by!

Umbrella Cookies

Posting about the Rabbit Cookies last week reminded me of when we made the snack last year during "U" week at preschool. I couldn't come up with anything except for umbrellas! Coincidentally, that was the theme of the week. They had patio umbrellas set up in the room and children's umbrellas hanging upside-down from the ceiling for a paper toss game. So our Umbrella Cookies were a hit! Preschool is so much fun--for Mommy too! Thanks for stopping by!

Rabbit Cookies

It's time for another installment of fun baking on the Cookin' with Melissa blog.


My son was snack leader one day this week at preschool. It was "R" week, and he thought we should make Rabbit Cookies. I was skeptical that we could come up with such a thing. I did some research and found an answer online. As usual, the creative people at Family Fun created a way to make Easter Bunny Cupcakes. We only do cupcakes at preschool on birthdays, so I adjusted the recipe to make them into Rabbit Cookies. He loved them, and we had a great time chatting while we made them. Thanks for stopping by!

Frosted Peanut Marshmallow Crispy Squares

Today my son came home from preschool with a snack in a sandwich baggy. He nicely shared it with his little brother, and both of them enjoyed it immensely. It was a peanut butter Rice Krispy Treat with a chocolate topping on it. I have never made them, so I set out to find a recipe so that I could make the boys some more. The Kraft Foods website is full of easy recipes such as this, so that's where I looked first. I found this recipe for Frosted Peanut Marshmallow Crispy Squares. I don't know if they're exactly the same as the preschool treat, but they're pretty darn close! Thanks for stopping by!

Sylvia's Sugar Cookies

My grandmother used to make these sugar cookies, and now the recipe is one of my favorites. Someone told me these are also called Amish Sugar Cookies. I have friends who love these cookies, so if I have the occasion to make some for them, I am sure to use this recipe. I've also made them in all sorts of colors for picnics, weddings, a baby shower, etc.

You can either color the dough and roll them in granulated sugar, or let the dough uncolored and roll them in colored sanding sugar. Either way is yummy! I just made a batch of them this weekend for some friends. Instead of rolling them in sugar, I iced them with the icing from yesterday's post and some leftover buttercream icing from the birthday cake last week.

Sylvia's Sugar Cookies

1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter
1 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream the butter and sugars very well. Slowly add the oil and mix until well blended. Add eggs and mix just until blended. Add the baking soda, salt, cream of tartar, and flour one cup at a time. Sometimes I add a little extra flour if the dough doesn't seem stiff enough. It shouldn't stick to your hands if you try to roll it in balls. Roll into balls of about one tablespoon and roll in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees until light brown on the edges.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thumb Cookies

Ok, here's the final cookie recipe that I made for the assorted cookie trays I made up for two of our pastors. This is a recipe that my aunt, Roben, gave me years ago. I had used egg whites in the peppermint divinity I posted about a few days ago and had egg yolks left over. This recipe calls for egg yolks, so I thought I would make it to use them up. Be sure to scroll to the end to see my final cookie trays!

Thumb Cookies

1 c. butter
2 egg yolks
1 c. confectioner's sugar
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
jam or maraschino cherries

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix till combined. Blend in the
flour just till combined.

Make balls the size of walnuts. Mash the center down with your thumb, or a rounded measuring spoon works well too. Fill the indent with jam (any flavor of your choosing) or a marashino cherry. Bake in a 350 oven until lightly browned.

*Use aluminum air-bake cookie sheets for best results.*

Thanks for stopping by!

Cranberry-Macadamia (Pecan) Bars

Here's the second recipe for cookies I made for a cookie tray Christmas gift. This is a fancier cookie than what I normally make, but I wanted to make some varieties that I knew no one else had given them yet. Plus, the bar cookies were easier than drop cookies. Just like the Chocolate Revel Bars, this recipe comes from that Better Homes & Gardens red and white plaid binder cookbook most of us have in our collection. Just a note: I always use pecans in this recipe.

Cranberry-Macadamia Bars

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. finely chopped macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, or pecans

1 1/4 c. sugar
2 beaten eggs
2 T. milk
1 tsp. finely shredded orange peel
1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. finely chopped macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, or pecans
1 c. finely chopped cranberries
1/2 c. coconut

In a mixing bowl stir together the flour and the 3/4 c. sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until misture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the 1/2 c. nuts. Press flour mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350 oven for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is light brown around the edges.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl combine the 1 1/4 c. sugar, eggs, milk, orange peel, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Pour over the hot crust. Sprinkle with the 1/2 c. nuts, cranberries, and coconut.

Bake in the 350 oven for 30 minutes more or until golden. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars while warm. Cool completely in pan.

My notes: I lined my pan with parchment paper. After allowing the bars to cool for a bit, I lifted the entire pan of cookies out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling. I didn't cut the bars until they were completely cool. The orange zest in these cookies makes all the difference in the world, so if you try the recipe, don't let that out! Thanks for stopping by!

Chocolate Revel Bars - Take II

I posted the recipe for these bar cookies a few weeks ago. I made them for a Sunday afternoon 8 for $10 stamping workshop at my house. I didn't post a picture of them the first time, so now you can see how yummy they look!


I made them again for Christmas gifts for the Associate Pastor and Children's Pastor at our church. I made three types of cookies and gave each of them a tray full. This is the first of the three. I'll share the other two recipes in the next two posts. Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Biscotti

I decided to make some baked goods for the pastors of our church. You can see in my last post where I made peanut butter ice cream topping for our Senior Pastor. Today I'll tell you about the gift I made for our Youth Pastor. At some point in time, he was a barista for Starbucks. (I think it was Starbucks.) He has an espresso/capuccino machine in his office. So I thought the perfect gift for him would be some biscotti.

I am a Food Network fan. One of my favorites is Giada De Laurentiis. I used to sit and watch her show while I was nursing my youngest son! I watched an episode where she made Holiday Biscotti and printed the recipe off to try someday. I made it a year or so ago, but hadn't made it since. You can get the recipe here.


The first time I made it, I used pecans instead of pistachios. It was still good. This time, I made it with the pistachios, but I didn't dip them in white chocolate or do the colored sugar decorations. They were yummy without it! Give this recipe a try sometime when you're looking for a new cookie recipe to try! Thanks for stopping by!

Kiss Cookies

Have you seen the Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses? I bought some last weekend to make cookies with. I've made peanut butter blossoms in the past with milk chocolate Kisses, but I wondered what a chocolate cookie with a candy cane Kiss would taste like. So I tried to make some, and my oldest son just loved them! My husband liked them pretty well too, and my younger son just wanted to eat the Kisses out of the middle. Thanks for stopping by!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm sure lots of people think my chocolate chip cookie recipe is top secret, but it's not. In fact, the recipe I use is off the side of the Butter Crisco canister. You can get it on the Crisco site at www.crisco.com. I do add some extra flour, and I don't really follow their directions. I've gleaned a few baking tips from watching the Food Network occasionally over the years. Otherwise, it's a great recipe. Of course, I add some love too, and that makes them scrumptious! Thanks for stopping by!

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 c. Crisco Butter Shortening
1 1/4 c. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 T. milk
1 T. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 c. coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
*If nuts are omitted, add an additional 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Combine shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet on a cooling rack. Remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

Hat Cookies

It's "H" week at Kids' Kingdom Preschool. "H" is for hat, so what better for a snack than hat cookies? Thanks, Family Fun magazine, for all your great ideas for kids! Thanks for stopping by!

Chocolate Revel Bars

For Sunday afternoon's 8 for $10 Halloween Treats workshop, I had Chocolate Revel Bars here for a snack. There were extras, so I took them to my preschool board meeting that night. Everyone like them, so I thought I'd share the recipe. It can be found in the red and white checkered "Better Homes & Gardens" cook book if you have one--and most people do!

Chocolate Revel Bars

1 c. butter

2 c. packed brown sugar

1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate pieces
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
2 tsp. vanilla

Set aside 2 T. of the butter. In a large mixing bowl beat the remaining butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in the oats. (I do all of this with my electric stand mixer.)

For filling, in a medium saucepan combine the reserved 2 T. butter, chocolate pieces, and sweetened condensed milk. Cook over low heat until chocolate melts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in the nuts and 2 tsp. vanilla. (I have never made these with nuts.)

Press two-thirds (approximately) of the rolled oats mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. (To make it easy to get the bars from the pan, I line my pan with parchment paper. After baking and cooling, you can run a knife around the edge and lift the whole pan of bars out easily. Then I use a pizza cutter to cut them into bars. They look great, and cleanup is easy!) Spread filling evenly over the oat mixture. Dot remaining rolled oats mixture on filling.

Bake in a 350F oven about 25 minutes or until top is light brown (chocolate filling will look moist). Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars and serve.

Variation: Substitute 1 c. whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour for the 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour. (I always make these this way.)

For some reason, fall seems like the best time to make these. I guess it's the oatmeal that makes them seem hearty and good cool-weather food. Thanks for stopping by!