Cotton Candy Cake Pops

Who doesn’t love cake–and cotton candy?! I made these cute Cotton Candy Cake Pops for my daughter’s preschool class’ Halloween celebration tomorrow. She enjoyed taste testing and keeping my plate loaded with sprinkles.

My trick for flavoring your vanilla coating and make it more than just plain vanilla? Add a few shakes of icing powder flavoring to your melted vanilla wafers.

The wafers will take on the color of the powder, so choose colored wafers to make the best background color to match your sprinkles (ex: use yellow vanilla wafer chips with pink, strawberry powder for an orange tinted cake pop). Our favorite flavors are cotton candy (blue) and strawberry (pink) using a vanilla/almond cake recipe.

Feel free to comment below with any questions or tips you have for cake pop creations!

“Thumb-Kin Patch” Craft (and keepsake) for Halloween and Thanksgiving

This craft was made using a kit purchased from Oriental Trading, but could easily be made using craft-store foam/cardstock paper and an orange ink pad. Make one of these with your kids for Halloween, and display it through Thanksgiving. This could also be a fun keepsake gift for family to remember those tiny fingers of your children for years to come.

Halloween is here (almost)!

In honor of Halloween, I made spider brownies. I suppose this is a fitting first post for my new blog, considering how much I enjoy Halloween.

Below is the best recipe for brownies!  Bake in a square brownie pan, then cut out with a round cookie cutter.  Use royal icing for the eyes, and pull-and-peel Twizzlers pieces for the legs.  Enjoy!

Best Brownies

1/2 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder 3 tablespoons butter, softened 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
2.	In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3.	Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
4.	To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners’ sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2013 Allrecipes.com  Compliments of Angie at http://www.allrecipes.com   http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Brownies/

Nick Jr. Photo Booth

Nick Jr. Photo Booth

Have some fun with your Halloween pictures!  Kids will love seeing themselves beside their Nick Jr. friends.