Double Chocolate Halloween Spider Cookies

I watched a short home video last night of when the boys were 2 and 4. The footage was taken shortly before we embarked on an adventure to move out east outside of the Washington D. C. area. They were playing with the neighbor kids.
Back when I lived in a neighborhood with young kids, I used to make a greater effort with special holiday baking- especially for holidays like Halloween. This year, despite my kids being older, I'm bringing out some recipes I haven't made in a lot of years and some new ones I've recently seen.
The fall we moved out east was filled with transitions. The kids had to transition from having friends and neighbors to play with to spending more time with just each other. They did this well. B took the lead and Y was happy to follow along. B would ask "Do you wanna play cars?"
Y always answered with an enthusiastic "yeah!!" usually while extending both arms in the air.
No matter what B would choose for an activity, Y would follow along. Y was B's wing-man, his shadow...even his Robin...So it fits that they were Batman and Robin for Halloween.
Get your kids, friends and neighbors excited for Halloween this year by making these Spider Cookies.

Double Chocolate Spider Cookies

Begin by making a double batch of Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. I omitted the chocolate chips.

While they are cooling, dip a pretzel stick 3/4 of the way into melted chocolate. Tap gently and lay on waxed paper to set.

For assembly:
Frost the bottoms of the entire double batch of cookies.
Then place 8 spider legs (dipped pretzel sticks) -non-chocolate end in the frosted side of a cookie.
Put another frosted cookie (frosting side down) on top to form a sandwich cookie.
Finish with mini M&Ms for eyes on a dot of frosting.

Turtle Cupcakes

Is it “Girls Night Out”?!
Do you need a treat your girlfriends will appreciate?
Through the years of treat sharing, I’ve noted that a “turtle” dessert is most favored among female recipients. Apparently the true appreciation of the combination of caramel, chocolate and pecans requires a refinement of the taste buds.
In my youth, I avoided all things with nuts.—why?
Well, one year I remember a thin box on top of the refrigerator. I saw my mom return it there one afternoon. I asked the contents thereof- she simply distracted me. I soon returned to the empty kitchen. As I reached for the thin box of “Sees Candies” my mom’s radar kicked into superhero mode and she was quickly upon me as I opened the box.
“You won’t like them!” she quipped
“I think I will!” was my rebuttal.
“No! You won’t. She strongly replied- “There’s nuts in them.”
And that was convincing enough for me.
Somewhere along in my adulthood, perhaps my sophomore year at college when I learned that I love Snickers Bars, I realized the truth.
Today we are bringing together chocolate, caramel, and pecans in a favorable cupcake treat.

Turtle Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes
Chocolate Fudge frosting
Mini Chocolate chips
Caramel Sauce
Chopped Pecans
Chocolate Glaze
Begin with a batch of Yummy In My Tummy Chocolate Cake batter, omitting chips, if desired. Bake batter in lined cupcake pans for 15+ minutes.
Pipe chocolate frosting onto the cooled cupcake. I’ve been experimenting with fudgy frostings and haven’t found anything I love yet. Thus in the meantime, I use a boxed mix requiring milk and butter. I decrease the milk by about 30% allowing the frosting stiffness. Today, I piped it using a contraption broken a bit, held together by duct tape. It was a pain. Next time, I’ll just use a freezer strength Ziploc, with or without a “tip” attached.
Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips onto still wet frosting. If you are using a tip, and your progress seems slow, frost six cupcakes, then sprinkle chips and repeat. Next, drizzle with caramel topping. I prefer Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch Caramel Sauce piped from a freezer strength Ziploc. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Finish off with a couple of swirls of chocolate glaze, drizzled from a freezer strength Ziploc.

Now call some girlfriends to get together, or prepared to be highly favored by whomever you choose to share with :)

Nutter Butter Balls

Don’t stop with the Oreos!!
Y informed me last night he was ready for more chores to be compensated by Oreo Balls. Y’s stats are that he is pushing 5’11”, but just over 125 lbs. Oreo Balls seem like they won’t do much for him as far as building muscle fibers. I watched a news segment the other day about what to feed underweight kids. The answer: peanut butter.
So, let’s use the same idea behind what makes Oreo Balls so irresistible, but pack a little more protein in them:

Nutter Butter Balls

1 16 oz. package Nutter Butter Cookies
8 oz. cream cheese
Melting chocolates
Chopped peanuts, if desired.

Crush Nutter Butters. Add softened cream cheese. Mix well. I prefer the food processor for both of these jobs. It takes less than a minute each. Roll into 1 inch- balls. Chill thoroughly. Dip into melted chocolate. Drizzle with additional chocolate or top with chopped peanuts. Serve chilled.

After I mixed and formed my Nutter Butter balls, I had a decision as to how to spend my time while I waited for them to chill enough to dip into chocolate. The temps outside are a balmy 45 degrees, and my car desperately needs to be washed. My closet is a disaster with 3 different sizes of clothes sharing prime reachable space. (Yes, the treadmill being broken has caught up with me.) But I was delighted with the third option. My older sister called just as I was headed for the bucket and soap. I sat on my sofa, and visually got lost in the Christmas tree lights. We chatted about Christmas season plans, jobs, kids, and memories. Did my chat make me miss being “home” for Christmas a little more? Perhaps. But more than anything, it lifted my spirits and reminded me of how blessed I am. I’m grateful all of my kids will be home for Christmas this year, and how privileged we are that everyone is happy and healthy. I truly have great reason for gratitude and pray for an increased desire to pay it forward—immersing myself in the true reason for the season.

Chocolate Cream Cake

I was at the store today with the intent of just quickly picking up some Cool Whip. I noticed cake mixes were on sale. I went back to the store entrance and exchanged my basket for a cart so could stock up.
My thoughts returned me to my most memorable childhood Christmas.
On that cold December night, long ago we stood in awe for a moment of the service done on our behalf. After we brought all if the tall brown grocery bags into the house, we unloaded each one with delight. It had been a few years since we had this much food in the house at one time. One of the sacks had a couple of cake mixes in it. All of our eggs had been used to make the Holiday Pumpkin Bread, so it wasn't possible to make a cake. Nonetheless we dumped one of the mixes into a large bowl and the six of us kids huddled around it eating the dry mix by the spoonfuls. We were thrilled by our treat.
The recipe I share today isn't written down in any of my recipe indexes. Thus- I haven't made it in a considerable amount of time. But it's a simple dessert that is a hit anywhere I take it.

Chocolate Cream Cake

Use a 12 x 17.5 baking sheet. Begin by making Yummy In My Tummy Chocolate Cake, omitting the chocolate chips. This is a refrigerated dessert. If you make the cake with chocolate chips, they will be hard and produce an undesirable crunch to your dessert.
Chill the cake.
Spread the chocolate cream onto the cake layer.

Chocolate Cream
12 oz. softened cream cheese
3/4 cup dry chocolate pudding mix (about 5 oz.)
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp. almond extract (optional)

I use the food processor to thoroughly blend all of the ingredients until smooth.
Then, fold in 12oz. Cool Whip.

Spread 12 more ounces of Cool Whip onto the chocolate cream layer.

Refrigerate for several hours.
Before serving, drizzle with room temperature Chocolate Glaze.
Serve cake well chilled and refrigerate leftovers.

The 12 x 17.5 baking sheet makes nice snack size informal desserts. You can also make this into a round, square or rectangular layer cake.

I have been experiencing some memory glitches lately- can’t remember why I enter a certain room, names of people I’ve known for twenty years are unable to be recalled, etc. A friend who is just a few years older than me has assured me it is just a phase. She told me I’d never again be as sharp as I was in my twenties, but I won’t settle into middle age long term being quite this bad. My family was delighted that I could still remember this recipe :) It was enjoyed tonight after the Stromboli we ate for dinner.

Oreo Balls

A friend brought us a plate of these the other day. I went seeking them out the next day- couldn't find them anywhere. I texted Y while he was at school because clearly this was an emergency. He responds, and I learn that he had hid them from me --on purpose to keep them all for himself. Later I find the container they were delivered in empty with a note throwing me off course of the actual location.
So -a treat that good? That Y would go to great lengths to claim them all for himself? And I- a fairly reasonable individual would spend so much effort trying to track them down, even compromising my son’s education?
I failed in my quest, so decided to make my own:

Oreo Balls

18oz package of Oreos
8oz. Cream cheese
Melting chocolates.
Sprinkles, if desired.

Crush Oreos. Add softened cream cheese. Mix well. I prefer the food processor for both of these jobs. It takes less than a minute each. Roll into 1 inch- balls. Chill thoroughly. Dip into melted chocolate. Drizzle with additional chocolate or top with sprinkles. Serve chilled.

Today my husband will participate in "goodie day" at work with some fancy looking- simple to make Oreo balls. Since Y has eaten all of the delivered treats, maybe I can convince him to do a few extra chores in exchange for a (few) of these delectable morsels.