Tag Archives: fourth of July

Fire Cracker Cookies!!

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Ruthanne

These fun little fire cracker cookies have a crackling surprise inside– pop rock candy! A perfect treat for your Fourth of July celebrations!!!

I can’t believe it’s almost July already- this summer is passing too fast…! These cookies were a HUGE hit among my friends- the experience of eating a cookie that is popping in your mouth is truly a unique one, and everyone was a huge fan!

I adore sugar cookies…especially in the summer. They are so…expected at Christmas- but the 4th of July? Such a fun treat! These are easy to make and cut just beautifully. The dipping in candy melts takes a little time, but the end result is just so fun!

Here’s how we made these: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 60 circles that end up at 20 completed cookies)

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of butter flavoring
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 bags of Wilton Candy Melts in red, white and blue
Star sprinkles
3 packets of Pop Rocks in any flavor
String licorice (or the pull-apart kind works too)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add eggs, vanilla and butter flavoring and mix well.
Add all dry ingredients and mix until able to knead into a firm ball of dough (add additional flour if necessary).
Roll out on a floured counter with a flour coated rolling pin to desired thickness (I made them fairly thick)
Cut about 60 circles using a cookie cutter (I used a 1″ cookie cutter)
Use a smaller circle cutter to cut out a center circle from 20 of these cookies.
Place cookies on cookie sheets covered in parchment paper and bake at 350F degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
Slide baked cookies and parchment paper together onto a counter to cool completely.
Melt candy melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until smooth.
Dip 1/3 of cookies into blue melts first and allow them to harden slightly before setting a snip of licorice on top. You may need to experiment with this a bit. The melts need to be soft enough to stick the licorice in, and hard enough to hold it upright.
Dip remaining cookies- 1/3 into red and 1/3 into white melts (add star sprinkles on the sides of the white cookies) and allow them to harden completely.
Put the cookies together by piping or spreading a little white candy melt on the bottom of the white piece and setting it on the red. Fill the open spot in the white cookie with pop rocks, pipe or spread a little white candy melt on the top ring of the white cookie and set the blue cookie on the very top. Allow cookies to harden together. Enjoy!!

My thoughts: These take a little time, but they are genuinely fun to make and SO fun to serve! I loved the giggles at those surprise Pop Rocks in the middle!!! I hope you get a chance to try them!!!

Other fun summer cookie recipes: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Cookies and tagged cookies, cookies for kids, dessert, firecrackers, fourth of July, fun, independence day, patriotic, pop rocks, recipe, stars and stripes, Wilton candy melts. Bookmark the permalink.

American Flag Oreo Pops

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Ruthanne

Put a little red white and blue on your Oreos and celebrate the Fourth of July!

These are an easy treat that will make you (and everyone else) smile. Plus there’s an Oreo inside- perfect!

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again– I’m addicted to Oreo Pops. Most of you know that I’m living in Arizona for eight months with the Navajo. I love it here, and the Navajo people are incredibly gracious about sharing life with me and teaching me all about their culture and traditions. I had a hard time a couple of weeks ago though. A puppy that I recently took in became very ill and the vet diagnosed her with parvovirus, a deadly disease that can be prevented with puppy vaccinations. Most people here cannot afford to vaccinate (or spay and neuter) their dogs, so this puppy and all of her litter mates had to be put down.

Oreo…

So. Incredibly. Sad. My little puppy was named Oreo, for her adorable black and white Oreo markings.

One of my friends here suggested we sell things at a local flea market this week, and I decided to make 100 Oreo Pops in a variety of forms to make money to help spay and neuter Oreo’s parents, and to vaccinate other puppies in the area.

I made ALL SORTS of Oreo pops, and these were one of my “new” designs. I love how patriotic they are!

So, in honor of this wonderful, beautiful country that we all call home….Oreo Pops- in Red, White and Blue!!!

Here’s the recipe: (printable version)

INGREDIENTS:

One box of Double Stuff Oreos
One bag of Wilton’s candy melts in Red
One bag of Wilton’s candy melts in Blue
One jar of flower sprinkles (the white ones look like stars…?)
24 lollipop sticks

DIRECTIONS: (Need a visual? Click here.)

Carefully twist apart all of the Oreo cookies
Using one of the lollipop sticks, make an indentation in the white filling of each cookie.
Melt the Red Candy Melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring until completely melted and smooth.
Dip the end of one stick into the melted red chocolate, drizzle a little in the center of the white cookie filling and then gently press it into the indentation made.
Place the top of the cookie back on and allow red chocolate to harden (10 minutes or so), cementing the cookie back together with a stick inside.
Holding the stick, lower the entire Oreo into the bowl of melted red chocolate, spooning it over the top and sides to cover it completely.
Allow the excess red chocolate to drain off and gently place covered Oreo on a piece of parchment paper to harden and cool completely
Melt Blue candy melts in the same manner that you melted the red.
Allow the candy melts to cool just a bit before dipping (so that it doesn’t melt the red candy underneath).
Spoon a bit of blue chocolate over just the top end of the Oreo. Tap to drain away excess blue chocolate and wipe back across a clean paper towel to remove any drips or splatter of blue.
Place on a clean piece of parchment paper to cool, and immediately place a few white “stars” on the blue.
Allow pop to harden completely.
Remove from paper and serve- or place in a small treat bag, tied with pretty ribbon.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are easy and fun to put together, and just so CUTE! Happy Fourth of July!!!!! ~r

Other fun (and very patriotic!) desserts to try here at Easybaked:

14 Comments

Posted in Candy, Cookies, Uncategorized and tagged american flag, baking, candy, cookies, dessert, fourth of July, fun dessert ideas, Labor day, Memorial day, oreo pops, Oreos, recipe, red white and blue dessert, sprinkles, Wiltons candy Melts. Bookmark the permalink.

Bomb Pop Cupcakes!!

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Ruthanne

Does anything scream SUMMER, or FOURTH OF JULY like Bomb Pops? These adorable cupcakes capture the flavors of an iconic summertime popsicle and make a perfect holiday treat!

You know those memories from childhood that spring up unexpectedly and make you smile? Bomb Pops have that effect on me. My brother and I always spent a week or two at my grandparents house each summer. They had an immaculately clean garage with a huge freezer in it. Grandma would always keep a box of bomb pops inside for our visits. I remember so clearly, sitting out on her porch eating these in the evenings, letting the drips of sweet popsicle land on the cement by my bare feet. Every time I eat one, it’s like traveling back in time to those days.

I wanted to capture the flavors of these summer treats in cupcake form, and I love how these turned out! The kids in my life who tried them exclaimed, “These taste like popsicles!”

I consider that a success!

These were not hard to make at all- simply add jello to white cake mix and pipe the batter into cupcake liners in layers.

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

One boxed white cake mix (with oil, water and eggs to make according to package)
One small box of blue raspberry Jell-O (Jolly Rancher had this flavor, and Jell-O has a Berry Blue that works)
One small box of Cherry Jell-O
2 sticks of salted butter (at room temperature)
2 sticks of unsalted butter (at room temperature)
3 cups of powdered sugar
3 teaspoons of lemon extract or flavoring (technically the flavor in the popsicles is lime…but I couldn’t easily get my hands on lime extract. The lemon was great- but feel free to use lime instead, if you want!)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees
Make cake mix as directed on box, and divide batter equally into two bowls.
Add 3 Tablespoons of Blue Raspberry Jell-O to one bowl, and 3 Tablespoons of Cherry Jell-O to the other bowl.
Mix each bowl of batter until well combined
Place each flavor of batter into a large, sturdy (I use freezer-type) zip top bag.
Clip a corner off the bag of Blue Raspberry batter and evenly pipe into 24 cupcake liners placed into muffin tins.
Clip a corner off the bag of Cherry batter and evenly pipe over the top of the Blue Raspberry batter.
Bake cupcakes as directed on boxed mix, remove from oven, and cool.
Make frosting by combining butters, powdered sugar and lemon extract in a large bowl. Beat on low until combined and then high, until light and fluffy.
Put frosting into a large, sturdy zip-top bag that has been fitted with a decorating tip, and pipe frosting on the top of each cupcake.
Decorate as desired. I saw these cute little Mike and Ike “popsicle” toppers on a fun site called Party Pinching. They were fun and easy to make, but they use toothpicks and could be dangerous to serve- especially to kids. I love how cute they are, but I can’t recommend them. Use cute sprinkles and maybe a popsicle stick instead!
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These were really easy to put together and the fruit flavors are so refreshing! I love the patriotic colors too!

Just as a note: the blue layer of cupcake rises to the top, just a little bit, so don’t panic! You will still have nice layers of the two flavors.

I really hope you get a chance to try these treats in celebration of summer! Enjoy! ~r

Other fun summer treats to try:

6 Comments

Posted in Cupcakes, Uncategorized and tagged bomb pops, buttercream, cake mix, creative desserts, cupcakes, edible star glitter, fourth of July, holidays, jell-o, kids, Labor day, Memorial day, patriotic, popsicles, red white and blue dessert, summer, unique recipes. Bookmark the permalink.

Polka Dot Cake~ a recipe revisited!

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Ruthanne

Day #5 is here, along with our final revisited and recreated recipe. I’ve really enjoyed remembering these recipes with all of you. I hope you have found one to try for this upcoming holiday weekend!

Our final recipe is my personal favorite of the week, mainly because it brings the most smiles. If you want to make a cake that will be a show-stopper at your holiday celebration, this is it.

This recipe was published recently, in January of 2013. It is so incredibly fun to make. I’ve made it 5 times now and each time I do, I love it more. You can color the cake layers, you can color the polka dots…endless fun possibilities!

It is not a difficult recipe, but it is time consuming and it requires a cake ball maker (or, according to my commenters on the recipe, a mini muffin tin).

It takes two cake mixes and I made both mixes and simply divided them evenly into the three colors. I made 12 cake balls in each color and one layer of each color.

The original blog post has detailed instructions and photos, so I recommend you visit there 1st if you want to make this cake. The comments are also very helpful and full of tips on making this work well.

To see the original recipe and instructions click here.

To print the original recipe click here.

Thank you so much for joining me this week for a trip down memory lane. I hope it was as fun for you as it was for me.

Did you catch all of our recipe remakes this week? If not, click on the ones you missed to be taken to the post!

15 Comments

Posted in Cakes and tagged baking, buttercream frosting, cake, cake mix, cake pops, dessert, food, fourth of July, holiday cake, layer cake, Patriotic Polka dot cake, Polka dot cake, polka dots, recipe remakes, red white and blue. Bookmark the permalink.

Oreo Pops~ a recipe revisited!

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Ruthanne

Day #4 of our celebration of past recipes. This week is going fast! Today’s recipe is the 4th most viewed recipe on the Easybaked site. It has had nearly 60,000 visits since it was published in February of 2012. Can you guess what it is????

These little treats are a favorite of mine. They have been remade as mummies and snowmen already- the decorating possibilities are just endless!

These have been the star attraction at birthdays, showers, picnics, retirement parties, and even as favors at weddings. They have been decorated in flowers and butterflies and school colors and even with Barney the Dinosaur! The end of July they will be featured in Women’s World Magazine (so be on the look-out and grab a copy!).

For the Fourth of July holiday I simply dipped them in red white and blue and decorated with drizzles and sprinkles. SO easy. I tied these up in little favor bags and they are all set to travel to all of my upcoming holiday parties and picnics! I just love things you can make ahead!

To see the original recipe and get directions for how to insert the stick and dip these, click here.

To print a copy of the recipe and directions, click here.

Don’t miss our very last recipe remake tomorrow morning~ you’re going to love it!!!

Want to know what our other most-visited recipes are? Here’s what’s at the top of the list:

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged chocolate, chocolate covered oreos, dessert, fourth of July, Holiday Oreo Pops, oreo cookies, oreo pops, Patriotic Oreo Pops, popsicle sticks, red white and blue, Wiltons candy Melts. Bookmark the permalink.

Flip Flop Cookies~ a Recipe Revisited!

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Ruthanne

I’m excited to be back for day #2 of our walk down memory lane! Today’s treat just had to make the list of fun and colorful recipes to revisit. It’s not only fun and colorful, but the perfect summer treat…

This recipe was originally published during my first summer of blogging, on June 11, 2011. It is particularly memorable for me because it was my first photo published on Foodgawker. If you even knew how hard I was trying at the time to get a photo accepted on that site….oh my. I’m very competitive and I had about 60 photos rejected before this one. I was jumping up and down for joy! I took this photo at my friends Tom and Tina’s house at the lake. I knew the lighting was perfect that day and I pulled my little point and shoot out to snap some photos. Tom suggested I try his higher-end camera and Tina popped that pretty orange flower in the background and I learned two things: 1.Staging food is a must in photography and 2. I needed a better camera.

Since that date I’ve had 55 photos accepted on Foodgawker and SO many rejected. It has been so good for me to have outside judgement on my photography though. It is making me better. Will today’s photo be accepted? I think not. I’m not happy with the exposure in any of the pictures, but we will see!

These are white chocolate dipped Nutter Butter cookies (in case you were wondering!) Originally dipped in rainbow colors, these are dipped in patriotic red, white and blue and garnished with a little star sprinkle. Serving them on brown sugar gives them a beach feel. These are a perfect summer treat and really easy to make.

To see the original recipe (along with photos showing how to dip them) click here.

To print the original recipe and instructions click here.

Enjoy! ~r

We dip lots of things into candy melts and chocolate here at easybaked. Here are a few of our favorite candy melt treats:

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged baking, cookies, desserts, flip flop cookies, fourth of July, fun, Labor day, Memorial day, nutter butter cookies, Nutter Butters, rainbow colors, recipe, summer cookies, Wilton candy melts. Bookmark the permalink.

Tie Dye Cake~ a recipe revisited!

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Ruthanne

I miss my recipes sometimes…I didn’t realize when I started this blog that it would launch me into a world of constantly new and changing recipes. If I’m asked to bring a dessert to something I rarely return to my favorites. Instead I create something new that I can share with all of you! This week I am revisiting some of my favorites in honor of the Fourth of July. I chose some of my most colorful and fun recipes to recreate in Red White and Blue. Each of these recipes can be tweaked to fit any color theme, but this week we are celebrating the USA with each recipe. Here we go…..!

The original Tie Dye cake recipe was created October 10, 2012 in honor of my nephew Marshal. It has gotten rave reviews for how easy it is to make. It’s been the star dessert at birthday parties, Easter celebrations and even a Luau! It was featured in the Huffington Post in an article celebrating all things tie dye.

Visit the original recipe to see how it was put together by clicking here.

Print the original recipe and try it for yourself by clicking here.

Stay tuned…I will be back tomorrow with another revisited recipe!

Enjoy!! ~r

Modifications to the original recipe:

Instead of rainbow colors, I used red and blue. USE COLOR GELS if you want bright and vibrant color. Liquid colors will not give you the deep colors you want. I actually ran out of red and ended up a little more pink than I wanted! I love my color gels– I use them a lot!

I used the buttercream from the original recipe but added vanilla instead of the raspberry flavoring, and I left it white with a few sprinkles.

Ruthanne’s top four favorite easybaked recipes: