Tag Archives: summer cookies

Happy Flower Cookies

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Ruthanne

Flower cookies3

These delicious cookies will make you smile anytime of the year! With a touch of coffee in the cookies, and crunchy chocolate-covered sunflower seeds on top, they are also really delicious!

Flower cookies2

Confession: I made these last spring jotted down the recipe as I created, brought them to a party where they got rave reviews, and then got so busy with summer that I never sat down to share the recipe with you all! So here (finally!) you go!

I absolutely love these cookies. In March, I tweaked my favorite chocolate cut-out cookie to make Bailey’s Irish Cream Cookies. They were soooo yummy that I wanted to keep tweaking them and try a variety without the Baileys. This is the result, and they are such a soft, delicious cut-out cookie. Goodness. They are exceptional at keeping their shape when cut (I just did circles, but you could make these in any shape). I just iced them with royal icing, but the sky is the limit with flavor combinations you could use. This recipe is a keeper in our house! 🙂

Here is the recipe (printable version):

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 20 medium cookies)

Cookies:

1 (1/2 cup)stick of butter (softened)
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon of half and half
1 Tablespoon of vanilla
2 Tablespoons of instant coffee granules
2 to 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Icing:

4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon of clear vanilla flavoring
Chocolate-covered sunflower seeds
Round candy pearls

DIRECTIONS:

Cookies:

Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Mix in eggs.
Place half and half and instant coffee granules together in a small cup. Mix until coffee dissolves. Add this mixture to the batter and combine well.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough).
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter.
Cut into circles (or whatever shape you want!)and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes until the edges are firm.
Gently slide parchment paper off of cookie sheet and onto a flat surface. Cool completely before removing cookies from paper.

Icing:

Beat together all ingredients and add powdered sugar until it becomes a thick glaze consistency.
Place about 1/3 of icing in a zip-top bag fitted with a small round piping tip.
Pipe icing around edges of cookie and allow this to harden.
Add water to remaining icing until it is a little thinner than the edge icing. Place it into a second zip-top bag fitted with a small round piping tip.
Fill center of cookie with icing, spreading it to the edges that have hardened.
Before icing is completely hard, set sunflower seeds and pearl in the shape of a flower.
Allow icing to harden completely.
Enjoy!!!

Flower cookies6

Aren’t they fun??? Once the icing fully hardens on these, you can stack them up without worrying that the icing will get messed up (the joy of royal icing). As you can see… I am no professional at piping a perfect circle… so no worries if you are not experienced- they will still be beautiful! Flower Cookies 1

My thoughts: I’m glad to finally be sharing this with you all! I figured I’d better get this out to you before fall hits and all things are pumpkin and leaves 🙂 I hope you get a chance to try these cookies- I really think you will love them! Enjoy! ~r

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Since I am so late in sharing this… how about some fun back-to-school/ make your kids smile ideas? Just click a photo to see the recipe!

Seashell Oreo Pops!

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Ruthanne

Turn your Oreos into a celebration at the beach! Sand Dollars, Sea Scallops and cute little fish. So much delicious fun!

There’s just something about the beach that makes my heart happy! Have you ever been to Sanibel Island in Florida? It’s right by Fort Meyers. Growing up, our family spent nearly every Thanksgiving at a little condo on the beach there. They have some of the best seashell hunting in North America. As a little girl, I had a shell identification book and a big pail, and I spent hours and hours combing the beach for shells. Sand dollars were one of my favorites!

This past spring, I used chocolate covered sunflower seeds in several projects, and thought about how much they remind me of the little centers of sand dollars. So I had to try! I also made some sea scallops using…wait for it… Wheat Thin crackers to make those little shell points (and they are a super yummy salty-sweet combo!) 🙂

Here is how we made these little Oreo pops:

Fish Oreo Pops are from an earlier recipe here on Easybaked. You can find them by clicking here.

These were featured in our cookbook for kids, Life Is Sweet: 12 Baking Devotions for Kids.

Sand Dollars:

Ingredients: (makes about 24 pops)

One package of Double Stuff Oreos
2 (12 oz.) bags of Wiltons Candy Melts in white
Chocolate covered sunflower seeds (I used blue)
24 Lollipop sticks
Small pearl decorating sprinkles
Small treat bags and ribbon, if you want to package them up to give away.

Directions: (Need a little visual help? Click here.)

Carefully twist apart all Oreo cookies. Do this slowly and gently- and expect that some will break.
Melt about 1/4 cup white candy melts using a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until completely melted and smooth.
Use a lollipop stick to make an indentation in the white filling of an Oreo.
Dip the end of the stick into the candy melts, spread a little on top of the white filling and then press the stick into the indentation.
Place the top of the Oreo back on and allow the candy melts to harden and cement the cookie back together with the stick inside. I like to stick these in the freezer to get nice and hard.
While you wait, melt your remaining white candy melts in the same manner as previously.
Once the cookies are firmly hardened back together, pick one up (using the stick) and dip it into the bowl of white candy melts.
Spoon candy melts over the top and sides.
Gently lift the Oreo out of the candy melts, and tap the stick on the side of the bowl to allow the excess melts to drip off.
Slide the bottom of the Oreo against the edge of the bowl to remove excess candy melts.
Gently set the coated Oreo on clean parchment or wax paper.
Immediately, set the sunflower seeds as shown at the center of the cookie.
Place pearl sprinkles as shown, between sunflower seeds.
Serve as-is, or package up for giving away by sliding each cookie into a little treat bag and tying with a ribbon.

Scallops:

Ingredients: (makes about 24 pops)

One package of Double Stuff Oreos
3-4 (12 oz.) bags of Wiltons Candy Melts in various colors
A few wheat thin crackers
24 Lollipop sticks
A toothpick to pull through colors and make design.
Small treat bags and ribbon, if you want to package them up to give away.

Directions: (Need a little visual help? Click here.)

Carefully twist apart all Oreo cookies. Do this slowly and gently- and expect that some will break.
Melt about 1/4 cup candy melts (any color) using a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until completely melted and smooth.
Use a lollipop stick to make an indentation in the white filling of an Oreo.
Dip the end of the stick into the candy melts, spread a little on top of the white filling and then press the stick into the indentation.
Set 1/2 of a Wheat thin cracker on top of candy melts at the top (so just the points poke out when the top is back on).

Place the top of the Oreo back on and allow the candy melts to harden and cement the cookie back together with the stick inside. I like to stick these in the freezer to get nice and hard.
While you wait, pick your “main color” and melt those candy melts in the same manner as previously.
Also melt smaller amounts of two to three other colors. Spoon these into zip top bags and seal them up. Wrap them in a warm towel to keep them melted and smooth.
Once the cookies are firmly hardened back together (about 10 minutes in a freezer), pick one up (using the stick) and dip it into the bowl of candy melts.
Spoon candy melts over the top and sides.
Gently lift the Oreo out of the candy melts, and tap the stick on the side of the bowl to allow the excess melts to drip off.
Slide the bottom of the Oreo against the edge of the bowl to remove excess candy melts.
Gently set the coated Oreo on clean parchment or wax paper.
Immediately, clip a corner off a bag of colored candy melts and pipe a couple curved lines on top of Oreo.
Repeat these lines with other colors and then place bags back inside warm towel.
Use a toothpick to pull lines up from the bottom through these colors (see photos)

Sprinkle with a little gold sugar and add a candy pearl if you want.
Repeat this process with remaining Oreos. You may need to repeat the melting process for the small bags of colors. If you need to do this, try making one of these colors your “main” color and decorating with the others!
Serve as-is, or package up for giving away by sliding each cookie into a little treat bag and tying with a ribbon.
ENJOY!

My thoughts: I experimented a little with the sand dollars. I had some butterscotch candy melts that I used with brown sunflower seeds- they are cute too- but I love the white ones best! I was really happy with how these turned out, and they really aren’t too difficult to put together- especially if you have made Oreo pops before. I hope you get a chance to try these for your next beach party! Happy summer to you!!!! ~r

Other fun beach- themed ideas here at Easybaked (click on a photo to see a recipe):

Easy Daisy Cookies!

Posted on August 13, 2016 by Ruthanne

Vanilla wafers and ginger cookies are covered in fun colored candy melts to make these cheery daisy cookies!

These are less recipe and more edible craft project- and they are SO fun! 🙂 I love (lovelovelove) Anna’s Swedish cookies. They are available in Ginger, Orange, Almond and Mint Chocolate. I get mine at Walmart- but you can find them on Amazon to0- right here. They are less expensive at Walmart though! Every flavor comes in an adorable flower shape that lends itself to making these cute little cookies! Make them in any color you want- and use any flavor cookie! So fun.

Here is how we made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS:

1 box of Anna’s Swedish Ginger Thins (I found mine at Walmart)
1 box of Nilla wafers
Wilton’s Candy Melts in a variety of colors (I used up some of my half-filled bags with this recipe!)
Sugar Sprinkles as desired (shown in yellow)

DIRECTIONS:

Melt Wilton’s candy melts (in the center color- I used yellow!) in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Dip Nilla Wafers into the melted candy, lifting them up with a fork and tapping the fork on the side of the bowl to allow excess candy melts to drain away.
Pull bottom of cookie along edge of bowl to remove excess candy melts and slide coated cookie off fork onto parchment paper.
Sprinkle with jimmies or sugar to give it that “rough” center-of-a-flower look, and allow these to harden.

Melt candy melts in other colors, using the same technique. Dip an Anna’s cookie in whatever color you are using and use a similar technique to tap excess off and slide bottom against edge of bowl.

Place coated Anna’s cookie on parchment paper and before it hardens, place a “center” on it.
Allow cookie to harden up before serving.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are just plain fun to make. They are great for practicing your chocolate dipping skills, since these are nice hard cookies without any fillings that get soft. You can do them in any colors you want- and a variety of flavors. My only warning…… Everyone loved these and exclaimed over the cute FLOWERS unless they saw a white and yellow one 1st. Then they asked if it was an egg 🙂 Sigh. Maybe a mini- Nilla wafer would be better as a “center” for those? However you decorate them, I hope you enjoy these fun summer cookies! ~r

Eggs? Daisies? Haha…..

Other fun flower ideas here on Easybaked: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged baking ideas for kids, bridal shower cookie, candy melts, cookie crafts, cookies, creative cookies, daisy, daisy cookies, easter cookie, flower cookies, flower recipe, ginger, ginger cookies, mother's day cookie, nilla wafers, summer cookies, summer dessert, Summer recipe. Bookmark the permalink.

Key Lime Layer Cookies

Posted on July 30, 2016 by Ruthanne

Layers of cookie, key lime pie filling, and white chocolate make these an irresistibly refreshing summer treat!

So. You know those new “healthier” Oreo Thins cookies? I found a way to make them unhealthy. Still a reasonable indulgence, but not the super-low calorie tiny sliver of a cookie they were created to be.

I present: Key Lime Layer Cookies!!!!

Creamy Key Lime filling sandwiched between two Oreo Thins and dipped in white chocolate. YUM!!! These are incredibly easy to put together and such a delicious, creative, and beautiful treat!

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

INGREDIENTS: (makes 20 cookies)

3/4 cup of key lime juice (I squeezed ’em!)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 package of Oreo Thins in vanilla
1 bag of Wilton’s Candy Melts in white
Colored sugar (if desired for decorating)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Combine lime juice, condensed milk and egg together in a small mixing bowl.
Pour into a small baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
Spoon into a cool bowl and chill in freezer for 30 minutes to cool.
While cooling, set 1/2 box of vanilla Oreo Thins out on a baking sheet that will fit into your freezer.
After lime filling is chilled, stir and spoon into a large zip-top bag. Clip a corner off and pipe filling on top of each Oreo- not quite going to the edges.
Gently set an Oreo Thin on top of the filling. Don’t press too hard or the filling will come out on the edges. Use up all the cookies in the box.

Gently slide this baking sheet into the freezer and freeze for 1 hour.
Melt Wilton’s Candy Melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Take chilled cookie and place it into melted chocolate. Quickly spoon over the top and sides.
Lift the cookie with a fork and tap on side of bowl until excess drips away. Slide bottom edge of cookie along side of bowl to get rid of excess on bottom and set on parchment paper to harden.
Repeat with remaining cookies. You may want to keep cookies in freezer before dipping, and only take maybe 4 or 5 out at a time to work on.
Decorate as desired. If you want sugar sprinkles, add these before the candy melts harden back up.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are easy and fun to make, and they keep for up to a week in the fridge! You will have a little pie filling left at the end, but you could get a little more white chocolate and a few more cookies to use it up -if you want. I’d guess you would have enough filling for another 8-10 cookies. Another helpful hint- make sure these are cold when you dip them, and don’t linger and let them sit for a long time in that melted chocolate. Sprinkle sugar on top while they are still melted. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did!! ~r

Other key lime desserts here on Easybaked: (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Cookies, Pies and tagged best, cookies, dessert, key lime, key lime cookies, key lime oreo dessert, layer cookies, lime, lime cookie, Oreo dessert, Oreo Thins, Oreo Thins dessert, Oreo Thins recipe, pretty cookies, recipe, summer cookies, white chocolate, Wiltons candy Melts. Bookmark the permalink.

Sunshine Lemonade Cookies

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Ruthanne

These soft cut-out cookies have lemonade in the mix for a sweet lemon cookie you will love!

If you have been a fan of Easybaked for very long, you know that I love lemon-themed desserts! I’ve used lemonade in cupcakes and cakes– but these cut-out cookies are a new experiment- and I adore them! These cookies just melt in your mouth- and that tart lemon flavor is wonderful.

You can cut these into any shape you want, and decorate at whatever level of creativity and effort you choose. I wanted happy sunshine cookies for a summer party- so I used a Smiley Face Emoji Chocolate Mold and yellow, blue and orange Wilton’s Candy Melts to decorate my cookies. They make me smile!

Here is how I made them: (printable cookie recipe here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24 cookies)

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
One packet (0.23 oz) of unsweetened lemonade powder (I used Kool Aid brand)
2 bags of Wilton Candy Melts in blue (or in whatever colors you want to decorate in!)
1 bag of Wilton Candy Melts in yellow
1/4 bag of Wilton Candy Melts in orange

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
Add eggs, vanilla and lemonade powder 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 about 1/4 inch thick))
Cut into whatever shape you want- I used a 3.5-inch round cookie cutter.
Place on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet.
Bake at 350F degrees for 8-10 minutes and slide off the cookie sheet (leaving on parchment paper) to cool.
Melt 3/4 of yellow candy melts (in microwave, 30-second increments, stirring in between until smooth) and use a small zip-top bag to pipe this into each smiley face mold cavity. Freeze for 4-5 minutes and remove from mold. Set aside.
Melt blue candy melts and pipe around the edges of each circle.
Melt remaining yellow and orange candy melts and place in small zip-top bags to be ready to decorate. Keep them warm in a towel.
Flood cookie to edges with blue candy melts and immediately pipe circles of orange and yellow around the cookie’s center.
Use a toothpick or skewer to pull lines through the melted chocolate and then tap on table to remove lines.
Place a smiley face in the center.

Repeat with remaining cookies, keeping candy melts warm in towels as you go.
Once they are hardened—Enjoy!

My thoughts: These are delicious. Decorating them this way takes a little time, but you could certainly make these cookies and decorate with a buttercream and some sprinkles if you want easy! The cookies are so worth trying- they got rave reviews 🙂 Happy summer to you!!!! ~r

Other lemon treats here on Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe):

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Posted in Candy, Cookies and tagged fun summer cookies, lemon cookies, lemon cut-out cookies, lemonade, lemonade cookies, lemonade cut-out cookies, summer cookies, summer dessert recipe, summer party cookies, summer party recipe, sunshine cookies, white chocolate, 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.

Nutter Butter Flip Flops!!!!

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Ruthanne

These just make me smile!! I’ve seen several versions of these recently on blogs and in stores and I had to try them- talk about quick and easy! I have no idea who originally came up with this – but kudos in the creativity department!!! Love ’em!

INGREDIENTS: (printer friendly recipe)

One package of Nutter Butter Cookies (32 cookies)
6 ounces each of Wiltons candy melts in 4 fun colors: Yellow Orange
Blue Purple
Candy Flowers (I found mine at Michael’s Arts and Crafts)

DIRECTIONS:

Melt 7oz. (1/2 a bag) of each color of candy in 4 separate bowls in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between.
Dip one cookie at a time in the candy melts, covering it completely and then lifting it with a fork and tapping excess melted chocolate off. Set on parchment paper to harden.

Spoon remainder of each color into small ziplock bags and clip a corner. Using a contrasting color, carefully pipe a flip flop “strap” on each cookie.
Add a candy flower or other candy decoration to strap before it hardens.

ENJOY!!!

My thoughts: Quick easy and fun. I’d love to serve them on brown sugar “sand” sometime…. Be sure you get the vanilla flavored chips– tastes just like white chocolate- even though its comes in such pretty colors. The final result tastes a little like a Butterfingers (I think…) Happy Summer to YOU! -r