FRIED CHICKEN COOKIES

Yup, you heard me.  One of my favorite new blogs is Bake at 350 where this super creative baker comes up with some of the most creative cookie decorations I've ever seen.  After a few months of procrastinating, I finally took the plunge and due to my little to no cookie decorating experience, I had to do some major improvising.


I created a drumstick shaped template from some thin vinyl sheets and used this sugar cookie recipe.  Using this icing recipe, I divided the batch into two and mixed one super white and one caramel (brown and yellow) colored icing.  I first painted the "meat" part and topped with crushed Corn Flakes, then went back and painted the "bone".  Line your KFC bucket in some parchment and VOILA, you've got yourself one hell of a conversation piece.

Happy baking!

Check out the original blog post HERE

HOMEMADE SAMOAS GIRL SCOUT COOKIES

Makes  50-60 cookies
Preparation: Heat oven to 350 Degrees. Line bake sheet with parchment.

• 1 lb sweetened coconut, toasted
• ½ cup of confectioner sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 11oz. bag of Kraft Caramels
• Chocolate Pouring Sauce Click here for the recipe and double it.

Instructions:

1. Place coconut on bakesheet and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 10-minutes. Make sure to stir the coconut half way through.
2. Place flour and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour and beat until combined. Place dough in refrigerator and chill for 20 minutes.
3. Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out the dough to an 1/8 of an inch in thickness. Using a two inch round cookie cutter stamp out cookies and for the center use the wider end of a piping tip if you don’t have a small enough cookie cutter.  Place stamped out cookies on parchment lined bakesheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack.
4. Place caramel squares in a medium size sauce pan over medium heat to melt. Once the caramel bits are completely melted  reserve ½ a cup of mixture in a shallow bowl; set aside. Add the toasted coconut to the remaining caramel mixture.  Fill a shallow pan with hot water and place saucepan filled with the finished caramel coconut  in it to keep the mixture at spreading consistency. Reheat mixture as needed to maintain spread consistency during assembly.

Assembly

1. Dip tops of cookies into the reserved caramel bowl. This will help the sticky caramel coconut mixture to quickly adhere to the cookie. Place cookie on a flat surface and using an icing spatula or butter knife spread caramel coconut mixture on to the cookie. If necessary, use a spoon to guide the caramel coconut spread off the icing spatula and on to the cookies. Let cookies rest for 30 minutes before dipping the bottoms in chocolate and drizzling the striping on top.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• The cookie portion of the Samoas is a basic shortbread and very forgiving, so don’t worry-it’s not possible to overwork the dough when you are rolling it out.
• Since the caramel coconut topping is sweet enough on its own, I lessened the sweetness of the short bread cookie portion.
• Keep a watchful eye when toasting the coconut, as it goes from toasting to burnt quickly.
• Keep a warm bowl of water and towel near when you are assembling the cookie.  The caramel coconut topping is sticky and will require you to clean your spatula off after a few cookies.

Recipe Credit: BakersRoyale

MORE FUN VALENTINES DAY IDEAS..

With Valentines Day only 4 days away, I'm sure more than a few of you are in a bit of a panic.  Fear no more, you can bake her something and express how you feel all in one fell swoop.  Check out these super cute cookie cutters where you can customize your message and stamp it in.  The set comes with a heart, a star and a flower and the letter combinations are endless.  Plus, just think of all of the post Valentines Day fun you will have, like making cookies with curse words and other inappropriate things on them!  Major candy hearts upgrade!

WILLIAMS SONOMA, $19.95