Gourmet Cookie Bouquets Recipe Blog

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Ingredients:

24 Halloween Themed Baking Cups
1 package (about 18 oz.) chocolate cake mix (or use your favorite flavor)
1 tub (16 oz.) vanilla ready-to-spread frosting (or use cream cheese flavor)
- green food color
- black string licorice
- green gumdrops
12 chocolate sandwich cookies (we use Oreos or Newman's Own Organic)
24 chocolate sugar ice cream cones
1 cup semi-sweet melted chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Get out a few muffin pans and line 24 of the muffin cups with the paper Halloween themed baking cups. Preheat oven to the temperature indicated on the cake mix package for 24 cupcakes.

2. Mix the cake mix according to the instructions on the box and spoon the batter into the baking cups.  Bake according to the package directions for 24 cupcakes.  Once baked, remove the cupcakes from the tins and cool them completely on a baking rack.

3. In a mixing bowl, mix the tub of frosting together with some green food coloring until you get the desired green color.  Frost the 24 cupcakes.

4. To create the hat and brim, separate the 12 sandwich cookies and remove the cream filling. Set the cookie 24 cookie halves on wax paper. Then trim 24 chocolate ice cream cones so that they will sit well on top of the cookie halves. Melt the one cup of chocolate morsels in the microwave (be careful not to burn .... I suggest melting on 50% power). Drizzle the cookie halves with the melted chocolate and press the cones down into the melted chocolate (be sure to reserve a bit of melted chocolate for the witch's hair and eyebrows). When the chocolate sets-up, it should hold the cones onto the brim to form a pointy witch hat.

5. Place a pointed hat on each cupcake. Then decorate with the black string licorice for the eyes and mouth, melted chocolate for the hair and eyebrows, and trimmed green gumdrops for the witch's nose.

These scary good cupcakes are sure to be a hit at your kids school or a Halloween party. They are super easy to make and both the kids and adults will love them! Photo is courtesy of Cutco.

If you are throwing a party and don't have time to create your own goodies, consider buying one of our Halloween Cookie Bouquets and using it for a creative and yummy centerpiece!

If Halloween is sneaking up on you and there aren't any Halloween treats on your party menu yet, consider one of these simple and creative ideas:

Mummy Sticks: Coat half of a large pretzel rod with melted chocolate and before the chocolate sets entirely, add two mini M&M's for the mummy's eyes.  Place vanilla frosting in a baggie and snip the corner approximately 1/4" wide.  Twirl the pretzel while adding loose wraps of frosting and allow to dry.

Spider Cupcakes:  Bake cupcakes (any flavor) and coat with chocolate frosting.  Sprinkle with chocolate jimmies to create the spider's hairy body.

Snip pieces of red licorice and place into the cupcakes for legs.  Cut a large marshmallow in half, stick to the cupcake using a bit of frosting.  Add M&M's for eyes and a nose.

Carrot Finger Food:  For a fast and delicious vegetable dip, combine 1 cup mayonnaise, 1 cup sour cream, 1 tablespoon dill weed, 1 tablespoon minced onion and 1 tablespoon seasoned salt.  Let chill overnight.

Fill a serving bowl with veggie dip then add 4 long, peeled carrots and 1 baby carrot.  Using dip as the "glue", add slivered almonds to replicate fingernails.

Serve with fresh vegetables.

Photos courtesy of brightideas.com and familyfun.com

For more spooky treats, visit this link for Ghoulishly Good Halloween Party Snacks.

Well trifles were my dessert of choice when going to potlucks the past few months so this summer when the Colorado peaches were at their best, I made this delectable Peaches n' Cream trifle to bring to a work party.  Everyone loved it... especially my husband who LOVES peaches about as much as I love chocolate covered Oreo cookies.  Now that is saying something!

We received a footed trifle bowl in a wedding gift basket, but I must admit that until this summer, I hadn't really used it much.  I don't know why because it seems that every trifle I made was well-received and it looks impressive when you walk in the door with it.

You can see the final product in the photo above.  I left off the slivered almonds which normally would be sprinkled on top the dessert because a child at the party was allergic to nuts and I didn't want to take any chances.  That said, the extra crunch would have really added to the final product so you should use them if possible.

Peaches n' Cream Trifle Recipe

4 cups fresh ripe peaches (about 5 large or 7 medium peaches)
3 Tbsp sugar
1 - 16 oz loaf of frozen pound cake, thawed and cut into 1 inch cubes**
1 - 12 oz container Cool Whip, thawed
2 (3.9 oz) packages of instant vanilla pudding
3 cups of milk
1/4 cup slivered almonds

**We use the Sara Lee rectangular pound cake cut up like this:

Peel the peaches and slice into segments or 1" pieces - keep cutting until you have the 4 cups. Then place them in a glass bowl and toss them with the sugar. Let stand for 20 minutes or until they begin to juice. Meanwhile, use a hand-mixer on low speed for 2 minutes to mix the pudding in a glass bowl with the 3 cups of milk.

• Nutter Butter Banana Pudding Trifle
• Chocolate and Fruit Trifle Recipe
• Strawberry Valentine Trifle Recipe
• Peaches n? Cream Trifle
• Peaches and Cream Truffle Recipe

The quickest canapés are those made with foods that need no more preparation than being cut into bits and put on squares of toast. A few suggestions are: cheese, cured ham, chorizo sausage, smoked trout, smoked eel, smoked salmon, canned sardines, and rolled or flat fillets of canned anchovy. To decorate, use chopped cured ham, chopped or sliced black or green olives, chopped hard-boiled egg, minced parsley, bits of tomato or canned pimento, capers, and truffles. A dab of sauce such as All-i-oli or Romesco will transform cold meat canapés. Canape spreads can be made rapidly from canned or precooked foods as in the following:

Canape of Pureed Sardine

Remove bones from canned sardine, mash fish in mortar, spread on toast, and decorate with chopped hard-boiled egg.

Canape of Pureed Tuna

Mash tuna in mortar with yolks of hard boiled egg and mix with mayonnaise until it spreads easily on toast.

Canape of Pureed Chicken

Crush leftover chicken meat in a mortar with a few toasted almonds, season with salt and white pepper, and add sherry until the paste has the desired consistency. Serve on toast.

Canape of Pureed Hake

Use leftover cooked hake or simmer a slice of fresh fish until cooked through (5-10 minutes). Any white fish may be substituted for hake. When fish is cool, mash with a fork, mix with a little mayonnaise, season with salt and pepper to taste, and spread on toast. Sprinkle with chopped hard-boil egg. Whole fillets of small fish make delicious canapés. Any small, flat fish, such as young flounder, may be substituted for sole in the following recipe.

Canape of Baby Sole

Wash cleaned soles, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Reduce flame and let fish simmer until cooked through (a very few minutes). When fish has cooled, carefully cut out the fillets, put them on strips of toast, and decorate with capers.

I know. It's not the usual recipe for gourmet cookies, but sometimes you have to switch it up a little bit!

For more dinner recipes, try some of the following:

• Potato Pizza Casserole
• Jiggs Dinner - Corned Beef and Cabbage
• Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms
• Chicken Caesar Pita Pocket

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Have you been looking for a unique way to say "Thank You", "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Anniversary"?

Cookies make a great gift for just about any occasion. And when you send beautifully decorated, delicious, melt-in-your-mouth confections artfully arranged in a cookie bouquet then you've sent something really special!

The cookie has two different origins; one for the food, and one for the word. The food originated sometime around 3 B.C. in Rome, and was called "bis coctum" meaning, "twice baked". Roman bis coctum had no sugar added and is also the origin of the word "biscuit". A biscuit in the United States would be a flaky, unsweetened quick bread, where in England it would be a sweet treat.

The word "cookie" came from the Dutch word "koekje", which means "little cake". The Dutch introduced them to Americans in the 18th century and the word became "cookie".

Toll House invented chocolate chip cookies in 1930. Using butter and sugar in cookie recipes probably did not begin until the 18th century. In the 19th century, cookie production began to boom when the price of flour and sugar went down and products like baking soda came into existence. Thus came the era of the manufactured cookie! These days, every type of cookie you can imagine is available! In 1995, 16 billion Oreo cookies were produced in Nabisco’s Chicago, Illinois factory - the largest of its kind in the world!

Whether you are looking for a gift for a special occasion, or just something to tell someone you are thinking of him or her, you can’t go wrong with a beautiful cookie gift. So, instead of the same old bouquet of flowers, next time try something different and send cookies!

… Say what you want with cookies!